In 1960, during the period of China's three years of economic difficulties, many places suffered serious natural disasters, grain production was reduced in large quantities, and the people often starved.
One day this year, a sixty-year-old man in Hainan was even weaker because of long-term hunger, who had been tormented by illness, but in order to survive, he accidentally ate a lot of unclean food, resulting in worsening of his illness and eventually dying at home.
However, just before the old man died, after he finished explaining the aftermath, he shook his wife's hands and said with some emotion: "My colleague is in Beiping."
(Changed to Beijing when the People's Republic of China was founded)
They are all high officials! ”
Scenes during three years of natural disasters
After hearing this, my wife was shocked, and she thought to herself, "Hainan is thousands of miles away from Beijing, and my wife has not left the village for more than twenty years, how can there be colleagues who are high officials in Beijing?" I haven't heard him talk about it before! ”
Later, after many investigations, it was confirmed that the old man's dying words were unmistakable, and it turned out that he was actually a senior red army general who had been hidden for many years, and even the founding general Xu Shiyou was his deputy at that time.
Who was this former senior Red Army general? Why didn't the local government and the people know his identity? What did he experience during the revolutionary years? Why did he return to his hometown and live a life of obscurity?
Ho wai
In fact, this old man is He Wei, who was the commander of the Ninth Army of the Red Army, and his legendary life must begin from when he threw himself into the revolution.
Apply for the Whampoa examination and devote yourself to the revolution
He Wei, whose original name was He Shifu, was born on March 15, 1900 in Lehui County, Hainan
(Now part of Qiongzhou City)
A merchant family in Yutang Village, Chaolie Village Committee, Boao Township, with a well-to-do family, followed his father He Liangbing to live in Malaya when he was 3 years old, and his original name was also given by his father, which means that the He family has been rich for generations.
When He Wei was a teenager, he went to secondary school in the local Chinese school in Malaya, and during his study here, he read widely the famous works of various countries in the world and briefly understood the history of all countries in the world, and he found that China at that time was much backward than the West, so his heart began to germinate the idea of serving the country.
Malaya under British colonization
The young Ho Wai took the initiative to join the Malayan Communist Party, and together with his classmates carried out many protest movements against the British government's colonial rule in the local area, and due to his active activities, he was soon expelled from the country and returned to China.
The name He Wei was changed before he left Malaya, taking the meaning of "He Wei, He Wei, Yong Ye", full of enthusiasm, he hopes to serve the country.
When he was living in Malaya, He Wei had heard that the patriotic overseas Chinese Chen Jiageng had founded Xiamen University in China and had done a lot of practical things for the country's education cause, and he admired Chen Jiageng in his heart, so soon after returning to China, he took the initiative to apply for Xiamen University and was admitted with excellent results.
Chen Jiageng
At that time, He Wei chose science and engineering, but when he was studying, he found that he was very interested in the liberal arts, especially history and geography, and he began to read historical works extensively and seriously studied the geography of China's mountains and rivers, which had a subtle impact on his future performance in the revolution.
In 1925, after graduating from university, He Wei went to work in a foreign clothing factory in Hong Kong, where he saw the oppression of workers by Western capitalists, and he immediately began to organize workers to launch a revolutionary movement against oppression, and he was very prominent in the process of the Hong Kong general strike wave soon after, during which he first came into contact with the Chinese Communist Party.
Although he is in Hong Kong, he has always been concerned about the development of the domestic situation, and he is waiting for an opportunity to display his talents, because he feels that the previous warlord division cannot save the country.
Whampoa Military Academy
At the beginning of 1926, the Whampoa Military Academy began the fifth enrollment, He Wei had long been full of admiration for this military school, so he resolutely quit his job and ran to Guangzhou alone to register, because he was proficient in English, and he was very familiar with the geography of China's mountains and rivers, and his education was relatively high, and he soon became a cadet of the Whampoa Military Academy.
At that time, the two parties were cooperating for the first time, so such a highly educated and outstanding talent as He Wei naturally became the object of active struggle of both parties, and He Wei was also hesitant in his initial choice due to his lack of understanding of the two-party system.
Of course, Chiang Kai-shek, the president of the Whampoa Military Academy, wanted to recruit as many talents as possible for himself, and he had to receive outstanding cadets in the principal's office every period, and He Wei was one of them; when receiving He Wei, Chiang Kai-shek personally awarded him a Zhongzheng sword, which made He Wei feel very honored, and he also kept this sword with him for decades to come.
Chiang Kai-shek
However, in the face of Chiang Kai-shek's co-optation, He Wei was not moved by it, on the contrary, he supported and recognized the concept of the Communist Party even more, because during his study in Huangpu, he witnessed Chiang Kai-shek's construction of the Zhongshan ship incident, and after analysis, he felt that Chiang Kai-shek was not the future of the Chinese revolution.
After this, He Wei began to make frequent contacts with the members of our Party in the Whampoa Military Academy, and had close contacts with Zhou Shidi (the founding general), a member of our Party who was also a Hainan native.
In August 1926, He Wei joined the Kuomintang army to carry out the Northern Expedition, under the leadership of Guo Moruo, then the chief of the General Political Department of the Northern Expeditionary Army (who was the president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences after the founding of the People's Republic of China), and the two soon became friends, and he also took a group photo with Guo Moruo.
Guo Moruo
After Chiang Kai-shek launched a counter-revolutionary coup d'état, he began to massacre the Communists in a frenzied way, and He Wei was completely disappointed in the Kuomintang, firmly sided with our Party, and soon after, he followed Ye Jianying to participate in the Guangzhou Uprising and joined the Communist Party of China.
The defeat of the Great Revolution cast a shadow over the development of our Party, but all party members did not give up the important task of saving the people and trying to survive, and in early 1928, He Wei was arranged by the party organization to go to the Border of Guangxi and Vietnam to support the guerrilla war there.
Ho Wai's mother was Vietnamese, so he could also speak Vietnamese, and over the next few months he fought several battles with the Vietnamese revolutionaries and the French army, and he performed very well.
In 1929, the Gui warlords Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi were defeated in the Jiang-Gui War, and in order to stabilize the situation, they began to reveal their willingness to cooperate with our party, and in order to strengthen ties with the Gui warlords, they immediately ordered He Wei to go to Guangxi to carry out work.
Li Zongren
At the same time, the CPC Central Committee successively sent Deng Xiaoping and Zhang Yunyi (the founding general) to Guangxi to handle cooperation with Li, Bai and other warlords, and He Wei, Zhang Yunyi, and others also became colleagues and had very close ties.
Soon after, He Wei followed Zhang Yunyi to launch the Baise Uprising, and when he fought against the opposition, he was brave enough to move forward, and soon after the uprising, the Seventh Army of the Red Army was formally established, and He Wei served as a company commander with outstanding performance, which was the beginning of his entry into the Red Army units.
The "Little Zhuge In the Red Army"
After Serving as a company commander of the Red Army, He Wei led his troops to actively attack the local tyrants and landlords in the surrounding areas, repeatedly resisted the encirclement and suppression from the regular Kuomintang army, and in a series of battles, he was always able to grasp the intentions of his superiors and make accurate judgments on the enemy's situation, and often put forward some suggestions for defeating the enemy and winning the battle, which accelerated the victory of the battle.
Moreover, He Wei was very familiar with the surrounding geographical environment, and he could accurately mark the location on the map of each ravine, which made the troops he led always able to fight with the enemy flexibly and flexibly, reducing casualties, because of the bravery of combat and flexible command, and gradually he became the famous "Desperate Sanlang" and "Little Zhuge Ge" of the Red Seventh Army.
In November 1930, in order to meet the needs of the revolutionary struggle, the Red Seventh Army left Guangxi to move closer to the Central Soviet Region, and was incorporated into the Red Third Army, under the command of Peng Dehuai, who had been promoted to battalion commander at this time, led the troops to actively mobilize local armed forces in areas where the revolutionary forces were weak, and under his leadership, the troops were expanded several times in just over a year.
Two years later, He Wei was organized and transferred to the Red Fourth Front, he successively participated in the "Eyu-Anhui Anti-Encirclement and Suppression Battle", the Anti-Six-Way Siege of sichuan and Shaanxi Soviet District, and was able to defeat the enemy with each attack, and by July 1933, he had jumped from a grassroots officer to the commander of the Ninth Army of the Red Fourth Front, and the deputy commander of the army was the later famous Xu Shiyou (founding general).
Xu Shiyou
Later, in order to preserve the vitality of the revolution, the Red Fourth Front also began the Long March, and He Wei commanded the Red Ninth Army to fight in the western part of Sichuan and southern Shaanxi, interspersed under the eyes of the enemy, fighting many times, leaving scars in many places on the body, and the left leg was also hit by the enemy's bullets, leaving a very serious leg wound.
During the Long March, He Wei participated in the command of the famous Battle of Jialing River and the Battle of Baizhang, because his command was flexible and changeable, he repeatedly inflicted heavy losses on the enemy, and the reputation of "Little Zhuge Ge" became more and more popular, and at that time the army often compared him with Bai Chongxi, the "Little Zhuge Ge" in the Kuomintang army, and the kuomintang army's war reports often mentioned He Wei's name, Chiang Kai-shek was very angry, he did not expect that the former Huangpu Sheng actually joined our party one by one.
In May 1935, under the command of Chairman Mao, the Central Red Army had successfully crossed the Jinsha River and rushed northward, and in order to unite the revolutionary forces, the Central Military Commission immediately ordered the Red Fourth Front to arrive in the Maogong area as soon as possible and join the Central Red Army in the north.
Chairman Mao
Zhang Guotao, the leader of the Red Fourth Front, was very serious about He Wei, so he and Li Xiannian, political commissar of the Red Thirty Army, took the lead in sending a detachment west to the south of Maogong to clear the way for the Central Red Army to go north and make material preparations for the division.
After receiving the order, He Wei immediately mobilized his troops to begin the operation, marching rapidly for several days and nights before reaching Maogong, and together with Li Xiannian, he commanded the troops to eliminate the garrisons along the way, providing a strong guarantee for the smooth meeting of the two main forces of the Red Army.
However, shortly after the Central Red Army and the Red Fourth Front Army maogong division, Zhang Guotao rebelled against the revolution and led his troops to fight south alone, which caused serious losses to our army, and during this period, He Wei, who was Zhang Guotao's beloved general, also followed him.
The three main forces of the Red Army will meet the divisions
After the three main forces of the Red Army met in Huining, Gansu, Zhang Guotao gradually faded out of the center of power because of his mistakes, and the CPC Central Committee immediately launched the "Criticism of Zhang Campaign", and He Wei, because he had been reused by Zhang Guotao before, was very serious, although he knew that Zhang Guotao had made mistakes, he still could not bear to criticize his remarks.
In the face of a succession of "criticisms and remarks", He Wei became more and more dissatisfied, and finally, in the late night of April 19, 1937, He Wei quietly left Yan'an with his guards and broke away from the revolutionary ranks.
It can be said that He Wei made great achievements in the revolutionary years, and if he had not left with this negative spirit, perhaps he could play a greater role in the revolution and his status would have become higher, but history does not assume that behind his impulsive behavior is the result of the influence of his character.
He Wei (back row, first from right)
Among the senior generals of the Red Fourth Front at that time, He Wei was known for his violent personality, he was a Hainanese, and there was an extreme shortage of Hainan cadres in the army, which made it difficult for the cadres who worked with him to understand his dialect, and sometimes he would miss the fighter plane because of communication problems, which made him very angry.
In order to take care of He Wei's emotions, the organization first changed him several combat staff officers, but none of them agreed, until the combat staff officer Zhou Xihan (founding lieutenant general) passed, he felt satisfied, because Zhou Xihan summed up He Wei's pronunciation rules and took a week to accurately understand his Hainan dialect.
However, just after the defeat of the Red Ninth Army, He Wei quarreled with Zhou Xihan, believing that zhou Xihan's poor action had caused the failure, and Zhou Xihan also argued on the basis of reason, and he felt that He Wei had made a mistake in command.
Zhou Xihan
Noisy, the hot-tempered He Wei was furious and shouted, "Lao Tzu killed you!" The words did not fall, only to see that he actually pulled out a pistol directly in front of many soldiers, and then fired five consecutive bullets in the direction of Zhou Xihan, and the soldiers were shocked.
Of course, the bullet did not hit Zhou Xihan, and He Wei said to Zhou Xihan: "Lao Tzu is just scary, even if you are willing to fight, but the capital crime can be avoided by living, you yourself go down and get 20 military sticks!" "It turned out that there were problems on both sides of the defeat in that battle.
There are many reasons for the development of He's irritable personality, including his rich revolutionary experience and rapid promotion, which makes him overconfident, and it is this personality that makes him unable to tolerate the slightest uncomfortable remark, so his departure is an inevitable result.
Returning home in disgrace, his heart is on the people
As a revolutionary young man who was full of ideals for saving the country at a young age, he did not do anything to apologize to the party, the country and the people after leaving Yan'an, nor did he join the corrupt Kuomintang reactionaries, but went all the way south to prepare to return to his hometown and go into hiding.
However, just when He Wei arrived in Guangzhou after several turns and was preparing to return to Hainan from Guangzhou, he met a woman named Luo Mingxin in Guangzhou, and fell in love with her at first sight, and the two were married soon after, and after marriage, he also settled in Guangzhou.
In 1946, at the end of the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, He Wei wrote a letter to his family in Hainan to report peace and greeted his parents, but what he did not expect was that his original wife, Zeng Guocai, was at home at home with his son He Dawu to live a difficult life.
Zeng Guocai was known to He Wei when he lived in Malaya, also a Hainanese, the two soon married, He Wei was expelled from Malaya, Zeng Guocai continued to live with his young son, later, Zeng Guocai followed his father-in-law back to He Wei's hometown to settle, she was filial and loyal, did not remarry, and took on the heavy responsibility of taking care of a large family alone.
Zeng Guocai
He Wei did not expect that his wife was always waiting for him, and Zeng Guocai had been asking people to inquire about the whereabouts of her husband for many years, but she had never seen any trace, and she once thought that her husband had lost his life in the war.
When He Wei, who was in Guangzhou, received a reply from his wife, he felt some guilt in his heart, but out of his feelings for Luo Mingxin, he still chose to continue to live in Guangzhou, and in order to make up for his debts, he would send some money to Zeng Guocai every month to improve his life.
It was not until 1955 that He Wei and Luo Mingxin had a rift in their feelings due to their discordant personalities, and the two eventually divorced, and He Wei, who was over fifty years old, returned to his hometown after decades of absence and lived with Zeng Guocai and his family.
When He Wei returned to the village, most of the people in the village did not know him for a long time, and even his daughter-in-law asked doubtfully, "Uncle, where are you from, and who are you looking for?" He Wei smiled bitterly and was very emotional, and after that, he lived an ordinary life at home.
Ho fear hometown
After all, He Wei had gone to college and had a high level of education, and when he saw that the vast majority of the villagers were illiterate, the sense of responsibility came to his heart again, and he decided to teach the villagers some basic cultural knowledge.
At this time, after years of tempering, He Wei's temper had also been reduced by more than half, and he began to teach from pronunciation, patiently teaching local young people to learn Mandarin, which he learned after leaving the army, and he did not want young people to face the same problem of communication difficulties as him after leaving Hainan. To this end, he often told young people: "You must learn Mandarin, otherwise you will not be able to earn food in the future!" ”
In addition, He Wei also became a volunteer teacher in the village, which is also the only one in the village, he taught the children to learn during the day, and at night, he also took time to set up a night school to tutor the peasants who returned from the field, and under his years of efforts, the overall literacy rate and cultural level of the people in Yutang Village were greatly improved.
At that time, Hainan people's houses
In his spare time, He Wei began to read extensively, which was a hobby he developed when he was studying at Xiamen University, and he entrusted people to buy back a lot of classical masterpieces from other places, "Water Margin" and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" were often placed at the foot of his bed, and sometimes even when he was in the toilet, he held the book to read.
Not only can he read, He Wei is also keen on writing, as early as when he met Guo Moruo, the two often got together to talk about the writing of novels, and later he also participated in the establishment of the Literary Creation Society, and posted many articles on it.
In addition, He Wei is also proficient in music and medicine, he often teaches the villagers to sing the "International Song" and "Dongfang Hong", and when the villagers are sick, he also treats them free of charge, and he feels that since he can no longer serve the country, he will help the villagers as much as possible to improve their lives.
The Internationale Chinese edition
However, the pain left over during the war has been torturing He Wei's body, especially the leg injury often recurs, returning to his hometown because he helps the villagers all the time, resulting in overwork, the old wounds have not healed and new diseases, and He Wei's condition has become more and more serious.
In 1959, a serious natural disaster also affected He Wei's hometown, the villagers could only rely on digging wild vegetables to fill their hunger, at this time He Wei's father had long died, the He family's family was in decline, he had to join the team of digging wild vegetables, long-term malnutrition made his body worse than a day.
A year later, the 60-year-old He Wei was critically ill, and his life finally came to an end, at this time he recalled the glory days when he had participated in the revolution, and perhaps his heart was more regretful.
Since returning to his hometown, He Wei had never told the villagers about his experience in the Red Army, not even his wife and children, but only when he sang the "Internationale" over and over again, he felt some comfort in his heart.
The people of Hainan at that time
On his deathbed, He Wei tightly held the hands of his wife Zeng Guocai and said sincerely: "Many of my colleagues in the past are now high officials in Beiping City, but I have been here for half a lifetime..." The words were full of sighs.
Until the last moment of his life, He Wei did not explain to his wife that he had been the commander of the Red Ninth Army, perhaps because of self-blame, or because of other reasons, we can no longer know, but his decision at that time was really regrettable.
Later, after many investigations and verifications, the local government finally confirmed the identity of He Wei, and the comrades who fought with him were also in important positions and became the backbone of new China.
He Wei's wife, Zeng Guocai, continued to work as a farmer at home and lived an ordinary life, dying at home in 2003 at the age of 100.