Sad letters
In April 1941, a name was called in the countryside of Guangdong
Ling Weicheng
The peasant woman had been busy in the fields for a day, and finally got the time to go home and rest. Although the family is poor, the husband is not around, and the elderly in-laws need to be taken care of, but looking at the 4 healthy and happy children, Ling Weicheng feels that it is worth it to be tired and tired.
At this moment, Ling Weicheng noticed that there was an extra letter on the table, and the address of the letter on it seemed to be written in Shanghai.
Her husband was far away from the war in Shanghai, and before the two parted, his husband had solemnly promised her that he would take her back.
Could it be a letter from my husband from Shanghai?
Is he coming back? Want to pick her up and go with the kids?
Ling Weicheng, who had not received news from her husband for a long time, quickly picked up the letter, but at the moment when she saw that the sender was not her husband's name, Ling Weicheng already had a bit of a bad premonition in her heart. After she opened the letter and read a few lines, she suddenly felt a blackness in front of her eyes.
The letter was not written by the husband, and it was full of references to his sacrifice.
Ling Weicheng used all his strength, ran outside to buy a newspaper, casually flipped through, and the newspaper just happened to publish a story about it
Hero Leader Xie Jinyuan
Reports of recent sacrifices.
Pictured| Heroic Leader Xie Jinyuan
Seeing this, the grief-stricken Ling Weicheng finally couldn't hold back and fainted on the ground.
Xie Jinyuan and the "Eight Hundred Warriors"
I've seen movies
《Eight Hundred》
The people who must have been led in the film
"Eight Hundred Warriors"
The commander who fought bloody battles with the Japanese Kou and stubbornly defended the Sihang warehouse was deeply impressed. And Ling Weicheng's husband
Xie Jinyuan
It is the prototype of the commander in the film.
Picture | stills of "Eight Hundred"
In the film, the plot of the "Eight Hundred Warriors" clinging to the Shanghai Sihang Warehouse and fighting with rikou to the death is the real experience of Xie Jinyuan and the soldiers of the 524 Regiment led by him.
In October 1937, the Japanese attacked Shanghai, and the Battle of Songhu, known as the "melting pot" of human flesh, was launched in an all-round way. Due to the disparity in weapons and equipment between the two sides, the Nationalist military government was really invincible after resisting in Shanghai for a period of time, and in order to preserve its strength, it had to withdraw in a hurry.
Picture| In 1937, Chinese troops fought fiercely against the Japanese on the Huangpu River
But before leaving, a nationalist unit was left behind by Chiang Kai-shek to delay the evacuation of the large army. This unit was xie Jinyuan's 524th regiment of the 88th Division.
Xie Jinyuan is a native of Guangdong and a graduate of the fourth phase of the Whampoa Military Academy. When he learned that his troops were left in Shanghai to block the enemy, he already knew in his heart that he and the soldiers were doomed to no return.
But this did not make Xie Jinyuan feel afraid or flinch. They were in the 524 regiment
Shanghai Sihang Warehouse
The enemy was the 3rd Division of the Japanese Kou, known as the Ace Army. Before the engagement began, the 1st Battalion of the 524th Regiment did have more than 800 troops, but the Japanese 3rd Division was too ferocious and soon caused huge casualties to the 524th Regiment.
The original strength of more than 800 troops was lost by nearly half,
Today, there are only more than 400 people left
However, Xie Jinyuan thought that the Japanese Kou should not have yet figured out the full details of their unit, so he decided to gamble.
Xie Jinyuan announced that they still had 800 people to confuse the enemy.
And the Japanese Kou really believed it, and surrounded themselves outside the Sihang warehouse, wanting to completely eliminate this recalcitrant army.
The Japanese soldiers who had attacked at the foot of the sihang warehouse wall had been attacked
After four days and four nights of fierce fighting, Xie Jinyuan led his soldiers to rely on the terrain here and constantly repelled the enemy's attacks, and in this bloody battle, more than 200 Japanese Kou were killed by them.
The Japanese 3rd Division originally did not take Xie Jinyuan in their eyes, but they did not expect that this gang had caused such a large casualty to themselves, and they were immediately ashamed and angry, and they did not hesitate to use all means to take this Sihang warehouse.
Sacrifice martyrdom
The fierce fighting that took place here soon attracted the attention of foreigners in the Shanghai Concession. At first, they maintained a mentality of not caring about themselves, watching from a distance, but as the battle time increased, the soldiers of the 524 regiment did not feel afraid, and these foreigners took the lead in fear.
Fearing that the Japanese would not be able to attack for a long time, they would choose to use fierce artillery fire to bombard the Sihang warehouse, and there was a place to store gas on the south bank of the river not far from the Sihang warehouse, and once the artillery spread, it would inevitably cause an explosion. The foreigners in the concession were afraid that the concession would be mistakenly injured and their interests would be damaged, so they took the initiative to stand up and mediate for the warring sides.
Pictured| Japanese forces invading Shanghai in 1937
Because of the intervention of the concessionaires, Xie Jinyuan also quickly received the news of the retreat. Although he was very reluctant, but the military orders were like mountains, Xie Jinyuan had to retreat to the concession with his soldiers reluctantly.
However, to everyone's surprise, the concessionists only verbally agreed on the mediation between the two sides, and after the "eight hundred warriors" retreated into the concession, the Japanese Kou continued to put pressure on the concession and force it
The concession garrison disarmed Xie Jinyuan and others, pulled the barbed wire, put them under house arrest in the concession, and became a lone army for the next 4 years
。
Figure | "Eight Hundred Warriors" Entering the Concession
In fact, the news that Xie Jinyuan led his soldiers to die in the Sixing Warehouse had long been spread far away, and the local people in Shanghai were deeply touched to learn of their feats and were stimulated with extremely high patriotic enthusiasm. When the two sides were at war, even young female students in Shanghai swam across the river bank to present military flags to the "Eight Hundred Warriors" regardless of their own safety.
More and more people at home and abroad felt unfair to this lone army, and the voices of dissatisfaction became louder and louder, and the Japanese Kou felt the pressure of public opinion and decided to assassinate Xie Jinyuan. However, Xie Jinyuan was a very vigilant person, although he was disarmed, but under his command arrangement, the "Eight Hundred Warriors" strictly guarded against death, and never let the plot of the Japanese Kou succeed.
Schematic diagram of the isolated barracks in the concession
Since the assassination of Rikou was not successful, the people of Wang Jingwei's faction tried to win Xie Jinyuan over, sent many people to lobby him, and promised him a high-ranking official Houlu, but one of these people counted one, and all of them received a scolding from Xie Jinyuan, and finally went back in a daze.
Although he could not win Xie Jinyuan over, the people around him were not necessarily people with firm hearts. Wang Jingwei's faction changed its targets and began to secretly co-opt and bribe the soldiers around Xie Jinyuan. Some soldiers did not have the same firm heart as Xie Jinyuan, they had been besieged for a long time, the psychological defense line was on the verge of collapse, and the people sent by the puppet army only slightly persuaded, and some people bowed their heads.
The "Eight Hundred Warriors" who entered the concession
So on April 24, 1941, Xie Jinyuan, who had been disarmed and put under house arrest for four years, still got up early to lead the troops to train. At this moment, the 4 bribed soldiers saw the opportunity, took out the dagger they were carrying, and rushed to Xie Jinyuan in unison. By the time Xie Jinyuan's men noticed that something was wrong and rushed over to subdue the 4 traitors, Xie Jinyuan had already collapsed in a pool of blood and was soon killed.
Widow struggled to make a living
After the news of Xie Jinyuan's murder and sacrifice came out, the whole country mourned, and all walks of life held memorial services for him. Ling Weicheng, his wife who was far away in the countryside of Guangdong, took a step slower and also learned this tragic news.
Ling Weicheng was born in Shanghai, studied music when she was a student, and was a gentle and quiet rich family, and when she met Xie Jinyuan, she was only 20 years old. But Xie Jinyuan was a rural man in Guangdong, and to some extent, he was a "phoenix man" of that era.
After the two met at a friend's wedding, they fell in love almost at first sight, ignoring their birth status and desperately coming together.
After the marriage, Xie Jinyuan turned to the north and south, and Ling Weicheng always followed him. Later, after the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Xie Jinyuan realized that the road ahead was extremely dangerous, and did not want Ling Weicheng to take the child to risk with himself, so he took her to the countryside of Guangdong.
Of course, the environment here is not as good as the bustling city of Shanghai, and there are elderly in-laws in the countryside who need to be taken care of, not to mention that Ling Weicheng is still a rich family with "five fingers not staining the spring water of the yang", where have suffered such suffering. Xie Jinyuan was very reluctant to go and wanted to spend more time with his wife, but the war ahead was tight, and he did not dare to delay, so he made an agreement with his wife:
"When the day of victory comes, I will definitely come to pick you up and take you back to Shanghai."
The virtuous Ling Weicheng did not hold back, and tearfully bid farewell to her husband, but he did not know that this was a farewell.
After that, although Xie Jinyuan sent money back on time every month, the elderly needed to see a doctor and take medicine, and the children also needed to study and go to school, and the money was simply not enough. Forced to be helpless, Ling Weicheng actually bought a few acres of land, learned to do rough work in the field of neighbors, and became a peasant woman from a thousand gold work.
Xie Jinyuan sacrificed this year, Ling Weicheng is only in his early 30s, although he works day and night, the whole person looks very haggard, but he still can't hide her good looks and outstanding temperament. Some ill-intentioned people learned of the news of her husband's sacrifice, but instead of sympathizing with her, they actually had evil thoughts, constantly harassed them at home, and after being rejected by Ling Weicheng, they actually wrote a letter to force her to submit to the safety of her children.
Ling Wei honestly did not know who to talk to, so he secretly told his child. Son who is still in elementary school
Xie Jimin
Very angry, bravely stood up and wanted to support his mother. Ling Weicheng looked at his thin body and was touched.
Pictured| Ling Weicheng and four children, xie jimin on the left in the front row
After the death of her husband, in accordance with the provisions of the national army,
Ling Weicheng can go to Chongqing to receive a 50,000 yuan pension.
But there are eight people in rural guangdong who need Ling Weicheng to take care of, and this money cannot last long. Ling Weicheng's request is not much, but he hopes that the national military government can help solve the children's academic problems.
But when she found Chongqing, she only saw Song Meiling.
Song Meiling cordially congratulated Ling Weicheng's hometown, and after hearing Ling Weicheng's request, she said "the government will not forget you", but never mentioned how to help.
Ling Weicheng understood that she didn't want to help at all.
Ling Weicheng had to return to the countryside with the pension and give half of the money to his in-laws, and the rest was reserved for the children's study in the future. But prices rose so fast that the money quickly depreciated.
Chen Yi helped
In 1946, Ling Weicheng received an invitation from Xie Jin's subordinates, and after returning to Shanghai, he learned that the "eight hundred warriors" who had been under house arrest had later been captured by the Japanese Kou and were sent to various places as hard laborers, and now that the War of Resistance was over, he was
Although the surviving people returned to Shanghai, they were all wounded and sick, and the nationalist military government turned a blind eye to their situation.
In desperation, they wanted to ask the regimental commander's wife for help.
Picture | "Eight Hundred Warriors" waiting in the Racecourse Hall for the arrangement of the Ministry of Works
Ling Weicheng took their demands to Song Meiling again, hoping that the nationalist military government could arrange some errands for these veterans and let them support themselves. But this time Song Meiling was not as kind as last time, and after listening to Ling Weicheng's words,
After a few perfunctory words, he asked Ling Weicheng to go back.
Ling Weicheng had no choice but to pay for it himself and take this group of veterans to find ways to start a business and make a living in Shanghai. Unfortunately, these attempts all failed, and Ling Weicheng was already cornered at this time. At this time, the War of Liberation ended,
Chen Yi
When he came to Shanghai to take up the position of mayor, Ling Weicheng wrote to him for help.
Xie Jinyuan's heroic feats of that year Chen Yi had also heard of, and now after receiving Ling Weicheng's letter, he knew that the original "Eight Hundred Warriors" still had survivors. He hurriedly wrote a reply to Ling Weicheng, not only agreeing to her request, but also assuring her,
These veterans will definitely be assigned jobs and given the rewards they deserve as heroic warriors.
At this point, the "Eight Hundred Warriors" were finally able to regain their lives with the help of the government, and Ling Weicheng's family also lived a stable life. Ling Weicheng painstakingly raised several of her and Xie Jinyuan's children, and the children did not fail her and became the pillars of the country.
Pictured| Xie Jimin at the Sihang Warehouse Memorial Hall
Xie Jinyuan and Ling Weicheng are both Chinese with national backbone, have feelings and righteousness, and deserve the admiration of the world.