In 1942, the first expedition of the Chinese Expeditionary Force ended in failure, after which the new 38th Division of the 66th Army and the new 22nd Division of the Fifth Army retreated to India with the commander-in-chief of the Expeditionary Force, Stilwell. The two divisions were reorganized in India and merged into the New I Corps in October 1942.
The New First Army is also known as the First Army of the World, and during the second expedition of the Expeditionary Force, the New First Army came down like a fierce tiger and almost completely annihilated the Japanese ace 18th Division. So, who was the first commander of this first army? He is Zheng Dongguo of the First Phase of Whampoa.
Zheng Dongguo graduated from the Huangpu Phase I and served as deputy commander-in-chief of the Expeditionary Force. Of course, his most famous identity is the first commander of the New First Army. Zheng Dongguo was not only the first commander of the First Army, but also had a beautiful wife. Today we will talk about the end of the beautiful wife of Zheng Dongguo in her later years.
Zheng Dongguo's wife is named Chen Bilian, she is Zheng Dongguo's second wife, born in 1916, Shangrao, Jiangxi. Chen Bilian grew up to be a beautiful person in ten miles and eight townships, she was not only beautiful, but also educated, a woman who combined beauty and talent.
Speaking of Zheng Dongguo, Zheng Dongguo's original wife was named Qin La'e, who was eight years older than Zheng Dongguo. In 1930, Qin La'e died of typhoid fever, and Zheng Dongguo has been alone ever since. In 1933, Zheng Dongguo, who had participated in the Great Wall War of Resistance, passed south through Nanjing and met his second wife, Chen Bilian, at the home of a fellow villager.
At that time, Zheng Dongguo was already a brigade commander of the 17th Army, and Chen Bilian was 17 years old and looked very beautiful, and the two fell in love after falling in love at first sight. In the autumn of that year, 30-year-old Zheng Dongguo married 17-year-old Chen Bilian. Although the bridegroom Zheng Dongguo was only a brigade commander, he was Chiang Kai-shek's Huangpu concubine, like a rising star in the military circles. The bride Chen Bilian is no less than Zheng Dongguo, a strange woman who combines beauty and talent, so the wedding of the two has caused quite a stir.
After Chen Bilian married Zheng Dongguo, the husband and wife loved each other and respected each other as guests. At that time, it coincided with the war, and Zheng Dongguo was also a soldier who fought on the battlefield all year round, so the two always gathered less and left more, which also led to the two leaving a regret: they had not had children of their own.
Later, Chen Bilian adopted her brother's daughter, who was also the only adopted daughter of her and Zheng Dongguo. In 1942, while the Chinese Expeditionary Force was stationed in India, Zheng Dongguo was transferred to India by Chiang Kai-shek as deputy commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, and was soon appointed commander of the New First Army. Chen Bilian lived alone with her adopted daughter and mother in China, and after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Chen Bilian was reunited with Zheng Dongguo, and the two settled in Shanghai and lived a stable life.
During the Liberation War, Zheng Dongguo was sent to the northeast by Chiang Kai-shek, and Chen Bilian and Zheng Dongguo were once again separated. In 1948, Zheng Dongguo surrendered to the People's Liberation Army in the northeast, and Chen Bilian rushed to the northeast as soon as she heard the news to reunite with Zheng Dongguo. After the reunion of the two, Zheng Dongguo flew back to Shanghai to treat stomach problems, and during their time in Shanghai, the two spent a period of stability.
However, it was also during this period of stability that the relationship between the two changed. In 1952, Zheng Dongguo was invited to Beijing to serve as a counselor of the Ministry of Water Resources, and Chen Bilian refused to go north with Zheng Dongguo on the grounds of disobedience to the soil and water, which also prompted the two to divorce. After divorcing Zheng Dongguo, Chen Bilian married a man surnamed Zhong, and has been living with Zhong in Shanghai since then, while Zheng Dongguo lives in Beijing.
In the 1960s and 1970s, due to special historical reasons, Chen Bilian did not have a satisfactory life in Shanghai, and soon after she was forced to move to Suzhou, her husband Zhong Mou also died of illness in Suzhou, after which Chen Bilian lived alone in Suzhou, and only returned to Shanghai again in her later years.
In the 1980s, Chen Bilian's life was not settled, and her life was guaranteed by the organization and arrangement as the commissioner of the Shanghai Municipal Museum of Culture and History. In her later years, Chen Bilian lived alone in Shanghai, rarely interacting with other people. In 2006, Chen Bilian died of illness at the age of 90.
Resources:
"My Horse Career: Memoirs of Zheng Dongguo", "Shanghai Grandma" Zheng Jianbang