We often hear the saying that war makes women go away. Regardless of whether there is a hidden discrimination against women, from a practical point of view, there are very few women who can play an important role in the military field. It was against this background that on the afternoon of September 27, 1955, at the first ceremony after the founding of New China in Beijing, the 47-year-old Li Zhen was awarded the rank of major general.
From a child bride to a general, Li Zhen's fate has changed dramatically
Li Zhen was born into a poor family in Hunan, and his parents had six daughters. Just two days after the birth of their last daughter, their father fell ill and died. The top pillar of the family passed away, making the life of the mother and daughter seven more difficult.
In desperation, her mother deceived Li Zhen and said that she would go to a family surnamed Gu as an adopted daughter. When Li Zhen came to the Gu family, she found that she had not come to be an adopted daughter, but to be a child bride.
Sold to a strange person's home, although it is said to be a daughter-in-law, it is actually similar to a slave maid. Li Zhen, who is only 6 years old, has to do everything and is bullied. She couldn't stand it, and wanted to sneak out of the fire pit, but she was discovered by her in-laws and forced to have a house with her husband, when she was only 16 years old.
Life after marriage was not happy, and Li Zhen tried her best to join the Women's Association in 1926 and joined our party the following year. Because of the fear of being implicated, her in-laws took the initiative to send a letter of resignation, and Li Zhen was finally able to get out of the sea of suffering.
Since then, Li Zhen has participated in the Autumn Harvest Uprising and successive "anti-encirclement and suppression" wars, walked through the long road of the Long March, and made outstanding contributions in the subsequent War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, and finally became the first female general of the founding of the Country.
The war had caused her to lose her child, but her side was not deserted
In 1935, Li Zhen married Gan Siqi, who was then the director of the Political Department of the Military Region. Although one of them is a famous "show talent" and a child bride of the old society who has little education, the common ideal makes the two people feel the same heart. Soon, Li Zhen became pregnant.
This was certainly good news, but given the circumstances, the arrival of this child was somewhat out of place, because this was the beginning of the Long March.
Pregnant long march, what these words mean, no one will be unclear. When the child grew to seven months in the mother's body, Li Zhen gave birth prematurely. Congenital insufficiency, coupled with a lack of milk, soon the child died prematurely.
Prior to this, in the Autumn Harvest Uprising, Li Zhen joined the Liudong guerrillas. During this period, they were surrounded by enemy troops, and in order not to be humiliated, Li Zhen chose to jump off the cliff. Fortunately, her body was blocked by branches, and her life was not in the way. But she was pregnant at the time and miscarried.
From a young age, he was undernourished, coupled with repeated miscarriages, premature births, and no good recuperation environment during the war, and all kinds of factors added up, Li Zhen has never had children since.
Although they did not have their own biological children to accompany them, Li Zhen and her husband Gan Siqi did not live a lonely life, because they adopted more than twenty children, all of whom were martyrs and orphans. They take these children into their own homes, take care of them, and provide them with parental care.
Hard work and simplicity is the motto of Li Zhen's actions
Li Zhen is a major general, and her husband Gan Siqi is a general, both of whom have high ranks, but their daily lives are very simple, for two reasons.
Although raising children in that era did not cost as much money as they do now, but more than two dozen people, just eating every day is a big expense, not to mention others; there will often be old comrades to Beijing, Li Zhen will always invite them to live in their homes, sometimes the money is not enough, Li Zhen will also generously donate money, buy tickets for them, prepare for the way back.
At the same time, Li Zhen never pursues luxury. Since 1975, she has lived in a dilapidated courtyard. How broken is this courtyard? The bathroom is leaky, one foot deep and one foot shallow, and the boiler for boiling water for heating must be shared with several other households.
In the north in winter, even indoors, it is very cold. The general political leaders wanted her to move to a better house several times, but she refused. How could a warrior who had experienced the Long March be overwhelmed by this bit of cold. In order to keep out the cold, she was fully armed, military cotton coat, large leather shoes were all worn well, and then soaked in a hot water bag to warm her legs, insisting on official business.
Is this a show? It was not until the spring of 1984 that Li Zhen, under repeated persuasion by the organization, moved to a military cadre's room in an apartment until his death six years later. After her death, people counted her belongings and found few, let alone valuable items. The adopted daughter-in-law of decades ago, the first daughter of the Republic, has spent her life telling us what a true Chinese should look like.
In this impetuous era, people question everything, pay attention to "exquisite self-interest", and even ridicule those who are willing to dedicate, but only those who are selfless, those who are "retrogrades", are the real backbone of this nation. When a sudden disaster struck, it was these people who stood in our way. People should still have some persistence and faith.