During the Long March, Mao Zedong commented that Zuo Quan "ate all the foreign bread he ate, and this man was a general with 'two poles'"; Zhu De commented that Zuo Quan was "an excellent general as strong as steel and as brave as a lion and a tiger.". In the eyes of his wife and daughter, Zuo Quan is a good husband and father who is full of tenderness and deep love. "Iron blood" and "tenderness" are so perfectly constructed this great anti-Japanese hero - Zuo Quan!
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Zuo Quan lost his father at the age of one and a half, suffered from freezing and starvation since childhood, entered the first phase of the Whampoa Military Academy at the age of 19, and joined the Communist Party of China at the age of 20 through the introduction of Chen Geng. At the age of 26, he was promoted to chief of staff of the General Headquarters of the Red Army, and began to show strong organizational skills.
At the age of 28, he was promoted to chief of staff of the First Red Army, and in March 1940, as the commander of the Second Column of the Eighth Route Army, he led his troops to defeat the Kuomintang army attack that attempted to resist the Japanese base area in the first anti-communist upsurge, completely annihilated 10 regiments of the Kuomintang 97th Army, and retained the base area.
On April 16, 1939, Zhu De, commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army, and his wife acted as mediators, and Zuo Quan, 34, deputy chief of staff of the Eighth Route Army, married Liu Zhilan, a 22-year-old girl and intellectual cadre in Beiping. Since then, the husband and wife have been deeply in love with each other and have deep feelings.
Zuo Quan was busy with military affairs, often so busy that he could not even take care of his meals, and Liu Zhilan was not willing to delay his work, on the 4th day after marriage, she went to Qin County to carry out the work of women's organizations in the border area, and the husband and wife could only get together once on weekends.
On May 27, 1940, Liu Zhilan gave birth to a daughter in the Peace and Health Hospital of the Headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, when Zuo Quan was in the army, and Pu Anxiu, the wife of Peng Dehuai, deputy commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army, was an old classmate of Liu Zhilan, and she had always been by Liu Zhilan's side.
When everything was busy, Pu Anxiu went home and told Peng Dehuai that Liu Zhilan had given birth to a daughter, peng Dehuai heard that he rushed to the hospital to congratulate Liu Zhilan, and at Liu Zhilan's request, Peng Dehuai named this little baby girl Taibei, because this place belonged to Taibei District.
Zuo Quan was overjoyed to hear the good news that his wife had given birth to a daughter, and a few days later, after he dealt with military affairs, he rushed straight to the hospital, and after comforting his wife, he took his daughter in his arms and kept watching and kissing. A small north called out to the daughter in his arms.
Liu Zhilan also lacks the preparation to be a mother, her daughter was born so that she could not immediately put into work, coupled with the fact that life in the base area is very hard, malnutrition, so that she does not have enough milk to feed her daughter, the daughter often cries day and night, which makes her irritable.
Zuo Quan is very considerate, returning home at night, despite the hard work during the day, he always comforts his wife with gentle words, while taking care of his daughter with all his strength, feeding her water, changing diapers, dressing, and holding her daughter back and forth to coax her daughter to sleep, which makes Liu Zhilan moved.
When Zuo Taibei was only 3 months old, Zuo Quan threw himself into his work and carefully planned and deployed the "Hundred Regiments War" with Mr. Peng and others. For all reasons, Zuo Quan, after consulting with his wife, decided to let her wife return to Yan'an with her daughter.
Zuo Quan and his wife and daughter take a group photo
Before the trip, the tender-hearted Zuo Quan also specially asked someone to make a small wooden box for his daughter as a cradle for sleeping on the road, and after settling down, Zuo Quan asked someone to take a family portrait of the family of three, Zuo Quan embraced his daughter, and the couple's faces overflowed with happy smiles.
On the day of the departure, it was Qiu Gao who was in a high spirit, Zuo Quan sent his wife and daughter to the village entrance, the husband and wife were inseparable, the wife was full of tears, Zuo Quan just smiled, held his wife's hand and gave thousands of instructions, and then hugged his daughter and kissed and kissed, before waving goodbye.
After sending his wife and daughter away, Zuo Quan devoted all his energy to his work, assisted General Peng in commanding the "Hundred Regiments War," and came up with various ways to solve many difficulties in the base areas. As long as he had a little free time, Zuo Quan couldn't help but miss his wife and daughter who were far away in Yan'an.
In the 21 months from his separation from his wife and daughter to the time of sacrifice, Zuo Quan wrote 12 letters to his wife, all of which were full of Zuo Quan's deep attachment and love for his wife and daughter.
On December 23, 1940, Zuo Quan wrote to his wife: What is going on now? Half a year old, a little older than before, it should be better! Be careful, don't be cold to this little baby, our little baby!
Zuo Quan was the deputy chief of staff of the Eighth Route Army and belonged to a senior general, but his monthly allowance was only 5 yuan. He often published military manuscripts, so there was some additional fee, and whenever he received the fee, Zuo Quan had to find ways to buy clothes for his daughter.
How strong zuo quan's love for his daughter is! In winter, he is afraid that his daughter will frostbite her hands and feet; when her daughter has diarrhea, he will anxiously and repeatedly remind his wife to "find a doctor as soon as possible"; when his daughter is naughty, he will remind his wife not to beat her, because it is too small to help.
On Children's Day, Zuo Quan thinks that his daughter may attend the competition and may also win the championship. Zuo Quan hoped that his daughter would grow up quickly, understand things early, and understand that her father was fighting the enemy in distant North China!
Three days before Zuo Quan's sacrifice, he was still sweetly imagining the happy time of the family of three together in a letter to his wife: Beibei was very naughty, one moment underground, one time climbing into his mother's arms, and then from his mother's arms to his father's arms, making a lot of trouble, it was really happy!
On May 14, 1942, the Japanese devils mobilized 30,000 troops and, with the cooperation of aircraft, suddenly "swept" the Taihang Mountain base area. The Japanese devils even sent a specially trained "special advance killing team" to disguise themselves as the Eighth Route Army and directly attack the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army.
Battle of the Hundred Regiments (oil painting)
Zuo Quan assisted General Peng in commanding the transfer of personnel from the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army. In the early morning of May 25, the headquarters and the northern bureau totaled about 2,000 people surrounded by Japanese devils, and at a critical moment, the headquarters leaders decided to break through separately and fight separately.
There were Japanese devils bombing on the top, and there was a dense artillery attack below. Zuo Quan stood on a high slope to encourage everyone, calling on everyone not to be afraid, as long as they rushed out of the mountain pass, it was victory!
In the afternoon, the situation became more and more critical, and Zuo Quan considered Peng Zong's safety, because he believed that Peng Zong's safety breakthrough was victory. However, Peng Zong refused to break through first, so Zuo Quan ordered the guards to forcibly help Peng Zong to his horse and go straight to Cross Ridge to break through.
Cross Ridge is the only way to break through this breakthrough, the breakthrough team is long and winding, the enemy soon found the breakthrough team, and immediately mobilized all firepower to attack Cross Ridge. Zuo Quan commanded the troops to cover on the one hand, and on the other hand, urged the personnel of the organs to quickly break through.
At this time, Zuo Quan suddenly found that a porter carrying a confidential file box had not come up, and sent guards back to look for it. It was getting dark, and some people were trapped inside the mountain pass, and Zuo Quan was anxious.
Ignoring the enemy aircraft bombing and intensive artillery attack, Zuo Quan rushed up to a mountain pass northwest of Cross Ridge and shouted, Don't be afraid, hurry up, and climb over the mountain beam to be safe! So everyone quickly followed Zuo Quan to break through.
At this time, Zuo Quan seemed to suddenly realize something, and he turned back to order the team, and you all fell down! I'm fine in the past, you guys go again! As soon as the words stopped, he sped forward, and with a few minutes to go, he was able to climb over the mountain beams and enter the safe zone.
Just at this moment, several shells roared and exploded on the mountain beam, and after the smoke cleared, everyone did not see Zuo Quan's figure. When everyone rushed to the hill desperately, they saw Zuo Quan lying quietly on the side of the mountain road, with blood constantly gushing out of his head.
Everyone was crying so hard that no one could believe that Zuo Quan, the deputy chief of staff of the generation who had just commanded everyone to break through, and zuo Quan, the deputy chief of staff who was both respected and loved in their hearts, was so heroically sacrificed.
In October, deputy commander-in-chief Peng Dehuai personally wrote an inscription for Zuo Quan, the military and civilian general of the Jin-Hebei Luyu Border Region, in which Peng Zong poignantly wrote that he and Zuo Quan were "deeper in each other and knew more deeply", revealing his regret and sorrow for zuo quan's sacrifice.
Zuo Quan (first from left), Peng Dehuai (second from left)
After learning of Zuo Quan's sacrifice, his wife Liu Zhilan wrote these affectionate words with blood and tears when he deeply mourned him in Yan'an.
When I was notified of your sacrifice, I was trapped in desperate grief, weeping and weeping, unable to release the sorrow of the knot, devouring my heart and dripping blood.
"Am I not in a dream?" I often remind myself that while the sky is clear and the sun is shining, it is an absolutely irreparable fact.
I can't bear to imagine how you, who were originally energetic and healthy, were tossing and turning in a pool of blood, nor did I dare to imagine how you would feel nostalgic for life when you cut off your last breath and thoughts, when you thought of your unfinished career and dear people!
I regret not being by your side and sharing your pain, which is an eternal hate!