As soon as the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was declared victorious, the soldiers and civilians of the Liberated Areas launched an all-out and large-scale counteroffensive against the Japanese army and the puppet army, and our war departments were in the midst of exciting and tense work. On September 15, 1945, a plane painted with red five stars flew over Yan'an, circled Yan'an a few times, and landed on the airport. The central authorities immediately sent someone to the airport to meet the visitors, because it was already clear that it was a Soviet plane that had landed. A Soviet colonel and a Chinese comrade got off the plane. That Chinese comrade was Zeng Kelin, commander of the Jidong Military Subdistrict. At that time, Zeng Kelin and Li Yunchang's troops had entered Shenyang and made contact with the Soviet military that occupied Shenyang. In order to contact the Central Committee of our Party, the Soviet Far East Command decided to send a colonel, accompanied by Zeng Kelin, to Yan'an by plane. He arrived on the fifteenth and held talks with the Central Committee of our Party on the sixteenth, hoping that the Central Committee would soon send responsible comrades to the northeast in order to coordinate the actions of our side and the Soviet army.
At that time, Comrades Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai were negotiating with Chiang Kai-shek in Chongqing, and the work of the Central Committee was presided over by Comrades Liu Shaoqi and others. After discussion, the Central Committee made a decision on the same day to send six comrades to the northeast on this plane. The six comrades were Peng Zhen, Chen Yun, Ye Jizhuang, Wu Xiuquan, Duan Zijun and Mo Chunhe. Because the Soviet Side had military ranks, and for the sake of convenience in our work, we also had to have corresponding ranks in dealing with them, so in the name of Chairman Mao of the Central Military Commission, we awarded the ranks of Lieutenant Generals Peng Zhen, Chen Yun, and Ye Jizhuang, and I was a major general, and Duan Zijun and Mo Chunhe were colonels, and we also wrote a letter of appointment in both Chinese and Russian languages.
On the evening of the sixteenth, Comrade Ye Jianying formally informed me, announced to me the decision of the Central Committee, and explained that he would leave in the morning of the next day [the seventeenth], and said with concern that his wife and children would be taken care of by him, so that I could leave with confidence.
On September 17, we flew northeast in that Soviet plane. It was a Douglas-style twin-engine aircraft. At first, it was still flying normally, but then there was a problem, the plane did not arrive in Shenyang, flew to Shanhaiguan and landed, the pilot was very unsettled, hurriedly went down from the middle of the runway, and as a result, rushed out of the runway and plunged into a rice field. The tail of the plane cocked up, and the fuselage stopped in a vertical state. Of the six of us, Duan Zijun and Mo Chunhe were all slightly injured by the impact, and Ye Jizhuang was hit the hardest, seriously injured, and his legs were crushed by overturned oil drums and radio equipment. Peng Zhen also suffered a concussion. Most fortunately, Comrade Chen Yun, when the hatch of the plane was knocked open, he was pushed into the cab at once, but he was not injured. The Soviet comrades immediately rescued us one by one. First remove the thing that was pressing on Ye Jizhuang's body, and then lift him to the flat ground and lie down. Just at this moment, Comrade Zhu Qiwen, director of our Jidong Bureau, arrived with a squad, and seeing our embarrassing situation, he quickly arranged for us to rest, giving us great comfort. The next day, he specially sent a train to take us to Shenyang.
On this day, the anniversary of the 918 Incident, we took a special car sent by Zhu Qiwen to Shenyang. Comrades Zeng Kelin and Li Yunchang arranged temporary accommodation for us, and then we moved to Zhang Zuolin's Grand Marshal's Mansion, and later 200 were sent to the Sanjing Road Museum in Shenyang. It was a fortress-like bungalow, with a large house in the middle for our office and accommodation, and the wall was surrounded by neat bungalows, just like barracks, which just lived in a company of guards.