At the first awarding ceremony of New China in 1955, such a "hero of the towel" was awarded the rank of major general, becoming the only female general in the history of New China!
Her husband was General Gan Siqi, one of the 55 generals first conferred by New China.
Speaking of which, you should know who this female general is! Yes, she is the founding major general, General Li Zhen.
In this article, let's talk about the legendary deeds of General Li Zhen, if you are also interested in history, you may wish to calm down and read it, maybe there will be different gains.
Child bride career
Li Zhen was born in February 1908 to a poor peasant family in Liuyang County, Hunan Province. His family had only two acres of thin fields and a few grass houses, and his life was extremely difficult.
When Li Zhen was very young, her father died of illness, leaving behind a widow and daughters.
Due to the poverty of the family, the mother alone could not support their sisters, so when Li Zhen was 6 years old, her mother tearfully sent her to an ancient family as a "child bridesmaid".
In fact, at that time, the child brides-in-law was actually a disguised "mane"!
In the days of her in-laws' family, Li Zhen did not know how much scolding she had suffered and how many beatings she had suffered, and as a young child, she had no other way but to endure all this in silence.
Unconsciously, Li Zhen lived in such an environment for 9 years. As she grew older, Li Zhen's boldness also grew.
Once, she quietly discussed with several girls who were also "child brides", preparing to escape from the ancient family and pursue freedom.
Unexpectedly, Li Zhen's thoughts were detected by the Gu family. In order to let her stay in the ancient family forever, continue her incense and work as a cow and a horse, the mother-in-law decided to let her marry her son immediately. He tried to use marriage to tie Li Zhen up permanently.
In the first month of 1924, at the age of 16, Li Zhen and her husband held a wedding, officially beginning her miserable and helpless married life.
Li Zhen's husband, named 'Gu Tianshun', was four years older than her, and was a loyal but hot-tempered man.
After marrying her husband, Li Zhen's status in the family was not only not improved, but also often beaten and abused.
In the long run, Li Zhen gradually became hostile to the Gu family!
Originally, I thought that this honest and loyal husband would decisively stand up to stop his wife when he was abused, but who knows, her husband Gu Tianshun did not stand up to help Li Zhen, but often helped his family to embarrass her.
In fact, Gu Tianshun has always only regarded Li Zhen as a maid in the family, although the two of them are married, but it is only a superficial couple, and there is no love or no love at all. Therefore, the relationship between the two after marriage is not very harmonious.
In the spring of 1926, at the age of 18, Li Zhen signed up for the Yonghe Women's Association, a secret women's organization led by the Communist Party.
In this way, Li Zhen, who was born as a child bride, has since embarked on the road of revolution!
Later, the Northern Expedition army entered Liuyang, and Li Zhen took the lead in recruiting food for the Northern Expeditionary Army, becoming a famous female revolutionary in the local area. Soon after, Li Zhen was elected as a member of the Yonghe District Women's Federation.
In March of the following year, Li Zhen joined the Communist Party of China under the introduction of Zhang Qilong, secretary of the Yonghe District Committee of the Communist Party of China, and officially became a glorious Communist Party member.
In May 1927, Xu Kexiang, commander of the 33rd Regiment of the 35th Army of the National Revolutionary Army, which was reorganized from the former warlord troops, launched the famous "Ma-Ri Incident" in Changsha, Hunan Province.
During this period, Xu Kexiang mobilized his troops to launch a surprise attack on the Kuomintang Hunan Provincial Party Department, the Provincial Federation of Trade Unions, and other organs, confiscated the workers' pickets, and wantonly hunted down and killed more than a hundred Communists and revolutionary masses.
At that time, Li Zhen was also blacklisted by rebels, and notices of her wanting were posted all over the streets of Yonghe City.
In order to avoid being implicated, Li Zhen's in-laws repeatedly stated that they had severed ties with this daughter-in-law and sent a letter of resignation to Li Zhen's mother.
At this time, Li Zhen was hiding in the deep mountains behind her mother's house. After the mother who came to deliver the meal handed her the letter of resignation, Li Zhen smiled happily and thought: After suffering for more than ten years, now she is finally free!
Figure | The Ma-Ri Incident
Second marriage
Soon after Li Zhen joined the party, Chiang Kai-shek, Wang Jingwei, and Xu Kexiang launched counter-revolutionary coups one after another, and Xu Kexiang even posted notices everywhere to arrest Li Zhen.
However, such white terror and bloody massacres did not frighten the real revolutionaries, and the enemy's search and arrest was slightly relaxed, and Li Zhen began to go out to contact the surviving comrades and secretly engage in underground revolutionary activities.
In October 1927, Zhang Qilong, Wang Shoudao, and others were instructed by the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China to return to the Dongxiang area of Liuyang to rebuild the party organization.
After breaking free from the shackles of feudal marriage, Li Zhen felt extremely relaxed and happy, and she was able to devote 100% of her energy in carrying out revolutionary work.
At this time, she seems to have completely given up her personal emotional life and concentrated on revolution!
However, at this time, Li Zhen is only a 20-year-old girl after all, who is in the age of youth and also needs the nourishment of love.
And at this moment, a familiar figure suddenly broke into her emotional world! He was Zhang Qilong, then director of the Propaganda Department of the Liuyang County CPC Committee and political commissar of the Liudong guerrillas.
Figure | Zhang Qilong
Zhang Qilong, born in 1900 in Yonghe, Liuyang, graduated from Liuyang Normal School in his early years and was a veritable "intellectual".
Zhang Qilong is one of the founders of the liuyang local party organization and a former secretary of the Yonghe district party committee of the Communist Party of China. As we said above, Zhang Qilong is also one of Li Zhen's introductions to the party.
For such a cultured and capable young leader, Li Zhen has always respected him.
In particular, Zhang Qilong's concern for her made her feel warmer than ever, so gradually, this respect turned into love. But out of women's shyness, Li Zhen had to hide this love in her heart first.
In fact, Zhang Qilong had long noticed Li Zhen, who was shrewd and capable, and full of youthful vitality, but Zhang Qilong considered that he was a full 8 years older than her and was her leader, so it was always difficult to open his mouth.
This layer of window paper was never broken until a "special" battle finally led to the marriage of the two of them.
It was one day in May 1928, when Zhang Qilong was unfortunately caught by Tuan Ding of the RegimentAlpine On his way to a meeting of the Xiangdong Special Committee.
After the news reached the Liudong guerrillas, everyone was in a hurry and discussed how to rescue Zhang Qilong.
Just when everyone was hesitating, Li Zhen stood up and said: I have a plan. We can form a welcoming team, mix into the Guanyin Pond, and then cooperate inside and outside, and hit the enemy by surprise, so that we can definitely rescue Zhang Qilong.
Li Zhen's opinion has been unanimously agreed by everyone.
The next day, a lively greeting party appeared near GuanyinTang, and a band and palanquin dressed as more than a dozen guerrillas carried a flower palanquin toward GuanyinTang.
The Tuan Ding who was standing guard also foolishly thought that this was a big family marrying a relative, and that there was such a scene. So I didn't even think about it, so I let them pass the level.
However, those tuan dings could not have dreamed that what was sitting in this flower palanquin was not a bride, but Li Zhen, the "female bandit leader" they were looking for. Beneath the seemingly rich dowry were more than a dozen long and short guns.
After the "greeting team" successfully passed the checkpoint, they rushed straight to the RegimentAlpine!
As soon as they reached the gate, they suddenly stopped, and the welcoming party disguised by the guerrillas immediately drew their guns from under the dowry and attacked the regimental defense bureau in one fell swoop.
Li Zhen also jumped out of the palanquin with a gun and rushed into the regimental defense bureau with his comrades, successfully saving Zhang Qilong.
In fact, the comrades had already seen the feelings between Zhang Qilong and Li Zhen, so they took the opportunity to joke: "You are saved this time, and you should especially thank our 'bride' Li Zhengao!" ”
Zhang Qilong asked a little embarrassedly: "Then how can it be considered 'special thanks'?" ”
At this time, someone interjected: "The best way to thank her, of course, is to let her be a real bride once!" ”
As soon as these words came out, Zhang Qilong and Li Zhen immediately blushed. But Zhang Qilong also knew that this was the best time for him to confess to Li Zhen, and once he missed it, he didn't know how long he would have to wait!
Finally, Zhang Qilong plucked up the courage to speak his heart to Li Zhen, who was wearing red and green and his face was red: "I agree, Comrade Li Zhen, what about you?" Li Zhen nodded shyly.
Perhaps among the revolutionary comrades there are no so-called sweet words, only the reality of mutual willingness.
A few days later, Zhang Qilong and Li Zhen held a simple and lively wedding in the guerrillas.
However, although the love of the war years is precious and sweet, it is also the most difficult and even full of pain.
Just a month after they were married, Zhang Qilong was ordered to leave the guerrillas and go to Liuyang to serve as the secretary of the Liuyang County CPC Committee.
Figure | Hero of the Towel, General Li Zhen
At the beginning of 1929, Li Zhen became pregnant, which was a happy thing for Zhang Qilong and Li Zhen, who was pregnant for the first time.
However, the environment in which they lived was too harsh and dangerous, and the revolutionary struggle was taking place at all times.
Once, Li Zhen led a part of the guerrillas in an encounter with the enemy.
After a fierce battle, due to the outnumbered, the remaining five guerrillas, including Li Zhen, were forced to the cliff by the enemy army.
At this critical moment, Li Zhen and several other guerrillas did not hesitate to jump off the cliff.
In the end, 3 of the 5 guerrillas were sacrificed, and Li Zhen and another guerrilla survived because they just jumped onto a big tree.
However, Li Zhen's life was saved, but the child in her belly who had just turned four months old was gone.
After this miscarriage, Li Zhen agreed with her husband Zhang Qilong not to have children for the time being until the victory of the revolution and concentrate on revolutionary work.
Later, Zhang Qilong was ordered to go to the Xianggan Soviet District to participate in the task of forming the Xianggan Provincial Committee of the COMMUNIST Party of China, and served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and vice chairman of the Executive Committee of the Provincial Soviet Government, secretary of the party group, and provincial military minister.
Li Zhen also followed him to the Xianggan Su District, where he served as director of the Provincial Women's Committee and political commissar of the Military Region's Volunteer School.
At this time, Zhang Qilong and Li Zhen both threw themselves into the struggle to build and develop the Revolutionary Base Area in Xianggan Province.
However, the road to revolution is always bumpy and bumpy!
In 1933, Zhang Qilong was secretly imprisoned on charges of "class dissidents."
A few days later, someone talked to Li Zhen and gave her two choices: one was to draw a line with Zhang Qilong and divorce her immediately; the other was to leave the revolutionary ranks.
For Li Zhen, she never believed in these "crimes" of her husband, but she had to agree with such "organizational conclusions" ideologically.
She, a bitter woman from a child bridesmaid, was given a new life by the revolution, and it was the revolution that made her see the direction of her life.
So she has always regarded the revolution as an incomparably sacred thing, for which she can give up everything, including her own life, and of course, the sweet love she has been looking forward to.
So, after a difficult and painful ideological struggle, she finally agreed to sign her name on the divorce papers.
In order not to involve his wife, Zhang Qilong also signed a divorce letter in prison. A revolutionary couple who are intimate and inseparable are thus torn apart by something bad!
In May 1949, Zhang Qilong was appointed as the first secretary of the Heilongjiang Provincial Party Committee of the Communist Party of China and the financial director of Heilongjiang Province.
After the founding of New China, he also served as secretary of the Liaodong Provincial CPC Committee and political commissar of the Liaodong Military Region, and later concurrently served as the commander of the Military Region.
Mr. He facilitated the third marriage
In October 1934, after the failure of the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign, the main central Red Army was forced to carry out a strategic shift and began a long march of 25,000 miles.
On the eve of the Long March, He Long, commander-in-chief of the Red Second Front, said to Li Zhen, then director of the Organization Department of the Sixth Army of the Red Second Front: "We are going to start the Long March!" The Long March is very far and hard, let me introduce you to a companion! His name is Gan Siqi, he is the political commissar of the Red Eighteenth Division, or a student who stayed in the Soviet Union, with high culture and integrity. ”
In fact, Li Zhen is no stranger to this Gan Siqi!
As early as 1931, when Gan Siqi was the director of the Propaganda Department of the Xianggan Provincial Party Committee, Li Zhen happened to be transferred to the Xianggan Provincial Party Committee, and the two often had contacts in their work.
Gan Siqi studied in the Soviet Union in his early years, and his literary quality was polite and talented, and Li Zhen's impression of him has always been very good.
However, to talk about marriage with him, Li Zhen never thought about it. Perhaps Li Zhen felt that her cultural level was very low, and she was not worthy of this intellectual who had drunk foreign ink.
Therefore, in the face of Mr. He's matchmaking, Li Zhen did not agree too much, on the one hand, out of consideration for the current complex situation; on the other hand, he felt that he was not worthy of Gan Siqi in terms of cultural level.
Then, Elder He found Gan Siqi again and said to him: "There is a female soldier in the Red Sixth Army named Li Zhen, she fights bravely, and she can cook, there are not many female comrades in the Red Second Front, you can't miss this opportunity!" ”
At that time, Gan Siqi and Li Zhen were both cadres of the Red Second Front, and the two had many opportunities to contact each other and understand each other more thoroughly.
Finally, under the mediation of Mr. He, they accepted such an arrangement!
At the beginning of the Long March, Mr. He and Ren Bishi personally took the marriage, and borrowed a house from a local hometown family as their wedding room.
Of course, there is another theory about the marriage of Li Zhen and Gan Siqi, which was brokered by Ren Bi's lover Chen Chunying.
But either way, this revolutionary couple is finally happily married!
Figure | General Gan Siqi and General Li Zhen
People who know Li Zhen and Gan Siqi know that the couple raised more than 20 children in their later years, but those were all martyrs' orphans, and none of them were born to their husbands and wives.
But in fact, the couple also had a son, but because the living conditions during the Long March were too difficult, the child did not survive.
The Long March was not only a long way away, but also frequent battles, tight supplies, and a changeable climate, which was a great test for every Red Army soldier, and for Li Zhen, who was pregnant, its difficulties were even greater.
In addition, due to the needs of the battle, Gan Siqi was not always able to take care of Li Zhen's side, and many things could only be done by Li Zhen himself.
One day, Li Zhen suddenly developed a high fever, but the troops lacked medical treatment, and Gan Siqi had to sell the only valuable gold pen on his body, which was awarded to him by the Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow, and buy injections to treat his wife.
When the troops crossed the meadow, Li Zhen was more than seven months pregnant!
Due to the harsh climatic conditions of the grassland, and the lack of clean water and supplies, they trekked through the trap-filled grassland swamp all day long, and due to overwork and malnutrition, Li Zhen, who was more than seven months pregnant, was born prematurely.
In the difficult conditions of no good food security, not even the basic rations for hunger, Li Zhen did not have milk to feed her children.
To this end, enthusiastic comrades-in-arms sent torn clothes as diapers, and also sent barley noodles that even they were reluctant to eat as nutritional products.
Although their comrades-in-arms gave their precious rations and clothing, these were too limited. Before Li Zhen could walk out of the meadow, this poor little life died! Since then, Li Zhen has never conceived a child again.
Later, after Li Zhen and his wife successfully arrived in northern Shaanxi, Mr. he excitedly called them: "Two model cadres, a revolutionary couple!" ”
However, who can know how much bitterness and pain Li Zhen and his wife have endured behind such praise.
Both husband and wife are generals
In September 1955, the Chinese People's Liberation Army implemented the rank system for the first time, and Gan Siqi was awarded the rank of general. Li Zhen was awarded the rank of major general, becoming the only female general in New China.
Gan Siqi and Li Zhen are also the only "general couple" in the history of New China!
However, it is regrettable and sad that General Gan Siqi, who has made outstanding achievements, died young in 1964, leaving behind his wife Li Zhen, who has been dependent on him for 30 years, and more than 20 martyrs and orphans who have been raised by them.
In 1975, after Li Zhen's reputation was restored, his rank was set at the rank of deputy of the Grand Military Region, according to which Li Zhen could have enjoyed good treatment, but Li Zhen still lived in a dilapidated courtyard at the foot of Xiangshan Mountain. The general political leaders also advised her to move to the city many times, but she never agreed.
Before the Spring Festival in 1983, the superior leader went to Li Zhen's house to pay respects to the New Year and took out 200 yuan as a welfare fee, but Li Zhen shook his head and refused, saying: "I can't collect this money." We surviving old comrades, compared with those comrades who sacrificed their lives, are already very happy, please don't give special care to the organization anymore! ”
Figure | At the ceremony in 1955, Li Zhen was awarded the rank of major general
In March 1990, General Li Zhen officially completed her legendary life at the age of 82!
In addition to the 4 medals that record her outstanding military achievements, all her relics are: 4 old rattan chairs that have been used for 15 years and are reluctant to throw away; 1 marching box that has not been changed for more than 40 years; and 1 refrigerator that has been used for 14 years.
In addition, there are 11,000 yuan, 2,500 yuan treasury bills and 2 small gold bars left over from the war years.
As for the distribution of this money, General Li Zhen made it very clear in his will: part of it was used to pay party fees, part of it was donated to the Soong Ching Ling Children's Welfare Foundation, and part of it was donated to her husband Gan Siqi's hometown of Ningxiang County, Hunan Province, for the development of education.
With his own practical actions, the general fulfilled her loyalty to the party as a Communist Party member for the last time, and also expressed her love for her husband and his hometown.
Where there are good years, it is just someone who carries the weight for us! Finally, let us pay our highest respect to the founding major general and hero of the people's republic, General Li Zhen!