In 1955, new China first implemented the rank system, and there was only one woman among more than a thousand generals, Major General Li Zhen, but this did not mean that women's contributions on the revolutionary road were small.
The legendary woman I want to talk about today joined the revolution very early, walked through the twenty-five thousand miles long march, spent most of her time working in the rear, her family gave too much to the organization, and her father, brother, and husband died one after another. At the time of her death, three admirals supported her spirit, dozens of generals, and nearly a hundred provincial and municipal leaders sent their own lines, and this honor is difficult to measure by military rank.
Her name is Qiu Yihan.
Qiu Yihan was born in 1907 to a progressive family in Pingjiang, Hunan Province, her father Qiu Zixia served as finance minister of the Tonggu County Soviet government, and her brother Qiu Bing, who served as the minister of economy in Xiang'egan Province, grew up in such an environment, Qiu Yihan was also deeply influenced, and joined the revolution at the age of 19.
In two years, she grew up to become the head of the organization of the ninth district of Xiang'e, Gansu, and her thinking progressed at the same time as she met her own love.
In 1929, Yuan Guoping, then the propaganda minister of Xiang'egan, went to Pingjiang to inspect, and found a unique scenery in the team, Qiu Yihan carried a shell gun at his waist and pedaled ramie grass shoes, looking heroic and cool. Later, because the two had to contact often because of their work, they developed different feelings over time, and established a revolutionary marriage with the consent of the organization.
Unfortunately, during the war years, there were not too many sons and daughters, and the two quickly ran to their respective posts because of the needs of the revolution, and soon the Kuomintang reactionaries launched a siege and suppression of Pingjiang, and Qiu Yihan could only move to Jiangxi with the troops.
In a battle, Qiu Yihan was unfortunately hit by a stray bullet in order to save his wounded comrades, and this hand has been greatly affected since then.
None of these difficulties affected Qiu Yihan's revolutionary enthusiasm, she was still very active in contributing to the organization, and her good performance made her position continue to rise, successively serving as a youth officer of the Political Department of the Third Red Army, a women's minister of the Xianggan Provincial Party Committee, and a political teacher of the Communist Youth League of the Red Army University.
In October 1934, due to the failure of the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign, the Red Army was forced to march, and given the arduousness of the road, only 30 female comrades were allowed to set out with the troops, and Qiu Yihan was one of them.
Qiu Yihan wrapped her small feet in her early years, and her movements were not very convenient, but she overcame various difficulties, was not afraid of suffering, was not afraid of being tired, and has been trying to take care of the wounded.
When crossing the snowy mountain, the drawbacks of those small feet still appeared, Qiu Yihan fell on all fours and eight forks many times, and almost rolled off the cliff when he was most dangerous, and it was coincidental that Yuan Guoping and the guards passed by behind him before he rescued her.
After a difficult Long March, the Red Army finally reached northern Shaanxi, and Qiu Yihan immediately served as the women's minister of the Longdong Special Committee.
Qiu Yihan and Yuan Guoping had three children in total, they named their eldest daughter 'Yayin', Yayin was sent to Qiu Yihan's parents not long after birth, but because Qiu Yihan's father and brother died one after another, the grandmother was unable to raise her, and the young Yayin was sent to be a child bridesmaid;
Their second daughter was sent to Yuan Guoping's parents, but unfortunately, because of illness and no money for medical treatment, she died early;
The only son, Yuan Zhenwei, also lived with his grandmother, but he did not have money to study, and at one point he had to beg for a living.
The encounter of the blood relatives had already made Qiu Yihan uncomfortable enough, but then there was an even bigger blow.
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Qiu Yihan and his wife were both assigned to work in the New Fourth Army Military Department, Yuan Guoping served as the director of the Political Department of the New Fourth Army, and Qiu Yihan served as the chief of the Propaganda Section.
At that time, Yuan Guoping and more than 9,000 people of the New Fourth Army were ordered to move north, but they did not expect that the Kuomintang had already laid a trap and surrounded our army with nearly ten times the strength.
After the troops were scattered, Yuan Guoping commanded the troops around him to break through, but unfortunately there were too many enemies, and in the fierce battle, Yuan Guoping fell in a grass with several bullets in his body, and was later discovered by another breakthrough team.
The warriors wanted to protect Yuan Guoping and kill them together, but Yuan Guoping knew that his appearance would only drag down the warriors, in order to let more people break through, Yuan Guoping felt the pistol and pointed it at the head and pulled the trigger to sacrifice heroically.
At this time, Yuan Guoping was only 35 years old, which was a heroic move, and Zeng Xisheng, who was then the political commissar of the Seventh Division of the New Fourth Army, lamented that everyone was a soldier who sacrificed to cover the chief, but Yuan Guoping heroically committed suicide for his subordinates and for the soldiers, which is rare in the world.
At that time, Qiu Yihan escaped a disaster because of his medical treatment in Shanghai, and was very sad after learning the news of her husband's sacrifice, but after her physical recovery, she still beat her spirit to continue to work for the revolution, and on the recommendation of Peng Xuefeng, she went to the fourth branch of the Anti-Japanese University and cultivated a large number of talents for the organization.
After the Battle of the Crossing River, Qiu Yihan transferred from the army to the localities, participated in the takeover of Nanjing, and later served as the secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Women's Committee, the standing committee of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee, the executive committee of the All-China Women's Federation, and other positions, and was an outstanding female revolutionary.
Unfortunately, many years of war and heavy work crushed Qiu Yihan's body, and Qiu Yihan died of illness in Nanjing in 1956 at the age of 49.
At the time of burial, the three senior comrades-in-arms Song Shilun, Tang Liang, and Zhong Qiguang would support her spirit, and dozens of generals, nearly 100 provincial and municipal leaders, and tens of thousands of people sent her off.
Because Qiu Yihan and Yuan Guoping's son Yuan Zhenwei were still young, the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee convened a standing committee and finally made a decision: Yuan Zhenwei was entrusted to Jiang Weiqing, the first secretary of the provincial party committee, to be raised.
After reading the experiences of these revolutionaries, we will understand even more how heavy the "victory is not easy to come by"! The people of insight of that era really threw their heads and spilled their blood for the sake of the country, and put the small family behind them.
Therefore, we should remember their deeds, and we must work hard to live, so as not to live up to their efforts!