In March 1990, Li Zhen, 83, died in Beijing, ending more than 60 years of struggle for the party and the people.
From 1955 to 1965, the Chinese People's Liberation Army implemented a rank system.
Among the generals who were awarded military ranks, Li Zhen was the only female major general.
Premier Zhou Enlai personally awarded her the medal and did not forget to praise her as "the first female general of New China." ”
"The sons and daughters of China, Duo Qizhi, do not love red clothes and love arms."
Chairman Mao's poem "Seven Absolute Portraits for Female MilitiaMen" vividly summarizes the legendary life of General Li Zhen.
She followed the leadership of the Communist Party of China and made great contributions to the revolutionary movement to liberate the people.
When she passed away, the staff around her cleaned up her belongings, and they couldn't help but feel sour.
In the poorly furnished courtyard, General Li Zhen left only these few things:
Four medals of supreme glory awarded by the state, a dilapidated marching box, four rattan chairs that have been used for 15 years, and a refrigerator that has been used for a long time.
General Li Zhen's legacy is also very small, only more than 10,000 yuan in cash, a few treasury bills, and two gold bars she saved during the War of Resistance.
For the distribution of property, Li Zhen had already made a will, and the staff at the scene read out General Li's plan with tears in their eyes.
She decided to donate all these assets, one of which was two gold bars, one of which was left to her hometown of Liuyang County, Hunan Province.
The other was donated to her husband, Gan Siqi's hometown of Ningxiang County, Hunan Province, and the money was used to support the development of education in the two places.
Another 10,000 yuan of deposits and treasury bills should be donated to the Soong Ching Ling Children's Welfare Foundation, and if there is any surplus money, it will be handed over to the party organization as a party fee.
The relatives and friends present shed tears of emotion when they heard Li Zhen's arrangement, and how selfless and great it was for the heroine to dedicate her life to the motherland and the people.
From a child bride in the old society to a generation of female major generals, Li Zhen experienced three marriages, lost two children, and could not have children again for life.
She is affectionately called "Mother Li" by countless children, what kind of legendary life has Li Zhen experienced?
From child brides to revolutionaries
In 1908, the land of China was still under the rule of the Qing government.
Faint and incompetent rulers have left countless people at the bottom living in harsh conditions.
Most of the powerless and powerless ordinary people live in hunger and cold.
Li Zhen was born into an ordinary peasant family in rural Hunan Province, and his parents were farmers who relied on the sky to eat.
They do not have their own land, they can only plant two and a half acres of land for the landlord's family, in addition to going fishing to subsidize the family.
Li Zhen's parents raised a total of six children, but these six children are girls.
In the old society of China, boys were a valuable labor resource in the family, and boys could increase the family's source of income by going out to work.
Li Zhen's family has given birth to six daughters in a row, not only no one to share the pressure of supporting the family for their parents, but also so many more mouths, which makes the life of Li Zhen's family very tight.
Even more unfortunately, Li Zhen's father died when she was six years old.
After losing the top pillar of the family, Li Zhen's mother pulled six children and made it difficult to gain a foothold in society.
In order to seek a way for her daughters to survive, Li's mother could only choose a method that was very common in that era, that is, to sell Li Zhen to other people's families as a child bridesmaid.
Li Zhen was sold to a family practicing medicine, whose owner's surname was Gu, and there were still a few small sums of money in the family.
Li Zhen gave the Gu family a child bride, although it is not a good home, at least she can manage to eat and drink without starving to death, Li Zhen has been doing this for more than ten years.
In old China, the days of being a child bride in the husband's family were very hard.
The girl was sold to the owner, which was equivalent to a cheap labor force, and the status was like a cow and sheep to be slaughtered.
When Li Zhen arrived at the Gu family, he had to worry about various matters, and the people of the Gu family spent money to buy Li Zhen and did not treat her as an equal person.
At the age of 16, Li Zhen married her husband Gu Tianshun, and after marriage, she lived an unimaginably sad life.
Gu Tianshun was very disrespectful to her, and her husband encountered unpleasant things outside, so he went home and took Li Zhen out of anger.
Li Zhen was a weak woman, how could she beat a tall man, not to mention that except for the Ancient Family, Li Zhen had nowhere to go.
Li Zhen was often beaten by Gu Tianshun with blood in his mouth and nose, and there was no good place on his body.
Li Zhen, who had no one to rely on, could only hide her voice, and whenever she looked at the bruises and purple scars on her body, she was secretly sad.
But Li Zhen is a woman who is willing to disobey the fate of the arrangement, and she does not want to do this for the rest of her life.
Now that she was too weak to resist, Li Zhen was waiting for a good opportunity to change her destiny, and this opportunity was really waited for by her.
In 1926, the Peasant Movement in Hunan entered a stage in full swing, and the Communist Party held a large number of peasant night schools in Hunan.
They taught knowledge to the broad masses of peasant friends and secretly disseminated revolutionary ideas.
It is hoped that an ideological change will be set off on the land of China and these women who have been oppressed by the feudal system will be liberated.
On this day, Li Zhen listened to the sister of the neighbor and said: "The Communist Party has come to our district and has also formed a women's liberation association. ”
The germ of rebellion had long taken root in Li Zhen's mind, and she had been struggling to find a companion to fight against the feudal system.
The arrival of the Communist Party allowed Li Zhen, who had survived under the old Chinese system, to find a new way to survive.
She is desperate to change her destiny and live her true self.
When Li Zhen heard the news, she pleaded with the neighbor's sister: "You take me with you to the women's association." ”
With the help of a neighbor's sister, Li Zhen contacted the comrades of the Women's Association.
When filling out the form, the comrade who received the reception asked Li Zhen: "What is your name?" ”
Li Zhen could only say his nickname: "DanWazi", and the comrade hurriedly waved his hand: "Oh, what is your name when I ask you?" ”
Since Li Zhen was born, no one has ever given her an official name.
Li Zhen's father hoped that his daughter-in-law would give birth to a boy, and when he saw that it was another baby girl, he sighed and gave her a nickname called "Dan Baby." ”
At this moment, an idea popped into Li Zhen's mind, she thought she wanted to join the Communist Party organization.
When carrying out revolutionary work, we must adhere to our own hearts and be loyal, and it is better to call "Li Zhen" to show our hearts.
She immediately reported her name and asked the staff to record it.
In the years of war that followed, Li Zhen proved her determination to the revolution with her actions.
In March 1927, at the age of 19, Li Zhen smoothly became a member of the party organization.
After Li Zhen's participation in the Great Revolution in Hunan failed, party personnel were put on the list of tracing by the reactionaries.
Li Zhen showed no fear in the face of the enemy's pursuit, she said: "If I Li Zhen were really afraid of death, I would not have joined the revolution. I will never betray the Party organization! ”
Three marriages, two miscarriages, and a lifetime childlessness
Li Zhen experienced three marriages in her life, and two miscarriages in between.
After the second miscarriage, she fell ill and left Li Zhen unable to have children for life.
It can be seen what a woman has to pay to survive in the cruel war years.
Li Zhen's first marriage was sold to the Gu family as a child bridesmaid, and when she was an ignorant girl, her mother married her to Gu Tianshun.
This so-called marriage is not at all happy, Gu Tianshun regards Li Zhen as a servant he bought, often punching and kicking her, Li Zhen can not feel a little warmth in such a family environment.
After the people of the Gu family knew that Li Zhen had joined the Communist Party and had also participated in the revolutionary movement and was blacklisted by the reactionaries, they tried every means to draw a clear line with Li Zhen.
Gu Tianshun wrote a letter of resignation and sent it to Li Zhen's mother, ending this absurd marriage.
Li Zhen carefully read this letter written by the Gu family, and there was no sense of loss in her heart.
Instead, her face was filled with a comfortable smile, which was the first step for her to get rid of the oppression of feudal society.
Li Zhen's second marriage was during the White Terror, and she and her comrade-in-arms Zhang Qilong joined the Liudong guerrillas.
Zhang Qilong
The two men used their wisdom to defuse the trap of the Kuomintang reactionaries in their pursuit and blockade, and also joined forces to give the Kuomintang army a fierce counterattack.
In the process of fighting to support each other, the two formed a deep friendship, and the bud of love also emerged.
The opportunity that led to their marriage is a small story from the revolution.
In one operation, Li Zhen disguised herself as Zhang Qilong's bride to confuse the enemy, and in the battle of guns and bullets, Li Zhen used this clever strategy to successfully rescue Zhang Qilong and save his life.
After successfully escaping from danger, the other comrades-in-arms quipped: "Li Zhen disguised herself as your bride and saved your life, if you really married her, wouldn't it also be a beautiful thing?" ”
Zhang Qilong heard this and secretly wrote it down, and sure enough, within a few days, he showed his heart to Li Zhen, and the two of them formed a loving couple.
What made people confused was that when the Xianggan Soviet District was suppressed and expanded, Zhang Qilong was classified as an outlier by his superiors.
In order not to drag down Li Zhen's future, Zhang Qilong was forced to agree to this rule.
Li Zhen appealed to the organization many times, but was not accepted by his superiors.
Their marriage was ruthlessly torn apart and ended with such a regrettable ending.
In 1934, Li Zhen and Gan Siqi worked together in the Red Sixth Army.
Gan Siqi served as head of the Organization Department, and Li Zhen was the director of the Political Department.
In the interaction of working together, Gan Siqi gradually fell in love with Li Zhen, a cheerful and capable girl.
After some deliberation, he made his heart clear to Li Zhen, and Li Zhen also favored Gan Siqi, a capable man.
Gan Si Qi
During the Spring Festival of the following year, the two borrowed a simple house from the people's homes as a wedding venue, and Comrade Ren Bishi was the main marriage of the two of them.
They held a new-style wedding without feudal customs such as worshiping heaven and earth, and agreed to support each other on the road of revolution and never abandon each other.
In this way, they were dependent on each other in the revolutionary years, participated in the arduous journey of the Red Army's Long March together to liberate the northwest side by side, and also crossed the Yalu River hand in hand, becoming a dazzling pair of "husband and wife stars" in the war years.
In the years of the Revolutionary War, people lived a life of upheaval and displacement, and the process of women getting pregnant and giving birth to children was very dangerous.
In times of material scarcity, women who are pregnant may lose their children if they are not careful.
In the winter of 1927, Li Zhen became pregnant for the first time, when the Hunan warlord He Jian led a regiment of troops to point the spearhead at Li Zhen's Liuyang guerrilla group, which he wanted to wipe out in one fell swoop.
Li Zhen, who was pregnant, led more than 30 guerrillas to encounter an enemy siege in a small pond in the countryside.
They fought hard for a day and a night, trapped on Mount Fushou.
The comrades-in-arms who accompanied li zhen were pregnant with the child in Li Zhen's belly and said that they would escort her away first.
Li Zhenyizheng verbally refused: "I am determined not to retreat in advance, and I am bound to give an explanation to the organization." ”
They fought for another day, and the guerrillas ran out of ammunition.
Only Li Zhen and four other guerrillas remained on the personnel.
This group of people was forced by the enemy to the edge of the Zushi Cliff, and the enemy on the opposite side shouted vigorously: "Catch the live!" Be sure to catch it alive! ”
Li Zhen was in front of them were the enemies who were frantically rushing forward, and behind them was the abyss that was close at hand.
Within a few seconds, Li Zhen made her own choice, and she shouted loudly: "I Li Zhen resolutely cannot be a prisoner, even if I jump down!" ”
After saying that, Li Zhen jumped into the cliff, and several other team members also jumped over.
Luckily, she and one of the team members were hung by a branch on the edge of the cliff and barely saved their lives.
But the child in Li Zhen's belly could not be saved because of the violent concussion of the mother's body, and Li Zhen looked at the blood under her body and sadly came from it.
This flesh and bone, which had been in his stomach for more than four months, left the world in this way.
Li Zhen was devastated and let the tears flow on her face, but it didn't help.
When Li Zhen became pregnant for the second time, she caught up with the Red Army's Long March, and the organization knew that Li Zhen was pregnant and asked her to raise a fetus in the same place, but this offer was rejected by Li Zhen.
She said: "I can't drag the tissue back. Along the way, Li Zhen stood up on her stomach and followed the others over the mountains and mountains, the whole process was very hard, and she did not complain in the slightest.
Under the long and arduous trek, Li Zhen's body lacked nutrition, and the whole person became weaker and weaker.
When she crossed the meadow, the child in Li Zhen's belly was seven months old, and she suddenly felt that there was an unknown movement in her stomach, and it turned out that the child was unfortunately born prematurely.
Under such harsh conditions, Li Zhen was hungry every day, had no nutrition on her body, and could not secrete enough milk for her children to eat.
At that time, the comrades-in-arms pieced together some torn clothes for the children to form a simple swaddle, and also sent some barley noodles for Li Zhen to eat.
But the lack of food all day made Li Zhen and the child miserable, and before they could get out of the meadow, the young life died prematurely.
Li Zhen herself suffered from wind and cold because she did not get enough rest after giving birth, and did not get timely medical treatment, and her body fell ill, and the doctor regrettably told Li Zhen that she could not have children in this life.
A lifetime of poverty, for the country and the people, the will is touching
Unable to have children, Li Zhen wanted to continue to contribute to the people after the establishment of the republic.
She learned that many martyrs died on the battlefield, and their children were still very young.
Li Zhen could not raise her own children, so she placed her compassion on the children of these ancestors.
She insisted on using her meager salary to fund the descendants of many martyrs, and under Li Zhen's careful teaching, the children felt that Li Zhen was as warm as their family.
She became the loving "Mother Li" in the hearts of the children, and Li Zhen continued to make selfless contributions to the country and people in this way in peacetime.
In 1955, the People's Liberation Army of China implemented the rank system for the first time, and on the afternoon of September 27, in the Huairen Hall in Zhongnanhai, Beijing, the state held the first ceremony in the history of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
These founding generals gathered together in the auditorium, and Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou personally presented medals.
Li Zhen was the only woman in that group of generals and a well-deserved hero.
Chairman Mao personally awarded Li Zhen the First Class Liberation Medal to Li Zhen, and Premier Zhou then gave her the rank of major general and praised Li Zhen in person as "the first female general in New China."
Li Zhen's husband, Gan Siqi, was awarded the rank of general, and the revolutionary couple was known as the "Two Stars of Husband and Wife in Shenzhou".
Destined to be recorded in the revolutionary history of the People's Republic of China, it has been praised by future generations.
Li Zhen's life was hard and simple, she held the position of a general, but she did not forget to think about problems from the perspective of the people.
She often said: "Every step of our party's achievements in the revolutionary war years are inseparable from the support of the people, and now that the environment has improved, we must not forget the people and the party's fine style of arduous struggle." ”
Li Zhen does not pay attention to a luxurious material life, her clothes and shoes are worn and reluctant to throw them away, and a bed of futons is reluctant to sew and mend for decades.
Her family lives in a courtyard at the foot of Beijing's Fragrant Mountain, which is in disrepair and has very simple daily furnishings.
In summer, the tiles on the roof are often missing, and rainwater leaks from the roof of the shed when thunderstorms suddenly arrive.
In winter, the elderly Li Zhen uses a boiler to heat up with several families who live with him, and when the coal burns, thick smoke will be generated.
The superior leaders repeatedly advised her to change to a better residence, but Li Zhen politely refused.
In March 1990, the 83-year-old Li Zhen passed away, and people could not help but be moved when they sorted out her "shabby" relics.
In addition to the four medals of honor that witnessed Li Zhen's hard life during the war years, the property she left behind can be described as "pitifully small".
Li Zhen was unable to have children and did not leave her own children, so she maintained her concerns with the party and the people.
I hope to use the savings I have saved in my life to make a little more contribution to the country.
The relatives and friends present listened to Li Zhen's arrangements for the events behind him, leaving tears of emotion.
This heroine who does not let her eyebrows be shaved has been performing the legendary story of liberating the motherland and the people all her life.
With her own actions, she has inspired countless generations of Chinese sons and daughters, strengthened their ideals and convictions, and assumed the responsibility and mission of history.
Contribute to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation!