On September 11, 1982, in the autumn of Beijing, the capital airport was as busy as ever, and passengers coming in and out were inseparable in waving goodbyes or smiling happily at reunions with relatives and friends.
In the waiting area, there was a group of more than a dozen people, their eyes staring straight at the passenger exit, and one of them was particularly excited by a white-haired old man who had been waiting for this day for thirty-two years. His two hands were rubbing involuntarily, and his cloudy eyes were eager to stare wider.
In their anticipation, an old man came out of the exit, holding a Nanmu box in his hand, although it was not heavy, but his two hands grasped the box tightly, and his appearance made the pick-up party feel relieved.
The old man who picked up the machine looked at the other old man and the box in his hand and couldn't help but burst into tears. After someone took the box, the two old men hugged their heads and cried, their hands trembled uncontrollably, and the old man who had just held the box said emotionally:
"Big brother, I didn't take good care of Minghua's sister."
The old man who spoke was from Taiwan, named Xiao Mingzhu, and the box he had just held contained the ashes of his sister Xiao Minghua. The old man who picked up the old man was named Zhu Fangchun, who had been Xiao Minghua's mentor and comrade-in-arms, and the comrades from the Investigation Department accompanied the old man to pick him up.
On September 16, Xiao Minghua's memorial service was held in Beijing, and Zhu Fangchun, who was sick on the sickbed, did not care about her physical condition and resolutely participated in the memorial service. In the solemn silence of the memorial service, Zhu Fangchun closed her eyes, and the bits and pieces about Xiao Minghua kept flashing in her mind.
Photo: Memorial service for martyr Xiao Minghua
Back in the evening of February 6, 1950, a group of people suddenly appeared in Xiao Minghua's dormitory, and Xiao Minghua was not at all surprised by their arrival, and she had been mentally prepared since the day she arrived in Taiwan.
It was the people from the Security Command who came, and after revealing their identities, they were ready to take Xiao Minghua away, and Xiao Minghua was calm and did not argue, but only offered to bring a few clothes. She came to the window and calmly removed the cheongsam from the bamboo pole outside the window.
After this trip, Xiao Minghua never returned.
Zhu Fangchun went downstairs, subconsciously looked at the bamboo pole outside the window, and there was nothing on the bamboo pole, he was shocked, suddenly felt dizzy, knowing that Xiao Minghua had been arrested. Because Xiao Minghua made an appointment with him,
The bamboo pole is empty, and it is not dangerous to enter.
Zhu Fangchun quickly passed on the news of Xiao Minghua's arrest, and his superiors demanded that he be transferred immediately. On March 23, Zhu Fangchun left Taiwan by boat under the cover of his comrades-in-arms on the inside, and he never returned to the place where he had fought. Along with them were several important pieces of information passed on by Xiao Minghua, who safely handed over the information to the organization.
On March 25, Xiao Mingzhu, who was arrested with Xiao Minghua, was released on bail, and although he was released from prison, his heart was still troubled, and he knew that it was precisely because his sister proved his innocence that he had the opportunity to be released on bail, and his sister was likely to be more vicious.
Sure enough, Xiao Minghua's arrest made the enemy think that they had "caught a big fish" and interrogated her extremely cruelly, sitting in an electric chair, riding a tiger stool, bundling and hanging, and not allowing her to sleep for five days and five nights... Xiao Minghua experienced a total of 278 days of brutal interrogation by the enemy, but he did not reveal a word of what they wanted to know, ensuring the safety of the lurking front.
A weak woman who resisted the enemy's torture, and did not want to betray her comrades-in-arms to improve her situation, just imagine what kind of choice we should face if we were in her position, whether we would rather stand and die than live on our knees, or offer the enemy in exchange for the safety of our own lives.
Pictured: Martyr Xiao Minghua
Xiao Minghua was born in 1922 in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province. Chaoyang is a famous overseas Chinese county, many people go to all over the world to make a living, Xiao Minghua's father Xiao Zishan, in order to survive, ran to Shanghai thousands of miles away to find opportunities.
After wandering around Shanghai for a while, Xiao Zishan found that although there was a lot of odd jobs there, it was unrealistic to want to settle down and support his family with the little money he earned. After going around, he felt that Jiaxing, Zhejiang was an ideal place, close to Shanghai but cheaper than Shanghai in all aspects.
Xiao Zishan runs some small businesses, and although he can't make a lot of money, he can also support his family. Several of his children were born in Jiaxing, and he had Xiao Minghua's daughter after he was old, so he regarded her as a pearl in his hand, and the family affectionately called her "Huabao".
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Xiao Zishan's business was also unsustainable, and in order to escape the chaos of the war, he led his family to Chongqing. Xiao Zishan was old and frail, and the eldest son became the pillar of the family, and he provided for his sister Xiao Minghua to finish the Chongqing Normal School.
After graduating from school, Xiao Minghua was recommended to participate in the training related to Chinese phonetic symbols, and in the training class she studied hard, mastered the essentials of this skill, and helped her to carry out latent missions in Taiwan in the future.
Xiao Minghua also wanted to continue his studies, but due to the regulations at the time, secondary school students had to work in social work for two years to continue their education. After teaching for two years, Xiao Minghua was admitted to Baisha National Women's Normal College, and then studied at Peking Normal College, now Beijing Normal University.
Out of the desire for knowledge, Xiao Minghua continued to study, but as her contact reached more and more extensive, she gradually realized her relevance to the fate of the country and was willing to do her part for this devastated country.
Just when Xiao Minghua's ideological consciousness was rising, at the Beiping Normal College, she met Zhu Fangchun, who had once worked as a teacher at chongqing normal school, and Zhu Fangchun at this time had another identity, a lurking underground party comrade. He was very familiar with Xiao Minghua, kind-hearted and self-motivated.
In 1947, Xiao Minghua joined the underground working group on the recommendation of Zhu Chunfang, and she solemnly swore an oath with a fist in her right hand, determined to become a person who fought for the motherland, the people, and the faith all her life.
Xiao Minghua's mentor, Tai Jingnong, who works at National Taiwan University, learned that she was about to graduate, so he invited her to Taiwan to teach Chinese zhuyin and language application related majors. For this invitation, Xiao Minghua could not make up his mind, the liberation of the whole country was just around the corner, and Taiwan also needed many fighters lurking on standby in case of future needs.
Xiao Minghua did not forget the oath she had made, and she told Zhu Chunfang the news that Enshi had invited her to go to Taiwan to teach, and asked him to report to the higher-level organization. Zhu Chunfang found Xiao Minghua, talked to her in depth, and agreed to let her go to Taiwan to teach, but at the same time let her know that the lurking front needs firm determination, super will, loyalty that will never betray, and a war without gun smoke is even more testing than going to the battlefield.
Xiao Minghua looked at Zhu Chunfang, and her eyes revealed the determination, perseverance, and heroism of seeing death as a homecoming; since the day she joined the party, she had voluntarily worked hard to liberate all of China, regardless of personal gains and losses, and was willing to give her life to the cause for which she fought at the crucial time.
In June 1948, Xiao Minghua received instructions from his superiors to prepare to go to Taiwan to teach and lurk and wait for orders. Before leaving, she returned to her hometown to visit her elderly parents, and in the eyes of their parents, the youngest child was always their concern no matter where he was. The rare reunion made the second elder particularly happy, and they hoped that their daughter could apply what she had learned.
Xiao Minghua looked at his aging parents, and his heart was unspeakably uncomfortable, he didn't know when he would be able to come back, and he didn't know if he could see them in his lifetime. But she understands the concept of home and country, without the stability of the country, where there is the happiness of the small family, stability is thousands of soldiers like her with practical actions to fight out.
Bidding farewell to her parents, Xiao Minghua stepped on the ship to Taiwan, she held her hand on the railing and looked at the sea, the waves flashed in front of her eyes, and in an instant it returned to the tranquility of the sea, and new waves were constantly formed, and so on. Isn't this like countless soldiers who have gone forward for victory, knowing that there are tigers in the mountains and biased towards the tigers and mountains, and the revolution does not need this spirit of willing sacrifice?
After arriving in Taiwan, Xiao Minghua entered the Provincial Normal College to teach, and she firmly remembered her mission and waited for the comrades assigned by her superiors to assign tasks. Two months later, Xiao Minghua waited for Zhu Chunfang to join him, and Zhu Chunfang, alias Yu Fei, arranged for them to pretend to be husband and wife and complete the transmission of important information.
Xiao Minghua has long been unable to contain her excitement, how many times she has dreamed that she is carrying out a lurking mission and successfully passing on important information to the organization, and now she has lurked in place, just waiting for the organization to assign tasks.
On April 21, 1949, the "Order to March to the Whole Country" was issued, and a million troops crossed the Yangtze River, and the liberation of the southern provinces was just around the corner. At the same time, the eastern and southeast coastal islands have also been put on the military agenda, but these islands have enemy troops stationed, and in order to capture them, they must obtain the number of opponents' troops, weapons, and ship configurations.
Zhu Chunfang and Xiao Minghua were given the task of sorting out and passing on the relevant military information held by comrades who were also on the hidden front. In just two months, Xiao Minghua transmitted important information six times, which was of great significance to the liberation of coastal islands.
Photo: Martyr Xiao Minghua (first from right)
Knowing that the information passed through himself played a crucial role in liberating the coastal islands, Xiao Minghua's heart blossomed. The greatest joy of the intelligence personnel is to see through their own efforts that the war will develop in the direction they hope to go, and finally victory will be achieved.
The hidden front is full of dangers, Xiao Minghua agreed when meeting with Zhu Chunfang, as long as there are clothes hanging on the bamboo poles outside the window, it means that everything is normal, once the clothes are taken away, it means that the situation is not good, the danger is not allowed, Zhu Chunfang needs to evacuate immediately.
On February 4, 1950, Xiao Mingzhu's brother Xiao Mingzhu came to her residence for her birthday, and everything seemed so calm but it was actually surging undercurrents, and the enemy's sensitive sense of smell had already smelled a different smell. Just as Xiao Minghua and his brother were talking happily, two strangers suddenly came in, and they wanted to talk to Yu Fei about the speech.
For the arrival of strangers, Xiao Minghua showed his hostess's hospitality and warmly received the two. But from their curious and evasive eyes, Xiao Minghua saw unusual information, these two people must have been sent to arrest Zhu Chunfang.
Sending away two strangers, Xiao Minghua specially explained to his brother that once he encountered something unexpected, he only told the other party that they were brother and sister, and did not know anything else. It was Xiao Minghua's advice that saved Xiao Mingzhu's life.
Xiao Minghua immediately passed on the information that the stranger was visiting to find Yu Fei, and since they could find the door, it meant that they were already aware of something. The comrades who were in contact with Xiao Minghua advised her to evacuate quickly, otherwise her life would be in danger, and Xiao Minghua said that she had not yet been exposed, and if she evacuated now, she would completely expose herself and Zhu Chunfang's "home" to the enemy, and perhaps it would also arouse the enemy's vigilance and carry out large-scale sabotage operations.
The enemy's claws eventually reached Xiao Minghua, and on the night of February 6, the Security Command found Xiao Minghua in the dormitory of Taiwan Provincial Normal College. Xiao Minghua was not at all surprised by their arrival, but was calm and calm, asking them the purpose of their coming.
The security command people offered to take Xiao Minghua to investigate, she did not explain too much, after a few words of dialogue she said that she would bring some clothes, went to the window and took off the cheongsam on the bamboo pole.
The enemy wanted to obtain valuable information from Xiao Minghua's mouth, but they used all kinds of torture, and Xiao Minghua still refused to reveal any clues. After witnessing Xiao Minghua's torture, the handyman in the prison could not imagine how this weak and uncontrollable woman in front of him could have such a tenacious and indomitable will.
The enemy did not get any clues from Xiao Minghua's body, and her spirit of seeing death made them angry and decided to execute her. Listening to the so-called trial, Xiao Minghua couldn't help but laugh out loud, and from the day he decided to join the organization, he was ready to dedicate his life at any time.
Photo: Tomb of martyr Xiao Minghua
When the sisters in the prison learned that Xiao Minghua had been sentenced to death, they gathered around her, clinging to this comrade who would rather die than yield his tenacious will. Xiao Minghua read Li Qingzhao's "Summer Sentences" written by Li Qingzhao and circulated through the ages:
Born as a master,
Death is also a ghost male.
Thinking of Xiang Yu so far,
Refused to cross Jiangdong.
On November 8, 1950, at the urging of the prison guards, Xiao Minghua walked out of the cell door and watched the warm sun sprinkle the earth, she showed a slight smile, it was time to say goodbye to the inmates.
"Farewell, sisters, may you be free soon!"
Xiao Minghua's gaze swept over everyone's body, and the inmates looked at her, all of them showing sadness, and some people's eyes were already wet.
Xiao Minghua stepped onto the car bound for the Law Field, she looked northwest, that is the direction of home, her parents are in good health, since ancient times loyalty and filial piety are difficult to complete, as a warrior, loyalty to the country is the greatest filial piety to parents. Whether Zhu Chunfang is safe, if security hopes that he will continue to fight for his revolutionary ideals.
After arriving at the court, Xiao Minghua suddenly broke free from the coercion of two soldiers and ran to the sand dunes to shout slogans, which was the last cry of her life, for her own ideals and for the sake of the country.
After a gunshot, the twenty-eight-year-old Xiao Minghua fell, and her youth was dedicated to the cause of the liberation of the motherland. According to statistics, Xiao Minghua passed on more than 50 copies of special secret information and hundreds of important pieces of information.
Thirty-two years after Xiao Minghua's sacrifice, her ashes were returned to the mainland by her brother Xiao Mingzhu, and after the certification of Zhu Chunfang and the Investigation Department, she was organizationally recognized as a revolutionary martyr and buried in the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery on Shijingshan Road in Beijing.
Xiao Minghua's tombstone is relatively special in the entire Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery, and there is no life deed on the back of her tombstone, but "Return to Xi" inscribed by Zhu Chunfang, and Yu Fei's pseudonym is used specifically when signing her name.
Pictured: "Return to the Xi" behind the tombstone
I have been thinking about what supported Xiao Minghua to go to Taiwan to lurk, to experience the test of life and death, and to experience all kinds of painful torture at the last moment. Faith is more important than faith, faith is more important than faith, and if a person has a noble faith, he has a tenacious will.