One day in 1949, Chen Yi, then the mayor of Shanghai, was busy in an 80-square-meter office, and the different colored telephones on his desk rang non-stop, leaving Chen Yi with no time to split up, not even time to drink. At this time, a guard walked into Chen Yi's office and shouted, "Report, chief, your letter!" ”。“ read! Chen Yi was so busy with both hands and eyes, where was there time to pause to read a letter!"
However, when the guards finished reading the contents of the letter, Chen Yi snatched the letter and read it carefully from beginning to end.
It turned out that the letter was a letter of help from Xie Jinyuan's wife, Ling Weicheng, to Chen Yi, and the content of the letter was to ask Chen Yi to leave her the third floor of No. 466 Wusong Road in Shanghai. In the letter, Chen Yi also learned that during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the "eight hundred brave men" in the Bloody Battle Sihang Warehouse were still alive, but they were now poor and destitute, which was why he had no choice but to write a letter to Chen Yi, hoping to slightly improve the embarrassment of his life.
When Chen Yi received this letter, he immediately ordered the Military Control Commission to grant all her requests: one or three floors were used for her and no rent was collected; second, the empty land was left for her, and the Military Control Commission would no longer accept it; third, properly arrange the way out for the lives of the veterans of the War of Resistance.
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > eight hundred brave men fought on the beach, the way out was very tragic</h1>
In October 1937, the Battle of Songhu came to an end, in order to deter the Japanese army and cover the retreat of the main force, Xie Jinyuan, commander of the 524th Regiment of the 88th Division, was determined to fight desperately and defend, and "impersonated" 800 people with 414 people to enter the Sihang warehouse and launch a bloody battle with the Japanese army. In the fierce battle of four days and four nights, more than 200 Japanese troops were killed, and the red-eyed Japanese Kou exhausted all means in order to take down the Sihang warehouse, but they were still killed by the "eight hundred heroes".
On October 29, 1937, the fierce defense of the Sihang Warehouse attracted the attention of Britain, the United States and other Western countries, and the foreign concessions occupying the vicinity of the local area mediated under the guise of "humanitarianism", and promised the British Concession to take in the "eight hundred heroes" who had retreated. When the "Eight Hundred Heroes" led by Xie Jinyuan broke through the enemy's fire blockade and retreated to the British Concession, the perfidious British confiscated all the weapons of the "Eight Hundred Heroes". Then, in the custody of the White Russian bandits, they were placed in the 15 acres of wasteland in the public concession, surrounded by barbed wire and strictly guarded.
In this way, the once-famous "Eight Hundred Heroes" were detained for four years under the surveillance of the British. The "Eight Hundred Heroes" became the "Lone Army Camp" in the occupied areas.
In their long years of detention, they lived extremely hard lives. At that time, a Shanghai female student who personally went to the public concession to comfort her recalled:
When I stepped through the camp door, I was very surprised by what I saw... On the right side of the road are rows of barracks with reed mats, thick bamboo supports, and mud walls... The most striking thing is that on the side of the playground near haiphong road, there is a flag-raising platform, and on the high flagpole, the national flag of the Republic of China is still flying with the wind. This is something we could never have imagined, and this flag could not be seen in the whole concession...
Despite the loss of personal freedom, the "Eight Hundred Heroes" under the leadership of the regimental commander Xie Jinyuan did not lose the demeanor of the soldiers and the iron bones of Zhengzheng. With the help of patriots from all walks of life in Shanghai, they have built dormitories, kitchens, auditoriums, courts and other living facilities, and have also opened small workshops such as soap making, socks weaving, and towels. In addition to subsidizing living, all the income earned was used to support the War of Resistance. They also insist on exercising and running every day to strengthen themselves. Even in 1938, to commemorate the first anniversary of the "August 13" War of Resistance, the "Eight Hundred Heroes" risked their lives to raise the national flag and fight naked with the foreign troops who came to suppress it. All this greatly encouraged the anti-Japanese struggle of the people in the occupied areas, and at the same time forced the concession authorities to have to pay tribute to the 4 heroes who died in hand-to-hand combat, bringing the dawn of perseverance to the shanghai people's struggle against the enemy under the dark rule of the Japanese and Kosovo.
Under the leadership of Xie Jinyuan, the "Eight Hundred Heroes" waited in the darkness for the victory that was coming before dawn. During these arduous and difficult years, Xie Jinyuan repeatedly and sternly rejected the persuasion of the Wang puppet government and the lobbying of chen Gongbo, a traitor of the Great Han Dynasty, on behalf of the "Eight Hundred Heroes." In the view of the "eight hundred brave men," Wang Jingwei and Chen Gongbo were nothing more than the dog legs of the Japanese and the shameful scum of the Chinese nation; therefore, whenever a traitor came to promise a high-ranking official, Houlu, a glorious and rich man, in a vain attempt to lure the "eight hundred brave men" to confess as a thief as his father, Xie Jinyuan was always filled with indignation and angrily rebuked and scolded, causing the han traitor representatives who came to lobby to flee in disgrace and in a daze.
The "eight hundred brave men" who swore to resist Japan to the end and never committed traitorous acts have long been regarded as a thorn in the eye by the Japanese and their dog-legged Wang puppet regime, and they are stabbed in the flesh, eager to get rid of it quickly. To this end, the Japanese puppet government bribed 4 traitor soldiers, including Hao Dingcheng, a scum under Xie Jinyuan. Taking advantage of Xie Jinyuan's lack of preparation, the 4 people took out the dagger they were carrying and stabbed at Xie Jinyuan. The poor Chinese anti-Japanese hero did not spill blood on the battlefield and wrap the body of Ma Ge, but was killed at the hands of four young people.
The sudden blowing disaster of the anti-Japanese hero Xie Jinyuan caused a great shock throughout Shanghai and even the whole country. The Nationalist army held a grand funeral for him, posthumously promoted him to major general of the army, more than 300,000 people in the concession went to mourn, and the special court of the concession bureau sentenced the four murderers to death for joint murder.
Xie Jinyuan's death made the "Eight Hundred Strong Men" who were originally in a difficult situation even worse, but the "Eight Hundred Strong Men" did not break the jar because of the misfortune of the commander, but continued to strictly demand themselves by the standards of a patriotic soldier and fight in the underground front of salvation and survival.
A few months later, the Pacific War broke out, and the Japanese, who turned around and did not recognize anyone, invaded the concession and captured all 340 of the remaining personnel. Rikou's bloodied butcher knife gave two paths to the "Eight Hundred Heroes". First, surrender to be a puppet army, eat fragrant and drink spicy, glorious and rich in everything; second, be sent to be a coolie for nine deaths, never see the light of day.
In the face of the cold knife that the Japanese Kou was hanging around his neck, none of the "Eight Hundred Heroes" cowered, preferring to do coolies rather than be with the Japanese Kou!
Under the persecution of the inhumane Japanese Kou, some of the more than 300 "eight hundred heroes" were sent to Xiaoshan to work as coolies; some were sent to work in the Coal Mine in Anhui; some were sent to Nanjing to raise horses; and some were even sent to an island in Papua New Guinea to dig mines. These people have been devastated and tribulations. Some of them were used as wrestling targets by the Japanese Kou and fell to their deaths; some were made into specimens by the infamous Unit 731; and some escaped from hiding in Tibet. After encountering very different fates in life, these people finally survived the victory of the War of Resistance, and the remaining more than 100 people scattered and gathered in the city of Shanghai.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Mrs. Xie returned to Shanghai</h1>
After the "Eight Hundred Heroes" returned to Greater Shanghai again, the Greater Shanghai at this time was already a matter of human beings, and the brave men who had originally come from the Hubei Security Corps were unaccompanied in Shanghai, a city that was both familiar and unfamiliar. The "Eight Hundred Heroes", who had endured all kinds of disasters under the butcher's knife of the Japanese Kou, were not willing to get involved in the civil war Chinese Chinese at this time, on the other hand, the long-term turbulent and displaced life also gave them the idea of settling down. But how can we stand in Shanghai, where people are weak and have no background?
As a result, the veterans had the idea of welcoming back Xie Jinyuan's wife, Ling Weicheng, one was to comfort the spirit of The Commander Xie in heaven so that he would never have to worry; the other was to send the veterans' thoughts to the regimental commander Xie Jinyuan.
Ling Weicheng was originally from Shanghai, born in a family of merchants since childhood, although not rich and noble, but also a small life of carefree life. When Ling Weicheng was very young, her parents also sent her to study, so Ling Weicheng was proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and could be called a popular beauty in Shanghai.
At the age of 20, the handsome and beautiful Ling Weicheng accidentally met Xie Jinyuan, who was two years older than himself, and at that time, Xie Jinyuan was only a young general of the national army whose identity was unknown, and he was born in the countryside. Therefore, the combination of the two caused strong opposition from Ling Weicheng's entire family. But Ling Weicheng, who is obsessed with love, ignores the fierce opposition of his family and resolutely decides to hold a wedding with Xie Jinyuan.
The seven years after marriage were the sweetest moments for the two. Unlike other nationalist generals who like to pick flowers and weeds outside and go in and out of fireworks, Xie Jinyuan has always loved Ling Weicheng, and whenever he has leisure, he will go home to accompany his wife, and in the blink of an eye, the two have given birth to two daughters and a son, living a happy and happy life.
At this time, the Japanese Kou had long been looking at The Yang Dynasty, and as a hot-blooded soldier defending the country, Xie Jinyuan was willing to sit back and watch the wolf's ambitions of the Japanese Kou wantonly trample on the chinese land!
After the Spring Festival in early 1936, Xie Jinyuan, a staff officer of the lieutenant colonel of the 88th Division, was about to go to the front. In order to protect him, Xie Jinyuan escorted his wife Ling Weicheng and his three children to his hometown in rural Guangdong, and when he was leaving, he hurriedly wrote a letter:
Qiao Ying's wife Aijian:
Within a few days, he will lead his troops into Husong to participate in the war, and specially repair the inch note to comfort the distant thoughts. Half of the walls of my divine state are eroded by the sun, the calamity of the subjugation of the country and the extinction of the species, the hair of others, me, not paying attention, the descendants have no kind of things. To kill the enemy for the country is to be a revolutionary soldier Su Zhiye; and a soldier should not have a family, I have it now, and the door is mournful, the relatives are rare, my heart is not iron, I can be carefree! But where the responsibility lies, for the country, we can't take care of the family. The consolation of old relatives, the upbringing of children, all the measures of housework, The Secretary of Labor bears full responsibility, and the distraction of the travelers is also ...
After reading the letter, Ling Weicheng's thoughts returned to the scene of her former husband Xie Jinyuan's instructions: "Wait until the day of the victory of the War of Resistance, I will personally take you back to Shanghai." The child in the belly is born, and if it is a boy, it is called a 'successor', so that he can inherit the good character of his ancestors. Who knew that this time they were separated from each other forever.
After Ling Weicheng returned to the countryside of Guangdong with his child, he began to pull the child and his in-laws from then on. In order to support the elderly and raise his children, Ling Weicheng took off his qipao, changed into coarse cloth and linen, picked up a hoe and began to do farm work in the ground without saying a word. Sowing, picking manure, fertilizing, weeding... A big girl who originally enjoyed the golden food and clothing has since started to do dirty and tiring farm work, and the heartache and fatigue in this are probably only possible for Ling Weicheng himself to truly appreciate.
Despite this, this great mother did not complain at all, and she took great care of the whole family of 8. The wind and frost carved wisps of wrinkles into her face; the burden of life weighed her down; the heavy agricultural work had long since polished his delicate jade hands into calloused hands... At this time, Ling Weicheng was no different from a peasant woman.
Spring to autumn, cold and summer, Ling Weicheng used the tenacity of a peasant woman to quietly cultivate the land in the countryside, she only had one dream in her heart------- reunite with her husband Xie Jinyuan as soon as possible! She waits! After looking through the autumn water and the stars several times, he still did not get any news from her husband. Until the news of the death of her husband Xie Jinyuan in 1941 came, her whole mind was blank, as if the sky was spinning, and the brush fell to the ground.
In June 1946, at the grand invitation of Xie Jin's subordinates, Ling Weicheng finally came to her long-lost Shanghai after several twists and turns, and met the "eight hundred heroes" who had fought side by side with her husband. Some of them have been left with lifelong disabilities; some of them are incomplete; some of them are seriously ill, and the poignant scene makes people feel congested.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > forced by life to ask for help from Chen Yi</h1>
After Ling Weicheng returned to Shanghai with her children, she was arranged by the veterans in a three-story Western-style building at No. 466 Wusong Road in Shanghai, and she met her husband Xie Jinyuan, who she thought about day and night, but at this time he was already lying in a square cemetery, separated for 10 years, the past reappeared in front of him like smoke, and Ling Weicheng could no longer suppress the huge sadness in his heart and cried. The death of one person is a tragedy; the death of thousands of people is just a statistic. During the 14-year War of Resistance, how many families had their dreams shattered?
Since the husband's misfortune cannot be reversed, the "eight hundred heroes" of that year will be taken up by me to take up this burden of care!
Easier said than done! After Xie Jinyuan's sacrifice, the elder Jiang promised to give preferential treatment to the military dependents, and Song Meiling received her in a serious way to appease public opinion, pretending to be almost in Shanghainese: "Wei Cheng, Nong rest assured, the country will not forget Nong." In the future, you can come to Chongqing once a year to give a lecture with Nong. After some verbal consolation, he gave 50,000 francs and sent Ling Weicheng away hastily. But before long, the currency was severe, prices soared, the original 50,000 francs soon depreciated, nothing could be done, and Ling Weicheng's livelihood was once again in a difficult situation.
At this time, it is not easy for a weak woman to arrange a large group of old, weak, sick and disabled veterans to achieve re-employment! But even though Ling Weicheng knew that this task was extremely arduous, he still provoked this heavy burden. She ran around and pulled relationships, hoping to find an errand for the veterans and let them stay together to take care of each other.
At first, she originally planned to let the veterans take over a pier on the Huangpu River, but all the docks on the beach were controlled by gangs, they had a very deep background, and it was difficult for the weak veterans to join the "fat shortage" of the dock. As long as the veterans have a little wind and grass, the police and hooligans will immediately come to the door, where can they still live a stable life!
Ling Weicheng then dredged up various relationships and found a bus line errand for the veterans, so that they could be a driver and conductor, so that they could eat safely and steadily. Shortly after all the preparations were in place, several policemen came to the door to stir up trouble. Unable to bear it, Ling Weicheng immediately rushed to Chongqing, hoping to ask Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling for an explanation. This time, Chiang Kai-shek and his wife never gave her a good look. Chiang Kai-shek directly ignored her arrival, and Song Meiling said coldly after seeing Ling Weicheng: I know your business, you go back first, and I will say hello to shanghai when the time comes.
Ling Weicheng did not solve the problem, and could only return to Shanghai sadly and continue to ask the Shanghai Municipal Government for explanations. Song Meiling's words were just a perfunctory response to Ling Weicheng, and she did not think of solving practical problems for Ling Weicheng at all. Therefore, after Ling Weicheng found the Shanghai Municipal Government, the various departments "kicked the ball" between each other, and a large circle was wrapped around, and no one cared about the lives of the veterans who fought for the country in the past.
Ling Weicheng finally realized the ugly face of the Chiang Kai-shek clique, and she no longer pinned her hopes on the National Government, but tried everything to settle the veterans one by one in different posts, and the problem of settling the veterans was finally solved.
But soon, the War of Liberation broke out, the people's hearts were lost, the Kuomintang army began a major rout, even before the retreat, they did not forget to recklessly and frantically raid the common people, the entire Order of Shanghai fell into chaos, everyone's life was once again embarrassing, there was no way, Ling Weicheng had to give all of his only savings to the veterans.
But this is not a long-term solution. Soon, Ling Weicheng also broke the cooking, Qiao Woman is difficult to cook without rice, a penny is difficult to defeat the hero, at this time, Ling Weicheng, who has entered a desperate situation of life, really can't think of any way to help everyone get through the difficulties, helplessly, had to write a letter to Chen Yi, and the scene at the beginning of the article appeared.
At this time, Shanghai had been liberated, Chen Yi was the mayor of Shanghai, and according to the policy of our party and our army, all assets looted by the Kuomintang must be received, and just when our army was preparing to receive the shelter of Ling Weicheng and the "eight hundred brave men", Ling Weicheng's letter was promptly delivered to Chen Yi. When Chen Yi read the letter, he learned that the "Eight Hundred Heroes" who were originally a group of anti-Japanese heroes who were famous in the world were still alive, but they were already poor and destitute, and their source of livelihood had encountered great problems.
When our Party learned of the situation of the "Eight Hundred Heroes," it immediately made several arrangements:
First, do not accept their house
Second, arrange work for Ling Weicheng. Ling Weicheng was later assigned to a nursery as a deputy director and nurseryman, and the family's financial resources were guaranteed, and the problem of children going to school was solved.
3. Arrange formal work for the "eight hundred heroes" who still have the ability to work, and those who are incapable of working or unwilling to work in Shanghai shall be sent to take care of them or make proper arrangements for choosing a job in a different place.
Since then, the "Eight Hundred Heroes" have embarked on a new journey of life according to their own wishes, and Ling Weicheng has also lived a happy life with his children and grandchildren around his knees.
More than 50 years later, most of the veterans of the "Eight Hundred Heroes" of that year have completed the journey of life, and Yang Yang, a 91-year-old veteran who is holding flowers in his hand, once again came to the tomb of General Xie Jinyuan, he stood up on his chest and solemnly saluted a military salute, and at the end, he cried loudly: "Old Regiment Commander, your veteran Yang Yang is coming to see you..."
Veterans don't die, they just fade away. In this prosperous and prosperous world, whenever we enjoy a happy life, who will recall the sad song and past of the Sihang Warehouse?
With this article, I would like to pay tribute to General Xie Jinyuan, the "Eight Hundred Heroes" and all the martyrs who died in the War of Resistance, and I write this article to tell them that this prosperous world, as you wish, can rest in peace!
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