During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, a "big arms thief" appeared in the Kuomintang army, who continuously smuggled weapons and ammunition from the warehouses of the Northeast Army to the eighth route army troops.
The same is to fight the devil, according to the reasoning that the Kuomintang and the Communist Party should be regardless of each other, and jointly resist Japan. However, after the Eighth Route Army was reorganized into the Eighteenth Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army, it received few material supplies from the Kuomintang.
The Eighth Route Army lacks arsenals that can manufacture weapons and ammunition, and it is impossible to fight devils and go to the battlefield with bare hands, right? The weapons, ammunition, firearms, and equipment of the Eighth Route Army were either loot captured from the Japanese army or were "freed" from the Kuomintang through various channels.
In the Northeast Army, there is such an "arms thief" who specializes in helping the Eighth Route Army transport weapons and ammunition from the Northeast Army. When the Kuomintang authorities found out that someone had stolen arms, they were very angry, but many investigations were fruitless and failed to catch this "arms thief."
What is amazing is that this "arms thief" is actually a legendary hero. Since 1940, she has disappeared from the public eye and remained anonymous for more than half a century.
It was not until 55 years later, in 1995, that people learned the name of the anti-Japanese hero behind the scenes, Gao Chongde. Few people know that she is the original wife of the founding general Lu Zhengcao.
01
In April 1904, Gao Chongde was born in Xiaohuang Village, Hujia Town, Heishan County, Liaoning Province. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the conditions in the northeast were very harsh, and it was common for people to starve to death. When she was 8 years old, her father died in an accident, and her mother took her and her brother to survive.
Fast forward to 1928, the Japanese Kwantung Army planned the "Huanggutun Incident" to blow up zhang Zuolin, the commander of the Northeast Army. The three northeastern provinces are in a state of flux, the times are shaky, and the Japanese Kwantung Army is eyeing the tiger. Zhang Xueliang succeeded his father as commander-in-chief of the Northeast Army and stepped up military training to prevent the Japanese Kwantung Army from invading and occupying northeast China.
During these complicated and turbulent years, 24-year-old Gao Chongde became acquainted with Lu Zhengcao, who was the chief of staff of a lieutenant colonel in the Northeast Army. Lü Zhengcao was a promising young officer in the Northeast Army.
Two like-minded young men were attracted to each other, privately decided for life, and soon married. As a soldier's wife, Gao Chongde was so fascinated by firearms that every time her husband took the troops to target training, she had to enjoy it.
After a long time, I did not expect that her marksmanship became more and more accurate, and even many veterans who carried guns and ate food were not her opponents, and she also became a well-known goddess gunner in the Northeast Army.
In 1931, Lü Zhengcao was promoted to colonel of the 647th Regiment of the 116th Division of the 53rd Army of the Northeast Army, and led his troops to beiping garrison, and Gao Chongde also followed her husband to beiping. Soon, Lü Zhengcao was transferred to the regimental commander of the 691 regiment.
After the "September 18 Incident", the Japanese army occupied the three eastern provinces, and the anti-Japanese salvation movement was higher than the wave. The Northeast Army stationed in Beiping was indignant and asked for war one after another, hoping to fight back to their hometown in the northeast.
Gao Chongde was not willing to be the wife of an official, and took to the streets to throw himself into the anti-Japanese movement to save the dead, posting slogans, spreading leaflets, and giving speeches on the streets to contribute to the anti-Japanese resistance. In the procession of the anti-Japanese march, a gentleman surnamed Wang found her and told her a lot about the Communist Party's anti-Japanese ideas.
This Mr. Wang was an informant sent by the organization to develop her into a secret party member. In the autumn of 1935, Mr. Wang gave her a book called Taurus on the Front, about a Soviet girl who went to the front to defend Soviet power.
Under the influence of Mr. Wang, Gao Chongde was very sympathetic to the Communist Party's anti-Japanese ideas. Soviet women can save the country, but can't Chinese women? After reading this book, I strengthened Gao Chongde's determination to resist the Japanese invaders.
In 1937, Mr. Wang suddenly found Gao Chongde and said, "I will lead you to meet a person." "They came to a secret location and met Lin Boqu, chairman of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Government.
Gao Chongde listened to Mr. Wang's introduction and was surprised, it turned out that Mr. Wang was also a Communist Party. This time, for Gao Chongde to meet with Lin Boqu, there was an important task entrusted to her.
Lin Boqu told Gao Chongde that the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army was stepping up its training and was ready to go to the anti-Japanese front at any time. The Communists were also negotiating with Chiang Kai-shek, urging him to stop the civil war and unite against Japan.
These words made Gao Chongde very excited, and Lin Boqu fully affirmed her patriotic enthusiasm. Lin Boqu said:
"From now on, through your special status in the Kuomintang army, you will find a way to smuggle out some ammunition for the Eighth Route Army." Your identity must never be revealed, do not contact other people, you are under my direct leadership. You must remember that this secret work is dangerous, and you must not be careless, even the people closest to you should not let them know. ”
Gao Chongde's special status is that she is the wife of Lü Zhengcao, a general of the Northeast Army's Young Zhuang Faction. Lü Zhengcao also secretly joined the Chinese Communist Party in May 1937, and for the sake of secrecy, the couple did not know each other's identities.
02
After the "July 7 Incident" in 1937, the Northeast Army received orders from Chiang Kai-shek and retreated south. Under the instructions of the party organization, Lü Zhengcao led the 691st Regiment to Hebei to carry out the anti-Japanese resistance behind the enemy lines.
Gao Chongde resolutely took up the heavy burden and led the families of the officers of the 691st Regiment to retreat south. A young woman supported the situation alone, and every step of the way was very difficult. In order to solve the problem of eating for many of her families, she sold all her gold and silver jewelry.
On the way south to lead the officer's family, they encountered many scattered soldiers from various units of the 53rd Army of the Northeast Army. Gao Chong decided to recruit an armed convoy to supply the soldiers in the front, while secretly completing the task of transporting arms entrusted by Lin Boqu.
According to the Kuomintang's military discipline regulations, recruiting military soldiers without authorization is a capital offense. At the risk of killing his head, Gao Chongde took in nearly 300 soldiers of Northeastern nationality and set up a transport team in the name of the remaining office of the 53rd Army of the Northeast Army.
Gao Chongde led the families of the officers and men of the 691st Regiment and the transport team to the Weinan area of Shaanxi Province, established the rear office of the 691 regiment, set up three sections and one team under it, organized a sewing factory, organized the family members to be self-sufficient, and spared the worries of the anti-Japanese soldiers in the front.
Gao Chongde's external status is that he is responsible for the logistics of the 691 regiment of Lu Zhengcao's department. Therefore, she targeted the arsenal of the Northeast Army and interspersed "illegal means" and "legal means" to help the Eighth Route Army transport arms.
Using his position in charge of logistics, Gao Chongde's access to the arsenal of the Northeast Army is natural, and the entry and exit of goods will not arouse suspicion. Gradually, she also began to bribe the arsenal managers, in the name of equipping new recruits, and constantly shipped out arms.
Since she was the wife of the regimental commander and was familiar with the Northeast Army, the smuggling of arms had been smooth, and a large number of guns and ammunition had been continuously sent to the front line of the Eighth Route Army.
In 1938, some of the arsenals belonging to the Northeast Army were stolen, which aroused the vigilance of the Kuomintang. They sent people to investigate and found that the amount of stolen arms was unprecedented in the Kuomintang army. This incident immediately shook the Kuomintang Central Committee and named it "the theft of the largest arms depot in the Republic of China."
Many Kuomintang newspapers competed to report that the thieves must be apprehended. However, no matter how the Kuomintang investigated, there was no clue, so that it became an unsolved case.
Seeing that the smuggling of arms caused an uproar in the Kuomintang, Gao Chongde also began to be extra careful. She felt that she could not use the methods of the past, and must have a very legal and very formal identity as a cover, otherwise she would be discovered by the enemy.
At this time, Lü Zhengcao entrusted people to bring a letter to Gao Chongde through the 53rd Army. The letter offered to ask her to find a way to help with these three things:
First, the forward troops urgently needed a radio station in the hope of getting it; second, let Gao Chongde help the anti-Japanese troops in the front apply for a unit number in the Kuomintang army; third, there was a shortage of weapons and ammunition, so Gao Chongde tried to send some ammunition and supplies to the troops.
With Lin Boqu's consent, Gao Chongde found The Commander of the First Theater, Cheng Qian, through Wan Fulin, commander of the 53rd Army, and helped the troops apply for a number, solving the problem of radio and ammunition supply.
With Gao Chongde's efforts, Cheng Qian agreed to reorganize the 691st Regiment of Lü Zhengcao's Department, which remained in the Hebei area to resist the war, into an "independent guerrilla detachment in the First Theater", with Lü Zhengcao as the commander of the detachment and Gao Chongde as the remaining chief of the detachment.
With the official position of the Kuomintang, the transport of arms to the Eighth Route Army was an additional layer of protective umbrella.
03
From 1937 to 1938, every time ammunition was stolen from the arsenal, Gao Chongde always contacted the delivery route and personally delivered it. Her men always thought she was transporting arms for the Kuomintang, and had no idea that boxes of ammunition had been given to the Eighth Route Army.
Because Gao Chongde provided the Eighth Route Army with sufficient ammunition in time, the Japanese devils repeatedly failed. Often, when our army ran out of ammunition and food, Gao Chongde's ammunition was delivered in time, so angry that the Japanese army jumped to its feet and howled: "Did the eighth road of arms fall from the sky?" ”
The Kuomintang intelligence organs were also puzzled: "Where is the Arsenal of the Eighth Route Army?" How can you build guns so quickly? ”
After the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army stationed in shaanxi province learned that Gao Chongde could get a large amount of weapons and ammunition, he also found her to help get some weapons and ammunition.
Shaanxi was right under the nose of the Northeast Army, and the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army was closely monitored by the Kuomintang, and under such circumstances, Gao Chongde still overcame all kinds of difficulties and went all out to deliver a large number of weapons and ammunition to the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army and the Xi'an Office of the Eighth Route Army, and also sent radios.
In addition, Gao Chongde also organized the disintegrating Northeast Army and sent nearly 3,000 soldiers to the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, strengthening the anti-Japanese strength of our army.
One day in 1939, when Gao Chongde was returning with arms, passing through the Taihang Mountains in southeastern Jin, several soldiers of the Eighth Route Army intercepted her and said, "We, Commander Liu, please." ”
It turned out that Commander Liu Bocheng invited her, and when he met Gao Chongde, Liu Bocheng said bluntly: "We picked up several mortar racks of the Northeast Army, but there have been no shells." I order you to get me some shells, even if it's only four or five rounds, and some more bullets. ”
Xu Xiangqian, who was beside him, said humorously, "None of you dare to order her!" She's not your subordinate either, strictly speaking she's just a family member wow! ”
In the autumn of 1939, Gao Chongde went through hardships and sent 20 shells and more than 20,000 rounds of ammunition smuggled from the Kuomintang arsenal to Liu Bocheng's department.
The Kuomintang vigorously engaged in internal divisions and undermined the anti-Japanese united front, and the Nationalist zhu Huaibin's department vainly tried to attack the Eighth Route Army in the Taihang Mountains, but was counterattacked by Liu Bocheng's troops of the Eighth Route Army. After fighting this battle against Zhu Huaibin, the Eighth Route Army successfully won the victory, and afterwards Liu Bocheng happily said to Gao Chongde: "You have made a great contribution to this battle!" I'll give you a big credit! ”
Gao Chongde's shipment of arms to the Eighth Route Army was finally exposed. The Kuomintang sent agents to investigate and announced the abolition of the independent guerrilla detachment's remaining office.
In the autumn of 1940, several members of the Kuomintang Reserve 3rd Division in Hebei arrived at the garrison where Gao Chongde was stationed at that time. Gao Chongde asked them what they had come for, and the other party did not answer in a veiled manner, and when he left, he still looked around, which made people suspicious.
With many years of underground work experience, Gao Chongde felt that these people were not right and must be vigilant. Sure enough, that night, a regiment of the 3rd Reserve Division surrounded Gao Chongde's garrison.
Due to the preparation in advance, Gao Chongde shot and killed one of the opposing battalion commanders and led the soldiers to the roof. Although he successfully broke through, Gao Chongde was also seriously injured.
Only then did the Intelligence Department of the Kuomintang learn that Gao Chongde had been working for the Communist Party and was a spy of the Eighth Route Army. Agents made a massive hunt, seized the injured Gao Chongde and imprisoned her.
Fortunately, after the commander of the 53rd Army, Wan Fulin, learned the news, he found Cheng Qian, the commander of the First Theater, and rescued Gao Chongde from prison. Since then, Gao Chongde has disappeared unconsciously, and the Kuomintang side has never heard a single word from this "arms thief."
04
In order to protect Gao Chongde's safety, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army sent someone to find her and safely sent the "spy" who had frightened the enemy to Yan'an through a secret line of communication.
After arriving in Yan'an, Gao Chongde's gunshot wounds from the assassination of agents recurred, and he underwent surgery at the Eighth Route Army Hospital. Before the operation, Commander-in-Chief Zhu instructed the hospital: "We must cure her disease." She is a hero of our Communist Party, a super spy working behind enemy lines! He is an arms thief of our party! ”
After Gao Chongde recovered from her gunshot wounds, she stayed in the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army to work, and considering her physical health and special merits, the party organization also specially approved a cave for her to live in.
Since then, Gao Chongde has mysteriously disappeared from the assassination lists of the Kuomintang and the Japanese.
In 1941, Gao Chongde divorced Lu Zhengcao. At this time, Lü Zhengcao had already broken away from the Northeast Army and joined the Eighth Route Army. Later, Lü Zhengcao remarried liu sha, and Gao Chongde never married again.
After the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Gao Chongde was dispatched by the Party Central Committee to participate in the War of Liberation, and accompanied by a group of comrades from the northeast to march to the northeast to Shenyang and participated in the vigorous Liaoshen Campaign.
In 1950, Gao Chongde's wound recurred again and he was admitted to Shenyang Medical University. He was discharged from the hospital after three years and has been recuperating at home ever since. After being discharged from the hospital this time, Gao Chongde did not participate in the work again, and she was arranged to live in the Cadre Rest House of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee and enjoyed the treatment of the main department level.
In the dry rest house, Gao Chongde lived for 45 years. No one knew her background, and she never talked to her neighbors. When she was old, she shut herself in the house all day, with a crutch in her hand, and her eyes seemed to be reminiscing about the smokey years.
In her later years, Gao Chongde had a great temper, did not like people to visit, and was even more reluctant to have anyone come to interview her, and was even more disgusted with taking photos of her. After divorcing Lu Zhengcao, the old man spent the rest of his life alone.
With her, only one niece took care of her life. In 1995, in the last days of his life, the old man trembled and said to his niece: "I am the arms thief that the Kuomintang has always wanted to catch, and Commander-in-Chief Zhu has praised me..."
This passage of the old lady unveiled a past that had been sealed for 55 years. Soon this old lady, who had made great achievements in the battle for New China, drove to the west of Hexi at the age of 91.
Many reporters came to the door to interview Gao Chongde, who had been called "super female spy" and "arms thief", but unfortunately the old man had returned to the west. The niece who has lived with the old man for more than 20 years tells the story of gao chongde, a revolutionary hero who is full of mystery and has been anonymous for more than half a century.
Gao Chongde was finally known to posterity! Without the sacrifices of countless benevolent men and women on the battlefield of the Anti-Japanese War, we would not have had our happy life today. "When things are whisked away, the merits and names are hidden." Pay tribute to the former anti-Japanese hero and arms thief Gao Chongde!
END.
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