There is such a legendary figure in Zaozhuang, Shandong, people are both afraid and revered, what is this? It turned out that before the War of Resistance Against Japan, he was a well-known local bandit, and every household was jealous; in the War of Resistance Against Japan, he was an invincible secret agent commissioner who eliminated the evil Japanese leader for the people, and he was Xu Guangtian.
Xu Guangtian was born heroic and righteous, worshipped heroes in martial arts biographies, and robbed the rich to help the poor is a common thing. But he was also the leader of the thieves, stealing everywhere. The times created heroes, he exerted his chivalrous ambitions in the chaotic world, successively created a machine gun team and a railway guerrilla group, beheaded the head of the Japanese commander, and made special achievements, so why did he choose to surrender to the enemy after the victory of the War of Resistance?
First, chivalrous bandits
Xu Guangtian was born in Zaozhuang, Shandong Province, to a poor family, and both of his parents died of illness soon after, leaving him and his three brothers to live together. In such a miserable environment, the four brothers were forced to go around scavenging for a living. They have done hard physical work such as cattle dung shepherds, coal ball children, and firewood collectors.
However, in the chaotic era of the late Qing Dynasty, society was extremely turbulent, and many rural youth abandoned farmland and followed the radicals to live in society, infected with bad habits such as smoking, gambling, and stealing. The Xu brothers entered the society to make a living at an early age, and they were immature in their minds and blindly followed these hooligans and learned to steal.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing government built a number of railways in the Zaozhuang area of Shandong, the most famous of which was the Zaozhuang-Taierzhuang Railway. Because of the convenient transportation and superior geographical location, the Zaozhuang area has been explored by German geologists for coal mines, and countless coal mines have been established, transporting coal mines to other provinces by train, driving the development of the local industrial economy.
Such a big "business opportunity" naturally could not escape the small calculations of the Xu Guangtian brothers. Whenever the train pulling the coal mine roared past, the Xu brothers heard the noise and went out to "beg for a living". Every day, the train would stay at Zaozhuang Station for a long time to load goods, so they calculated the time when the train stopped and secretly committed theft.
At first they just stole some coal balls dropped on the train tracks, but there was not enough money to change, so they blatantly climbed on the train to "go down" a sack of coal mines. When it is good, you can also steal some iron tools and small goods. Through this road, the Xu brothers not only filled their stomachs, but also lived a tasteful life.
Unlike other bandits, the Xu brothers also have a heart of pity, seeing the poor and sloppy people, they can't help but think of the past when they were young and lonely and helpless, and the surrounding people gave corn porridge to fill the four brothers with hunger. Therefore, as long as the goods that are "pickpocketed" each time are exchanged for more money, they will quietly give them to those fathers and villagers who are struggling on the line of life and death.
Second, the genius of military machinery
Xu Guangtian is the most mechanical of the four brothers, and often studies and makes farm tools by himself. Perhaps driven by both talent and interest, he sometimes even pondered the production of pistols for the western gun brigade at the end of the Qing Dynasty. After days and nights of not sleeping, lighting the kerosene he had stolen, and immersing himself in the construction of the gun, the three brothers said that he was obsessed.
Xu Guangtian's talent in military machinery was gradually revealed, and he produced many weapons, such as homemade mines, flying guns, and automatic crossbows. He even equipped his brothers with a set of carry-on weapons.
The times create talents, and the times create heroes. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the whole country fell into chaos, and many aspiring young people rose up to resist, or set up their own portals, or defected to organizations with heads and faces. Xu Guangtian saw that many people had joined this national game, and followed everyone along the water to make a revolution, thinking that he could one day become a chaotic tyrant like Chen Sheng and Wu Guang.
While daydreaming that "the prince will have a kind of xiangning", Xu Guangtian made his own weapons while instigating his brothers to carry out revolutionary causes. For several years, Xu Guangtian lived in a foggy and aimless manner, but in fact he was still willing to be a bandit.
Third, the general who is brave enough to kill the enemy
In 1934, the Japanese army began the notorious invasion of China in history, and the Chinese were imprisoned in their cages by the Japanese step by step. After the Xi'an Incident was successfully resolved, an anti-Japanese national united front was formed throughout the country. Warlords everywhere united and called on the masses to unite against the Japanese.
In the high anti-Japanese clamor, Xu Guangtian's heroism was awakened. When is it better not to fight at this time? He and his brothers threw themselves into the blood-boiling War of Resistance Against Japan, determined to drive the Japanese out of Chinese territory and protect their fathers and fellow countrymen in their hometown.
As a result, the Xu brothers joined the Zaozhuang guerrillas and aspired to become a Communist Party member who eliminated harm for the people. However, the party organization, taking into account their previous theft, had to shelve the application of the four brothers to join the party. The Xu brothers, who were rejected, were momentarily angry and chattered about the situation. Fortunately, Xu Guangtian rationally persuaded the brothers and reminded them of the importance of saving the country.
After joining the guerrillas, Xu Guangtian's talent in military gun manufacturing was greatly discovered. The party organization found that although he was born as a bandit, he had a stubborn and indomitable personality, knew how to make and repair firearms, and was a rare guerrilla warfare commander.
Therefore, under the unanimous recommendation of everyone, he was appointed as the first leader of the guerrilla machine gun team and was responsible for training the marksmanship of the soldiers. In addition, Xu Guangtian and his brothers stole coal mines along the Zaozhuang Railway in his early years, and knew every railway station very well. So the upper echelons appointed him as the leader of the railway guerrillas.
During a stealth mission, Xu Guangtian carried a homemade gun on his body, disguised himself as a delivery man, and infiltrated the Japanese command base. With the "Taoism" it learned in society, it smoothly blended into the Japanese military base. When delivering goods to Narita, a senior leader of the Japanese Kou, he disregarded the disclosure of his identity, and suddenly pulled out a pistol and shot Narita to death, and suddenly became famous in Zaozhuang and became a special anti-Japanese fighter.
Fourth, fame and fortune are foolish
After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Xu Guangtian thought that he would definitely be entrusted with a heavy responsibility by shooting and killing senior Generals of the Japanese Army, and realize his dream of "princely generals". Unfortunately, the party organization, taking into account the various acts of theft before he joined the Communist Party, and also considered the feelings of the victims of the robbery by Xu Guangtian's team, had to temporarily give him a temporary position, and when he returned from his studies, it gave him the position of regimental commander.
Who knows, Xu Guangtian did not know the intention of the party organization to cultivate himself, and he suddenly lost his temper and felt very aggrieved and humble. He had worked hard to cultivate the machine gun team of the railway guerrillas, and had made special merits, so why could he only be wronged as a temporary worker. Seeing that the comrades who fought with him were all entrusted with important positions, his heart was extremely anxious.
At this time, a secret agent from Chiang Kai-shek learned about Xu Guangtian's situation, and he used the Kuomintang's promise to give him a higher official position and monetary rewards as bait to induce him to secretly carry out secret service work and pass on important information within the Communist Party to the Kuomintang. Xu Guangtian, who had just been treated "unfairly," lost his mind, offered high-priced conditions to Kuomintang agents, and accepted the Kuomintang's malicious olive branch.
Xu Guangtian, who had no culture, did not know that he was doing so no less than a felony of treason, but he was obsessively thinking of the enemy's high-ranking official Houlu to give back, and people unknowingly betrayed the party. As a result, Xu Guangtian was expelled from the party, stripped of all posts and equipment, and reduced to a common man who had committed the crime of betrayal.
5. Summary
Xu Guangtian, who was dismissed from his post, took up a butcher knife and became a butcher, selling pork in the morning and greedily. His comrades-in-arms were promoted one after another and became the backbone of the party. After the founding of New China, more teammates who lived and died were awarded the rank of general, and Xu Guangtian regretted that his intestines were green. In his later years, Xu Guangtian's situation was very miserable, and his brothers died one after another, leaving him alone to live alone.
Times make heroes, but they also destroy heroes. Xu Guangtian's defeat not only betrayed everyone in behavior, but also trampled on the revolutionary achievements of countless teammates who spilled blood and tears in exchange, which was the greatest disrespect for those revolutionary martyrs who died on the battlefield.