(The Woman Who Told History – No. 1628)
Marshal Liu Bocheng has made great achievements in his life, on the other hand, he also has many children and has always been praised. The well-known Liu Shuai had six children, namely the eldest son Liu Taixing, the second son Liu Meng, and the third son Liu Taichi; the eldest daughter Liu Xiexian, the second daughter Liu Miqun, and the third daughter Liu Yanling. Most of them were in the military and were very good, including three sons and the second daughter Liu Miqun with the rank of major general, and the eldest daughter Liu Xiexian was also a colonel. All six of them were born to Liu Bocheng's wife, Wang Ronghua.
This is a family photo taken by Liu Bocheng and his children's family in 1972
In fact, Liu Bocheng has three marriages, in addition to Wang Ronghua, he also has a wife Cheng Yizhi and a second wife, Wu Jingchun. Wu Jingchun did not have children, but Cheng Yizhi once had a son, Liu Juntai, who was the real eldest son of General Liu Bocheng, and in the 1626th issue of "The Woman Who Told History", the author has made a detailed account. Liu Juntai was born stubborn, because he did not receive the care and education of his father since he was a child, he later contracted the vice of smoking a lot, was victimized by tobacco poison, and also suffered from mental illness, and his life was mediocre, and he died in 1969 at the age of 57.
And Liu Bocheng's eldest daughter is actually not Liu Xiexian, but liu huabei. Unfortunately, she died at the age of 6. This has become the eternal pain of Liu Bocheng's husband and wife,
Liu Shuai's death was blind because Liu Huabei was assassinated. So how did she die? Who is the murderer? Before Liu Huabei was killed, he also said to the murderer: Uncle, I know you!
(1) Los Angeles nurseries
Liu Bocheng's eldest daughter, Liu Huabei, was killed in a Los Angeles nursery. Of course, Los Angeles Daycare is not in Los Angeles, USA.
During the War of Resistance Against Japan, many generals could not take care of their young children because they were commanding battles on the front line, and in order to solve their worries, in 1940, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China opened a nursery in Yan'an. Only seven children were enrolled in the nursery, including Mao Zedong's daughter Mao Jiaojiao (Li Min) and Li Weihan's son Luo Xiaojin (Li Tieying, who later served as director of the State Education Commission). afterward
Liu Bocheng's son Liu Taixing and daughter Liu Huabei
Deng Lin, daughter of Political Commissar Deng Xiaoping, Zuo Taibei, daughter of Zuo Quan, Ren Yuanzheng, daughter of Ren Bishi, Yang Xiaoping, daughter of Yang Yong, deputy commander of the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Military Region, and some orphans of martyrs all came to this nursery.
In 1942, due to the Japanese blockade of Yan'an, there was an extreme shortage of materials in Yan'an, which seriously threatened the daily living expenses of the nursery. After Ms. Song Qingling in Hong Kong learned about it, she enthusiastically helped her, and in the name of "defending China Alliance", she got in touch with some patriotic overseas Chinese in Los Angeles, collected a batch of food, medicine, toys and other materials, broke through the blockade, and arrived at the nursery in Yan'an. In recognition of the Patriots of Los Angeles, the nursery was named Los Angeles Nursery.
Pictured here is American nurse Margaret Stanley (back row 2 left), a member of the International Friendship Service Corps' China Medical Team, with children at a Los Angeles nursery
(ii) A happy and miserable childhood
Teenagers don't know the taste of sorrow. Of course, the children of these generals were unaware of the hardships of that war-torn era, and they were first and foremost happy in the nursery. With the support of the General Office of the Central Committee, the nursery has transferred from other departments in Yan'an a number of young female cadres (or fighters) who have a strong sense of responsibility and can bear hardships and stand hard work to take care of and manage these revolutionary "seeds", and these children are relatively happy in their childhood compared to the martyrs' orphans who are fostered in peasant families.
At that time, Liu Bocheng's children were very cute, his sister Liu Huabei was one year younger than his brother Liu Taixing, the relationship between the brothers and sisters was very "iron", and Liu Huabei was like a "fart worm", following his brother all day. She was chubby, her eyes were big, her eyelashes were long, she walked unsteadily, twisted and turned, she lived like a little duck, where her brother went, where she went, she was proud to have an older brother. Of course, the brother's protection of his sister is also very good, and the other children are all alone, only this brother and sister can form a "united front".
Because of the importance of the war, Liu Bocheng and Wang Ronghua rarely came to Yan'an to see one of their children. However, they occasionally returned to Yan'an for a meeting, and saw this pair of cute babies, or happy to die.
But later, their lovely daughter Liu Huabei was assassinated.
In 1945, the year after the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, his brother Liu Taixing was 7 years old and had reached the age of school, so he was sent to the "Anti-Primary School" to study, leaving his younger sister Liu Huabei in the nursery.
My brother was gone, and my sister suddenly felt quite lonely.
Later, she became good friends with Deng Lin, Deng Xiaoping's daughter.
On this day, the two sisters were playing together, mentioning their parents and mothers, and the two naughty children looked like adults, showing a very sad look. Liu Huabei said pitifully to Deng Lin, "I haven't seen my parents for a long time, I really miss them!" Deng Lin also said: "My parents have not been here for a long time." Let's grow up quickly, and when we grow up, we will be able to see Mom and Dad! "
Liu Huabei nodded decently.
However, she never saw her mom and dad again. Soon after, she was brutally murdered...
Although Liu Bocheng and his wife are very busy, they will definitely not forget their own flesh and blood. On this day, the soldiers of the 359th Brigade sent a large watermelon to Commander Liu Bocheng. The general hurriedly asked his wife Wang Ronghua to cut open the relief, after all, in that difficult years, watermelon was not something that was often seen. But Wang Ronghua said, don't worry, it's hard to get some delicious food, how can you enjoy it yourself? She said to put it there first and let me take the child and eat it.
When North China and Taihang arrived, Liu Bocheng cut open the watermelon with a click, red soil and black seeds! The brothers and sisters were overjoyed and relieved. Watching the children eat with relish, Liu Bocheng and his wife also shed tears. Yeah, if in the days of peace, what's the point of eating a watermelon? But at that time, they were like new year's. After eating the watermelon, Liu Bocheng picked up his daughter, kissed her little face and said: "North China, grow up fast, when you grow up, Daddy will take you to a lot of fun places to play!" "
"Well, I'm going to grow up!" I want Dad to take me out to play! The little girl said with a sly smile.
However, Liu Huabei never grew up again, and her life was forever fixed at the age of 6...
(3) The plague of blood and light
August 18, 1945. Although it was summer, it was cold in Yan'an that night.
That night, the director of the Los Angeles nursery, Ugly Gang, as usual, carefully checked the children's posts. She carried a horse lamp, and one cave after another was examined. It was her habit for many years, and she couldn't sleep without checking one by one every day. The children are not honest in their sleep, this one has opened the quilt, that arm is exposed, and the ugly gang has to play with them. I also met a little guy who wanted to pee, and the director accompanied him to the toilet to pee. It was not until 11:30 p.m. that the ugly boy Gang left with a horse lamp. Before leaving, she told the nursery staff on duty as always to be careful and vigilant.
There were two people on duty that day, both of course lesbians. The Los Angeles nursery is located halfway up the mountain, usually there is no one around, and it is quiet. In the wartime years, men were on the battlefield, and there were basically no men here, most of them were women. These two comrades, the older one is called Zhou Guizhi, and the younger one is called Liang Guoxin. The night was quiet. The two men patrolled the courtyard, and apart from hearing the clams, there was no noise.
The nursery yard is very long, with a row of cave dwellings on one side of the hillside, and a wooden fence on three other sides, but the fence is relatively low, only to block small children, and adults can easily cross it. There is a street lamp in the north and south of the courtyard, and the lamp is only a glass cover, which is illuminated with candles or oil lamps, and the light is very dark. So the huge courtyard seemed deserted.
It was getting colder, and Zhou Guizhi said, "You are here first, I will come to boil some hot water." "
After Zhou Guizhi left, Liang Guoxin suddenly felt a stomachache, so she wrapped her body tightly with her clothes, but it still hurt; she squatted down and insisted. But squatting didn't work, and my stomach hurt more and more. She had wanted to call Zhou Guizhi to come, but she was afraid to wake up the children. So she thought that in the middle of the night, there would be nothing wrong, so she went back to the house to get some medicine to eat.
After a few minutes, she went back to the courtyard, took a few pills, and her stomach was much better. Zhou Guizhi also came over, and the two of them then inspected the courtyard again. The night was still quiet. They walked past the cave where each of the children slept and heard only the snoring of the children sleeping. They all slept soundly.
Zhou Guizhi said: "These children have been playing during the day, they are tired, and they see how well they sleep. "
"Yes," Liang Guoxin said, "when I bathed them in the afternoon, the fight was so lively that I got my clothes wet." "
"Does your stomach still hurt?" "Much better! It just hurt me to death. "Is it cold?" "Possibly." "The night wind is too cold, so I will wear more clothes when I am on duty in the future." Zhou Guizhi said with concern.
Such a night is really difficult to stay up...
The next morning, after the wake-up whistle blew, the children got up from their beds one by one. However, there are always some slackers who lie in the bed and do not get up, and the aunts have to pull them out one by one and order them to hurry to the playground to do morning exercises.
What makes the nurseryman who takes care of Liu Huabei strange is that
That morning, I didn't see liu Bocheng's family moving.
She was a well-behaved child, very disciplined, usually very active in getting out of bed, and always dressed herself, so as not to let the aunts worry. What happened today? So she walked toward Liu Huabei's cot.
Sure enough, North China had not yet gotten up, and she was still sleeping with her head covered. So the nurseryman pushed her, but she still didn't move. Is the child sick? But when the quilt was lifted, several people next to him were frightened: Liu Huabei was covered in blood! The child's body is already stiff and cold! When I looked closely, the child's stomach was also cut off by a knife, and it was unbearable to see...
Everyone hurried to report to the director of ugly gang. Ugly Zigang came to the bed in North China, and he was so shocked that he could not speak for half a day. It's pathetic. What a wonderful little girl! Yesterday I bathed her and kissed her chubby, pink cheek!
Liu Huabei has always been a relatively quiet and likable little girl. She is usually very sensible and never climbs high or low. Because at that time, the manpower was limited, and the most feared thing for the nursery workers was to make a fuss all day long. They can make people tired to death, but they don't dare to fight, they don't dare to scold, they are all the treasures of the chiefs and generals. Therefore, a child like Xiaohuabei who is so worry-free is especially liked by everyone. But now,
The child has just finished his 6th birthday...
The nurse aunt who took care of Liu Huabei was particularly sad in her heart, and the two nurseries on duty were also heartbroken, and they were very remorseful, hating themselves for not fulfilling their responsibilities. Who did it? Why is it so heartbroken? Everyone was sad and angry!
The director ugly Gang wiped a handful of tears, suppressed the grief, and ordered word by word: "Zhou Guizhi, Cao Hejing protect the scene, don't let anyone in!" Everyone else goes back to their respective posts, takes care of the kids, and doesn't go wrong again! "
At this moment, ugly Gang also fell into a strong sense of self-blame. The Japanese devils were finally driven away by us,
Commander Liu Bocheng, who had been galloping on the battlefield for a long time, should come back to have a good rest and come to see the child, but he could no longer see his daughter! How do I explain this to the chief?
Yan'an Central Nursery has hosted hundreds of children before and after, none of them have a problem, these children have survived well, but this time there was an accident! Ugly Gang was scared to think about it. She had to report the matter to the Minister of Health Fu Lianhui...
(4) Death by injury
So where is General Liu Bocheng at this moment? Not to mention, at this time, Liu Bocheng and his wife were preparing to go to Yan'an.
After 8 years of bloody fighting, the Japanese finally surrendered, Commander Liu Bocheng breathed a big breath, and really wanted to enjoy the joy of this victory for a while, so he and his wife Wang Ronghua discussed returning to Yan'an once, to see his precious daughter, who had not seen the child for many days. This morning Liu Bocheng shaved,
He brought some small gifts and prepared to treat his "little cotton jacket"; his wife also brought some dates and sweets that the children loved to eat, and the couple was ready to leave with joy.
But before they could finish eating, they received news that their daughter had been killed. The general couple couldn't believe their ears!
"What? How is this possible? The chopsticks in Wang Ronghua's hand fell directly to the ground!
When the news was confirmed, General Liu Bocheng also shed tears. He took off his glasses and kept wiping his eyes. You know, the general has been wearing a pair of glasses since his youth, and he usually rarely takes them off. I think that when he was injured in the eye, endured severe pain, and without any anesthetic, let the doctor move 72 knives, and he never shed a tear; but now, he actually shed sad tears. At this time, however, he could only suppress his grief to comfort his young wife. The difference between the husband and wife is 25 years old, and Wang Ronghua is only 28 years old at this time, and at the age of 28, he will have to face the pain of losing his daughter!
Liu Bocheng, like an elder, comforted Wang Ronghua and said, Although the Japanese are gone, China has not yet been liberated, the war is not over, we still have many things to do, you must be strong! However, he hugged his wife and said:
"Xiao Hua, you want to cry, cry now!" When you get to Yan'an, you must be rational and must hold on... Those crèches are not easy, they will be very sad and self-condemning..."
Wang Ronghua, a strong woman who joined the Red Army at the age of 14 and participated in the 25,000-mile Long March at the age of 18, what tribulations have you not seen? But at this time, it was like a little girl throwing herself into her husband's arms and crying bitterly...
After crying enough, Wang Ronghua came to Yan'an with Liu Bocheng.
Originally, I wanted to give my daughter a surprise, but at this time, Liu Bocheng and his wife only saw a small corpse. At this time, Liu Huabei was quietly lying on a small bed, wearing the clean flower clothes that Zhou Guizhi had given her. But Xiao Huabei's big eyes of the water spirit could no longer be opened. Wang Ronghua kissed and kissed on her daughter's cold face, and the tears once again poured on her daughter's face. Liu Bocheng turned his head, he did not dare to look at his daughter's pale face...
The couple struggled out of the cave in grief. Liu Bocheng comforted the crying nurseryman and said, "Don't be sad, I don't blame you for this." "
Liu Huabei's suffering, the people in the Yan'an nursery are very sad, because the children are grown up in the nursery, and they are brought up by everyone themselves, just like their own children.
But the general still said a word angrily:
"The enemy thinks that by assassinating my daughter Liu Bocheng, I will be uncertain and soft on them?" This is wishful thinking! "
General Liu Bocheng was in charge of military affairs, and soon the couple left. After sending the general away, everyone couldn't help but cry.
"It's hard in my heart." If the chief scolded us, we would feel better, but they didn't say a word of rebuke to us. Many years later, Ugly Zigang mentioned this matter and said: "This great and selfless spirit of General Liu Bocheng is so touching!" "
(5) An unsolved case
So who killed Liu Huabei? Why did the murderer kill him?
At that time, Liu Bocheng and his wife arranged the aftermath of their daughter's affairs and hurried back to the front line. As Liu Bocheng said, the war is far from over. After Japan's surrender, China faced a complicated situation, and it is difficult to say whether it will be peaceful or continue the war.
On August 29, 1945, Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and other leaders flew to Chongqing and began the famous Chongqing Negotiations in history.
Chongqing negotiations
On the other hand, the clouds of war still hang over North China. As soon as the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression ended, Yan Xishanbu, commander of the Second Theater of the Kuomintang Army, launched an attack on the Changzhi area (known as Shangdang County) controlled by the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Liberated Area, and successively occupied the cities of Xiangyuan, Lucheng, and Changzhi.
According to the decision of the Central Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee, the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Military Region led by Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping also began a counteroffensive. Because how the negotiations in the rear depend mainly on the record of the front.
On September 10, Liu Deng's army concentrated the three main columns of Taihang, Taiyue, and Ji'nan, as well as more than 31,000 local troops, and mobilized 50,000 militiamen to launch a famous campaign
Battle of the Shangdang
。 In this battle, Liu Deng's army won a great victory, annihilating a total of 35,000 enemy troops, effectively consolidating the Jinji-Hebei Luyu base area, and playing a vital role in the Chongqing negotiations.
According to the above background of the war,
Later generations speculated that the murderer who assassinated Liu Bocheng's daughter was sent by the Kuomintang
。 After the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, it was a question of who would lead China between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. If the negotiations fail, the two sides will have to go back to war. At the front, liu Deng's army was strong at that time, and the Kuomintang side naturally wanted to suppress Liu Bocheng's role. So he used the assassination of his daughter to distract him.
Obviously, at that time, liu Bocheng had some premonitions about the murder of his daughter. He also speculated that someone was going to murder him, but there was no chance, only to do something to his daughter. So after his daughter was killed, he said the angry words to the nursery staff: "The enemy thinks that if I assassinate Liu Bocheng's daughter, I will be uncertain and soft on them?" This is wishful thinking! "
Sure enough, Liu Bocheng was not distracted by the tragic death of his daughter, and played well in the next Shangdang campaign, giving the enemy back color.
But that's just a guess.
It is also possible that the assassination was carried out by the Japanese
。 After all, the Japanese had failed and were too unwilling to do so, so they surrendered to General Liu Bocheng, who had made great achievements in the War of Resistance. If you can't fight on the battlefield, then you will come to Yin; if you can't fight Commander Liu, you will take your daughter out of anger.
There is a third theory, which is a personal vendetta
。 Who had a personal grudge with General Liu Bocheng. So what kind of speculation is more reliable?
When General Liu Bocheng left Yan'an, he entrusted Kang Sheng, the head of the security department, to investigate the case. During the investigation, we learned something. On the night Liu Huabei was killed, there were actually "witnesses"!
A child who lived in a cave with Liu Huabei once told the investigation team: "That night there was an uncle who had a cloth wrapped around his head and came to the bed in North China with a flashlight.
Huabei said, 'Uncle, I know you.' '
The uncle said, 'Don't make a fuss, I'll give you cookies to eat.' Then I didn't know. "
This clue is important, but it also makes the case confusing. First, children don't lie, especially in this matter, and they can't make it up. Then the murderer must be a man, and North China is more familiar with him, so he recognized the other party at night.
In this way, the possibility that the murderer is Japanese is a little less. But it's not impossible. Because most of the Japanese agents speak Chinese, or are they the work of traitors sent by the Japanese? It's possible.
However, since Liu Huabei knew him, he must have already broken into yan'an, and may have approached Liu Huabei several times and basically became acquainted with his children. Therefore, it is very likely that it is said that the Kuomintang agents did it.
Another piece of information that the child provides is also important, that is, the person has a cloth wrapped around his head. In fact, not long before Liu Huabei was killed, Yang Guihua and Xiao Yan of the nursery school had found a suspicious situation while on night shift
。 Xiao Yan found that day that on the top of the cave where the children lived, there were two figures with white turbans shaking.
After the other party was found, he also smashed down a piece of soil.
At that time, there was only one male comrade cook in the nursery, Yang Guihua called the cook, and everyone searched on the hillside around the yard and in the crop field, but found nothing, so the matter was put down. After that, the director of the school, Ugly Zigang, told the nursery staff to strengthen precautions. Soon, however, something went wrong.
For this reason, all the staff of the nursery were censored, but when the superior security department came to investigate, no suspicious situation was seen again, and the case was never solved. Soon, the War of Liberation broke out, and the matter of solving the case was delayed.
For many years, Liu Bocheng and his wife have lamented the murder of their daughter. They felt too sorry for their daughter. Although they have many children, each child is the heart of their hearts. Moreover, when Liu Huabei was born, the War of Resistance was being fought tightly, and the couple had no time to take the child, so they sent it to the Yan'an nursery, compared to other children, they owed this daughter too much, and Wang Ronghua felt very guilty.
Later, Liu Taixing, who grew up with Liu Huabei in a Los Angeles nursery, was also sad to mention his sister, in fact, if he had not transferred to school at that time, he would have been very dangerous. He said: "The killer of my sister has not been caught, and my parents have been very sad. But they only talk about it in private, never talk to outsiders, and don't resent others. "
Liu Taixing
But in fact, Marshal Liu Bocheng has never forgotten this matter. Until 1986, before the 94-year-old coach died, he regrettably said:
"My daughter's case has not been solved, and I am not blind even when I die!"
Perhaps, Liu Shuai will still meet his lovely little daughter in heaven.
At the age of 6, Liu Huabei disappeared forever in the dust of history. We can't completely ignore Liu Shuai because she only lived for 6 years, and didn't have the same achievements as Liu Shuai's other children, because every life is equal...
(Text/Woman Who Tells History: Summer Ice)