At the end of 1949, Liu Deng's army was like a bamboo, liberating the southwest. In the midst of cheers, Liu Bocheng did not stop the battle, he personally led a large army, broke into the Yi area, and assigned a task to Liang Wenying, the political commissar of the 184th Division: he must be found.
"This man is my brother-in-law, and he will be hired in the Southwest Military and Political Committee, which has long been agreed with the chairman. You must find him! Liu Bocheng repeatedly advised. Soon, Liang Wenying brought back a red flag, which could be seen to be some years old, but it was intact, and the flag read: "China Yi (Yi) Nationalist Red Army Guji (Guoji) Detachment.
Liu Bocheng took the red flag with trembling hands, only to hear Liang Wenying say in a sad voice: "Xiao Ye Dan has been sacrificed, and the descendants are nowhere to be found." As soon as the words fell, Liu Bocheng burst into tears, and the general who had been in the battlefield for a long time could not withstand this bad news, and he took several steps back in a row, and he could not stand steadily. Liang Wenying helped him sit down and eased up for a long time, before Liu Bocheng said to himself: "Brother, the eldest brother is still a step late, the eldest brother is sorry for you!" ”
Thinking of Xiao Ye Dan, the past came to mind. That was the thing in 1935:
Two roads at the feet of the Red Army
In May 1935, the Red Army crossed the Jinsha River, temporarily escaped the enemy's strong encirclement and blockade, and prepared to continue north and rush to cross the Dadu River. At this time, there were two roads at the feet of the Red Army: one was along the Ningya ZhengDao, which was also the only "official road", where Chiang Kai-shek deployed 200,000 heavy troops to try to annihilate the main force of the Red Army south of the Dadu River; the other was a dense forest trail, which had to pass through the Yi area on the way.
Speaking of the Yi people, the history is long. At that time, Zhuge Liang fought in Daliangshan for half a year, and the seven captured Meng, and the King of Yi surrendered. During the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Shi Dakai led his troops through Daliangshan, but was blocked by the King of Yi. There was the King of Yi in the front, and then there were Qing soldiers, Shi Dakai walked into a desperate situation, 20,000 elite soldiers, and the whole army was destroyed.
Chiang Kai-shek only deployed heavy troops on the main road, that is, he concluded that the Red Army only dared to take the "official road" and did not dare to take the small road. If the Red Army could not open it and decided to take a small road, it would surely become the "second Shi Dakai" and be exhausted in the war with the Yi people. Mao Zedong saw through old Chiang Kai-shek's ideas and decided to take a small road, with Liu Bocheng and others leading his troops as an advance army to borrow the road from the Yi people.
In order to avoid repeating Shi Dakai's mistakes, Mao Zedong instructed: "We must handle the relationship with the Yi people." "This is not only to open the way for war, but also to implement a friendly policy towards ethnic minorities and to publicize our party's concept to ethnic minorities, which is of great significance in promoting national unity."
Liu Bo received the instructions and immediately ordered: Every Red Army soldier must strictly implement the party's ethnic policy, never shoot at the Yi people, and ensure that they will not fight back, scold and not return the mouth, and have a friendly attitude. The Red Army was ordered, and the engineer company led by Wang Yaonan explored the way first.
Narrow roads meet being pickpocketed
The company of sappers set out and walked with guns deep into the dense forest. Halfway down the road, suddenly a group of naked people ran from the opposite side, and the warriors were startled and found the leader and asked, "What's going on?" The leader saw the special clothes of the Red Army, recognized it as a communist team, and said bluntly: "We are merchants from other provinces, and when we pass through this place, we know that we have been robbed by the Yi people." No, things were robbed and clothes were ripped off. ”
What kind of person is the Red Army, how many things have been experienced, and how can they believe this one-sided statement full of loopholes? After following the temptations, inquiring carefully, and giving and giving, the leader revealed their true identity. It turned out that a certain regimental commander of the Kuomintang led a company and led hundreds of people, including the county chief, the head of the regimental training bureau, and his family members, to flee into the Yi area.
Complaining bitterly: "I didn't expect that as soon as I entered the Yi area, I was blocked from going to the road, and the entire company was disarmed." The county magistrate and the head of the regimental training bureau were beaten to death, and the wives of the officials were also humiliated and watched as the regimental commander disappeared. We fled back in fear, but we didn't expect to meet the Red Army on the road here, please do well, let us go! ”
When the leader talked about what had happened in the Yi district, he still had palpitations in his heart, and his voice was in tears, and he knelt down with his legs bent. As soon as the soldiers lifted up the leader of the general, and seeing that the other side was in such a miserable situation, Wang Yaonan asked the soldiers to take out and distribute the clothes they had, and said to the soldiers: "They have harmed people, and now they are also victimized, so let the party organization slowly reform them." ”
Picture | Wang Yaonan
The company of engineers continued to advance, opening roads in the face of mountains and bridges in the face of water, and while marching, they had to repair the road for the large troops. Soon, the water suddenly floated in the water of the animal carcass and feces, disgusting, and the warriors were dizzy by the stench and vomited. The sharp-eyed warrior saw a bamboo pipe not far away, which led the clear mountain spring down.
Before everyone could drink the water, the water in the bamboo pipe suddenly stopped, and the bamboo pipe broke into sections and rolled down from the mountain. Everyone did not know what was going on, when a group of Yi people floated down from the mountain, their hair scattered, their faces covered with chicken blood, and they shouted loudly, as if declaring war, and the change stunned the warriors.
They surrounded the warriors, listening to no explanation, and began to snatch the weapons and equipment from the warriors' hands, and even more embarrassingly, they stripped the instructors and the soldiers of their clothes. The soldiers felt humiliated, couldn't bear it, and were about to shoot in a fit of anger, and the instructor shouted, "Don't shoot, stick to the order, don't shoot." The warriors threw their guns to the side and lay down on the ground, leaving the visitors to scratch their underwear.
At this time, the correspondent Xiao Liu exerted all his strength to pull away the Yi crowd that surrounded him, held up his satchel and shouted: "General Li is here!" The Yi people retreated, looked at each other, and soon disappeared into the dense forest. It turned out that Xiao Liu was a Yi man, and he carried an old bag with a green toad embroidered on it for many years.
Often used as the object of ridicule by comrades. But this time, Xiao Liu said that it was this "big green toad" that saved them, what was going on? Xiao Liu explained: "This one on my satchel is a statue of a god, General Li Wenwen. We in the Yi people have a legend that General Li was a toad under the seat of Guanyin Bodhisattva, who sat in Liangshan for 20 years, so that demons did not dare to attack. Therefore, General Li's prestige in the Yi people is extremely great, as long as the general gives an order, no one dares to disobey. ”
Pictured| Yang Dezhi
When the soldiers were attracted by the story of General Li and listened to it with relish, Yang Dezhi led a regiment of 1 regiment to rush over neatly. The soldiers of the 1st Regiment saw the tragic situation of the engineer company unclothed, and jokingly quipped: "The brothers of the engineer company are very cool!" Where is this going to take a shower? As soon as this remark came out, everyone laughed until they cramped, leaned forward and backward, and could not catch their breath.
Yang Dezhi saw the situation and said solemnly: "Don't laugh! Like what words! The warriors stood upright, but he couldn't help but laugh. The political commissar of the regiment hurriedly asked everyone to carry forward the spirit of unity and fraternity among the revolutionary comrades and divide the clothes. Sun Jixian, the commander of the 1st Battalion, first responded to the call, only to see him take off his big pants, hand them to Wang Yaonan, pat him on the shoulder, and smile and say, "Brother, I don't have any more to take off." ”
The news of the sapper company being stripped out spread among the troops like a frying pan, and the soldiers were furious. Their dissatisfaction was quickly reflected in Mao Zedong, who praised the company's resolute implementation of discipline and said humorously: "When you come to the country, you are considered to be following the customs in the countryside, and there is nothing to be ashamed of." ”
"倮倮" is the old name of the Yi people. Hearing Mao Zedong's words, the soldiers of the sapper company were very happy, and they were proud of themselves from then on, and they did not feel ashamed at all. Later, when comrades talked about this matter, they all found it very interesting.
Blood is the love of the Yi sea
Although it was only a prank-like confrontation, Mao Zedong, Liu Bocheng and others realized that if the hostility of the Yi people was not dissipated as soon as possible, bloody conflicts would occur sooner or later. Faced with a stalemate, Liu Bocheng sat on a stone and closed his eyes in contemplation, while Nie Rongzhen kept walking back and forth. After some careful consideration, Liu Bocheng found Xiao Hua, who had come to do mass work, and asked him to enter the Yi area, find the leader of the Yi nationality, and agree on the conditions of the Yi area.
The Yi have three tribes: the Lao Wu family, the Guoji family, and the Luo Hong family, which are not at odds with each other. On the other side, Xiao Yedan of the Goji family heard that the Red Army was stationed nearby, and sent his housekeeper Shamarg to inquire about yiyi or two. Shamarg had lived in han for a long time, spoke Chinese very well, and soon after leaving, he happened to meet Xiao Hua face to face on the way.
Pictured| Xiao Hua
After the conversation, Shamarge basically understood the purpose of the Red Army's coming, and he said to Xiao Hua: "If you want to safely pass through the Yi area, you must gain the trust of the Yi people; the best way to gain the trust of the Yi people is to worship with our leader Xiao Yedan and worship as a brother." Xiao Hua heard the words and reported to Liu Bocheng. Shamarge also returned to the tribe and explained to Xiao Yedan the Intention of the Red Army to borrow and worship. Xiao Yedan's original name was Guoji Yoda, and he often heard the tribal elders say from childhood: "The Han people are too cunning to be trusted." ”
Is the Red Army friend or foe? Xiao Ye Dan hesitated. Shamalg learned more about the Han Chinese, and after talking with Xiao Hua, he felt that the Red Army was different from the warlords. Sharmarg trusted the Red Army and vouched for it with his head. Xiao YeDan and Shamarge grew up together, it was a friendship that had been lived since childhood, and seeing that Shamalge was so sworn, he agreed to meet with Liu Bocheng.
As soon as Xiao Ye Dan saw Liu Bocheng, he bowed to him according to the etiquette of the Han people in the past to worship the great officials. Liu Bocheng pulled him up and smiled and said, "The Great Qing has perished, everyone is a brother, and they are not happy to go over." Xiao Ye Dan heard Liu Bocheng's sincere words, and he was very touched while he was happy. Xiao Ye Dan felt Liu Bocheng's friendly attitude and quickly invited him to sit down, and good wine and good dishes were served.
After many contacts and in-depth understanding, Xiao Yedan was impressed by Liu Bocheng's arrogance, and in his heart he believed that he was the eldest brother, and he had no doubts about the Red Army's borrowing. Therefore, Xiao Yedan decided to hold a ceremony with Liu Bocheng on the Yi Seashore.
On May 22, a ceremony of great significance to the Red Army began on the shores of the Yi Sea. The blue sky is brilliant, the sea is vast, and the hearts of the two people on the shore of the Yi Sea are as wide as the sky and as pure as the sea.
Liu Bocheng took two wine glasses, walked to the Yi Sea, and loaded two glasses of seawater. Xiao Ye Dan carried a large rooster in his left hand and a knife in his right hand, and went down with a knife to cut the throat of the chicken, and the blood of the chicken flowed. Xiao Ye Dan dripped chicken blood into a wine glass filled with seawater, and the two of them each held a wine glass, facing Yi Hai, and knelt on their knees.
Under the witness of Yi Hai and Blue Sky, the two made an oath: "Heaven and earth are witnesses, Yi Hai is an alliance, and today I Liu Bocheng (I Gokiyoda) are married as brothers with different surnames." In the future, we will treat each other with all our hearts, help each other, unite as one, and if there is any unfaithfulness or injustice, we will go to the eighteenth layer of hell. After saying that, the two drank it all.
At the end of the alliance ceremony, Liu Bocheng took a small red flag and personally gave it to Xiao Yedan. Since then, this red flag has been used as a souvenir by Xiao Yedan and properly treasured. In addition, Liu Bocheng also gave Xiao Yedan a pistol and a dozen sparkling rifles to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the Xiaoyedan tribe. Xiao Ye Dan was very excited and brought in a large black mule, which was his most beloved mount. In order to repay Liu Bocheng's kindness, Xiao YeDan gave this unique mule to his brother.
That night, Liu Bocheng set up a banquet for Xiao Yedan's people to eat. During the banquet, Xiao Ye Dan said very righteously: "The tribe of the Luo Hong family actually does not know how to rob the Red Army of things, if he dares to come again tomorrow, the eldest brother you just have to fight hard in the front, I will lead people to attack from the side." Our brothers went both ways to burn their village to ashes and see if they dared! ”
Liu Bocheng was well aware of the long-standing contradictions within the Yi people, and persuaded: "Although the Yi people are divided into three tribes, they must unite as one and work together with the outside world. Now that the Kuomintang warlords are eyeing you and oppressing you, you must unite even more and refrain from engaging in infighting. ”
He stretched out two hands, spread out ten fingers, and said, "You see, one finger is very strong, and only when ten fingers are tightly clenched together can a powerful fist be formed." Xiao Ye Dan nodded after listening, and was once again impressed by Liu Bocheng, what a broad mind and how sincere and kind!
The worship of Liu Bocheng and Xiao Yedan is a big step forward in our party's ethnic policy and also a microcosm of our army's ethnic policy. After that, a large number of Yi people joined the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army and established the "Wei Wei Company". The soldiers of the "Company of Wares" were simple in temperament, brave and upright, and in the years of the War of Resistance, many heroes emerged.
Liu Bocheng reported the news of the worship to the central authorities, and Mao Zedong was very happy and humorously asked Liu Bocheng: "Do you have to kneel when you worship?" Liu Bocheng replied truthfully: "Yes." Mao Zedong asked again: "Do you kneel first on your left leg or your right leg?" ”
……
Safe transit turns the tide of battle
Xiao Yedan was very trustworthy, fearing that Liu Bocheng's troops would be attacked again, and personally escorted him for a long distance, and the rest of the road was taken care of by Shamarge until Liu Bocheng's troops were sent out of the Yi area. With Xiao Yedan escorting, the other tribes of the Yi tribe did not dare to act rashly, and the advance team successfully passed through the Yi area.
On the occasion of parting, Liu Bocheng expressed his sincere thanks to Xiao Yedan and made an agreement: "There are still many Red Army brigades behind us, please, you must send them all out of the Yi area safely." After we leave, the flag of the Red Army needs you to continue to carry, and we will come back in the future! Xiao Ye Dan solemnly nodded in agreement.
Xiao Ye Dan always remembered his promise to his eldest brother and tried his best to prevent the Yi people of his tribe and other tribes from traveling back and forth between the Daliang Mountains. When the follow-up troops passed through the Yi area, Xiao Ye Dan held up the red flag given to him by Liu Bocheng to greet him, and under his guidance, the follow-up Red Army safely passed through the Yi area.
When the follow-up troops of the Red Army marched in the Yi district, another tribe of the Yi people, the Luo Hongjia, sent people to test the Red Army. They sent a 14-year-old Yi girl without clothes to come as a spy to inquire about the situation. The girl walked to the Red Army ranks without anyone else, and happened to be seen by Kang Keqing, and the eldest sister rushed up with an arrow and dressed the girl.
Kang Keqing not only dressed the girl in beautiful and clean clothes, but also entertained her to eat and gave her many small gifts. The girl was very happy and jumped back to the tribe. After that, the Luo Hong family never came to rob the Red Army.
With the support of the Yi compatriots, the Red Army successfully walked out of the Yi area, flew to seize the Luding Bridge, rushed to cross the Dadu River, and finally won the great victory of the Long March. It was precisely this time that the Red Army successfully crossed the border through the Yi area and completely changed the war situation and reversed the situation.
Liu Bocheng later recalled: "If the alliance failed at that time, or if the alliance was not in time, even if it was delayed for three days, old Chiang's heavy troops would be deployed to the small road, and then we would really become Shi Dakai's second." ”
Ye Dan was not far away
Liu Bocheng entrusted Xiao Yedan with two things, one was to escort the Red Army across the border, and the other was to carry the revolutionary banner. The Red Army has all been smoothly sent out of the Yi area, the first entrustment has been completed, and it is time to honor the second entrustment.
Shortly after the red army crossed its border, Xiao Yedan held a meeting in the Yi nationality and called on all units to "unite as one to resist the warlords together." Under Xiao Yedan's efforts to lobby, the Yi forces that had been fighting for many years slowly united, and they concentrated their armed forces to defeat The Yi forces controlled by the Kuomintang, Deng Xiuting.
This battle won a very big victory, the people were very happy, the Yi people were more united internally, and the situation of unity and external unity finally took shape. Unfortunately, the good times did not last long, and Deng Xiuting, with the support of the Kuomintang, soon made a comeback and grew in power.
Deng Xiuting was vicious and cunning, and his treachery was incomparable. Deng Xiuting paid a lot of money to the Yi people who obeyed his orders; on the contrary, they were brutally suppressed or slaughtered. At the behest of the Kuomintang, Deng Xiuting and Xiao Yedan, who had always opposed him, played a conspiracy and trickery, and Deng Xiuting designed to arrest Liu Bocheng's Red Army commanders and fighters who remained with Xiao Yedan, in order to blackmail Xiao Yedan.
Xiao Ye Dan had a deep affection for the Red Army, and when he saw that his brother was arrested, he was very anxious, and he spent 1500 taels of silver to redeem people from Deng Xiuting's hands. Seeing that a plan could not be achieved, and did not bring down Xiao YeDan, Deng Xiuting once again had a poisonous plan. He ordered someone to infiltrate Xiao Yedan's residence and stole several letters written by Liu Bocheng to Xiao Yedan, as well as the Red Army's letter of appointment to Xiao Yedan.
The letter and the letter of appointment had nothing to blame, but deng Xiuting could not stand adding oil and vinegar to confuse right and wrong, and he said that Xiao Yedan had received benefits and betrayed the interests of the entire Yi ethnic group for his own selfish interests. This has caused rumors of the originally united Yi people to spread, and the seeds of doubt have grown into towering trees, making it difficult to trust each other. The internal alliance collapsed, scattered into scattered sand, and launched a counterattack against the Xiaoyedan tribe.
The other side was too strong, and in order to save the tribe, Xiao Yedan was forced to hand over all guns and ammunition, and also compensated a large amount of livestock and silver. Xiao Yedan was arrested and imprisoned, and "Xingshi asked for guilt." The only thing he left behind was the red flag that Liu Bocheng gave to him, and before he was arrested, he solemnly handed the banner to his wife and brother, asking them to treasure it properly.
Xiao Ye Dan said: "The eldest brother and the Red Army will definitely come back, and this red flag is our keepsake." When they return, you must personally hand over this red flag to the hands of the eldest brother Liu Bocheng. ”
The wife took the red flag and tearfully agreed to her husband's request. After that, Xiao Yedan was tortured by Deng Xiuting for a whole year. After all, he was the leader of the tribe, and Deng Xiuting did not dare to kill him easily, but could only continue to extort and squeeze out the property before he was released.
Xiao Ye Dan escaped from the clutches of Deng Xiuting, but he could not escape the elaborate layout of the Kuomintang. In June 1942, the Kuomintang stirred up discord within the Yi people, and the Yi tribes that had been united for several years returned to a situation of conflict and scuffle. During the battle, Xiao Yedan was unfortunately killed at the age of 49.
Pictured| Monument to the Alliance of the Yi Sea
At the end of the year, the Great Southwest was liberated. The first thing Liu Bocheng did was to return to the Yi tribe and find Xiao Yedan. Previously, the organization had planned to appoint Xiao Yedan as a member of the Southwest Military and Political Committee to handle southwest affairs. Liu Bocheng was excited and nervous, looking forward to the reunion of his brothers, drinking wine and celebrating the great victory together.
What I didn't expect to wait for was the news that Xiao Yedan had died several years ago, and Liu Bocheng caressed the dappled red flag with grief. Xiao Ye Dan's descendants have long been unknown, and it was not until 51 years after Xiao Ye Dan's sacrifice that his descendants were found. At this time, Liu Bocheng had been dead for many years, and the people around him still attached great importance to Xiao Yedan's descendants and gave them certain care.