On October 1, 1949, with the opening ceremony of the People's Republic of China, new China was officially proclaimed. What is less well known, however, is that at the military parade ceremony of the founding ceremony of new China, several pilots came from the Kuomintang Air Force uprising.
Air Force formation at the founding ceremony
At that time, Zhou Enlai pointed to a soaring C-46 transport plane in the air and said to Chairman Mao: "The co-pilot of this plane is very powerful, he himself flew to us, and pulled 170,000 silver dollars over." When Chairman Mao heard this, he nodded his head and said, "This boy is good!" ”
The new Chinese civil air force took off with difficulty
The Air Force, no matter what period of time or any country, is a very precious existence. Because if we want to firmly grasp air supremacy, we must have an air force that is strong enough to make full use of air superiority to suppress the army in the air.
Aerial equipment for the founding ceremony
Since its birth, the people's army led by the CPC has always suffered the loss of air raids with bombs overhead, and even paid huge sacrifices and casualties for this. On the eve of the founding of New China, with six US Kuomintang B-24s bombing the Nanyuan airport in Beiping, this huge air threat made the Party Central Committee deeply aware of the importance of building a strong people's air force.
Therefore, the Party Central Committee, which has only an army structure, decided to tighten its belt and build a people's air force to defend airspace security and strengthen the modernization of the army.
Nanyuan Airport
As we all know, the establishment of the Air Force is indeed a very "money-burning" thing, which requires a lot of capital investment and talent investment to be effective. But at this time, China was in the stage of development of poverty and weakness, and the vast number of poor people could not eat enough and clothing, so where did the money come from to buy airplanes?
However, adhering to the principle of "creating conditions without conditions," the party used kuomintang aircraft captured in various regions and kuomintang rebel pilots to form the initial people's air force, and at the same time actively established aviation schools and selected many military personnel to learn aviation technology.
People's Air Force
At the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the original People's Air Force team was officially launched, and the number of fighters was only 10, and even two were unremarkable PY-19 trainers. These planes "scavenged" from the Kuomintang all have a unique story behind them, and one of the C-46 transport planes and its pilot, Yang Baoqing, created a feat of "transporting 170,000 silver dollars by air".
C-46 transport aircraft
Yang Baoqing, who firmly adheres to "serving the country with aviation"
In 1923, Yang Baoqing was born into a poor peasant family, and after witnessing the various brutal crimes of the Japanese invasion of China in his youth, he planted in his heart the ideal of serving the country and saving the people. At the same time, forced by the pace of aggression of the Japanese army, Yang Baoqing's family also fell apart under the long road of war and escape.
Pilot Yang Baoqing
Unable to raise many heirs, his parents left Yang Baoqing in the family of his third aunt in Huaichuan, Henan Province, and left him to fend for himself. Fortunately, the three aunts regard Yang Baoqing as their own, under the hard work of the three aunts, Yang Baoqing can continue his studies in the chaotic world, and Yang Baoqing, who knows that reading to change his destiny, also lives up to the expectations of the three aunts, and his academic performance has always been very good.
In 1941, Yang Baoqing, who graduated from junior high school, decided to be admitted to the Chengdu Army Officer School and embarked on the road of serving the country. Therefore, the young Yang Baoqing came to Chengdu alone to work and study half-time, preparing for the examination of Chengdu Army officers. In 1942, the enrollment information of the Kuomintang Air Force Officer School deeply attracted Yang Baoqing, and as a hot-blooded young man, he was naturally full of interest in the vast blue sky.
Kuomintang air force pilot
Therefore, Yang Baoqing changed his mind and resolutely applied for the Air Force Officer School. The kung fu paid off, and Yang Baoqing, who was full of ambition, was soon successfully admitted to the 26th session of the Air Force Officer School, officially starting his career as a pilot. During his school years, with excellent results, Yang Baoqing also went to the Lahore Flight School in India to conduct flight training with the United States.
In 1944, after returning from school, he unfortunately encountered Japanese destroyers on the way through the Pacific Ocean, and was forced to walk around the equator for more than three months before completely dumping the Japanese. This made Yang Baoqing's resentment toward Japan deepen a little deeper.
Student of the Air Force Officer School
After returning to China, Yang Baoqing was assigned to the third squadron of the Mixed Air Force Corps of China and the United States, and also received the rank of second lieutenant. Subsequently, Yang Baoqing flew the B-25 light bomber into the anti-Japanese battlefield non-stop, and he finally realized the long-cherished wish of soaring in the blue sky with the posture of "falcon in the air" to strike at the Japanese invaders, and made good military achievements.
In 1945, Japan announced its unconditional surrender. At this time, Yang Baoqing, who had not returned home for many years, while rejoicing in the victory of the War of Resistance and taking a breath of air, also felt that it was time for him to go home to visit his family, who had not been seen for many years. But just as he packed his bags and was ready to embark on his journey back to his hometown, the War of Liberation broke out.
B-25 bomber
Surrender to the uprising
Less than half a month after the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Kuomintang headed by Chiang Kai-shek tore off its mask of hypocrisy and persisted in firing at the Communist Party in disregard of the common aspirations of the Communist Party and the people of the whole country for recuperation and peaceful development. Yang Baoqing, as an air force pilot, also had to be temporarily transferred to the 102nd Squadron of the 10th Airlift Brigade to fly the C-47 transport aircraft to transport the Kuomintang troops for the northeast battlefield.
At the same time, Yang Baoqing's heart clearly raised questions: he has been practicing aviation technology for many years in order to resist invaders, defend his family and defend the country, and guard air safety. Why is this aviation technology used against one's own compatriots?
Yang Baoqing
In 1946, Yang Baoqing met Liu Yupu, a female student at Fu Jen University, and the two quickly became married, and gave birth to two sons, forming a happy family of four. At this time, Yang Baoqing, with his family concerns, was increasingly repulsive to the actions of chiang kai-shek's government to launch a civil war to disrupt peace.
However, he was not the only one in the Kuomintang Air Force who had the same idea as Yang Baoqing. As Liu Shanben, a captain pilot of the Kuomintang Air Force, flew a B-24 bomber to Yan'an, more and more Kuomintang air force pilots flew in the uprising one after another.
Liu Shanben
The Kuomintang was so angry and demoralized that in order to prevent this incident from happening again, it went so far as to order all the families of all the pilots of the Nationalist army to be sent to Taiwan, using this as a blackmail to force the pilots of the Nationalist army to give their lives. At that time, once there were pilots who rebelled and surrendered, the families of those who were "detained" in Taiwan by the Kuomintang government would be "in danger."
Yang Baoqing's wife and children were also forced to separate from Yang Baoqing and go to Taiwan on the other side. Due to the long-distance bumps, the boats and cars are tired, the water and soil are not satisfied, Yang Baoqing's two children are also unfortunate to be infected with severe wind and cold, seriously ill and hospitalized, and his wife is busy taking care of them alone.
Chiang Kai-shek
Yang Baoqing, who was stationed in Nanjing, was impatient, but he could not reach it, and the resentment in his heart against the Kuomintang government was a little more. At that time, in 1949, at the end of the Liberation War, the Kuomintang was defeated and retreated under the overwhelming offensive of the People's Liberation Army, and the buildings were about to fall, and began to continuously transport supplies to Taiwan and withdraw troops.
And Yang Baoqing, as a transporter flying across the taiwan mainland, finally had the opportunity to visit his wife and children. In the course of a mission, Yang Baoqing happened to meet his brother-in-law Zhao Lianjing, who was also a pilot, at the Chongqing airport.
Aircraft transporting supplies
The two did not see each other for a long time, and they chatted happily, and Yang Baoqing told his brother-in-law about his war-weariness and expressed his yearning for the liberated areas. In fact, he already had the intention of uprising and surrendering, but because his wife and children were detained in Taiwan, he had always been hesitant and did not know how to do it.
Subsequently, his brother-in-law's words suddenly made him firm in his determination to surrender to the uprising: "The Kuomintang government is corrupt and incompetent, the general trend has gone, flying to the Liberated Areas and defecting to the Communist Party is a correct path, as long as you take one step first, I will follow this road in the future." ”
Yang Baoqing, who made up his mind, entrusted all his belongings to his brother-in-law to help bring them to his wife and children, and left a "last word": "If you succeed, you will use this money to find a way out." If it fails, the money is used as living expenses. On the night of February 19, Yang Baoqing took advantage of the pre-prepared tools to steal a transport plane full of silver dollars under the cover of night, and rushed straight into the sky in one fell swoop.
Because there was no map, Yang Baoqing could only fly blindly to the north, flying until the dawn of the day, the fuel tank was almost exhausted, and finally successfully forced a landing on a river beach near Tangshan, and was rescued and taken in by the local people and the head of the Tangshan People's Liberation Army, officially becoming a member of the first flying air transport team of the People's Liberation Army, and truly realizing his ideal of soaring in the blue sky to defend the people of the motherland.
People's Liberation Army Air Force Unit
And the 170,000 silver dollars that were transported with Yang Baoqing, as the people's cream smuggled by Chiang Kai-shek to Taiwan, should also be returned to the hands of the people. As for Yang Baoqing's wife, she finally succeeded in overcoming the obstacles of blockade and reuniting with him.
Later, Yang Baoqing, in addition to participating in the military parade ceremony of the founding ceremony, was also an important technical backbone of the initial period of the People's Air Force, and witnessed many "firsts" of the People's Air Force: the first time to welcome the special plane of the national leader, the first time to support the Army to carry out airdrops, and to participate in the training of the first batch of female pilots...
Training of female pilots
In 1955, after retiring from the army, Yang Baoqing transferred to Sichuan Heavy Industry China Mechanical and Electrical Company to work, and continued to shine for the development and construction of new China. In his later years, based on his contributions to the People's Air Force, he was also allowed to retire according to the treatment of the main office bureau and was successfully elected as a standing committee member of the Sichuan CPPCC. Facts have proved that Yang Baoqing's choice of uprising and surrender was correct, and the people's choice was also correct.