preface
In 1952, Li Wenqing, then deputy commander of the Northern Sichuan Military Region, returned to his hometown in Hubei Province, where he had been away for 21 years.
This time back to his hometown, he not only wanted to visit his elderly and frail parents, but also wanted to find someone, the woman who had once made him join the army to take revenge--Zhou Yimei.
The bully robbed his wife
Back in 1910, Li Wenqing was born in a peasant family in Lijiahe, Songzi, Hubei Province. As a farmer who depends on the sky to eat, their family can barely feed on the 7 acres of land rented from the landlord's family.
Perhaps also because of poverty, Li Wenqing's parents had set up a family affair for him early on, thinking that there were many people in the family and could also contribute more.
The daughter-in-law who was set was Sister Zhou, the girl Qingxiu was sensible, and when she first came to the Li family, she really helped share a lot of farm work and pressure.
Just when the family was fantasizing that the days would get better and better, God made a big joke with them, in 1927, there was a drought in Hubei, and the crops were not harvested.
This time, the Li family couldn't even afford to eat. What's more, there is more than just the problem of not having food to eat, but when the landlord collects the tenant rent, he will not be merciful because of natural disasters and man-made disasters.
In desperation, Li Wenqing had to go to Gong'an County, a hundred miles away, to work as a long-term worker, while Zhou Yimei went to the landlord's second young master Li Xuewu's house as a maid.
Li Wenqing was greedy and greedy early, working hard and complaining, afraid that he would lose this hard work to save his life, however, an accident made his "fear" a reality.
One day in 1930, Li Wenqing went to herd cattle as usual. He had just pulled the cow out of the barn, and the cow rushed out like crazy.
Li Wenqing desperately chased after the rampage mad cow, and when he chased it, the cow was nibbling on wheat seedlings in the crop field.
Li Wenqing quickly pulled the mad cow out of the crop field, and just when he was glad that it did not cause a catastrophe, the cow spat out white foam and his stomach swelled bigger and bigger.
Li Wenqing panicked and found the local veterinarian, asked the other party to help look at it, the other party looked at it, and made up his mind that this cow had "grass madness" and was not saved.
Li Wenqing was slightly relieved, since he had died of illness, it was not his fault. When he returned, he told the landlord the news that the cow had died.
Unexpectedly, the landlord did not listen to Li Wenqing's explanation at all, and insisted that Li Wenqing had killed the cow and made him lose money.
Li Wenqing had no money, he was deducted by the landlord for a year, even the cover was robbed, and then he was unceremoniously swept out of the house by the landlord.
Li Wenqing walked home with a bitter face, and halfway to the road, he happened to pass by Li Xuewu's house where Zhou Shumei was a maid. Thinking that he had not seen his wife for a long time, Li Wenqing turned a corner and walked towards Li Xuewu's house.
Knocking on the door of Li Xuewu's house, Li Wenqing explained his intentions and planned to take his wife home to live for a while, but what he did not expect was that the domestic servants indiscriminately beat Li Wenqing violently.
There were many people on the other side, and Li Wenqing could only swallow his anger and go home first. On the way, the more he thought about it, the more angry he became, he was originally depressed because he was "expelled", and now he was inexplicably beaten by Li Xuewujia.
Therefore, as soon as he entered the house, Li Wenqing indignantly told his father what had happened to him. After the speech, my father was silent for a long time, and after a long time, he opened his mouth again and again.
"Sister, it's not yours anymore." Ever since she entered the door of Li Xuewu's house, she was occupied by Li Xuewu, and later, she did not come home again. Alas, what can we, poor people, do? Just admit it. ”
Li Wenqing only felt a buzz in his ears, and he was furious and rushed into the back room to take out a knife. When his father saw that Li Wenqing was out of control, he rushed over to stop him despite the danger, but he could stop Li Wenqing under the impulse.
Fortunately, there was still a guest uncle in the family, and the two people blocked it together, so they took the knife from Li Wenqing's hand, and the uncle scolded Li Wenqing anxiously, "Are you in a hurry to die?" Li Xuewu's family is powerful and powerful, can you cut him down if you go? ”
Seeing Li Wenqing lowering his head and not saying a word, his uncle slowed down his tone to help him come up with ideas, "This matter still has to be considered in the long run, so let's not help your mother in the third young master's house of the Li family, please ask the third young master to give the second young master a gift, build a bridge, and get the daughter-in-law back." ”
Li Wenqing thought about it calmly and felt that what his uncle said was the best idea at the moment, so the next morning, he bought some snacks and went straight to the Third Young Master's house.
When Li Wenqing arrived, the Third Young Master was lying down smoking a big cigarette, and when he saw Li Wenqing coming, he grabbed his pipe and smashed it on Li Wenqing, "I heard that you are going to kill my second brother?" Can't kill my second brother, now come and kill me? Come on man, beat him out! ”
Without saying a word, Li Wenqing was beaten severely by the domestic servant on the ground, and this time, he was beaten so badly that he could not stand up.
The domestic servant took his arms and legs and threw him outside the gate, closed the door, and said to him sarcastically, "Your daughter-in-law is now the second young master of our family, and she eats and drinks spicy, how can she go back with you, a poor ghost." Go back wherever you come from, or you'll see you fight once! ”
Li Wenqing lay weakly on the ground, his body was in pain and was about to fall apart, and he silently swore, "This vendetta will not be repaid, and the oath will not be human!" ”
After being beaten and humiliated twice by the Li family, Li Wenqing completely recognized the facts, he was weak, and revenge was impossible, so he had to find a "backer".
Coincidentally, at that time, the Red Army led by He Long was active in the Songzi area, and when he heard that the Red Army was an army of the poor, Li Wenqing thought, why didn't he join the Red Army?
Therefore, he began to wait at the mouth of the village every day, for fear of missing the opportunity to join the army, and this wait was half a month. Finally, Heaven was kind to Li Wenqing, and he waited for the news of the Red Army.
Someone told him that the Red Army did not pass through their village, but from the next village, Li Wenqing ran to the next village, and finally found the Red Army team with long guns, short guns, large knives and spears.
At that time, the Red Army was already crossing the river, and Li Wenqing did not think too much, jumped down the river with the team, and swam to the opposite bank. Later, he followed the team all the way until the team rested, and then asked how to join the team.
The little soldier reported the incident to the chief, and Li Wenqing was called over for questioning. The other party asked him why he wanted to join the Red Army, and Li Wenqing, who was still a little timid just now, suddenly became angry in his eyes, "Revenge! ”
Subsequently, the chief heard Li Wenqing's story and approved him to join the Red Army.
Li Wenqing's military life
In this way, Li Wenqing became a member of the Red Army. In the army, he turned a hatred into a motivation for training, because of the rapid progress, he became a platoon leader in less than a year.
In 1931, the Red Army moved to Songzi, Changyang and other places. At one point, he took his platoon on a mission not far from home.
The urge to take revenge once again burned Li Wenqing's sanity to the ground, and this time, without his father and uncle to stop him, he was no longer weak.
Therefore, Li Wenqing led people to Li Xuewu's house, but he pounced. It turned out that after Li Xuewu heard the news, he had already fled and hidden.
Li Wenqing was furious and lit the Li family's house with a fire. After returning to the troops, Li Wenqing was unsurprisingly imprisoned.
Later, the instructor went to talk to him, and when asked about the motive for revenge, Li Wenqing answered honestly,
"I took people home to take revenge without permission, and I recognize how much the instructor criticized me, but I joined the Red Army to find Li Xuewu to avenge my wife's revenge, otherwise it would be difficult to dispel the evil in my heart!"
The instructor can understand Li Wenqing's anger and unwillingness, and he patiently persuades,
"I know that you have a vendetta against Li Xuewu, but which of us doesn't have a vendetta?" You can't just remember personal vendettas, you have to remember class enmity. If you think about it, why Li Xuewu was able to occupy your wife in the first place, and beat you in turn, is not because they have power in their hands. Therefore, we must overthrow this cannibalistic regime in order to avenge class revenge. ”
After the instructor's persuasion, the three words "class hatred" were printed in Li Wenqing's heart, and after that, he made rapid progress and soon became a company commander.
Just when Li Wenqing was in the army, in April 1931, he died nine times and went to the ghost gate to turn around.
At that time, He Long was leading the Red Third Army to attack the county seat of Zigui in western Hubei, and in the rain of bullets, Li Wenqing was unfortunately injured in his right leg, his abdomen was pierced by bullets, and his intestines flowed out.
Li Wenqing could only put the bowl upside down on it and lie in place waiting for his comrades-in-arms to come to the rescue, but after waiting for a long time, no one came over.
Just when Li Wenqing was about to give up, the Red Army headquarters passed by here. He Long saw Li Wenqing lying on the side of the road, and thought that Li Wenqing had been sacrificed, so he asked people to bury him.
The warriors took a closer look, only to find that Li Wenqing was still alive, and He Long quickly sent a deputy stretcher to send Li Wenqing to a peasant family in Badong Wanxian Cave to recuperate.
Two months later, Li Wenqing recovered from his illness and rushed back to the army.
In February 1932, during a battle in Honghu Lake, Li Wenqing was wounded in the left back and was carried to the Honghu Liuguan Red Army Hospital for treatment.
Wounded, he ran back to the Battle of Jingshan Wamiao, where he was scratched by shrapnel in his right eye.
Because of the frequent wars, Li Wenqing did not take his injured right eye seriously, chose to continue to stay in the army to fight, and waited until everything was over to go to treatment, Li Wenqing had already delayed the best time.
His right eye became blurred, and the paroxysmal headache tormented him all the time, and under this unimaginable pain, Li Wenqing walked through the snowy mountains and meadows.
In 1935, after the Red Army arrived in Yan'an, He Long personally explained to He Biao, the minister of health: send Li Wenqing to the Soviet Union for eye treatment.
As a result, before he could leave, Li Wenqing received an order to advance into Daqingshan to open up a revolutionary base area. Without the slightest hesitation, Li Wenqing gave up the opportunity to go to the Soviet Union for medical treatment and set off with the team.
Later, his eye injuries became more and more serious, until he was completely blind, and the degree of headache began to make this bloody and tearless steel man desperate.
After He Long learned of Li Wenqing's condition, he directly "ordered" him to go to Yan'an Peace Hospital for right eyeball removal surgery. After the operation, He Long went to see him, saw that Li Wenqing was in good spirits, and joked with him.
"Now my head doesn't hurt, but I'm a 'blind man'!"
Although Li Wenqing's life was picked up by He Long, He Long almost shot him twice. The first time was during the Long March, when he served as the commander of the 15th Regiment of the 5th Division of the Red Second Army.
When we reached the edge of the meadow, the 15 regiments of more than 1,000 people had only more than 400 people left, and everyone was exhausted and moved forward.
At this moment, there was a gun battle not far away, and the 15th Regiment, which was responsible for the work of the rear, was supposed to go to reinforcements, but they were really overwhelmed.
As a result, the cavalry platoon of the headquarters was encircled and suppressed, and all of them died heroically.
Speaking of this cavalry faction, but Liu Bocheng personally trained, He Long attached great importance to it, and now that "the whole army is destroyed", He Long sadly and indignantly tied Li Wenqing up, and his mouth kept chanting, "Shoot!" Shot! ”
Li Wenqing was ashamed that he had failed to reinforce the cavalry regiment, and he neither cried out for justice nor for forgiveness, but only shouted, "Let me die on the battlefield of the anti-Japanese resistance!" ”
The shouts alarmed Liu Bocheng, who hurried to ask why Li Wenqing did not reinforce. After learning that Li Wenqing's entire regiment had no combat effectiveness for reinforcements at that time, and did not know the situation of the cavalry regiment being surrounded, Liu Bocheng suggested that "there are extenuating circumstances."
He Long nodded, and let Li Wenqing loosen his ties. The capital crime was spared, but the living crime could not be escaped, and Li Wenqing was dismissed from his position as regimental commander and punished to the front line to carry ammunition.
After being dismissed, Li Wenqing went to the Kang Da to study for a period of time, and later because of the shortage of military cadres on the battlefield, he made up for the shortage of 715 regiment commanders of the 120th Division.
When Qi hui was fighting, Li Wenqing captured a pistol, which he intended to use for himself, but the political commissar in charge of the inventory insisted on letting him turn it in, and Li Wenqing did not insist and handed the pistol to the political commissar.
As a result, the commissar was not very authentic, and turned his head and gave the pistol to a female student. Li Wenqing was very angry, so he ran to question the political commissar.
At the beginning, the two people returned you a joke, I joked one by one, and the more I said the stronger the smell of gunpowder, and Li Wenqing, who had a hot temper, directly pulled out his pistol.
As soon as the political commissar saw it, he ran outside the door with his legs, and Li Wenqing did not give up, and still chased after him, and for a time, this matter was caused by a storm in the city.
Someone reported Li Wenqing's behavior to He Long, saying that his "bandit flavor" was too heavy, and He Long was furious and once again let people tie Up Li Wenqing.
Later, the two people also said that they had opened up, and He Long also knew that Li Wenqing only wanted to scare and frighten the other party, but since the behavior was out of line, the punishment that should be there was indispensable, and Li Wenqing's regiment commander was demoted to battalion commander.
After these two times, Li Wenqing seriously considered his own problems, and later, he worked step by step from battalion commander to chief of staff of the Northwest Field Army Column, and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served as deputy commander of the Northern Sichuan Military Region.
Good and evil will be rewarded
In 1952, at the age of 42, Li Wenqing returned to his hometown in Hubei Province, where he had been away for 21 years. In addition to wanting to meet his parents, Li Wenqing also wanted to meet Sister Zhou.
This time back, Li Wenqing can be regarded as returning to his hometown, so the news has long been spread in his hometown, and at this time, Li Xuewu can't sit still.
22 years ago, he forcibly robbed Li Wenqing's wife, Zhou Yimei, and now, Li Wenqing, who is already a commander, will certainly not let go of himself.
Li Xuewu, who was afraid of difficulties, hanged himself at home before Li Wenqing went to the county seat, and when he heard the news, Li Wenqing had some regrets, in fact, as early as the instructor mentioned "class hatred" to himself, Li Wenqing had no personal vendetta against Li Xuewu.
Later, he returned to Li Jiahe's home from the county seat, pushed open the door and looked inside, where a man and a woman were kneeling and two middle-aged people.
Take a closer look, the female is Zhou Yimei, the male, Li Wenqing does not know. Sister Zhou cried and said to Li Wenqing,
Li Xuewu was already frightened and hanged. I really have no way to marry someone else, please forgive me. ”
Then, she told Li Wenqing what she had suffered over the years.
It turned out that after Li Wenqing returned in 1931 to burn down Li Xuewu's house, Li Xuewu felt that Zhou Shumei was a disaster, and in order to avoid trouble, he sold Zhou Shumei to the kneeling person in front of him.
After the Long March of the Red Army, Li Wenqing lost contact, and Li Xuewu thought that Li Wenqing was dead, so he had Li Wenqing set fire to Li Wenqing's house.
Not only that, he also drove Li Wenqing's elderly parents out of Li Jiahe, and since then, no one has seen Li Wenqing's parents, let alone whether the two old people are dead or alive.
This time, when she heard that Li Wenqing had returned to her hometown, Zhou Yumei was very afraid that Li Wenqing would seek revenge on herself, but she did not know that Li Wenqing had already given up early.
He lifted up the husband and wife who were kneeling on the ground, "You are also suffering people, and now that the whole country is liberated, no one dares to oppress us anymore." ”
Before sending Sister Zhou and her husband away, Li Wenqing gave them some money, hoping that they could live a good life.
He then left the village, which had too many unfortunate memories, to continue his revolutionary career. In 1955, at the first ceremony of the new China, he was awarded the rank of major general.