On June 25, 1953, the skies over the Taiwan Strait were clear and cloudless. Suddenly, there was a roar of fighter planes in the air, and an AT-6 reconnaissance plane roared from the direction of Kinmen Island, followed by 3 fighters, trying to intercept the reconnaissance planes in front.
As the four aircraft approached, our coastal air force command reacted urgently and sent two fighter jets into the air to intercept them.
What's going on here?
Taiwan is not home, my home is across the taiwan strait, I want to go home
In 1949, Chiang Kai-shek of the Kuomintang, seeing that the general trend had gone, was unwilling to lead the remnants and retreat to Taiwan with a large amount of wealth, including Ye Gang's air force. Ye Gang, as a veteran pilot who has been active on the battlefield since the beginning of the War of Resistance Against Japan, is also one of the personnel who withdrew to Taiwan.
However, Ye Gang did not want to go to Taiwan, and in his hometown in Henan, there were parents who made him worry about his stomach. The war was over and he wanted to go home and take care of his parents. However, the situation was compelling, and the Kuomintang strictly supervised the personnel who had ideological changes within the army, and he could not leave secretly, so he had no choice but to follow the troops to Taiwan.
In his days in Taiwan, Ye Gang always looked across the strait, and his concern for his elderly mother tormented him from time to time. Looking at each other across the sea, but seeing each other for an indefinite period of time. What should he do?
Ye Gang was born in 1924, his family is in Henan, he was born in the war years, at the age of 15 he entered an arsenal specializing in the manufacture of ammunition, and when he was a little older, he watched the iron hooves of the Japanese imperialist army trampling on the motherland, and he joined the army with full enthusiasm for serving the country.
And with strong physique and excellent technology, he soon became a Kuomintang air force pilot. In the War of Resistance Against Japan, he made great achievements in the War of Resistance Against Japan, shot down enemy planes many times, and made outstanding military achievements.
In 1945, Japan announced its unconditional surrender, and Ye Gang was as happy as the Chinese people, thinking that after 8 years of arduous resistance, he could finally return to peace. Unfortunately, Chiang Kai-shek was ambitious and disregarded the chinese people's desire for peace, brazenly tore up the Double Tenth Agreement and launched a civil war.
Seeing that there was no hope of going home, and now he still wanted his own people to beat his own people, Ye Gang was dissatisfied with this. This ace pilot, who had made great achievements in the War of Resistance Against Japan, became passive and did nothing. His superiors thought he was no longer suitable for combat, so they gave him fewer combat assignments.
Occasionally, when he participated in the war, Ye Gang only made a show. To hit his own siblings with his own bullets, he couldn't do it.
Because the civil war was unpopular, although the Kuomintang had the advantage in the army, it had no combat effectiveness and lost Taiwan in just three years. Just before leaving, he still had to find a group of people to pad their backs and withdraw the rest of the troops to Taiwan. Ye Gang also followed the air force unit to Taiwan.
In this way, a shallow strait has become a chasm in the hearts of many people, and those soldiers who have been forced to pass with the large troops look at the other side from afar, but they have difficulty returning home.
In Ye Gang's heart, he secretly had a thought: Taiwan is not my home, I want to go home!
Chiang Kai-shek knew that many of the troops he brought to Taiwan were forced by the situation and did not follow them willingly, so his control over the army was very strict. The Air Force, in particular, is too easy for a plane to fly across the strait. As a result, he was the most strict in his management of the Air Force.
According to the regulations, pilots are not allowed to carry firearms, and before the flight, the aircraft can only be refueled quantitatively according to the flight time, only to ensure the completion of the task, can not be more, to avoid the situation of stealing flights.
Because Ye Gang was homesick, he was also designated as the object of key surveillance. Therefore, although his flying skills are excellent, there are not many tasks that he can receive in normal times, and even if he performs the task, he will be separated from the deputy who flew before to prevent the two from escaping together.
Faced with such a situation where he was not free everywhere, Ye Gang was also a little discouraged, was it that he had died in Taiwan like this in this life, and would he never see his father's side again?
Against all odds, I just want to go home!
Ye Gang wanted to go home, and he did.
Thus, there was such a scene over the Taiwan Strait: Ye Gang was piloting a "White Shark" AT-6 reconnaissance plane, flying at full speed from the direction of Kinmen Island to the direction of Fujian, while three fighters were closely followed by three fighters in an attempt to stop him. Four planes roared, and a "victorious escape" was staged over the strait.
Below, a pair of eager eyes quietly watched this scene, and they were all praying that Ye Gang could fulfill his wish and show them a way home.
How did Ye Gang do it?
Due to the usual control, Ye Gang did not have many opportunities to contact the plane, but he was not dead hearted.
Usually, he quietly listened to the radio, and sometimes he heard news from across the strait preaching policies, which was a mother's affectionate call to her son. That call deepened Ye Gang's longing for his hometown parents.
He began to prepare secretly. Collecting information on the channel, the location of the airport across the strait, etc., in order to prevent the unexpected, he also tried his best to obtain a small pistol through hidden channels.
In order to relax the supervision of him from above, he showed great cooperation and carried out his tasks conscientiously and responsibly. Seeing that he was doing well, his superiors slowly let down their guard and began to assign him some flight assignments.
In June 1953, when Ye Gang learned that his unit was going to send a flying squad to Kinmen Island for a mission, Ye Gang thought to himself: This may be a good opportunity. So he signed up. Since he has been doing well in recent years, his superiors agreed to his request.
Ye Gang was very excited in his heart, he began to pack his luggage, and hid the pistol he had prepared before at the bottom of the luggage, escaping the inspection.
Ye Gang arrived at Kinmen Island with the members of the flying squad who were on the garrison mission together. In the more than ten days of training, Ye Gang has been behaving very normally, every day, he and different partners to fly training, without half a word of complaint.
June 25 was the last day of the mission. Ye Gang received an order: after the training, return directly to the team and do not go to Kinmen Island again. Due to the long route required to fly this time, the gas tank of the aircraft was also rarely filled with fuel. Ye Gang was very excited in his heart - this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! If you don't go at this time, it will be difficult to go later!
He immediately made a decision and returned to the dormitory to secretly take out the pistol he had prepared before and hide it. According to the custom, the flying partners are all temporary arrangements, and today the arrangement with Ye Gang is a young man named Sun Zhiqiang. The two got on the plane, sun Zhiqiang piloted, and Ye Gang led the way.
The plane took off and completed the training mission. The operator issued an order to collect the queue. At this time, Ye Gang turned off the walkie-talkie and told Sun Zhiqiang: Fly in the direction of 360 degrees. Sun Zhiqiang took a look: No! Isn't this the direction towards Fujian?
Ye Gang took out his pistol, pointed it at Sun Zhiqiang and said, "That's right, we are flying to Fujian, I want to go home!" After a short period of consternation, Sun Zhiqiang was also happy: "Brother, you are not the only one who wants to go home, I also want to go home." The two hit it off, adjusted the course, and accelerated towards Fujian.
At this point, the command post on the ground found that the situation was not right. Hurriedly shouted at them: Hurry back, otherwise you will bear the consequences! But the two could no longer hear their shouts. They flew the plane and flew at full speed to Fujian. The Kinmen Island side saw that the situation was not good, and quickly launched three fighter jets to intercept them.
At this time, our Fujian Air Force also discovered the abnormal situation over the strait and sent two fighter jets to intercept it. Ye Gang saw the rescue troops coming from the front and hurriedly issued a surrender signal. When our air force saw the signal, it let go of the "White Shark" and warned the three fighters behind it.
The Taiwan fighter plane saw that the "white shark" had flown in the direction of Fujian, so it had no choice but to give up the pursuit and return to the ship. The "white sharks" had to fly in the direction of Hangzhou because they missed the Fujian airport, but because it was raining at the time, they quickly lost their way, and because they ran out of gasoline, they finally landed in the rice fields outside Hangzhou. Fortunately, neither was injured.
Ye Gang and Sun Zhiqiang successfully revolted in an airplane and returned to their hometown. This incident caused a strong sensation on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Our East China Military Region warmly welcomed the return of the two men, and the head of the Military Region personally received them.
In Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek was furious when he heard the news. He knew that the exemplary effect played by these two people was too bad!
Sure enough. Ye Gang's successful uprising inspired many pilots at Taiwan's air base, and they also learned from Ye Gang's appearance and piloted the uprising. Since 1953, more than 100 people have flown back to the mainland, including huang zhicheng, Xu Tingze and other outstanding pilots, who have made great contributions to our air force.
The wanderer finally had to return home, what happened to Ye Gang?
Ye Gang: I didn't come back for the high-ranking official Houlu, I just wanted to serve my parents
After Ye Gang and Sun Zhiqiang successfully landed, they were found by residents near Hangzhou and sent to the East China Military Region. When the chief of the East China Military Region learned of this incident, he attached great importance to it and personally received them. The chief asked the two about their plans for the future. Both expressed a desire to return to their hometown to serve their parents.
It turned out that in Ye Gang's hometown of Henan, only the elderly mother and the bedridden father, who had been paralyzed for many years, were left. In order to let Ye Gang achieve his wish to take care of his parents, the organization arranged For Ye Gang to be a middle school in Henan, became a teacher, and lived an ordinary but warm life.
Their story soon spread throughout the country. Even the State Department knew that two pilots had fled Taiwan to revolt and return to the mainland.
Although Ye Gang hopes to serve his parents and live a plain life, history is always full of drama, and it seems that he does not want this legendary figure to be obscure. What's going on here?
In 1959, due to three years of natural disasters, grain production was severely reduced. There have been successive starvation deaths in various villages. Ye Gang, a tough guy, watched the villagers fall one by one, and he couldn't help but burst into tears. He began to go from house to house, understanding the difficulties of each family and helping the villagers find ways to make food.
However, his behavior was deliberately misinterpreted by some people with hearts, slandering him for wanting to "riot" and arresting him, which is the famous "Xinyang Incident". At that time, Ye Gang was charged with two crimes: First, organizing a mass riot; The second is to smash and rob the state treasury of grain.
Ye Gang was arrested, imprisoned, and completely cut off from outside information. This level is more than 4 years. In 1964, the Supreme Court of Henan Province pronounced a verdict on the case: Ye Gang was sentenced to death and executed immediately!
The matter was reported to the State Council, and the state council leaders approved that Ye Gang could give up his superior life in the Kuomintang and risk a death uprising to return to the mainland, and that a person with such a strong patriotic spirit would not do anything about rioting. This is a misjudgment! Must be released unconditionally and apologize to him!
After this incident, Ye Gang was very emotional in his heart, and his absolute sincerity to the motherland did not make a mistake!
In 1983, Ye Gang was invited to Beijing to participate in the commendation meeting of the "PilotIng the Uprising".
At the meeting, 107 comrades-in-arms who returned to the mainland by plane from Taiwan gathered together, and they all paid tribute to Ye Gang, the "first person to drive the uprising." Everyone said that if it were not for Ye Gang taking a good start, they might not necessarily have the courage to make this move, and perhaps they could only look at each other across the sea from their relatives and hate Taiwan forever.
After the meeting, Ye Gang met his old comrade-in-arms Sun Zhiqiang. Sun Zhiqiang held his hand tightly, the old tears flowed, and he said to Ye Gang: "Brother, thank you for your righteous deeds and taking me to reunite with my relatives!" ”