In 1955, Chen Geng was awarded the rank of Founding General in recognition of his contributions to our country during the war. Soon after, Chen Geng became a member of the National Defense Commission and established China's first military academy, the Kazakh Military Industry.
But it is a great pity that Chen Geng died of a heart attack in Shanghai in 1961, six years after being awarded the title, at the age of 58. As China's first departed founding general, Chen Geng was buried in the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery with the highest etiquette.
However, what is surprising is that 50 years after Chen Geng's death, his ashes were actually moved out of the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery, so what is going on?
Chen Geng
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="5" > became the first chief of the intelligence section and was entrusted with important tasks by Zhou Enlai</h1>
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Chen Geng joined the Central Special Section and served as the chief of the intelligence section, and in the Kuomintang area under the shroud of the terrible "white terror", Chen Geng went deep into the Longtan Tiger's Den with great courage and loyalty to the party, and after many hardships and hardships, he repeatedly accomplished miraculous feats on the hidden front.
After the failure of the great revolution in 1927, the central organs of the Communist Party of China moved back to Shanghai from Wuhan. Witnessing the wrathful killings of the enemy and the traitors causing great danger to the party's cause, Zhou Enlai deeply felt the need to establish a strict intelligence system so as to ensure the absolute safety of the party Central Committee in Shanghai.
To this end, Zhou Enlai suggested that the Party Central Committee establish a professional intelligence protection organization, and the Central Special Branch was also born.
The Main Tasks of the Central Special Branch, directly led by Zhou Enlai, were to ensure the security of the leading organs of the Party Central Committee, to collect and grasp intelligence on the enemy, to pick out traitors, to rescue captured comrades, and so on. The Central Special Branch is divided into four sections: General Affairs, Intelligence, Operations and Transportation, of which the Intelligence Section is the department responsible for collecting intelligence and mastering the enemy's situation.
In 1928, after much thought, Zhou Enlai decided to make Chen Geng, who was now treating a leg injury in Shanghai, the head of the intelligence section. As a result, Hu Chen Geng assumed the pseudonym "Wang Yong", served as the first section chief of the Central Special Branch Intelligence Section, and became the founder of the hidden front and one of the early important leaders.
Chen Geng was only 25 years old when he was the chief of the intelligence section, and he was one of the few intelligence protection talents in the party, which was enough to see Chen Geng's talent and the importance that the party Central Committee valued him.
Chen Geng, Fu Ya, Zhou Enlai, Deng Yingchao
I believe that most of the friends have a humorous impression of Chen Geng, so why did Zhou Enlai choose him to be the first chief of the intelligence section?
In fact, the reason is very simple, in 1925, the Kuomintang left leader Liao Zhongkai was assassinated and unfortunately died, chen Geng, who had just graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy, immediately went to assist Zhou Enlai in investigating the scene, finding the murderer, and providing a large amount of materials for the detection of the case.
In September 1926, the Party Central Committee sent Chen Geng to the Soviet Union to study political defense work, chen Geng had excellent results and practiced a good marksmanship. At the time of the Nanchang Uprising, Chen Geng was in charge of political defense at the General Headquarters, and his loyalty, bravery, and flexibility also left a deep impression on Zhou Enlai.
Therefore, when the intelligence section of the Central Special Branch needed a section chief, the first thing that Zhou Enlai thought of was Chen Geng, after all, he was the most suitable candidate.
Chen Geng was in danger of being ordered to hide his true identity and shuttled among various forces. The most important thing is that Chen Geng has become friends with many people with his ingenuity and acquaintance with them, and everyone also calls him "Mr. Wang" or "Lao Wang".
Chen Geng's mixing with these people provided great help to his work, and he obtained a lot of favorable information and opened up the situation for his work. According to the requirements of the work, Chen Geng often changes his residence, disguises himself, and changes his image according to his identity, which can be said to be what he wears.
On one occasion, the foreign inspector of the Political Department of the Concession Patrol House had dinner with Chen Geng and asked him to arrest Chen Geng who was operating in Shanghai with him, and Chen Geng, who assumed the pseudonym "Wang Yong", agreed to come down. The enemy may not have dreamed that Chen Geng they wanted to capture was sitting in front of him at this moment.
As the saying goes, "Don't go into the tiger's den to get the tiger," and Zhou Enlai and Chen Geng formulated a six-character policy for the intelligence front to "fight in and pull out." So what do these six words mean?
"Penetrating in" means infiltrating the enemy's core departments and obtaining their secrets, and "pulling out" means winning over the people who can be used by the Kuomintang secret service organs and the patrol houses in the concessions for the use of our Party.
Under the leadership of Chen Geng, the Intelligence Section has implemented this six-character policy very well, which has also greatly developed the intelligence work of the Central Special Section.
Close to the response
In the winter of 1930, Guan Xiang, an alternate member of the Politburo of the Central Committee, was arrested in the concession, and a large box of documents in his residence was confiscated by the enemy. Inspector Yang did not know Chinese, and he did not know what was written on it, nor did he know which document was the most important.
The Central Special Branch began to prepare for the rescue of Guan Xiangying, and at the same time they also had to exchange the most important in these documents, which would not only reduce the losses of the party, but also make the enemy unable to judge Guan Xiangying's identity and better rescue.
At this time, Chen Geng came forward, and he consulted with Yang Dengying, an insider, and asked him to tell Inspector Yang that this batch of documents was very important, and at the same time expressed his willingness to help. The foreign inspector was very happy to hear this, so he refused the Kuomintang's request to extradite the criminals.
Yang Dengying introduced Liu Ding, a member of the special branch recommended by Chen Geng, to identify documents, and said that Liu Ding was an expert in the political science of communism, and it was most important for him to identify which documents were most appropriate.
Liu Ding, in the room where the documents were stored, looked for an opportunity to hide the party's confidential documents, and when he came out, he only had a few mimeographed documents in his hand, and said to the people who patrolled the arrest room: "The arrested person is only a scholar, and these copied documents are all academic research materials and have nothing to do with the Communist Party." ”
After hearing this, Inspector Yang believed it to be true, believing that Guan Xiangying was just an ordinary scholar and that his sentence was relatively light. Later, after being rescued by the party organization, Guan Xiangying was released and returned to his post to continue working for the party organization.
Under Chen Geng's careful planning and half a year's efforts, the Central Special Branch established a huge three-dimensional intelligence network among Kuomintang agents, the army, and the concession patrols. This has played a key role in grasping the enemy's movements, defending the Party Central Committee, and punishing traitors.
Zhou Enlai praised the intelligence work led by Chen Geng for being truly "pervasive" and "just right"!
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="100" > Chen Yi: Chen Geng is like a glass</h1>
In April 1931, Gu Shunzhang, the second figure of the Central Special Branch, defected in Hankou, and Chen Geng was ordered to organize a capable red team to ambush him at the railway station, waiting for Gu Shunzhang to appear and get rid of him. In addition, they also monitored Gu Shunzhang's residence day and night, and as soon as the traitors appeared, they immediately carried out arrests.
Gu Shunzhang was an old man of the Central Special Branch before, and he knew the strength of the Special Branch, so he did not dare to return to Shanghai easily. The personnel of the Special Branch Red Team led by Chen Geng immediately rushed to Gu Shunzhang's home and found a letter he wrote to Chiang Kai-shek in his home:
"I have long admired your wisdom and greatness, and I have the heart to surrender, just waiting for an opportunity."
The letter once again proved Gu Shunzhang's defection, and the Intelligence Section immediately investigated the attitude of Gu Shunzhang's family towards the defection and resolutely executed those who caused great harm to the party.
Chen Geng was able to be successful in the field of intelligence and repeatedly established qigong, which was inseparable from his wit and bravery, and even more inseparable from his pure heart.
Everyone knows that intelligence work is very dangerous and can kill Huangquan at any time. In his later years, Deng Xiaoping once said: "When we were engaged in secret work in Shanghai, it was very difficult, and it was simply a revolution with our heads hanging on!" ”
Liu Ding, who had fought side by side with Chen Geng in his later years, also sighed: "Before, when we were in Shanghai, we went out with our heads as soon as we went out, who knew if the head was still there when we came back." ”
To some extent, the Intelligence Section is also a very important touchstone, which can test the loyalty of the other side to the party, once it can withstand the test, it will achieve something, and those who cannot stand the test will become shameful traitors.
And Chen Geng was loyal and devoted to the party and the people, completely able to withstand the test, and he even put his life and death aside, just to let the people live a better life.
From 1929 to 1931, Chen Geng and his wife Wang Genying moved five times, and although there would be danger, Chen Geng was not afraid.
In 1933, Chen Geng was unfortunately arrested, and no matter what punishment the enemy inflicted on him and how much torture he suffered, he still refused to say anything about our Party. Chen Geng even scolded Gu Shunzhang, who had come to persuade him to surrender, and even if Chiang Kai-shek personally went out on horseback and promised the post of division commander in person, he was scornful.
It is no wonder that Chen Geng made such a move, and it is no wonder that Chen Yi would evaluate him: "Chen Geng is like a glass, it is clear and transparent from the inside out, Comrade Chen Geng is a cannon of our party!" ”
Fortunately, at the end of May 1933, Chen Geng was rescued, found a party organization in Shanghai, and was subsequently sent to the Central Soviet District to work and embark on a new revolutionary journey.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="101" > build pontoon bridges to rush across "natural dangers"</h1>
In October 1934, due to the defeat of the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign, the Central Red Army had to start a long 25,000-mile long march. Before leaving, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission decided to form the Red Army University, two infantry schools and the Special Branch School into a cadre regiment with young company platoon cadres as the main force.
The cadre regiment had 3 infantry battalions, a special branch battalion, and a superior cadre unit, and Chen Geng and Song Renqiang served as the regimental commander and political commissar of this contingent respectively.
Chairman Mao
At the end of the year, the Central Red Army followed Chairman Mao's advice, abandoned its plan to rendezvous with the Red Second and Sixth Armies in western Hunan and went to Guizhou, where the enemy's strength was weakest.
This decision left the enemy behind and managed to reach the south bank of the Wu River. The Wujiang River is the largest tributary of the southern bank of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the largest river in Guizhou, which is also known as "natural danger" for its turbulent water flow and narrow valley.
At this time, the Central Red Army had a total of 30,000 people, and there were only two small wooden boats on the south bank of the Wujiang River, and it was impossible for our army to cross the river in a short time. The most important thing is that behind them there is the Kuomintang that is about to arrive, and they even boast about Haikou: "The Communist Party has traveled a long way, and it will certainly not be able to survive this time!" ”
Faced with the dangerous river water, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission decided to implement two plans, on the one hand, ordering the two regiments of the Red First Army to rush and smuggle, and on the other hand, ordering Chen Geng to lead the cadre regiment to build a pontoon bridge in a race against time.
On January 1, 1935, Chen Geng and the special branch battalion engineer corps under the cadre regiment came to the river to observe the water conditions. Although it was the time of the water fall, the water depth of the Wujiang River was still as high as 15 meters, and the flow speed reached 2 meters per second, and the width of the river was also 200 meters, which was not expected by our army.
The construction of pontoon bridges on such turbulent waters has rarely been successful for domestic and foreign armies, let alone the Red Army, which lacks tools and equipment. Chen Geng did not give up in the face of so many difficulties, but gathered together to study the bridge building plan.
Chen Geng first divided the company's more than 200 soldiers into many groups, some of which were tasked with erection, and some of which were tasked with rescue and other tasks. At first, the plan for building the bridge was to stack three layers of bamboo on top of each other to make the foot of the bridge, and each pair of feet was covered with two sleepers in the middle, and the sleepers were connected to three or four bridge trusses, which were covered with wooden planks and so on.
However, when the warriors put the gate bridge into the water, before they could hold out for a while, the gate bridge was washed away by the turbulent water, and the sappers even tried many times and failed.
Chen Geng did not give up when he saw this situation, but continued to convene a meeting of cadres to discuss how to keep the gate bridge from being washed away by the rushing river. Someone said: "You can tie the door bridge to the stone, and the stone sinks, so that it will not be washed away." ”
After hearing this, Chen Geng rushed to test it on the spot, but it was a pity that it did not succeed. Because the surface of the stone was too smooth, it had not yet sunk to the bottom of the river, and it was washed away by the water. Just when everyone was at a loss, Chen Geng thought of a captive named "He Dizhou".
The captive, Named He Dizhou, graduated from the Engineer School and should have known something about this. Chen Geng hurriedly brought He Dizhou to him and asked him to atone for his sins, but he did not expect that He Dizhou really came up with a solution.
He Dizhou suggested weaving baskets with bamboo and filling them with large stones so that the baskets had enough weight, and then tying sharpened bamboo poles around the baskets. When the bamboo basket falls, the pointed bamboo pole will be inserted into the mud and sand, and the bamboo basket will be fixed so that the door bridge can be placed.
After hearing this, Chen Geng praised it one after another, and the other cadres and regiment members also felt that this method was feasible, and then tried it according to He Dizhou's method, but they did not expect that it was really successful. The gate bridge was fixed, and the pontoon bridge was erected little by little, constantly leading to the opposite bank.
After 36 hours of intense fighting, a pontoon bridge running through both sides of the river appeared on the Wu River, and the Kuomintang on the other side was also taken away by the firepower of our army. In the end, the Red Army soldiers relied on the pontoon bridge to safely cross the Wujiang River, and then successfully captured Zunyi County in northern Guizhou, which also created conditions for the Zunyi Conference.
The cadre regiment led by Chen Geng did not give up in the predicament, but chose to continue the challenge, and finally successfully completed the task entrusted to them by the central authorities!
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="105" >Why was Chen Geng's ashes moved out of Babaoshan 50 years later? </h1>
In 1957, Chen Geng was very busy, and in February he inspected Nanjing, Wuxi, Zhenjiang and other places, and in March he set off from Shanghai to investigate the coastal islands. During this period, Chen Geng often fell in the bathroom due to excessive fatigue, and he also had severe insomnia, and he had to take medicine to sleep, otherwise he could not sleep.
Chen Geng (middle)
In April, Chen Geng returned to Beijing, and what awaited him were meetings large and small. At the end of June, Chen Geng left Beijing for Guangdong, Fujian and other places to investigate, visited the Soviet Union in September, and conducted large-scale exercises on land, sea and air in October.
At the end of the year, Chen Geng kept touching his chest and said to Fu Ya, "I may not be able to hold on." Despite what Chen Geng said, he still did not give up the work at hand.
On December 19, Chen Geng was knocked down by the disease and suddenly suffered a myocardial infarction. This morning, Chen Geng finished eating and was ready to go to work, when suddenly someone came to his home to find him, at this time Fu Ya had already gone to work, so there was only his youngest son Chen Zhiya and the driver Lao Zhao.
Shortly after the guests left, Chen Zhiya ran to the backyard and said to Old Zhao: "Uncle, uncle, daddy is crying!" Old Zhao was very confused about how Chen Geng could cry, and rushed to the living room to see that Chen Geng was lying on the sofa, and his expression was very painful.
It turned out that when the guest left, Chen Geng suddenly felt uncomfortable in his chest, followed by severe pain in his chest, and it was difficult to breathe after a while, and the pain became more and more intense. Old Zhao saw that there was a rush to make a phone call, and soon after the doctor, Fu Ya, and the secretary all came, in addition to Nie Rongzhen, Su Yu, Peng Dehuai, and so on.
After a day of intense rescue, Chen Geng finally woke up at about 11:00 p.m., and Chen Xilian, who had been guarding Chen Geng's side, saw that he had woken up and said very happily: "You can be considered awake, see if you will still work hard in the future!" ”
Chen Geng looked at the many people around him and smiled, "You see that you are all crying and mourning, as if I am dead!" ”
Chen Geng (far right)
Chen Geng was hospitalized for a full 3 months after the onset of the disease, and was discharged from the hospital after gradually recovering. I thought that Chen Geng would have a good rest after being discharged from the hospital, but he did not expect that he immediately asked for work, and the doctor was grinded by Chen Geng and had no choice but to agree, but the doctor stipulated that Chen Geng could not go to the whole class and should ensure that there was time for rest.
Chen Geng agreed with a full mouth, but when he went to work, he forgot the doctor's will completely, and when Fu Ya reminded him to abide by the will, Chen Geng said: "The doctor's opinion is to rest and recuperate, and the working time can only account for one-third, but this is not arithmetic, how can it be so calculated!" ”
Therefore, Chen Geng still works hard, and sometimes it is a small thing to forget to eat when working.
Once, a science and technology project needed to be tested 20 kilometers north of Beijing, and Chen Geng, as the main leader, needed to participate, but his health was not too good, so the central leaders did not intend to let him go.
This morning, Fu Ya received two phone calls, both of which asked her to prevent Chen Geng from participating in the experiment, but Chen Geng did not listen to Fu Ya at all, but insisted on going, because he believed that as the main leader, he must assume the responsibility of the main leader.
Chen Geng went home after reading the test, and as soon as he entered the house, he said loudly: "Fu Ya, you go to report, just say that I came back alive!" ”
Chen Geng and Fu Ya
In 1959, Chen Geng's myocardial infarction recurred, and the Central Military Commission decided to let Chen Geng take a back seat for the sake of his life.
In 1961, Chen Geng went to Shanghai for recuperation, and he proposed to the organization that he did not need to bring an attaché, but only his wife Fu Ya. However, in the end, Chen Geng accepted the organization's arrangement, bringing with him the doctor, secretary, guard, and wife Fu Ya.
On February 27, the sky was foggy, and after eating breakfast, Chen Geng stopped Fu Ya: "Ya, today is my birthday, you are at home with me!" ”
This was the first time in so many years that Chen Geng took the initiative to mention his birthday, Fu Ya was stunned after listening to it, and when she looked back at Chen Geng, she found that her husband was also slowly getting old, but at this time Chen Geng was only 58 years old.
Because Chen Geng had a heart attack, the doctor would not let him eat fat, and he said in front of many people: "Fu Ya, you are the worst!" Don't let me eat big fat meat! However, after arriving in Shanghai, when Fu Ya asked him to eat fat meat, Chen Geng pushed the plate and said, "The chairman and the premier don't eat meat anymore, how can I eat meat!" ”
Chen Geng would also mutter, "How come no one came to see me..." Fu Ya explained after listening: "It's not that they don't come to see you, they are all stopped by the doctor, afraid of affecting your rest." After hearing this, Chen Geng immediately said, "Then they will definitely say that my official shelf is big, no, Fu Ya, you will come to the door one by one tomorrow to apologize!" ”
Entering March, Chen Geng's health was getting worse and worse, which also led to his third major attack of myocardial infarction.
Chen Geng (third from left)
On the afternoon of March 15, Fu Ya received a call from Chen Geng's guard: "The chief is a little uncomfortable, come back quickly!" ”
Fu Ya hurried home, and as soon as Chen Geng saw her, he smiled and said, "Ya, welcome, welcome home." ”
Fu Ya's mood at this time was very bad, she was worried about what danger Chen Geng would be, and asked busily: "Is your body better?" Chen Geng nodded, indicating that he was much better.
At 6 o'clock on March 16, Chen Geng's myocardial infarction occurred again, and Fu Ya immediately called the hospital, but it was a pity that the doctor could not arrive in time due to the early time.
Fu Ya had been guarding Chen Geng's side, and when she saw that Chen Geng's face was pale with pain, she quickly found a painkiller tablet for him to take, Chen Geng had just swallowed it, and before it could work, he spat it out.
Slowly, Chen Geng's hands became colder and colder, and his pupils gradually spread out...
At 8:45 a.m. on March 16, 1961, Chen Geng died of illness at the age of 58.
Chen Geng was the first of China's founding generals to die, and his death also made many people feel unbelievable.
After Chen Geng's death, the Party Central Committee buried him in the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery according to the highest specifications, but what was surprising was that 50 years later, Chen Geng's ashes were moved out of Babaoshan.
In fact, before Chen Geng died, he had a last wish, that is, to be buried with his first wife, Wang Genying.
When Fu Ya died in Beijing in January 2010, she said to her children at the bedside:
"Your father was a man of great affection and righteousness, he originally hoped to be buried with his wife, and now I have few days, and when I die, you will move him out of Babaoshan and bury him with Genying in accordance with your father's last wishes."
In 2011, Chen Geng's children decided to report to the organization in order to fulfill their father's last wishes, requesting that their father's mausoleum be moved out of Babaoshan Mountain. Chen Geng's children then buried him on the back hill of his hometown of Quanhu Village, which also fulfilled Chen Geng's last wish.
Just as Fu Ya said, Chen Geng is a person who attaches great importance to love and righteousness, and there are many people in our country who cherish love and righteousness like Chen Geng, and it is precisely because of Chen Geng and those heroes who are not afraid of sacrifice that we have a happy life today.