Compared with the party history celebrities who occupy the thick archives, liu zhidan's name may not be loud, so many people may not know who he is. But in the history of our Party, this man is not only an important figure, but can even be said to be a heavy mountain, and Chairman Mao once commented on Liu Zhidan in two sentences:
"I went to northern Shaanxi to join Liu Zhidan."
"When a person dies, we hold a memorial service, and how the masses react, that's one of the criteria for measuring him." After the sacrifice of Comrade Liu Zhidan, the people of northern Shaanxi were very sad, which shows that he is the real leader of the masses. ”
Although the first sentence is a joke, it also comes from the failure of the Red Army's fifth anti-encirclement and suppression campaign, that is, during the Long March. Everyone knows that the Red Army finally advanced into northern Shaanxi and was able to leave behind the spark that formed a fiery momentum thereafter. At that time, the situation was extremely difficult, and it was the base areas in northern Shaanxi that gave the Red Army a foundation.
Liu Zhidan may be as important as the position of the northern Shaanxi base area in the history of the revolution, for the simple reason that Liu Zhidan is one of the main founders of the northern Shaanxi base area.
The second sentence of Chairman Mao's speech was after Liu Zhidan's sacrifice.
In 1936, in preparation for the coming War of Resistance Against Japan, the Red Army began its Crusade on February 20, and one of the main forces was the Red 28th Army led by Liu Zhidan. At that time, although the Japanese Kou were rampant, after all, China and Japan had not yet officially started a war. Although the Red Army's crusade was to prepare for the fight against the Japanese, its biggest enemy was the Kuomintang.
It is rather ironic to say that the Red Army, which was already relatively weak in military strength, preferred to send its main force to the east to resist national difficulties, thinking that after establishing a base area, it would fight behind enemy lines in the War of Resistance Against Japan. Chiang Kai-shek, on the other hand, did the opposite, and for his own interests, he stubbornly wanted to "take care of the outside world before the inside."
At present, the great enemy is still thinking of his own people beating his own people, and such a mind is also doomed to failure. The facts after the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression also proved the foresight of Chairman Mao and other leaders; although the frontal battlefield was fierce, most of the battles were routed, and it was only by relying on solid battlefield support behind enemy lines that the Japanese army failed to succeed in its ambitions.
Liu Zhidan led an army on an eastern expedition to cross the Yellow River in Shenmu County, Shaanxi Province. At that time, stationed in Shenmu County, it was Yan Xishan's Jin Sui Army, facing the Red Army's Eastern Expedition, Yan Xishan ordered a blockade along the way, and the Red Army thought of more surprise attacks, and finally under the condition of strong enemy troops, our army and the Jin Sui Army broke out into a big war.
It was in this battle that Liu Zhidan died heroically, on April 14, 1936, at the age of 33.
Although the bullets on the battlefield are not long-sighted, as one of the leaders of the Red Army, Liu Zhidan would not have been so easily sacrificed if he had not personally gone to the front. In this regard, Liu Zhidan's sacrifice was also because he chose to stand with his Red Army brothers during the battle.
What killed Liu Zhidan was a bullet fired by Yan Xishan's Shi Zebobu. If Liu Zhidan had not sacrificed himself, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, there would have been almost no problem in being rated as a marshal, and China's revolutionary course may have accelerated. However, the bullet that pierced Liu Zhidan's heart shattered all possibilities.
There is a debt that has been wronged and there is a master. Therefore, after Liu Zhidan's sacrifice, the base areas in northern Shaanxi were filled with two emotions: one was the regret and sorrow of the Red Army, including the leaders, for Liu Zhidan's sacrifice; the other was the hatred for Shi Zebo.
This vendetta did not return until 1945, when Liu Zhidan had already sacrificed for 9 years. In the Battle of Shangdang, Shi Zebo's troops were defeated and captured by Chen Geng. Although 9 years have passed, our party has always remembered its friends and its enemies. After Shi Zebo was captured, everyone felt that he should pay the price for Liu Zhidan's sacrifice.
However, Shi Zebo stayed in the Liberated Areas for two years, not only did not have blood debts and blood payments, but he was also treated favorably by Liu Bocheng, Xu Xiangqian and others. Two years later, Shi Zebo was directly released. And all this is not for personal reasons, but for organizational decisions.
Speaking of this, many people may have a lot of questions: Is there any hidden plot in Liu Zhidan's death? Why didn't the organization avenge Liu Zhidan? Why did he give preferential treatment to Shi Zebo and "let him return to the mountain", and was there any secret plan in it? What happened to Shi Zebo after he was released?
Liu Zhidan was born in Baoding, Shaanxi In 1903, and his family was not rich, but it was much better than most peasant families at that time, and he was considered a gentry family. Therefore, Liu Zhidan can have the opportunity to receive cultural education. After growing up a little, Liu Zhidan deeply felt the feudalism of his family and the suffering of the people, so he resolutely chose to draw a clear line with his family.
At that time, how much courage it took to make such a move can be imagined.
To draw a clear line with the gentry's family, Liu Zhidan's direction is naturally very clear, that is, to stand on the side of the toiling masses and participate in the revolution for the sake of the people. If you want to take this road, in China at that time, only the Chinese Communist Party was the way out. So, in 1925, after an organizational test, Liu Zhidan became a glorious Communist Party member.
In the course of participating in the revolution, Liu Zhidan's meritorious deeds were outstanding, and he could almost be regarded as the most dazzling of the older generation of workers and peasants in the Red Army.
As early as 1922, before Liu Zhidan became a party member, he served as the president of the student union at the local middle school, organizing and leading the patriotic youth of the school to fight against the warlord landlords. Later, he went to the Whampoa Military Academy, served in the National Revolutionary Army, and participated in the Northern Expedition.
In 1928, Liu Zhidan organized the Weihua Uprising and served as chairman of the Military Commission of the Northwest Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army.
The Weihua Uprising was of great significance to the Red Army, because it was the first battle of the Red Army in the Shaanxi base area during the period of the agrarian revolution. Later, Liu Zhidan held a number of important positions in the northwest base area, including the commander-in-chief of the Shaanxi-Gansu guerrilla detachment, the commander-in-chief of the Northern Route Army, and the commander of the 26th and 28th Armies of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army.
From these positions alone, it is obvious that in the ranks of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army and the Communist Party at that time, Liu Zhidan was almost a big banner in the northwest, and he was a well-known and important figure in both the army and the party.
The most straightforward and the most emblematic of Liu Zhidan's meritorious deeds is in one sentence: The Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia base area was almost single-handedly established in Liu Zhidan's incessant revolutionary activities. People know that Ye Ting was in his early 30s when he was a military commander, and he was young and promising, but many people don't know that when Liu Zhidan was a military commander, he was only 33 years old.
Therefore, the phrase "If Liu Zhidan did not sacrifice, he could be rated as a marshal after the founding of the People's Republic of China" has a fairly solid foundation. More importantly, in addition to these meritorious deeds, Liu Zhidan was affirmed and respected by the leaders and red army generals in his revolutionary work and life style, and was also loved by the local people in northern Shaanxi.
After Liu Zhidan's sacrifice, the people who cried the most were the local people.
According to historical data, there is no special hidden feeling behind Liu Zhidan's sacrifice, but the feat of the Red Army's Crusade has quite extraordinary historical significance. Therefore, if we want to talk about the beginning and end of Liu Zhidan's sacrifice, we must talk about the beginning and end of the Red Army's crusade.
In 1935, the Central Red Army led by Chairman Mao and Zhou Enlai successfully reached northern Shaanxi and joined the Northern Shaanxi Red Army led by Liu Zhidan. The main reason for choosing northern Shaanxi is that there are very obvious strategic advantages here, and in the encirclement and suppression of the Red Army by the Kuomintang, northern Shaanxi has always been a relatively stable place.
However, after the Central Red Army and the Red Army in various localities arrived in northern Shaanxi, this already barren and arduous land ushered in an even more unbearable burden. Although the strategic location of northern Shaanxi is good, the land is relatively poor, the resources are limited, and before it was still self-sufficient, so many people came at once, and they certainly could not afford it.
Therefore, many historical materials record that after the end of the Long March, although the Soldiers of the Red Army fell to their feet, the living environment was still very difficult, because of the shortage of resources, food, materials, and money were very small.
Out of this urgent difficulty, the idea of the Crusade arose.
The purpose of the crusade is clear, and there are four main points:
First, alleviate the resource pressure on the base areas in northern Shaanxi.
Second, the western and northern parts of northern Shaanxi are desert Gobi, but after crossing the Yellow River in the east, it is Lüliang Mountain, and our army is a specialty in fighting guerrilla warfare.
Third, the concentration of the ranks of the Red Army in one place is obviously not good for the development of the Red Army, and it is necessary to expand more revolutionary base areas.
Fourth, the Japanese army is becoming more and more rampant, the contradictions between China and Japan have deepened, whether from the government or the public or the people, the War of Resistance Against Japan is almost an inevitable occurrence, the Red Army crossed the Yellow River in the east, established more base areas, and was conducive to giving play to the role of the enemy behind the enemy lines and resisting the Japanese.
As one of the banner figures of the Red Army at that time, Liu Zhidan naturally shouldered this responsibility uncompromisingly, that is, on the way to lead the army's eastern expedition, he encountered Yan Xishan's pursuit and blockade, and only then did he have a big battle with Shi Zebo's department.
At that time, the plan of the Red Army of the Eastern Expedition was to break through from many locations, and then to develop revolutionary base areas in the local areas, and after the strength was stable and strong, it should cooperate with the main forces of the Red Army and the outside world, posing a threat to the Kuomintang troops occupying various cities.
At that time, Yan Xishan's troops had been chasing and blocking Liu Zhidan's troops, and organizationally for strategic consideration, liu Zhidan was ordered to occupy the town of Sanjiao in Zhongyang County, develop a base area in the local area, and use it to contain the enemy army.
On April 14, 1936, a regiment, two battalions, and an artillery company stationed in Sanjiao Town began a fierce battle with Liu Zhidan's troops. In addition to so many troops, the enemy army also built dozens of fortifications like iron barrels in the local area, and to take down the town of Sanjiao was tantamount to taking down the natural danger.
The battle was fierce, but the strategy was urgent, in order to capture the town of Sanjiao as soon as possible, Liu Zhidan stood on the front line with the Red Army soldiers and commanded the battle. It was at this time that a bullet from Shi Zebo's most tenacious resistance struck and penetrated Liu Zhidan's chest. The hero who should have continued to make history slowly fell to the ground.
After the news of Liu Zhidan's sacrifice reached northern Shaanxi, the local people were all sad, and they even compiled a song for Liu Zhidan: "In the first month is the New Year, and there is a Liu Zhidan in northern Shaanxi." Liu Zhidan was a Qing official, leading the team up Hengshan, bent on communism..."
From this song to Chairman Mao's above remark that "how the masses react is the standard of measurement", although after so many years, we can still feel how deeply Liu Zhidan has won the hearts of the people. The reason for this is precisely because he not only wants revolution, but also for the people's revolution, so in the eyes of the people, he is not a warlord, but a clean official!
The leaders of the Red Army were also very shocked and sorry for Liu Zhidan's sacrifice, and Chairman Mao was even more rarely moved, choking up tears several times. At Liu Zhidan's memorial service, Zhou Enlai personally wrote an inscription: "Five thousand years up and down, thousands of heroes, the heroes of the people, to count Liu Zhidan." ”
It can be seen from this that Liu Zhidan's sacrifice is a great loss to our Party, the Red Army, and the people.
Since then, Szepo has become an enemy in the eyes of everyone, and how did Szepo get caught later?
Shi Zebo was captured by Chen Geng in the Battle of Shangdang in 1945.
This battle took place in the Jin-Hebei Luyu region led by Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping, when the War of Resistance Against Japan had only recently ended, and Chiang Kai-shek had not even fought a civil war in a fair and just manner, so Yan Xishan could not sit still and took the initiative to launch an attack on the Changzhi region. This is exactly where the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Liberated Area controls.
Our army has always sought peace, but the Kuomintang took the initiative to attack, and naturally it will not swallow its anger. After being attacked, the Central Military Commission immediately ordered that "those who come in the attack be annihilated." As soon as the Japanese devils left, the nationalist army wanted to fight a civil war, and the officers and men of our army were also very angry, and in the face of provocation, their war spirit was high, and they were united in their will.
Chairman Mao was on his way to Chongqing for negotiations at that time, and when he arrived in Chongqing, he specifically told Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping: "The better you fight, the better the negotiations will be." ”
As a result, in the Battle of Shangdang, 13 kuomintang divisions and 1 column were annihilated, and more than 31,000 people were captured.
Szepo was also one of these captives and held a high status. During the Red Army's Eastern Expedition, Shi Zebo's department made Liu Zhidan sacrifice, which made a great contribution to Yan Xishan, and naturally he was promoted all the way. When he was captured by Chen Geng, Shi Zebo was already the commander of the Kuomintang 19th Army, but in the face of Chen Geng, Shi Zebo was still much younger.
As far as the origins of the two are concerned, it should be regarded as a "hard fight". Chen Geng was born in the Whampoa Military Academy and Shi Zebo was born in the Baoding Military Academy, both of which were the cradles of revolutionary generals. However, when Shi Zebo approached the Baoding Military Academy, Chen Geng had already trained in two units, and in the end, he was promoted to commander because he let Liu Zhidan die.
On the other hand, although Chen Geng was younger than Shi Zebo, his military experience and combat experience were much stronger. One is a genius, the other is an ordinary soldier, and in contrast to the two, Shi Zebo's failure is inevitable.
After catching Szebo, it was the question that everyone didn't understand: Why did the organization treat him with good food and drink, and finally let him go?
After Shi Zebo was caught, the name that had been hidden in everyone's hearts for 9 years came back, and everyone hoped to avenge Liu Zhidan and let Shi Zebo pay his blood debts. However, after careful consideration, the party organization stabilized the mood of the people, and instead of letting Shi Zebo be punished, it ordered: "Send Shi Zebo to the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Border Region and give him preferential treatment!" ”
This preferential treatment is 2 years.
The original intention of doing this was also very simple, that is, to use the atmosphere in the Liberated Areas to impress him and carry out an ideological united front against him. As a result, we do not care about the previous suspicions, but Shi Zebo is like a pit of stones smelly and hard, no matter how to say, how to treat, is not oil and salt, extremely stubborn.
Others were unwilling, and naturally he could not be forced to go to the side of the people, so Shi Zebo was released after two years in the Liberated Areas and with the consent of the party organization. This was also a request made by Shi Zebo himself, who promised that he would not join the army again, and after leaving the Liberated Areas, he would return to his hometown to work as a doctor.
During the days in the Liberated Areas, Liu Bocheng and others personally entertained Shi Zebo, and before leaving, Xu Xiangqian personally sent him and instructed him: "When others ask, they will say that they can eat well and dress well, and do not say anything else, so as to leave a good political impression on others, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble." ”
This is really the end of benevolence and righteousness, doing ideological education work for a diehard for two years, and when he left, he was worried that he would encounter trouble when he returned to his hometown because he had been a prisoner of the Kuomintang, and he also took special care of the instructions. In addition to Xu Xiangqian, many leaders of the Liberated Areas came to bid him farewell.
Unexpectedly, not long after Shi Zebo left, he went straight to Yan Xishan's troops. However, Yan Xishan could no longer trust him at this time, and he also brought together Shi Zebo and other people who had been captured by our army and formed a "Snow Shame Meritorious Service Group", and from then on, Shi Zebo held up this title and was ridiculed everywhere.
For a soldier, this is obviously intolerable, especially for such slander, or because he has always been loyal to the "big brother". Later, Shi Zebo finally recognized the true face of Yan Xishan, disbanded this so-called "legion", and returned to the people himself as a doctor.
Time has passed, and recalling when Shi Zebo was first arrested, we may be able to understand why the party organization made such an incomprehensible decision.
First of all, at that time, during the period of negotiations in Chongqing, how to deal with Shi Zebo could show the sincerity of our party, after all, Shi Zebo was a Kuomintang general at that time, and if he was killed, it would be easy to fall into the hands. Moreover, at that time, there was no set of standards for the conviction of prisoners, and it was not easy to deal with them arbitrarily.
Secondly, although Shi Zebo was promoted to a knight because he sacrificed Liu Zhidan, after all, it was not he who personally killed Liu Zhidan, and it was his duty to fight soldiers, and if he really wanted to avenge Liu Zhidan personally, he should not look for Shi Zebo. Moreover, in addition to selling his life to the Kuomintang, Shi Zebo did not harm the people, and he also made great contributions in the War of Resistance Against Japan, which also deserved respect.
In the end, Shi Zebo became a famous doctor in Taiyuan City, and his former fame and fortune, success or failure, all became the clouds of the past. In 1986, Szepo died of illness at the age of 87.
In that era, everything Shi Zebo did was the duty of a soldier, he was a good soldier, but he took the wrong road and was considered a victim of the Kuomintang. And a hero like Liu Zhidan, who won the hearts of the people and dared to sacrifice, should always be remembered by the Chinese people.