On April 8, 1946, Wang Ruofei and Qin Bangxian, cpc deputies attending the Political Consultative Conference in Chongqing, after attending the meeting, flew back from Chongqing to Yan'an to report to the party Central Committee on their work. Unfortunately, 40 kilometers southeast of Xing County in the Lüliang Region of Shanxi Province, the Black Tea Mountain was hit by fog and all of them were killed, and the history is called the "Four Eight" martyrs.
The 13 "April 8th" martyrs were: Wang Ruofei, Qin Bangxian, Ye Ting, Deng Fa, Huang Qisheng, Li Shaohua (staff officer of the Eighteenth Group Army), Zhao Dengjun (aide-de-camp of Qin Bangxian's entourage), Wei Wanji (aide-de-camp to Wang Ruofei's entourage), Huang Xiaozhuang (a teacher of the "LuYi" music department and the grandson of Huang Qisheng), Li Xiuwen (Ye Ting's wife), Ye Yangmei (Ye Ting's fifth daughter), Ah Jiu (Ye Ting's youngest son), and Gao Qiong (Ye Ting's nanny).
The wrecked aircraft was an American transport aircraft flown by four U.S. military crew members. Together with the four U.S. military crew members, none of the 17 people on the plane survived.
After the outbreak of the Anhui Incident in southern Anhui in 1941, Ye Ting, then commander of the New Fourth Army, was illegally detained during negotiations with the Kuomintang army and imprisoned for more than 5 years, but Ye Ting was loyal and unyielding, regarded threats and inducements as a floating cloud, and firmly stated that "personal ethics are immutable to death." In March 1946, Ye Ting was finally released. The day after his release from prison, he called the Party Central Committee in Yan'an, hoping to rejoin the party. The CPC Central Committee replied and decided to accept Ye Ting's rejoining of the CPC.
When the plane crashed, Ye Ting's family of 4 people were killed at the same time, he was only 50 years old, his wife Li Xiuwen was 39 years old, his daughter Yangmei was 11 years old, and his son Ah Jiu was only 3 years old.
As early as June 1922, Wang Ruofei, together with Zhao Shiyan and Zhou Enlai, initiated the establishment of the "Young Communist Party of China in Europe". From 1940 onwards, Wang Ruofei served as secretary general of the Central Committee and director of the Central Party Affairs Commission. After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Wang Ruofei went to Chongqing to negotiate and was one of the three representatives of the CCP delegation (the other two being Chairman Mao and Zhou Enlai).
Huang Qisheng, a patriotic educator who was also in difficulty, was Wang Ruofei's second uncle. Throughout his life, Huang Qisheng explored the truth of education to save the country and rejuvenate the country through education, and peach and plum were all over the world, and he Yingqin and other high-ranking officials of the Kuomintang were once his students. In 1937 and 1945, Huang Qisheng went to Yan'an twice to visit, inspect and study, and was received by Chairman Mao on both occasions. When he first arrived in Yan'an, Chairman Mao praised him: "Huang Qisheng was the first person outside the Party to sympathize with and love the Party during the most difficult period of the Communist Party. ”
Qin Bangxian is Bogu, a native of Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. In September 1931, at the age of 24, he became the head of the Provisional Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. After the Zunyi Conference in 1935, he ceased to be the chief in charge, and later served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, director of the Political Department of the Field Forces of the Red Army, director of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, and president of the Xinhua News Agency.
Deng Fa was a native of Yunfu, Guangdong, who was one of the famous leaders of china's workers' movement, participated in the Guangzhou Uprising, served as secretary of the Fujian-Guangdong-Gansu Border Special Committee and secretary of the Military Commission, member of the Central Executive Committee of the Chinese Soviet Republic and director of the Political Protection Bureau (Li Kenong was only the head of the Reconnaissance Department below the Defense Bureau at that time), commander and political commissar of the 1st echelon of the Central Column and political commissar of the Shaanxi-Gansu Detachment during the Long March, and served as the president of the Central Party School during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
In April 1945, Deng Fa was elected director of the Preparatory Committee of the Workers' Federation of the Liberated Areas of China. In September of the same year, as the only workers' representative of the Liberated Area, Deng Fa and Zhu Xuefan, a representative of the Kuomintang District, attended the inaugural meeting of the World Workers' Federation in Paris. In January 1946, Deng Fa returned to China.
Before Deng Fa returned to China, the famous Spanish painter Picasso presented Chairman Mao with an oil painting and entrusted him to take it to Yan'an to present Chairman Mao. In order to live up to the trust, Deng Fa carefully wrapped the oil paintings and was inseparable. When the plane crashed, the famous painting of Picasso was also destroyed.
On the morning of April 8, 1946, after Wang Ruofei and others flew from Chongqing to Xi'an, they announced that they would arrive in Yan'an on time. At about 1 p.m., Chairman Mao, Zhu De, Ren Bishi, And Comrade Lin Boqu all arrived at Dongguan Airport in Yan'an one after another to greet them.
No one expected that what they were waiting for was sad bad news.
Chairman Mao and other central leaders were plunged into great grief.
On April 11, 1946, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and all walks of life in Yan'an formed a funeral committee attended by Chairman Mao, Zhu De, Liu Shaoqi, Ren Bishi, Lin Boqu, Xi Zhongxun, Li Dingming and 26 others.
On April 18, 1946, the remains of the "April 8th" martyrs were transported from Xing County, Shanxi Province, Jinsui Border District, to Yan'an.
On April 19, 1946, more than 30,000 people from all walks of life in Yan'an held a solemn memorial meeting, and Chairman Mao inscribed a memorandum in the name of the CPC Central Committee:
The world is in many difficulties, relying on the front line of struggle, adhering to democracy, driving out reaction, indomitable, and shocking to hear the fierce voice of mourning;
The party will always be in pain, remember the people's cause, but turn grief into strength, single-mindedly and morally, and vow to win victory and comfort the heroic souls.
On April 20, 1946, The Liberation Daily published Chairman Mao's memorial essay entitled "Tribute to the Martyrs Killed on April 8": "Over the past few decades, you have done vigorous work for the cause of the people. Today, you are dying for the cause of the people, even though you are still honored! Your death is a call that will deepen the understanding of the Chinese people about the Communist Party of China and will strengthen the determination of the Chinese people to uphold the cause of peace, democracy and unity! Your death is a call to all Party members and the people of the whole country to unite and fight to the end for a peaceful, democratic, and united New China! The members of the Whole Party and the people of the whole country will inherit your legacy and continue to struggle until victory, never slackening off and never retreating! ”
The "Liberation Daily" also published Chairman Mao's inscription for the martyrs killed on April 8: "Die for the people, although death is still glorious."
Zhou Enlai's inscription is: "Black Tea MountainTop, Yan'an Riverside." The people's heroes are immortal. ”
Lin Boqu's eulogy reads: "If the revolutionary cause has not been fully accomplished, it is better to smile with peace of mind; the implementation of the agreement requires effort, and that strange disaster will come during the day." ”
The country has lost its pillars, and the people have lost their fighters. It was a pity that the four senior leaders, Wang Ruofei, Qin Bangxian, Ye Ting, and Deng Fa, were rarely encountered. If they can live to the end of the country, their status will be very high. Especially Ye Ting, he will definitely be among the founding marshals. (Liu Jixing)