On the night of December 24, 1925, when everything was silent, outside the vegetable cellar of a farmhouse in Xinmin County, there was a sudden knock on the door and messy footsteps.
A forty-year-old man looked at his thirty-year-old wife affectionately, and said in a heavy tone: "It seems that we are in a catastrophe tonight, I have caused you to be burdened, and I can only repay you in the next life." ”
The man's name is Guo Songling, and he is a senior general of the Feng Army.
He was born poor, had a progressive mind, and had a dream of saving the country. At the age of 22, he was admitted to the Fengtian Army Primary School and began his military career.
After the outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising in 1911, the Qing Dynasty was crumbling, and countless hot-blooded men joined the anti-Qing team.
At that time, Guo Songling was stationed in Sichuan and was already a member of the League, and he was so enthusiastic after hearing the news that he immediately bought a ticket to return to Fengtian, intending to ignite the fire of revolution in the northeast.
In order to carry out the revolution, the League set up a base in Mukden at that time, and the two were able to get to know each other in the home of a woman named Han Shuxiu.
Han Shuxiu was born in 1891, 8 years younger than Guo Songling. Because of her superior family background and open-minded father, Han Shuxiu was able to enter the Fengtian (Shenyang) Women's Normal School to study.
Don't look at Han Shuxiu as a woman, but she cares about national affairs and hates the corrupt Qing government.
On the evening of January 23, 1912, the revolutionaries Zhang Rong and Heng Baokun were killed, and Zhang Zuolin began to carry out a large-scale search in Fengtian (Shenyang) City.
At that time, Zhang Zuolin was born as a bandit, with little moral bottom line, let alone no faith, and the grassroots philosophy he believed in was "if you have milk, you are a mother".
After the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, the vast majority of the generals of the New Army in the south telegraphed to support the revolution, and many Beiyang generals did not openly oppose it, except for Zhang Zuolin and a few other officials who killed the revolutionaries and strongly supported the dying Qing regime.
When Yuan Shikai was proclaimed emperor, he was opposed by army generals, including his cronies, and the people of the whole country were even more angry to denounce it.
In April 1927, Zhang Zuolin stormed the Soviet Embassy, arrested more than 20 Communists (including Li Dazhao), and brutally murdered them despite opposition from all walks of life across the country.
Zhang Zuolin was assassinated in Huanggutun not because he "refused to betray the country", but just around the price of betraying the country, he had a conflict of interest with the Japanese, which made the master lose patience and blew him up in Huanggutun.
Back to the book, at that time, Guo Songling was going to be executed because he had the passport of the People's Army of the "United Rapid Advancement" organ, and was searched by Zhang Zuolin's subordinates. After hearing the news, Han Shuxiu rushed out of the house despite the obstruction of her parents, went straight to the court, and stopped the torture car halfway.
After Zhang Zuolin heard the news, he rode over and said, "You little girl, why do you dare to come to stop the torture car?"
"If you want to kill my husband, how can I not stop me?"
"He is a revolutionary party, he is here to subvert the regime, to find death, and if he doesn't kill anyone. ”
"No, you're mistaken, he's not a revolutionary, he came home to marry me, and you arrested him by mistake. Han Shuxiu said with certainty.
Zhang Zuolin looked at it, Han Shuxiu didn't look like a fake, one was a guy who was about to be executed, and the other was a dignified yellow flower girl, if it wasn't a husband and wife, could this girl sacrifice herself to save her?
He pondered for a long time, then released Guo Songling, and pretended to be a good person and said: "Young man, you have such a good wife, you are very blessed, go back and live a good life, and give birth to a lot of children." ”
Han Shuxiu said "thank you" without humility or arrogance, and then took Guo Songling's hand and left the execution ground. The onlookers on the street also burst into warm applause, which was not only a celebration of the lovers being able to get together, but also an affirmation of Zhang Zuolin's actions.
Looking at the distant backs of the two, Zhang Zuolin, who was making a high-profile show, smiled with satisfaction. He never dreamed that it was this decision that left a formidable opponent and almost ended up with himself.
After being released, Guo Songling was admitted to the Beijing General Academy Research Institute and continued to study military knowledge. He understood that at that time, the truth was within the range of bullets, and whoever had more guns and whose army could fight would have the right to speak.
If you want to make a revolution, you must first learn to fight, otherwise, saving the country can only be a utopian dream.
In the autumn of 1913, after graduation, Guo Songling was admitted to the Chinese Army University.
In 1917, the Protector Military Government was established, and Guo Songling, who worked as an instructor in Beijing, went south to join Sun Yat-sen, and was later appointed as the battalion commander of the Guards.
Soon after, the Dharma protection movement led by Sun Yat-sen failed, and Guo Songling saw that he could no longer stay in Guangzhou, so he had to return to his hometown and become a tactical instructor in the army martial arts hall of the three eastern provinces. Zhang Zuolin's son, Zhang Xueliang, was convinced and admired by his teaching, and the two have known each other since then and become friends.
With this relationship between the young marshal, Guo Songling's life has also embarked on the fast track and has begun to rise to the top. By 1921, Guo Songling was already the commander of the Eighth Brigade of the Feng Army.
In 1922, the direct line and the Feng line fought for hegemony, and the Eighth Brigade led by Guo Songling and the Third Brigade led by Zhang Xueliang went hand in hand, broke through the Shanhai Pass, and achieved the strategic goal of directly attacking the eastern part of the country.
At that time, the Feng army was almost completely defeated, and only Guo and Zhang's two strong teams performed eye-catchingly. Therefore, Guo Songling was appreciated by Zhang Zuolin and his position was promoted again. In 1924, during the Second Zhifeng War, Zhang Xueliang and Guo Songling both served as army commanders, one and the other. The Third Army under their command once again performed prominently and made the first contribution to the victory of the Feng Army.
Zhang Zuolin was overjoyed and appointed Zhang Xueliang as the commander of the Jingyu Garrison Command, and Guo Songling was also appointed deputy commander because of his meritorious service. It can be said that at this time, Guo Songling, a thousand-mile horse, met Bole and had a brilliant future. Zhang Zuolin is also proud of his discerning eyes and meeting such a powerful general as Guo Songling.
But a year later, Guo Songling raised the banner of anti-Fengfeng, pointing the spearhead at Zhang Zuolin and wanting to put him to death.
It turned out that in October 1925, Guo Songling and his wife went east to Japan to investigate the military. At the Japanese General Staff Headquarters, he accidentally saw the confidential documents of Zhang Zuolin's betrayal of the interests of Northeast China.
In fact, it is no secret that Zhang Zuolin cooperated with the Japanese, but Guo Songling has never been exposed to these top-secret contents, and now when he looks at it, he is shocked.
At the time of the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the Japanese owned only half of the railroad in the Northeast (that half was controlled by the Soviets), and other than that, the Japanese had nothing in the Northeast.
However, after Zhang Zuolin declared the independence of Northeast China and became the king of Northeast China, the Japanese frantically built roads in Northeast China, and a railway network extending in all directions was built, laying the foundation for the invasion of Northeast China and later North China.
This is what Yuan Shikai and Duan Qirui wanted to do but didn't dare to do when they were in office, and it was Zhang Dashuai who helped the Japanese realize it.
In addition, the Japanese also vigorously opened mines, immigrated, and annexed land in the northeast.
Guo Songling had been fighting and training in the army, and he lacked understanding of Zhang Zuolin's behavior, and after seeing those documents in Japan, his views on Zhang Zuolin changed 180 degrees.
Another point is also very crucial, Zhang Zuolin fought with the warlord Wu Peifu before, it was a dog-eat-dog war between warlords, lacking justice, no one is right or wrong.
After defeating Wu Peifu, Zhang Zuolin actively prepared for war, intending to further sell the interests of the Northeast, obtain weapons from Japan, and launch an all-out war against the National Revolutionary Army in the south.
As a result, the nature has changed, and it is the traitorous conservative forces who wage war against the patriotic progressive forces. At this time, Guo Songling was bent on standing on the side of the progressive forces, and turned to challenge Zhang Zuolin.
Of course, Guo Songling's hostility towards Zhang Zuolin from cooperation does not rule out the reasons for interests.
The war was won, and Zhang Zuolin's cronies Yang Yuting, Jiang Dengxuan and others were rewarded respectively and served as local officials. Some of them controlled Shandong, some controlled Jiangsu, and some became rulers of Anhui, all of whom became feudal officials, but Guo Songling did not get a piece of the pie, and was even completely marginalized.
At this time, Feng Yuxiang also became hostile to his partner Zhang Zuolin.
Because Zhang Zuolin was able to win the second Zhifeng War, he mainly relied on Feng Yuxiang to defect and lead his troops into Beijing, giving Wu Peifu a salary, and his direct line was immediately defeated. But Zhang Zuolin crossed the river and demolished the bridge, squeezing Feng Yuxiang to a barren land - Zhangjiakou, Chahar.
Zhang Zuolin's injustice made Feng Yuxiang grit his teeth with hatred, and under Li Dazhao's needle lead, Feng Guo and the two held hands.
At this time, Li Jinglin, another general under Zhang Zuolin, also despised Lao Zhang's personality very much, and had the idea of anti-Zhang. The three hit it off and formed an anti-tension united front.
On November 12, 1929, Guo Songling officially announced his opposition to Feng.
At that time, Guo Songling was not in a relaxed mood, and the hope of victory was very slim. After all, Zhang Zuolin has hundreds of thousands of troops, and Guo Songling's army is less than 50,000, and many generals under him oppose the reversal of Zhang.
At the meeting, Guo Songling said unusually tragically: "If the anti-Zhang fails, I will do things by myself, whether I kill or chop, I admit it, and it has nothing to do with others." ”
Han Shuxiu also said loudly: "I support the commander's decision, if he dies, I will not live alone!" In order to show her support for her husband, she served as the confidential secretary of the headquarters and personally gave advice to her husband.
On the evening of the 21st, Guo Songling sent a telegram, putting forward four proposals, including "opposing the civil war, demanding that Zhang Zuolin go into the wilderness, punishing Yang Yuting, and Zhang Xueliang coming to power." Subsequently, he commanded five armies, claimed to be 70,000 men, and marched towards Mukden.
Although Guo Songling has few troops, his combat effectiveness is not bad, and he was unstoppable at first, invincible, and killed the soldiers on their backs. Not to mention the power to fight back, not even the ability to parry.
Guo's army was overwhelmed and captured Jinzhou in only 10 days. After that, Guo's army continued to go north, and it seemed that it was about to hit Mukden. Zhang Zuolin's downfall is now in the countdown.
In desperation, Zhang Zuolin had no choice but to plan for the worst: he loaded the gold and silver fine and soft onto 27 cars, and planned to transfer them to Japan. Get your plane ready and escape to Tokyo at any time. A message is drawn up and the announcement is being made.
At the same time, he also made a trapping beast fight, and let his cronies come to the Kwantung Army Headquarters, asking to see the commander of the Kwantung Army and saying, "As long as you can help Zhang Zuolin get out of the crisis, you can agree to any conditions!"
The Japanese were overjoyed, at this time they already looked down on Zhang Zuolin and hoped to abandon Lao Zhang and cooperate with Guo Songling. Guo Songling said that I can't do things in the northeast, and the national government in the south has the final say.
The Japanese representative was very angry, and left in a hurry, leaving behind a sentence before leaving: "Guo Songling, let's see." ”
After the outbreak of the conflict between Guo and Zhang, the Japanese Kwantung Army issued a statement: "Strictly abide by neutrality".
When Zhang Zuolin relented and asked for help, soon the Kwantung Army changed its "neutral" stance, drew a red line, included the railway and highway lines in the forbidden area, and ordered Guo Jun not to take another half step forward. At the same time, the Kwantung Army personally went down and dispatched planes to bomb Guo Jun indiscriminately.
In the later Battle of Songhu, the Kuomintang German Armament Division was not the opponent of the Japanese army, and the Guo Army was not at the same level as the Kwantung Army in terms of weapons and equipment, strength and combat effectiveness.
The intervention of the Kwantung Army made the tide of the war take a sharp turn.
At the critical moment, Feng Yuxiang suddenly attacked Li Jinglin, and his "own people" fought, and the anti-Zhang united front soon collapsed.
As a result, Zhang Zuolin turned over, survived in a desperate situation, and Guo Jun was defeated. On December 24, Guo Songling saw that the general trend was gone, so he had to run away with Han Shuxiu in makeup. They hid in a farmer's vegetable cellar in Xinmin County and were arrested that night.
For Guo Songling, who almost sent himself to a dead end, Zhang Zuolin hated it to the core, and he couldn't wait to break his body into pieces. On the next day (25th), Zhang Zuolin couldn't wait to issue an execution order for Guo Songling.
On the 25th, the sky was overcast, snowflakes were flying, and the execution ground was heavily guarded, and soldiers with loaded guns and ammunition were covered. Guo Songling and his beloved wife Han Shuxiu were pushed off the prison cart by the soldiers, and the two looked at each other with pity for a moment before calmly walking to the execution ground.
Han Shuxiu was not afraid, but with a smile on her face, it seemed that she was not going to die, but to be the bride who spent her honeymoon together.
14 years ago, she rescued her husband from the court and accompanied him on a vigorous journey in life. This time, she wants to use her life to accompany her husband to another Dharma field and go to another world hand in hand.
Although you can't be born on the same day and month of the same year, you can die on the same day of the same month, the same month, the same year.
The military and police officers were stunned by her composure expression, and their gun-wielding hands began to tremble.
At this time, Han Shuxiu's loud words sounded on the court: "The eldest husband died for the country, and he died as he deserved." Commander, please go first, Shuxiu and I will come later!"
A gunshot rang out, Guo Songling fell to the ground, followed by another gunshot, and Han Shuxiu died.
When Han Shuxiu was executed, the photographer sent by Zhang Zuolin raised his camera and captured the deplorable scene. In the photo, she is lying on the ground, the blood on her face has not dried, and Guo Songling's body is not far away.
Half an hour later, Zhang Zuolin saw the same framed photo of the couple being executed, and he breathed a sigh of relief. In the future, I can finally sleep peacefully.
Despite this, Zhang Zuolin's hatred was hard to get rid of, and he gave another order that the corpse must be exposed for 3 days!
No matter what we think of Guo Songling, we have to admit that Han Shuxiu dares to love and hate, and she is a rare strange woman in history.
References: Guo Rensheng's "Guo Songling's Strategy", "Guo Songling's Anti-Feng" Liaoning Literary and Historical Materials