In 1985, in a quiet farmhouse courtyard in Jingyang County, Shaanxi Province, a rare group photo recorded the warm moment of the reunion of the elderly Tong Dehou with his family. Standing beside Tong Dehou was his son Tong Xiaodong, as well as his cute little granddaughter and others. Although it has been 10 years since Tong Dehou was released from prison at this time, such a family photo is particularly precious to them, not because he is busy, but because of the constraints of life, it is difficult for him to pay for the photo.
However, with the gradual disclosure of the deeds of the old man Tong Dehou, more and more people began to understand the once majestic division commander and the legendary first half of his life.
The old man Tong Dehou joined the Northwest Army in his teens, and gradually emerged from an ordinary soldier, successively serving as a company commander and battalion commander. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, he took the lead and participated in famous battles such as the bloody battle of Taierzhuang and the defense of Wuhan, and made great achievements. In battle, he was brave and fearless, won the appreciation of his superiors, was promoted to regimental commander, and was sent to Chengdu for further study and training. There, he was favored by General Sun Lianzhong, and was not only entrusted with important tasks, but also married his distant niece Su Zhijing to him.
After marriage, Tong Dehou and Su Zhijing respected each other like guests and had three children together. In his career, he also ushered in the peak again and was appointed as a major general and deputy division commander. However, at this time, the smoke of the war of liberation had already spread. Tong Dehou followed his old boss, General Huang Qiaosong, to garrison Taiyuan, but unexpectedly, the city was soon surrounded by our army.
At this historical juncture, General Huang Qiaosong's thinking changed. He secretly planned an uprising, and Bai Dehou, as one of his cronies, also participated in this important meeting. Originally, with Huang Qiaosong's prestige, if Tong Dehou was willing to help, they might have avoided a bigger war or even rewritten history. However, things turned out to be more than anyone expected.
Dai Bingnan, another division commander under Huang Qiaosong, out of selfishness, pulled Tong Dehou together and revealed the plan of the uprising to Yan Xishan. This action not only led to the abortion of the uprising plan, but also led to the death of General Huang Qiaosong, and Bai Dehou was also implicated in this incident, and soon after the liberation of Taiyuan, he was arrested and began a long life as a prisoner.
After spending 10 long years in prison, he was released from prison. However, his life did not get any easier because of this. He was sent to a brick factory in Shanxi Province to work and reform, and his life was hard. In that special era, his descendants were also discriminated against and suppressed because of their family background. His wife died of illness at the end of the 60s, and his children lived a poor life because of the lack of educational opportunities.
It was not until the mid-seventies that he was able to return to his hometown of Jingyang County. Although the life is not rich, the mentality of the old man is very open-minded. He knows that the glory and glory of the past have become a thing of the past, and the life in front of him is what he really needs to cherish. Under the care of his children, he lived out his old age until his death in 2007 at the age of 90.