Throughout Chen Yi's revolutionary career, danger was often at his side. When Meiling was in distress, even the experienced Chen Yi felt the imminence of death at that moment.
But it was at that time that a woman reached out to him and helped him through the catastrophe.
What did this woman do? Why did Chen Yi get in danger in Meiling?
To join the revolution is to call home
Chen Yi was born in Sichuan, an era when the local government forced people to grow poppies in order to make money. Since childhood, Chen Yi has been accustomed to suffering.
Compared to most people, Chen Yi is lucky. Because his parents were more open-minded and willing to send him to school to receive knowledge.
But after awakening from the school's mind, Chen Yi was in pain again. Because in the face of the tragic situation in his hometown, he has no way to change it.
In order to pursue temporary profits, the superiors forced the common people to destroy the fertile land. The common people were attracted by the interests of this moment, and did not think about what the future should be.
In order to find a way to awaken the wisdom of the people, Chen Yi started his own study abroad journey. Relying on work-study, Chen Yi successfully stayed in France.
At that time, many patriotic young people went abroad to study, wanting to find a way to save the country abroad. People who study abroad in France spontaneously form a group.
For the sake of the country, young students will actively hold patriotic movements even when they are abroad. For these sports, Chen Yi actively participates in them every time.
It was precisely because of his participation in the patriotic movement that Chen Yi was later escorted back to China by armed escort. But this experience did not wear out the enthusiasm in Chen Yi's heart, but strengthened his thoughts.
After returning to China, Chen Yi joined the Communist Youth League and our party successively. At that time, Chen Yi was studying at the Faculty of Liberal Arts of the Sino-French University in Beijing, but he eventually chose revolution.
At the beginning, Chen Yi was determined to save the country with culture. But after seeing too many literati and students falling under the butcher's knife, Chen Yi's thinking changed completely.
Without force, no matter how high the culture is, it will not be able to stop the enemy's sword. So Chen Yi joined the army and became a member of the Northern Expeditionary Army.
In 1927, the road to revolution took a sharp turn for the worse. In 1927, Chiang Kai-shek betrayed the revolution, and our party was cornered, so he launched the Nanchang Uprising.
When Chen Yi learned the news, it was very close to the time of the uprising. Although he rushed to Jiangxi, the uprising was already over.
So, Chen Yi followed Mr. Zhu's troops and went to Jinggang Mountain. During the period in Shangjinggangshan, Chen Yi assisted Mr. Zhu to help stabilize the army's slightly chaotic morale after a long journey.
After going to Jinggangshan, Chen Yi also did civilian work at the beginning. His excellent literary skills make him easy to do things like clerical work.
But at that time, the talent in the party withered, and civilian officials had to go to war. Under the assignment of the Central Committee, Chen Yi was transferred to the commander of the 12th Division and began to defend Jinggangshan.
Later, the main force of the Red Army moved to southern Jiangnan, and Chen Yi commanded the troops to fight while also doing a good job in the ideological construction of the troops. At that time, the existence of the Red Army was a thorn in Chiang Kai-shek's heart.
In order to pull this thorn out, Chiang Kai-shek sent troops to encircle and suppress the Red Army. If it weren't for Chairman Mao's proposal to encircle the cities from the countryside, the Red Army would be in danger.
After the establishment of the Central Soviet Base Area, Chen Yi led his troops to participate in the anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign on many occasions. During the long battle, Chen Yi was accidentally seriously injured.
After deciding on the Long March, Chen Yi was unable to follow due to a serious leg injury. Chairman Mao didn't want him to be in danger, so he let Chen Yi stay in the base area and lead the guerrilla struggle.
The only marshal who did not have the Long March
Among the ten marshals, Chen Yi was the only one who had not participated in the Long March. How difficult it was on the Long March can be seen just by looking at the number of sacrifices of the Red Army.
But Chen Yi, who stayed in the base area, was not as easy as later people thought. Although the main force of the Red Army marched on a long march, most of the enemy also pursued it.
But in the same way, the base area still retains the enemy. This is Chiang Kai-shek's backhand, in order to prevent our party from pulling up the ranks again.
Of course, it is also for the purpose of eliminating the guerrillas in the base areas and completely eliminating the forces of our party. Although there were not many people left, there were not many partisans either.
Under the leadership of Chen Yi and others, the guerrillas and the Kuomintang fought for a long time. It was impossible to take the main forces, not even the guerrillas of the Central Soviet District.
Chiang Kai-shek was so angry that he sent tens of thousands of troops to encircle and suppress the guerrillas. Under the fierce attack of the enemy, Chen Yi had to lead the guerrillas to break through.
After breaking through, Chen Yi and others came to the Youshan area and Meiling in southern Gansu. In order to rebuild the base areas, the guerrillas had to deal with the national army.
But how can guerrillas armed with dilapidated weapons be opponents of the Nationalist army? In guerrilla warfare, they have been besieged by the enemy many times, and Chen Yi has also fallen into danger many times.
The most dangerous one should be the one that was trapped in Meiling. At that time, in order to completely annihilate the guerrillas of our army, the enemy even did not hesitate to besiege Meiling.
At that time, Chen Yi led the troops in Meiling, and in the face of the enemy's encirclement, Chen Yi's hope of breaking through was very slim.
Meiling is barren, and there are very few supplies that can be obtained from the mountains. More supplies for the guerrillas were obtained from the common people at the foot of the mountain.
In order to thank the common people for their help, the guerrillas often went down the mountain to repay the common people. Usually when the villagers have work to repair the roof or something, the guerrillas will spontaneously help the villagers.
It is precisely because of the good mass foundation that Chen Yi, who was in distress in Meiling, was rescued. It was in 1936 that Chiang Kai-shek began the second round of the "Great Purge".
The main target of this purge was Chen Yi's guerrilla army. And the methods of this clean-up are much more cruel than the first time.
In order to cut off the guerrillas from the masses, the enemy not only implemented the system of armor protection and joint sitting, but also relocated the people living at the foot of the mountain.
In this way, the Red Army could only live in the mountains. The enemy blocked all the way down the mountain in an attempt to trap the guerrillas alive.
It was late autumn and snow had even begun to fall on the mountain. But due to the blockade of the enemy, the guerrillas were no longer able to obtain supplies from the outside world.
Chen Yi and others cut back on food and clothing, digging grass roots and eating tree bark, and using all means to survive. In order to give the soldiers the strength to fight, Chen Yi always saves his own food.
Because he couldn't eat enough and his body's nutrition couldn't keep up, Chen Yi's leg injury recurred again. In this way, he dragged his injured leg and insisted on fighting the enemy.
The plight of the guerrillas is in the eyes of the common people and anxious in their hearts. How could the deep revolutionary friendship be severed by the threat of the enemy?
In order to bring food to the guerrillas, the villagers approached the Kuomintang and strongly demanded to go into the mountains. They had a good reason to go into the mountains to collect firewood.
Forcing the people to move to the village has already caused the masses to complain a lot. If we insist on not allowing ordinary people to go up the mountain to collect firewood, once something goes wrong in the lives of ordinary people, it will arouse even greater public anger.
In order to appease the indignation of the masses, the Kuomintang agreed to the request of the people to go up the mountain to collect firewood. However, for the people who went up the mountain, the Kuomintang investigated very strictly.
In order to send supplies to the guerrillas, the common people tried all kinds of methods. It was precisely because of the support of the common people that the guerrillas were able to survive.
The world is full of free flowers
"I went to Quantai to recruit the old department, and I will kill Yama with a banner of 100,000. When he wrote this poem, Chen Yi had been hiding in a cave for more than 20 days.
The hope of going out was very slim, and Chen Yi only felt sorry for his brothers. If it weren't for his leg injury that dragged everyone down, everyone might have been able to break through.
However, Chen Yi's idea was opposed by the guerrillas. They said that Chen Yi was their superior, how could they leave Chen Yi and run away alone?
Besides, Chiang Kai-shek's dispatch of troops to clear out the guerrillas had nothing to do with Chen Yi. Even if it weren't for Chen Yi, Chiang Kai-shek would still launch a "Great Purge".
The soldiers' words comforted Chen Yi, but they did not relieve the guerrillas of crisis. Trapped for such a long time, the fighters had nothing left to eat.
In order to persecute the guerrillas, the enemy actually began to set fire to the mountain. All of a sudden, the situation became critical. After being trapped for so many days, Chen Yi has long cut off contact with the Party Central Committee.
Now the guerrillas in Meiling have completely become a lone army. If this continues, there is only one way to perish that awaits them.
Just when Chen Yi was anxious, a woman took advantage of the night to come to the outside of the guerrilla cave. Chen Yi, who was about to fall asleep, suddenly heard someone calling him.
Chen Yi slowly crawled out of the cave and saw a familiar face. The person who came was a villager at the foot of Meiling Mountain, surnamed Zhang Qianmei.
Zhang Qianmei was often harassed by ruffians and hooligans because she was the only one in the family. Once when Chen Yi entered the village, he helped her teach the ruffians a lesson.
Later, Chen Yi also asked her husband who was working in other places to bring a message, so that the husband and wife could be successfully reunited. For everything Chen Yi has done, Zhang Qianmei is very grateful.
Because she was worried about Chen Yi and others, Zhang Qianmei evaded the blockade of the Kuomintang and risked her life to deliver food to the guerrillas. Seeing Chen Yi's leg injury, Zhang Qianmei also did everything possible to buy gauze.
Relying on Zhang Qianmei's assistance, Chen Yi cleaned the wound with salt water and finally survived the leg injury. In these difficult days, the outside world is also turbulent.
With the occurrence of the Xi'an Incident, the crisis of the Red Army arriving in Yan'an was resolved. Chiang Kai-shek, who was not convinced, insisted on exterminating the Red Army guerrillas in the south.
Chen Yi could only lead the guerrillas and continue to survive in the brutal encirclement and suppression until the New Fourth Army was established. Without Zhang Qianmei's help, Chen Yi and others would never have survived the establishment of the New Fourth Army.
After the establishment of the New Fourth Army, it was still frequently threatened by Chiang Kai-shek. After the Southern Anhui Incident, the New Fourth Army completely tore its face with Chiang Kai-shek.
Chen Yi once said that the establishment of the New Fourth Army has a great deal to do with the support of the masses. Therefore, in the days to come, the New Fourth Army attached great importance to the relationship with the common people.
Then, after decades of struggle, New China was founded. The future that Chen Yi was looking for at the beginning has finally come true.