Zheng Dongguo recalled giving up school to join the army: I was finally admitted to the first phase of the Whampoa Army Military Academy

At the beginning of 1924, the school held its final semester exams. I was lucky, I actually scored 4 100 points in 4 courses, and my results ranked first, and I was so proud.

One night, while I was talking and laughing with a few classmates at our accommodation, discussing how to go home for the New Year during the holidays, one of them suddenly interjected, "Have you heard? Sun Yat-sen wants to establish a military academy in Guangzhou, and he has already sent people to Hunan to recruit students! My heart moved, and I hurriedly asked, "Is this true?" How do you know? "The classmate said that he was told by someone else, but there is no accurate basis. This matter has passed since everyone talked about it, but I thought that there was a reason for it, and it was not necessarily a false rumor, so I gave up the plan to go home for a vacation, and concentrated on finding out the news and looking for opportunities. Sure enough, more than a month later, there was more and more news about this, and it was rumored that General Cheng Qian, who was in Guangzhou, had recently secretly sent people to Hunan to recruit military cadets, and many of them had already left. Anxiously, I suddenly remembered that my good friend Wang Erzhuo, who studied in the High School Attached to Changsha Industrial College, had always had the ambition to join the army, maybe there would be a way, why not discuss it with him? Wang and I are not only fellow villagers in Shimen, but also relatives, and classmates in Shimen Middle School. We also met a few times after arriving in Changsha. I think if I can find him and try to get the two of them together, I'll be even more emboldened. So, I hurried to find him. But I searched all over his school and his residence, but I didn't find him. After repeated questioning, one of his classmates quietly told me that Wang Erzhuo had secretly left for Guangzhou a few days ago. Now I was even more anxious, and complained in my heart that the king shouldn't have said hello to me and left alone. In fact, Wang Erzhuo probably had already joined the Communist Party organization or the Youth League organization at that time, and probably secretly went to Guangzhou to apply for the military academy according to the organization's intentions.

As soon as Wang Erzhuo left, I couldn't sit still anymore. Without further ado, I decided not to miss the opportunity and went directly to Guangzhou to apply for the military academy. Although Changsha and Guangzhou are far away, I have no understanding of the situation in Guangzhou, and I am not sure that I will be able to enter the military academy. However, I believe that Guangzhou is the seat of the revolutionary regime led by Mr. Sun Yat-sen, and that the military academy was founded by Mr. Sun Yat-sen, and naturally he is also engaged in revolution, and this is precisely the perfect opportunity for me to join the revolution and join the army in an attempt to save the country. As for what should I do if I can't get into a military school after arriving in Guangzhou? If I don't take the exam, I'd rather go to the camp in Guangdong to be a soldier than never return to Changsha. I made up my mind, and for several days I spent secretly preparing for the road.

At that time, the name of the principal of the business school was Ren Kainan, and my brother's classmate was a classmate when he was studying in the "Preparatory Department for Study Abroad" in the Yuelu Mountain area, and he always took care of me. He somehow knew about my plan, and especially called me to dissuade me: "Zheng Dongguo, your academic performance is good, why do you want to give up school and join the army now?" Besides, Guangdong is very chaotic right now, and it's not safe for you to run there, so don't take this risk. "When I saw that things were not good and I couldn't hide them anymore, I simply sincerely confessed my willingness and determination to join the army to save the country. Seeing that I was very determined, he kindly proposed: "If you must go, you must first greet your family, and do not say goodbye; It is also best to keep the student status in the commercial college, and it is best to come back and continue to study in case you fail to pass the military school. "I just asked the school not to stand in the way of this, so I nodded yes to the principal's request.

Two or three days later, everything was ready to stop, except for the travel expenses, and the only relative who could sponsor me to go to Guangdong at that time was my brother, but at this time he had left the provincial capital to Anxiang to serve as the director of the Lijin Bureau, and I could not find him for a while, so I was very anxious about it. Coincidentally, while I was at a loss, the matter was resolved unexpectedly quickly. One night, I was sitting in my room when I heard my name called outside the door. It turned out that he was going to Changsha for work and came to visit me at school by the way. Seeing my brother at this time was undoubtedly a rainy day, and I was so happy that I threw myself over and hugged his arm tightly. Perhaps I was a little abnormal because I was overly emotional, but my brother looked at me in surprise and walked into the room with me. As soon as my brother sat down, I couldn't wait to tell him about my plan to go to Guangzhou to apply for the military academy, and asked him to help solve the problem of travel expenses. My brother's face sank when he heard this, and he simply expressed his disapproval of me going to Guangdong. I was well aware of my brother's temperament, so I adopted the method of "grinding", from my reverence for Mr. Zhongshan since I was a child, and the current situation of internal and external troubles that China is facing, to my desire to join the army to save the country. This "grinds" until late at night. My brother had a good impression of the National Revolution led by Mr. Zhongshan, and seeing that my attitude was extremely resolute, he knew that it was not good to dissuade me, so he sighed and said: "Brother, it's not that I have to stop you, it's just that my father is still in the hall, and you are a man with a wife. As soon as I saw that his attitude was somewhat relaxed, I hurriedly said: "This matter has nothing to do with my brother, I want to go to Guangdong by myself, even if something really happens, I am also responsible for it, you don't have to worry about it." The elder brother pondered for a long time, but still said with a sad face: "No matter what, I still can't give you the money." In this way, how much money do you need, you can borrow it from Mr. Qin Haiwu in the same county first, and then I will pay him back. And so the matter was settled. That Mr. Qin was a section chief in a certain department of the provincial government, and I knew him well, so I went to him the next afternoon as my brother instructed, and sure enough, I borrowed 60 yuan of Guangyang. I knew in my heart that this money was only transferred to me by my brother in advance, so that I could not only fund my urgent needs, but also avoid making him responsible. I can't help but secretly admire my brother's thoughtfulness. After solving the problem of entanglement, I was relieved, and my heart flew to Guangzhou early.

In mid-April, I said goodbye to my brother and school and left Changsha on the road. I was accompanied by fellow villagers Chen Congmo and cousins Wu Xiaode and Wu Junde. Our group first went to Wuchang, and then changed ships to Shanghai. In Shanghai, I couldn't buy a ferry ticket to Guangzhou for a while, so I had to find a hotel to stay in. Shanghai is China's largest commercial city and is much more prosperous than Changsha. When the four of us first arrived, we were unfamiliar with the land and didn't dare to go out and run around, so we squatted in the hotel all day to spend time. Chen Congmo has a lively temperament and likes to play, so he can't bear to be so lonely, so he ran out and bought a deck of mahjong tiles and pulled us to play together.

Two days later, we finally bought our tickets to Guangzhou and hit the road in high spirits. Before getting on the boat, Chen Congmo didn't forget to bring mahjong tiles, saying that he could also have fun on the boat. As soon as we got on the boat, we lost all the energy to be happy. It turned out that we wanted to save money when we bought the tickets, and we lived in the bottom bilge of the ship, which was originally a place where the goods were stacked, but now it was full of people, and it was dirty, dirty, and crowded, and before people entered, a pungent smell of sweat, wine and tobacco mixed together came from the hatch, which was disgusting. As soon as the ship started, the turbulence was so severe that many people were seasick and vomited. It makes the air in the cabin even dirtier. Of the four of us, the Wu brothers vomited the most, and later almost vomited all the contents of their stomachs, complaining all the way. Especially Wu Xiaode, his family has a lot of money, and he is used to being comfortable on weekdays, where has he suffered so much, it seems that his heart has been much colder before he arrives in Guangzhou. I didn't vomit, but I felt dizzy and depressed. Only Chen Congmo is not seasick, he still talks and laughs all the way, looks very optimistic, and even wants to play mahjong on the boat. At night, there seemed to be no wind on the water, and the cabin felt even more stuffy, and our clothes were constantly soaked with sweat and sticky against our skin, which was unusually uncomfortable. I lay on my back on the deck, so breathy that I couldn't sleep, I always thought that the ship was going too slowly, and I wished that I could cross to Guangzhou in one step.

We struggled on board for about three or four days. On the morning of the last day of the trip, the ship docked in Hong Kong. At that time, Hong Kong was far from being as prosperous as it is now, and we had no intention of enjoying the cityscape, so we just bought some food from the food stalls near the pier to let in the fresh air, and hurried back to the boat. At noon that day, the ship finally docked in Guangzhou. After we got off the boat, we dragged our tired bodies and walked to a small hotel called "Huaningli" in the city to stay. This hotel is opened by Hunan people, and the accommodation is relatively cheap, and ordinary Hunan guests in the past like to stay here.

At that time, the order in Guangzhou was relatively chaotic. As soon as the four of us settled down in the hotel, the guy from the store came to take care of us and told us not to go out in the morning and evening to avoid danger. It is said that just last night, someone robbed a soldier's firearm in this area, and this morning a group of soldiers rushed to retaliate and arrested several "suspects", causing panic in the people. The Wu brothers, who were on the same road with me, had already been a little disheartened on the way, but when they heard such turmoil in Guangzhou, they were even more discouraged and fell on the bed silently.

After lunch, Chen Congmo and I were discussing in the room how to go out to find out the news of the military academy entrance examination, when we suddenly heard someone talking in the courtyard, and the voice was so familiar. I looked through the window, and I couldn't believe my eyes, this person was Wang Erzhuo. We are all very happy to meet our old people in a foreign country. With the king were two other friends. One of them, a young man of medium height with clear eyebrows, was named He Shengyang, who was also my classmate when I was a student at Shimen Middle School. The other was born short and fat, and the slightly older one was named Huang Ao, who was from Linli County, Hunan. Everyone came to join the army and had the same aspirations, so they all hit it off at first sight.

According to Wang Erzhuo, Huang Ao was the first to arrive in Guangzhou and had already passed the military academy examination, and he and He Shengyang were fortunate to catch up with the last batch of registrations. At present, the registration for the first phase of the military academy has been closed, and he suggested that we stay in Guangzhou and wait for the second phase of enrollment at the military academy. I was disappointed by this news and regretted that I had not left a few days earlier and had missed the opportunity. When he was sad, Huang Ao, who was sitting silently on the side, said slowly: "Since Zheng Dongguo is so earnest, I have an idea, I don't know if I can try it?" "What claim? Please Brother Huang speak quickly! I asked. It turned out that when Huang Ao first arrived in Guangzhou, he was worried that he would not be able to pass the exam once, so he applied for the exam twice. Now that he has been admitted, there is still a vacant spot, and I am advised to take the test in his name. I thought about it and felt that there was nothing else to do, so I decided to take the plunge and try it.

A few days later, the date of the exam arrived, and I took the exam with Wang and He in the name of Huang Ao. There are only two subjects in the examination: Chinese and Mathematics. The school probably took into account that a considerable number of workers and peasants came to take the exam, so the questions in the exam were not difficult, and I finished the paper without much difficulty.

A few days later, the military academy announced the admission list, and as a result, Wang Erzhuo and He Shengyang and I were all admitted. The dream came true! We hugged each other with joy and couldn't help but shed tears of joy. In this way, I was finally admitted to the first phase of the Whampoa Army Military Academy, and since then I have been living in a horse for 24 years.

Chen Congmo, Wu Xiaode, and Wu Junde, who came to Guangzhou with me, did not have the opportunity to register for the examination this time, and soon returned to Hunan. After this toss, the two Wu brothers no longer have any interest in applying for the military academy. Only Chen Congmo was unwilling, and later came to Guangzhou again, and finally passed the third phase of the Whampoa Military Academy.

[Zheng Dongguo, January 13, 1903 - January 27, 1991, the name Guiting, was born in Shimen County, Changde City, Hunan Province. Graduated from the first phase of the Whampoa Military Academy. He participated in the Eastern Expedition and the Northern Expedition, and was one of the first Kuomintang generals to participate in the War of Resistance against Japan, and a lieutenant general of the National Revolutionary Army. In 1933, he led his troops to participate in the Great Wall Gubeikou Anti-Japanese War, and after the "77 Incident", he successively led his troops to participate in the Battle of Baoding, the Great Victory of Taierzhuang, the Battle of Wuhan, the Great Victory of Kunlun Pass, the Battle of Western Hubei, the Second Battle of Changsha and other battles. In 1943, he was transferred to the commander of the New First Army of the Chinese Army in India, and led his troops to recover northern Burma and promote his prestige abroad; He returned to China in 1945 and successively served as deputy commander of the Third Front Army, deputy commander-in-chief of the Northeast Security, and acting commander-in-chief, and in 1948, at an important moment in the Liaoshen Campaign, he broke away from the Kuomintang camp. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he successively served as a counselor of the Ministry of Water Resources of the People's Republic of China, a member of the National Defense Commission, a member of the 3rd and 4th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a member of the 5th and 6th Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a vice chairman of the 5th, 6th, and 7th Central Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, and vice president of the Whampoa Alumni Association. 】