Zhou Enlai was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 1972, and he knew how torturous the cancer was. Therefore, when he learned that Peng Dehuai suffered from rectal cancer, his heart could not help but be shaken. He also immediately sent someone with the instructions he personally wrote to visit Peng Dehuai at the 301 General Hospital.
On April 24, 1973, Zhou Enlai received the surgical plan formulated for Peng Dehuai after a collective consultation of experts from the General Hospital, and after his approval, the operation time was set two days later. However, Peng Dehuai did not undergo surgery, but was bent on seeing Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou Enlai, and it was useless to be persuaded by the hospital medical staff.
It wasn't until his niece Peng Meikui, with the phrase "You can only have a chance to see them again if you are cured of your illness," that he aroused his desire to live longer. After learning that his surgical plan was personally approved by Premier Zhou, he finally agreed to the operation. Since premier Zhou still remembers him when he reaches such a situation, he naturally cannot live up to this friendship.
The operation was held as scheduled, and the process was relatively smooth, but the results were not satisfactory. Because the diagnosis time was too late, the cancer cells had spread, so even if it was the famous cancer expert Lu Weishan himself at that time, he was lacking in surgery. On November 29 of the same year, the revolutionary hero who had worked for the country all his life closed his eyes and never opened them again, at the age of 76.
However, based on the situation at that time, after Peng Dehuai's death, not only did there not be a mournful memorial service for everyone, but even his ashes could not be stored in the cemetery. Obviously, this is very unfair to a founding father. But fortunately, zhou Enlai has always remembered him, which allows Peng Dehuai's ashes to be buried in the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery after the memorial meeting of the rehabilitated Zhaoxue 4 years later.
Zhou Enlai and Peng Dehuai had a lifelong friendship, because Zhou Enlai was able to walk out of the Mao'er Gai meadow, all by relying on Peng Dehuai's order to "carry away".
After the Red Army conquered the snow-capped mountains in August 1935, it faced another problem: deserted meadows. In order to smoothly cross this deserted and cloudy grassland, the Red Army specially invited locals to be guides, but they did not think that they could not find the north for a while. Countless Red Army soldiers disappeared as they walked, and Zhou Enlai also fell ill on the road. Coupled with high-intensity work, his condition soon changed from a cold and fever to a liver abscess, and finally it was even difficult to stand.
What to do? Xiao Jinguang, chief of staff of the Third Red Army, received an order from Peng Dehuai:
"Even if you throw away some equipment, you must carry Vice Chairman Zhou out of the grass for me!"
The grassland environment is harsh, almost the entire unit is wounded, and the proportion of seriously injured is also very high. Xiao Jinguang found people from the mortar company and formed a stretcher team. Dozens of people took turns carrying stretchers, and even Chen Geng would take time out of his busy schedule to come to help. In addition to his command, Peng Dehuai would often come to see Zhou Enlai and say some words of encouragement. In this way, Zhou Enlai persisted until he stepped out of the meadow, and the two formed a revolutionary friendship that had been lived. After learning the news of the departure of his old comrades-in-arms, Zhou Enlai was devastated, but he still did not forget the placement of the ashes of the old comrades-in-arms.
One day in the winter of 1974, Liu Xingyuan, first secretary of the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee, director of the Provincial Revolutionary Committee, and political commissar of the Chengdu Military Region, was gathered together. Received a safe deposit box and a letter of introduction. In the safe is Peng Dehuai's urn, and the letter of introduction is a top-secret task given to them by the central government:
Properly placed, carefully stored, always checked, not allowed to change the box, and no one is allowed to move!
In this way, Peng Dehuai's ashes were secretly protected under the pseudonym "Wang Chuan" and placed in a funeral home in the eastern suburbs of Chengdu on December 23, 1974. It was not until December 22, 1978, that the Central Task Force came to take it.
On December 24, the plane with Peng Dehuai's ashes landed at Xiyuan Airport, and before the hatch could be opened, sobs could be heard. After Peng Dehuai's relatives represented Peng Gang at the cabin door and took Peng Dehuai's ashes, the sobs became more and more obvious under the solemnity, and some people directly cried.
At the end of the belated memorial service, everyone had tears in their eyes, and they hoped that Mr. Peng would still be alive!
After the memorial service, the motorcade carrying Peng Dehuai's ashes slowly drove to the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery under the eyes of everyone...
Although Mr. Peng has left permanently, the revolutionary spirit in him will always be there, paying tribute to Comrade Peng Dehuai, Comrade Peng Dehuai will never die!