I believe that many people have seen this photo of Chairman Mao, and it was this photo that hung on the tower of Tiananmen Square during the founding ceremony.
However, what many people do not know is that this photo was not originally a solo photo of Chairman Mao alone, but was taken from a group photo of him and another person, and the original photo is as follows:
This photograph was taken in June 1945, just two months after the victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan. Chairman Mao in the photograph is smiling and his eyes are deep, as if greeting the dawn of victory in the War of Resistance. The man next to the chairman, with glasses, exuded a bookish anger, and his face was also full of confident smiles, his name was Zhu Rui.
Speaking of this name alone, some people may not be familiar with it. But if we really want to talk about it, Zhu Rui is an "old seniority" in the history of our army. He was not only the "artillery marshal" hand-picked by Chairman Mao, but also the supreme general of our army who died in the war of liberation.
In 1905, Zhu Rui was born into a scholarly family in Zhu Daxingzhuang, Suqian County, Jiangsu Province. Like many aspiring young people of that era, Zhu Rui saw the country's ups and downs in the process of growing up, saw the people in the water, and also saw foreign invaders wreaking havoc on this land. This also made him want to do something for the country at a young age, so he began to actively participate in various patriotic student movements in middle school.
In 1924, at the age of 19, Zhu Rui was admitted to Guangdong University and joined the Socialist Youth League. Because of his excellent academic performance and being a "backbone" in the storm of the Great Revolution, the next year, he was recommended by the organization to go to Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow for further study, and his classmates with him were Zuo Quan, Deng Xiaoping and others.
After graduating from Sun Yat-sen University in the Soviet Union, Zhu Rui was admitted to the Krasin Artillery School. Because of his intelligence and hard work, he graduated from the artillery school in just two years, and he won the first place in the written test and live-fire shooting. This also laid a solid foundation for him to later form the artillery corps of our army. During this period, Zhu Rui also joined the party.
In 1930, at the age of 25, Zhu Rui returned to China. Our Party naturally has high hopes for such military talents who have undergone systematic study. And Zhu Rui did not disappoint the organization, he relied on what he learned in the anti-Japanese battlefield repeatedly made achievements, in our army step by step to grow into an excellent general.
Shortly after the conclusion of the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 1945, the Party Central Committee decided to appoint Zhu Rui as deputy chief of the general staff of the Central Military Commission. To this end, Premier Zhou, who is full of opportunities, specifically talked to him and solicited his opinion.
However, for the organization's work arrangement, Zhu Rui has different ideas. On the one hand, he felt that he was incompetent for the work of deputy chief of the general staff; on the other hand, Zhu Rui wanted to apply what he had learned in artillery and contribute to the construction of our army's artillery team.
Soon after, Chairman Mao talked to Zhu Rui again, hoping that he would be able to talk about his thoughts. At that time, Zhu Rui said:
...... With the advent of the strategic counter-offensive stage of the War of Resistance Against Japan... The construction and development of artillery has become an important task in the building of our army... I was ready to give the rest of my life to the cannons, to make friends with the cannons, and to do what I could to build our own artillery.
Chairman Mao was also very happy after hearing this, and immediately said: "... It is a good spirit for you to take the initiative to consider the needs of revolutionary work and the overall situation of the war, regardless of your personal position and position. I support your opinion to build our own artillery..."
It was also this conversation that led to the group photo at the beginning of this article. Therefore, the smiles on the faces of Chairman Mao and Zhu Rui in the photo also have unlimited expectations for the artillery contingent of our army in the future. Before the end of the conversation, the chairman also specifically instructed Zhu Rui: "Let go and be a bridgehead." The Soviet Union has artillery marshals, so be our Chinese artillery marshals! ”
In this way, Zhu Rui was appointed as the principal of the Yan'an Artillery School and began to build the artillery corps of our army.
With the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Party Central Committee made the strategic policy of "advancing to the north and defending to the south", and the Yan'an Artillery School was moved to the northeast. At that time, Zhu Rui heard the news that after the surrender of the Japanese army, a lot of weapons and equipment were left in the northeast, which was undoubtedly a great news for the artillery of our army that was in the construction stage.
Therefore, when Zhu Rui and the Yan'an Artillery Academy went to the northeast, they chose to go into battle lightly, leaving the only small number of artillery and equipment to the brother troops.
But after arriving in the northeast, everyone soon found that things were not as smooth as expected. It is true that the Japanese withdrew with a lot of weapons and equipment, and the number of artillery was also quite large, but most of these weapons and equipment were accepted by the Soviet army and refused to hand them over to our army.
At that time, the Kuomintang reactionaries were also eyeing the tiger, and at any time they could provoke a civil war and attack the northeast. In this case, our army must quickly increase the artillery, otherwise it is very likely to be passive in the subsequent battles.
To this end, Zhu Rui, who had already been appointed commander of the rear of the Northeast Democratic Coalition Army and the principal of the artillery school, immediately held a meeting, and the focus of the meeting was how to build the artillery team.
In the end, under the collective wisdom of everyone, the artillery school decided to adopt the sixteen-character policy of "dispersing the troops, collecting weapons, developing the troops, and establishing a family business", and sent all the big guys out, no matter where they were, as long as they heard that there were guns anywhere.
At that time, the northeast was in the middle of winter, and the temperature was generally minus thirty or forty degrees. In such harsh climatic conditions, the difficulties of searching for artillery can be imagined. Later veterans who participated in the search for artillery once recalled: "Everyone often spent the night in the dark forest, hungry, nibbled on a stone-hard nest, thirsty, and held a handful of snow in their mouths." ”
However, it was under such difficult conditions, after more than half a year of painstaking searching, that in May 1946, all the teachers and students of the artillery school had collected more than 700 artillery pieces and more than 500,000 shells.
With these family foundations, Zhu Rui also formed the artillery team of the Northeast Democratic Coalition Army as he wished. The Yan'an Artillery School was also renamed the Northeast Military Region Artillery School, and Zhu Rui still served as the principal of the artillery school.
In the next two years, the artillery contingent of our army ushered in rapid development. In order to facilitate the organization, training and command, the artillery team also set up a special artillery headquarters, with Zhu Rui as the commander. The artillery corps also repeatedly showed its might in the battles of The Three Lower Jiangnan and the Four Bao Linjiang Campaigns, and completed the combat tasks brilliantly again and again.
But all this did not make Zhu Rui get carried away. He knew that for our army, the artillery is still a young branch of the army, and all aspects still need to be improved, so he has also summed up and reflected on the tactical and technical level of the artillery team in one battle after another.
In September 1948, the Liaoshen Campaign began. Zhu Rui, who was already the artillery commander of the Northeast Field Army at this time, was ordered to lead the artillery column to assemble in Yixian County on the outskirts of Jinzhou, and cooperate with the three columns of Dongye led by Han Xianchu to attack the county seat of Yixian County.
Yixian is an ancient city with a very strong city wall, which was built to imitate the city wall of Jinzhou City. Laying down Yixian can provide reference and reference for the subsequent Jinzhou offensive battle, so Zhu Rui attaches great importance to the artillery column attacking Yixian, personally checking every detail before the war begins, and trying not to prevent any hidden dangers.
On the morning of October 1, with a single order, the artillery column began to fire fierce artillery fire on the yixian city wall, just to open a breakthrough in this strong city wall. The city wall of Yixian County was indeed strong, and after an hour and a half of bombardment, the artillery column fired thousands of shells before it blasted a breakthrough of more than 50 meters wide on the city wall.
After the breakthrough appeared, the infantry began to charge the city along the opening. At this time, Zhu Rui was also anxious to rush to the breakthrough of the city wall.
Because in this battle, the artillery column used for the first time the American 150 mm howitzer captured from the enemy, Zhu Rui wanted to personally observe the breakthrough to judge the power of this artillery. Once it is too late, the breakthrough on the city wall may be destroyed, after all, our army has tens of thousands of siege troops, the 50-meter breakthrough is bound to be widened, and the explosion point will also be destroyed at that time. So Zhu Rui had to rush to the explosion site to destroy it before observing.
At this time, the battlefield was full of guns and bullets, which was very dangerous. The commander of the Third Column, Han Xianchu, saw that Zhu Rui was about to rush out at this time, and hurriedly stopped him: "Now that the fight is fierce, you can't go." ”
But Zhu Rui was not worried about the danger at this time, he said eagerly: "I will go to see how thick the city wall is, how many cannons can penetrate, and see how this kind of city wall is better to play..."
Han Xianchu saw that Zhu Rui was earnest in his words, and he also knew that he could not be persuaded, so he could only tell him to pay attention to safety.
In this way, Zhu Rui led a few people and the cat walked towards the breakthrough on the city wall. Who knew that on the way, a dark fort inside the enemy's city wall suddenly opened fire on Zhu Rui and others. Everyone immediately fell to the ground, ready to wait for the opportunity to move forward.
Zhu Rui leaned down and looked behind him to see the concealment of his entourage. Who knew this look, just saw a warrior lying behind him lying on a relatively high ground, at any time may be strafed by the enemy's machine guns, so Zhu Rui hurried to pull this warrior.
But no one ever imagined that Zhu Rui's pull would inadvertently touch a landmine buried around him. With a violent explosion, Zhu Rui died.
When the news of Zhu Rui's death reached the Party Central Committee, Chairman Mao and other leaders could not believe it for a while, and after repeated confirmation, everyone had to accept this painful fact.
Two days later, the Party Central Committee sent out a telegram of condolence: "... Comrade Zhu Rui, commander of the artillery of the Northeast People's Liberation Army, died gloriously in the siege of Yixian County... It is indeed a huge loss to the cause of the liberation of the Chinese people, and the Central Committee hereby expresses its deep condolences..."
At the same time, in order to commemorate Commander Zhu Rui, the Central Military Commission also made an exception to rename the Northeast Artillery School to "Zhu Rui Artillery School." Chairman Mao even personally wrote an inscription for Zhu Rui's artillery school, "Long live the people's artillery." This is both an affirmation of our artillery units and an affirmation of Commander Zhu Rui.
And Zhu Rui sacrificed, the saddest thing is his wife and daughter who have been waiting for him to return home.
Zhu Rui's wife is named Pan Caiqin, and the two were together in the Shandong base area in 1942. Like many revolutionary partners at that time, Zhu Rui and Pan Caiqin did not have any special ceremony together, but invited several old comrades-in-arms to have a meal together, a plate of small shrimp, a bowl of braised pork, and a pot of tofu were their wedding feasts. Although such a wedding is simple, it exudes a romance that only the children of the revolution have.
A year after their marriage, Zhu Rui had to leave Shandong because he wanted to go to Yan'an to attend the Central Party School and prepare for the Seventh National Congress of the Party. At that time, Pan Caiqin was pregnant, and she was about to give birth, so she could not follow Zhu Rui and could only return to her mother-in-law's house in the base area of the Fourth Division of the New Fourth Army to give birth.
Who knows that this distinction is more than two years. During this period, Pan Caiqin gave birth to the eldest son and daughter, named Huaibei. "Huaibei" is exactly where Zhu Rui fought in the War of Resistance Against Japan.
At that time, due to the war, communication was very difficult, and for more than two years, Pan Caiqin only had the opportunity to carry a letter to her husband. The letter stated her daughter's birth and name, as well as a photograph of her daughter. When Zhu Rui received the letter, he looked at the little baby in the photo and was full of thoughts.
Finally, in December 1945, Pan Caiqin took Xiao Huaibei from Shandong to the northeast and was reunited with Zhu Rui, who had gone to the northeast to form an artillery unit. At that time, Zhu Rui was already 40 years old, and Zhu Huaibei was more than two years old, and he had only met his daughter face to face for the first time.
The next three years were the happiest time for the family. Although Zhu Rui fought around in the northeast land, his wife and daughter were always by his side. During this period, Zhu Rui and his wife also welcomed their youngest daughter, named Northeast, which was where Zhu Rui fought at that time.
It's just that happy times always go by quickly. On September 10, 1948, Zhu Rui was on a mission to go to Panshi Yanguan Mountain in Jilin Province, and could only be temporarily separated from his wife and daughter. Pan Caiqin took her two daughters and took him to the station. At the time of parting, although they did not give up, they believed that they would soon be reunited.
It's just that none of them ever thought that this time the parting would become a permanent trick.
More than a month later, Pan Caiqin was still thinking of her husband in her heart and looking forward to his return. One day, Gao Gang, then deputy commander of the Northeast Military Region, sent someone to pick her up. After the meeting, Gao Gang said tentatively: "Comrade Zhu Rui has been seriously injured. You are a member of the Communist Party, you have to be able to stand it! ”
In this regard, Pan Caiqin had long been mentally prepared, because it was inevitable to be injured when she went to the battlefield. She was also a revolutionary worker, and she understood that. So she said quietly: "In the middle of war, this is a common thing. ”
However, what Pan Caiqin did not know was that Gao Gang said this only to stabilize her emotions and make her further psychological preparations. When he saw that Pan Caiqin was still calm, Gao Gang immediately said: "Comrade Zhu Rui was seriously injured and died!" ”
Hearing this, Pan Caiqin did not want to believe it. After she accepted and digested the news, she couldn't help but cry for a while.
On the morning of October 6, Pan Caiqin, whose eyes were red, held her eldest daughter Huaibei in one hand and her younger daughter In the other, accompanied by friends, endured grief to the Harbin Railway Station and welcomed back Zhu Rui's coffin.
From October 6 to 8, representatives of the people of the party, government, and military organs and people from all walks of life in the northeast came to Commander Zhu Rui's spiritual hall in an endless stream to say his final farewell. On October 9, a grand funeral and public ceremony was held.
The funeral was over, and Pan Caiqin's inner thoughts and sorrows did not end there.
After Zhu Rui's sacrifice, the comrades-in-arms found a photo from his jacket pocket when sorting out his belongings, and the protagonist in the photo was his daughter.
Pan Caiqin knows that her husband can't let go of her two daughters, and now that her husband has sacrificed, she must be strong and raise her two daughters well for her husband.
Since then, Pan Caiqin has been living alone with her two daughters and has never remarried. Whenever she thinks of her husband who has sacrificed, she is always sad and sad. Until 1994, Pan Caiqin died of illness at the age of 70.
And the two daughters did not disappoint Pan Caiqin, and it was not simple when they grew up.
Although Zhu Rui was only 5 years old when He died, Xiao Huaibei was only 1 year old and Xiao Dongbei was only 1 year old, he did not have much concept of his father's sacrifice. But in the process of growing up, Pan Caiqin and some of Zhu Rui's former comrades-in-arms often told their two children about their fathers.
This also allowed the two children to slowly understand the greatness of their father and their desire to build the artillery of our army. Therefore, after growing up, Zhu Huaibei and Zhu Northeast both inherited their father's legacy and joined the army as an artilleryman.
Zhu Huaibei entered the Second Artillery Equipment Research Institute as a senior engineer.
Zhu Dongbei worked as an engineer at the Institute of Olympic Diseases of the Arms Department of the General Staff Headquarters, where he was engaged in the study of artillery rapid response. Unfortunately, in 1992, Zhu Dongbei died of illness and died young, which is regrettable.
With this article, we would like to commemorate the family of Commander Zhu Rui, and we will remember their contribution to the artillery of our army!