The 1950s were the most difficult and glorious era for China. During this period, the Chiang Kai-shek clique's personnel who remained on the mainland gathered together bandits in a vain attempt to counterattack the people's power that the party and the people's government had painstakingly established. These bandits launched serious riots, killing people and setting fires everywhere, and robbing the people of food, seriously threatening the safety of their lives and property.
At the same time, some Western countries have sent troops to Korea, and the wolf's ambitions have been clearly revealed, in a vain attempt to launch an invasion of Northeast China through the Korean battlefield as a springboard. At this time, New China had just been founded, had experienced the War of Resistance Against Japan and the War of Liberation, and had already been seriously injured.
On the question of whether to suppress the outside world or the inside, our party immediately made a decision, the PLA fighters went to suppress the bandits, and the volunteer soldiers rushed to the Korean battlefield.
Li Xiang, commander of the 67th Army of the Volunteer Army, was one of the third to enter the Korean battlefield, and he fought with the enemy on the battlefield, greatly thwarting the enemy's vigor.
Just as the war was entering a critical period, Li Xiang suddenly died of illness. What was very surprising was that Li Xiang's reason was actually because of a boil on his body, followed by severe swelling of his whole body. In just seven days, Li Xiang died because of this boil.
However, at this time, the Central Military Commission made a decision that surprised everyone: the news of the death of Li Xiang, commander of the 67th Army of the Volunteer Army, could not be passed on.
Li Xiang (Commander of the 67th Volunteer Army)
So what really happened back then? Is Li Xiang really going to die because of a boil? When the military commander died, why should it be highly confidential?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="91" > the early enlightenment of the revolution</h1>
Li Xiang was born in 1914 to a very poor peasant family in Yongxin County, Jiangxi Province. When Li Xiang was eight years old, his father left him, leaving only a mother with a disability on his left foot and a mute sister. The family's life is very poor, and they often can't even eat a full meal. Fortunately, Li Xiang's uncle cherished his children and sponsored Li Xiang to attend a private school for three years, barely able to understand some words.
In 1924, under the auspices of his mother, Li Xiang learned to be a craftsman with a craftsman from a neighboring village. The master was grumpy, beating Li Xiang as soon as he was dissatisfied, and often beating Li Xiang to the point that his nose was blue and his eyes were swollen. In the winter of the same year, Li Xiang became a door-to-door son-in-law under the introduction of his uncle. However, the woman is five years older than Li Xiang, and she is not the type that Li Xiang likes, so the marriage is very unsatisfactory.
Just when Li Xiang felt that life was hopeless, the beacon of the Jinggangshan struggle burned to Li Xiang's village. Seeing that the Red Army was leading everyone to fight local tycoons and divide up the land, Li Xiang's soul was greatly shaken. In the process of contacting the Red Army, he felt that this big red family was the "home" he was looking for.
In 1930, Li Xiang left his elderly mother, left his hometown to join the Red Army, and was assigned to the Red Ninth Division as a serviceman, beginning his 22-year career on horseback.
Li Xiang experienced the second civil revolutionary war, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the War of Liberation and other revolutionary wars, and in the tempering of the war, Li Xiang also made great progress. From the very beginning as an ordinary soldier, Li Xiang also grew into an excellent senior general of our army.
Living in the army made Li Xiang think of this place as his home. Here he found joy and happiness that he had not felt since he was a child, and he loved this big family more and more.
In particular, an incident on the Long March road shows Li Xiang's yearning and love for this army.
In 1934, during the battle to break through the Xiang River, Li Xiang's leg was unfortunately injured in the battle and he could no longer walk on the ground. The commander of the Red Ninth Division was very distressed when he learned of this situation and personally went to visit him. When he saw that Li Xiang's condition was no longer suitable for walking, he asked people to take 10 silver dollars for him.
"You take these ten silver dollars, first stay in the homes of the common people to recuperate, and then come back to the troops." Or, if you want to go home, it's not impossible. ”
In fact, the chiefs were all well-intentioned, because Li Xiang's situation at that time was really not very good, and the environment of our party's struggle at that time was not optimistic. However, the chief's kindness sounded very harsh to Li Xiang, the troops were his home, so where could he go without the troops?
Li Xiang tearfully accepted 10 silver dollars, recuperated in the homes of ordinary people for three days, and after bandaging the wounds, he used the remaining money to hire a stretcher and asked two porters to carry him away. It took more than ten days to finally catch up with the large troops.
The first thing Li Xiang said after catching up with the troops was: "I am finally home!" ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="108" > came to the Korean battlefield</h1>
Li Xiang's revolutionary will was very firm, and after becoming a glorious warrior, he made great achievements on battlefields large and small. The boy who was inferior because he was a son-in-law became the commander of the Sixty-seventh Army after the liberation of the whole country.
In June 1950, US imperialism brazenly launched a war of aggression against Korea and burned the flames to the northeast gate of our motherland. Such wolf ambitions have been made clear, and the people of the whole country are indignant. If the enemy's iron horse is not permanently expelled from the country, then the new regime that we have worked so hard to build will be seriously threatened. Under such circumstances, the Campaign to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea was vigorously launched.
Just a few days after Li Xiang was about to leave the motherland, his wife had just given birth to a lovely daughter for him. Li Xiang very much wants to stay by his wife and children's side, love his wife well, and watch his little cotton jacket grow up slowly. But he also understood that the motherland needed itself, and thousands of Chinese people needed themselves even more.
So Li Xiang bid farewell to his wife and children bitterly, actively responded to the call of the party and the people of the motherland, and led all the commanders and fighters of the Sixty-seventh Army of the Volunteer Army to the Korean battlefield with their heads held high.
In October 1951, the U.S. army began a major offensive against our frontal positions for the "Autumn Offensive." At that time, the US military was fierce, and the attack was more and more fierce than the next round. Planes, artillery, tanks, infantry, the enemy mobilized everything that could be dispatched, and for more than ten consecutive days, day and night, they launched an attack.
Although the enemy was menacing, Li Xiang did not feel panic at all, but was more calm and calm, and commanded the operation in the combat command post without sleeping or eating. In the end, in one counterattack after another, the enemy's "autumn offensive" was completely and completely smashed, creating a brilliant victory of annihilating more than 17,000 enemy troops.
Li Xiang also compiled his experience in dealing with the US military into a military summary report, which was fully affirmed by the corps headquarters and the headquarters of the volunteer army, and became a document for organizing cadres at and above the volunteer corps level to study.
In 1952, Li Xiang personally went deep into the forward position to reconnoiter the terrain, formulated relevant plans, and led the soldiers of the Sixty-seventh Army to dig tunnels and build fortifications in a certain front-line position. Because he sought truth from facts and was very familiar with the situation at the scene, the fortifications built by Li Xiang fully met the actual needs of actual combat and also made indelible contributions to the volunteer army's obstruction of the INVASION of the US army.
Li Xiang broke the conspiracy and trickery of US imperialism again and again, and let the enemy suffer defeat after defeat, so the enemy who held a grudge actually used a weapon that completely violated human morality- biological and chemical weapons.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="121" > a boil</h1>
At the end of June, the war on the front line north of Lizhou was rekindled. The enemy was menacing, using dozens of tanks as the vanguard, and at the same time using more than 20 "Pirate" fighters, dropping one heavy bomb after another.
These bombs are called "tree cutters" and are very powerful. But what was even more terrifying was that at that time, our volunteer army did not know that among these bombs, there were also some biological and chemical weapons, and the enemy who was beaten by our army to the point of blindness actually violated the idea of germ warfare against humanity.
During the command of the operation, Li Xiang had obviously felt some discomfort in his body, first with a very serious high fever, and then with a wave of dizziness. At that time, Li Xiang also thought that he was commanding the battle for several days, his body was overly tired, and he was cold at night, so he had a cold. Due to the tight war, Li Xiang did not take it seriously.
Unexpectedly, after a few days, Li Xiang found that he actually had a boil on his thigh. No one took this boil seriously, and the hygienist simply dispensed some medicine, but the result was that his condition never improved, and Li Xiang's fever continued to regress.
After a few more days, the boils began to become congested and hardened, and they were about to suppurate. Li Xiang thought that a suppuration might be fine, so he did not pay attention to it, but continued to pour all his thoughts on the battlefield.
boil
At this time, some warriors came to report that they had found a lot of dead cats and dogs on the mountain, as well as a lot of dead rats and worn-out garbage.
This report infuriated the commanders of the command post, who had gone so far as to use prohibited weapons such as chemical and biological weapons in blatant disregard of international conventions.
Hygienists also became nervous, because the boils themselves are prone to inflammation and infection, and they are easily invaded by bacteria. So everyone persuaded Li Xiang to return to the rear first, and then come back after recuperating. As a result, Li Xiang was worried about the war in his heart, and said with a smile: "You are just scaring me, just a boil, why do you say it so seriously?" ”
No one could beat the stubborn Li Xiang, and finally it was easy to say that Li Xiang agreed to leave the command post three days later. Just when everyone was worried, Li Xiang's situation suddenly deteriorated. In just one day, Li Xiang, who was full of life, fell ill directly, and his head swollen like a bucket, which looked very frightening. The body's functions also decline rapidly, first suffering from sepsis, and then rapidly deteriorating into meningitis.
Due to the limited medical conditions on the battlefield, the military doctors did their best and still lacked skills. On the afternoon of October 8, Li Xiang, who was unconscious due to a high fever, stopped breathing.
From the time the U.S. military dropped germ bombs to Li Xiang's death, only eight days passed before and after.
Because it was in a critical period of war at that time, if the news of Li Xiang's death was announced, it would obviously make the soldiers of our army feel afraid of the us imperialist attack, and then they would grow the prestige of others and destroy their own morale.
Therefore, after a careful decision, the news of Li Xiang's death was blocked first, and then announced to the public after the war situation had eased. Therefore, this is also the reason why many people feel very stunned when they hear the news of Li Xiang's death.
Not only for the sake of the overall situation, but also to respect the will of General Li Xiang. Because the organization understands that Li Xiang has been fighting for the revolution and the motherland all his life, until the last moment of his life, he still insisted on the front line. If Li Xiang could still speak at that time, it is estimated that his last wish would still be to do something for the revolution. And in doing so, it was just the fulfillment of his last wish.