On May 16, 1940, Zhang Zizhong, who had participated in the Defense of Linyi, the Battle of Xuzhou, the Battle of Wuhan, the Battle of Zaoyi and other famous battles in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, finally died in xiangyang and died at the age of 49.
As early as when crossing the river to supervise the battle, Zhang Zizhong, who had a premonition that he would never return, left two suicide notes. The two suicide notes, one was written by Zhang Zizhong to the then deputy commander-in-chief Feng Zhi'an, and the other was written by him to the generals.
In a desperate letter to Feng Zhi'an, he said: "Whether you do good or bad, you must ask your conscience to be comforted, and in the future, both public and private will have to ask my brother to be responsible." From now on, in the future or temporarily, forever departed, unknown, dedicated to Buda. ”
In another suicide note to the generals, he wrote: "The determination to die for the country and the nation is not clear, the stone is not rotten, and it will never change in the slightest, and I am willing to encourage it with my brothers." ”
These two suicide notes are Zhang Zizhong's final account to the country, soldiers, and people. But only, he did not leave only a few words for his wife Li Minhui and his children.
Zhang Zizhong and Li Minhui originally had three sons and a daughter, but the second son, Zhang Lianjing, died of illness in 1934, so when he died, only two sons and one daughter survived.
Compared with many Kuomintang generals in the Republic of China who once had a wife, a concubine, or even a polygamous concubine, Zhang Zizhong was an exception, and he only had one wife in his life, Li Minhui.
Born in 1890, Li Minhui was the daughter of Li Huanan, a member of the Linqing County Consultative Bureau. When she married Zhang Zizhong, she was 17 years old and her husband was 16 years old.
Li Minhui's marriage to Zhang Zizhong was the result of Zhang Zizhong's mother's single-handedness, and the reason why Zhang Zizhong's mother hurriedly and panickedly married her son Zhang Luo. It is because: Zhang's mother, who has just lost her husband, believes that if her son marries as soon as possible, she will be able to mature as soon as possible and provoke the beams of the Zhang family.
Mother Zhang was a wise woman, and the trick she used on her son really worked. After marriage, Zhang Zizhong really matured quickly. With the help of his beautiful wife Li Minhui, who is one year older than himself, he not only studied harder, but even some small problems in the past were slowly corrected.
A woman is the biggest feng shui in the family, and with the help of a virtuous wife, the Zhang family seems to have returned to its former style.
In 1910, the year Zhang Zizhong graduated from the higher primary school, Li Minhui gave birth to the eldest son, Zhang Lianzhen, and watched the children grow up day by day, and the husband and wife smiled happily.
Up to this point, they have always been the happy appearance of ordinary couples. But in times of war, happiness is always a luxury. In 1911, the Xinhai Revolution broke out, which completely changed the fate of China at that time and also changed the married life of Zhang Zizhong and Li Minhui.
In the winter of that year, Zhang Zizhong, who had a heart of serving the country, bid farewell to his wife and son and embarked on the road to study at the Beiyang Law and Politics School in Tianjin. It was here that Zhang Zizhong first came into contact with Sun Yat-sen's Three People's Principles and the bourgeois revolutionary program of "expelling the Tartars, restoring China, establishing the Republic of China, and equalizing land rights."
After coming into contact with the Three People's Principles, Zhang Zizhong, who was deeply shocked by progressive ideas, secretly joined the China League and became a real revolutionary.
Revolution means bloodshed and sacrifice. The day he became a revolutionary, Zhang Zizhong was ready to sacrifice.
When Zhang Zizhong did all this, his wife Li Minhui did not know it at first. As a woman who grew up in a feudal family, Li Minhui has always been "her husband does not say, she does not ask", she only silently takes care of her son and takes care of the family.
In 1917, Zhang Zizhong joined the army, this year he was 25 years old, and their eldest son Zhang Lianzhen was 7 years old. After being promoted to platoon leader, Zhang Zizhong's wife Li Minhui gave birth to their second son, Zhang Lianjing.
It was also from this time that Li Minhui's burden became heavier, but Zhang Zizhong took less care of his family. Yes, soldiers in the war years are always the busiest. Although Li Minhui often felt tired of trivial family affairs, when she thought of what her husband had said to her, "I will not fail you", her small emotions caused by fatigue were instantly swept away.
Li Minhui loved her husband deeply, and since he became a soldier, she often woke up in the middle of the night, and she was always worried about what accidents he had in the army. After a long time, Li Minhui actually began to worship the Buddha at home, and all she asked for was the peace of her husband and family.
As the children grew up, Zhang Zizhong's official position became higher and higher, and he fought more and more wars. Li Minhui often prayed silently for peace, but in those years of chaos, peace seemed to appear only in prayer.
In August 1923, Li Minhui gave birth to her daughter Zhang Lianyun, and after learning that she had a daughter, Zhang Zizhong was very happy, he said: "I always want to have a careful daughter like you to accompany you for me. ”
Li Minhui listened to a pang of bitterness in her heart, who can replace her husband? But she knew that perennial conquest was not her husband's choice, and if she had a choice, he would always accompany her.
Although Li Minhui does not have much culture, she also understands the principle of "a country has a home". Therefore, although she hates war in her heart, she is also the woman behind her husband who supports her most.
If this is not the case, why would Li Minhui train her son Zhang Lianjing to enter the Whampoa Military Academy for training? Watching her son put on the military uniform, her heart was both sad and relieved. Originally, she hoped that her son could replace her husband on the battlefield. But Zhang Lianjing, who was only 17 years old, was killed by a typhoid fever.
After the death of her son, Li Minhui was extremely painful, and she had just become pregnant again and gave birth to her third son, Zhang Weiguo, often eating and eating, and the tears came down involuntarily.
After learning the bad news of his son's death, Zhang Zizhong was devastated. People say, "Disaster is not alone," and at this time, the country is also in greater danger. Shortly before the death of his son, the Japanese invaders invaded further, and the Twenty-ninth Army led by Zhang Zizhong was forced to abandon its position and retreat to the southwest without help.
In the end, the Kuomintang was forced to sign the humiliating Tanggu Agreement with the Japanese side. Such a result seems to Zhang Zizhong, who is bent on serving the country, a great insult.
The birth of the third son, Zhang Weiguo, did not alleviate the family's pain, and for many years thereafter, Zhang Zizhong was depressed by the early death of his son.
On July 7, 1937, the Lugou Bridge Incident occurred, and the all-round anti-Japanese war officially began. At this time, Zhang Zizhong was shaking his fists, bent on washing away the shame of the year. However, as the head of the 29th Army, he was asked by his superior Song Zheyuan to "stay, perfunctory with the enemy, and delay time" at the juncture when he was already preparing for the War of Resistance.
When he received this order, he knew that he had been appointed to Japan because he had been appointed to Japan, and he would be insulted as a "big traitor" after this mission.
For a time, major newspapers reported Zhang Zizhong's "traitorous behavior", Li Huimin also got the news, she refused to believe all this, although she did not fully know the truth of the matter, but she firmly believed in her husband's innocence more than anyone.
In September of that year, Zhang Zizhong returned to his home in Tianjin to reunite with his family. When her husband returned this time, the children, especially their daughter Zhang Lianyun, were very happy, but the sensitive Li Minhui clearly felt that he was so worried this time. However, after only a hurried meeting, he took advantage of the twilight to put on his hat and long shirt and leave.
That day, Li Minhui wanted to send him, but he said that he would not let him send anything. Zhang Zizhong's abnormality made Li Minhui feel even more uneasy.
On the day her father left, Zhang Lianyun lay on the window sill on the second floor and looked at her father with tears in her eyes, until her father's tall figure disappeared for a long time, and she reluctantly wiped her tears and left the window sill.
No one expected that Zhang Zizhong's separation from his family would become a farewell forever.
Soon, after learning of her husband's great victory in the Battle of Taierzhuang the following year, Li Minhui's heart was both happy for her husband and more worried about him. She knew his character, and she even knew that sooner or later he would die on the battlefield in order to prove his innocence and wash his name. She knew that her husband valued the honor of being a soldier more than his life.
In the spring of 1939, Li Minhui was separated from her husband as usual, at this time, Zhang Zizhong was supervising the Xiangdong front in Hubei Province, while Li Minhui moved to Shanghai with a large son.
It was during this period that Li Minhui's body developed a condition, her uterine cancer became more and more serious, her body was not as good as before, and she began to receive treatment in the hospital in Shanghai.
At this time, Zhang Zizhong missed his family because he wanted to fight with the Japanese to the death, and when he said goodbye to his allied brother Shen Kejiao, he repeatedly instructed him: "After you go back, you must ask your righteous daughter Lian Yun (Zhang Zizhong's daughter) to come to the front to see me, and remember to ask her to come and see me." ”
Soon, because of the war, Zhang Zizhong had to urgently inform his daughter and niece to suspend their coming to the front. Subsequently, he wrote a handwritten letter to his daughter with a pen, in which he instructed her: "Girls in the big age should seek knowledge and economic independence, and do not make clothes racks like your brothers." ”
The daughter never imagined that this sentence in this letter would become a will left to her by her father.
On April 1 of that year, Zhang Zizhong wrote to Ziming again: "Although it has been a little difficult recently, I am mentally happy, and my body is good, and everything is good. However, lately, I have been thinking about my family very much, especially missing my mother. Whenever I think about this, I feel very sad. ”
When Zhang Ziming told Li Minhui the contents of this letter, her reaction was completely different from that of her brother. At that time, she was already terminally ill, and her brow frowned slightly, and then she was silent.
As Zhang Zizhong's favorite and only daughter in her life, she must also be the person who understands him the most, so in just these few words, she sensed her husband's determination to wash the name of the snow traitor with death. If he had not decided to die, how could he have said in his letter that "the heart of the family is extremely heavy"!
Sure enough, not long after, Zhang Ziming received another letter from his brother, which said: "If I do not die for a day, I will do my duty to kill the enemy for one day; if the enemy does not go for a day, I will only die with loyalty." This letter, Zhang Ziming did not read to Li Minhui, he secretly hid it. He didn't know that even if he didn't say it, Li Minhui already knew all this.
Everything happened as Li Huimin expected...
In May 1940, Zhang Zizhong died heroically in battle against the Japanese army at Pumpkin Hill, and he finally washed away his grievances with death, and he became a real national hero.
After learning the bad news for quite a while, Zhang Lianyun refused to believe it, she always believed that this was misinformation.
You know, in the war years, misinformation of death was a common occurrence. In the past, the family of Commander-in-Chief Li Zongren received rumors that "Li Zongren is dead" many times.
At dawn on May 18, Zhang Zizhong's remains were snatched back to Zhangjiagou by the Nationalist army from Chen Jiaji, and they were rushed to the bank of the Xiang River... Soon, the news of Zhang Zizhong's sacrifice was officially confirmed, and at this time, Zhang Lianyun and his brothers were finally convinced that their father was dead.
Almost at the same time, Li Minhui's uterine cancer has also reached an advanced stage, and she has been admitted to the hospital for final treatment. After his father's death, Zhang Lianyun and his family did not dare to tell their mother the truth. In later memories, when referring to this past, Zhang Lianyun said with tears:
"We didn't dare to tell her the truth, so we just put on filial piety at home, wept bitterly, changed into our usual clothes when we went to the hospital, and restrained our sad emotions."
Seeing that Li Minhui's condition was getting worse and worse, Zhang Ziming finally decided to tell her the truth. That day, he and Zhang Lianyun and Zhang Lianyu came to Li Minhui's hospital bed and choked up: "The fifth brother has been sacrificed..."
After hearing the news that her husband had died on the battlefield, Li Minhui, who had fallen into a coma, suddenly muttered, "The division commander has returned, and the division commander has returned." Hearing his mother's words, Zhang Lianyun cried into tears. Yes, my mother, like herself, refused to accept the news that my father had died!
Shortly after that, Li Minhui died of cancer, only 3 months after Zhang Zizhong's sacrifice. Because the time of Li Minhui's death was too close to Zhang Zizhong, many people mistakenly said that she was a martyr on hunger strike and died of martyrdom.
For this misinformation, Zhang Lianyun later clarified: "Some people say that the mother died of a hunger strike for seven days after the death of her father, but this is not the case! ”
When Li Minhui died of illness, she and Zhang Zizhong's daughter Zhang Lianyun were 17 years old, while their youngest son, Zhang Weiguo, was only 6 years old.
Before his death, when his consciousness was still clear, Li Minhui entrusted his son Zhang Weiguo to be raised by Lieutenant General Xiao Zhenying, the general counselor of the Twenty-ninth Army, and later, Zhang Weiguo was sent by Zhou Enlai to the Soviet Union to study with Zhu De's daughter, Liu Shaoqi's children, and Zhang Wentian's son.
In 1953, the 19-year-old Zhang Weiguo returned to China, was once an engineer at the Tianjin Fuel Oil Company, and has now retired and lives in Tianjin.
Zhang Lianyun, on the other hand, became a teacher in Beijing after completing his studies, and in 1957 became the vice principal of the Ninety-Nine Middle School in Beijing's Haidian District. In 1960, he worked in the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Education. Later, she was transferred to the CPPCC. Compared with her father, her life is relatively ordinary, but such a life is also a very meaningful life after all. After all, she did not live up to her father's expectations and became a person who contributed to the country.
Zhang Zizhong and Li Minhui's eldest son, Zhang Lianyun's eldest brother Zhang Lianzhen, has changed greatly after his father's death. After his father's sacrifice, he took the whole family to recite the family training three times a day at nine o'clock every morning to the portrait of his father, and meditated for ten minutes.
There are three very important words in the Zhang family training, that is, "Grandchildren and grandchildren do not forget the seven seven." Grandchildren and grandchildren do not forget May 16. Be a useful person to the country. ”
Zhang Lianzhen, who led his family to read daily family training, later became a useful talent for the state, and he also worked in the state finance department before liberation.
It is worth mentioning that Zhang Lianzhen and his wife gave birth to a total of 7 sons for the Zhang family. As early as when Zhang Zizhong was still alive, he and his wife gave birth to the eldest son Zhang Qingyi. Later, they gave birth to six sons, Zhang Qing'an, Zhang Qinglong, Zhang Jizu, Zhang Qingfan, Zhang Qingcheng, and Zhang Qingxin.
Some people say that the reason why the Zhang family is so prosperous is that it must be inseparable from Zhang Zizhong's heroic service to the country. Every time she heard this statement, Zhang Lianzhen couldn't help but nod her head in agreement.
The descendants of the Zhang family were in front of Zhang Zizhong's tomb
Perhaps it was really because of the blessing of the ancestors that the seven sons of Zhang Lianzhen, the descendants of the martyrs, all grew into the pillars of the country.
Among them, Zhang Lianzhen's eldest son, Zhang Qingyi, later served in the Tianjin Economic Commission, and he conscientiously completed every work task until retirement.
The second son, Zhang Qing'an, settled in Shanghai, where he later conducted technical research at the Electric Power Engineering Research Institute and became a national researcher.
The third son, Zhang Qinglong, became a tenured professor at the University of Cleveland with his knowledge, but his nationality was always Chinese.
The fourth son, Zhang Jizu, became a business elite, and although he was very successful in business, he practiced frugality throughout his life, and although he never met his grandfather Zhang Zizhong, he was proud of his grandfather all his life.
Zhang Jizu holds a portrait of his grandfather
The fifth son, Zhang Qingfan, like his third brother, became a tenured professor at a new York university. No matter where you are, just like your brothers, you always keep in mind the Zhang family training.
Zhang Lianzhen's sixth and seventh sons, like their brothers, have become elites in various fields.
Compared with the many children of her brother Zhang Lianzhen, Zhang Lianyun's two sons are no less than each other, her eldest son Che Qing embarked on the road of scientific research, while the second son Che worked on CCTV and served as the director of the technical production center.
Zhang Lianyun reminisced about the past in front of his father's tomb
Zhang Zizhong's descendants have reached the fourth and fifth generations, and I believe that the descendants of these generations will also become the elite of the country like their fathers and grandfathers.