□ Lu Xiaoyang
In the Memorial Hall of the New Fourth Army in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, a coat from the Anti-Japanese War period is made of cotton and linen fiber, which was worn by Comrade Liu Ruilong, who was then deputy secretary of the CPC Huaibei District Party Committee and director of the Huaibei Administrative Office. Later, it was donated by Liu Ruilong's children to the New Fourth Army Memorial Hall, and was identified as a national first-class cultural relic.
A cotton coat worn by Deng Ziwei during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (Picture 1)
This seemingly very ordinary cotton coat (Picture 1), its original owner is actually Deng Zihui, who was the political commissar of the Fourth Division of the New Fourth Army at the time, who changed hands three times in just two years, and there is a little-known story behind it, and the relevant units and media have different accounts about the history of the coat. To this end, I specifically asked Deng Huaisheng, the son of Deng Zihui, who told in detail about the ins and outs of the coat.
In May 1939, Deng Zihui, then deputy director of the Political Department of the New Fourth Army, arrived in Jiangbei with his commander Ye Ting, and participated in the formation of the Jiangbei Headquarters of the New Fourth Army in Dongtangchi, Lujiang County, and concurrently served as the director of the Political Department of the Jiangbei Command. At that time, the troops practiced a supply system, during which time Deng Zihui was organizationally assigned a cotton coat, which was also a relatively valuable item in the war years when materials were extremely scarce. Regarding the background of this coat, some people say that it is the loot of the captured Japanese army. According to Deng Huaisheng's recollection and analysis, in the central China region, the Japanese army wore thick tweed coats in winter, and very few wore cotton coats, and the color of the Japanese army's coats was earth yellow, but this coat was grass green. In addition, it is recognized from picture 2 that the style and fabric of Deng Zihui's Japanese tweed coat are also very different from the cotton coat in picture 1, so Deng Huaisheng believes that the cotton coat should have been donated by patriots or captured from the puppet army.
In December 1938, Deng Zihui was photographed wearing a Japanese tweed coat at the headquarters of the New Fourth Army in southern Anhui (picture 2).
In May 1941, after the "Anhui Incident," Deng Zihui, who was already the director of the Political Department of the New Fourth Army, led the inspection team of the New Fourth Army to the northeast of Anhui province and presided over the rectification meeting of the 6th Division of the New Fourth Army in the name of the representative of the Central China Bureau. After a long period of patient and meticulous work, the problems existing in the unit were properly solved and the mood of the cadres and fighters was stabilized. In August, after the meeting, due to the repeated retention of Peng Xuefeng, the commander of the Fourth Division, with the approval of the Central China Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and the Central Military Commission, Deng Zihui was appointed secretary of the Military and Political Committee of the Fourth Division of the New Fourth Army and political commissar of the Fourth Division.
At this time, it was in a difficult period of resistance, and the supply of materials for the troops was very tight. With the arrival of winter, Deng Zi saw that Peng Xuefeng did not have a cotton coat to withstand the cold, so he took off the coat that he had followed him on the battlefield and especially loved it, and gave it to Peng Xuefeng. Similarly, not long after, Peng Xuefeng transferred the coat to Liu Ruilong (then deputy secretary of the CPC Huaibei District Party Committee and director of the Huaibei Administrative Office). A coat is passed between the three people, and this scene of sympathy and pity is all touching. Since then, whether in the arduous war years or in the period of socialist construction in full swing, this coat has accompanied Liu Ruilong all over the motherland, gone through vicissitudes, and is still well preserved. It is conceivable that this coat, which has changed its owner several times and has extraordinary significance, occupies a pivotal position in Liu Ruilong's heart.
The anti-Japanese flames of more than 80 years ago have long disappeared, and the immortal merits of Deng Zihui and other revolutionaries of the older generation for the founding of New China and the deep friendship between comrades-in-arms will always be remembered by our descendants!