preface
In 1975, Marshal Liu Bocheng, who had just been pulled back from the Ghost Gate by the doctor, was lying on a hospital bed and weakly instructed the people around him to call Comrade Hua Guofeng, and he had important things to explain.
Hua Guofeng
Hua Guofeng heard the news that Marshal Liu Bocheng was critically ill, put down his work, and rushed to the hospital, Liu Bocheng saw comrade Hua Guofeng was a little excited, his chest was heaving, and he explained something in a weak voice.
Hua Guofeng walked to the bedside and leaned over to listen carefully to Liu Bocheng's explanation.
He told Hua Guofeng: "The funeral after his death must be presided over by Comrade Deng Xiaoping. ”
Later, Hua Guofeng relayed Marshal Liu Bocheng's last words to Comrade Deng Xiaoping, and he was silent for a long time.
Why did Marshal Liu Bocheng insist that Deng Xiaoping preside over the funeral?
The deep friendship between Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping is something that people talk about, and some people say that between "Liu Deng", not a comma can be added.
The two men fought side by side from the realization and established a deep revolutionary friendship.
Born in 1892, Liu Bocheng was a full 12 years older than Deng Xiaoping, and such a large age gap between the two did not affect the revolutionary friendship between them in the slightest.
In 1931, Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping really knew each other, both of them were born in Sichuan, and it was a happy and fortunate thing to meet their compatriots on the road of revolution.
When they first met, fellow villager Liu Bocheng left a deep impression on Deng Xiaoping's loyalty and honesty.
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Liu Bo assumed the position of commander of the 129th Division, and Deng Xiaoping served as the political commissar of the 129th Division, and since then Liu and Deng have officially opened the road of cooperation.
Two people with very different personalities became intimate partners, and the two complemented each other, making Liu Deng's army famous.
Deng Xiaoping and Liu Bocheng took a group photo
His subordinates once commented on Liu Deng and The two men in this way: Liu Shichang's personality was calm and generous, he was approachable, he treated his subordinates very well, and he was also strategic in fighting wars, while Political Commissar Deng was simply and decisive, and he was more severe in peacetime.
It was these two people with very different personalities who played the prestige of Liu Deng's army.
On the eve of the start of the Hundred Regiments War in 1940, in the operational command office, Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping lit lamps and studied the map to conduct the next operational instructions and strategic research for the Hundred Regiments War.
It was already midnight, it was pitch black outside, there was no moonlight or starlight, most people were asleep, and there was a faint light in the office.
One of Liu Bocheng's eyes was injured, and he couldn't see clearly at night, the words on the map were small and dense, and by the faint kerosene light, he could hardly see anything.
Deng Xiaoping picked up the kerosene lamp, walked to the map, and shone the light on the map, Liu Bocheng saw the words on it clearly, and whenever Liu Bocheng's eyes moved to one place, Deng Xiaoping took the kerosene lamp and moved there.
The two discussed while looking at the map, until they thoroughly studied it, and Liu Bocheng stretched out and asked Deng Xiaoping to go back to his room to rest.
When the Hundred Regiments War reached the third stage, the situation between the enemy and us became more and more urgent, and the soldiers on the front line gradually became a little weak after a long battle.
Seeing that the enemy was about to attack, Chen Geng urgently reported to Liu Bocheng on the battle situation on the front line, and Chen Yi on the phone was very anxious, telling Liu Bocheng that the soldiers could not hold on.
Liu Bocheng heard Chen Geng say this, and after yelling at Chen Geng, he hung up the phone angrily.
Seeing the situation, Deng Xiaoping re-dialed Chen Geng's phone, encouraged him not to be discouraged, and solemnly instructed him that he must do everything possible to eliminate the enemy, that bloodshed and sacrifice in war are inevitable, and that what we can do is to do everything we can to minimize the number of sacrifices.
Deng Xiaoping's words were loud and clear, and Chen Geng also strengthened his determination, and he scored good results in the follow-up battle.
To say that Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping were comrades-in-arms of the revolution is to say that they are friends who cherish each other and are brothers and sisters.
Battle of the Hundred Regiments
In 1942, Deng Xiaoping was assigned the task of leading the troops to the Taiyue District to inspect the work, when the Japanese army had just carried out a major sweep, and Deng Xiaoping's trip was extremely dangerous along the way.
The Japanese devils set up layers of checkpoints on the road, and Deng Xiaoping had to venture through them to reach his destination, and the slightest difference in the middle would be attacked by the Japanese devils.
At that time, communication was not developed, the transmission of information between each other was not so timely, and deng Xiaoping had no news after he set out with his subordinates. This made Liu Bocheng very worried.
In those days, before waiting for the news that Deng Xiaoping had arrived at his destination safely, Liu Bocheng could not eat or eat, slept unsteadily, and always couldn't sleep in the middle of the night, always worried about Deng Xiaoping's safety.
It wasn't until Deng Xiaoping came with the news of his safe arrival that Liu Bocheng's heart was put into his stomach.
In his daily work, Liu Bocheng most often said: "As long as it is something that Political Commissar Deng has explained, we must do it, and we must respect the political commissar." ”
The same Deng Xiaoping always said: "Master Liu is a good division commander, and he must obey his orders in the matter of fighting." ”
The words that the two men usually teach their subordinates are tacit.
Under normal circumstances, only Deng Xiaoping could really move Liu Bocheng.
In 1942, when Liu Bocheng celebrated his 50th birthday, the organization wanted to celebrate his birthday, Liu Bocheng was not interested in such a thing as a birthday, and his mind was all focused on the revolution, and he was even more silent about his birthday, and no one knew except himself.
The staff ran to ask Liu Bocheng about his birthday, was sent back, and he told Deng Xiaoping about it.
50 years old is also more than half a hundred years old, Deng Xiaoping also wanted to give Liu Bocheng a birthday, personally ran to ask Liu Bocheng's birthday, at first Liu Bocheng was reluctant to say, and then under the strong persuasion of Deng Xiaoping, Liu Bocheng told Deng Xiaoping his birthday.
The birthday party was hosted by Deng Xiaoping himself, and Peng Dehuai also personally came to celebrate Liu Bocheng's birthday, which was the first time Liu Bocheng celebrated his birthday in a lively and lively manner, which left a deep impression on him.
Liu Bocheng
Later, at the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Deng Xiaoping's wife gave birth to two children at that time.
Deng Xiaoping was embarrassed by naming his child, and after thinking about it, he named him Taihang and used this name to commemorate the victory in the Battle of Taihang Mountain.
It turned out that the name Taihang had long been used by Liu Bocheng, and his son was called Liu Taixing.
Deng Xiaoping was undecided for a moment, so he put the matter of naming a name on hold for the time being, until the children were already one or two years old, and there was no official big name, and they were always called small names.
At that time, he happened to meet Liu Bocheng, and Deng Xiaoping took the child to visit the old comrade-in-arms, asking him to give the child a big name.
Liu Bocheng looked at the child's appearance is very gratifying, he just wrote a word, and then came to the inspiration, the child named "Park Zheng", meaning that the child will be simple and upright in the future.
Deng Xiaoping and his wife, when they heard this name, they even said yes, which set the child's big name - Deng Puzheng.
In 1947, during the Liberation War, Liu Deng's army advanced into Dabie Mountain, and before that, a meeting was held to discuss when the day of entering Dabie Mountain was set.
At the meeting, before Deng Xiaoping and Liu Bocheng made a formal decision, they would have a brief exchange of views and finally determine the best plan before announcing it in public.
In the small details of life, Deng Xiaoping and Liu Bocheng respect each other's opinions, and they have always been very harmonious and harmonious, and such a partnership is the envy of many people.
Liu Bocheng was older than Deng Xiaoping, and deng Xiaoping was always helping Liu Bocheng deal with the trivial work of drafting documents and sorting out manuscripts.
Hardships in the process of marching were inevitable, and Deng Xiaoping was worried that Liu Bocheng's body would not be able to eat, and he was always ready to stretcher.
In order to ensure the quality of Liu Bocheng's sleep, Deng Xiaoping ordered people to lengthen the telephone lines a lot, and once there was an urgent and important matter, let people take the phone to the courtyard to answer, and in the winter, they would wrap the quilt and go outside to make calls, for fear of affecting Liu Bocheng's rest.
In the blink of an eye, Deng Xiaoping and Liu Bocheng had cooperated in the wind and rain for nearly two decades, and in 1950, when they were no longer at war, the two had to be separated for work reasons.
Before leaving, Liu Bocheng gave Deng Xiaoping the photos he had treasured for a long time.
That photo was taken by Liu Bocheng when he was young, when his eyes were not injured, it can be seen from the photos that Liu Bocheng in his youth was heroic and radiant, and there was heroism between his eyebrows.
Deng Xiaoping treasured this photograph for a long time.
Later, Liu Bocheng was seriously ill, and he kept nagging Deng Xiaoping, and before he died, he left a last word to Hua Guofeng: "My funeral should be presided over by Comrade Deng Xiaoping, if he does not agree, then throw my body in the wilderness, and I will not enter the Babao Mountain." ”
After Liu Bocheng's death, Hua Guofeng conveyed Liu Bocheng's last words to Comrade Deng Xiaoping word for word.
Deng Xiaoping sighed and was silent for a long time, his eyes were moist, and Liu Bocheng's only last wish before he died would definitely be granted.
On October 14, 1975, Deng Xiaoping presided over the farewell ceremony of Liu Bocheng's body, and the family watched the quiet Liu Bocheng cry silently.
On October 16, Deng Xiaoping came to the Great Hall of the People early to direct and arrange Liu Bocheng's funeral, and the memorial service was held as scheduled, and all the participants paid tribute to Liu Bocheng and observed a moment of silence.
Before liu bocheng died, he had confessed to his children to sprinkle his ashes in the place where he had fought, which was the road he had traveled in his life, there were family members and comrades-in-arms and friends, Deng Xiaoping followed Liu Bocheng's last wishes, and arranged for Liu Bocheng's relatives to scatter his ashes in the Taihang Mountains, hometown and other places on October 21.
Later, Deng Xiaoping's children once recalled: Father Deng Xiaoping was a serious and unsmiling person, and he was not good at showing his true feelings, but in the eulogy written to Marshal Liu Bocheng, he could clearly feel his father's sad feelings.
Liu Bocheng insisted that Deng Xiaoping preside over the funeral before his death, which was also a very strong friendship between the two, not brothers but like brothers.