In 1958, a cadre wearing the uniform of the People's Liberation Army was welcomed at the west gate of Zhongnanhai.
As soon as this man came, he said that he wanted to see Chairman Mao, but he had neither made an appointment in advance nor contacted Chairman Mao, and the guards did not dare to let him in. When the visitors heard this, they immediately widened their eyes with dissatisfaction and shouted at the guards: "Do you still want to contact Chairman Mao when you see him?" I'm Li Decai! ”
Zhongnanhai
The guard was still very young, had never heard of the name, and still refused to let it go. When this cadre, who claimed to be named Li Decai, saw the situation, he unreasonably entangled with them and shouted: "When you give Chairman Mao a notice, you will say that the 'tulks' have come to see him." ”
Anyway, he still wanted to break through. The guards tried so hard to stop him that they almost pressed the alarm.
So, who is this bold Li Decai who actually dared to break into Zhongnanhai?
Why did he dare to be so arrogant?
How did Chairman Mao deal with him later?
Although Li Decai was so arrogant, he was not a senior official in the PLA troops, and "when he was awarded the title of May Fifth", Li Decai was awarded the rank of colonel of the PLA, and it was normal for young guards not to know his name and identity. However, although there is no popularity, Li Decai's face on the side of the chiefs is very large. Leaving aside Chairman Mao, those founding generals all know li decai as a person, and as long as they hear that Li Decai has come, no matter what they are busy with, they will immediately put down their work and personally greet him.
Li Decai
Breaking into such a heavily guarded place as Zhongnanhai is indeed bold, not something that normal people dare to do, but for Li Decai, it is not the first time. As early as 1945, before the Liberation War officially began, Li Decai had forced his way into The residence of President Lin.
At that time, Mr. Lin was temporarily living in an inconspicuous village in the countryside of Hebei, and he would then rush to the northeast to prepare for the possible civil war that would break out later. Because there were a large number of national military forces in the northeast at that time, the pressure on Mr. Lin was very huge, and there was a lot of work to be done, and Mr. Lin was very busy. And it just so happens that Li Decai is stationed near here, he was once a subordinate of President Lin, and when he heard that President Lin temporarily lived here, he specially came to visit.
Mr. Lin
He came alone, and when he reached the door of the courtyard where Mr. Lin lived, he obviously saw the guards standing guard, but he went inside without notification. The guards quickly stopped him and asked him solemnly who he was and what his purpose was here. Li Decai and the chiefs got used to it casually, and after being stopped, he said bluntly: "I have come to see Lin Zong." ”
However, this person was unknown and alone, and the guards, out of concern for the safety of the chief, dared to let him go easily. When Li Decai saw that they refused to let them go, he quickly lost patience and shouted in his throat: "If you go and tell Lin Zong, just say that the 'tulao' is coming, and he will definitely see me!" ”
His loud shouting was heard by Mr. Lin in the room, so he called someone to ask what was wrong at the door. The guards truthfully reported Li Decai's arrogant behavior to Mr. Lin. Who knows, Mr. Lin, who listened to the guard's report, did not get angry, but instead smiled and called the guard to invite Li Decai in. But before he could say anything, Mr. Lin himself had already stood up, smiled and greeted him outside the door, and when he saw Li Decai, he laughed and said, "Sure enough, you 'tulk'!" ”
Several young guards couldn't help but wonder to Li Decai, how capable was this person, and how courteous could he get such a courtesy from President Lin?
Li De was able to obtain such a courtesy, all because of his hard work on the battlefield. Li Decai participated in many famous battles, the most famous of which was the forced crossing of the Dadu River. However, li Decai's name is not included in the list of 17 warriors who crossed the Dadu River, but he did participate in it, and his contribution in this battle was equally great, because he was the machine gunner who covered the 17 warriors to cross the river.
Forced crossing of the Dadu River
Li Decai, a native of Pingxiang, Jiangxi Province, was born in 1904 to a poor peasant family, because he lived in a ravine, and Li Decai's family had relatively short knowledge. When Li De was only 26 years old, his ordinary life finally ushered in a turnaround.
The year was 1930, and Mr. Peng passed through Li Decai's hometown with the Red 3 Front. Li Decai had heard the old man talk about many armies, but the deeds of those armies made Li Decai only want to stay away after hearing them, and when he saw this unit called the Red Army, he was immediately attracted by the majestic spirit of these soldiers. He found that this unit was different from any army that the old people had ever said, with strict discipline, very polite, and able to really walk with the local people.
Mr. Peng
Li Decai was moved and wanted to become one of them, his parents were very supportive of their son's idea, and it was not long before Li Decai officially joined the Red Army and left his hometown with the army. Because his family was poor, he had never read a book, he had been in the countryside and had never seen the world, and he made a lot of jokes after he first joined the army.
Red army
At that time, the Red 3 Front was going to Changsha County, Li Decai had never been to such a developed place, and the bustling scenery along the way made him look at it intently. In the countryside, as soon as it gets dark, families rest at home, and there are people running around in the night when the lights are black and the lights are blind. But the city is different, the city is electrified, the day is continued at night through the light bulb, and the night is as bright as the day.
Li Decai saw the light bulb for the first time, thinking that this thing was the same as the kerosene lamp, the light inside was lit, so he took a cigarette and turned the light bulb to rub a fire, the result was two or three times, the smoke was not lit, the eyes were flashed first, so that he couldn't help but blink. The comrades who watched this scene laughed.
In 1930, the Red 3rd Front was in Changsha
Later, Li Decai's unit won a major victory and captured a lot of enemy supplies. The chiefs ordered the supplies to be distributed to the soldiers, and Li Decai received a pair of pants that seemed strange to him. He did not know that such trousers were imitation German military pants, not only with a pocket on each side, but also with the same opening as the suit pants. Li Decai turned his pants over and looked at it again, looked at this opening and thought about it for a long time, and suddenly he had a clever move and put the opening backwards and put on his pants.
He went out in his pants to show his comrades-in-arms, and when everyone saw him, they all smiled and leaned forward and told Li Decai that he had put his pants back. Li Decai touched the opening in the back with a blank face, and asked everyone doubtfully: "Isn't this thing convenient for people who wear it to squat in the hut?" ”
Red Army soldiers
Unexpectedly, after listening to his explanation, everyone laughed even louder, and even some people laughed out of tears. Li Decai was reminded by everyone to know how to wear this kind of pants that he had never seen before. He adjusted in time, but the story of his righteous and bold anti-pants spread throughout the army, and the chiefs listened to it, and later Chairman Mao also knew about it. Chairman Mao was amused and laughed, and jokingly said to the people around him: "This Li Decai is really a 'local guy'!" ”
Since then, Li Decai has been given a nickname called "TuLao", which is known to all the recruits who have just joined the army and the chiefs. Everyone no longer called him Li Decai, but directly called him "Tulao". And Li Decai was not angry at all. No matter who joked with him, Li Decai would not be angry, not to mention that this nickname was given to him by his respected Commissar Mao, and he was very proud. The comrades-in-arms all liked Li Decai's character and were willing to make friends with him and entrust his life to him.
Li Decai held a position in the army as a platoon leader of a machine gun company, and from the first contact with the machine gun, Li Decai showed great talent. He was born with a big body and full of energy, and the heavy machine gun was a small meaning to him. After a period of training, Li Decai quickly mastered the use of heavy machine guns. Later, the main shooter of his unit unfortunately died, and Li Decai took over his job and became a machine gun shooter, accumulating rich combat experience and being recognized as the most powerful machine gunner in the army.
After the beginning of the Red Army's Long March, in May 1935, Li Decai's Red 1 front came to the Dadu River. At that time, the Nationalist troops were in hot pursuit in the rear, and there were interceptions they had set up long ago in the front, and if they wanted to break through smoothly, this forced crossing must be successful. In this life-and-death situation, the 17 Red Army soldiers selected were all brave and fearless, and they regarded death as a good man.
Group photo of the warriors crossing the Dadu River with foreign journalists
When the squad that crossed the river was arranged, Yang Dezhi, the commander of the Red 1 Regiment of the Red 1 Front, who was responsible for arranging the crossing of the river, suddenly remembered that if the soldiers wanted to successfully cross the river, they also needed to arrange a machine gunner to cover with strong firepower. Yang Dezhi didn't even think about it, and immediately shouted, "Go and get the 'tulags'!" ”
Under Yang Dezhi's arrangement, Li Decai was assigned two machine guns, and when the battle to cross the Dadu River officially began, Li Decai used these two machine guns in rotation and strafed at the enemy on the other side of the river. According to the recollections of the comrades present at the time, the enemy fire on the other side of the river was very fierce, but as soon as Li Decai's machine gun opened fire, the other side would fall into a state of dud fire, successfully covering the charge launched by his teammates.
Dadu
Liu Bocheng and other chiefs who were watching the battle in the rear at that time watched the wonderful performances of the warriors and Li Decai in front of them through the telescope, and excitedly praised them one after another, and the plan of forcibly crossing the Dadu River was successfully completed. Although it is said that the real crossing of the river is 17 Red Army soldiers, in some versions, there are also said that the Eighteen Warriors of the Dadu River may have included Li Decai. However, whether it is 17 or 18, the Red Army soldiers who participated in this battle are all unparalleled warriors.
Later, during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, Li Decai worked as a guard in the Yan'an area, specifically responsible for the safety of the chief's family, so many of the chief's family members knew him. One day in 1958, Li Decai wanted to ask Chairman Mao for help, so he ran to Zhongnanhai, but because he did not make an appointment and contact Chairman Mao in advance, he was stopped by the guards.
Li Decai was so angry that he even said things like "call the chairman and tell the chairman that the 'tulk' has come to see him", but he never let the guards relax. Subsequently, Li Decai was forcibly taken by the guards to the reception hall of Zhongnanhai, he was angry, and suddenly saw a young child running outside the window, his eyes lit up suddenly, and he quickly shouted the child's name and called him to come to him.
The child obviously knew Li Decai as well, and after running to Li Decai, he happily greeted him. Li Decai couldn't help but look at him a few times, and sighed that he hadn't seen him in a few days, and he had grown so fast. It turned out that this child was the son of one of the chiefs when Li Decai was working in Yan'an. When Li Decai saw him, he came up with a good way to contact Chairman Mao, so he borrowed a piece of paper, wrote on it" "I have come to Beijing and want to see the chairman," signed it as "Tu Lao," and then solemnly handed the letter to the child.
Chairman Mao
Li Decai returned to his residence and waited until the evening, when Chairman Mao did send someone to invite him to meet him in Zhongnanhai. Li Decai saw Chairman Mao at the Juxiang Bookstore in Zhongnanhai and immediately gave the chairman a standard military salute. Chairman Mao affectionately called him "TuLao" and invited him to sit closer. Under Chairman Mao's easy-going and close treatment, Li Decai breathed a sigh of relief, changed his previous style of speaking and acting, and chatted with Chairman Mao.
Zhongnanhai Juxiang Book House
Only then did several guards realize that Li Decai and Chairman Mao were really acquaintances. Chairman Mao also told the young people present about several funny deeds that Li Decai had done, and deliberately asked Li Decai if he was wearing his pants today. Everyone immediately laughed, and Li Decai also laughed happily.
Only then did Li Decai tell Chairman Mao his intentions. It turned out that after the war, Li Decai, with the help of several veteran chiefs, went to work in the Baoding Military Region. He wanted to build a basketball court for the compound of the military sub-district, and although there was no shortage of funds, because raw materials such as cement were planned materials, they could not be easily misappropriated. Li Decai did not want to embarrass the local staff, so he came to ask Chairman Mao for help.
Chairman Mao himself was a man who liked to exercise, and Li Decai wanted to build a basketball court to facilitate the fitness of soldiers and local residents, which was a good thing that was harmless. Chairman Mao readily agreed after hearing this, and handed over the specific matters to Premier Zhou. Premier Zhou properly handled the matter, and Li Decai thanked the two chiefs and happily returned to Baoding this time. After the basketball court was built, there was still a surplus of cement arranged by Premier Zhou, and Li Decai took the initiative to donate cement to a local school under construction, hoping to help them build more infrastructure.
Li Decai's family
Unfortunately, only two years later, in 1960, Li Decai died of a heart attack at the age of 56. Although he is gone, his contribution will never be erased. The old hero has worked hard and worked hard, and people will always remember him.