On October 22, 1985, in the hospital bed of the General Hospital of the Nanjing Military Region, an old man said vaguely at the last moment of his life: "I am finished!" Then he closed his eyes forever.
Figure 1 Xu Shiyou
This old man is the founding general Xu Shiyou, a general who has galloped on the battlefield and made countless achievements, so why would such a bold hero make such a whisper before his death?
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="3" > iron-blooded warrior, a lifelong warrior</h1>
Xu Shiyou was born in 1906, grew up in a chaotic world, because of the poverty of the family, Xu Shiyou's family was oppressed in his hometown, so Xu Shiyou began to learn martial arts to strengthen himself, and practiced a good skill. After returning from school, coinciding with the local landlord bully bullying the good, Xu Shiyou, out of righteous indignation, intervened to teach the bully, but unexpectedly lost his hand and beat people to death, helplessly fleeing his hometown and floating around.
In order to survive, he joined the troops of the old warlords as a soldier, later joined the National Revolutionary Army, received the influence of advanced ideology and culture, joined the Communist Youth League shortly after, and officially transferred to the Communist Party of China a year later.
Figure 2 A few friends of the year
Soon after joining the party, Xu Shiyou participated in the jute uprising, successively served as a grass-roots officer in the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, and contributed to the construction of the Soviet zone. Later, Xu Shiyou was promoted to regimental commander because of his bravery in battle.
Once Xu Shiyou was ordered to attack a reactionary cottage, and in this skirmish, Xu Shiyou fully exerted his bravery. Because the weapons and equipment of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army were poor, and the soldiers did not have enough guns, Xu Shiyou charged with a sharpened bamboo pole, killed the cottage in a hurry, climbed the wall, and as a result, the defenders directly stabbed him down with a bamboo pole.
Xu Shiyou was still a grassroots officer at the time, there was no special guard, so he was forgotten in the ravine, and later with will and a little luck, he picked up a life.
In the face of the encirclement and suppression of the Kuomintang reactionary forces, Xu Shiyou was a pioneer, brave and unusual, and grew up in the grind of blood and fire, and was wounded many times. Xu Shiyou has always been the vanguard of the whole army, specializing in gnawing hard bones, and is a famous tiger general. He once faced the enemy several times his own with a small number of troops, held his position, and finally defeated the enemy with strong willpower and won the recognition of the whole army.
Figure 3 Encirclement and suppression of Dabie Mountain
The Kuomintang encircled and suppressed the Dabie Mountains many times, and Xu Shiyou was ordered to guard the tofu shop. The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army was still very weak, there were no specialized military personnel, the soldiers on the front line lacked training, the enemy was firing at gunfire, the fire was fierce, and the position was almost lost.
At the critical moment, Xu Shiyou brandished a large knife and charged forward with the guards, and the warriors were inspired to follow closely behind him and drive the enemy back, providing time for the large army to encircle the rear of the enemy's flank.
After the start of the Long March, Xu Shiyou was also the vanguard of the whole army, taking on the task of reconnaissance of the enemy's situation and providing logistics for the rear troops. After the arduous Long March, the Red Army successfully joined northern Shaanxi, and Xu Shiyou also entered the Kang Da to study and improve himself.
For some reason, Xu Shiyou felt that he had been treated unfairly and made some bad things happen in Yan'an, but fortunately Chairman Mao later helped Xu Shiyou untie his heart and regain his appointment.
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Xu Shiyou was concerned about the battlefield and asked Chairman Mao for war, and Chairman Mao agreed to his request. Xu Shiyou played an outstanding role in the anti-Japanese battlefield, taking advantage of the terrain and information gap to fight several beautiful battles, and later led his troops to carry out guerrilla warfare on the North China Plain, developed the base areas behind enemy lines, and waged an extremely arduous anti-"sweeping" struggle against the Japanese and Kosovo.
Figure 4 Chairman Mao and Xu Shiyou
At the same time, Xu Shiyou also repelled the diehard army, expanded the living space of the anti-Japanese base areas, and gained the initiative in the strategic aspect.
During the War of Liberation, Xu Shiyou also handed over a satisfactory answer sheet, participated in many battles on the Shandong side, won many attacks on the Liberated Areas by the Kuomintang reactionaries, and defended the fruits of victory.
During the strategic counter-offensive phase, Xu Shiyou was appointed commander-in-chief of Jinan, responsible for conquering large and small cities near Jinan. Xu Shiyou actively grasped the fighter plane, rationally used the terrain situation, adopted a resolute combat attitude toward the enemy around Jinan, and conquered Jinan in only eight days.
Subsequently, Xu Shiyou led troops to participate in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. Because the troops who entered the DPRK fought suffered heavy casualties, the Central Military Commission decided to rotate into the DPRK army, and Xu Shiyou participated in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea as a member of the rotating unit under such circumstances.
Figure 5 In 1955, Xu Shiyou conferred the rank of general
After the war, Xu Shiyou was awarded the title of general, entered the Central Military Commission, and was later released to serve in the Grand Military Region. In 1979, when the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam began, Xu Shiyou, as the commander-in-chief of the front, was responsible for commanding the People's Liberation Army in the direction of Guangxi.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="20" > de-armoured and returned to the field, plagued by disease</h1>
After the war, Xu Shiyou deeply felt that he was old, his physical condition was obviously aging, and the old wounds on his legs were torturing him all the time, making him accompany him with pain every day.
In the end, Xu Shiyou, who was really unable to support himself, asked the central government to resign, dismissed all his positions, left Guangzhou, and went to Nanjing to settle down, where he would recuperate.
Xu Shiyou in Nanjing is at ease, completely ignoring political affairs and immersed in his own life. He began to plant flowers and raise pigs around his house, fulfilled his childhood dream, and talked with old subordinates and old comrades-in-arms from time to time, completely looking like a retired old cadre. However, the disease still found the old general, and one day in 1985, Xu Shiyou, as usual, was busy in his flower garden, and suddenly felt a sharp pain in his abdomen.
Figure 6
The old general, who had been strong all his life, did not want others to see his weak appearance, and chose to hide the matter without telling anyone. In the daily activities after that, Xu Shiyou did not show abnormalities, still looking optimistic and cheerful.
It was not until a few months later, when the doctors arranged by the headquarters hospital conducted a routine physical examination of him, that the secret could not be hidden, and the family learned that Xu Shiyou was ill.
However, this bad news is even more shocking, General Xu Shiyou is not suffering from ordinary minor diseases, but frightening liver cancer.
After learning of Xu Shiyou's illness, his family and friends came to comfort him and hoped that he could go to Beijing for medical treatment. However, Xu Shiyou's stubborn temper came up again, he was unwilling to go to Beijing, and no matter how much his relatives and friends persuaded him, he was unwilling to do examinations, let alone further treatment.
Figure 7
At this time, the relatives, friends, and old subordinates had no way to persuade him, and they could only take him to another courtyard in Nanjing for cultivation according to Xu Shiyou's request. Since General Xu Shiyou did not want to go to the hospital for medical treatment, the hospital in the Nanjing area sent elite doctors to form a medical team to be responsible for Xu Shiyou's medical care and systematic treatment and scientific treatment of Xu Shiyou.
This time, General Xu Shiyou's sense of resistance was not so strong, and he was examined and treated by doctors at the residence.
However, General Xu Shiyou was suffering from cancer, which was difficult to treat, and coupled with the late discovery time, the treatment effect was minimal, so General Xu Shiyou's condition was even worse. Relatives and friends were in a hurry, and General Xu Shiyou was also suffering greatly.
General Xu Shiyou spent his life fighting horses, suffered countless hardships, led soldiers to fight for a lifetime, did not want to lose face in front of his relatives, and did not want others to see his weak side.
The daughter-in-law who took care of him next to Xu Shiyou said: "He was in real pain once and wanted to find a doctor to get a painkiller, but then he refused, and he insisted on putting up with it." General Xu Shiyou always gritted his teeth and insisted, did not make a sound, and never cried out in pain in front of his relatives.
Figure 8
When General Xu Shiyou was still able to get up and walk, he insisted on not letting others help him, and only wanted to go to the bathroom by himself. Once, General Xu Shiyou went out to the bathroom, but more than ten minutes had passed, and General Xu Shiyou was still missing. The nurse began to get anxious and hurried to the bathroom. The nurse saw a surprising scene here: General Xu Shiyou was banging his head against the wall!
The nurse rushed forward to stop General Xu Shiyou, informed the guards to send the general to the ward, and quickly called the general's relatives to inform them of this amazing news, and everyone's heart was very heavy.
Everyone was puzzled, wondering why General Xu Shiyou would do this? The staff felt that Commander Xu could not bear the pain, so they wanted to relieve the pain by hitting the head; the medical staff said that Commander Xu may be ill for a long time, resulting in a lack of clarity and unable to control himself.
Whatever the real situation, no one uttered the most terrible thought: suicide.
Figure 9
After all, General Xu Shiyou has been a warrior all his life, and his will is as strong as iron, and the torture of illness at this time should not crush this tough man, but inevitably, everyone has strengthened the care of General Xu Shiyou to ensure that the general's condition can be contacted at the first time and ensure the health of the general.
Bad things followed, and a few days later, in the afternoon, the medical staff discovered General Xu Shiyou's abnormality in time, and this time the situation was even more serious. General Xu Shiyou took advantage of the brief outing of the escort, he used a towel to strangle his neck, and with both hands, he tightened the towel rigidly. When the escorts returned, General Xu Shiyou's face was already purple, his face was swollen badly, and the nurse ripped off the towel in time, and General Xu Shiyou survived.
Everyone gathered again and discussed what happened one after another. General Xu Shiyou's move was too abnormal, and there was nothing that everyone could do.
The old general is old and has such a stubborn personality, everyone can only persuade in secret, there is no way to persuade directly, otherwise if the old general has any good deeds, then everyone here will not forgive themselves. Therefore, this matter was so delayed, and the only thing that could be done was to strengthen the care and not let the old general do stupid things.
Figure 10
General Xu Shiyou likes to move or not, can not stop at all, before the illness like to travel around, after the illness this habit still has not changed, after the illness, General Xu Shiyou every day to go for a walk, still active, each time will record their daily steps on the desk calendar in the study.
The doctor in charge of Xu Shiyou's treatment painstakingly persuaded: "Chief, don't move around at will, pay attention to rest." But none of this worked, and General Xu Shiyou still insisted on walking every day.
However, as the old general's condition continued to deteriorate, he gradually could not move around, and sometimes when he got up in the morning, he could not get up on his own, let alone walk.
Even so, he was still reluctant to lie in bed like this, and he asked his old subordinates to take him for a ride. General Xu Shiyou's reason is also ironic: he said that sitting in a jeep, when the car is bumpy, people are also upside down, which is equivalent to exercise!
Figure 11 Xu Shiyou
Everyone listened very sadly, and General Xu Shiyou felt that this would make him feel comfortable and had no effect on the treatment, so everyone agreed to his request and let him sit in the jeep and walk around. But such days did not last long, and the old general's condition became more and more serious, and he could not even stand, but could only lie in bed.
One day, Xu Shiyou suddenly appeared very irritable, and something was also grunting in his mouth. The nurse on duty immediately squatted down and listened carefully, only to know that he wanted to "move, move", and the depth of the old general's obsession was evident.
At this time, General Xu Shiyou had been lying in bed for a long time, his physical functions had deteriorated significantly, and coupled with various complications caused by cancer, General Xu Shiyou's body had reached an extremely dangerous point.
Moreover, due to severe edema, Xu Shiyou Jingjun's weight has seriously exceeded the standard, and three or two people cannot lift him, which is a problem. The medical staff and relatives around the side frowned, and they could not discuss a good solution for a long time.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="49" > "I'm done"</h1>
General Xu Shiyou has reached this point, and it may be the last demand of his life, and he must be satisfied no matter what. Moreover, according to the stubborn and stubborn character of General Xu Shiyou, if he does not meet this requirement, he may "move" on his own, and the trouble caused by the time will be more difficult to deal with. Everyone used their brains to come up with a good way to complete General Xu Shiyou's request.
Figure 12
Finally, someone came up with a clever way to carry General Xu Shiyou to the sofa, a few people supported, several people carried the sofa, and moved around the ward to meet his request for activities. This suggestion was finally accepted by everyone, and soon the comrades gently carried General Xu Shiyou to the sofa, summoned seven or eight strong young people, carried the sofa around the ward, and began General Xu Shiyou's last "activity."
General Xu Shiyou, who was helped to sit on the sofa, opened his eyes with difficulty, looked around at the moving scenery, and nodded with satisfaction. When the "activity" was enough, General Xu Shiyou was satisfied, slowly closed his eyes, and fell asleep.
In September 1985, Xu Shiyou's condition further aggravated, the whole person was unconscious, unable to take care of himself, and it was already the time of death, and the medical team issued a critical illness notice.
After this news spread, many old comrades-in-arms came to visit, and many of them were too old to come in person. Comrade Deng Xiaoping sent a representative, Yang Shangkun, to visit. Everyone wanted to see the last side of the old comrade-in-arms, and everyone gathered in the ward and talked to General Xu Shiyou. However, Xu Shiyou was already delirious and did not react to everyone's arrival and words.
Figure 13 Yang Shangkun and Xu Shiyou
His family called his name several times, and General Xu Shiyou, in his coma, made a faint noise and spat out a few syllables vaguely, and several comrades who were close to him heard his words.
Xu Shiyou said, "I'm finished!" ”
Everyone heard these four words and was silent for a moment, then looked up at each other, and their eyes contained shock and sighs. Xu Shiyou, who was brave and good at fighting on the battlefield and had no scruples in life, actually issued such a whisper before his death, and the comrades were very sad.
But man can not violate the laws of nature after all, in October 1985, General Xu Shiyou died of illness. According to his original meaning, the funeral was not luxurious, and even a little too simple.
In this secret funeral, only his wife and children, as well as some old comrades and subordinates who are still alive, there are no other idle people. His grave is in his hometown in Henan, next to his mother's grave.
Figure 14 Cemetery of General Xu Shiyou
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="60" > general anecdotes, special characters</h1>
Xu Shiyou was an alcoholic all his life and drank alcohol every day. Once a subordinate asked him how much he could drink at most at a time? General Xu Shiyou laughed and pointed to the large teacup on the coffee table, saying that he could drink five or six cups at a time. Then the general said that he had drunk a basin of wine on the Long March Road, and that time it was the most drunk. Moreover, General Xu Shiyou is very picky about drinking, he does not drink other brands of wine, only Maotai.
After General Xu Shiyou retired, he liked people to come to see him, liked to be lively, and preferred others to drink with him. Because he was older and had a physical problem, the doctor advised him to drink less, or even not drink. Usually, with the supervision of a doctor, General Xu Shiyou can control the amount of alcohol, and when a guest comes, no one can control him. So the old general was very fond of people visiting him until he was bedridden and unable to move.
Figure 15 Xu Shiyou and Premier Zhou drink Moutai together
In the 1980s, there was a shortage of various materials, and the output of Moutai was not high, General Xu Shiyou had to drink a bottle of Moutai a day, and if there were guests who came, he would need more, and he would drink dozens of bottles of Moutai every month.
But according to the ration, the state gave him 6 bottles of wine per month, which was far from enough. The personnel in charge of the relevant work were very anxious and could not let General Xu Shiyou drink without alcohol. So they mobilized relations and sent a telegram to the provincial government for help.
This news was learned by General Xu Shiyou's old comrades-in-arms and old subordinates, and some generals were also looking for acquaintances to find wine for General Xu Shiyou. When they went to visit Commander Xu, they could take nothing, but they must bring a bottle of Moutai wine. This anecdote accompanied the life of Old General Xu, and when he died, in the table in his study, in the place where he hid the wine, he could still see the Moutai wine given to him by his old comrades-in-arms.
The second anecdote is the aftermath of General Xu Lao. In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chairman Mao proposed at a meeting that important members of the central authorities should set an example by example, and after their deaths, they should be cremated to save space for cultivated land and eliminate extravagant comparisons.
The participants present were very uniform and signed the cremation proposal one after another, and those who were not in Beijing also expressed their consent to the Party Central Committee and agreed to the cremation after the fact, but Xu Shiyou did not sign.
Figure 16 Xu Shiyou and Chairman Mao
Xu Shiyou was the chairman's loving general, made outstanding contributions to both the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, and his loyalty to the party and the people was beyond doubt.
When talking to the chairman on weekdays, he also recognized the chairman's words very much, and he would correct the mistakes and omissions in time, but in this matter he did not listen to the chairman's words and sang the opposite tune at the meeting. Why didn't he want to be cremated?
General Xu Shiyou was born in poverty, did not have the conditions to read and write when he was a child, joined the army when he grew up, and did not have the opportunity to study in the southern conquest and the northern war for many years.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he began to study at the request of the chairman, but at this time the effect of reading was not very obvious, his thinking was somewhat rigid and old, he did not understand the difference between cremation and burial, and he did not want his body to be cremated after his death, which were some shortcomings and regrets of General Xu Shiyou.
In addition, When General Xu Shiyou was young, he and his mother depended on each other for their lives, and it was their mother who raised him with painstaking efforts, but he failed to fulfill his filial piety around his mother, went out to join the army for many years, and never returned home.
Figure 17 Mother of General Xu Shiyou
Now that he has achieved fame, he has been able to support his mother, and not only must his mother fulfill his filial piety before he dies, but he must always accompany his mother after death and guard her mother's grave. That's why he didn't want to be cremated, which would disobey the chairman's intentions in person.
He truthfully expressed these ideas to Chairman Mao, and made it clear that he did not want to be cremated and must be buried next to his mother's grave. Chairman Mao did not say anything after hearing this, let alone criticize him, and to some extent acquiesced to this practice.
At that time, it was still a little early to talk about this, and when General Xu Shiyou passed away, the family members asked Comrade Deng Xiaoping for instructions on burial, and finally fulfilled his request, and his body was buried in the earth, and the funeral was mainly simple according to his requirements.
Xu Shiyou was young and poor, suffered hardships, joined the army in his youth, spent his life fighting horses, and spent the first half of his life on the battlefield. In this half-life of military career, he chose the right path, followed the right people, and finally broke out of a bright future.
From Xu Shiyou's body, we can see the virtues in traditional Chinese culture, including loyalty and filial piety, although there are still some sub-sections in his personality, but these two major aspects have always accompanied him.
Figure 18 Deng Xiaoping and Xu Shiyou
In his lifetime, Xu Shiyou only knelt down to two people, one was the mother who gave birth to him and raised him, and the other was Chairman Mao, who gave him a second life, and these two people corresponded to the two aspects of filial piety and loyalty.
Filial piety to one's mother is a virtue promoted by traditional Chinese culture and a universal value. Xu Shiyou developed this traditional virtue to the extreme, and it was passed on as a momentary beauty talk at that time.
In dealing with Chairman Mao, Xu Shiyou showed loyalty. After the end of the Long March, Chairman Mao let Xu Shiyou, who had made a mistake, take a gun on duty, and this grace and grace impressed Xu Shiyou, and since then Xu Shiyou has been Chairman Mao's most loyal subordinate, and he has been loyal to Chairman Mao all his life, which can be described as a good story.
Figure 19
On his deathbed, the vague words in his mouth: "I am finished" made the listener sad, and the warrior who had been in the sea of blood all his life actually issued such an exclamation before his death, which contained how much he longed for life and how much he contained the fear of death.
We can see a lot from this sentence, understand the truth of life, and hope that everyone can learn something from history and take history as a mirror.