Xie Jinyuan's combat contribution in the history of the revolution is indeed not much compared to other generals who are also very famous. But the influence of real generals on the soldiers, the people, and the country is also very important, and in some ways, it is not even inferior to the battle record.
At this point, Xie Jinyuan is a well-deserved famous general, and the battle of the Four-Line Warehouse is enough to leave a name in history.
However, what many people don't know is that after the Four-Line Warehouse was defended, these eight hundred brave soldiers became a lone army, and Xie Jinyuan's fate was also very bad. Because he was a Kuomintang general, many people may not know much about it, until Xie Jinyuan's name appeared on the list of "heroic martyrs of the anti-Japanese resistance" and was posthumously awarded "martyrs", and this name reappeared in front of everyone.
And a later movie, "Eight Hundred", made Xie Jinyuan's spirit of staying in the Sihang Warehouse re-energized in this era. His name has also been truly remembered by thousands of Chinese.
However, the story of Xie Jinyuan's murder is not known to many people.
On April 24, 1941, Xie Jinyuan's wife, Ling Weicheng, was in her husband's hometown, the countryside of Jiaoling, Guangdong. She has been living here for 5 years, serving her elderly in-laws while raising several young children. The wind and frost of life have polished this woman into a peasant woman.
In this peasant woman's heart, there was only one name, that is, Xie Jinyuan.
On this day, Ling Weicheng was busy in the field when he suddenly heard a message: Xie Jinyuan had been killed in Shanghai! At first, she couldn't believe that the news was true, and immediately threw down the farm tools to confirm, and finally learned that Xie Jinyuan had indeed died.
This news instantly made Ling Weicheng paralyzed, and after determining that her husband had died, her first reaction was shock, and the second reaction was to cry and want to go to Shanghai to see her husband's body. 5 years ago, when Xie Jinyuan left home, he promised her that he would come back, but he did not expect to wait for death news.
Ling Weicheng was originally a rich family's miss qianjin, who was willing to follow Xie Jinyuan, in the past 5 years, she changed from a big miss to a peasant woman, without any complaints. Now that I have received such news, any normal person may not be able to bear it.
Moreover, many of the Kuomintang generals at that time had three wives and four concubines, and Xie Jinyuan could certainly do this, but since he met Ling Weicheng, Xie Jinyuan was wholeheartedly good to her, and never, never thought of picking flowers and weeds outside. These Ling Weicheng all looked in his eyes.
It is precisely because the feelings between the two are so deep, so after Xie Jinyuan's death, Ling Weicheng's first reaction is not to care about the cause of his death, nor is it a major family and country event, but to remember the days the two spent together.
One, legendary love
The love story of Xie Jinyuan and Ling Weicheng can almost be said to be a legend of the Republic of China.
Ling Weicheng was born in Xujiahui, Shanghai in 1907, and counting her, there were three sisters in the family, their father was a businessman, and not a small merchant, but a businessman who really had some family business. Therefore, Ling Weicheng's living environment from childhood is pampered.
There was no difference between Ling Weicheng and the rich lady of that era, who grew up and read without worry. She successively studied at Wuben Girls' High School in Shanghai and The Southeast Sports College, and after successfully graduating, she did not have any pressure in life, and she studied her hobbies and interests all day long.
In fact, judging from Ling Weicheng's interests and hobbies, she and a soldier are not very able to get together. Because Ling Weicheng studied music in school, her personality and hobbies are biased towards art. I usually like to read books, read poems, sing and sing.
Xie Jinyuan was born into a peasant family and was in the army at that time.
The acquaintance between Ling Weicheng and Xie Jinyuan can be said to have been arranged by God.
At that time, one of Ling Weicheng's friends got married, and before the wedding, her friend invited her to be a bridesmaid. Ling Weicheng is kind and sincere, and her friend found a home, and she was also very happy, so she should be given the task of being a bridesmaid. On the wedding day, Ling Weicheng saw the man next to the groom's official, handsome and tall, with extraordinary temperament.
Since then, it has been a thousand years at a glance.
What she didn't know was that when she noticed the man, the other person also noticed her. Later, she inquired like her married friend, and learned that this man was the groom's groomsman, a soldier named Xie Jinyuan. The couple seemed to have an interest in each other when they saw the groomsmen and bridesmaids, so they secretly matched.
Therefore, Ling Weicheng and Xie Jinyuan knew and fell in love with each other.
At that time, Xie Jinyuan served as a battalion commander in the Northern Expeditionary Army, and soon after the two fell in love, Xie Jinyuan was going to the battlefield, so the two had to rely on each other. Unexpectedly, xie Jinyuan had just returned to the army and encountered the northern expedition and the Japanese army fighting in Jinan. Xie Jinyuan was originally brave and fierce, and was a pioneer in the battle, and was seriously injured.
After being injured, Xie Jinyuan could only leave the army helplessly and went to Hankou to treat his injuries and recuperate quietly. Ling Weicheng, who was worried about Xie Jinyuan, naturally learned of this news, so he traveled thousands of miles from Shanghai to Hankou, accompanied Xie Jinyuan day and night, and took good care of him.
This period of mutual companionship for more than a year made their feelings really mature, and after the injury was healed, Xie Jinyuan proposed marriage to Ling Weicheng.
The next few years were probably the happiest time in Ling Weicheng's life, although he also encountered many setbacks during the period. Xie Jinyuan's marriage proposal, she naturally could not ask for it, but the family did not accept it, on the grounds that Xie Jinyuan's identity. At that time, Japan's aggressive intentions had become clear, and the situation was very turbulent.
As a soldier, Xie Jinyuan may always go to the battlefield again. Even if the two have a good relationship and go to the battlefield, the guns and bullets are not long-sighted, and once Xie Jinyuan dies on the battlefield, Ling Weicheng who remains will become a widow. The Ling family was originally rich, and they didn't care about the status of a military wife, so they strongly opposed it.
However, the reason why their love is legendary is precisely because of the firmness of the spirit of the two. At this time, Ling Weicheng chose to follow his heart and married Xie Jinyuan. Although women's independence was advocated at that time, it was not easy for a family like Ling Weicheng to do this.
Soon after the marriage, Ling Weicheng became pregnant with Xie Jinyuan's child. Xie Jinyuan was transferred to Shanghai by the army, in order to let Ling Weicheng raise a child with peace of mind, Xie Jinyuan did not let her follow, and the two began to go off again. It wasn't until Ling Weicheng gave birth to their eldest daughter, Xie Xuefen, that he couldn't wait to rush to Shanghai to reunite with her husband.
It was 1930, and after the young couple had been reunited, they had had a few happy years. Xie Jinyuan treated Ling Weicheng very well, not only loved her, but also cared for her like a little girl. It is reasonable to say that Xie Jinyuan, a young and promising general, should be a bit of machismo, but he is not at all.
Outside, Xie Jinyuan was a general, full of blood, and at home, Xie Jinyuan became a gentle husband. These times were the nourishment that supported Ling Weicheng to spend a long life later.
Second, the death of Xie Jinyuan
The transformation of Ling Weicheng's life began with the Japanese.
In 1936, many big things happened in China, but neither one of them showed one thing: there was bound to be war between China and Japan. At that time, China was a weak country without diplomacy. A hot-blooded boy like Xie Jinyuan naturally could not sit still and was ready to go to the battlefield at any time.
At that time, the situation in Shanghai was becoming more and more tense, and It was obviously not a solution for Ling Weicheng and his sons and daughters to continue to stay around. Xie Jinyuan thought about going, but decided to send them away. Therefore, Xie Jinyuan specially asked the troops for leave and specially took his wife and children back to his hometown in Jiaoling, Guangdong.
At that time, Xie Jinyuan's hometown only had two old people and the daughter of Xie Jinyuan's eldest brother.
Ling Weicheng did not want to go home, naturally not because he could not bear this pain, but felt that something was wrong, dead or alive, he wanted to accompany Xie Jinyuan. But in the face of family affairs, Xie Jinyuan must also let his wife grow up, in the face of Ling Weicheng's crying, he did not say anything, just pointed to their children.
Ling Weicheng also instantly understood Xie Jinyuan's meaning: the country is in turmoil, adults can not care, but she wants to stay and protect the children.
At that time, Ling Weicheng was still pregnant. Before leaving, Xie Jinyuan was also very reluctant and left a message for Ling Weicheng: "When a child is born, if it is a boy, it is called Jimin... When you are victorious, I will come back and pick you up. ”
This sentence has been remembered in Ling Weicheng's heart for 5 years, and no one expected that 5 years later, she was waiting for the news of her husband's death.
Shortly after Xie Jinyuan left his wife and children, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression broke out in full swing, and the first battle was the Battle of Songhu, where he was located, and Shanghai was the main battlefield. In the Battle of Songhu, the Kuomintang troops were almost completely unable to resist the long-planned Japanese army, and the defensive line was quickly lost, and the entire shanghai outside the concession was a ruin occupied by the Japanese army.
Shanghai certainly can't hold back. In order to get the large troops to withdraw from the battlefield, Chiang Kai-shek sent a force to stay in Shanghai, guarding the Zhabei position, facing the Japanese army and the concession behind it. Chiang Kai-shek's real intention was actually to sacrifice a small army in the event of defeat to boost morale.
Therefore, the troops guarding the Zhabei position in the town had almost only two ends, either sticking to the position and becoming victims, or retreating after doing the show, which hurt the hearts of the people.
This task fell into the hands of the 524 Regiment led by Xie Jinyuan.
Xie Jinyuan was not the highest-ranking general in the Nationalist army, so naturally he did not know what Chiang Kai-shek really thought, and the task he received was to stick to the Sihang Warehouse. As a soldier, he did the same. Although the battle to defend the Sihang Warehouse was not as fierce as filmed in the movie, the spiritual strength it represented shocked all the people.
At that time, Xie Jinyuan only led more than 400 people, and the reason why he was later called "Eight Hundred Heroes" was because he deliberately said it at that time in order to hide his eyes and ears and make the enemy think that the number of defenders was large. However, in the face of the entire city of Japanese troops, even if there are really 800 people, it is even more difficult to hold.
However, Xie Jinyuan and the soldiers were determined to die, and only relying on these 400 people, they repelled more than 10 attacks of the Japanese army.
At the same time, the domestic and foreign media, foreigners and Chinese in the concessions, the Japanese army, Chiang Kai-shek, and almost all the anti-Japanese generals in China paid attention to the situation here. Naturally, everyone was shocked by Xie Jinyuan's feat. The concession also contacted him and offered to help them retreat into the concession.
Xie Jinyuan's answer was: If you did not obey the order, you would not retreat even if you died!
Chiang Kai-shek did not know that all the Chinese soldiers guarding the Sihang warehouse had already written their wills. Seeing that the goal had been achieved and the concession side agreed to retreat, Chiang Kai-shek sent someone to order Xie Jinyuan to lead his troops to retreat to the concession. As a man, as a Chinese, Xie Jinyuan was naturally reluctant, but as a soldier, he had to obey orders.
Therefore, Xie Jinyuan had to retreat to the British Concession with his troops. They had their guns confiscated, but did not wait for news of the retreat to the large army.
After entering the concession, these "eight hundred brave men" became the lone army that was abandoned, and it was the lone army without a gun in his hand. The British Concession concentrated them in shelters and sent guards at all times, just like prison. But Xie Jinyuan still did not give up, leading the troops to practice, communicating with the Chinese people in the concession, and participating in handicrafts so that they could support themselves.
Since then, Xie Jinyuan has become a hero of the people. Along with this came the hostility of the Japanese army and the Japanese and the Japanese. Although the Japanese army still exerted pressure on the British concession within the concession, the situation of Xie Jinyuan and others was difficult. There were also Japanese hypocrites who tried to bribe him through official positions, but he strictly refused.
For the Japanese and the Japanese, Xie Jinyuan was like a stone in the toilet, smelly and hard. Xie Jinyuan stayed in the concession for 4 years, no different from being detained. In 1941, he went out to practice as usual, but without warning, he was attacked by 4 traitors bribed by the enemy and died on the spot.
Xie Jinyuan's funeral, almost the entire Chinese of Shanghai came, because he himself is a spirit, a banner.
Third, Xie Jinyuan's posthumous affairs
In the past few years that Xie Jinyuan was detained in the concession, how did Ling Weicheng, who was in his hometown in Jiaoling, Guangdong Province, spend it?
This big lady who used to love culture and art did not complain a word, and after giving birth to her son, she named Xie Jimin according to Xie Jinyuan's instructions. When her health improved slightly, she put on dirty and hard clothes and went to the fields to learn to do farm work. In a few years, she became a real peasant woman.
At that time, Xie Jinyuan's parents were old, not to mention work, and sometimes even needed Ling Weicheng's service, and the burden naturally fell on Ling Weicheng. She gets up early every day, cooks a meal and goes out, and the children take care of each other at home, and wait until the evening when she can come home from the fields.
All this is because of Xie Jinyuan's sentence "I will come back to pick you up."
When she heard the news of Xie Jinyuan's murder, Ling Weicheng impulsively left home and rushed to Shanghai, and finally saw the children who did not know it, so she stopped. At that time, the situation in Shanghai was still chaotic, and if they rushed to Shanghai and encountered danger, these children would be lonely.
After calming down, Ling Weicheng also quickly realized the most urgent thing in this family: poverty.
The children grew up day by day, and they were all about to study, and of course they could not afford to rely on this Ling Weicheng to farm. At this time, she remembered what Xie Jinyuan had said before he died. Xie Jinyuan has always been an upright person, unwilling to take more than a penny, but specially instructed her, the children's money to study, you can ask the authorities for help.
Thinking about it, Ling Weicheng did a big thing: he walked from Guangdong to Chongqing with his children and asked Chiang Kai-shek for help.
In the years of war, walking from Guangdong to Chongqing, with a few children, any of these three points represent many difficulties. Ling Weicheng, a woman, under the blessing of faith, did it hard. In Chongqing, she also met Chiang Kai-shek, but unexpectedly, Chiang Kai-shek told her:
"Now that the country is in difficulty, when the War of Resistance is won, the state will certainly take care of you."
Is the money Ling Weicheng asking for difficult for Chiang Kai-shek? Obviously not difficult. Chiang Kai-shek attended a dinner party less often, and Soong Meiling wore one less cheongsam, enough for Ling Weicheng's family to live for a few years. The reason why Chiang Kai-shek has this attitude is because Xie Jinyuan has no value to him anymore.
In the end, the authorities only gave Ling a small pension. Ling Weicheng had no choice but to take the money and return to Guangdong again. Continue to live in poverty. Xie Jinyuan's children grew up under such conditions, and they were also cultivated by Ling Weicheng to have the habit of determination.
She used to say, "If you don't become a master, how will I go to see your father in the future?" ”
This is another 5 years. In 1945, after the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Ling Weicheng learned the news and the first thing he did was to prepare to go to Shanghai. There is her husband's grave and her hometown. Xie Jinyuan has been away from them for 10 years.
After arriving in Shanghai, Ling Weicheng found Xie Jinyuan's grave, and several veterans of the lone army camp spontaneously guarded Xie Jinyuan's tomb. Ling Weicheng couldn't cry, and the veterans also shed tears when they learned that she was the wife of Commander Xie.
The veterans who guarded the Sihang warehouse at that time did not end up very well later. They were not regarded as heroes by the Kuomintang, but were completely abandoned. Some people were injured, had hidden physical problems, and did not receive any compensation. After Ling Weicheng learned about their encounter, he was determined to help Xie Jinyuan deal with his old comrades-in-arms.
The next day, the Shanghai newspaper published the news that "Xie Jinyuan's widow arrived in Shanghai."
Sure enough, as soon as the news came out, many veterans of the lone army camp found Ling Weicheng. Ling Weicheng remembered Chiang Kai-shek's promise that year, so he took the children to find Chiang Kai-shek again, but this time he did not see anyone at all, just a staff member came out and asked her to find the Shanghai government.
Ling Weicheng felt that this was prevarication, but he still found the Shanghai Municipal Government, and found nothing.
Therefore, Ling Weicheng had to take these veterans to shanghai as the lowest level workers and seek a way to live. Perhaps with the indication of the authorities, many hooligans in Shanghai came to harass Ling Weicheng, and she was threatened more than once, but she still gritted her teeth and persevered.
In fact, whether it is Ling Weicheng or those veterans, there is another way to go.
After all, those veterans were the former elite of the Nationalist Army, and they were all contacted by the troops because of the civil war. At this point, their reaction was surprisingly consistent: hitting the Japanese was the right thing to do, hitting their own people, not doing it.
And Ling Weicheng, at that time, was not old, good looks, as long as you marry a man again, life can immediately improve. There is only one reason why she still insists, Xie Jinyuan is a hero, in her heart, no one will be better than Xie Jinyuan.
It was not until the liberation of Shanghai that Ling Weicheng found Chen Yi and, with the help of the Shanghai Municipal Government in New China, did he get some relief from his living difficulties. Moreover, when Chen Yi heard her identity, he showed great importance and immediately gave the order. This also gave her confidence in the new government.
In addition, the veterans of the lone military camp have also received help.
And these children, who Ling Weicheng raised with difficulty, later also lived up to expectations and became talents one by one. The eldest daughter, Xie Xuefen, works in Guangdong's health system, and the second son, Xie Jimin, works at the grassroots level in Shanghai. Both are conscientious and have created a lot of value in their respective positions.
On January 16, 1991, the elderly Ling Weicheng died of illness in Shanghai, and his last words to his children were: Bury me next to your father.
Ling Weicheng and Xie Jinyuan, whether it is a love story or the spirit they contain, are examples worth learning from. Such an outstanding couple, although Xie Jinyuan is only one of the anti-Japanese generals, although Ling Weicheng is only one of thousands of women, their story is not exaggerated to describe it as "legendary".