In August 1947, traveling across the vast Siberia , along with the fallen leaves that began to turn yellow, He Zizhen stepped off the train. After ten years of wasted time, she finally returned to her motherland, the land she loved deeply.
After hearing that old comrades from the past had returned to the country, many Communists gathered on the platform of Harbin Railway Station . Among them were the leaders of the Northeast Bureau and old acquaintances of He Zizhen that he had not seen for many years... But He Zizhen But his eyes were always jumping among the crowd, looking for something, but unfortunately found nothing.
Although He Zizhen was a little disappointed, He Zizhen actually knew that this was the most intense moment of the struggle. With Chairman Mao's personality, how could he appear here at an inappropriate time?
After returning to China, considering He Zizhen's physical condition, comrades from the Northeast Bureau helped her temporarily settle in Harbin and arranged for her to serve in the party organization in Harbin.
Although her life has been guaranteed, He Zizhen still has an unfulfilled wish. This wish has made her cherish it for many years. From the lunatic asylum in Moscow to the labor union cadres in Harbin, she has never been able to let it go.
Later, under the persuasion of her sister He Yi, He Zizhen finally failed to suppress her restless heart and made a request to the organization.
But at that time, He Zizhen never imagined that it would be twelve years before she would get what she wanted.
What exactly did He Zizhen request? And why didn’t it happen until twelve years later?
Love in the Age of Revolution
In 1928, Chairman Mao, who suffered successive setbacks after the Autumn Harvest Uprising, took the remaining troops to Jinggangshan in order to protect the fire of the revolution.
Long before Chairman Mao, He Zizhen, his brother He Minxue and others launched an uprising in their hometown Yongxin and evacuated to Jinggangshan before the Kuomintang reactionary army pressed on the border.
He Zizhen, who was baptized by red ideas when she was young and lost her blood relatives in the riots, was only 18 years old at this time, but she had already become a staunch communist fighter mentally, and this invisibly formed a A gravitational force drew her and Chairman Mao's fate together.
When the two met for the first time, Chairman Mao had some doubts. Could such a pretty girl really be the wife of a nearby village?
Later, under the introduction of commander Yuan Wencai , the chairman learned about He Zizhen's past and couldn't help but praise her as a "heroine" and a well-deserved revolutionary.
Perhaps it was a coincidence or intentional arrangement. Soon after, He Zizhen was transferred to the position of secretary of the front committee to work with the chairman.
In their daily interactions, both of them were deeply attracted to each other, whether it was their style of doing things or their manners and manners, and their affection gradually grew.
In the end, under the chairman's active pursuit, He Zizhen accepted the relationship.
The wedding of the two was held at Xiangshan Temple .
Affected by the severe revolutionary situation, this wedding was held in a Communist style. Only a few old comrades, including Zhu De and Chen Yi, were invited. There were a few plates of simple dishes in the room, and everything was kept simple.
The war is ruthless, and the fate turns.
Time flies by like a fleeting moment. Several years have passed in the blink of an eye. Under the guidance of Chairman Mao's armed separatist theory of " rural areas encircling cities ", the revolutionary base areas were connected from points to lines, and then from lines to surfaces, and a spark of fire was about to ignite on the border of Hunan and Jiangxi. Raging fire.
The Kuomintang reactionaries naturally cannot sit idly by and ignore this. Although the previous anti-encirclement and suppression wars have been successful, the Red Army is still at a disadvantage in this struggle and is walking on thin ice.
October 1934. Due to some erroneous command, the fifth counter-encirclement and suppression campaign failed, and the Central Red Army had to abandon its base area and start the Long March.
The Long March was a difficult and dangerous journey, and the road ahead was long and obstructed. Not to mention the national troops who were chasing and intercepting us both before and after us. The steep terrain and changing climate conditions alone were enough to persuade many people to retreat.
Therefore, after many comprehensive considerations, in addition to party organization leaders and combatants, the central government only allowed 30 female comrades to accompany the army, and He Zizhen was one of them.
At that time, He Zizhen was about 25 years old, at the age of her prime, but in this women's army composed of cadres and their families, she was already a "senior" with deep qualifications.
Coincidentally, He Zizhen was found to be pregnant shortly before the Long March, so the organization arranged for her to be in the rest and recuperation company of the General Ministry of Health so that she could have peace of mind to raise her baby.
But He Zizhen didn't want to be idle and volunteered to join the stretcher team to share the work of finding and guarding the stretcher.
In January 1935, the Red Army came to the Chishui River. At this time, the Red Army was surrounded by enemies on all sides and seemed to be in a state of embarrassment.
Faced with such a dangerous situation, the chairman boldly proposed to use mobile warfare to meet the enemy. He led the team to cross three rivers six times in three months. It was as if he had opened his eyes and moved around in the gaps in the enemy's defense. It was breathtaking.
After such a "torsion", the national army participating in the encirclement and suppression completely lost its direction and fled among the provinces like headless flies. Our army also took this opportunity to successfully jump out of the enemy's encirclement.
Although today when reading about this period of history in history books, it is often summarized in just a few paragraphs, few people know how much blood and tears are hidden behind these light words and this seemingly freehand victory. , how much dedication and sacrifice.
At least He Zizhen has not forgotten it.
Before and after the second crossing of Chishui, He Zizhen gave birth.
With a clear cry, a baby girl came to the world, but not far away, artillery fire was still roaring, and more young lives were disappearing.
Obviously, under the pressure of the situation, the newborn baby had to be separated from his parents before he could even open his eyes.
Even though He Zizhen was unwilling in every possible way, even though she could force the child to stay for her own selfish reasons, He Zizhen did not do so.
Because He Zizhen knows that she is not only a mother, but also a Communist. She must put the revolutionary cause first. In order to realize her great ideal, she should and must make sacrifices. If she breaks this precedent today, then Tomorrow I don't know how many soldiers will die in vain because of her decision.
Before leaving, He Zizhen looked deeply at her infant daughter, put more than ten yuan into it, and then entrusted the child to the care of local fellow villagers.
The Long March is still going on, and He Zizhen also brought about a turning point of fate, such as the nightmarish battle in Zhuchang Village in Weishe Town.
Although the enemy's large forces were thrown away after crossed Chishui for the fourth time, the national armed forces were still pursuing them along the way, and more than ten battles of various sizes broke out every day.
On the morning of April 23, on the eve of leaving Guizhou, enemy troops quietly attacked.
In order to cover the Central Military Commission column's safe passage through the valley pass ahead, our soldiers fought bravely, dealing with and pulling against enemy forces that were ten times their own.
After more than four hours of fierce fighting, the Central Military Commission column successfully withdrew to a safe place, and our covering troops were able to evacuate after the mission was successfully completed.
Perhaps because the goal was not achieved, the frustrated national army directly dispatched planes to carpet bomb our army.
Looking at the steel monster in the distance that seemed to come with thunder all over the sky, He Zizhen, who was living at the foot of a mountain with the cadre rest company, was very worried. For this sick company that had no power to fight back, he could only hope that the enemy would not be there. Discover them.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to avoid enemy reconnaissance with only sparse tree shadows. After locking in the hiding place of He Zizhen and others, the enemy planes galloped towards them like vultures that had found their prey.
After a round of shooting, the trees at the foot of the mountain fell in rows like dominoes, and dust and smoke filled every corner of the space.
After experiencing a brief loss of consciousness, He Zizhen looked forward subconsciously. The place where the wounded were originally placed had turned into bare loess under the enemy's bombing.
It was in this open space that a wounded man was struggling on a stretcher. In addition to He Zizhen, the enemy plane also seemed to have discovered him. It circled cunningly and turned around, preparing for a second bombing.
He Zizhen remembered the name of the wounded soldier. His name was Zhong Chibing. He was a very young soldier who had been bedridden after losing a leg in the last battle.
Seeing that the enemy plane was approaching in an instant, He Zizhen did not hesitate at all, did not weigh the gains and losses, and rushed towards Zhong Chibing with all her strength. At that moment, she put life and death aside.
The enemy plane spewed out terrifying flames from the pitch-black barrel of the gun. The high-speed moving bullets seemed to ignore the laws of time and space and fell on He Zizhen mercilessly. Dark red blood flowers bloomed in the air, singing a song. A sad song.
The enemy plane thought it was sure to win, and turned around arrogantly, leaving behind He Zizhen, who was covered in blood, and Zhong Chibing, who was safe and sound.
Fortunately, He Zizhen was not far from the headquarters health center and was sent for emergency treatment as soon as she was injured.
After examination by a doctor, He Zizhen had as many as 17 wounds from her head to her limbs, and many shrapnel were deeply embedded in her body.
Although the doctor promptly injected her with hemostatic injections and analgesics and removed most of the superficial shrapnel, due to the poor medical facilities, some of the shrapnel remained in the body and could not be removed.
After waking up, He Zizhen immediately asked about Zhong Chibing and was relieved to learn that he was unharmed.
Afterwards, she solemnly told the comrades around her to block the news of her injury and never let the chairman know about it. In addition, she was afraid that her injuries would affect the march of other comrades, so she voluntarily asked to stay at a fellow villager's home to recuperate, and then return to the army on her own after she recovered. Naturally, these two requirements of
were not allowed.
The news that He Zizhen was injured disappeared and quickly reached the chairman's ears. The chairman was so anxious after hearing the news that he rushed to the Xingyi Weishe Hao Zhichong where He Zizhen was staying overnight with a lantern in hand.
Staring at He Zizhen's pale face due to excessive blood loss, this proletarian mentor who was as strong as steel finally shed tears.
After the visit, the chairman went directly to the captain of the stretcher team and asked him to carry He Zizhen to the destination no matter what.
Run away and collapse
After the 25,000-mile Long March , He Zizhen followed the chairman to live in the relatively stable Yan'an base area, where she gave birth to her daughter "Li Min" (the chairman once used the pseudonym Li Desheng).
But the stable life and the birth of her daughter did not bring peace to He Zizhen, but made her more depressed and irritable.
On the one hand, after the injury, there were still a lot of shrapnel remaining in her body. Due to insufficient sanitary conditions, they could not be removed. She had to suffer from them all the time, and the pain made her physically miserable.
On the other hand, after arriving in Yan'an, the chairman's workload increased day by day, his schedule was full, and the time the couple spent together was also shortened, which made He Zizhen mentally anxious.
Under the double oppression of body and spirit, He Zizhen strode towards the cliff of collapse, only one step away from the abyss.
In 1937, He Zizhen, who could no longer endure this double torture, made a bold decision-she would leave the chairmanship and go to the Soviet Union for medical treatment.
Students who know history know that this time point can be said to be very sensitive. With the outbreak of the "July 7th" Incident, the all-out Anti-Japanese War began. The Japanese army mobilized nine divisions to attack Shanghai, and the Chinese army responded with nearly a hundred divisions. , more than a million soldiers repeatedly charged on this cramped battlefield. Shanghai seemed to have become Verdun during World War I, and countless lives were lost here.
It was at this tense moment that He Zizhen's decision to go to the Soviet Union for medical treatment seemed a bit angry and willful. In fact, He Zizhen later admitted in her memories that she was indeed somewhat angry at that time.
When the chairman learned of He Zizhen's decision, she had already arrived in Xi'an and was preparing to transfer to Shanghai to take a flight to the Soviet Union. The chairman quickly sent people to Xi'an and tried to persuade her to stay.
In the letter sent to He Zizhen, he wrote affectionately:
"I don't like to cry usually. I only shed tears in three situations. One is that I can't hear the cry of the poor. When I see them suffering, I I couldn't help crying; secondly, I couldn't bear to see my correspondents leave. Some correspondents died, and I was so sad that I shed tears; thirdly, in Guizhou, I heard that you were injured. I cried. I won't let you suffer as much as you did in the past."
Helpless, He Zizhen couldn't listen to a word of advice at this time, and her stubborn character drove her to go her own way and boarded the plane to the Soviet Union. , and the two lost contact.
As fate would have it, after arriving in the Soviet Union, He Zizhen found out that she was pregnant again during a physical examination. At the same time, after diagnosis by Soviet experts, she learned that the shrapnel buried in her body had been separated from her body due to too long a period of time. The flesh and blood grow together and are difficult to remove.
This news made He Zizhen almost collapse, because it meant that the trip to the Soviet Union became meaningless.
In 1938, He Zizhen gave birth to a son in Moscow, named "Liaova" according to the custom of Slavs. However, due to the lack of material conditions at the time and He Zizhen's lack of energy and poor care, Liao Wa died early not long after he was born.
After seeking medical treatment to no avail and losing her son, He Zizhen fell into the abyss of mental breakdown due to multiple factors. She suffered from serious mental illness and was once sent to a lunatic asylum in Moscow, where she was treated inhumanely.
Fortunately, the chairman heard about He Zizhen's situation in China, so he sent Li Min to Moscow for He Zizhen to take care of him, hoping to alleviate He Zizhen's depression.
The arrival of her daughter really rekindled the despairing He Zizhen's hope for life. At this time, brothers Mao Anying and Mao Anying were also studying in the Soviet Union and would often visit He Zizhen. In this process, He Zizhen's physical and mental wounds were repaired, and she gradually got rid of the shadow of the past.
So close but as far away as the ends of the earth
In August 1947, with the help of Wang Jiaxiang and his wife, He Zizhen ended her ten-year life in the Soviet Union and returned to the motherland with Li Min and Mao Anqing, returning to the land where they thought about it day and night.
The story returns to the beginning of the article.
During her tenure in Northeast China, He Zizhen not only met her old comrades from many years ago, but also reunited with her sister He Yi after being away for many years.
During the conversation with her sister, He Zizhen learned that during the years when she was in a foreign country, thanks to the chairman's constant care, her life with her mother was relatively smooth.
He Zizhen felt very heart-warmed by her sister's narration. Although she had learned that the chairman had a third wife as early as when she was in the Soviet Union, she did not expect that the chairman would still care so much about her family.
Seeing that her sister's expression was slightly relaxed, He Yi immediately persuaded her sister to get in touch with the chairman. After all, "a couple's kindness lasts a hundred days".
He Zizhen was moved.
She immediately wrote a long letter, firstly to thank the chairman for taking care of her sister and mother over the years, and secondly, to briefly talk about daily life in the Soviet Union.
In addition, after hearing that the chairman missed his daughter Li Min a lot, He Zizhen asked Li Min to write a short message in half-baked Chinese characters:
"Everyone says that you are the father who gave birth to me, and I am your biological daughter. But, I I have never met you in the Soviet Union, and I have no idea whether you are my biological father or not, and whether I am your biological daughter. Please write to me as soon as possible."
A few days after the letter was sent, the chairman took the photo. A telegram: "Jiaojiao is my daughter. I have received your letter. Study hard and be a good Chinese girl. Your father is very good.""
The telegram was not long, but it showed the chairman's concern for his daughter with only a few crosses. However, He Zizhen was a little disappointed because the chairman did not mention a word about her in the telegram.
After the national situation stabilized in 1949, Chairman Mao, who was eager to miss his daughter, sent People found He Zizhen, hoping to bring Li Min to live and study with him, and asked He Zizhen for advice on this matter.
He Zizhen did not object to this, because it is a natural thing for a father to reunite with his children. She should not object, and her daughter is not gone forever.
Before leaving, He Zizhen specially asked Li Min not to cause trouble around her father and to study hard.
So, with her mother's instructions, Li Min and her aunt. He Yi came to Zhongnanhai, Beijing. Taking this opportunity, He Yi expressed her sister's wish to the chairman.
In fact, why didn't the chairman want to meet He Zizhen? He replied to He Yi on the spot and asked her to bring He Zizhen to Beijing. Seeing this.
He Yi was overjoyed when he heard about it. She wished she could fly out of Shanhaiguan on the spot and pass the news to her sister.
Unfortunately, it backfired. Just when the matter was in progress, something happened because of He Zizhen's health problems. Due to some unavoidable factors, the car was forced to divert to Shanghai, and He Zizhen had to recuperate and settle down in Shanghai.
Although the opportunity to meet again was lost, the connection between the two was not severed.
Li Min would return to his mother every winter and summer vacation. Life, and the chairman would use this as an excuse to ask Li Min to bring some specialties and medicines from Beijing, and bring a few words of concern to He Zizhen.
Li Min later recalled that every year, his father looked forward to the holiday as much as he did. And send my thoughts to my mother through myself.
5. Meeting and farewell
Time flies, and more than ten years have passed.
In the summer of 1959, Zeng Zhi, the industrial secretary of the Guangzhou Municipal Party Committee, followed his husband Tao Zhu, the first secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, to attend the Lushan Conference. , she and He Zizhen were old acquaintances. When they heard that He was temporarily living in Nanchang, they came to visit
When old friends met, Zeng Zhi talked to He Zizhen about the Chairman many times, and He Zizhen's words always revealed his longing and admiration for the Chairman. .
After meeting He Zizhen, Zeng Zhi went to Lushan to meet the chairman and mentioned He Zizhen's matter to him.
The chairman asked about He Zizhen's situation with concern, and after thinking for a moment, he proposed:
"I want to meet her, after all, we have been married for ten years! We have not seen each other since she left in anger, 22 years! Go talk to Wang Dongxing and see if you can arrange a meeting with her. "After the chairman
gave the order, everything went smoothly. That night, the couple, who had been separated for 22 years, met again at the chairman's residence.
The green hills remain the same, but the people are gone.
Looking at each other as they aged, the two of them felt like they had something stuck in their throats, and they shed tears before they wanted to speak.
After a long silence, the chairman said with a hoarse throat: "We met, but you didn't speak and kept crying. If we can't see each other again, you want to say it again."
After hearing this, He Zizhen became even more emotional and burst into tears. It flowed down.
Chairman was not in a hurry. After He Zizhen's mood stabilized, he asked He Zizhen why he insisted on leaving at that time.
He Zizhen sighed: "It's all my fault, I was too ignorant at that time."
The past was irretrievable. The two of them no longer struggled with their original choices, so they changed the subject and chatted about their lives in recent years.
The conversation lasted for more than an hour. At the end, the chairman agreed to talk again the next time he had the opportunity, and then asked the secretary to send He Zizhen back to his residence.
He Zizhen turned and left, and took a deep look at the chairman before leaving. Little did he know that this was the last time the two of them saw each other. From then on, until the chairman's death, the two never met again.
In September 1976, when the chairman was dying, Li Min visited him at his bedside.
At the end of the conversation between father and daughter, the chairman was a little tired, so he kept drawing circles with his fingers. Li Min guessed that his father might be missing his mother, because He Zizhen's nickname was " Longan " .
Although He Zizhen was not able to accompany Chairman Mao on his last journey of life, after coordination with many parties, on September 18, 1979, He Zizhen finally came to the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall that she had longed for, and met the person who was supposed to hold hands with him throughout his life.
It's a pity that this time, the two of them are separated forever...
I want to go back and tell the story from the beginning. Time has gone and life will never come again.
