Author: Wu Zhi Dongxu
One day in early October 1950, a verdict was underway in Shipi Street Town, Pucheng County, Fujian Province. Chen Jinting, a soldier of the 273rd Regiment of the 91st Division of the 31st Army, was tried.
The judge was Ding Zhao, director of the Political Department of the 91st Division.
Ding Zhao was very sad at this moment. He wanted to cut " Ma Su " like the Zhuge Liang in the Three Kingdoms period.
Chen Jinting shot and killed a local young man and was sentenced to death. Just as he was preparing to execute the sentence, the mother of the young man who was killed stood up and said: There is something else in this matter.
Under what circumstances does Chen Jinting kill someone and what is the hidden truth behind it?
This starts with Fujian's bandit suppression.
In July 1949, after participating in the Crossing the River Battle and Shanghai Battle , the 10th Corps executed the order to continue moving south and completed the mission of liberating Fujian.
10 Corps is invincible and soon eliminated the main force of Jiangjun .
However, the remnants fled to the mountainous areas of northern Fujian and stubbornly resisted. They colluded with local bandits and killed cadres and farmers who supported our party, and were very arrogant. Some even burned, killed, looted and committed all kinds of evil under the banner of our army, causing panic.
Against this background, the 272 and 273rd Regiments of the 91st Division of the 31st Army of the 10th Corps were ordered to stay and suppress the bandits to eliminate the remaining armed forces in northern Fujian.
31 Army comes from the 13th Column of Huaye, and the 91st Division comes from the 37th Division of the 13th Column. The 37th Division is formed on Jiaodong Peninsula. Most of the officers and soldiers of the 91st Division are Shandong Dahan.
When they performed their tasks in northern Fujian, they had many inconveniences. In addition to being unacceptable to the local environment, they also had language barriers.
Shandong dialect belongs to the Northern dialect, and Fujian dialect is very special, both different from Jiangsu and Zhejiang dialects and , and different from Cantonese.
For example, they say the pot is "die", the night is "dark", and the morning is "day before"; it is completely different from Shandong dialect, and there is almost nothing in common.
Therefore, Shandong soldiers cannot understand the locals' words, and locals cannot understand the words of these Shandong people.
This way, misunderstandings are prone to occur.
If it is normal, it doesn’t matter if there is a misunderstanding. Just explain more and communicate more.
However, once we meet on the battlefield, the situation is urgent and there is no time to react, it will be bad. In addition, the remnants of Chiang army and bandits were wearing peasant clothes and not writing on their faces, which caused great trouble to our army when performing their missions, and it was easy to misjudgment due to language barriers.
Episode 0 That morning, regiment commander Zhao Yanrang was having dinner at the station. The phone rang. He picked up the receiver and the urgent voice of Comrade Ye of Pucheng County Party Committee came from inside: "Captain Zhao, it's not good! There is a bandit here, and he is doing bad things."
Zhao Yanrang put down his chopsticks and hurriedly notified the company commander of the 8th Company to lead the troops to suppress the bandits.
8 has been through the battlefield for a long time, and the bandits formed by the defeated generals are no match for them at all.
After the bandits were hit head-on, they immediately lost and fled to Shipijie Town, Pucheng County.
Want to leave? It was not that easy. The 8th Company soldiers chased each other and quickly broke up the remaining bandits. Some fled into the mountains, while others hid in corners of the town.
In order to completely eliminate them, the company commander ordered a search in Shipijie Town.
Deputy Squad Leader Chen Jinting also received a task and led the soldiers to search the streets and alleys without missing a suspicious target.
When they came to the north end of Shenming Village, the situation happened.
They saw a young man running into a farmhouse in a panic, holding a big shining machete in his hand.
Seeing this, Chen Jinting immediately led the soldiers to surround him and rushed into the yard.
They pointed their guns at the young man and shouted to each other: "Put down the knife, raise your hand!"
But after hearing this, the young man did not put down the knife, but was full of hostility and glared at Chen Jinting and the others.
Because he didn't understand a word of Chen Jinting's words, he not only did not put down the knife, but instead held it tighter.
Seeing that the other party had no kindness and confronted them, Chen Jinting shouted again and asked the other party to put down his big knife.
When this came, the young man was angry. He took the machete and walked towards Chen Jinting and the others step by step.
Chen Jinting was nervous at the time. When he saw the other party rushing over, he was about to come to the front of him. He didn't have time to think too much, so he pulled the bolt and warned the other party, "Go forward, I'll shoot!"
The man ignored it and continued to move forward. Chen Jinting decisively pulled the trigger.
A "bang" sounded, and the young man was hit by a bullet and fell to the ground, and died on the spot.
Seeing that the other party was dead, Chen Jinting breathed a sigh of relief and sneered, "Let you resist stubbornly!"
At this time, an old lady walked out of the farmhouse, probably only came out when she heard the gunshot.
Seeing the young man lying on the ground, the old lady's face changed drastically. She lay on the young man and started crying heart-wrenchingly.
The old lady cried and shouted, keeping talking.
Although I can’t understand what the other party is expressing, it can be seen from the old lady’s expression that the deceased is her relative.
Seeing this, Chen Jinting's head suddenly became big, and a terrible thought surged into his mind: Is this person not a bandit?
Chen Jinting’s worries are not wrong. It turns out that this young man is not a bandit, he is at his own home.
The old lady who was in pain was the young man's mother, named Zheng Tongmei.
The young man was named Cai Jinsheng, who was born in a poor family and was an honest and honest farmer and had no contact with bandits.
Not only that, the young man is also a second generation of reds, and his father is an Red Army soldier.
Cai Jinsheng's father's name is Cai Toudi. In 1930, he went to Chong'an to join the Red Army team led by Deng Zihui . There was no news for so many years.
After her husband left, Zheng Tongmei used her weak shoulders to provoke the importance of life and pulled Cai Jinsheng, the only seer in the family, with great difficulty.
Because he is the only child, Zheng Tongmei feels sorry for her son very much, fearing that he will not grow up if there is any disaster.
For this reason, Zheng Tongmei racked her brains to give her son a nickname "Jin Shengnu".
This is similar to the nickname "Iron Dan" and " Shilang " given to his son by northerners, which means it is very strong and can withstand any wind and rain.
Unexpectedly, the young man in his early 20s died in a blink of an eye, which made the old lady heartbroken.
Cai Jinsheng asked his comrades to tie him up, and returned to the company to tell the company commander, "I'm in trouble!" The company commander of the
8 company was both surprised and helpless when he heard this. After learning the details, he decided to report the matter to his superiors.
Company Commander understands what this means to Chen Jinting, but the fire cannot be contained in the paper, and human life cannot be suppressed at all.
Division Commander Gurry After receiving the report, he attached great importance to it and immediately presided over a meeting with Political Commissar Zhang Yingbo to study this matter.
At the meeting, everyone was in a heavy mood and was silent for a long time, and no one spoke.
Chen Jinting is just a deputy squad leader. Everyone is not familiar with him, but he is a backbone and must have a high awareness.
Besides, Chen Jinting was just a first-timer and did not know the deceased before, so the two had no grudges.
It is certain that this is a man-kill.
If Chen Jinting is severely punished for this, it is obviously unfair, and everyone can't bear it.
However, the situation facing our army in the local area was very complicated at that time. Chiang Kai-shek often pretended to be guerrillas and deliberately destroyed our army's image.
Moreover, our army lacks a mass base here, and some people do not understand our army. In addition, they have a deep misunderstanding of our army.
If not dealt with seriously, it is likely to be used by the enemy, and military-civilian relations will deteriorate and unpredictable consequences will occur.
In the end, the meeting made a difficult decision to kill Chen Jinting to strictly enforce discipline and maintain the image of our army. The head of the division believes that before the execution, Chen Jinting should be informed of this decision.
After discussion, this difficult task was handed over to Ding Zhao, director of the Political Department.
received the order, and Ding Zhao immediately went to Shipi Town to talk to Chen Jinting.
Chen Jinting was detained in a small house at this time, with an area of only 5 square meters and only one small window in the whole house, and the light was very dark.
Ding Zhao walked into the room with heavy steps. He hesitated for a while and said, "Chen Jinting, I am Ding Zhao, the director of the Political Department. I came here today. Do you know what I am here for?"
Chen Jinting said very calmly: "Director Ding, I know; from the day when the accident happened, I have been mentally prepared. Killing is natural and I am no exception."
I thought Chen Jinting would defend his behavior, but I didn't expect that this young soldier understood the truth so much, and Ding Zhao praised it very much.
Ding Zhao was very moved. He held back his tears and asked, "Xiao Chen, what else do you have to explain?"
Chen Jinting said, "Chief, can you say that I died on the battlefield when I notified my parents?"
Ding Zhao nodded vigorously and expressed his agreement.
Just as Ding Zhao comforted the other party and was about to turn around and go out, Chen Jinting spoke again: "Chief, I have something else."
Ding Zhao turned around and looked at the other party.
"Chief, I haven't paid the party dues this month yet." After Chen Jinting said that, he took out one yuan from his pocket and handed it to Ding Zhao.
What a good comrade, tears blurred Ding Zhao's vision.
On the fourth day after the incident, the verdict was held in the big ping in front of Guandi Temple in Shenming Village. There were tens of thousands of people in the town. The villagers came to watch in groups with the elderly and the young.
Chen Jinting's comrades prepared elegiac couplets and wreaths, and planned to hold a memorial service for him after the execution. The soldiers also went to the local coffin shop and customized the best coffins and tombstones for Chen Jinting, with all the words on them engraved.
At around 10 a.m., in the eyes of everyone, Ding Zhao took heavy steps and began to read the verdict in a painful tone.
Ding Zhao
"Chen Jinting is 20 years old and was born in 1930 in a poor peasant family of Weihai . He has a deep hatred and volunteered to join the Eighth Route Army at the age of 15."
"Chen Jinting is determined and fought on the battlefield without hesitation. He was injured three times and made many military achievements in the battle. He is currently the deputy squad leader."
"This time, he suppressed bandits, because of language barriers, and he regretted that the crime was unforgivable and was willing to pay his life. He took out his only yuan and paid the last party due to his last party fee..."
During Ding Zhao's verdict, the venue was silent. After reading
, Ding Zhao waved his hand and several fully armed soldiers came forward and escorted Chen Jinting, who was tied up, walked off the rostrum.
"Stop!" Someone in the crowd under the rostrum suddenly broke the silence and shouted loudly.
People looked for the sound and saw an old lady walking onto the rostrum tremblingly and saying to Ding Zhao: "Sir, you can't kill this soldier!"
Everyone saw that this person was Cai Jinsheng's mother Zheng Tongmei.
"Old man, why?" Ding Zhao said.
The old man said, "My baby is sick. When he was sick, he wanted to kill me with a knife. The People's Liberation Army fired a gun. If you don't believe me, you can ask Doctor Ye."
Before the old lady finished speaking, an old man in the crowd said loudly, "I can testify that Cai Jinsheng's baby is indeed sick, it is Yangjiao Feng."
The old man who spoke was named Ye Tonglin, who is a famous local Chinese doctor, and that is, Doctor Ye as God said.
This sudden situation made Ding Zhao confused.
During the investigation, no one said that Cai Jinsheng was sick, let alone that he killed someone with a knife. Why did this happen suddenly now?
Ding Zhao hurriedly invited the old man to the backstage, asked carefully, asked twice, and found out the truth.
The result was unexpected. It turned out that the old lady learned that the troops were going to shoot Chen Jinting, so she went overnight to beg Ye Tonglin to testify.
Ding Zhao was very moved to learn of the truth, but he wanted to be realistic and execute a shooting execution against Chen Jinting according to the original decision.
When the old lady heard this, she became anxious and said loudly to Ding Zhao, "Chief, the soldier killed my son by mistake. He can't let him pay his life anymore, otherwise I will be uneasy!"
As she said, the old lady actually knelt on the ground with a "thump" and hugged Ding Zhao's leg and begged, "Leave the soldier's life, let him fight the bandits, and make meritorious service!"
At this time, Doctor Ye also said After speaking, he turned around and said loudly to the masses, "Friends, the People's Liberation Army was the Red Army of that year, and it was to build a country for our people."
"This kid came to Fujian from thousands of miles to fight bandits and let us live a good life. We can't let him die like this, everyone said?"
Doctor Ye is kind-hearted, saves the world, and often takes medicine for the poor for free. Therefore, he is highly respected and has great appeal among the villagers.
The words of the two old men resonated with the villagers, and everyone's emotions were also infected, and shouts of "remaining people under the knife" and "destroying their merits and making them guilty" were heard one after another.
Seeing this scene, Ding Zhao's eyes were wet again. He was moved by the simple feelings of the villagers, and even more by the mother in front of him who lost her beloved son but understood righteousness.
He helped the old man up with both hands and saluted her: "Auntie, I thank you on behalf of the soldiers!"
Then he said to everyone: "Friends, thank you for your trust and love for the People's Liberation Army. Now I announce that will suspend the execution of shooting."
slowed down and said: "I will report everyone's wishes to my superiors and then make a decision."
After receiving the information fed back from Ding Zhao, the superiors studied and decided to allow him to return to the army to commit crimes and make meritorious service. After
, Zhao Yanrang, the leader of the 273rd Regiment, and Ma Erdong, political commissar, came to the town to contact the local area, provide preferential treatment and condolences for Zheng Tongmei's family, and divide the land for the elderly.
The two leaders said sincerely to Zheng Tongmei: "We are all your sons. If you have any difficulties, just say it."
Chen Jinting also said that he wanted to be a son for the old man, but Zheng Tongmei refused.
Everyone knows that the old man is worried about being moved by the scene, so he refuses.
Chen Jinting could only put his monthly allowance in an envelope and mail it to the old man.
Later, Zheng Tongmei adopted another son, and the mother and son depended on each other for their own sake.
After the liberation, when local cadres came to count the families of the sacrificed and missing Red Army, Zheng Tongmei, who lived in poverty, did not register.
The old man said that the country has many things, and I cannot add any burden to the country.
Even in difficult times, Zheng Tongmei did not ask for it.
In 1970, 71-year-old Zheng Tongmei passed away. Before her death, she told her adopted son that she could not use the matter of that year as an excuse to ask for compensation.
More good old people would rather endure hardship than cause trouble to the country.
In fact, in the war era, there were more than one such good mother.
For example, " Yimeng Hongsao " who used his own milk to rescue the wounded; Taihang mother Deng Yufen who sent 6 sons to the battlefield; Pingshan mother Rong Guanxiu who brought hundreds of wounded people to the rescue...
It is precisely because of the support of the people that the people's army can defeat all enemies, establish a new China, and always be invincible!
[Deeply cultivate the history of war, promote positive energy, welcome to submit articles, private messages will be replied]
