On May 25, 1981, Du Yuming's former residence in Beijing. In the room, Du Yuming's widow Cao Xiuqing sat on the chair with an expressionless face, staring blankly at the gate.

May 25, 1981, Du Yuming's former residence in Beijing.

In the room, Du Yuming 's widow Cao Xiuqing sat on the chair expressionlessly, staring blankly at the gate.

At this time, 18 days have passed since Du Yuming's death. And Cao Xiuqing had been waiting for 18 days. The decision of the Party Central Committee to hold a memorial service for Du Yuming and to bury his body in Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery was conveyed to Cao Xiuqing more than ten days ago.

But she asked the staff again and again to cry, asking them to wait a little longer, wait a little longer...

In desperation, the staff had to put Du Yuming's body into the refrigerator of Beijing Hospital , waiting for news that Cao Xiuqing agreed to hold a memorial service.

Finally, today, Cao Xiuqing was completely desperate. She knew that she could never wait for the news she wanted. She agreed to hold a memorial service for Du Yuming and bury him.

At the funeral, Cao Xiuqing looked at her husband's body and said in tears: "I'm sorry for you..."

What was Cao Xiuqing waiting for in the past half month?

The unexpected "first batch of amnesty"

In December 1959, the venue of the first amnesty of war criminals of the People's Republic of China.

Du Yuming sat silently in the corner of the venue, quietly waiting for the judge to read the amnesty notice.

In fact, Du Yuming did not have hope for his pardon. After all, he was the top "master" on the list of war criminals. When he first came to the war criminal management office, he was not upright. No matter how he thought about it, it was not his turn to do the first batch of pardons.

"Du Yuming!"

Surprisingly, he was the first name on the list of amnesty that the judge read.

After being shocked, tears of excitement suddenly appeared in the corners of Du Yuming's eyes.

He walked up to the rostrum with a trembling trembling, took the notice of pardon respectfully from the judge, and then bowed deeply to the judge solemnly.

In fact, the reason why Du Yuming was able to become the first batch of amnesty personnel from "first-class war criminals" was entirely due to his active ideological transformation.

When I first came to the management office, Du Yuming, who was arrogant and arrogant, thought that the Communist Party’s victory was just a lucky draw, and was very resistant to the transformations made by our party on them.

and even, Du Yuming sometimes shouts: "If you have the ability, let's try another battle!"

is no wonder. After all, Du Yuming, who has countless military achievements, is an outstanding figure in the Kuomintang. He is still a leader among the star-studded graduates of the Whampoa Military Academy. How could he be willing to bow his head and admit defeat to the People's Liberation Army, which is mostly " mud-legged "?

Because he is the Kuomintang general with the highest military rank in the War Criminal Management Office, and he is very disdainful of the Communist Party's transformation, Du Yuming often acts like a "supervisor" in his daily life.

When he was having a meeting and studied, he would always follow his past habits, say a few irrelevant words like a leader, and then let others speak.

When it is his turn to speak, Du Yuming often talks in lengthy comments, which also contains "private goods" of dissatisfaction with the Communist Party.

For such a stubborn "hard bone", the discipline chooses to influence him with sincerity and care.

At first, in Du Yuming's view, the Communist Party's "preferential treatment of prisoners" was nothing more than a policy of gentleness and "tempting rebellion."

Therefore, his concern for the discipline staff is also very resistant.

, as he continued to contact, he gradually realized that the staff of the management office cared for him from the bottom of his heart.

As a captive to the Kuomintang, Du Yuming not only did not suffer insults and abuses, but instead enjoyed high treatment.

Du Yuming's old illness relapsed, so the government sent a car to the hospital for careful treatment.

and even, in order to treat Du Yuming's illness, the central government also specially sent people to Hong Kong to spend a lot of money to buy scarce drugs.

In addition, during Du Yuming's recovery, the management office also prepared "patient rice" for him, so that he could often eat high-protein foods such as braised fish and eggs, and could drink a glass of milk every day.

After several years of long-term treatment, Du Yuming's disease has basically cured over the years.

Later, Du Yuming said excitedly in the group speech: "It was the party who cured my heart and physical illness!"

From then on, Du Yuming changed his previous negative attitude and actively accepted the ideological transformation of the management office. Therefore, it has also become one of the first amnesty personnel.

The famous general

who was defeated by Su Yu has been pardoned, in Du Yuming's heart, the failure of the Huaihai battlefield is an eternal knot. He has reviewed countless times, trying to find the root cause of his failure.

During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Du Yuming first led the Fifth Army, one of the five major forces of the Kuomintang, to fight fiercely with the Japanese "steel army" Nakamura brigade in Guangxi, killing the enemy brigade commander Nakamura Masao , and achieving " Kunlun Pass Victory ".

Then he served as deputy commander-in-chief of the First Route of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, working with the British and American troops to severely damage the Japanese army, and made great contributions to the victory of the War of Resistance.

"Everythy-winning General" Du Yuming did not expect at the time that he would lose a big defeat on the Huaihai battlefield in the War of Liberation.

1948 On November 10, 1948, Du Yuming airborne Xuzhou to command the battle.

At that time, hundreds of thousands of Kuomintang troops on the Huaihai battlefield were beaten to pieces by the People's Liberation Army under the command of "Long-legged General" Liu Zhi .

And Du Yuming's primary task to "put out the fire" this time is to save the crisis and wait for an opportunity to rescue the besieged Kuomintang army.

In fact, if Du Yuming can deploy combat according to his own wishes, he is likely to turn the situation around, let Huaihai Battle delay for a longer time, or even escape unscathed.

But unfortunately, Du Yuming was only a deputy, and was controlled by Liu Zhi, the commander of the Xuzhou "Suppression Chief".

In addition, "Micro-Job Master" Chiang Kai-shek also often point fingers at Du Yuming's combat plan, which often prevents the Kuomintang army from unifying its front and back actions.

When Huang Wei's Corps was surrounded and Du Yuming had to lead his troops to retreat from Xuzhou in December, he also showed his true nature as a "general good at planning" and laid many mazes for the People's Liberation Army along the way.

, and Du Yuming was also very confident about his own strategy: "It is probably possible to retreat safely."

Unfortunately, he was too optimistic. All the strategies he set out were discovered by Su Yu.

Du Yuming led his troops to rush left and right, trying to break out of a way to break out.

No matter how they escaped, they could not escape from the siege of East China Field Army . Du Yuming, the "fire-fighting captain" who had rescued tens of thousands of elite Kuomintang troops in the Northeast, but this time he trapped himself in the fire pit.

After fleeing to Chenguanzhuang, Du Yuming's troops were once again surrounded and annihilated by the People's Liberation Army.

At this time, Du Yuming, who was already desperate about the battle situation, remembered that he was on the list of war criminals announced by the Communist Party. So, in order to hide his identity, he changed into the military uniform of the platoon leader and prepared to break through in the chaos.

Unfortunately, he failed to break out and was captured by the People's Liberation Army.

Ten years of separation, couples reunion

Just as Du Yuming was captured on the Huaihai battlefield, his wife Cao Xiuqing was also deceived and threatened by Chiang Kai-shek.

In early 1949, shortly after Du Yuming "lost contact" on the Huaihai battlefield, Cao Xiuqing, who was eager and anxious, came to Nanjing from Shanghai, hoping to meet Chiang Kai-shek and get some news about Du Yuming.

Originally, Cao Xiuqing thought that even if Chiang Kai-shek did not tell her about Du Yuming's news, he would at least comfort her a few words.

But unexpectedly, Cao Xiuqing was stopped by the guards on the grounds that "the president is having a meeting." From Shanghai to Nanjing, he rushed to Shanghai without even seeing Chiang Kai-shek.

0 million kinds of sadness and anger suddenly surged into Cao Xiuqing's heart. In anger, he broke into the presidential palace and shouted repeatedly: "President, please answer!"

Helplessly, Chiang Kai-shek could only send someone downstairs and persuade Cao Xiuqing to go home and wait for news for the time being, and not to "like a shrew cursing" to damage the image of the government and Du Yuming.

By May, the situation of Shanghai's liberation had become inevitable.

In order to prevent Du Yuming from "bending" in the management office, Chiang Kai-shek wanted to use his family to threaten Du Yuming. He deceived Cao Xiuqing and said that Du Yuming had died in the Huaihai battlefield and asked Cao Xiuqing and other Du Yuming's family to fly to Taipei quickly by plane.

In order to make Cao Xiuqing go to Taiwan with peace of mind, Chiang Kai-shek also promised her that the Kuomintang government would guarantee Cao Xiuqing's family's living expenses and the tuition for the children's schooling.

After Cao Xiuqing and his family came to Taiwan, they found that Chiang Kai-shek had just written a blank check for her.

In Taiwan, Cao Xiuqing and his children do not have their own house, nor can they make a living. The family can only rent a small apartment and rely on the meager subsidies issued by the Kuomintang to make a living.

Du Yuming and Cao Xiuqing gave birth to a total of six children. The eldest daughter Du Zhili went to the United States to study in 1947, and became a US citizen, and married physicist Yang Zhenning as his wife.

The eldest son Du Zhiren was admitted to Harvard University in Taiwan in 1953.

Although Du Zhiren was talented and was admitted to a prestigious school, the high cost of studying in the United States really made Cao Xiuqing and his family stretched.

Although Du Zhiren has done multiple part-time jobs in his spare time, he still cannot maintain his daily expenses.

html I was helpless, so Du Zhiren had to write a letter from the United States to his mother Cao Xiuqing, who was in Taipei, hoping that she could find a way to send some money to herself.

Looking at the letter of help from his son sent from the other side of the ocean, Cao Xiuqing was so sad that shed tears.

The son urgently needs money to help him, but where did he get the money?

After thinking about it, Cao Xiuqing decided to ask the Kuomintang for help again.

Even though she could have expected that she would be rejected countless times, she still had to try it for her son.

After that, Cao Xiuqing visited Soung Mei-ling , Zhang Qun and other political leaders in the Taiwan authorities, and cried to them about their tragic experiences over the years and the difficulties faced by his son in the United States.

But even if Cao Xiuqing said it out loud, he was still blocked by Zhang Qun's words - "Du Yuming lost his troops and lost his generals, and lost his country" .

In desperation, Cao Xiuqing could only write a letter to Chiang Kai-shek to apply for a loan, expressing his hope of borrowing $3,000, and promised that his son Du Zhiren would pay it back year by year after graduation.

Even though Cao Xiuqing said that she was here to borrow money, not asking for money, Chiang Kai-shek still did not agree to her request, but only approved the loan of $1,000, but it would have to be paid in two years.

Du Zhiren was completely disappointed after receiving the $500 sent by his mother in the United States.

At noon the next day, I committed suicide by taking a lot of sleeping pills in my sister Du Zhili's bedroom.

After losing his beloved son, Cao Xiuqing was extremely sad and cried loudly, and from then on he hated Chiang Kai-shek who had left the mill and killed the donkey.

In 1957, Du Zhili's husband Yang Zhenning won the Nobel Prize . Cao Xiuqing's family, who had been treated coldly for many years, finally welcomed a distinguished guest - Soong Mei-ling.

It turned out that in order to attract talents, Chiang Kai-shek had the idea of ​​Yang Zhenning.

And the purpose of Soong Mei-ling's trip was to hope that Cao Xiuqing could persuade Yang Zhenning to come to Taiwan.

Cao Xiuqing, who had hated Chiang Kai-shek for a long time, appeared to agree to Soong Mei-ling's request and asked himself to go to the United States to persuade him.

As soon as Cao Xiuqing arrived in the United States, he heard his daughter say that Du Yuming in the mainland was still alive. Later, with the help of his daughter and son-in-law, Cao Xiuqing returned to China.

At this point, Du Yuming and Cao Xiuqing, the couple who had been separated for ten years, finally reunited.

"filial son" who does not allow others to be filial to

After Cao Xiuqing came to Beijing, he chose to settle down with Du Yuming.

After listening to Cao Xiuqing telling about his experiences over the years, Du Yuming, who had already completed the transformation and was devoted to the people, hated Chiang Kai-shek, who was indifferent to the love and righteousness.

In a letter to son-in-law Yang Zhenning, Du Yuming also specifically emphasized: "This is a blessing for the nation, but you must pay attention to politics."

The Kuomintang authorities held even more grudges for Du Yuming's "suburbing the enemy and betraying". They slandered Du Yuming in Taiwan media and removed all honors and positions. But this does not prevent Du Yuming from making unremitting efforts and outstanding contributions in cross-strait reunification.

After the 1960s, he published articles in newspapers many times, calling on his old classmates in Taiwan to promote unification for the sake of the great cause of the nation.

His behavior has also been highly praised by the people.

On May 7, 1981, Du Yuming died in Beijing, ending his legendary and tortuous life.

Because Cao Xiuqing went to the United States alone, Du Yuming's other children remained in Taiwan.

After Du Yuming's death, Cao Xiuqing immediately wrote a letter to the leader of the Taiwan authorities Chiang Ching-kuo , hoping that he could let Du Yuming's other children come to Beijing to attend Du Yuming's funeral.

In order to wait for the reply from Taiwan, Cao Xiuqing even postponed Du Yuming's funeral for half a month.

Unfortunately, Chiang Ching-kuo did not agree to Cao Xiuqing's request in the end, but just agreed to let Du Yuming's children set up a private mourning hall in Taipei.

After receiving the reply, Cao Xiuqing cried bitterly: "Mr. Jiang is a great filial son, but he does not allow others to be filial!"

When Du Yuming was buried, the distraught Cao Xiuqing felt sad that his children could not send her husband to the last journey, and muttered: I'm sorry for you...

Conclusion

As a legendary general of the Kuomintang, Du Yuming had both national achievements such as the "Kunlun Pass" and the embarrassing battle of the Huaihai.

But he can return to the people and make his own unremitting efforts for the unification of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. Looking at his life, he is still a legendary figure of the Chinese nation.