Preface
On March 1951, Deng Xiaoping, then the first secretary of the Southwest Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, was processing documents in his office. Suddenly, the staff sent a list of "arrested Kuomintang members", and Deng Xiaoping picked it up and checked it carefully.
When he saw the name " Li Du ", he suddenly frowned. He hurriedly asked the staff: "Is this Li Du the Li Du the General of the National Army?" After
received a positive answer, Deng Xiaoping quickly found the Intelligence Director Yu Bingran , asking him to release Li Du immediately, and specifically apologize to Li Du solemnly.
Deng Xiaoping, who worked in the southwest,
Li Du was a senior general around Cheng Kai-shek . It was normal for us to be arrested by our army after liberation. Why did Deng Xiaoping not only release him, but also entrust a special person to apologize to him? This action aroused the curiosity of everyone.
is full of faith in serving the country and becomes famous in Harbin
. All of this starts with Li Du’s personal experience.
In August 1880, Li Du was born in a farmer's family in Yi County, Liaoning Province. At this time, China was still under the rule of the Qing Dynasty. The people lived in dire straits, but the people were powerless to do anything about such a life.
Like most farmers, their family barely lives on the few acres of land they rented. After Li Du was born, his parents were not happy because it was already very difficult to support a whole family, not to mention that there is another child now.
When Li Du grew up a little, he showed extraordinary cleverness. His parents thought that this child was a talent, so they saved money and sent him to a private school to study. When he was studying in school, Li Du did not disappoint his parents' expectations and ranked among the top in every exam.
The poor people
After studying in a private school for a few years, the family encountered a huge change. Li Du was forced to drop out of school and follow his relatives to learn skills. During this period, he saw with his own eyes how the Qing soldiers plundered the people's wealth and ointment, and had the idea of overthrowing this old society.
After this idea was made, Li Du decided to join the army. He wanted to gain military power by himself and lead troops to protect the people. After visiting various nearby troops, he finally chose a well-known unit. Because Li Du was flexible and had previously received education, Li Du directly served as the Si Shu of the army.
Since joining the army, Li Du participated in the suppression of bandits in his hometown, took classes in the Northeast Military Academy, and later served as company commander and battalion commander of Fengjun .
1911, the revolution of 1911 led by Sun Yat-sen broke out, and the feudal imperial system that had been over two years ended. After hearing this news, Li Du was even more excited. He actively responded to the call of the Revolutionary Army and cut off the braids on his head. At the same time, he also led his soldiers to fight against the diehards below and protect those who were kind-hearted and ambitious who devoted themselves to the revolution.
11 Revolution (oil painting)
1918, Li Du joined the Feng army under the command of Zhang Zuolin and served as the captain of the Fourth Transport Brigade of the General Command. Since then, he has been serving in the Fengtian Army. Because of his outstanding military capabilities and his courage to fight, he soon stood out among many officers, from company commander to division commander, to commander-in-chief of the Northeast Self-Defense Force, his growth rate was also very fast.
1931, the Japanese army launched a large-scale attack on Northeast China. Due to Chiang Kai-shek's policy of "non-resistance", in more than three months, major cities such as Shenyang, Changchun, Jilin, and Qiqihar fell one after another, and tens of millions of people in Northeast China became slaves of the country.
In a time of national and national crisis, Li Du, the commander of the 24th Brigade, stepped forward and shouldered the important task of defending Harbin.
In order to show his determination to fight against Japan, Li Du personally called the Peking National Rescue Council:
"Only killing the enemy Li Du to shine our Chinese nation, and never surrendering the enemy Li Du to defile our Chinese war history!
Li Du and many patriotic generals formed the Jilin Self-Defense Force to resist the invasion of Japanese imperialism.In order to defeat the Japanese army as much as possible, Li Du also cooperated with Wang Delin's National Salvation Army, absorbed a large number of patriotic young people to join the army, gradually expanded the anti-Japanese team and developed to the scale of seven brigades, with a population of more than 50,000.
Japanese army launched a large-scale attack on the Northeast
In January 1932, under the cover of aircraft and Tucker, the commander-in-chief of the puppet Jilin "Suppressing Bandits" Yu Chencheng 5 led five brigades of the puppet army to approach Harbin. At this critical moment, General Li Du and his officers and soldiers endured the severe cold of minus 30 degrees Celsius and took the lead in taking charge of the defense of Harbin outside.
On the morning of November 27, the Japanese army launched a fierce attack. Faced with the Japanese army that invaded China's territory, Li Du on the battlefield personally carried a knife and a gun to fight. Together with the soldiers, he broke up the Japanese army. After two days of bloody battles, he finally successfully repelled the Japanese army.
Harbin won the initial battle, which boosted the morale of the army and the people. General Li Du led his troops into Harbin and was welcomed by people from all walks of life.
Li Du became famous all over the world since then. The Chinese people regarded him as a national savior, and Kanto Army regarded him as a thorn in the flesh, and wanted to get rid of it quickly. The angry enemy army sent a plane to Harbin urban area to scatter leaflets, attempting to threaten and force Li Du to withdraw from Harbin urban area. With the concerted efforts of the Harbin military and civilians, the Japanese's wishful thinking failed.
The Japanese army was unwilling to accept their failure and once again mobilized heavy troops to launch a large-scale attack on Harbin. The second Harbin defense battle officially began. Facing the enemy's army's obscurity, Li Du was not afraid at all. Under his command, all the soldiers severely injured the Japanese Amano brigade in just four days.
The Japanese army launched a large-scale attack on Harbin
The Japanese army saw that the situation was wrong in front of them. In addition to letting people support them, they also specially transferred 20 bombers to bomb. In response, Li Du had to lead his troops to retreat to Pennsylvania , readjust his status, and try to fight to the death with the Japanese army.
Later, the Japanese army carried out many "encirclement and suppression" of the troops led by Li Du, hoping to defeat the Chinese people's belief in the War of Resistance. Faced with the enemy's attack, Li Du never gave up on resistance. He repeatedly called on the Chinese people in his speeches: "I would rather kill the enemy and die than live in silence."
Under the influence of General Li Du, people from all over the Northeast spontaneously formed various anti-Japanese organizations and vowed to fight the Japanese army to the end, which severely hit the Japanese army's arrogance.
Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Forces soldiers
and plum and bamboo complained, refusing to be enemies with the Communist Party
While leading the vast number of military and civilians to fight against Japan, Li Du also came into contact with Communist Party members. In this process, he was impressed by the spirit of the Communists, admired these revolutionaries who sincerely served the people from the bottom of his heart, and hoped to unite the strength of the Communist Party to resist the invasion of Japanese imperialism.
1936, as the Japanese invasion became faster and faster. Li Du not only contacted Zhang Xueliang's old subordinates, but also always solicited strategies for the War of Resistance with the Communist Party. It can be said that he devoted all his efforts to the anti-Japanese cause in the Northeast.
On April 9 of the same year, under the promotion of Li Du, Zhang Xueliang and Zhou Enlai met at Yan'an and reached a joint anti-Japanese agreement.
In December 1936, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, patriotic general of the Northwest Army, launched a "military remonstrance" and imprisoned Chiang Kai-shek. This is the " Xi'an Incident " that shocked China and the world. Zhang Xueliang’s patriotic action is inseparable from the influence of Li Du.
1937, the Japanese army launched a large-scale attack on China, the full-scale War of Resistance Against Japan broke out, and the Kuomintang and the Communist Party began their second cooperation. As soon as the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Li Du came to Chongqing and established the General Command in the name of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Forces General Command.
General Li Du
On the vast land of Northeast China, tens of thousands of soldiers of the Anti-Japanese United Army fought bloody battles with the enemy, restraining hundreds of thousands of troops from the enemy. This is inseparable from the leadership of General Li Du.
At the same time, he also actively delivered a speech in Chongqing, raising donations from people from all walks of life, hoping that everyone can spend money and work together to protect their common home.His series of actions greatly promoted China's anti-Japanese cause.
Although the Kuomintang and the Communist Party reached a cooperation at that time, the Communist Party was a major concern in Chiang Kai-shek's heart, and Li and Du raised funds everywhere were also jealous of Chiang Kai-shek. In Chiang Kai-shek's view, Li Du's active fundraising behavior was actually expanding the power of the Communist Party in disguise.
So Chiang Kai-shek asked someone to monitor Li Du day and night to prevent him from contacting the Communists. In 1942, in order to exclude the Communists, Chiang Kai-shek actually sealed off the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Forces General Command.
At the same time, Li Du's relatives and guards were not spared and were persecuted by Chiang Kai-shek, but for China's anti-Japanese cause, Li Du was not afraid at all.
1945, after fourteen years of bloody battles, the Chinese military and civilians finally achieved a great victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan. Li Du was very excited. But for the sake of dictatorship, Chiang Kai-shek kept mobilizing heavy troops, and the clouds of the civil war once again enveloped the people of the whole country.
Chiang Kai-shek
In order to seize the fruits of victory, Chiang Kai-shek prepared to send some volunteer generals and people from Northeast China to return to the Northeast. Among the Northeast generals, Li Du was the highest among the Northeast Army, in terms of qualifications and prestige, except Zhang Xueliang. He also became the most suitable candidate in Chiang Kai-shek's mind.
However, Li Du helped the Communists many times before, and Chiang Kai-shek was not relieved, so he threatened to let Li Du return to his hometown and asked Li Du to publicly issue an anti-communist statement. Although Li Du was looking forward to his hometown day and night, he had always been loyal to the revolutionary cause and refused Chiang Kai-shek's unreasonable request.
So Li Du stayed in Chongqing for the time being. In order to make Li Du surrender, Chiang Kai-shek not only sent spies to closely monitor his whereabouts, but also forced him to withdraw from the military and cut off his source of life. But Li Du would rather be poor than pursue fame and fortune. He often used bamboo and plum to describe himself and wrote many famous poems.
At the same time, he also actively does something that is beneficial to the people. He participated in the Chongqing Red Cross Society, opened schools and hospitals to accommodate the elderly and children of the widow, and engage in social relief and charity.
In order to support the cause of progress, he also participated in anti-war activities organized by democrats such as Li Jishen and Cai Tingkai. He insisted on fighting in the National Government District, without fear of risks, and actively participated in the democratic progress cause of anti-dictatorship.
Chongqing declared liberation
1949, after three major battles, the Chinese People's Liberation Army gradually eliminated the vital forces of the Kuomintang. With the development of the revolutionary situation, the People's Liberation Army crossed the Yangtze River and then headed to the southwest. The Kuomintang reactionaries in Chongqing are about to usher in their own doomsday.
Chiang Kai-shek was unwilling to accept his failure. On the eve of the liberation of Chongqing, a large number of spies were left behind, lurking in various places, looking for opportunities to destroy them wantonly.
In order to capture and kill spies, the People's Liberation Army soldiers increased their inspection efforts. On the one hand, they investigated suspicious people on the road, and on the other hand, they investigated the military police personnel left by the Kuomintang. During the interrogation, the People's Liberation Army discovered that the Kuomintang had awarded General Li Du the rank of General Li and Du, so they took him away and imprisoned him. After
was imprisoned, Li Du kept silent, and the soldiers knew nothing about Li Du's past. Therefore, Li Du has been detained in the detention center.
Deng Xiaoping was the secretary of the Southwest Bureau of the Communist Party of China. When he was flipping through the list, the name "Li Du" attracted his attention.
As an old Communist Party member, Deng Xiaoping naturally heard of this veteran general who was determined to fight against Japan. He became suspicious, was this Li Du the commander-in-chief of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Forces Li Du?
Comrade Deng Xiaoping was speaking
He immediately asked his subordinates to investigate whether there was a duplicate name or registration error, but the news from his subordinates told him that Li Du was the general who led the anti-Japanese war in Northeast China back then.
Deng Xiaoping was very angry. He did not expect that the anti-Japanese general who fought bloody battles for the country would be imprisoned for no reason by his subordinates.So he immediately called the Southwest Bureau Intelligence Department, demanding that Li Du be released immediately and apologize.
Under Deng Xiaoping's instructions, Yu Bingran, director of the Intelligence Department of the Southwest Bureau, took the amnesty order personally issued by Deng Xiaoping and came to the Shibanpo Prison where Li Du was located, and invited the elderly General Li Du home.
General Li Du seemed to be indifferent to such misunderstandings. Faced with the sincere apology from the staff, Li Du said generously: "You are also for the sake of the general public. Besides, I don't know my previous experience. The old saying goes well, those who don't know are innocent."
After the national liberation, the government was very concerned about Li Du, and many leaders came to visit him in person and invited him to live in Beijing. However, Li Du was not complacent because of his past contributions. He has always tried his best to support the work of the Party and the people.
After the outbreak of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, countless volunteer soldiers came to North Korea to participate in the war in order to defend the country. After learning about it, Li Du immediately asked his relatives to respond to the country's call and participate in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea. He also donated some of his savings to the frontline.
General Li Du
Because Li Du has a high prestige among the people, he was successively elected by the people as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a member of the Chongqing Municipal CPPCC. In 1955, the elderly General Li Du attended the first Political Consultative Conference held in Chongqing and put forward many suggestions at the meeting.
In August 1956, this veteran general who had been fighting for China's revolutionary cause passed away. After his death, Chongqing City formed the Funeral Committee and held a grand funeral for him. Even Premier Zhou even sent a wreath to express his nostalgia for the veteran general.
General Li Du's life is full of legends. No matter which camp he is in, the people he thinks of at the first moment are the people. The current New China is rich and the people are strong, and the people will always remember this old general. Without predecessors like General Li and Du, we would not be able to be the ones we are now.
