On the afternoon of May 16, 1947, the sound of gunfire and killing in Mengyin County, Shandong stopped. Menglianggu (gù), Lushan and other national troops were filled with smoke and corpses everywhere, and in a mess. Chen Yi and Su Yu commanded East China Field Army soldiers began to clean the battlefield, and the history-story Menglianggu Battle ended.
In this battle, the reorganized 74th Division, known as the "head of the five main forces" of the National Army, and a regiment of the affiliated 83rd Division, were completely wiped out, with nearly 20,000 of more than 32,000 people being captured, with extremely heavy casualties.
Among them, the commander of the 74th Division, Zhang Lingfu , was also dead.
The war situation in East China has reversed, and the East China Field Army has gradually gained the initiative in the war.
Chiang Kai-shek was heartbroken: "(Battle of Menglianggu) is an unprecedented big loss, can it not be sad!"
Zhang Lingfu's old boss Wang Yaowu said: "To the loss of the 74th Division is like the pain of losing his father!"
There is another person who was sad with Chiang Kai-shek, Wang Yaowu and others. She is Zhang Lingfu's beautiful wife Wang Yuling . However, unlike Chiang Kai-shek and others, Wang Yuling only cared about the death of her husband Zhang Lingfu and did not care about the success or failure of the Kuomintang army.
As soon as Zhang Lingfu died, Wang Yuling, who was only 19 years old, became a widow. When she came to Menglianggu, the last stop of Zhang Lingfu's life, it was already 60 years later.
Picture | Wang Yuling
During this period, she had always loved Zhang Lingfu, alone, and never married him.
Their stories have to be told from 1945.
1. "Accidental encounter" in the barber shop
In 1945, the War of Resistance Against Japan won. Wang Yuling, who had been bumping outside for many years, and his family returned to their hometown Changsha and lived in the area of Xiyuan Beili.
That year, Wang Yuling was 17 years old and was already graceful and particularly attractive.
On a day, Wang Yuling made an appointment with several classmates who lived in the north of Xiyuan to wash their hair. On the way, they met Mrs. Zhang.
During the Anti-Japanese War, when Wang Yuling fled from Changsha to Yuanling, Huaihua, he met Mrs. Zhang. Mrs. Zhang's husband serves as director of the Kuomintang's reorganized 74th Army. He is known as Director Zhang, and his specific name is unknown.
Mrs. Zhang flatteredly approached them and asked where they were going. She was an old acquaintance with Mrs. Zhang, so Wang Yuling was not wary of this and told her to wash her hair.
Mrs. Zhang was not afraid of the embarrassment caused by the generations, and said she wanted to go with them, the teenage girls, so she followed her.
When they came to a candy shop on , Beizheng Street, , they met Director Zhang. Mrs. Zhang went up to talk to her husband, saying that she wanted to "go to a certain barber shop with Miss Wang to wash her hair", and gave a strange wink.
Wang Yuling and several classmates didn’t understand what the Zhang couple were expressing, and of course, they wouldn’t care.
They entered a barber shop on Zhengbei Street.
While they were washing their hair, there were people coming and going in the barber shop, and Director Zhang also walked in with a soldier in military uniform and cap.
The soldier sat on the chair behind Wang Yuling without hesitation. Through the mirror, the two could see each other.
Wang Yuling did not know this soldier, so he did not look at him. But the soldier had no intention of washing his hair or cutting his hair, so he sat there, looking at Wang Yuling up and down through the mirror without restraint.
people will always unconsciously discover those eyes staring at them.
Wang Yuling soon discovered that the soldier was looking at her. She did not feel honored in this scene, but was quite uncomfortable. She thought to herself, how could a man look at people like this?
In shame and anger, she glared at the other party fiercely, as a rude fight back to the other party.
Later, Wang Yuling learned that this soldier was named Zhang Lingfu, and he was the actual supreme commander of the Kuomintang's reorganized 74th Army, and was waiting for Chiang Kai-shek to be appointed as the commander of the 74th Army.
pic | Zhang Lingfu
Later, Wang Yuling realized that the reason why Zhang Lingfu appeared in the barber shop and stared at her rudely was that it was a long-planned "conspiracy" - during the War of Resistance Against Japan, Zhang Lingfu became interested in her.
2. A love of life and death that spans decades
Wang Yuling was targeted by Zhang Lingfu, which is related to Director Zhang and Mrs. Zhang.
When Wang Yuling lived in Yuling with his family, he lived on the same street as Zhang Lingfu, but he had never met.
Wang Yuling and Zhang Lingfu did not know each other, and they had a lot of contact with Director Zhang of the reorganized 74th Army and his Mrs. Zhang.
Director Zhang is a good person. When he is free, he likes to discuss with his colleagues such as Wang Yuling and other young female students. Director Zhang always feels that Wang Yuling is a stunning beauty among many female students.
Zhang Lingfu heard about this from Director Zhang, and was very interested and remembered it in his heart.
In order to see the beauty's charm, Zhang Lingfu finally decided to find Wang Yuling, but at that time, Wang Yuling's family had moved to Guiyang, Guizhou, and he was idle.
Shortly after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Chiang Kai-shek asked Zhang Lingfu to Nanjing and prepared to appoint him as the commander of the 74th Army, but Zhang Lingfu dragged on it again and again and did not pass for a long time.
In response to this, Wang Yuling said: "He (Zhang Lingfu) knew that I was back to Changsha at that time and wanted to go to Nanjing when he saw me!"
Because of this, the scene where the two of them "meeted" at the barber shop before appeared.
After meeting at the barber shop, Zhang Lingfu fell in love with Wang Yuling completely and decided to chase her.
Zhang Lingfu later said to Wang Yuling proudly but gentlely: "Fortunately you glared at me, otherwise, if you want to smile at me, I will be no longer interested!"
can be seen, that is the legendary love at first sight.
At that time, Zhang Lingfu was a hot figure. He had a high status, rich, handsome appearance, and had many suitors.
Wang Yuling still remembers it very clearly. A woman named Li Tianxia is very active and moves everywhere, wanting to catch Zhang Lingfu.
As the saying goes, it is your things that others can never take away, and it is not yours that you can never keep. Li Tianxia pursued Zhang Lingfu desperately, but couldn't catch him. Wang Yuling didn't have to do anything, but was pursued by Zhang Lingfu.
Zhang Lingfu found a breakthrough in pursuing Wang Yuling - asked Director Zhang's wife to ask her aunt to play cards and do her elders' work first.
Zhang Lingfu promised the Director's wife that if you win the card game, you will be counted as the Director's wife, and if you lose, you will be reimbursed. Therefore, the Director's wife was very enthusiastic about doing this.
pic | Zhang Lingfu
Wang Yuling's aunt also likes playing cards very much and soon became familiar with Mrs. Zhang.
Soon after, Mrs. Zhang took the opportunity to invite her aunt to the Zhang family for dinner, and emphasized that she should bring 17-year-old Wang Yuling with her.
Aunt readily agreed and really took Wang Yuling there.
In this way, at Director Zhang's house, Wang Yuling and Zhang Lingfu had their first contact and had a great conversation.
Zhang Lingfu, Wang Yuling, was 25 years old, but there was no generation gap between the two when they talked.
Zhang Lingfu is from the History Department of Peking University. He knows a lot of things and can tell some characters and stories from all over the world. A more serious teenage girl like Wang Yuling likes to listen to these things.
Shortly after we met, Zhang Lingfu proposed to Wang Yuling.
Wang Yuling thought Zhang Lingfu was not bad at the time, very reliable and trustworthy, "sometimes like dad" and "sometimes like good friends".
However, she had no idea about the proposal and asked her mother and uncle to decide. Of course, my uncle and parents are very happy to be able to get to such a relative. However, Wang Yuling's mother did not agree much.
The Queen Mother has many reasons for opposing it. For example, Zhang Lingfu once killed his ex-wife with his own hands. She was worried that Zhang Lingfu would also attack her daughter; for example, she has been widowed for so many years, because her husband is also a soldier, and she was worried that her daughter would follow her old path after marrying Zhang Lingfu...
However, no matter how the Queen Mother opposed it, her daughter Wang Yuling still got together with Zhang Lingfu. In desperation, she could only make one request to Zhang Lingfu, that is, to find someone to be a matchmaker.
Zhang Lingfu easily agreed to this request and deliberately invited Cheng Qian, the then chairman of the Hunan Provincial Government, to protect the media, to improve his sincerity and let the world know his determination.
At the time of the negotiation of the marriage, Chiang Kai-shek sent Zhang Lingfu another call to him to come to Nanjing to accept the appointment as soon as possible.
Time is tight, so Zhang Lingfu and Wang Yuling hurried to the Kinmen Hotel in Shanghai to complete the wedding, and then rushed to Nanjing.
The couple spent their wedding night on the train.
As soon as Zhang Lingfu arrived in Nanjing, he received a letter of appointment and became the commander of the reorganized 74th Division, known as the "head of the five major forces" of the National Army.
At this moment, he has a good harvest of love and career, and is a worthy moment of life.
Picture |Wedding photos of Wang Yuling and Zhang Lingfu
After marriage, the two lived in Building 51, Erzhao Lane, Baixia District, Nanjing, and they were stuck together as if they had the chance.
However, their happy time did not last long, and Wang Yuling's mother's second worry eventually became a reality.
3. 19-year-old widow
Zhang Lingfu and Wang Yuling lived in Nanjing for less than a year. In August 1946, the above orders were ordered to lead Zhang Lingfu to the battlefield in North China to fight against the People's Liberation Army.
This is something that Wang Yuling could never have imagined. When she married Zhang Lingfu, especially when she heard her mother say that professional soldiers were very dangerous, she sneered, thinking that they had driven the Japanese away and would not fight again, so Zhang Lingfu would not be in any danger.
never thought that it was still a war, and Zhang Lingfu still had to go to the front line.
The military orders are like mountains. Although the couple does not want to separate, they have to separate.
At this time, Wang Yuling was still naively thinking that her husband was so brave during the Anti-Japanese War and it was fine to go all the way. He should return safely when he participated in the war this time.
Therefore, when packing her husband's bags, Wang Yuling was not nervous, nor too worried or sad.
In mid-to-late October, Zhang Lingfu and Su Yu met on the battlefield in North China, and the National Army and the People's Liberation Army began a tug-of-war. During
, Zhang Lingfu did not forget to write a letter to Wang Yuling, but did not say any affectionate words, they were all small family matters and plans for the future. For example, if the fish at home dies, don’t forget to water the flowers and leave a design drawing indicating where to put the flowers and where to put the fish tank.
Zhang Lingfu's approach made the young Wang Yuling feel relaxed, thinking that the war on the front line should not be too nervous.
In the spring of 1947, Wang Yuling went to the front line to visit Zhang Lingfu. At this time, she was 9 months pregnant and had a big belly.
On the front line, looking at his wife with a round belly, Zhang Lingfu was extremely gentle. When he ran away, he would hold her like a hard bamboo stick, which was her most trustworthy support; before going to bed, he would coax her to fall asleep slowly like a child.
At this moment, the couple did not seem to be on the front line, but rather lived a peaceful life in a peaceful environment.
However, bad luck will come soon.
Shortly after Wang Yuling returned home from the front line, he gave birth to a big fat boy.
On the phone, Wang Yuling told Zhang Lingfu the news happily.
Middle-aged son, Zhang Lingfu was also very happy. While laughing, he asked his son about his crying sounds. He was eager to see his son's photos. In addition, he also said to Wang Yuling gently: "You are kind-hearted and will have more children and grandchildren in the future!"
Picture | Wang Yuling took a photo with his son
After this phone call, Zhang Lingfu stopped calling Wang Yuling and did not write a letter.
I don’t know how long it took, but Wang Yuling’s confinement period was not over yet. A guard suddenly broke into her home and said sadly: “ General Zhang is dead, just on May 16.”
When he heard this, Wang Yuling fainted in grief.
In the days after that, Wang Yuling's mood has been difficult to calm down. She carefully calculated that the day her husband passed away happened to be the 10th day after she and her husband called...
No matter what, her husband died and she became a widow.
She is only 19 years old and the hard days are still coming.
4. Return to the motherland under the care of Premier Zhou
At the end of 1948, under the arrangement of the Kuomintang, Wang Yuling came to Taiwan with her young son and mother.
In Taiwan, Wang Yuling and his mother and son were almost helpless. The only thing they could rely on was Sun Liren, the uncle who was the commander-in-chief of the Taiwan Army at that time.
However, Sun Liren's life was not very easy, either being suppressed or excluded, so Wang Yuling's family had to rely on themselves for most of the time.
I can’t stay in Taiwan anymore, so Wang Yuling decided to go to the United States to develop.
In 1952, with the personal help of her uncle, she obtained US passport , leaving behind her 6-year-old son and old mother, and went to the United States alone.
When she was in Taiwan, Wang Yuling was protected. As soon as she arrived in the United States, she realized that the United States was not that beautiful and even the most basic rights were difficult to guarantee.
has no turning back. Even if she has not received good protection, she has no intention of returning to Taiwan or going elsewhere, and is determined to make a living.
That's it. With her personal efforts, she successfully admitted to New York University in the United States and studied finance.
Later, in order to have a full meal, she went to school to attend classes while doing secretarial work.
html After 2004, she graduated successfully. She first worked as an accountant at Roosevelt Hospital for 2 years, then worked at the Parklasha Hotel (five-star hotel) for 2 years, and finally worked at an airline in the United States for 21 years until she retired.In the autumn of 1973, Premier Zhou accidentally learned about Wang Yuling, and then took the initiative to notify relevant personnel to send her an invitation to welcome her to the embrace of the motherland and return to her roots.
Picture | Premier Zhou
However, Wang Yuling was still a little worried at that time. After all, she was the widow of Zhang Lingfu, the general of the National Army. She had an extraordinary identity, fearing that something would happen after she went back.
It was not until September of that year that she came to Beijing with her friends.
What she didn't expect was that nothing happened after she came back, but was warmly welcomed by Premier Zhou.
Premier Zhou warmly received Wang Yuling and personally arranged staff to accompany her to visit the scenic spots and various buildings around Beijing, so that she could see the changes in New China.
When Wang Yuling saw this, he couldn't help but feel emotion, and had a new view on the new China and the new government, and had the idea of coming back to contribute to the motherland.
Although he is the wife of a Kuomintang officer, there is no doubt that Wang Yuling is patriotic.
Wang Yuling just entered the fourth grade when the Japanese began to invade China. They headed south all the way from the northeast, east and southeast to Hunan, located in the southeast, and reached Changsha, Wang Yuling's hometown. They kill people when they see them, burn houses when they see them, rob property when they see them, and rape women when they see them...
Wang Yuling has always kept this country's hatred and family hatred in his mind and integrated into his blood. Therefore, whether she was studying or employed in the United States, she had never bought Japanese goods, nor had she ever seen Japanese people directly.
In 1980, when he heard that the Japanese occupied two buildings purchased with Chinese hard-earned money in the bustling area of Tokyo, Wang Yuling was furious and took the initiative to stand up to help the Chinese government sue.
Later, the lawsuit was won, but the Japanese still did not want to transfer the ownership to China. Wang Yuling then asked the lawyer to sue again, and in the end, the Japanese finally handed over the compensation for the two buildings to the Chinese government.
html After the 1980s, Wang Yuling frequently came back to contribute to the motherland, and her son also came to Shanghai to do business, so she decided to settle down in Shanghai.However, something happened in Nanjing made her feel very wronged.
Originally, according to national policies, she could inherit a house left by Zhang Lingfu in Nanjing, which is the wedding house they got married - Building 51, Erzhao Lane, Baixia District.
However, the Nanjing real estate management department kept changing its tone and demolished the house. This matter has been arguing for 30 years until the local department used 170,000 yuan as compensation.
In addition to the house, there are two other major questions that have always lingered in Wang Yuling's heart. After she returned to China, she wanted to find the answer all the time. These two questions are: How did Zhang Lingfu die? Where is Zhang Lingfu's remains?
pic | Zhang Lingfu
5. The mystery of Zhang Lingfu's death and the mystery of remains
There are three statements about Zhang Lingfu's death so far: one is the mainstream advocated by the mainland; the second is the suicide theory that the Kuomintang has always insisted on; and the third is the prisoner-killing theory that has only become popular in recent years.
The first statement is mainly based on the joint telegram sent to the Party Central Committee after the end of the Menglianggu Battle. The main content of the telegram said that the 74th Division was completely wiped out, and the troops led by He Fengshan, deputy commander of the 6th Column Special Regiment, found the hiding place of the main leaders of the 74th Division, including Zhang Lingfu, Cai Renjie, , Lu Xing, , and killed them on the spot.
The second statement is not only Chiang Kai-shek believes, but also Wang Yuling will believe it. After the defeat of the Menglianggu battle, the Kuomintang announced the news that Zhang Lingfu and Cai Renjie and Lu Xing collectively committed suicide. On May 29, 1947, Chiang Kai-shek commended Zhang Lingfu's behavior.
The main basis for the suicide statement of Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang was a suicide note to Chiang Kai-shek by Zhang Lingfu, which said: "The situation of the war has worsened... I fought with the generals until the end... I am determined to achieve success with a single blow."
The reason why Wang Yuling was skeptical about suicide was because Zhang Lingfu also wrote her suicide note. In "Oral Description of Wang Yuling", she described it like this: "I hope to raise my youngest son, Yuling's wife, now I will be the last word of the word, Lingfu's writing."
The third statement is the result of a field investigation more than half a century later in the Battle of Menglianggu. In the seventh issue of the 2007 issue of "Centennial Chao" magazine, a man signed by Leng Yujian published an article titled "The Mystery of Zhang Lingfu's Death in the Battle of Menglianggu", proposing the theory of killing prisoners. The main basis is to visit people or researchers related to the Menglianggu Battle, collect corresponding materials, and finally draw conclusions.
However, no matter which statement is, the ending is that Zhang Lingfu died in the Battle of Menglianggu.
Decades have passed, and Wang Yuling seems to have changed from being resentful to being relieved. She once said: "What's the matter? Who do you think I can hate? My husband is a professional soldier, and war is cruel."
In addition to the mystery of Zhang Lingfu's death, where is Zhang Lingfu's remains, is something Wang Yuling has always wanted to know.
pic | Wang Yuling
Since the end of the Menglianggu Battle, Zhang Lingfu's remains have become a mystery.
In order to find it and bury it well, Wang Yuling, her son and some people in the society tried their best, but it was never helpful.
The last time I heard about Zhang Lingfu's remains was in 2015.
In August 2012, a netizen named " Crow on the side of of Yihe" posted on a platform that Zhang Lingfu's remains have been buried in a civil courtyard in Dongjiazhuang Village, Yinan County, Shandong Province. The courtyard is dirty and noisy and full of filth. Sheep are raised on it, and Zhang Lingfu is lying below.
On January 21, 2015, a real-name netizen named "Son of Zhang Lingfu, the commander of the 74th Division, Zhang Daoyu " posted a message saying: "I went to communicate many times and asked for huge sums of money." The other party asked for 200,000 yuan for landfill, and it is not guaranteed that it is Zhang Lingfu. In short, they don't care, they just want money.
Since then, no news about Zhang Lingfu's remains has been heard.
This matter must be Wang Yuling's heart disease forever.
As early as 2003, because Zhang Lingfu's remains could not be found, Wang Yuling could only build a tomb for Zhang Lingfu in the rose garden of Pudong in , Shanghai, and leave behind poems and essays.
can be seen that Wang Yuling has always missed Zhang Lingfu.
In 2007, she also did something for Zhang Lingfu - to go to Menglianggu.
6. Traveling to the place where her husband was buried
In 2005, Wang Yuling suddenly received an invitation from Su Yu's nephew Su Gangbing. The roughly means that she hopes that she will go to Menglianggu and worship Zhang Lingfu by the way.
When Su Gangbing issued this invitation, he was worried that Wang Yuling and her family would refuse, but they did not.
In October 2007, 79-year-old Wang Yuling took her 60-year-old son to Mengliangkou.
That year, it was exactly 60 years since the Battle of Menglianggu. Is Wang Yuling's choice to go to Menglianggu during this period of time. Is there any special intention? I don't know this.
When we arrived at Menglianggu, Wang Yuling began to recall the little things he had when he was with Zhang Lingfu in the past. Among them, there are more regrets. She said that the most regrettable thing is that she never said she loved Zhang Lingfu.
She did not say she loved Zhang Lingfu, but Zhang Lingfu said a love word that many women could not resist: "I asked for a good wife, and she would help me get a job if I beg for food."
During their visit to Mengliangkou, someone asked Wang Yuling about the reunification of the motherland. She said, "The motherland must be unified", and also left four big words with her son publicly: "Peaceful reunification!"
On October 9, 2021, the elderly Wang Yuling passed away peacefully at her home in Shanghai at the age of 94.
In this life, she only married Zhang Lingfu.
Conclusion:
When Zhang Lingfu passed away, Wang Yuling was only 19 years old, but she had become a widow. What was unexpected was that since then, she has been alone and never married.
Picture | Wang Yuling's family took a photo
This way of her, many people laughed at her as being stupid, not knowing how to enjoy life, not knowing how to find a new life, being stupid alone withstands the pressure of life and all kinds of loneliness.
Someone supports her and thinks this is love. At the age of 17, Wang Yuling met Zhang Lingfu, who had been in love with her for a long time, and soon entered the marriage hall with Zhang Lingfu. But they were unable to stay together for a lifetime. After only two years of being a couple, they were separated forever. Afterwards, she kept her love for him for the rest of her life.
This can only be explained by love, otherwise it will not be understood.
Fortunately, there are many people who support Wang Yuling, and the movie "Taiping Wheel·Outside the Side" brings their love to the screen. Perhaps more people will continue their love story.
