On the evening of October 5, 1937, in Yan'an, the holy land of the revolution, with the sound of two dull gunshots, a 16-year-old female student of Northern Shaanxi Public School'Liu Qian'Collapsed in a pool of blood.
It was none other than someone else who killed her, it was the famous young general of the Red Army and the captain of the sixth team of the third phase of the Anti-Japanese UniversityHuang Kegong!
This was the one that shocked the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo border region at that time and affected the nationalized region"The Huang Kegong Case".
In order to strictly enforce party and military discipline, Huang Kegong was executed after a public trial.
A revolutionary hero with great military achievements and a resounding reputation became a "murderer" and was finally sentenced to death.
So, why did Huang Kegong shoot his revolutionary comrades?What kind of twists and turns did this case go through from trial to verdict?
In this article, let's take a look back at this history and see what happened at that time!
Flipping through Huang Kegong's resume, we can see:
Huang Kegong, born in 1911 in Nankang, Jiangxi, participated in the revolution at the age of 16, joined the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army at the age of 19, and joined the Communist Party of China in the same year.
Huang Kegong has a very glorious revolutionary history, he participated in the Jinggangshan struggle and the 25,000-mile Long March, from an ordinary soldier, gradually grew into a platoon commander, company commander, battalion political instructor, division political department propaganda section chief, and so on.
In the Battle of Loushanguan in the second crossing of Chishui, Huang Kegong made great contributions by virtue of his heroic and tenacious and tough style of not being afraid of sacrifice.
After the Red Army arrived in northern Shaanxi, Huang Kegong served as the political commissar of the 11th Regiment of the 4th Red Division, and then entered the Chinese Anti-Japanese Military and Political University (referred to as "Kang Da") to study and Xi, and successively served as the captain of the 15th team of the second phase of the Kang Da and the captain of the 6th team of the third phase.
At this time, Huang Kegong was only 26 years old, he could be described as young and promising, and his future was limitless.
However, it is precisely because of his youth that he "thinks he is young and promising, has made military exploits, and is more arrogant." ”
So, who is this Liu Qian?
Liu Qian, not her real name, her original name was 'Dong Qiuyue', a native of Dingxiang, Shanxi, in her early years when she was studying at Youren Middle School in Taiyuan City, Shanxi, due to her ideological progress, she served as the head of the National Liberation Vanguard.
After the outbreak of the "77 Incident" in 1937, she actively responded to the party's call, and under the escort of the party organization, she went all the way to Yan'an, the holy land of the revolution
At this time, Liu Qian was only 16 years old, but she was full of anti-Japanese enthusiasm and wanted to devote everything she had to the great cause of resisting Japan and saving the country.
This is evident from her letter to her brother, in which she says:
"I don't estimate how high I am, I just try my best, of course there are people who suffer and are frightened, but what can I say for the sake of the country!”It's rare to have such an awareness at such a young age!
After Liu Qian came to Yan'an, she was arranged to study Xi the 15th team of Kang University, and her captain was Huang Kegong, a young general of the Red Army.
During the period of Xi in the Anti-University Resistance, Liu Qian worked hard and conscientiously, and asked the leaders to go to the front several times, but because of her young age, she was rejected, but her heroic and fearless spirit won the unanimous praise of the leaders, praising her as "the youngest and the best performer" student.
Such a girl with excellent academic Xi, good performance, and good manners, who wouldn't like to see it?Huang Kegong is naturally no exception!
Huang Kegong, who was 26 years old at the time, was already a regimental-level cadre of the Red Army, a standard outstanding young general.
He not only participated in several struggles against "encirclement and suppression" in the Soviet region, but also participated in the 25,000-mile Long March, and his revolutionary experience was very rich.
In addition to his outstanding military exploits and rich experience, Huang Kegong is handsome and majestic, which has attracted the attention of many young girls in Kang Da, and Liu Qian is one of them.
Of course, what attracts Liu Qian most about Huang Kegong is his rich and legendary revolutionary experience.
At that time, the young women who came to Yan'an to study and Xi admired the "old Red Army" and regarded the cadres who came from the Long March as legendary heroes.
During the period of Kang Da, Huang Kegong also often told the stories of the Red Army and the Long March to the female students, and every time he told it eloquently, the female students also liked him very much, and there were naturally not a few people who expressed their love to him.
But the weak water is 3,000, and Huang Kegong only takes one scoop, that is Liu Qian, who is in his twenty-eighth year!
Huang Kegong chose Liu Qian, not because of her beauty, but more because she has a good temperament, strong work ability, and good writing.
There are often correspondence between the two, and the relationship is very good!But this kind of "feeling" is not real love!
Liu Qian only admired, admired and respected Huang Kegong, and did not fall in love with him, but Huang Kegong mistakenly thought that Liu Qian was in love with him.
In fact, for 16-year-old Liu Qian, her understanding of love is still ignorant, and in the letter she wrote to Huang Kegong, she did not clearly express that she was in love with Huang Kegong, just worshipping him.
According to Liu Qian's classmates at the time, Huang Kegong often took her to the cooperative restaurant in Yan'an for dinner in order to win Liu Qian's heart.
Later, Huang Kegong also stuffed Liu Qian with money and asked for marriage, but this move not only did not get Liu Qian's favor and recognition, but greatly hurt Liu Qian's self-esteem.
So, Liu Qian decided to alienate Huang Kegong, and even wrote him such a letter, the general content of the letter is as follows:
"If you love me, you shouldn't give me this money, please use it for the warriors in front!Let's talk about love in a broad sense, the life and death of the whole country are in front of us, and more than 40,000 compatriots are in need of our love!Are you right?Do you love me?And you should love the ...... of the masses”This letter is now in the Yan'an Museum!
So you see, judging from the content of the letter, Liu Qian's love for Huang Kegong is not love, but the "love" of admiration.
But Huang Kegong misunderstood the two, and the result of the misunderstanding was extremely sad!
In September 1937, Shaanbei Public School was officially established, and all the students of the 15th team of Kang University were transferred to Shaanbei Public School.
Soon after, Huang Kegong was transferred back to Kang Da as the captain of the sixth team, while Liu Qian remained at Shaanbei Public School, so the two were separated.
However, Huang Kegong's love for Liu Qian has not changed, and he continues to pursue, hoping to get her heart one day.
In the face of Huang Kegong's continuous pursuit, Liu Qian also tried her best to refuse, such as writing hint letters, returning objects, etc., and even explicitly refused in the end.
A week before Liu Qian was killed, Huang Kegong again offered his love for Liu Qian, but was also rejected.
Huang Kegong, who was unwilling, wrote three letters to her in succession, and Liu Qian only replied to one letter, refusing again, and his words were relatively firm:
“……I can't love you, you should love the public, that's my little hope......”After receiving the reply, Huang Kegong looked for Liu Qian several times in succession, but each time he returned with a feather, so he had the idea that "falling out of love is a great shame in life".
Perhaps, in his opinion, he fits perfectly"258th Regiment".The standard for marriage, that is, over 25 years old, 8 years of party age, and regiment-level cadres.
Besides, he has great military achievements and rich revolutionary experience, there should be no girl who will refuse to be such a "hero", why can't she get Liu Qian's heart?
Obviously, at this time, Huang Kegong has confused "love" and "love", and love is not equal to love.
However, the experience of several failed courtships made his long-formed conceit suddenly collapse across the board, and finally lost his mind and caused a catastrophe!
At dusk on October 5, 1937, Huang Kegong, dressed in military uniform, inserted a Browning pistol into the belt on his belt, and after tidying up his appearance, he and Wang Zhiyong, the officer of the training department of Kang University, came to Northern Shaanxi Public School again.
The purpose of Huang Kegong's trip was nothing else, that is, to get Liu Qian's answer, and this time, he decided to solve everything completely.
As soon as Huang Kegong arrived at the gate of Northern Shaanxi Public School, he met Liu Qian, and then invited her to take a walk and talk by the Yanhe River, trying to explain the matter between them.
Liu Qian did not refuse, even said goodbye to her classmates, and went to Yanhe with Huang Kegong and Wang Zhiyong.
During this period, due to the late day, Wang Zhiyong returned to school first, and Huang Kegong and Liu Qian continued to stroll on the bank of the Yanhe River with a XiXi evening breeze.
Walking and walking, Huang Kegong thought that the time had come, so he proposed to Liu Qian again, but was rejected again.
The two have been at a stalemate on this issue for a long time, from the initial conversation, to an argument, and finally even to a sharp quarrel, confrontation, tearing ......
Huang Kegong was rejected several times, and at this time, his emotions were completely out of control, and he immediately pulled out a pistol from his waist to threaten Liu Qian, but Liu Qian still did not comply.
Liu Qian's "ruthless" refusal made Huang Kegong angry, he raised his gun and pointed it at Liu Qian, and Liu Qian fell to the ground in response.
Because there was no vital injury, Liu Qian began to shout for help after falling to the ground, Huang Kegong raised a gun and shot her in the head again, Liu Qian was killed instantly!
After Huang Kegong returned to school, his mind cleared up and he regained his senses, but unfortunately it was too late, and he had already made an unforgivable mistake.
After dawn the next day, the school received a report that Liu Qian's body had been found by the Yan River. Kang Da and the High Court of the Border Region quickly intervened in the case.
Soon, Huang Kegong was called for questioning by the staff of the Political Department of Kang Da, and was subsequently detained by the border security command.
Due to the bad impact of this case, the then vice president of Kang University*** personally interrogated. Huang Kegong also confessed to his actions.
In fact, for such a case, the method of handling it is not complicated, it is only necessary to find out what happened and then enforce it in accordance with the law.
There is no doubt that Huang Kegong is guilty of intentional homicide and should be sentenced to death according to the law, but the actual situation is not so simple.
Whether or not to sentence Huang Kegong to death was still controversial at the time!
Some people believe that Huang Kegong is an old revolutionary, an old Red Army, and an old Communist Party member, with deep seniority and great merit, and it is a pity to kill him.
Besides, at this time it is a period of national crisis, and every useful talent should be cherished, and instead of sentencing him to death, it is better to let him fight the enemy with a submachine gun.
In addition, some people believe that at this critical juncture when the Chinese nation is in danger, his killing of Liu Qian has already caused us to lose a revolutionary force, and if we kill Huang Kegong again, it will only cause us to lose another revolutionary force.
At that time, a middle-level cadre of Kang Da once shouted:
"Huang Kegong can take charge of opening up work alone, and can open up the situation of a county and a region, not to mention one Liu Qian, even 10 Liu Qian and 100 Liu Qian are not worth one Huang Kegong. ”In a word:Huang Kegong can't be killed, so he should be given a reduced punishment and let him go to the front line to make meritorious service for his crimes!In fact, even Huang Kegong himself felt that his "sin is not to death", he believes that he is old and has great merit, and the superior leaders should "weigh the pros and cons" to save his life.
This statement is not unfounded!
According to Ye Zilong, the confidential secretary at the time, he had received letters from Huang Kegong and Lei Jingtian, then president of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo Border District High Court, to ***.
Huang Kegong confessed in the letter and asked *** to decide, but in fact, he wanted *** to come forward and "forgive" his sins.
In Lei Jingtian's letter, although he did not explicitly mention not killing Huang Kegong, between the lines, he euphemistically expressed the idea of giving Huang Kegong a way out.
Huang Kegong said in his first statement:
“……Those who have made meritorious contributions to the Party and the court must remember the merits of the remaining 10 years of struggle for the service of the Party and the revolution, and be granted a lenient punishment. ”In the second statement, Huang Kegong said:
"The court must remember that I have always been loyal to the party's line after ten years of hard work, forgive me for committing a crime for a while, and spare my life so that I can do my last bit of loyalty to the party in the future. ”So you see, after this case happened, not only did some people think that Huang Kegong could not be killed, but even Huang Kegong himself had a fluke attitude towards it.
Of course, many people also support the death penalty for Huang Kegong.
They believe that Huang Kegong, as an old Red Army and a veteran party member, forced an unmarried girl to marry him was illegal
The use of forced marriage violates the principle of freedom of marriage in the border areas
In addition, he insisted on putting personal love first in disregard of the national crisis, and killed revolutionary comrades in a frenzy when he could not achieve his goal, which was tantamount to helping the enemy, and he was really a scum in the revolutionary camp.
Huang Kegong's move not only violated the criminal law of the border region, but also undermined the iron-clad discipline of the Red Army, and he should be sentenced to capital punishment in order to set an example, to show the anger of the common people, and to suppress the revolutionary program and discipline.
To be honest, this point of view is very correct, and Huang Kegong does have merit, but this does not mean that he can be proud of his merits and act recklessly.
This can't help but make Wen Shijun think of a classic line:"In the dictionary of the Communist Party, there is no word for 'meritorious hero';”
We are grateful to those heroes who bravely sacrificed themselves for the liberation of the nation, and they deserve our respect and memory, but if they use the aura and glory of heroes to do things that are sorry for the people, then they are not heroes and do not deserve our respect.
Huang Kegong's life is important, so isn't Liu Qian's life important?If Huang Kegong is not disposed of, does this mean that as long as there is merit and qualifications, people can have a "gold medal for avoiding death"?
Therefore, Huang Kegong must accept the punishment he deserves!
At that time, the vice president of Kang University, *** knew Huang Kegong very early, and also admired his talent very much, thinking that he fought bravely, bravely and strategically, and after Huang Kegong was imprisoned, he also visited him, but *** did not give up his principles because of personal feelings, and at the meeting to study the case, he emphasized:
"One of the reasons why Huang Kegong dared to shoot and kill people casually is that he has his own merits and does not take the law into account, if we don't punish him, don't we also take the law into account, everyone must obey the law, and no merit, status, or talent can prevent punishment according to law. ”Moreover, at that time, during the period of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, the Kuomintang News Agency often sent reporters to the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo border region to cover news, and it happened that a foreign press group was also visiting Yan'an at that time.
Facts have proven that how to handle this matter has a bearing on the image of our party and army in the world
The Kuomintang's "** took the lead in reacting, and hyped up this case as "peach news", wantonly attacking and slandering the border areas**.
At that time, young people from all over the country and overseas Chinese were extremely yearning for Yan'an, the holy place of revolution, and they risked their lives to come here.
In order to prevent these aspiring young people from rushing to Yan'an, the Kuomintang authorities made a big fuss about this matter, and some pamphlets appeared on the market portrayed Yan'an as very terrible and terrifying.
So you should know how big the impact of this matter is, if you deal with it, these rumors will be self-defeating, and if you don't handle it well, the consequences will be unimaginable.
So, what is the attitude of ** towards this case?
In fact, **'s attitude was very clear, and after learning about it, he said angrily:"What's the problem?"What's the problem?If such people are not killed, are we still the Communist Party?”
Subsequently, ** personally presided over the meeting, and after discussion at the meeting, it was decided to sentence Huang Kegong to death.
Of course, as a former beloved general, ** was also quite sad when he made this decision, and he shed tears.
If there were no such things, Huang Kegong would indeed be a rare general, and he would definitely make great achievements in the future.
But at this moment, there is nothing left, everything is over, and this legendary general with great achievements will usher in a righteous trial!
On October 11 of the same year, six days after the incident, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo Border Region** and the High People's Court, in accordance with the instructions of the CCP**, held a trial meeting with thousands of people on the large playground of the Northern Shaanxi Public School.
At the trial meeting, Huang Kegong's criminal history and the impact of the crime were all made public, and he was finally sentenced to death.
It is worth mentioning that when Huang Kegong made a personal statement, he did not conceal his crime, nor did he make any excuse for himself, and the only "reason" he put forward was that "Liu Qian's breaking of the marriage contract is an insult to revolutionary soldiers".
Although his voice was not loud when he made his statement, the whole room could hear it clearly.
When the presiding judge asked him in which battle he had been wounded, he took off his shirt, and the scars on his body were displayed in front of everyone.
Then, while pointing to the scar, he recounted his past "glory".
After learning that he was sentenced to death, Huang Kegong did not show any panic, nor did he feel afraid, maybe he was used to seeing life and death, and he had no feeling for a long time, but he finally made a request:
"If the death penalty must be carried out, I want to die on the battlefield against the enemy, not on the court of my own people. If permitted, I will ask for a machine gun, which will be supervised by the law enforcement team, and die in the charge of the enemy, if it is not in accordance with the law. ”Many of the comrades-in-arms who stood below who had fought side by side with him shed tears of sympathy.
Although his comrades-in-arms were very reluctant to him, he broke the law and should be punished as he deserved!
When the verdict came down, Huang Kegong did not resist or resist, but just turned around, raised his hands to the masses, and shouted a few slogans: "Long live the liberation of the Chinese nation!"Down with Japanese imperialism!Long live the Communist Party of China!”
A criminal police officer subconsciously pulled Huang Kegong to stop him, and Huang Kegong said in a low voice: "Why don't you let you shout slogans?"”
Then, he glanced in the direction of the cave where *** lived, and then walked towards the execution ground under the escort of the firing team!
Just as Huang Kegong walked to the edge of the venue, he saw a fast horse galloping towards the venue.
The person who was on the horse was a staff member of ***'s office, and the trip was to deliver ***'s letter.
Hearing the letter, everyone's eyes focused on one point, and a smile appeared on Huang Kegong's face, thinking that he was finally saved.
This letter was written to Lei Jingtian on the night of October 10 in reply to the letter sent to him by Lei Jingtian and Huang Kegong.
Originally, he wanted to ask Zhang Wentian, who was attending the meeting, to bring Lei Jingtian, but because the chairman was busy all night and forgot to hand it over to the secretary during the break, he sent someone Pegasus to deliver it in the afternoon.
However, the arrival of this letter did not change the fate of Huang Kegong!
In view of the fact that it was a handwritten letter from ***, and it was suggested that it should be read out in front of Huang Kegong himself, the presiding judge Lei Jingtian had no choice but to order Huang Kegong to be brought back and stand in the position of the defendant again.
At this time, Huang Kegong was very excited in his heart, his face showed hope and gratitude, and he thought that his verdict might usher in a turnaround.
But that's not the case!**In the letter, Huang Kegong's past revolutionary history was affirmed, but he also gave a fair and just evaluation of the matter:
“……It is precisely because Huang Kegong is different from an ordinary person, and precisely because he has been a member of the Communist Party for many years and a Red Army for many years, that he cannot but do so. The Communist Party and the Red Army could not but enforce stricter discipline against their own Party members and Red Army members than ordinary civilians. When the country was in danger and the revolution was tense, Huang Kegong was despicable, shameless, cruel and selfish to such an extent that his death was determined by his own actions. All Communist Party members, all Red Army commanders and fighters, and all revolutionaries must take Huang Kegong as a warning ...... the future”After the letter was read, everyone's eyes turned to Huang Kegong, at this time, Huang Kegong, like waking up from a big dream, his eyes were confused and overwhelmed, he looked up at the blue sky and white clouds, and shouted the three slogans again!
Then, Huang Kegong was taken all the way to the execution ground and executed ......
The handling of Huang Kegong's case has made the broad masses of the people all praise our party and army for their fairness, selflessness, and strict discipline.
Since then, ** has mentioned this matter several times, and it has been pointed out:As party cadres, it is absolutely unacceptable to be arrogant in their achievements, greedy for pleasure, and oppress the masses.
When Mr. Li Gongpu, a well-known democrat and one of the "Seven Gentlemen," later visited Yan'an, he spoke highly of our party's handling of the Huang Kegong case"It has set a good legal example for the future of New China!”
After Liu Qian's body was collected by Northern Shaanxi Public School, the teachers and students of the school built a stone tomb for her halfway up the Qingliang Mountain in Yan'an, and the principal Cheng Fangwu led all the teachers and students to carry out a public sacrifice in front of Liu Qian's tomb.
The handling of Huang Kegong's case has demonstrated our party's concept and will to strictly administer the party and the army and the party and the army according to law.
Although decades have passed since this case, it still has a role to learn from today's Xi. No one can touch the bottom line of the law, otherwise they will be severely punished.
Justice may be late, but it will never be absent!