year, the landlord wrote to **: Do you remember my family's life-saving food?
One day in 1991, a letter signed by Ma Xing appeared on the desk of the founding general**. ** Fairly familiar with the name, knowing that he is a veteran of the 359 Brigade.
After the liberation, Ma Xing transferred to Hubei to work, and ** worked in Xinjiang for a long time, and the two have not been in contact for more than 40 years. Ma Xing's letter at this time is to solve some problems?
In the letter, Ma Xing did not mention that he was in difficulty, but asked ** if he still remembered that in 1945, the landlord surnamed Liao in Huantan Town, Hubei Province supported 1,000 loads of grain from the 359 Brigade in distress.
Now the landlord came to the door, and Tomaching wrote to ** asking for help to confirm the matter. **'s thoughts instantly returned to the winter when the snow closed the road.
The 359th Brigade faced a major strategic choice in the final stage of the War of Resistance Against Japan. They were ordered to go south, join up with the Dongjiang Column, and establish a base in the Hunan-Jiangxi-Guangdong border area, but they were surrounded by the enemy's five armies, and in the face of a strong enemy army, they decided to return north.
In this process, according to the ** order, they formed the Central Plains Military Region with the 5th Division of the New Fourth Army and the troops of the Henan Military Region, with *** as the commander and ** as the deputy commander and chief of staff.
The Central Plains Military Region has developed into a vast area spanning the five provinces of Hubei, Henan, Anhui, Hunan, and Jiangxi, encircling Wuhan, a strategic point connecting the nine provinces, and threatening Nanjing, the center of Lao Chiang's rule.
And the Central Plains region is rich in products, and it has always been a rich place, and it is also a place where soldiers must fight. Faced with this situation, Lao Chiang ignored the people's cries of opposition to the civil war, mobilized more than 20 divisions from four theaters to encircle the Central Plains Military Region from all directions.
1.* During the review of the troops of the Central Plains Military Region, there was a huge disparity in the strength of the enemy and us, but the Central Plains Military Region still insisted on fighting because the strategic location of the base area was important, which could contain a large number of enemy forces and create favorable conditions for the Eighth Route Army to enter the northeast.
The troops of the Central Plains Military Region dealt a powerful blow to the invading enemy, among which the 359th Brigade performed an outstanding performance, successively conquering Zaoyang, Huyang, and other places, so that the enemy had to redeploy its forces.
2.The 359th Brigade was too tired from continuous fighting in the battle, and was ready to use the winter time to return to the Luoyangdian area to rest. However, when the troops reached the town of Huantan, they encountered heavy snowfall, the roads were frozen and impassable, and the food was exhausted.
The surrounding towns were still under the control of the enemy, and even if they had money, they could not buy food, and even if they could buy it, they would not be able to transport it back for a while. This left the troops in a difficult situation, without food, and the consequences were unimaginable in case they encountered an enemy encirclement.
3.At this difficult moment, several leaders of the 359 Brigade found Li Shi, commissioner of the Northern Hubei Branch, hoping that he could help the troops solve the food problem. However, the conditions of Li Shi's office in northern Hubei were very difficult, there were only a few people, and even the office was not fixed, and they were "guerrilla" everywhere, and the only property was a briefcase.
In this case, Li Shi thought of asking the Liao family, the richest man in Huantan Town, for help. 4.Before the liberation, the water transportation around the pond was very prosperous, and the goods within a radius of 100 miles were collected and distributed here, and transported down the river to Hankou.
At that time, Huantan was very prosperous and was known as "Little Hankou". As the richest man in this rich place, the Liao family's financial resources should naturally not be underestimated. The Liao family runs a gypsum salt mine in Yingcheng, has a large area of land in their hometown, and has more than 5,000 tenants alone.
They also built a castle in the village and formed an escort team, and the surrounding bandits did not dare to go to Liaojiazhai**, and the Kuomintang regiment commander and battalion commander also had to respect Liao's family for three points.
5.Despite such a powerful landlord, is the Liao family willing to help the 359 Brigade? This is negative, but Li Shi successfully persuaded the Liao family with his long-term experience in the Henan-Hubei border area, and finally helped the 359th Brigade to tide over the difficulties.
From the end of the Qing Dynasty to the ** period, the Liao family was managed by the old lady Liao, who was born as a patriarch and a big landowner, and lived by collecting rent. At the age of 20, his eldest son, Liao Linxuan, became acquainted with an Italian missionary from the provincial capital, and began to believe in Catholicism, following the priest to Yingcheng as a missionary.
Yingcheng was rich in gypsum salt, and the mine controlled by the Zhang family at that time penetrated Xu's mine, causing more than 10 workers to drown in the water. Liao Linxuan and the priest helped Xu fight the lawsuit, and Xu won the lawsuit.
Since the mine can no longer mine gypsum, and can only store water to boil salt, Xu decided to transfer shares to Liao Linxuan with 12,000 strings of **. However, this money was a huge investment for the Liao family, and the clansmen were more confident in buying land to grow grain.
However, Liao Linxuan's wife, Mao, was very supportive of him, saying that if he lost money, he would offset it with her family's dowry property. So, Liao Linxuan bought the mine and began the take-off of the Liao family.
Their business mainly produces gypsum, which is the raw material for making cement. After the gypsum is collected, the remaining interlayer contains salt, which can be boiled to make salt. In times of turmoil, cement and salt were both bestsellers and profitable.
Liao Linxuan first boiled salt to earn money, and then continued to develop, and by 1919 he had become a big capitalist on the rich side. He has also invested in a large number of properties. In 1938, Yingcheng was occupied by the Japanese army, and he was reluctant to cooperate with the Japanese, so he handed over the business to the management of the housekeeper Zhang Fangcheng.
Zhang Fangcheng had a good relationship with the puppet county magistrate and the police chief, which allowed the Liao family's industry to continue to produce. However, Zhang Fangcheng did not want to curry favor with the Japanese, but to protect his own interests.
During the Anti-Japanese War, the Liao family also made many patriotic moves, such as helping ** and the New Fourth Army. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the Liao family was taken over by Liao Fuchu, and he returned to Yingcheng with more than 30 Ding to take over the family business.
Unlike the previous two generations, Liao Fuchu began to get involved in politics, he applied to the 75th Division of the Kuomintang to transfer more than 70 guns, and with more than 30 guns brought by his own family to form a mine police team, he was appointed as the captain, and also served as the chairman of the county chamber of commerce and the county senator.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the landlord armed Li Shi found the Liao family who had given them support in order to help the New Fourth Army. Although the KMT-CCP cooperation has now ended, Li Shi still believes that the Liao family will continue to support them.
He found Mao, the grandmother of the Liao family, who was unequivocal about her support for the anti-Japanese resistance, and she expressed her willingness to support Li Shi. Li Shi gratefully accepted Mao's help, and at the same time he also made an IOU saying that he would pay it back.
In the end, the 359 Brigade survived the difficulties with these grains and became a strong force active on the battlefield. After the outbreak of the Liberation War, the Liao family's business encountered difficulties, and the local ** of the Kuomintang continued to blackmail them.
Despite this, Liao Fuchu still resumed the production of gypsum salt, which was praised by the best. However, in 1951, he was reported guilty of two counts and sentenced to a heavy prison sentence.
After he was released from prison, he became a "black household" and had many inconveniences in his life. So, he began a long appeal, hoping to be reunited with his family. In the process of searching for evidence, he came across Li Shi's reminiscences, which gave him hope.
He wrote to Ma Xiliang, the recorder of Li Shi, hoping that he could help him.
Liao Fuchu asked for help due to the problem of grain delivery, and met the warm-hearted Ma Xiliang and **. Ma Xiliang is a native of Jincheng, Shanxi, participated in the anti-Japanese work, and has published many articles in important articles such as "Xinhua**".
* Although his family is poor and has only studied in primary school for a few years, he likes to read, respects intellectuals, and likes to make friends with intellectuals. After learning about Ma Xiliang's situation, he personally rushed to the production site, praised Ma Xiliang, and said: "If you have any difficulties in the future, you can come to me directly, and you don't need to report it level by level." ”
After that, Ma Xiliang was transferred to the Political Department of the 718th Regiment to engage in propaganda work. Although there are few records about Mahilian, it can be seen from Luo Weiyan's reminiscences that his character is full of selfless dedication and does not ask for anything in return.
Ma Xiliang was enthusiastic about helping Liao Fuchu, not only rushed to Wuhan to visit him in person, but also paid out of his own pocket to give him 100 yuan, and said sincerely: "The 359 Brigade encountered great difficulties that year, and the help of the Liao family was of great significance. ”
In fact, Ma Xiliang's family was also very poor, but he still wanted to do his best to help the Liao family and "pay off debts" for the 359 Brigade. He often went to the garbage heap of a factory to pick up garbage and sell it, and every time he scraped together 100 yuan, he would send it to Liao Fuchu's house, emphasizing that it was a relief fund from the Civil Affairs Bureau.
During the Anti-Japanese War, Zhang Aiping encountered difficulties, and his son Zhang Sheng decided to ask ** for help. However, Zhang Sheng has never seen **, so he can only cut out a **** in the newspaper and let his younger brother squat at the door of ** house with **.
After confirming that ** lived here, Zhang Sheng and his mother knocked on the door of **'s house. As soon as he heard that Zhang Sheng was here to ask ** for help, ** immediately went up and held their hands and said: "Comrade Zhang Aiping, I know him, he is a good comrade." ”
With the help of **, Zhang Aiping's situation gradually improved. After that, after seeing the letter of the veteran soldier Ma Xing, he was also deeply moved, he believed that this problem must be solved realistically, and immediately made very clear instructions.
With the testimony of veteran comrades of the 359th Brigade, such as ** and Ma Xing, Liao Fuchu's problem was quickly resolved. Liao Fuchu's original verdict was revoked, and the local ** also gave him some compensation.
When the news came, the whole family of the Liao family rushed to Ma Xing's house to express their gratitude. At the banquet, Ma Xing presented a 200 yuan red envelope with both hands, and at this time, everyone in the Liao family was moved to tears.
In the end, this experience can illustrate two points: first, the revolutionaries of the older generation will never forget their old friends, they will insist on a realistic attitude, regardless of the origin of the other party, recognize and support the historical contributions of those who have supported the revolution, and compensate them accordingly to the extent that conditions allow.
Second, doing more good deeds will bring good luck. When the 359 Brigade encountered difficulties, the old lady of the Liao family generously donated 1,000 loads of grain. Her open-mindedness is the premise for the Liao family to usher in a new life.
Otherwise, under the complex and changeable revolutionary situation later, the Liao family may encounter more tribulations.