There is always a deep and complex feeling for hometown in the hearts of Chinese. This emotion stems from the nostalgia for home, but also from the longing for hometown. It is often said that "the fallen leaves return to their roots", which expresses people's simple feelings for their hometown; Some people also say that "returning to their hometown", which reflects people's noble pursuit of their hometown.
However, there is one person who is different. After he left home at the age of seventeen, he never returned to his hometown, despite his great achievements, he was the founding general of the People's Republic of China, Su Yu.
Su Yu was born in a small village in Huitong County, Huaihua City, Hunan. Although the village is in the countryside, his family conditions are quite superior, and it can even be said that he is a wealthy family.
Su Yu's father was a loyal and honest man who read poetry and books, and he deeply influenced Su Yu's growth, especially in education. Although he did not win, he relied on his ancestors' assets and his own efforts to live a good life, at least he did not worry about eating and drinking.
However, he was still deeply influenced by his reading, and this influence was reflected in his education of his children. Su Yu was passionate about reading since he was a child, but his father did not put education first and often called him home from school.
Despite this, Su Yu continued to study, and his diligence and talent eventually led him to the path of revolution.
If Su Yu had obeyed his father's arrangement, there might only be one more businessman in the world and one less founding general who galloped on the battlefield. Obviously, Su Yu chose the latter. Since childhood, Su Yu has been a rebellious child, and he does not like to be bound by his father's discipline.
He also hated being called home from school by his father to help him manage the family accounts. Although his father wanted the family to be harmonious and prosperous, Su Yu felt depressed and disgusted, and he wanted to escape from this bondage.
In 1924, Su Yu decided to apply for the Hunan Provincial Second Normal School, because this school was in Changde, far away from home. He knew that his father would stop him, so he chose to say goodbye.
Although he was passionate and wanted to pursue his dreams, he did not take into account the actual situation. Halfway through, he found that he didn't have enough entanglement to move on.
He was caught in a dilemma, either go home or move on. However, without entanglement, he could not move forward. After much deliberation, he decided to write a letter to his family, asking for money to be sent to him to continue his journey.
In the letter, he firmly expressed his determination to study in Changde. Despite being only seventeen years old, his decision and will are extremely strong.
In the letter, he wrote: "Even if I beg for rice, I will continue to move forward. Despite his poor physical condition, Su Zhouheng did not give up his pursuit. He knew that this might be the last time he was separated from his son, so he asked Su Yu's brother to take him home and wanted to say an unforgettable goodbye to his son.
When Su Yu returned home and looked at the child who was about to leave home, Su Zhouheng's eyes couldn't help but moisten. He knew that this goodbye might be the last time they would see each other.
So, he scraped together enough money for Su Yu's journey, and invited relatives and friends in the township to see him off. Looking at the young and promising Su Yu, Su Zhouheng's heart was full of complicated emotions.
He may regret his shortcomings as a father, or he may have a premonition that he is about to leave this world, or he may worry that his children will suffer setbacks outside.
However, he still held back his tears and watched his son leave his hometown with his backpack and go to Changde to study with a thirst for knowledge and a vision for the future.
Seventeen-year-old Su Yu left his hometown and knew little about the outside world. When he came to Changde in 1924, enrollment at the Hunan Provincial No. 2 Normal School had ended.
Fortunately, through the connections of his distant cousin, he was able to enter the Second Normal School Attached to the Elementary School. Su Yu has been diligent and studious since he was a child, and he knows the importance of this hard-won learning opportunity, so he cherishes it very much.
In order to be able to seize the time to study, make up for the previous gap, and be successfully admitted to the Second Normal School, Su Yu studied until he directly fell seriously ill. A year later, he was successfully admitted to the Hunan Provincial Second Normal College.
During his studies at Hunan Provincial Second Normal College, Su Yu embraced many new ideas. Arguably.
Changde is located in Xiangxi, with convenient transportation and prosperous economy, and is the three major centers of politics, economy and culture. The disseminators of new ideas make impassioned speeches in society, influencing students.
Many students embraced new ideas, became progressive youth, and devoted themselves to the revolutionary cause. Students at the Hunan Provincial No. 2 Normal School were divided into progressives and conservatives, and the contradictions between the two factions deepened.
On April 8, 1926, due to the Kuomintang rightists picking quarrels and provoking trouble, an incident occurred that shocked Hunan and even the whole country.
He has witnessed a chaotic world, witnessed people panic, witnessed the tragic death of innocent compatriots, and he realizes that the methods of the old society no longer work. Just as butterflies have to emerge from their cocoons to find light, how can we stand still?
So, in November 1926, Su Yu joined the Chinese Communist Youth League. Just two months later, in June 1927, he became a member of the Chinese Communist Party.
The young Su Yu showed outstanding military talent in the army, and his heroic performance led to his repeated meritorious service and his position was promoted all the way. Beginning in 1929, he successively served as battalion commander, regiment commander, division commander, chief of staff of the Red Fourth Army, chief of staff of the Red Eleventh Army, and chief of staff of the Red Seventh Army.
In the decades after the Nanchang Uprising, whether it was the Anti-Japanese War or the War of Liberation, Su Yu relied on precise command and ingenious military strategy to turn the tide many times.
Therefore, he made great contributions to the cause of the people's liberation and the founding of New China. After the founding of New China, he was praised as "the first of the ten great generals of the People's Republic of China" and held the important post of chief of the general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
After Su Yu left Huitong to study in Chengde at the age of 17, he never returned to his hometown, which became an eternal regret in his heart.
After many years of wandering, Su Yu is concerned about his homeland. He once sighed in "Listening to the Flute in Los Angeles on a Spring Night": "In this nocturne, I smell the willows, who can't afford the love of the hometown." Whenever he touches the scene, he always thinks of his hometown, his mother and his siblings.
However, after many years away from home, he has never been able to return, and even contact with his family has become very difficult. The war was so chaotic that Su Yu did not have contact with his family for nearly ten years.
Only in 1928 did he return home briefly. He has not been in contact with his family since. In 1935, during the Long March of the Sixth Army of the Red Army, the regiment commander found a person who had worked at Su Yu's family and asked him to bring Su Yu's news.
Hearing the news of Su Yu's peace and life, the old mother burst into tears. Despite this, Su Yu still failed to contact his family in person, and his heart was full of longing and concern.
For the next ten years, Su Yu had to command the army against the enemy while always thinking about the safety of his family. It wasn't until 1949, when he led the Third Field Army to liberate Shanghai, that his nephew, who was studying in Shanghai, found him.
The reunion of uncle and nephew made Su Yu, who had not seen his relatives for a long time, have mixed feelings. When the nephew told him that his mother was still alive, the general could no longer contain the excitement in his heart and left mixed tears.
In the twenty-seven years since he left his hometown, Su Yu has had countless opportunities to return home, but he has chosen to refuse. In 1951, when he was holding the post of deputy chief of general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, suddenly one day, he was chatting with his subordinates, recalling the difficult years of his youth, and having a strong desire to return home.
He thought it would be easy to take a leave of absence to go home, but his staff reminded him.
Su Yu was surprised to find that he needed an escort from a reinforced company to return to his hometown. He felt that this was a bit of a fuss and asked the staff why. The staff explained that because Su Yu's hometown is in Hunan, that is, Xiangxi, this place had experienced a year-long crackdown on bandits when the Siye army went south.
Although the bandit problem in Xiangxi was solved at that time, there was no guarantee that there were still hidden bandits. Especially the only way for Su Yu to go home, you need to be extra careful. Hearing this, Su Yu immediately dispelled the idea of going home, not because he couldn't transfer a reinforced company, but because he didn't want to waste military strength because of personal matters, and hoped that the organization would understand.
In 1958, Su Yu left the army due to illness, and had more time to rest and recuperate.
However, the sudden shift from a busy work state to a leisure life can have a certain impact on the body and mind. Therefore, in February 1959, he chose to go to the south to recuperate, and when he passed through Changsha on the way, his secretary suggested that he go back to his hometown to have a look, but he was in a state of frustration at that time and chose to refuse.
Recently, a provincial meeting was being held in Changsha, and at the same time, the county party secretary and deputy county magistrate of Huitong County also traveled to Changsha to attend the meeting. Su Yu was very pleased with this news, and he hoped to know more about the current development and new changes in his hometown, so he asked his secretary to arrange a meeting with the county party secretary and deputy county magistrate of Huitong County.
After seeing the two leaders of Huitong County, Su Yu seemed very happy and changed his melancholy mood these days. He excitedly asked about the changes in his hometown, and also asked if the century-old trees behind his old house were still there.
When he heard the two leaders say that the century-old trees were still there, Su Yu smiled like a child, and he recalled many happy and innocent times in his childhood. The deputy county magistrate and the secretary of the county party committee also told Su Yu that the county has changed greatly.
Now the county has built new roads and people's lives have improved. Hearing these new changes in his hometown, Su Yu was happy from the bottom of his heart. Looking at Su Yu who was so happy, the deputy county magistrate and the secretary of the county party committee warmly invited Su Yu to return to Huitong with them to see the new changes in their hometown with their own eyes.
Since Su Yuwan refused the warm invitation of the secretary of the county party committee and the deputy county magistrate, he has never returned to his hometown. Since then, his life has been full of difficulties and challenges.
Although he had longed to return to his hometown happily, some things could not wait, and time waited for no one. Until his later years, Su Yu's physical condition deteriorated, and the journey back to his hometown became extremely difficult.
Therefore, although he had always harbored a strong sense of homesickness, it became quite difficult to return to his hometown during that period. However, in the 80s of the last century, when Su Yu was hospitalized with a cerebral hemorrhage, he was lying on the bed, looking at the white ceiling, and suddenly remembered that not long ago, a fellow villager from Huitong came to Beijing to visit relatives with winter bamboo shoots from his hometown.
The fragrance of winter bamboo shoots reminded Su Yu of the taste of his hometown, and also evoked the homesickness hidden in his heart. He realized that he was already in old age and that his life was coming to an end.
At this time, he lay in bed and recalled his life from leaving home to study in 1924, joining the Communist Party of China in 1927, and now fighting for the revolutionary cause.
Each memory made his mind complex and deep.
My aging health and growing illness made me feel the urgency of going home, and if I didn't take action, I was afraid that it would be really difficult to achieve. However, my physical condition was much more serious than I thought.
After in-depth investigation of the hospital**, they decided that my current situation was not suitable for long-distance travel, and it was impossible to return to my hometown, Fengmushujiao Village, Fulong Township, Huitong County.
When the hospital's conclusions were reported to **, ** was also in a dilemma. I have given a lot to the country and the people in my life, and my desire to return to my hometown is so simple and strong that there is no reason for me to give up.
However, the old general's wish must be fulfilled, otherwise it will be too cruel. In this case, **decided to let my former subordinate Zhang Zhen go to my hometown, he took a lot of photos of my hometown's old house**, and also invited my fellow villagers to take a group photo.
After learning that I missed my hometown very much, my fellow villagers were very enthusiastic, took the initiative to take a group photo, and brought many hometown specialties for Zhang Zhen to bring back to me.
Zhang Zhen looked at the simple and enthusiastic faces of the villagers, and his heart was full of gratitude. He returned to Beijing with the Huitong specialty and ** to show it to General Su Yu. Seeing this, General Su Yu couldn't help but smile.
He lay on the bed, listening to Zhang Zhen's experience at the meeting, his expression relaxed and enjoyed, but his eyes revealed regret and yearning. Still, he was satisfied.
General Su Yu picked up the ** of the old house at home and stared at it for a long time, as if he had returned to his hometown. Although regrets are inevitable, he is satisfied to see the scene of his hometown again in this way.
On February 5, 1984, General Su Yu passed away in the General Hospital of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and the death of a generation of famous generals made the rebellious child no longer rebellious.
I don't know how much General Su Yu missed his hometown during the 60 years he left home, but I do know that his departure has given the Chinese people a brighter future.