Ho Chi Minh, the leader of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, developed deep friendships with many leaders of our country during the revolution. ** once praised him as "the closest friend of the Chinese people", and *** was even more tearful when he died.
Since 1960, Ho Chi Minh has traveled to China almost every year to recuperate and visit old friends, hence his nickname "Ding Lao". However, in 1969, he could no longer bear the turbulence and had to be confined to bed.
In order to treat an old friend, ** sent the best medical staff in the country to Vietnam. When the news of Ho Chi Minh's deteriorating health came, ** sent three batches of medical teams to support him.
However, when the news of the death of an old friend came, ** unexpectedly sent a message to Wang Youping, the ambassador to Vietnam, telling him not to go to mourn.
In June 1969, with the help of our medical team, Ho Chi Minh's condition improved. He understood the hardships of the medical staff in a foreign country and decided to give them three weeks off.
You've been here for a short time, it's hot, you go home and rest for three weeks, and then come back. Before the medical staff left, he dragged the sick body to see them off in person.
In order to thank this "China expert", the medical staff wanted to bring something for him. Ho Chi Minh smiled and casually said that he didn't need it much, but he just missed the taste of Peking duck a little.
The casual words of the old friend made *** take it very seriously, and he immediately instructed the medical team to bring back two roast ducks when they returned, and also bring sweet noodle sauce, green onions, and crepes.
In order to ensure the freshness of the roast duck in Hanoi, the summer heat in Hanoi turned to Minister of Foreign Trade Li Qiang for help. With the help of freshness experts, the roast duck and ingredients are carefully packaged, preservatived in white enamel buckets, and sprinkled with special preservatives to keep the temperature stable and avoid overheating and spoiling or overcooling and flavoring.
On June 30, the medical team returned to Hanoi with a gourmet roast duck. Ho Chi Minh was surprised at first when he saw the roast duck, and then accepted it with a smile. Then, he gave a roast duck to the medical team and invited Ambassador Wang Youping to enjoy this roast duck full of friendship on July 1, the birthday of the Communist Party of China.
At 12 noon, Ho Chi Minh's secretary, Vu Chi Chi, led Wang Youping to the restaurant. Later, Ho Chi Minh, dressed in pale yellow trousers, was helped down to the table. Although the body is weak, the mental head is very full.
At the banquet for the ambassadors, Ho Chi Minh talked and laughed, and his fluent Chinese was full of stories of past revolutions. When he talked about Wang Youping, he humorously asked if the embassy had too many mosquitoes, and if it was not enough, the presidential palace could support some of it, which caused everyone to laugh out loud.
At a banquet, Ho Chi Minh raised a glass to pay tribute to the 48th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. Wang Youping also stood up to celebrate, and Ho Chi Minh smiled and waved his hand, refusing. According to translator Li Jiazhong, Ho Chi Minh still has a happy smile on his face despite his ill health, even though he has not eaten much roast duck.
On the night of August 23, 1969, President Ho Chi Minh's condition deteriorated again, heart disease and bronchitis attacked at the same time, and the doctor Ong Nguyen Binh immediately reported this emergency to ** and arranged for personnel to be on standby 24 hours a day in order to respond at any time.
Worried about President Hu's health, he immediately sent a second medical team to Hanoi to provide support.
At 8 a.m. on August 25, the second Chinese medical team arrived in Vietnam. The responsible person of the Vietnamese side expressed his deep gratitude to China for its contribution and made an appointment to meet with Wang Youping to express his gratitude.
At the same time, the Vietnamese side forwarded a telegram from Ho Chi Minh to ***, the content of which was that the doctor had arrived, please rest assured. However, the reply did not reassure the prime minister because Wang Youping brought worrying news.
So, on August 26, he again sent a third group of medical personnel to Hanoi. Sending medical staff twice in a row is enough to see how much you care about your old friend.
However, he was still reassured, so on the 31st, he asked Professor Wu Jieping, president of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, to bring first-aid medicine to Vietnam. However, when the fourth medical team flew over Guangxi on September 1, the sad news came that Ho Chi Minh had stopped his heart at 9:47 a.m. that day.
Wang Youping brought the latest news, and Zhang Dewei, a translator for the Chinese medical team, said that the news of Ho Chi Minh's tragic death caused the fourth group of medical team members to immediately turn around and return, even though they were only 20 minutes away from arriving in Vietnam.
However, the first three groups of doctors did not give up, and they continued to perform artificial respiration and electric shock device rescue for more than 3 hours, until the end, bowing and exiting the operating room.
** After the bad news came, he pondered silently, and then sent a handwritten telegram to Wang Youping. It was the second telegram he sent to Wang Youping in four days, the previous one being a request for a report on Ho Chi Minh's health.
Wang Youping had a deep feeling about this matter, and he was a little puzzled by the decision at first, but when the Vietnamese side made a request, he really understood the wisdom and strategy of the prime minister.
After Ho Chi Minh's death, the Vietnamese side suggested that the Chinese medical team should not contact the outside world for the time being, and asked Wang Youping not to hold mourning activities for the time being. Ho Chi Minh was the founder of the new Vietnam, which established the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on September 2, 1945.
Unfortunately, his death coincided with the birth of the Republic. Such a coincidence may lead to the National Day and the National Disaster Day on the same day, which will not only make the domestic masses clear about the joys and sorrows, but also make the arrangement of the anniversary very tricky.
This problem had been foreseen earlier, so he instructed Wang Youping to act according to the Vietnamese side's ideas.
On September 3, Vietnam** issued an official announcement postponing Ho Chi Minh's death by one day to 9:47 on September 3, and decided to hold a state funeral on September 9.
Our country expressed our condolences for this, and led a team to Vietnam to say goodbye to the body of our old friend Ho Chi Minh. The official memorial group then set off led by ***, accompanied by *** and Wei Guoqing, who have a deep friendship with Ho Chi Minh.
In order to avoid causing trouble to Vietnam, ** instructed to rest directly at the embassy after landing, and do not let the Vietnamese side arrange. What followed, however, cast a shadow over the visit.
Comrade Ho Chi Minh has always had a deep affection for China, but his successor's attitude towards Sino-Vietnamese relations has changed. When Comrade Wang Youping informed the Vietnamese side that *** was coming, the Vietnamese side agreed to receive it, but refused to participate in the farewell ceremony of the body.
They explained that the body needed to be medically embalmed, so it was not possible to say goodbye to the body.
**Regardless of the temporary change of fortune of the Vietnamese side, he insisted on going to Hanoi as originally planned. He arrived on time on the morning of the 4th, and returned to China immediately after completing the funeral ceremony, without any reception from Vietnam.
When *** got off the plane, Fan Wen and other pro-China people came to greet him, and the tears of both sides were full of emotion. The prime minister shook their hands affectionately and said with emotion: "I'm late, I'm late." ”
This shows ***'s firm determination and deep nostalgia for his friends.
At noon, he met with Le Duan, the first secretary of the Vietnamese side, and others. Speaking of Ho Chi Minh, ** showed deep grief and detailed the people who traveled with him.
Wei Guoqing served as a military adviser in the Vietnam War of Resistance against France, fighting alongside Chen Geng. **When talking about Sino-Vietnamese relations, his charisma touched everyone present.
At 7 o'clock in the evening of the same day, the Vietnamese side, which was originally reluctant to let the prime minister see Ho Chi Minh's remains, changed its mind and secretly invited *** to the hospital to let him see his old friend Ho Chi Minh for the last time, which was also the only foreign delegation to see Ho Chi Minh's body at that time.
When leaving the hospital, stand in front of the portrait of an old friend and gaze affectionately. His last meeting with his old friend was less than an hour. At 8 p.m., ** fulfilled the previous promise and led the team to leave Hanoi.
However, when the prime minister boarded the plane, pilot Zhang Ruiwei came with worrying news. He just asked about the weather conditions of the domestic route, there was a large area of thunderstorm on the route from Hanoi to Nanning, which was very dangerous, and suggested that the group postpone the takeoff.
But the prime minister's eye sockets were still a little red and swollen, and he rejected the suggestion, insisting on leaving that night. He knows that this is an important diplomatic event, and if he fails to fulfill his previous commitments, it will have a profound impact on Sino-Vietnamese relations.
For Vietnam**, which has already made concessions, this may even be seen as a betrayal.
Under the instructions of ***, Zhang Ruiwei flew the plane to a high altitude. The only way out is through the thunderstorm zone. Despite being one of the top pilots in China, Zhang Ruiwei is well aware of the risks and responsibilities.
In the midst of the storm, lightning pierced the clouds, and he carefully steered the plane, using the glimmer of radar and lightning to find an opportunity to cross. The strong air currents constantly change position, causing all unsecured items on the aircraft to displace.
Zhang Shuying, the premier's bodyguard, suddenly noticed that the plane was jolting, and he immediately planned to go and check it. However, the prime minister reached out to stop his actions. Many years later, Zhang Shuying still remembers what *** looked like at that time.
As he spoke, he clasped his hands to his chest, straightened his waist, and tilted his head to the window, calmly gazing at the lightning and thunder outside. Recalling the crisis at that time, Zhang Ruiwei said: "I was in the front cabin, and my heart was more nervous than anyone else! ”
As a pilot, he could not allow the Prime Minister and others to encounter danger on the plane he was flying. When he tried his best and successfully drove out of the thunderstorm area, he already felt a chill behind his back, and sweat soaked his vest.
As soon as the life-and-death crisis ended, everyone was nervous, only *** looked out the window and smiled. He knows that the perilous journey is not over, and that the next challenge is just around the corner.
Zhang Ruiwei had just breathed a sigh of relief, but received bad news: Nanning was being hit by heavy rain, and the visibility was less than a kilometer. This was a huge challenge for the plane, as it had only barely landed in Nanning with its remaining fuel.
In the face of the new crisis, Zhang Ruiwei was not discouraged, he lifted his spirits and calmly waited for the coming storm. In the sky over Nanning, the plane was once again shrouded in thunderclouds, and the storm raged wildly.
His vision was blurry, and he could barely see the guiding lights on the ground. Gripping the joystick, Zhang carefully lowered the altitude of the flight, guiding the plane through the thunderstorm in an attempt to find traces of the runway.
He swayed from side to side on a waterlogged runway, struggling to find the best place to land. After several precise maneuvers, the plane finally landed firmly on the runway and successfully overcame the crisis.
Zhang Ruiwei's clothes were soaked with sweat, and almost all other items in the cabin were scattered on the ground except for people who were tightly restrained on their seats. In the midst of the storm, the light mixed with thunder and lightning shone through the window.
After Wei Guoqing confirmed that he was safe, he said to ***. The prime minister calmly replied: "The prime minister understands that with the efforts of this pilot, we can land safely." ”
Zhang Ruiwei heard Wei Guoqing's deep meaning and replied to the premier: "The prime minister thought about it and agreed. In the early morning of the next day, Zhang Ruiwei drove a special plane to send *** and others back to Beijing.