Speaking of Li Zuopeng, the founding lieutenant general, I think many people have heard that he made great achievements in the revolutionary years, but in the end he went to jail because he took the wrong road. Today, we will review this legendary general.
Li Zuopeng was born in Ji'an, Jiangxi, and joined the Red Army at the age of 16, he started from the most basic level of the messenger soldiers, because of the bravery of the battle, there is a certain level of education, and later promoted very quickly, successively served as a squad leader, the staff officer of the 2nd Bureau, and the chief of the 2nd Section. In 1934, Li Zuopeng participated in the 25,000-mile Long March, and actively cracked the enemy's telegrams on the way, and he also recalled in his later years: "The long march was very arduous, and the enemy's hundreds of thousands of troops surrounded and blocked, fortunately, I deciphered the enemy's code, and I could know the enemy's marching movements at any time." ”
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Li Zuopeng served as chief of the reconnaissance section and chief of the operations section of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army. Soon after, the 115th Division, part of the "Great Division", partly went to Mount Wutai to establish the Jin-Cha-Ji base area, and partly went east to Shandong. As a military cadre, Li Zuopeng was transferred to the chief of staff of the Shandong Column. During the battle, because the Japanese army used poison gas bombs, Li Zuopeng's eyes were blurred and his tears flowed. Later, after treatment, he was still blind in his right eye, which is the main reason why he often wears sunglasses.
After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Li Zuopeng went to the northeast and successively served as deputy commander and chief of staff of the column, deputy commander, commander of the army, and chief of staff of the corps, and participated in the Liaoshen Campaign, the Xianggan Campaign, the Hengbao Campaign, and the Hainan Island Campaign. In 1955, he was awarded the rank of Lieutenant General of the Founding Lieutenant General.
Unfortunately, the old general went the wrong way in his later years and was sentenced to 17 years in prison in 1981. But then again, after all, he had made meritorious contributions to the revolution, and now that he was old, the old general was soon granted medical parole and then settled in Taiyuan. Organizationally, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, it was suggested that the old general change his name. He did not agree at first, but after several persuasions, he finally changed it to "Li Ming", which means "Ming people do not do secret things, frank and frank", and have lived the life of ordinary people since then.
As for the treatment, the upper authorities took great care of him and paid enough living expenses, and the old general himself was also very satisfied. In his later years, the old general liked calligraphy in his spare time, read character and military books, and wrote some memoirs himself. At this time, the old general was like a writer, and his life was full and comfortable. On January 3, 2009, the old general died of illness at the age of 95.