In the midsummer of 1952, war raged on the Korean Peninsula.
Outside the window, cicadas chirp and heat rolls in, but they can't soak in the tension of this room.
Suddenly, the door was slammed open.
One of the guards stumbled in, his face as white as paper.
He trembled and saluted Mr. Peng, his lips trembling, as if he was trying to restrain some great fear.
"The 67th Army... The commander of the 67th Army, Li Xiang, sacrificed! ”
The guard finally squeezed out the words, his voice so hoarse that he could barely hear it.
Mr. Peng raised his head suddenly, his brows furrowed:
"What!"
His voice was full of disbelief.
"What is the reason?"
The guard opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word.
His eyes wandered, as if he had seen some terrible sight.
Mr. Peng's heart sank, he knew this expression too well-
Not daring to delay, Mr. Peng immediately rushed to the hospital.
At that moment, he froze in place as if he had been struck by lightning.
His brain raced, weighing the possible implications of the news.
After a few moments, he decisively ordered:
"Immediately block the news, and never allow anyone to leak the death of Li Xiang."
Until five months after the end of the war.
This secret, like a heavy stone, weighs on the heart of everyone who knows.
Far from being a glorious scar on the battlefield
The summer heat doesn't seem to be able to penetrate this cold ward.
Mr. Peng stood there, feeling his heart clenched tightly by an invisible hand.
Lying on the bed,
Mr. Peng's gaze wandered over Li Xiang.
Every terrible mark was like a sharp blade that slashed at his heart.
Mr. Peng held back tears, and there seemed to be a lump of cotton in his throat.
"In the end... What happened? ”
He struggled to squeeze out the words, his voice hoarse like his own.
The doctor's answer was like a basin of ice water poured on his head: "It may be sepsis." ”
"Impossible!"
Mr. Peng almost blurted out.
In his mind, Li Xiang's appearance when he generously went to the DPRK flashed.
Suspicion shrouded Mr. Peng's heart, and he felt a chill rushing up from the soles of his feet.
As a battle-hardened general.
Like a sharp knife
The Sixty-seventh Army led by Li Xiang.
Like a sharp knife, it pierced deeply into the US position.
The U.S. military respects and fears this unit, treating it as a thorn in the side and a thorn in the flesh.
Early one September morning.
Before the morning fog cleared, the U.S. military launched a fierce attack.
Li Xiang stood on the top of the hill with a calm expression.
His eyes were as sharp as an eagle, scanning the entire battlefield.
Suddenly, the corners of his mouth rose slightly, as if he saw a flaw that the enemy could not see.
"Pass my order, the main force will meet the enemy head-on, attract firepower, and the reserves will surround the rear and give me a hard fight!"
The battle lasted a whole day.
This victory was like a hammer that smashed the self-confidence of the US military.
But at the same time, he was hated by the US military.
A strange thing
Mr. Peng looked at Li Xiang's scarred body, and doubts surged in his heart.
He turned to the guard on the side, and his voice was low and eager:
"Has he eaten anything special lately? Or have you been exposed to something suspicious? ”
The guard frowned and thought for a moment, then shook his head:
"Report to the chief, we usually eat the same. If it was a food problem, it could not be that only Commander Li had an accident, but we were safe and sound. “
He asked, "Has anything strange happened lately?" ”
After a moment of silence,
One of the young lads plucked up the courage to speak:
"Report to the chief, more than a week ago, something strange did happen."
Mr. Peng's eyes immediately locked on the soldier and motioned for him to continue.
"On that day, there were US planes flying over. We thought we were going to be bombed, and we were all ready to fight. But they just dropped a few empty shells and left. At the time, we all thought it was strange and didn't understand why the Americans were doing this. ”
"And which of you touched those shells?"
He asked eagerly.
The soldiers looked at each other, and then someone whispered: "Only Commander Li Xiang personally picked it up and checked it, and then he threw away the bullet casing." ”
Mr. Peng's heart sank suddenly.
The fighters recalled the scene of that day:
Suddenly there was a piercing roar in the sky,
The fighters fell to the ground one after another.
However, the expected explosion did not happen.
There were only a few seemingly ordinary shells, which fell not far away.
He crouched down and scrutinized.
In the sunlight, the surface of the metal glows with an eerie sheen.
Li Xiang frowned, as if he felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't say it.
ultimately
Mr. Peng closed his eyes and sighed deeply.
The doubts in his mind were growing stronger, and a terrible guess was taking shape.
Early the next morning, after touching the bullet casing, Li Xiang came out of the tent.
however
"Maybe I didn't sleep well last night."
He thought to himself, rubbing his temples.
That night, Li Xiang found a small pimple on his head.
He frowned and examined the bumps.
"Maybe I've been too tired lately, so I'm on fire."
Who knows the third day,
Beads of sweat the size of beans oozed from his forehead, and his face was as pale as paper.
When the guards saw this scene, their hearts were alarmed.
Li Xiang was hurriedly sent to the field hospital.
In the hospital, doctors go back and forth, and various examinations are carried out one after another, but the results are always disappointing.
The comrades-in-arms stood in front of the hospital bed, watching the iron-clad commander being tortured by the disease.
Seven days have passed.
Li Xiang finally stopped breathing, leaving a trace of sadness and doubt.
Mr. Peng stood in the ward, his heart surging with unquenchable anger and grief.
The fists are clenched, and the nails sink deep into the palms.
He roared under his breath:
"What kind of sepsis is this? This is clearly a conspiracy of the enemy! It's germ warfare! ”
counterattack
Mr. Peng stood in the temporary headquarters, his hands clenched, and his eyes burned with anger.
His voice was low but firm, and he gave a series of strict orders to the staff officers around him.
"Absolute confidentiality! No one is allowed to divulge the cause of General Li Xiang's death. ”
The staff officers nodded in agreement.
Mr. Peng turned to look out the window, his eyes passing through the war-torn front line, as if he was going straight to distant Beijing.
He knew how the news would shake at the highest levels.
Beijing, Zhongnanhai.
When Mr. Peng's secret message arrived, there was an instant silence in the conference room.
A moment later, the silence was broken by a determined voice:
"We must act!"
Soon, a diplomatic offensive against the US military quietly unfolded on the international stage.
The representative of China made generous statements on various international occasions exposing the crime of the US military in using biological and chemical weapons on the Korean battlefield.
This accusation is like a bombshell, which has caused huge repercussions in the international community.
The United States is in an unprecedented diplomatic dilemma.
Their justification pales, and the legitimacy of the war is seriously questioned.
At the same time, the officers and men of the Volunteer Army fought bravely to kill the enemy.
Finally, in July 1953, the U.S. military, under international pressure and the powerful offensive of the volunteers, had to sit down at the negotiating table.
The signing of the Armistice Agreement marked the end of this brutal war.
Five months later, on a solemn autumn day, General Li Xiang's remains were secretly transported back to the motherland.
In Beijing, a solemn farewell ceremony was quietly held.
The people who attended the ceremony looked sad.
They know that