That night, the Shanghainese at the intersection of fate

Text｜Fellini

Today, 73 years ago, on the afternoon of May 26, 1949, at almost the same moment as I typed these words on the keyboard, the machine guns on the roof of the postal building on the north bank of Sichuan Luqiao stopped firing wildly. According to the data, under the staff of Liu Guanghui, a military liaison officer of the Communist Party's Military Control Commission, Zhao Zukang, who had just assumed the post of Shanghai's acting mayor for two days, persuaded the remnant of the 204th Division of the Youth Army, which was stubbornly resisting in the post building, to surrender through the acting postmaster Wang Yuguang.

In the battle that lasted for several days, the People's Liberation Army did not use heavy weapons to attack the opponent in accordance with the principle of "catching old bugs in the porcelain shop". According to records, the soldiers of the "First Squad of the Yangtze River" who had just participated in the first crossing of the Yangtze River in the battle of crossing the Yangtze River all died on the Sichuan Road Bridge.

After taking over the post building, people found that, except for a few bullet holes left on the east wall, the building can be said to be intact. So far, when I walked into Room 332 of the building, I could still see a lone bullet hole left on the glass.

On the same day, the remnants of the Youth Army of the Hebin Building and the Broadway Building (now the Shanghai Building), which were also guarding key points on the north bank of the Suzhou River, surrendered one after another. Immediately, Liu Changyi, the deputy commander of the Songhu garrison, led more than 40,000 people to surrender (the image of this man can be seen in the movie "Battle Shanghai"). The People's Liberation Army realized the north-south join forces and completed the control of the most core area of ​​Shanghai.

Although the "positive day" when Shanghai changed hands was later uniformly identified as "5.28", please pay attention to "5.26"-this may be the intersection of Shanghai people's ups and downs in the next century, and it was just marked by Mark's calendar 73 years ago. on.

This night was also the beginning night of the most far-reaching public relations operation in modern Shanghai history. On the same day, the troops who broke the city entered the city at night and lay down in their clothes on Nanjing Road. Afterwards, the photos leaked from Shanghai, shocking the world. There will never be such a scene again—from the night of the 26th to the morning of the 27th, more than 2,000 soldiers fell down on the 500-meter Nanjing Road from the intersection of Nanjing Road, Zhejiang Road, and Tibet Road. They belong to the 178th Regiment of the 60th Division of the 20th Army.

When people wake up from the night of early summer filled with gunpowder smoke, traffic in Shanghai has resumed.

Rong Yiren, who was stranded in Shanghai due to a lawsuit, heard from a factory manager under his command that "the army has entered the city, and they are all sleeping on the street, and the customs are in good order." He didn't believe it, so he drove his car out to make samples at 6 o'clock in the morning. . It is true. What I witnessed may have deeply stimulated Xiaorong. Just three years ago, Rong's father, Rong Desheng, was kidnapped. Under the joint efforts of black and white fraud, he had to suffer pain and bleed 500,000 US dollars to escape.

If the People's Liberation Army hadn't entered the city, Rong Yiren would have gone to court to respond to a lawsuit on May 27. He is the defendant, and the plaintiff is the government supervisory office, suing the Rong family for the quality problems of the military flour. The former site of the Rong family’s flour mill is next to the current Moganshan Road M50, next to the Suzhou Creek. Looking north from today's Qianshu, you can still see an old black and red house.

As the city changed color, the Rong family's lawsuit disappeared.

That night, Eileen Chang was also staying in Carlton's apartment on Huanghe Road in Shanghai. This is also her last residence in Shanghai. At this moment, there are still 3 years and 2 months before she leaves Shanghai. 70 years later, Zhang was called "Run her grandma" by Shanghainese after that time because of her resolute departure. After the country changed its flag, Xia Yan, who admired Zhang's talent very much, recommended her to participate in the first Shanghai Cultural Congress. Zhang deliberately kept a low profile and washed out all the lead, wearing a tight-fitting cheongsam and a mesh white wool shirt to attend the meeting, but accidentally entered the White Tiger Hall in Lenin's attire.

That night, Ai Ling, who didn't know how to run, was still writing "Eighteen Springs". In March of the following year, Shanghai's "Yi Bao" began to serialize "Eighteen Springs", with the author's signature: Liang Jing. The story is written eighteen years backwards from 1949. As if 1949 was the end of some kind of eternity.

After that night, everything in Shanghai was as it was before, and Hollywood movies were still playing in the cinema. After the People's Liberation Army slept across the road, MGM's romantic song and dance comedy "Water Lotus" continued to be screened in Shanghai. Tickets were hard to find, and it was a hit in the city. The word "continue" has two meanings - this film was filmed in 1944, and it is not the latest Hollywood production, so it should belong to the long-running category; second, during the screening of this film, some citizens wrote to Mayor Chen, asking why Hollywood movies continue to show. Xia Yan, who is in charge of culture, asked Mayor Chen and Deputy Mayor Pan for instructions. Pan said: It's nothing unusual. He watched this movie in Hong Kong, and it's not considered a pornographic movie. Lao Chen said: There is no need to ban it, let the Taoists yell.

Summer nights in Shanghai are quiet and silent, but the death knell of Hollywood movies has sounded, although few Shanghainese can hear the overtones. However, in just a few years, a series of factors such as the Korean War, policy squeeze, tax adjustments, etc., finally changed the color of the screen. The then young Director Gu of the Shanghai Finance Bureau also contributed to this.

There are also specific adventurers sent off by the death knell. Director Gu soon joined hands with Director Wang of the Land Administration Bureau to "recover" assets owned by famous foreign investors such as the racetrack under the name of real estate tax. According to historical records, the foreign adventurers in the past were miserable, and they found the "Chinese Enterprise Company" specially set up by the Shanghai Land Administration Bureau for such things. for taxes. In the hands of Director Gu, a child prodigy who made his debut at the age of fifteen, the properties that were taken back without bloodshed include the Racecourse, the Dog Run (now the Cultural Square), the Hartong Garden (now the Exhibition Center), the Huamao Apartment (now the Jinjiang Hotel), France Club (now Garden Hotel), Sassoon Building (now Peace Hotel)...

After that night, countless people living in the city fled. Or sit withered and worry about the city. Or joyously. A deck of poker cannot please everyone who plays cards. You will never be the one who shuffles and deals the cards. Occasionally, you may be asked to cut the cards to enhance the atmosphere of saltiness and renewal. This is the modern era for Shanghainese.

Named a book, but wrote a wedge.

At this moment, at dusk on May 26, 2022. At this time 73 years ago, Baoshan, Yangxing, and Wusong had already fallen. On the Pudong battlefield, the PLA wiped out all opponents. The unblocking of Shanghai - oh no, they say it's "liberation", and it's coming.

Everything after that was so violent, but on May 26th, it was still as silent as a mystery.