Preface
In 1921, Mao Zedong visited the Anyuan Coal Mine in Pingxiang, Jiangxi Province, and met a "little miner" who was only 10 years old.
He told Mao Zedong that his name was Dong Yaozi. Mao Zedong was very happy and said, "Your name is Dong Yaozi, and my name is Shi Sanyaozi. We are both Yaozi."
This "Dong Yaozi" is named Wang Yaonan. Later, he was the founding major general of the People's Republic of China and one of the founders of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Engineering Corps.
Picture丨Wang Yaonan
King of Engineers
In 1911, Wang Yaonan was born into a "firecracker family". Every household in their village made a living by making firecrackers.
So, when other children were sitting in class reading loudly, Wang Yaonan was surrounded by barrels of explosives. At a young age, he had never attended school for a day and was illiterate, but he knew everything about , gunpowder, and . When
html was 28 years old, a family in the village accidentally lit the explosives used to make firecrackers. In an instant, almost the entire village was razed to the ground.Wang Yaonan's family was not spared and became homeless. With no other choice, his mother could only take him and his sister to join his father in the Anyuan Coal Mine.
Wang Yaonan's father and grandfather are both blasters in Anyuan Coal Mine, and their work is extremely dangerous. At that time, coal mines had zero safety guarantees. Every time you went underground, it was basically like walking around the underworld.
's survival depends entirely on luck. Unfortunately, Wang Yaonan's grandfather did not have that luck. In a gas explosion, grandpa was left underground forever.
In addition to grieving for the deceased relatives, a more realistic and cruel problem is before us. How can a family continue to live without one labor force?
After much thought, his father asked Wang Yaonan, who was only 10 years old, to join the mine.
What we didn't expect was that Wang Yaonan, at a young age, was extremely talented in blasting. He was courageous and learned things quickly, and he soon became a well-known "blasting expert" in the mine.
In 1921, the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China sent people to Anyuan Coal Mine to promote revolution, so Mao Zedong met Wang Yaonan.
Wang Yaonan was deeply fascinated by the revolutionary principles spoken by Mao Zedong. Later, whenever Mao Zedong gave a lecture, the dirty Wang Yaonan would squeeze into the crowd.
When Mao Zedong saw him, he didn't mind the soot on his body and hugged him directly on his lap. A year later, Wang Yaowu, who had awakened to these revolutionary principles early, participated in the Anyuan coal miners' general strike.
Picture丨Huang Jingyuan
However, the outcome of the early revolution was destined to be tragic, and capital and the empire would not compromise with the unarmed workers. In September 1925, miner leader Huang Jingyuan was killed.
Wang Yaonan sadly tore Huang Jingyuan's bloody clothes into strips of cloth and distributed them to everyone. This time, Wang Yaonan truly realized that revolution will bleed.
However, Wang Yaonan did not back down. In 1927, the Communists, who finally realized that "power comes from the barrel of a gun," fired the first shot of armed resistance.
htmlIn September, Mao Zedong came to Zhangjiawan, Anyuan to hold a military meeting and instigated the Autumn Harvest Uprising. Everyone at Anyuan Coal Mine actively participated, including Wang Yaonan.He was appointed deputy captain of the demolition team of the Second Regiment of the First Division of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army when he was 16 years old.
In October of the same year, Wang Yaonan followed Mao Zedong to Jinggangshan . From then on, he became a staunch Red Army soldier.
In 1928, Zhu De and Peng Dehuai led teams to Jinggang Mountain. Thousands of people suddenly appeared on the mountain, and food and clothing immediately became tense, especially salt, which is necessary for the human body.
Just when everyone was frowning, Wang Yaonan gave Zhu De an idea: He could purify nitrate into table salt. After
explained in detail, Zhu De agreed with his idea. Wang Yaonan immediately found a large pot and used vegetable oil and cowhide to purify the salt nitrate into white salt.
Soon, his methods were promoted in the military, and Wang Yaonan's own talent began to be discovered and valued by bosses.
Wang Yaonan looked around and found that there were many pine trees in Huangyangjie, and there were many hornet's nests on the pine trees. He had an idea and had an idea.
He asked the soldiers to tie the cane to the pine branches. After the battle started, the enemy did not step on the nails. At this time, Wang Yaonan asked everyone to pull the cane.
As soon as the cane moved, the hornet's nest on the tree fell down. The scene was chaotic, and the enemy didn't care about the soles of their feet, so they naturally stepped on the nails.
Although this move did not completely repel the enemy, it still greatly boosted morale. After a whole day of fierce fighting, our army finally won a complete victory.
After this battle, Wang Yaonan was transferred to the special agent battalion as a platoon leader. At the same time, he also officially became a member of the Communist Party of China..
Picture丨Zhu De
One day in 1930, Wang Yaonan suddenly received a notice asking him to report to the legion headquarters. Wang Yaonan didn't know why, so he asked the battalion commander who came to inform him, "What do you want me to do?"
The other party's face sank, "Why do you ask so many questions? This is an order given by Mr. Zhu himself."
Wang Yaonan did not dare to slack off and hurried to He arrived at the legion headquarters, where Zhu De mentioned a brand-new term to him: "engineer."
Wang Yaonan didn't understand at all, so Zhu De simply explained to him simply and crudely, "Let me tell you about the role of engineers. To put it simply, it is to open roads in the mountains and build bridges when encountering water."
Wang Yaonan understood. Soon after, he carefully selected more than 100 people from various units to form the engineer company of the First Red Army Corps.
Picture | Wang Yaonan
The role of engineers
If you want to talk about how important engineers are in battle, you can see it by just giving a few examples.
In November 1933, in order to stop the incoming enemies from the east, Peng Dehuai led the Red Army to attack Shaxian County, Fujian Province.
At that time, Shaxian was garrisoned by elite troops from two regiments of the Kuomintang, and there were strong and towering city walls as cover on the outside. It was extremely difficult to capture it.
The Kuomintang defenders probably thought so too. They felt that under such conditions, it would be even more difficult for the Red Army to attack. Therefore, they shouted arrogantly, "Fly up!"
At the critical moment, Wang Yaonan led the engineer company soldiers and used tunnel blasting to blast open the seemingly indestructible city wall. Afterwards, the Red Army rushed Enter the city.
After this battle, Wang Yaonan won the Red Army's second-class Red Star Medal. This medal was equivalent to the ancient "gold medal for immunity from death."
Picture丨Wang Yaonan
Wang Yaonan also relied on this skill to quickly become a "popular person" in the eyes of various coaches. Whether it was digging mountains, building bridges, or blowing up city walls and railways, Wang Yaonan often won the entire battle without losing a single soldier or general.
Once, when Liu Bocheng reported his work to Mao Zedong, he said, "As long as Wang Yaonan smokes, there is no slope that the Red Army cannot cross; as long as Wang Yaonan has wine to drink, there is no river that cannot be crossed."
1934, Fifth After the failure of the first counter-encirclement and suppression campaign, the Red Army was forced to implement a strategic shift. Soon after, Wang Yaonan came to Jiangxi with his engineering company to carry out the task of building a bridge.
In order to keep it secret, Wang Yaonan specially set the construction time at night. There was no one around, no sound and no lights. The soldiers could only hang lanterns on the boat and carry out the difficult construction.
Despite being so careful, the enemy still knew that the Red Army was building bridges to cross the river every night. Wang Yaonan quickly rushed to the riverside and organized the masses to demolish the bunkers on the riverside.
Then, he jumped into the river and personally organized the Red Army to cross the river until everyone had safely crossed the river. Wang Yaonan ordered the pontoon bridge to be blown up, blocking the enemy's pursuit.
Picture丨Flying to seize the Luding Bridge
In May 1935, in order to prevent the Red Army from crossing the river, the enemy removed all the more than 30-foot-long wooden boards on the Luding Bridge, leaving only two bare iron cables on the bridge. Below is the roaring river.
Without hesitation, Wang Yaonan led more than 20 soldiers from the engineer company and rushed to the bridge head with wooden planks under the cover of fierce firepower.
Seeing the Red Army getting closer and closer, the frantic enemy set off a fire. Amidst the hail of bullets and raging fire, Wang Yaonan accelerated the speed of building the bridge.
Soon after, the laying of bridge plate was completed, and the main force of the Red Army successfully crossed the bridge. Similar things happened more than once during the Long March . The engineer company successively built dozens of bridges. Each time there were different situations, but the same hardships.
Picture丨Liu Bocheng
However, there is also joy in suffering. For example, just more than ten days before flew to capture Luding Bridge, the Red Army needed to pass through the Yi area to reach the Dadu River.
Liu Bocheng, the commander of the advance team, reminded him before departure,
"The Yi people have a deep hatred for the Han people. Almost everyone in their tribe can shoot and archery, and it is difficult for us to communicate with them in language. Therefore, we We must respond with extreme caution.
Each of our comrades needs to bear in mind that the Yi people are different from the Kuomintang army. They will not obey Chiang Kai-shek Therefore, everyone must strictly abide by and widely publicize our party's ethnic policies. Strive to pass through Daliang Mountain peacefully and smoothly.
No one is allowed to shoot without orders from me and Political Commissar Nie (Nie Rongzhen)!"
Then, Wang Yaonan's engineer company set off for Daliang Mountain behind the Sharp Knife Company. The road is very difficult to walk, and the engineering company basically has to "construction" all the way.
Picture丨"Yi Hai Alliance"
When we walked to a valley, a group of Yi girls suddenly rushed out with sticks, knives and forks, and threw the instructor to the ground to take off his clothes.
Wang Yaonan was particularly angry. He put his hand on the pistol at his waist and suppressed the fire. He shouted loudly to the soldiers surrounded by the little girls, "Headquarters has an order, no shooting!"
Before he could finish shouting, Wang Yaonan was also surrounded. Several little girls twisted his arms, snatched away his gun, and stripped off his clothes.
Not long after, the entire company's officers and soldiers were stripped naked. It was impossible to move forward, and the engineer company could only retreat.
The troops who were followed by the engineer company saw the "look" of the engineer company coming back, and they were so happy that they couldn't stand up. "Have you gone to take a shower? It's so cool."
Although they were joking, everyone still played their part. In the spirit of unity and friendship, the extra clothes were given to the engineer company.
When Sun Jixian, commander of the first battalion, took off his underwear and handed it to Wang Yaonan, he did not forget to say, "Comrade, if I take it off again, I will be naked." Only then passed the Yi ethnic area smoothly.
Picture | Mao Zedong
On May 25, the Red Army came to the Dadu River. At this time, Mao Zedong saw Wang Yaonan who was directing the crossing. He remembered what he had heard some time ago, so he took the initiative to ask him, "Are you really Was he stripped naked by the Yi people? "
" Yes, those pants were given to me by Battalion Commander Sun Jixian. "
" I heard that they were stripped naked by a little girl? "
Wang Yaonan nodded a little embarrassed. Mao Zedong's heart for gossip was not extinguished, "You didn't want to be a son-in-law for the Yi people at that time?"
Fortunately, everyone was crossing the river in an orderly manner, and Mao Zedong quickly let him go. Wang Yaonan thought in his heart, "It's really not possible. It's so shameful to know who spread the word. "
Invented "Landmine Warfare"
In 1940, the Hundred Regiment Campaign began, and the Eighth Route Army launched the Yuliao Campaign in Shanxi. At that time, the 386th Brigade was tasked with capturing Yushe . If it could not be captured for a long time, our right-wing troops would be attacked from both sides.
After the 2386 brigade failed to capture several strong attacks, Wang Yaonan, who came to support, found the chief of staff, "Is there anyone in our regiment who has a background in tomb robberies? Call over, I have something to say."
Soon, the chief of staff called ten Among the few soldiers, Wang Yaonan got straight to the point, "Today there is a special task that needs to be completed by everyone. Because it is somewhat dangerous, it is done voluntarily. I will not blame anyone who is unwilling."
After the soldiers thought for a moment, they all stayed. Wang Yaonan nodded happily, "We have been unable to defeat Yushe. Now I have a way, which is to let you dig holes and blow them up. "
said, Wang Yaonan took out the topographic map he had studied.
Picture | Chen Geng
The plan is this. Wang Yaonan is going to lead the soldiers to dig holes from the ground of the room, all the way to the bottom of the city wall, and then dig under the city wall. A medicine room, blasting the city wall.
Liu Bocheng asked him how many days it would take to complete it. Wang Yaonan was conservative and said it would take two days. When Chen Geng heard this, he slammed the table, "What?" Two days! Delay the fighter plane! "
Chen Geng deliberately provoked Wang Yaonan, and sure enough, Wang Yaonan "took the bait" and stood up with a bang, "If you can't blow up the city wall in 24 hours, you chop my head off! "
Then, Wang Yaonan led the commando soldiers to start working. The hole was dug so small that it could only be big enough for one person to pass through. A group of people would be changed every 20 minutes so that everyone could get a full rest.
After digging through, the soldiers in the medicine room pulled the explosive bag in little by little. Everything was ready, and everyone retreated to a safe position. With Wang Yaonan's "detonation", a hole was instantly opened in the city wall. Frightened to death, the 386th Brigade took this opportunity to rush in and eliminate the enemy in one fell swoop.
Picture丨Huangyadong Arsenal
After that, Wang Yaonan's performance caught Peng Dehuai's attention, so he gave Wang Yaonan a fatal blow. Important task: builds the defense system of Huangyadong Arsenal .
Huangyadong Arsenal is the largest and most productive arsenal of the Eighth Route Army. It is Peng Dehuai's "treasure". After receiving the task, Wang Yaonan immediately took charge. With a few key personnel, they went to Shuiyao Mountain in the north of Licheng County, Shanxi, where the Huangyadong Arsenal is located.
Wang Yaonan carefully surveyed the terrain and found that it was surrounded by mountains and the roads were all narrow paths. The Japanese tanks artillery. There is no use at all.
However, here is the problem. The Japanese's heavy weapon cannot be used, and it is difficult for our army to transport their mechanical equipment. If the Japanese break through the peripheral defense, our army will be unable to use it. The only way out was to surrender.
Because of this potential danger, Wang Yaonan thought hard for several days before deciding on the plan, which was to use landmines.
Picture of Zuo Quan
However, this plan was opposed by many commanders because of the cost of landmines. High, and not very flexible, it will explode as soon as you step on it, but whether it is an enemy or a friend.
The two sides were arguing. In the end, the decision was placed in front of Zuo Quan, the chief of staff who was in charge of the construction of Huangyadong defense project.
Zuo Quan is a top student from Huangpu . He understood the feasibility of Wang Yaonan's plan after a little thought. However, he also had his own concerns, so he made several requests to Wang Yaonan:
He must find ways to crack the Japanese army's mine clearance means, especially don’t accidentally hurt the people!
Wang Yaonan had already planned, he patted his chest with confidence, “Don’t worry, I’ll come to you if you have any questions! "
In November 1941, more than 1,000 Japanese troops poured into Licheng County and rushed towards the Huangyadong Arsenal.
However, when they were only on the outer edge of the defensive position, they had already stepped into the mine array that Wang Yaonan had commanded in advance. After a burst of overwhelming noise, the Japanese troops howled for help.
Picture | Wang Yaonan
The Eighth Route Army did not give them a chance and opened fire quickly before they could react. Without much effort, they pushed the Japanese troops back to Licheng County.
A few days later, the unwilling Japanese army gathered more than 5,000 people and continued to march towards the Huangyadong Arsenal. This time, they learned a lesson and caught up with a group of sheep in front of the army, letting the sheep deal with the mine array.
Thinking that there was no explosion where the sheep passed, the Japanese army thought that the mine array had been withdrawn, so they walked over with relief. As a result, the explosion sounded, and many Japanese soldiers went straight to the west.
After the sheep herd demining method failed, the Japanese army came up with an even more inhumane method. They used knives to force the Chinese people to go ahead and clear the mines for themselves.
However, a familiar scene happened again. The common people walked by safely, but explosions occurred as soon as the Japanese troops left.
One after another, the mine clearance failed, and the Japanese army completely collapsed. They could not figure out why the Eighth Route Army's mines only bombed the Japanese.
It turns out that when Wang Yaonan was laying mines, he had already thought that the Japanese would use animals to clear mines. Therefore, he adjusted the strength of the fuse in advance. Small animals like sheep, which are not heavy, will not cause explosions if they walk on them. .
As for not blowing up the people, it was because Wang Yaonan had trained a group of soldiers in advance who were proficient in changing the compression fuze technology to the pull fuze technology.
As soon as the special agent team detected that the Japanese army used civilians to clear mines, Wang Yaonan quickly replaced the fuze . After the civilians passed safely, the Japanese army detonated the mines while they were passing through.
Because of Wang Yaonan's mine array, the Eighth Route Army with more than 1,000 troops resisted the attack of more than 5,000 Japanese troops. It can be called a classic defensive battle.
Afterwards, many people who had doubts about Wang Yaonan were convinced by him, "He is worthy of being a man who has been engaged in explosives for ten or twenty years. He has become a master even if he is not a god."
However, at this time, Wang Yaonan had already gone to Jincha He went to the Ji base area, but he didn't hear these compliments.
Picture丨Nie Rongzhen
Wang Yaonan's trip to Jinchaji was due to a conversation between him and Zuo Quan. At that time, Wang Yaonan approached Zuo Quan, hoping to promote mine warfare in the Eighth Route Army.
But Zuo Quan asked him, "Your idea is good, but do you know why some commanders do not support your approach?"
Wang Yaonan did not understand. When Zuo Quan saw this, he explained to him,
"You are an engineer. King, of course landmines are nothing to you, but those commanders are different. Many of them have never even seen landmines. Can they believe it when you say it in such nonsense? They have to show the facts before they can be convinced."
These words awakened Wang Yaonan, so he reported to his superiors and asked to personally go to the front line to promote landmine warfare.
Picture | "Landmine Warfare"
Coincidentally, Nie Rongzhen, who had long admired Wang Yaonan's fame, happened to come to seek help. The two hit it off, and just like that, Wang Yaonan took his landmine samples to the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region .
After actually going to Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Province, Wang Yaonan understood why so many commanders were unwilling to use landmines. It turned out that there were many recruits and militiamen participating in the war, their combat skills were very low, and their shooting performance was unqualified, so he was not allowed to use landmines. .
In order to help recruits and militiamen understand and learn to use landmines faster, Wang Yaonan was really worried. After repeated consideration, he came up with a " situational teaching method ".
Every time he went to a village, Wang Yaonan took the technical backbone to the stage to act, showing how the Japanese troops stepped on landmines in various scenarios.
Such interesting teachings, the common people like to watch, some even asked "the Japanese army to die again" and repeatedly whipped the corpses.
Soon, there was an "explosion" craze in Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei. From ninety-nine people to those who could barely walk, everyone was laying landmines.
After the founding of New China, Bayi Film Studio produced the educational film "Landmine Warfare". Wang Yaonan was the film consultant . He turned his many years of experience into images and left them to generations of Chinese young people.
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