One day in 1973, Li Xiannian sent a letter signed by Zhongfazhen on his desk. He saw that the name seemed similar, but he couldn't remember who it was, so he hurriedly opened the letter.
Zhong Fazhen said straight to the point in the letter: "Old leader, I am a red ghost who has worked with you. Please help me confirm my identity."
He also recalled the past when he worked with Li Xiannian and said that he had returned to his hometown to farm for more than 30 years. But for some reason, people found out that he was found out that someone accused him of being a deserter, a traitor, a soldier of the Kuomintang... and all kinds of unfair treatment followed.
Zhong Fazhen endured all these. What made him most uncomfortable was that his eldest son was also affected. After graduating from Jiangxi Medical College, he assigned his jobs, and his second son even lost the opportunity to go to college. In those days, it was as rare as the top scholar in the feudal society.
If the son cannot assign a job and comes back to farm, it will not only waste his efforts, but will also affect the child's life. Zhong Fazhen had no choice but to write a letter to Li Xiannian for help.
When he was awarded the title in 1955, there was a saying that "the Red Army will not leave the school". If Zhongfa Town was really a red ghost who worked with Li Xiannian, he was also an official after liberation, but why did he return to become a farmer under his name?
Li Xiannian
13 joined the army and firmly followed the troops
Zhongfa Town is from Changgang, Xingguo County, Jiangxi Province. He was born in 1919. Chairman Mao, Zhu De and others led the Red Army to open up the Central Soviet Area, which spans Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong provinces. The Xingguo is the core of the Central Soviet Area and has also won the title of "Model County".
The masses in Xingguo are extremely enthusiastic about revolution. 90,000 out of the 230,000 people joined the army, especially in Nagaoka, where there are only more than 1,600 people. There are 320 cadres who are in the Red Army or transferred to work at the county or above. After liberation, as many as 56 founding generals with nationality, they became the famous " General County ".
The father of Zhongfa Town participated in the peasant association movement of the underground party organization in his early years. Unfortunately, the movement was destroyed by the enemy. In order to avoid implicating his family, Zhongfa Town committed suicide by hanging himself. At that time, Zhongfa Town was only 8 years old. Later, the Red Army arrived in Changgang, defeated the local tyrants and distributed the land, and established Lenin Primary School. Zhongfa Town entered primary school for free and his family's life began to get better.
On one day after school, Zhongfa Town saw villagers beating drums and drums to see off a few young people to join the army, and it was very lively, and it also had the idea of joining the army. In fact, four of Zhongfa Town's cousins have participated in the Red Army, and Zhongfa Town has always envied them. So he ran to the Red Army base and asked to participate. At that time, Zhongfa Town was only 13 years old and not as tall as a rifle, and the Red Army cadres refused to ask for him.
Zhong Fazhen said he refused to leave no matter what, and cried and said, "I can do any job and can endure any hardship." The troops really had no choice but to take him in with the consent of his superiors. Because he was too young, Zhongfa Town was assigned to a rear hospital as a nursing home. He was flexible and able to endure hardships, so he was sent to a military medical school to study.
Young Red Army soldiers (stills)
In October 1934, the Red Army lost the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" operation and was forced to transfer from the Central Soviet Area, and began the arduous Long March 2.
Before the troops set off, the hospital leaders mobilized and required young people to stay and issued two severance payments for oceans . But Zhongfazhen was still as determined as he was when he joined the army, and refused to leave no matter what he said. Because he had been studying in elementary school for several years, he was assigned to the Political Department of the Red Fifth Army as a propagandist.
Although propagandists do not have to go to the front line to fight, they are more painful than fighting. Every time we march, Zhongfa Town had to follow the troops to set out in advance and cheer for the soldiers in some dangerous positions. They often set out in the middle of the night, work all day during the day, and rarely have time to rest.
When encountering enemy situations, Zhong Fazhen and his comrades often cannot close their eyes for three days and three nights, and they have no time to cook. They will eat a few bites of dry food when they are hungry, and they will lie on the side of the road to drink some water when they are thirsty.
When I walked to Hunan, Zhongfa Town's straw sandals were broken and I could only march barefoot. It was already winter and the land was cold. When I walked to Chenzhou , some people sent a batch of straw sandals to the Red Army, and Zhongfa Town changed into new shoes.
Red Fifth Corps is the back guard of the entire army and is responsible for the blocking mission. They fight almost every day, and they have to accommodate the fallen people after the main force passes. In Zhongfa Town's impression, during the Long March, they were chasing the main force almost every day, otherwise they would be caught up by the enemy's pursuers.
The environment is extremely difficult, and the soldiers do not know where the troops are going, and even the leaders do not have a clear destination. But the young Red Army soldiers did not feel hard or tired. They had a firm belief in their hearts - following the troops and the organization, victory would always come.
Red Army in the battle (stills)
A stone saved his life
Although he chased after him day and night, Zhong Fazhen still fell behind because he had to take care of two wounded people at one time. He found a fellow villager and asked, "Did you see the Red Army passing by?"
fellow villager said with a confused look on his face: "What is the Red Army? I only saw a team of beggars carrying guns heading towards Luding."
Zhongfa Town ran for more than 30 miles, and gunshots rang behind him. Because he was alone, he could only hide behind a huge rock. It started to rain heavily that night, and Zhongfazhen didn't care about these things and chased after them all the way. Suddenly his feet slipped, he flipped over several times, and rolled into the turbulent Dadu River . Fortunately, he was stopped by a huge rock and saved his life.
Zhongfa Town did not know that just a few days ago, a regiment led by Wang Kaixiang and Yang Chengwu also marched 240 miles a day and night on this road in the rain, rushing to Luding Bridge before the enemy reinforcements arrived.
Only 13 bare iron chains remained on Luding Bridge. In the end, 22 Red Army soldiers braved the enemy's artillery fire and laid wooden boards on the iron chains, defeating the enemy on the other side, opening a passage for the Red Army to advance.
When Zhongfa Town arrived at Luding Bridge, he saw that the turbulent river water hit the stone and stirred up waves more than ten feet high, making a sound that shook the sky and the earth. Other soldiers can cross the river by holding the guardrail cable, but Zhongfa Town is too short to touch the guardrail.
The shaking iron chain bridge made Zhong Fazhen feel dizzy, but thinking of the pursuers behind him, he could only overcome his fear and climbed across the Luding Bridge with his hands and feet. Until he caught up with the large army at the foot of Jiajin Mountain, the director of the Political Department Yang Keming said excitedly when he saw him back, "Little devil, I thought I would never see you again."
When he crossed Jiajin Mountain, which was covered with snow all year round, Zhongfa Town was still wearing straw sandals given to him by an old Red Army. On the snow-capped mountains, all his toes were frozen and they were still covered with black scars until his old age.
1935, Central Red Army and Red Fourth Front Army met in Maogong in northwest Sichuan. The two main Red Army decided to go north together to create the Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu Soviet Area. Then the troops were mixed into two left and right armies. The Red Fifth Army where Zhongfa Town is located was adapted into Red Fifth Army , and followed the Red Fourth Front Army to the north.
Before passing through grassland , the Red Fifth Army, which had been the rear guard, suddenly received an order to change it to avant-garde. When the army's vanguard regiment Dagaqu River was ordered to go south due to insufficient food. On the way, Zhongfa Town was transferred to the headquarters to learn radio. He was extremely excited and rushed to report overnight.
Zhongfazhen didn't know that it was the headquarters that Zhang Guotao pretended to be. When the two armies met, Zhang Guotao took advantage of the large number of soldiers in the fourth Red Army and demanded power from the central government out of selfishness. Later, he opposed the northward route and demanded to go south to Sichuan and Kang to establish a base.
After the Central Committee persuaded Zhang Guotao to go north to fight against Japan, he suddenly pretended to be the Central Committee and carried the right army south. That is why the Red Fifth Army, which belongs to the First Red Army, was suddenly transformed into avant-garde to avoid blocking its going south.
Facts have proved that the path Zhang Guotao chose was wrong. After the Red Fourth Front Army headed south, it was besieged by Sichuan warlords and suffered heavy losses and was forced to retreat to western Sichuan. It was not until June 1936 that the Red 2 and 6th Army led by Ren Bishi and He Long arrived in the Ganzi area to meet with the Red 4th Front Army, and Zhang Guotao agreed to go north again.
The old Red Army said that the most difficult thing in the Long March was to climb snow-capped mountains and cross grasslands. The grasslands in northwest Sichuan are more than 300 miles in length and altitude of more than 3,500 meters. There is no people here, no food or roads.There are rivers and swamps everywhere under the grass, and if you are not careful, you may be swallowed up by the swamp.
Zhongfa Town still remembers until his old age that when crossing the grassland, he encountered a river. The engineers could not find the materials to build a bridge, so everyone could only wading in and crossing the river. The leader asked Zhong Fazhen to hold the ponytail tightly to avoid being washed away by the river.
Due to Zhang Guotao's mistake, the Red Fourth Front Army crossed the grassland three times, and the troops suffered heavy losses. More than 80,000 people were on the way south, and more than half of the troops had been reduced after arriving in northern Shaanxi. Countless warriors were sacrificed during the Long March. Zhongfazhen, who was under 17 years old, survived many hardships.
Red Army Crossing the Grassland (Oil Painting)
End of the Long March and began the Western Expedition
When everyone was excited about the victory, they received an order to cross the west Yellow River Expedition to Xinjiang to open up ties with the Soviet Union. At that time, the army had just arrived in northern Shaanxi and had not yet had enough time to rest. Why did they set out again so urgently?
One, The three main forces of the Red Army met in northern Shaanxi, creating a great momentum. Chiang Kai-shek was mobilizing heavy troops to "encircle and suppress". However, the Red Army has reached a united front relationship with the two divisions Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, and the two sides are in a state of truce. The Red Army could only take this opportunity to strive to open up ties with the Soviet Union as soon as possible so as to obtain aid and break the enemy's encirclement.
Second, although the area of northern Shaanxi base is large, due to the geographical environment, there is very little population and food, making it difficult to support the three main Red Army. Moreover, shortly after the end of the Red Army's Eastern Expedition, the central government proposed to Yan Xishan and other suggestions to Yan Xishan and other "stop the civil war, fight against Japan and anti-Chiang", and it is not appropriate to go eastward expedition again. To the north is a vast desert, and to the south is the territory of Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, so it can only develop westward.
On November 11, 1936, the 30th, 9th, 5th and 4th Front Army headquarters that had crossed the west bank of the Yellow River formed more than 20,000 people, which formed the Western Route Army of , which was also the most tragic force in the history of the Red Army.
At that time, Zhongfa Town had been incorporated into the Red Ninth Army as a translator. The army occupied the throat Gulang City of Hexi Corridor with a destructive force. Gulang has always been a place where military strategists must fight for. After being occupied by the Red Army, it caused great panic among the enemy. Ma Bufang mobilized more than 20,000 Ma family cavalry to besiege Gulang. Although the Red Ninth Army had more than 6,000 people, there were only more than 2,500 guns, with an average of only 15 bullets per gun.
Despite the huge gap in strength, the Red 9 army still held on for three days. Ma Family Army used aircraft cannons to bombard the city wall, blowing a gap and then rushing into the city. Gulang is the location of the Red Ninth Army headquarters, and most of them are non-combatants, especially the Ministry of Supply and the Ministry of Health, who are unarmed female soldiers.
At the critical moment, the military political commissar Chen Haisong stepped forward and led the military department's personnel to fight the enemy's desperate battle. Zhong Fazhen also participated in this battle. He was small and had no gun in his hand. He could only hide in the dark with a big knife in his hand, specifically cutting the enemy's horse's legs.
Zhongfa Town can't remember how many horse legs were cut. It was not until dusk that the military headquarters broke through the encirclement, and Zhongfa Town's military uniform was soaked in blood. In this battle of , more than half of the Red Ninth Army suffered casualties, and important cadres such as Chief of Staff Chen Bozhi , 25th Division Commander Wang Haiqing, and 27th Division Political Commissar Yi Hanwen died.
The Red Ninth Army was originally the main force of the Fourth Front Army. After this battle, it was severely injured and never recovered. Later, the army was reduced, and Zhongfa Town was incorporated into Li Xiannian's 30th Army.
Scenes after the battle in Gulang City
30The military headquarters has only two translators, and important telegrams are directly handed over to the leaders of the military headquarters by the translators. Zhong Fazhen and Li Xiannian have frequent contact at work. Zhong Fazhen still remembers that the telegram of Lao Jiang was arrested after Xi'an Incident He translated it and handed it directly to Li Xiannian.
However, the Xi'an Incident did not stop the Ma family's army from attacking. In order to support the Xi'an Incident, the Western Route Army had to stay in Linze and Gaotai areas to restrain the Ma family army. Although it gave the enemy a lot of damage, it also suffered heavy casualties. then dealt with the Ma family army in the Nijiayingzi area for a month, and was eventually forced to break through and retreat into the Qilian Mountains because they were outnumbered.
At this time, the entire Western Route Army had less than 3,000 people, but the Ma family army was still chasing them relentlessly.When the Red 30th Army arrived at Kanglong Temple, it was besieged by the enemy again. The situation was urgent at that time. The superiors asked Zhongfa Town to send the last telegram calling for help from Yan'an and smashed the radio station. The troops were forced to disperse and break through.
Zhongfa Town and 7 other soldiers from the agency walked to the top of Qilian Mountain. They found some wood to make a fire and stayed for one night. Due to the lack of guerrilla knowledge, no burned fires were buried along the way. Soon, the Ma family army followed the tracks and surrounded them and captured them in a ravine. In the end, only more than 400 people led by Li Xiannian arrived in Xinjiang. The battle process of the Western Route Army was extremely tragic and could not be explained clearly in just a few words. The reasons for the failure of the Western Route Army are many. From a military perspective, there are roughly the following points:
First, After the Western Route Army expedition, its connection with the east bank of the Yellow River was cut off by the enemy and became an isolated army. In history, if an isolated army goes deeper, there will be more dangers.
Second, Most of the northwest are ethnic areas. Due to historical relations and long-term false propaganda by the enemy, they are hostile to the Red Army. Under this situation, the Red Army was unable to replenish food and ammunition, nor could it replenish troops. It is difficult to support it by just seizing it from the enemy.
Third, Northwest Ma Family Army is mostly cavalry, mobile and flexible, and comes quickly and walks quickly. The Red Army relied on just two legs and it was difficult for them to adapt to the enemy's tactics for a while.
Xu Xiangqian recalled the tragic battle scene of the West Route Army
After being captured, in order to keep the secret of the troops, Zhong Fazhen never admitted that he was a translator. At that time, the enemy commander's father was sick. He saw that Zhongfazhen was old and sent him to Xining home to take care of his father.
Coincidentally, the enemy's commander's wife is also from Xingguo, Jiangxi. Perhaps out of sympathy for her fellow villagers, she took good care of Zhongfa Town and often gave him some food secretly. Zhongfazhen is always concerned about the army and family, but because he is not familiar with the place and does not have a pass, he is unable to move even if he escapes, and he will soon be caught up by the enemy.
Zhongfa Town gave up the idea of escaping and stayed at the head of the group for two years. Later, the Ma family army ordered that the prisoners should not be kept at home, so Zhongfa Town was sent to a labor camp. Because of his flexible mind and willingness to work, the enemy's care for him gradually relaxed and he would often send him to work outside.
Once, Zhongfa Town followed the military officers from the Engineering Battalion to Xining City to collect food. He said to the qualifiers: "I have taken care of the regiment commander's father for two years and have a good relationship with him. I want to take a leave to see him."
The qualifiers agreed without thinking too much. Zhongfa Town found the regiment commander's wife and asked for help. Finally, she got a road strip back, and Zhongfa Town took it, walked through layers of checkpoints and left Qinghai. It was already 1941.
Zhongfa Town originally planned to go to Yan'an to find troops, but when he arrived at the Yellow River Ferry, he found that it had been blocked by the Japanese army. At that time, he was penniless and could only beg all the way. He did not return to his hometown in the spring of 1943.
When the old mother saw him, she hugged her head and cried, "Five people in her family went to be the Red Army, and one of them finally came back." In order to avoid the enemy's persecution, Zhongfa Town changed his name and made a living by working hard. It was not until after liberation that life was settled.
Zhongfa Town also missed his comrades and leaders who had fought together in great detail, but when he thought about it carefully, so many people died, and he failed to find the troops even though he fled from the labor camp. Now that the revolution has been victorious, and I have no strength, what will others think when I go to the army? After
, no matter how difficult life is, Zhongfa Town has never visited the army, nor has he mentioned his experience of joining the army to anyone. But in the 1960s, someone investigated his experience and had a great impact on his and his family's lives.
In desperation, Zhong Fazhen wrote a letter to Li Xiannian and other leaders. Li Xiannian still remembers the past described by Zhongfa Town in his letter. He wrote to Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee , saying that Zhongfa Town is indeed a soldier of the Red 30th Army and has worked around him. He also asked to implement the treatment of missing people in the Red Army in Zhongfa Town in accordance with the policy.
The problem of Zhongfa Town was quickly solved, and then everyone suddenly realized that this unpretentious old farmer was actually a life-threatening Red Army soldier.
Although Zhongfa Town experienced a lot of hardships in the first half of his life, he received the care of the local government after his identity was implemented. According to public reports: When building a house in Zhongfa Town in 2009, the local civil affairs allocated 58,000 yuan. By 2016, the living allowance in Zhongfa Town had reached 3,800 yuan per month. These are enough to allow Zhong Fazhen to enjoy his old age.
In his later years, Zhongfazhen
ending:
How far has Zhongfazhen gone in his life? I guess he can't tell him clearly.
The distance from Jiangxi to Hexi Corridor is more than 36,000 miles. If you return to Jiangxi from Xining, Qinghai, it is calculated as 36,000 miles, then Zhongfa Town has traveled at least 72,000 miles. Except for the three years he was detained, Zhongfa Town has been on the way for 6 years. Later generations said, "Why do you think about whether the Long March is hard or not", but Zhongfa Town has walked nearly three Long March distances.
Zhongfazhen experienced too much suffering in his life, but in fact he was still lucky because most people died in the war. Zhongfazhen went through a life of death and finally could enjoy his old age happily.
Zhongfazhen is not a combat hero and is not well known, but everything he experienced represents the experiences of most ordinary soldiers in that era, and to some extent, it is also a microcosm of the Chinese revolutionary process.
The revolution is not smooth sailing, but constantly suffering setbacks and moving forward in twists and turns. Once you understand Zhongfazhen, you will know how hard-won the victory of the revolution is. Behind this are countless ordinary warriors like Zhongfazhen who have experienced all kinds of hardships and still maintain a firm belief until they exchange their blood and life for victory.
