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Introduction
One day in 1971, an old man dressed in a sloppy and unkempt face appeared at the gate of the courtyard of Jinan Military Region .
He stood in front of the door and looked back and forth. The sentry at the door had long noticed that this man who looked over fifty years old.
Finally, the old man mustered up the courage and walked up to ask the sentry if Commander Yang was at home. But when the sentry saw his clothes, he became alert and spoke directly to him to go to the communication room next to him to ask.
The old man was not angry, but came to the communication room kindly and asked the question just now.
At first, the soldiers on duty did not want to reveal the commander's whereabouts to such a stranger. It was not until the old man told the on-duty staff that he was once Commander Yang's subordinate that he told the on-duty staff to help contact him.
No one expected that such an ordinary old man was the former leader of the Red Army , and he fought side by side with Yang Dezhi, and his relationship was very close.
The old man was named Hou Lixiang. He was an old Red Army who participated in the Anti-Japanese War, walked through the Long March of , and defended Chairman Mao and the Party Central Committee. But his situation was very difficult at that time.
Seeing this, everyone will definitely be curious about why a former Red Army commander lived in such a difficult life? Why did he have not had contact with Yang Dezhi for decades and need to come to him personally?
The first half of my life
In fact, Hou Lixiang did not call this name when he joined the army. His hometown was from Houdong Village, Xionghe Town, Jiangling County. He attended a private school for a few years when he was a child.
When he was fifteen years old, he moved all the way from his hometown to Jingzhou , wanting to find a job for a living with his diploma.
However, Hou Lixiang, who has been from a poor family since childhood, has no food and no warm clothes, is not tall, has a pale face and thin skin, and it is not suitable for several jobs.
Just as he was desperate, a little beggar came to him.
The little beggar asked Hou Lixiang's name. He was kind to him at that time and said that his name was "Lixiang". The little beggar thought that "Lixiang" was Hou Lixiang's name, and he kept calling him this name after that.
The little beggar invited Hou Lixiang to eat something, and then asked him if he wanted to be a companion with him, and went to Hankou to beg for food.
, Hou Lixiang, who had no way out, agreed to see this.
is this opportunity, allowing the young Hou Lixiang to set off from the Shashi Yangchuan Wharf and embark on the revolutionary journey .
After arriving in Hankou, Hou Lixiang, as "Li Xiang", entered a guesthouse to entertain guests, and then moved to Wuchang .
On the eve of the Spring Festival in 1929, the Red Army was expanded, and Hou Lixiang successfully entered the Red Third Army and became a glorious Communist Party member in March of the same year. After
, he was assigned to the Red Army to participate in the Long March. During the Long March, Hou Lixiang made many military achievements and soon became the battalion commander of the Red First Army and a decent subordinate of the regiment commander Yang Dezhi.
High positions represent higher responsibilities. On the 20,000-mile Long March, Hou Lixiang was injured many times, and even almost couldn't survive twice. One was because he was injured by a bullet in his neck, and the other was because his right leg was almost broken.
Fortunately, Hou Lixiang insisted on meeting successfully until the Red Army met. After the Long March, he was relieved to recover from his injuries in the rear. Soon the organization promoted Hou Lixiang to the regiment commander based on his performance during the Long March.
Life in Yan'an was the most relaxed and comfortable life he lived in his military career.
Hou Lixiang got the opportunity to study at the Red Army Anti-Japanese Military and Political University, which fulfilled his wish to continue studying when he was a child.
, but the good times did not last long. In early 1939, Hou Lixiang was injured on the battlefield and was too seriously injured and could not go to the front line to complete the task, so he had to retreat to the rear.After arrangements, the organization placed Hou Lixiang in his hometown, Jiangling , and sent Wei Xi, then secretary of the Jiangling Central County Party Committee of the Communist Party of China, to connect with him, and continue to carry out underground work here.
Since his hometown was still an area under the control of the Kuomintang at that time, Hou Lixiang did not give his honors over the years to his relatives to watch, but temporarily hid this glorious history.
When they were in the army, everyone called him Li Xiang, but no one knew that Li Xiang's real name was actually Hou Lixiang.
Hou Lixiang did not argue about this, because in his opinion, , , a surname of Li, is a big surname, and the word Li Xiang sounds catchy, nothing bad is there.
Just like that, the history of "Li Xiang" ended, and Hou Lixiang's life began in Jiangling.
Later, Hou Lixiang married a local girl through his family arrangement and settled down.
For the sake of his own and his wife's life, Hou Lixiang opened a chess and card store and became the owner of the store.
Neighbors have been dealing with Hou Lixiang for a while, and then they all know that he had worked hard outside for more than ten years before he came home.
So many people had bad intentions and wanted to get some good things from Hou Lixiang to go back.
Hou Lixiang did not know what these card friends were thinking and did not take precautions. When Hou Lixiang realized something was wrong, his previous certificate of joining the Red Army had been stolen.
Without the voucher, Hou Lixiang lost his identity and experience as "Li Xiang".
But fortunately, the organization did not forget to arrange tasks for Hou Lixiang, and soon the leader assigned a task for Hou Lixiang, allowing him to name Hou Wenbin to invade the enemy as a pseudo-army of the Kuomintang.
Hou Lixianghuan happily accepted the task, but before long, the Communist Party members with him betrayed, and the remaining underground party members had to cover up their edge.
Just like that, Hou Lixiang lost contact with the organization.
has no credentials and has lost contact with the organization. He has been unable to prove his identity for many parties.
hit the wall again and again, making Hou Lixiang finally give up the idea of continuing to find an organization and began to be his common people steadily.
Looking for Yang Dezhi
Opened a teahouse in his hometown for nearly ten years. New China has finally been established, and various reforms followed. Hou Lixiang was only assigned to feed oxen because he could not do farm work.
But Hou Lixiang did not want to give up on the idea of contacting the organization, so he tried several times to tell him his identity as the commander of the Red Army.
However, his voucher was stolen. In a small county thousands of miles away from the central government, he could not find any evidence to prove Hou Lixiang's experience as "Li Xiang".
Therefore, when Hou Lixiang told about that Red Army experience, he not only failed to recover his identity, but was ridiculed by neighbors. Everyone thought that Hou Lixiang was bragging:
"How could the Red Army commander, how could he be like you now?"
doubts from all sides almost defeated Hou Lixiang's psychological defense line. Even the cadres in the village were very "disliked" because of his former puppet army status. They looked through Hou Lixiang's past records and suspected that he was a "spy."
Hou Lixiang couldn't say anything. He could not find evidence to prove that he had been an underground party member and went deep into the enemy to complete the task. He could only silently accept questions and difficulties from all parties.
But just when Hou Lixiang lost his confidence and planned to bury that glorious history for the rest of his life, one day in 1961, he accidentally saw a newspaper on a stall.
The newspaper is not long, but it reports that his former old leader Yang Dezhi was awarded the rank of general .
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Hou Lixiang was very excited. He knew in his heart that as long as he could contact Yang Dezhi, his former identity would definitely be confirmed.
Hou Lixiang quickly recorded the address above and sent a letter to the address above. In the letter, Hou Lixiang stated his identity and hoped that Yang Dezhi could prove it for him.
His hard work was not in vain. A few months later, Hou Lixiang received a letter from the other party.
He happily brought the letter to the village cadres. He wanted to prove his identity, but was considered to be a false report and false proof by the cadres who did not know Yang Dezhi's handwriting. Hou Lixiang was sent to the forest farm for renovation.
One day in 1971, Hou Lixiang worked in the forest farm as usual. At this time, the postman came to deliver the newspaper and handed it over to Hou Lixiang, hoping that he could hand it over.
After Hou Lixiang took it, he found in the newspaper that the former old leader Yang Dezhi took office as commander of the Jinan Military Region.
This time, Hou Lixiang did not write a letter to prove it like before. He wanted to find his former chief and prove his identity for himself.
After having this idea, Hou Lixiang couldn't sit still. He ignored the risk of being arrested by the forest farm staff and hurriedly fled and prepared to take a boat to Jinan.
If you want to take a boat, you will get Shashi first, but Hou Lixiang has no money and it is more than a hundred miles from the forest farm to the city. There is no way, so Hou Lixiang decided to walk over.
In order to prevent the forest farm from catching him, Hou Lixiang could only hurry forward. From the afternoon of the first day to the morning of the next day, he did not eat or drink, and finally walked to the dock of Shashi .
At this time, Hou Lixiang was so hungry that his chest was pressed against his back. He searched all over his body, but in the end he only found two cents.
At that time, food coupons were needed for meals, but Hou Lixiang didn't. He tightened the two cents and discussed with the noodle restaurant owner for a long time. Finally, he bought a bowl of noodles with all his belongings. Hou Lixiang ate them all.
After eating and drinking, Hou Lixiang came to the wharf, which was actually the place where "Liangzi" once took him to Hankou. After more than 40 years, Hou Lixiang came here again.
But unfortunately, he was also penniless, but no one helped him pay the travel expenses this time.
If you don’t have money, you can’t get on the boat. Hou Lixiang can only find a way to get on the boat. Just then, he saw an old lady and thought about whether he could get on the boat with his boat ticket.
Hou Lixiang did not tell the old lady the truth, but only told her that she saw that the old lady was in poor health. It happened that the two of them went to Wuhan together and he could take care of the old lady.
Just like that, when checking the ticket, Hou Lixiang got on the boat on the grounds of sending his old mother on the boat and did not get off. When
disembarkation, the ticket inspection was even stricter. Seeing this, Hou Lixiang said that he had not had time to get off the boat after getting on the boat, and he was sent to Wuhan. Seeing that the two were normal, the ticket inspector asked Hou Lixiang to disembark with the old lady. After
arrived in Wuhan, Hou Lixiang thought about how to get to Jinan. Considering that he had no money, he could only use the train to snatch the train.
is more conspicuous during the day, so Hou Lixiang took the small truck and took the risk of riding on the train when there were few people at night. The bleak cold wind at night did not blow away the heat in the old man's heart.
Yang Dezhi
And along the way, when he was hungry, Hou Lixiang picked some cucumbers in the field, or asked for food from the local villagers. This made him finally arrive in Jinan after days of sleeping in the open.
When he arrived at the gate of the military compound, Hou Lixiang waited for a whole day, and he couldn't wait for Yang Dezhi until it was dark.
He could only go to the duty room to inquire. The staff in the duty room helped Hou Lixiang find the office documents and learned that Yang Dezhi was not at home recently and needed Hou Lixiang to come again in a few days.
But Hou Lixiang had nowhere to go, so he could only ask for help from the documents here. The documents saw that the old man was dressed in a sloppy manner, and he saw that his living conditions were not good. He was worried that he was really the commander's former subordinate, so he quickly found him a nearby hotel to stay in.
Restore identity
A few days later, Hou Lixiang came to the communication room at the door again and expressed his thoughts of seeing Yang Dezhi again.
document saw that the old man had come again last time, so he hurriedly reported it to the office staff officer, but the staff officer was also unsure of his mind. Finally, after repeated measurements, he decided to tell the commander the news first.
Only then did Yang Dezhi realize that his old subordinate "Li Xiang" decades ago actually came to find him.
Since the spring of 1939, Yang Dezhi has never seen this old subordinate again, and he cannot even find out his whereabouts.
He thought the other party had sacrificed. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he reported his name to the country, and the central government recorded it in the China Revolutionary Military Museum.
When Yang Dezhi heard the other party's name again, he couldn't believe it for a while. He was worried that the person was fake, so he asked the staff to receive it first, ask about the matter during the Long March, and then write it down and then he will identify the handwriting.
Soon, the staff officer invited Hou Lixiang in and asked him a few questions, what is the name, where he came from, what is his relationship with the commander, and whether there are any documents that can prove it. Hou Lixiang answered the first few questions of
, but when the staff officer asked him to take out his ID or the handwritten letter from Yang Dezhi to him ten years ago, Hou Lixiang looked a little embarrassed.
had been stolen because of his ID, and he also came to Jinan this time and didn't bring the letter from that year. Seeing this, the staff officer of
thought that Hou Lixiang was pretending with purpose. Although he was not clear about his words, he still had the intention of expelling guests.
He did not immediately agree to Hou Lixiang's request to meet Yang Dezhi. The staff officer of
sent Hou Lixiang back to his original hotel, and gave him a change of clothes, and gave him a letter from the military compound, allowing him to recall a story he had experienced with the commander as a certificate and would bring it to him tomorrow.
Hou Lixiang, in the deep night, under the weak desk lamp, carefully wrote the story of Premier Zhou inspecting the Avant-garde Company in Gansu during the Long March.
When Yang Dezhi read this memory, he seemed to be brought to the scene in 1935, and his eyes couldn't help but feel moist.
He hurriedly asked the staff to take Hou Lixiang to the office and personally met the subordinate who had fought side by side.
When he really saw the former old minister, Hou Lixiang's worried heart finally fell down and hugged his head in front of Yang Dezhi.
When Yang Dezhi learned about Hou Lixiang’s difficult experience over the years, he felt even more heartbroken.
Yang Dezhi agreed to Hou Lixiang's request to remove his identity as a "spy agent". In the next few days, he warmly welcomed the other party.
When Hou Lixiang left, Yang Dezhi sent someone to give Hou Lixiang twenty kilograms of food coupons and one hundred yuan, and told him to live a good life first and wait for the good news from Yang Dezhi.
Two years later, Yang Dezhi was transferred from Jinan to Wuhan. In order to solve Hou Lixiang's problem, Yang Dezhi took advantage of the opportunity to inspect Jingzhou and specifically proposed in front of the commander of the Jingzhou Military Region that he wanted to meet his old comrade-in-arms Hou Lixiang.
As a result, this question made the commander of Jingzhou stunned, who is Hou Lixiang? Although the commander of
did not show his face, he quickly ordered his subordinates to check the identity address of the "Hou Lixiang".
It was not until I found the small place of Jiangling County that my subordinates finally found an old man named Hou Lixiang.
So they quickly called the county party committee in Jiangling and asked them to contact each other quickly and prepare for the leader to come down to inspect.
At the morning of the next morning, a correspondent rode a bicycle to Hou Lixiang's home:
"Hou Lixiang, the county asked you to go there quickly, and said that a leader came, he was your former old comrade-in-arms."
When Hou Lixiang heard this, he thought about it and immediately understood that it must be his old leader coming. He waited for two years and finally waited for this day.
He suppressed his inner excitement and rushed to , the office of , and then a special car took him to Jingzhou.
At the dinner table, Yang Dezhi solemnly introduced Hou Lixiang to the leaders at all levels of Jingzhou District and Jiangling County sitting around, and said that it was Hou Lixiang back then, who carried the injured himself from the battlefield. After
, Yang Dezhi asked Hou Lixiang with concern about his current economic situation.
When Yang Dezhi learned that he had no money to treat him over the years and suffered injuries on the Long March, he felt very sad.
Finally, after unanimous decision by leaders at all levels, Hou Lixiang was given the treatment of a second-class A disabled soldier, so that he would no longer have to worry about spending money when he was in a medical treatment and took medicine, and the state would reimburse him.
It was not until this time that the local people realized that Hou Lixiang really did not lie. He was once the commander of the Red Army, but later he lost contact with the Party Central Committee in an emergency. After
, Yang Dezhi also testified specifically for Hou Lixiang, proving that he turned to the rear to participate in underground work because of his injury.
After Yang Dezhi left Jingzhou, the local government quickly formed a special team to start to effectively solve the hero's dilemma. Hou Lixiang's family built three large tiled houses, and the family of eight became a national commercial grain household registration.
As a Red Army soldier who once defended his country and walked through the difficult Long March, even in his later years, Hou Lixiang would often go to various universities to tell local children the stories on the Long March, and continue to carry forward the spirit of the Long March 5!
In the winter of 1991, this old hero of the Anti-Japanese War died of illness at the age of 80.
