A red wooden board is pasted on the green door, which says: Glorious retirement, military service home, this is the home of today's protagonist Wu Hongfu. The successful shooting down of the US-made "U-2" high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft was awarded the first-class individua

2025/07/0700:20:39 hotcomm 1904

At the west end of Huaiwo Village, Guangzong County, Hebei Province, there is a brick house with a red wooden board on the green door, which reads: Glorious retirement, military home, this is the home of today's protagonist Wu Hongfu .

Wu Hongfu, 78 years old this year, joined the army 60 years ago and became a killing mapper. In the army, Wu Hongfu perfectly calculated the kill range data twice, successfully shot down the US-made "U-2" high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, and was awarded the first-class individual merit by the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defense. It was personally received by the leaders of the Party and state such as Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai.

After retiring from the army, Wu Hongfu strictly abides by the requirements of "two cannots" and honestly becomes a farmer. No matter how hard life is, he has not leaked any information. Don’t have fame or fortune, Wu Hongfu always remembers that he is a soldier of the people.

A red wooden board is pasted on the green door, which says: Glorious retirement, military service home, this is the home of today's protagonist Wu Hongfu. The successful shooting down of the US-made

■Recalling the past, Wu Hongfu instantly looked younger

Accurate calculation data Our army successfully shot down "U-2"

78-year-old Wu Hongfu, with a slightly hunched back, his eyes were a little blurry since the previous two years, and his dentures in his early years also fell sparsely, his hair turned white, and only his eyebrows were black. Speaking of the years of being in the army, Wu Hongfu's eyes burst out and his voice increased a little, and he seemed younger in an instant.

How long has that happened?

On December 25, 1959, Wu Hongfu, who had not graduated from junior high school, carried his bags and walked out of Huaiwo Village to join the army. In February of the following year, Wu Hongfu became a new recruit in the second battalion of the ground-to-air and air missile unit of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force, serving as an anti-injury mapper. Wu Hongfu's work is to calculate the kill range for enemy reconnaissance aircraft above 15,000 meters to ensure that three missiles hit the opponent.

At that time, the reconnaissance scope of the US-made "U-2" reconnaissance aircraft could cover the entire Chinese mainland, while our army had only 4 battalions of the surface-to-air missile forces. Wu Hongfu, who was still young, knew that he had a heavy responsibility, so he secretly swore in his heart that he would definitely shoot down the "U-2" reconnaissance plane to the ground.

A secret oath in my heart, Wu Hongfu worked hard to complete it. The days at that time were monotonous and difficult. Except for three meals a day, Wu Hongfu's contribution to all his time was calculated. Direction, distance, kill range, how to calculate the turn, how to calculate the straight line. The battlefield cannot tolerate any mistakes, and it must not miss any opportunity to shoot down. In half a year, Wu Hongfu has already made it clear.

On September 9, 1962, a US-made "U-2" high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft broke into the sky above Nanchang , Jiangxi Province. The Second Battalion where Wu Hongfu is located participates in this battle. At about 8 o'clock, the command center sounded the alarm, "Discover the target!" All personnel took their place and were ready to go.

8:32, the enemy plane entered the firepower range of the second battalion. The radar antenna was turned on, and the target was seized. The range operator, distance operator, and altitude operator respectively quickly transmitted the collected data to Wu Hongfu, who was already ready. On the display screen, a cursor similar to the size of a small matchstick flashed constantly, "You must kill it!" Wu Hongfu quickly calculated the data, accurately marked the aircraft's tracks, and quickly passed it to the command center.

29 km, the commander shouted "Target to" and guided the technician to prepare, and his thumb was placed on the button. 28 kilometers, "Release!" with a command, three loud bangs, three flame tongues that came out accurately hit! "Bang! Bang! Bang!" The explosion was deafening, and the hearts of the entire Second Battalion troops also pounded wildly with "Bang! The "match stick" on the display screen of

shaking and falling down. The record of our army's first shooting down "U-2" was born! The second camp was in full swing, and Wu Hongfu was very excited. Immediately afterwards, Liu Yalou, the then commander of the People's Liberation Army Air Force, and other leaders rushed over. Premier Zhou Enlai's congratulatory message also came, and Wu Hongfu and others were awarded the reward for promotion in advance.

A red wooden board is pasted on the green door, which says: Glorious retirement, military service home, this is the home of today's protagonist Wu Hongfu. The successful shooting down of the US-made

No one knows that this simple old farmer was once a combat hero

"You are really 'Bold Wu'! It really became the eye on the missile!"

After our army successfully shot down the "U-2", the enemy began to specialize in researching electronic early warning devices for surface-to-air missiles - adding a black box jammer. When our army's radar boots up and locks the aircraft, the enemy plane will call the alarm and launch several fake targets, which cannot be identified.

guide technician asked Wu Hongfu, "If the radar is not turned on, can you calculate the route shortcut?" Wu Hongfu hesitated, "Let me think about it again." Everyone knows that if the radar is not turned on, it means "blind" and the target cannot be caught at all.

A few days later, the guide technician asked Wu Hongfu again. "Yes!" Wu Hongfu thought about it over and over again and expressed his thoughts. The enemy plane was targeting the second battalion's troops. The radar of the second battalion could not be opened, and the radar of other camps closest to the second battalion was captured. After repeated discussions, the troops decided to use "stationary radar".

At the same time, the troops specially designed an almost strict "near-fast tactic", compressing the calculation time of parameters from the original 18 seconds to 6 seconds, and launching bullets at close range. Wu Hongfu didn't say a word, and he rushed to train. He remembered hundreds of data such as flight altitude and route distance in his heart. He read, calculate and report it, and completed in 3 seconds!

On November 1, 1963, Wu Hongfu and his comrades once again captured the trace of "U-2" in the sky above Shangrao, Jiangxi Province! Launch the missile first, then turn on the antenna, grab the target, and leave 6 seconds to Wu Hongfu, quickly calculate the plane's position and distance, "Three shots will be hit one!" After the loud bang, the "U-2" was shot down again!

"You are really 'Wu Dabang'! You have really become the eye on the missile!" Battalion Commander Yue Zhenhua patted Wu Hongfu's shoulder excitedly. The news shocked the whole country again. The Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defense awarded Wu Hongfu and others first-class individual merits and the collective first-class collective merits of all officers and soldiers of the Second Battalion. The Second Battalion was awarded the honorary title of "Hero Camp".

On July 23, 1964, Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and other party and state leaders met with all the officers and soldiers of the Second Battalion at the Great Hall of the People and took a group photo.

A red wooden board is pasted on the green door, which says: Glorious retirement, military service home, this is the home of today's protagonist Wu Hongfu. The successful shooting down of the US-made

■Photography of the troops retained by the old man and the national leaders

After he was discharged from the army, he was willing to be a farmer, and for more than 30 years he insisted on orders

0 In February 1965, Wu Hongfu retired from the army. With a retirement certificate and a settlement fee of 190 yuan, Wu Hongfu returned to Huaiwo Village again, took off his military uniform and put on the sweatshirt of a farmer, pressed the certificate of meritorious service at the bottom of the box, and plowed and farmed silently.

Before leaving, the troops proposed "two cannots": they should not make any comments or cause trouble to the local government because they did not arrange the local government; they should not disclose state secrets and military secrets. From then on, the villagers asked Wu Hongfu what he was doing in the army, and he smiled and said, "I didn't do anything." When his parents and his wife who had just passed the door asked him, he still smiled and said nothing.

In that era, the family was poor, and Wu Hongfu's family relied on more than 3 acres of land to earn labor points. He is brave on the battlefield, but Wu Hongfu is not good at it on the ground. He could only raise one pig every year and exchange it for money to supply the production team at the end of the year.

Because of lack of money, the three children in the family dropped out of school one after another. Wu Hongfu, the youngest son was accidentally injured by a child in the same village. He didn't want to make things difficult for others, had to carry it on his own, but he was discharged from the hospital early because he couldn't collect the medical expenses. His son's left eye has been blind until now. My wife's femoral head was necrotic and she was paralyzed in the bed for 8 years. Wu Hongfu felt uncomfortable with these things, but he didn't say them. Maybe he could solve the problem by taking his meritorious service certificate to the government, but he knew that he could not do that, and could only toss and turn every night, unable to sleep.

It was not until 2002 that Wu Hongfu saw the story of "Hero Camp" in a magazine called "World Military", which was about their second battalion. He only realized that the confidentiality period had passed early, and at this time, he had been discharged from the army for 37 years.

Wu Hongfu found his file from the county armed forces department , and the county civil affairs department handled preferential treatment for him. It was from then on that time that the village gradually spread, and Wu Hongfu was a great hero.

If you do it again, you also choose to join the army

A red wooden board is pasted on the green door, which says: Glorious retirement, military service home, this is the home of today's protagonist Wu Hongfu. The successful shooting down of the US-made

■The old man’s retirement certificate

0 The village people saw Wu Hongfu and pulled him over to tell him the story of the war. When someone asked him a question, he answered. "A hero will not mention his courage, that glorious period has passed." Others said that he was a first-class hero, but Wu Hongfu said that it was because he had served in a military service and made meritorious services that he could not forget his roots.

There are garbage spots in the village, but the villagers still pour everywhere, so Wu Hongfu went there to guard it. The road surface was uneven, so he pulled stones to fill the road; it rained heavily, and rotten leaves blocked the streets, and he wore raincoats to clear the streets; his neighbor raised sheep at home, and he would put a bundle of fresh grass on his face every time he came back from the field... It was not difficult to do a good thing, but the difficult thing was to keep doing it. "I am a veteran, and I should use my remaining energy."

secretly pressed into my heart. I have suffered for most of my life. Is there really no complaints? "No!" Every time Wu Hongfu answered this question, it was this answer. Just like when it rained heavily, the house was washed away by the rain, Wu Hongfu and Chairman Mao’s photo and the certificate of meritorious service were all washed into the mud. My wife picked up the photo in a panic, but the certificate of meritorious service was washed away by water. When Wu Hongfu, who rushed back from outside, learned about it, he said, "If the certificate of meritorious service is gone, it will be gone. Life is the most important thing."

"I am a soldier. I should do it on the battlefield to win a battle. If you win a battle, it is good enough to give me honors. You cannot use honors as an iron rice bowl. Don't be fame or profit, you are the soldiers of the people." Wu Hongfu said, "The government helped me invest in building a house and helped me heal my wife's legs. I remember all of this in my heart."

Wu Hongfu's living room was clean. On the wall opposite the door was a renovated photo of Chairman Mao receiving the Second Battalion. The original version was so worn out that it was a little bit unseen, but he was still properly placed in his bag with the military certificate. After getting older, Wu Hongfu no longer played a set of military gymnastics every day. He calmly cooked for his wife every day, and went out to play chess after dinner. The grandson came to his house to play. He picked it up and said with a smile, "It's a good seedling for being a soldier at first glance."

years of glorious years were kept in his heart by Wu Hongfu, "If there is another choice, I will join the army." Wu Hongfu's tone was firm, just like when he sent the files to the county armed forces department after he retired from the army, he told people, "If there is still a war, you must notify me as soon as possible and I will go back!"

■ Text/Hebei Youth Daily reporter Hu Yaling

■ Photo/Hebei Youth Daily reporter Wang Yongbo

■ Editor/Pi Xueyan

Copyright belongs to Hebei Heqing Media Co., Ltd., and reprints are not allowed without permission

guide technician asked Wu Hongfu, "If the radar is not turned on, can you calculate the route shortcut?" Wu Hongfu hesitated, "Let me think about it again." Everyone knows that if the radar is not turned on, it means "blind" and the target cannot be caught at all.

A few days later, the guide technician asked Wu Hongfu again. "Yes!" Wu Hongfu thought about it over and over again and expressed his thoughts. The enemy plane was targeting the second battalion's troops. The radar of the second battalion could not be opened, and the radar of other camps closest to the second battalion was captured. After repeated discussions, the troops decided to use "stationary radar".

At the same time, the troops specially designed an almost strict "near-fast tactic", compressing the calculation time of parameters from the original 18 seconds to 6 seconds, and launching bullets at close range. Wu Hongfu didn't say a word, and he rushed to train. He remembered hundreds of data such as flight altitude and route distance in his heart. He read, calculate and report it, and completed in 3 seconds!

On November 1, 1963, Wu Hongfu and his comrades once again captured the trace of "U-2" in the sky above Shangrao, Jiangxi Province! Launch the missile first, then turn on the antenna, grab the target, and leave 6 seconds to Wu Hongfu, quickly calculate the plane's position and distance, "Three shots will be hit one!" After the loud bang, the "U-2" was shot down again!

"You are really 'Wu Dabang'! You have really become the eye on the missile!" Battalion Commander Yue Zhenhua patted Wu Hongfu's shoulder excitedly. The news shocked the whole country again. The Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defense awarded Wu Hongfu and others first-class individual merits and the collective first-class collective merits of all officers and soldiers of the Second Battalion. The Second Battalion was awarded the honorary title of "Hero Camp".

On July 23, 1964, Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and other party and state leaders met with all the officers and soldiers of the Second Battalion at the Great Hall of the People and took a group photo.

A red wooden board is pasted on the green door, which says: Glorious retirement, military service home, this is the home of today's protagonist Wu Hongfu. The successful shooting down of the US-made

■Photography of the troops retained by the old man and the national leaders

After he was discharged from the army, he was willing to be a farmer, and for more than 30 years he insisted on orders

0 In February 1965, Wu Hongfu retired from the army. With a retirement certificate and a settlement fee of 190 yuan, Wu Hongfu returned to Huaiwo Village again, took off his military uniform and put on the sweatshirt of a farmer, pressed the certificate of meritorious service at the bottom of the box, and plowed and farmed silently.

Before leaving, the troops proposed "two cannots": they should not make any comments or cause trouble to the local government because they did not arrange the local government; they should not disclose state secrets and military secrets. From then on, the villagers asked Wu Hongfu what he was doing in the army, and he smiled and said, "I didn't do anything." When his parents and his wife who had just passed the door asked him, he still smiled and said nothing.

In that era, the family was poor, and Wu Hongfu's family relied on more than 3 acres of land to earn labor points. He is brave on the battlefield, but Wu Hongfu is not good at it on the ground. He could only raise one pig every year and exchange it for money to supply the production team at the end of the year.

Because of lack of money, the three children in the family dropped out of school one after another. Wu Hongfu, the youngest son was accidentally injured by a child in the same village. He didn't want to make things difficult for others, had to carry it on his own, but he was discharged from the hospital early because he couldn't collect the medical expenses. His son's left eye has been blind until now. My wife's femoral head was necrotic and she was paralyzed in the bed for 8 years. Wu Hongfu felt uncomfortable with these things, but he didn't say them. Maybe he could solve the problem by taking his meritorious service certificate to the government, but he knew that he could not do that, and could only toss and turn every night, unable to sleep.

It was not until 2002 that Wu Hongfu saw the story of "Hero Camp" in a magazine called "World Military", which was about their second battalion. He only realized that the confidentiality period had passed early, and at this time, he had been discharged from the army for 37 years.

Wu Hongfu found his file from the county armed forces department , and the county civil affairs department handled preferential treatment for him. It was from then on that time that the village gradually spread, and Wu Hongfu was a great hero.

If you do it again, you also choose to join the army

A red wooden board is pasted on the green door, which says: Glorious retirement, military service home, this is the home of today's protagonist Wu Hongfu. The successful shooting down of the US-made

■The old man’s retirement certificate

0 The village people saw Wu Hongfu and pulled him over to tell him the story of the war. When someone asked him a question, he answered. "A hero will not mention his courage, that glorious period has passed." Others said that he was a first-class hero, but Wu Hongfu said that it was because he had served in a military service and made meritorious services that he could not forget his roots.

There are garbage spots in the village, but the villagers still pour everywhere, so Wu Hongfu went there to guard it. The road surface was uneven, so he pulled stones to fill the road; it rained heavily, and rotten leaves blocked the streets, and he wore raincoats to clear the streets; his neighbor raised sheep at home, and he would put a bundle of fresh grass on his face every time he came back from the field... It was not difficult to do a good thing, but the difficult thing was to keep doing it. "I am a veteran, and I should use my remaining energy."

secretly pressed into my heart. I have suffered for most of my life. Is there really no complaints? "No!" Every time Wu Hongfu answered this question, it was this answer. Just like when it rained heavily, the house was washed away by the rain, Wu Hongfu and Chairman Mao’s photo and the certificate of meritorious service were all washed into the mud. My wife picked up the photo in a panic, but the certificate of meritorious service was washed away by water. When Wu Hongfu, who rushed back from outside, learned about it, he said, "If the certificate of meritorious service is gone, it will be gone. Life is the most important thing."

"I am a soldier. I should do it on the battlefield to win a battle. If you win a battle, it is good enough to give me honors. You cannot use honors as an iron rice bowl. Don't be fame or profit, you are the soldiers of the people." Wu Hongfu said, "The government helped me invest in building a house and helped me heal my wife's legs. I remember all of this in my heart."

Wu Hongfu's living room was clean. On the wall opposite the door was a renovated photo of Chairman Mao receiving the Second Battalion. The original version was so worn out that it was a little bit unseen, but he was still properly placed in his bag with the military certificate. After getting older, Wu Hongfu no longer played a set of military gymnastics every day. He calmly cooked for his wife every day, and went out to play chess after dinner. The grandson came to his house to play. He picked it up and said with a smile, "It's a good seedling for being a soldier at first glance."

years of glorious years were kept in his heart by Wu Hongfu, "If there is another choice, I will join the army." Wu Hongfu's tone was firm, just like when he sent the files to the county armed forces department after he retired from the army, he told people, "If there is still a war, you must notify me as soon as possible and I will go back!"

■ Text/Hebei Youth Daily reporter Hu Yaling

■ Photo/Hebei Youth Daily reporter Wang Yongbo

■ Editor/Pi Xueyan

Copyright belongs to Hebei Heqing Media Co., Ltd., and reprints are not allowed without permission

hotcomm Category Latest News