March bravely in the face of danger
On a cold winter more than 70 years ago, on the land of North Korea, the howling north wind was accompanied by heavy goose feathers flying in the sky, and a well-trained army was crossing the vast sea of snow. The soldiers marched forward bravely and with firm steps. These are the troops of the 26th Army of the Volunteer Army going to North Korea. Mother Zhao Xiuzhen and her comrades, the 26th Army Art Troupe and the affiliated 77th Division Art Troupe, followed this unit.
My mother, who was under 16 years old at the time, like a group of female soldiers in Shanghai, did not understand what lofty ideals were, let alone any rhetoric. She only had passion and true feelings and wrote a petition to go to North Korea. Mother and these little female soldiers were able to leave their beloved motherland and their birthplace, Shanghai, and rush to the front line of the Chinese Communist Party to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea.
Mom and these little female soldiers are all from the south of the Yangtze River. They don't know how severe the cold winter in the north is.
My mother and her comrades in the 77th Division Art Team remember that on the night they went to North Korea, my mother and they crossed the Yalu River Bridge from Andong (now Dandong City, ). The main force of the 26th Volunteer Army entered the DPRK from Linjiang, Jilin. Mom and some follow-up troops entered the DPRK from Dandong .
That day, the sky was so dark and so cold. They followed the troops across the Yalu River and came to North Korea.
’s mother and some of her comrades recalled that as soon as they set foot on North Korean territory, the mountains and forests were burning, houses were blown up, and the bodies of people and animals deformed by US military incendiary bombs could be seen everywhere, which was horrific.
The memory left by the war to those who have been on the battlefield can also be said to be trauma, which is difficult to get rid of. The war may be over, but the memory cannot be erased. My mother often talks about the tragic scenes of the Korean War, which makes us all horrified.
Many Korean People's Army and ordinary Korean people with children and their children swarmed towards our border. When the
troops entered North Korean territory, they saw that the village that had just been bombed by enemy planes during the day was still burning. The people were looking for their relatives and belongings in the ruins, and they were crying and shouting.
Seeing this scene, it further aroused the determination of the volunteer army to avenge the Korean people and defeat the US imperial invaders.
My mother said that most of the art soldiers of the 26th Army were recruited from Shanghai, and they were all sixteen or seventeen years old, with the youngest only 14 years old. Under extremely cold conditions of minus 30 to 40 degrees Celsius, marching arduously over mountains and ridges in the wind and snow with luggage on your back is a very severe test for young people who have never experienced war. During the first two nights of the march, our army came into contact with the US military at the front. My mother and her comrades marched at great risk.
During the march, there was another "enemy", namely extreme cold. Many comrades in the art team suffered frostbite on their hands and feet due to the severe cold weather, but none of my mother and comrades shrank back. The art team includes veteran comrades who have gone through the War of Resistance Against Japan and the War of Liberation, and have rich experience in marching operations. They are the backbone of the army's literary and artistic work, and they care for young comrades and lesbians in every possible way. During the march, these old comrades held the hands of the younger comrades, helped carry backpacks and dry food bags, and helped the younger comrades fetch water and warm their feet when camping. Many young comrades were tired and sleepy during the late-night march. They held the old comrades' backpacks and dozed off while walking, completing the marching tasks half asleep and half awake.
Old comrades take care of their little brothers and sisters like big brothers and sisters. My mother said: This scene is unforgettable.
After arriving in North Korea, in order to join the 26th Volunteer Army at the front, the tasks of my mother and her comrades in the art team seemed to be to march, rest, march again, and rest again. There is always an endless journey, climbing over mountains and ridges, wading across rivers, and getting from one destination to another.
The marches at that time were all at night. During the day, the troops could not move due to bombing by US military aircraft. On some major road sections, US military aircraft are still bombing in turn. So we had to march at night and we must reach our destination before dawn.
My mother and her comrades hid in hiding to sleep and rest.They were usually placed in the homes of fellow Koreans in the mountains, and sometimes they stayed in air-raid shelters dug by the vanguard and waited until dark before leaving. Anyway, it's like this every day.
Because the weather in North Korea was extremely cold and the march was at night, the paths in the mountains could not be seen clearly, and some had no roads at all. So wrestling is a common thing. Sometimes you have to fall thirty or forty times during a night. Some comrades fall down again before they stand up. In other words, they can fall several times in the same place.
Jin Ping, a comrade in the mother's art team, described that some gay men "dedicated their time" to counting to see how many falls these female soldiers from the city could fall in one night, which made everyone bend over. But it doesn't matter, these little female soldiers can get up no matter how hard they fall. It's really fun for the "veterans" in the north to see how the little girl from Shanghai resists falling. My mother wrestled too much with these Shanghai female soldiers. They were so small that they had to carry a backpack and a satchel containing daily necessities, notebooks, etc. There are bowls and jars hanging on the shoulder bag, and a cotton coat is also with me. These are all necessary equipment that have been inspected before entering the court, and none of them are indispensable. However, sometimes, some female soldiers really couldn't walk anymore and had to keep walking, because the march lasted about a hundred miles every night, and sometimes more. The bowls and jars lost their skin and fur after wrestling, but they can still be used as long as they don't leak.
In my mother’s later years, I often walked with her in Liuli Mountain in Jinan. She often told me stories about marching in Korea, and said that she was able to walk because she was trained on the Korean battlefield.
77 Division Art Team Mother’s comrade Shen Qiduan wrote: “One day, when we arrived at the station, a detachment had just been assigned to a ravine, and there was only one house for camping. As soon as we entered the door, we suddenly heard the sound of an airplane. Looking outside, I found that there was a railway not far from the house. On the railway was a train loaded with supplies from the motherland. It was heading into a cave very close to our station. There were two US military aircraft with red lights flashing above the train. The plane followed closely, and we were surprised to see this scene. Before we could react, the enemy plane blew up the locomotive, and our houses were also blown down. Some comrades were trapped in wood and rubble. We mistakenly thought that enemy planes had discovered us, causing bombing and strafing. At this time, we only heard the squad leader ordering everyone to retreat quickly to the back mountain. We saw many people jumping down from the train carriage. Even if you jump off, you may not survive. I am really worried about them. About half an hour later, four more enemy planes came and continued to bomb, throwing incendiary bombs. The train burned in the fire for a day until we passed by after dark. , the iron frame of the train is still red.”
’s mother said that she later found out that they were part of the art team of the 20th Volunteer Army and some logistics personnel who had just escorted supplies from the motherland to the front line. Many people died during this escort. , some people may be only fifteen or sixteen years old like us, and their young lives were taken away by the enemy.
My mother often told me that in North Korea, US military planes and artillery bombed every day. The shells roared and flew overhead. Danger was everywhere.
Lao Ma compiled
based on the dictation of his mother Zhao Xiuzhen and related materials
2020, 7, 20
2022, 6, 25 modified
Lao Ma compiled based on the dictation of his mother Zhao Xiuzhen and related materials
Author Liu Weiping
Author Liu Weiping, a member of the Communist Party of China, enlisted in the army in November 1970 , served as section chief of the Secretarial Section of the Political Department of the Logistics Department 10 of the Jinan Military Region and Army Lieutenant Colonel. He has successively served as a soldier, clerk, deputy squad leader, squad leader, platoon leader, deputy instructor, assistant of the branch's ordnance department, secretary of the branch's political department, deputy instructor of the branch's teaching team, deputy section chief, and section chief of the secretary's section of the branch's political department. .
In 1990, he transferred to the Shandong Provincial Agricultural Committee and then the Shandong Provincial Department of Agriculture. He worked successively in the Research Office, Science and Education Department, Grassroots Department of the Provincial Agricultural Committee and the Market Information Department of the Department of Agriculture. He successively served as chief staff member, deputy director, researcher, Director and other positions. In 2013, he was awarded the title of “National Agricultural Advanced Individual” by the Ministry of Agriculture.”
After retiring in 2014, he successively served as the vice president and secretary-general of Shandong Agricultural Products Wholesale Market, secretary-general of the Science Popularization and Education Committee of Shandong Old Science and Technology Association, director of Shandong Electronics Society, director of Shandong Information Technology Think Tank, and engineering technology application researcher.
多He has published papers and survey reports on rural policies, agricultural science and technology, and market information in central and provincial publications. He has participated in the compilation and writing of some agricultural-related works, and some have won academic awards from the provincial government. "Chinese Agricultural Encyclopedia Shandong Volume ", "Shandong Agricultural History", "Ideological and Political Work Guide", "Red Secret Stories" and other books
compiled the memory articles of his father Liu Naiyan, and edited "Father's Story of the Anti-Japanese War", " "Father's Story of the War of Liberation", "Father's Story of Fighting Abroad", "Father's Story of Peacetime", his father's memoir "The Lost Story of Black Stone Temple", the novel "Empty Stone", "My Childhood Story", "The Fighting Does Not End" "Father" and other articles. Among them, "The Story of Father's Liberation War" and "The Loss of Black Mountain Nunnery" have been published.
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