author Yan Guolin
"One-hour platoon leader" refers to martyr Huang Hanbiao, and his comrades refer to instructor Chen Shiwen and his soldiers.
On February 21, 1979, the war against Vietnam entered its fifth day. At that time, the 375th Regiment of the 125th Division of the 42nd Army had already captured Fuhe County in , Vietnam. However, the battalions and companies of the entire regiment were still on their respective positions, fighting for the battle with the Vietnamese army who were unwilling to lose the city and land. On our second company position, the intensity of the Vietnamese army's attacks was even higher than usual. It was on this day that, in view of the sacrifice of several cadres in our company, the ninth squad leader Huang Hanbiao was appointed as the third platoon leader. Then the company, under the organization of the instructor Chen Shiwen, held a temporary branch committee. They studied the enemy's situation beside a ridge. Suddenly, Vietnamese artillery shells roared in and exploded between the two platoon leaders. Immediately, the first platoon leader Li Zhuofeng and the third platoon leader Huang Hanbiao died heroically. As for Huang Hanbiao, he had been the platoon leader for less than an hour.
The incident happened right next to Instructor Chen, and the shocking scene made him remember it for decades. He remembered that Platoon Leader Han Biao's leg was only broken by the explosion. When he rushed over and picked him up, he still had the breath of life at first. He bandaged him and wanted to send him to a hospital as soon as possible. However, the fighting situation was chaotic at that time. Our vehicles and baggage were all blocked by the roadside under the artillery fire of the Vietnamese army, and the traffic was blocked and unable to proceed. In this way, platoon leader Han Biao died under the eyes of instructor Chen.
This memory is profound and long-lasting for the instructor.
The one-hour platoon leader died, but his story will never end. Because some time before the war, Huang Hanbiao, who was still the ninth squad leader, was newly married. At that time, he and his wife who came to the team to get married had just finished their honeymoon when the Sino-Vietnam War broke out. At the end of the mission, the wife left the team and returned home, while the husband went to the battlefield. Originally, instructor Chen of our company had already lamented Huang Hanbiao's death in the battle, and the marriage of the martyrs before the war gave him another knot in his heart. He thought: What happened to the wife of martyr Han Biao? Can a married couple conceive a child? If so, this is the bloodline left by the martyrs during his lifetime! Thinking of this, Instructor Chen is even more worried: since her husband has sacrificed, it is inevitable for a young wife to remarry, and remarrying while pregnant with children is not common among the people. So, can this possible child be saved? If it is saved, how will the child live without his father? It was this kind of worry that made Instructor Chen restless, and he always wanted to find out. For this reason, shortly after the war, he began to inquire about the whereabouts of the wife of martyr Huang Hanbiao, hoping to have a good result. However, times have changed and the sea of people is huge, which is easier said than done! In these years, Chen Shiwen, who had been promoted to the deputy instructor of the battalion as early as during the war, retired and worked in Shenzhen during the post-war nationwide one-million-strong military reduction. His identity has changed several times. However, the ancestral home of the martyr Huang Hanbiao was in Guangdong. A certain township in Puning City, the two places are also far apart. But despite this, he never gave up on finding the orphans of the martyrs. He inquired once to no avail and then searched again. Still unwilling to find any result again. Gradually, 20 years have passed. The former instructor Chen is already over 70 years old, and his legs are not as agile as before. Seeing that finding someone is getting more and more difficult, this makes him even more anxious.
"Time waits for no one, you must hurry up and find your wish, and you must realize your wish in your lifetime!" This time, he changed his strategy. In addition to his own personal practice, he also mobilized his fellow comrades who served in the Second Company of Martyr Huang Hanbiao to work together. Comrades such as Chen Junmin, Wu Chunguang, Chen Hanqin and Wu Changwei of the Second Company responded positively. They went deep into the martyrs' hometowns, villages, towns and cities to check and ask questions one by one. Hard work pays off, and this time, we finally have a clue.
"As expected, Martyr Huang Hanbiao has a daughter named Huang Yanqiong, who is now married and working as a teacher in a kindergarten." When the news came, instructor Chen was extremely happy. He immediately waved his hand and called to these comrades: "Let's go, look. Watch her go! ”
On a sunny spring day, the government kindergarten in Puning, Guangdong. A young girl is teaching lessons with children.The excited instructor stepped forward and asked her: "Your name is Huang Yanqiong?" The girl nodded. Asked again: "Is your father a martyr Huang Hanbiao?" The girl said "hmm" in surprise. "Can you take us to see your mother?"...
Just like that, 20 years of knots and 20 years of wishes were released at this moment. Instructor Chen happily ordered a banquet for the martyr's daughter and her mother. Not only that, he and the comrades who came with him also donated a sum of money to the martyr's wife and daughter to express the feelings of the martyr's comrades during his lifetime. When they gathered together, Huang Yanqiong, the daughter of the martyr, once again asked about the past events of her mother and father. Her mother told her: Back then, she was heartbroken when she learned that her father had died heroically in the war against Vietnam. In order to protect her in the womb and leave the blood of her sacrificed husband, she put forward a prerequisite to future suitors, that is: must not only agree to give birth to a martyr's child, but also agree that the child will bear her father's surname Huang. It is only necessary to bear the obligation to raise the children of martyrs. Fortunately, the suitor understood the righteousness well, and this led to the smooth birth and healthy growth of Huang Yanqiong...
Oh, the war and love, the country and individuals back then, everything was so earth-shattering! Everything is like fulfilling people's wishes under the protection of God! The martyr has a daughter, and she is as beautiful as a flower! More than 10 years have passed, and martyr Huang Hanbiao has a grandson again.
Seeing this follow-up, instructor Chen was happy: These are the descendants of our comrades from the Second Company! The comrades of the Second Company are also happy: he has inherited the genes of our heroic company ! In May 2019, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the victory in the Vietnam War, the surviving officers and soldiers of the Second Company of the 375th Regiment gathered again at the Longzhou Martyrs Cemetery. Instructor Chen happily participated despite his advanced age. He and his comrades, facing the 27 martyrs of the entire company, lit incense and paper one by one, lined up and saluted. Huang Hanbiao, a martyr who died on February 21st of that year in less than an hour after serving as platoon commander. If there is a spirit in heaven, he must be able to feel the deep feelings of his comrades as deep as the ocean!
(first from left) Chen Shiwen, instructor of the second company of the 375th Regiment during the battle
