On the Qingming Festival 15 years ago, an old farmer living in Jiangxi went to the Guangxi Martyrs Cemetery with his comrades to pay homage to the comrades who sacrificed their lives many years ago. But in the process of sweeping the tomb, the old farmer suddenly discovered a tomb that gave him goosebumps. This tombstone actually has his name written on it, and the photo on the tombstone is still the way he looked in military uniform. This made the old farmer feel dizzy. He was here well, but who built a tomb for him?
Join the army to serve the country
Yan Ligen is a native of Wanzai, Jiangxi. After the liberation of the country, he made a living in Luoyang. By chance, he joined the People's Liberation Army and became a soldier of the 127th Division of the 43rd Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Not long after he joined the team, he was lucky enough to become the guard of Zhang Wannian, the commander of the 127th Division.
Zhang Wannian is a legendary figure. In 1995, he became the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China, in charge of the military work of the entire army. If Yan Ligen can always be a guard by Zhang Wannian's side, his future achievements will definitely be very high. However, for Yan Ligen, being Zhang Wannian's guard was also an honor.
In 1976, Yan Ligen transferred to the engineering army, where he learned demining technology for two years. Because Yan Ligen studied hard and worked hard, his achievements were the most outstanding in the team. He was transferred to Kunming, Yunnan by the chief and asked to lead new recruits there. Therefore, Yan Ligen stayed in the Kunming Military Region.
When he was transferred to Yunnan as an instructor, the atmosphere in the army suddenly became tense, and many teams began to mobilize before the war. Yan Ligen noticed something was wrong. He learned from the newspaper that and Vietnam had begun frequent provocations, and our country might be going to war. Although Yan Ligen never went to school, he still knew some things since he was in the team.
Vietnam had a very good relationship with my country before, and our country also helped them fight against the invaders. Yan Ligen had been Zhang Wannian's guard. He only knew that Zhang Wannian had studied and inspected in Vietnam and had made many contributions to Vietnam's national defense construction. He couldn't understand why Vietnam wanted to attack us, but since there was going to be a war, let's fight. Aren't we still afraid of them?
went to Vietnam to participate in the war
On February 17, 1979, Yan Ligen's army received a notice from the Military Commission and headed to the border to launch a self-defense counterattack against Vietnam , and the war officially started. Before the war, Vietnam made bold words, but when the two sides actually started fighting, the Vietnamese army became vulnerable. The People's Liberation Army soldiers were in a no-man's land, and the Vietnamese army was simply no match for the enemy.
Soon, the team advanced to the foot of Lang Son Mountain. Everyone knew that Vietnam's ace troops had been eliminated before. They only have some miscellaneous troops left. We defend these miscellaneous troops on Liangshan Mountain, and they planted many mines and bombs on Langshan Mountain. But these landmines were like children's play in front of our well-trained engineers. The PLA engineers quickly cleared the mines. However, the landmines were cleared, and the Vietnamese army actually began to poison the water sources again, and also used chemical weapons. This did stop the progress of the People's Liberation Army soldiers, but it also completely angered General Xu Shiyou.
General Xu Shiyou angrily ordered ten thousand artillery bombs to bombard Lang Son. Not even a house on Lang Son was left. Lang Son was almost destroyed. Then, under the orders of General Xu Shiyou, PLA soldiers successively captured provincial capitals such as Lang Son, Gaoping , Lao Cai, and more than 20 important border towns. Yan Ligen's team was assigned to the front line of combat. Battle after battle, Yan Ligen cleared countless landmines and bombs along the way.
In order to save his comrades from injury,
often walked along the river. How could his shoes not get wet? Engineer soldier Mao Yongde stepped on a landmine. At this time, Yan Ligen was beside him. Mao Yongde is a new recruit who has recently joined the army and does not have much experience in demining. He was already very nervous when he stepped on a landmine. If Yan Ligen hadn't been there to comfort him, he might have triggered the mine long ago.In order to save Mao Yongde, Yan Ligen came to the mines regardless of his personal safety. He reassured Mao Yongde not to move, and he would find a way to remove the mines.
The sound of gunfire in the distance suddenly sounded, which made Mao Yongde's string break. He accidentally triggered a landmine, and an explosion sounded. Mao Yongde was blown to pieces on the spot, and Yan Ligen was seriously injured as a result. Nearby comrades rushed over. At this time, Yan Ligen was already unconscious. They sent the seriously injured Yan Ligen to the rear hospital. However, because Yan Ligen's injuries were too serious, although his life was no longer in danger after rescue, he was sent from the front line to the People's Liberation Army 303 Hospital in Nanning, Guangxi.
After several days of treatment, Yan Ligen still had several pieces of shrapnel that could not be removed from his head, and these pieces of shrapnel compressed his nerves, causing him to lose sight in his right eye. After recuperating in Nanning for several months, he was sent to Changsha Hospital in Hunan. Although his injuries were almost healed, several pieces of shrapnel in his brain not only caused him to lose sight in his right eye, but also made him frequently dizzy. Therefore, he could only continue to recuperate in the hospital behind. It was not until 1984 that he was discharged from the hospital and returned to the team.
When he returned to the army, he found that things had changed, the army was still the same army, and the number was still the same. But there was no comrade he knew. In the past four or five years, the troops had been changed again, and no one knew Yan Ligen. Fortunately, his number was still there, and he found out about Yan Ligen's existence after checking the files. However, at this time he was also deemed disabled and could no longer stay in the army. The army issued him a disability certificate, and he finally left the army with his disability certificate.
The old regiment leader told the truth
Yan Ligen, who was thinking about his comrades, did not look carefully at his disability certificate . When he got the disability certificate he needed at home, he discovered that his disability certificate stated that he was injured on the job. In fact, he was injured in battle. Although there is only one word difference, the actual treatment is much different. If it was just poor treatment, Yan Ligen might not say anything. At most, he would be unhappy and not care too much. But it was his honor to be wounded in battle. I obviously fought with guns and shed blood to defend my country, so why was it not recognized in the end? I have to change it back. So Yan Ligen ran around looking for someone to prove it. However, the old comrades-in-arms and old leaders in the team have either died in the war, or they have returned home from the army and cannot find anyone, or their positions are too high and it is difficult for them to speak.
In order to change the word "wounded on duty" to "wounded due to war", Yan Ligen ran for 35 years before changing the word. In the past 20 years or so, Yan Ligen traveled to many places, but he just couldn't change this one word. The turning point of everything was when he met his old regiment leader. The old regiment leader had already moved to work in a local area. After the two met, the old regiment leader scolded Yan Ligen directly. I will burn the paper that I have spent 20 years on. You are actually alive and well.
Yan Ligen didn't know what the group leader was talking about, and the old group leader didn't explain, but suggested that Yan Ligen follow him. I am contacting some old comrades in arms and going together to visit the graves of those comrades who died. At the suggestion of the old regiment leader, on Qingming Festival in 2007, these old comrades got together and went to the Nanning Martyrs Cemetery to visit the graves of their fallen comrades.
During the process of sweeping the tombs, Yan Ligen found his own piece among the tombstones of many comrades in arms, with his own photos on it, but the old regiment leader was not surprised at all. He told Yan Ligen that after the battle, when the number of people was counted, Yan Ligen could not be found, and there was no clue about Yan Ligen when he sent a telegram to his hometown. The troops thought that Yan Ligen had died. But Yan Ligen's bones could not be found, so a tomb was built for him in the Martyrs Cemetery. Yan Ligen, who knew the truth, was filled with emotion. If he had really died, he would have been a martyr. What a glorious title. Fortunately, he was still alive, and the other comrades buried here had really died.
After that, with the help of the old regiment leader, Yan Ligen solved the issue of the disability certificate, which also attracted the attention of the country.After all, communication was not convenient in the past. The only thing the troops knew was that Yan Ligen had not returned. Later, he sent a telegram to his hometown but received no reply, so they could only set up a tomb for him in the Martyrs Cemetery.
Final words
The veterans almost gave their lives for the motherland, we cannot let them bleed and shed tears. Salute to the veterans! .
