In February 1955, the Central Military Commission officially determined that the Chinese People's Liberation Army would implement a "military rank system." When all the title lists were basically confirmed and entered Chairman Mao's final review stage, Chairman Mao glanced down and fixed his eyes on the three words "Pi Dingjun", then picked up the pen on the table and circled it. Then the instructions were as follows: "If the skin is good, the less will advance to the middle."
In this way, Pi Dingjun, who was originally recommended to be awarded the title of "Major General" by relevant departments, was awarded the title of "Founding Lieutenant General" in Zhongnanhai in October 1955. It is a pity that General Pi died in the line of duty in 1976. He was only 62 years old.
On July 7, 1976, Pi Dingjun, then commander of the Fuzhou Military Region, took a helicopter from Zhangzhou to Dongshan Island, Fujian, to inspect the military exercises. Looking back at the exercise base, the department responsible for receiving the commander's arrival had also made preparations early, but little did they know that in the end, not only did they not wait for the commander's helicopter, they also received bad news: the helicopter crashed on Zaoshan Mountain in Zhangpu County , none of the 13 people on board survived. Also on board was Pi Guohong, the eldest son of General Pi.
In extraordinary times, bad news came out and the whole country was shocked! A few days later, many people came to the memorial service. They were deeply saddened by their thoughts, and they mourned the hero's soul with tears in their eyes. Suddenly, the sound of wailing was mixed with the sound of mournful music. Everyone heard the sound and ran away. Only a strange veteran in his forties came to pay his respects with a young boy who was estimated to be eighteen or nineteen years old.
The two of them knelt in front of the general's soul. The veteran was distraught and cried out to the old commander over and over again, asking why the "goodbye" day turned out to be the day that separated us forever. Every word and every word was so sad that the grief of the people present intensified a lot, and tears immediately burst into their eyes.
Although there were many people at the memorial service, basically apart from the central leaders, they were comrades who had fought alongside the general, or soldiers he had led. Even though the general's relatives cannot know all the people who came to pay their respects, at least they are all soldiers and there will always be people who know each other among so many people present.
But obviously, not many people know this veteran who shouted "Old Army Commander", and his crying made everyone present confused. At this moment, a photojournalist named Wang Jirong who had been to the Korean battlefield suddenly realized something. He quickly walked to the general's third son Pi Xiaonong and told him that this man was a volunteer soldier. Zhang Taofang, a member of the 214th Regiment of the 24th Army, is known as the "Sniper God of Shangganling".
As soon as Wang Jirong finished speaking, Pi Xiaonong thought of the "Sharpshooter" photo that his father kept at home. The person in the photo is Zhang Taofang, and this photo was taken by Wang Jirong on the Shangganling battlefield.
By the time the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea ended in October 1952, it could be said that all United Nations Army generals were clearly aware of a problem. The Chinese People’s Volunteer Army had already mastered sufficient initiative in ground operations, and the U.S. coalition forces suffered heavy losses one after another as a result. Loss. So in order to change this passive situation, Commander of the United Nations Forces in Korea Van Fleet formulated "Operation Showdown." After he repeatedly wrote to Far East U.S. Commander Clark to urge the adoption of the plan, he finally received approval.
Clark, who had often opposed the risky operation of seizing high ground in the past, was also forced by domestic pressure and once thought that it would be a good way to win some positions without too much sacrifice.
In this way, the United Nations Army launched an intensive mobilization of troops. In just 6 days, more than 60,000 troops, more than 300 cannons, and more than 170 tanks were mobilized... just to capture the "Triangle Mountain", That is Shangganling.
On October 14th, the Battle of Shangganling officially started. The intensity of artillery fire was astonishing. According to post-war statistics, it has exceeded the highest level during World War II. Even though in the end it was the Volunteer Army that was able to demonstrate national prestige, demonstrate military prestige, and hold its position, it has to be admitted that the whole process was full of hardships. You must know that on the day when the enemy opened the night of the 14th with intensive artillery fire, how many volunteers in the tunnels died directly in their sleep...
The 24th Volunteer Army only entered North Korea at the end of 1952, and it was only at this time that "cold guns and cold guns" came into being. , but what is surprising is that it has achieved good results just after the New Year's Day, and a "genius" sniper has emerged.
"Report to the commander, a soldier from the 214th regiment used 240 rounds of bullets to kill and wound 71 enemies!" As soon as Chief of Staff Xiao finished speaking, Pi Dingjun immediately laughed, but then he thought about what if If this record is true, it means that this person can hit once in less than 3 shots on average, and then the light in his eyes suddenly dimmed a little.
Because it is said that Taofang only joined the army in 1951, and only received two months of shooting training after joining the army. Such experience made Pi Dingjun feel like a recruit. I don’t believe it is normal.
Staff Officer Xiao next to him immediately understood the commander's concerns and suggested that he just go and see whether it was true or false. Pi Dingjun thought it was very good when he heard it, so he asked Staff Officer Xiao to take his pair of cotton-leather boots that he was reluctant to wear to the station of the 8th Company of the 3rd Battalion to have a look. He also said that if he could really kill three enemies in succession, he would take the leather boots with him. Give him the boots as a reward.
Originally, Staff Officer Xiao thought that since this data was reported by the 72nd Division Headquarters, it must be true. However, after he went to the 8th Company Station and met Zhang Taofang, he was a little disappointed. Because the man standing in front of him was not only ordinary, but even a little thin, and he did not look like a "sharp shooter" at such a young age. It wasn't until he witnessed with his own eyes that this young man, who was only in his early 20s, could lie down in the freezing snow and remain motionless, he realized how inappropriate his idea of ​​"judging a book by its appearance" was.
In the end, the leather boots that Staff Officer Xiao brought were not brought back. As soon as he returned to the military headquarters, Pi Dingjun's eyes suddenly brightened when he saw that he had returned empty-handed. Before Staff Xiao could explain how Zhang Taofang killed three enemies with three bullets, he successfully obtained the leather boots. After the report was over, he wanted to go to the 214th Regiment to meet Zhang Taofang in person.
Pi Dingjun, who has always been vigorous and resolute, could walk very fast on weekdays. On this day, he walked even faster. It seemed that if he delayed for just one second, this "sharp shooter" would be able to escape. When Pi Dingjun and his party arrived at the 214th Regiment, Zhang Taofang was on the front line. He prepared to go to the front line to look for people without even thinking about it. However, he frightened the leader of the 214th Regiment, Yun Qiancheng, and had to stop and persuade him. Only then did he agree to let the correspondent call Zhang Taofang to the regiment headquarters.
In this way, 22-year-old Zhang Taofang met the famous Pi Dingjun for the first time. Zhang Taofang was extremely happy when she heard that the army commander wanted to see her. She even brought all the bullet casings that she had used to kill the enemy to the army commander. Pi Dingjun was very happy when he saw it. He thought this little comrade was very interesting.
After a conversation, Pi Dingjun suddenly asked Zhang Taofang which target was better at hitting, whether it was flying in the sky or running on the ground. As expected, you don't have to be timid if you have strength. Zhang Taofang replied without humility, "It's almost the same." So Pi Dingjun thought of testing him on a whim and let him try shooting sparrows and birds flying in the sky.
Obviously, this is smaller and more difficult than the enemy target in reality. However, Zhang Taofang didn't find it difficult. After observing for a while, he went to crawl on a weedy ridge.
"Bang——" After about ten minutes, the gun in Zhang Taofang's hand rang out and six bullets were fired.
"Report, we found 4 sparrows and a small bird." As soon as Staff Officer Xiao finished speaking, the scene immediately burst into applause and cheers. Pi Dingjun also couldn't stop smiling on his face. He called Zhang Taofang and gave him a Soviet-made "Mosin Nagant" rifle, expressing the hope that he would use this gun to kill more enemies.
You must know that not only were the pairs of leather boots an extremely scarce material at that time, but each army only had two or three pairs. This gun was sent to North Korea as a gift from the motherland's condolences group, which was even more pitiful, with only one per army. It can be seen that Pi Dingjun truly admired this young man, and Zhang Taofang also lived up to his expectations. Not only did he kill 214 United Nations troops on Highland 573, setting a record for the highest number of kills, but he also successively trained many "cold guns" hero".
What made him deeply regretful was that after returning from North Korea, he "goodbye" Pi Dingjun on July 14, 1976, at the general's memorial service.
He was so grief-stricken that day that he led his son to cry for a long time in front of the general's soul...
