I remember such an incident: One evening, Commander-in-Chief Zhu went out for a walk alone after dinner. He saw a soldier arguing with a fellow villager at the door of a village. Commander-in-Chief Zhu walked over and asked the soldier: "Comrade, why are you arguing with a fellow

General Wu Ruiqing

Commander-in-Chief Zhu and the soldiers

Wu Ruiqing

In the spring of 1939, our Eighth Route Army’s 115th Division, 344th Brigade and 687th Regiment were stationed at the West Camp, twenty miles west of Lu’an Prefecture, Shanxi Province, for rest and recuperation. Commander-in-Chief Zhu came to give a military report to our cadres. At that time, I was serving as the chief of the munitions section in the supply department of the regiment. I remember such an incident:

One evening, Commander-in-Chief Zhu went out for a walk alone after dinner. He saw a soldier quarreling with a fellow villager at the door of a village. Commander-in-Chief Zhu walked over and asked the soldier:

"Comrade, how can we fight with a fellow soldier?" Are the fellows quarreling? "

"I want to borrow something, but the common people refuse to borrow it," the soldier said casually without paying attention to Commander-in-Chief Zhu.

"Comrade, let's be honest, you can't quarrel with my fellow countrymen."

The soldier looked at Commander-in-Chief Zhu: Commander-in-Chief Zhu was dressed like an ordinary soldier, with a patch on the straw-yellow uniform on his upper body. , with leggings on his legs and a pair of coarse cloth shoes worn by ordinary people working in the army... The soldier has never seen Commander-in-Chief Zhu, so naturally he does not know Commander-in-Chief Zhu. He ignored Commander-in-Chief Zhu and continued to argue with the fellow villager.

Commander-in-Chief Zhu said to the soldiers very kindly:

"It is wrong to lose your temper and show attitude toward fellow villagers. Didn't your instructors tell you this? Revolutionary soldiers must be kind to the common people..."

"Who are you? ?”

“I am Zhu De.”

The soldiers of the 344th Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army looked at Commander Zhu carefully with suspicion. I thought to myself: Are you Commander-in-Chief Zhu? Even if you work as an orderly for our Commander-in-Chief, we don’t want you. What an amazing person our Commander-in-Chief is! He is a mighty general, riding a tall foreign horse, and there are guards behind him...

At this moment, the soldier suddenly noticed that the leader of the regiment was running over from a distance. As he got closer, he saluted Commander-in-Chief Zhu and said, "Why is Commander-in-Chief out for a walk alone?"

At this moment, the soldier suddenly realized. He almost shouted in surprise, "Ah! It's really Commander-in-Chief Zhu!"

After breakfast the next day, Commander-in-Chief Zhu asked the head of the regiment:

"The one who quarreled with the fellow villagers yesterday?" Are the soldiers scared? "

" Yes, Commander-in-Chief, he talked in his sleep last night, saying 'I'm sorry, Commander-in-Chief Zhu', 'I was wrong', and 'I will be punished'... Today I can't even eat breakfast..." Commander-in-Chief Zhu said before the regiment leader finished his words: "Why didn't you tell me earlier? Find him quickly and I'll talk to him, and nothing will happen."

The soldiers came in a panic and uneasiness. They hesitated for a long time outside the door of Commander-in-Chief Zhu's house before he bravely went in. He thought Commander-in-Chief Zhu would lose his temper and punish him. However, as soon as he walked in, he saw the kind face of Commander-in-Chief Zhu, who was still as kind as yesterday. Commander-in-Chief Zhu asked him to sit down and poured him a glass of boiling water himself, and then said:

"Are you scared?"

"Yes...ah! No..." The soldier was so moved that he could not speak.

"Commander-in-Chief, I was wrong! I will definitely change it in the future. Please give me punishment!"

"It's good to know that I was wrong. It's even better if you are determined to correct it!"

"Please give me punishment, Commander-in-Chief!" "This is a soldier's heartfelt request.

"No punishment will be given! Go back! Don't show any attitude toward fellow villagers in the future!..."

Then, Commander-in-Chief Zhu told the soldier a lot of truth. The soldier became more and more moved and actually shed tears of excitement. . The

soldier returned to the class and told the whole class. Later, the news spread throughout the entire company and regiment. The soldiers all said: Commander-in-Chief Zhu taught us what a vivid lesson!

has been around for twenty years now. Whenever I recall this incident, I still remember it so clearly; whenever I talk about it to others, I am still so deeply moved. (This article was recorded by Wang Zhaoyun and originally published in " Liaoning Daily " on August 1, 1959.)