Zhao Shixin, male, Han ethnicity, born in May of the lunar calendar in 1914, from Kangle County, Gansu Province. In 1928, he joined Feng Yuxiang's 7th Company Of the 2nd Battalion, 75th Brigade, 75th Division, Fifth Road, Nationalist Army, and served as a service soldier, and in October 1930, he served as a division commander in the 75th Brigade, 75th Brigade, 75th Division, 25th Division, the Kuomintang, joined the Red Army on December 14, 1931, joined the Red Army in the Ningdu Uprising in Jiangxi, joined the Chinese Communist Youth League in August 1933, and became a member of the Communist Party of China in October of the same year. He successively participated in the fourth and fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaigns in the Central Soviet Region, the 25,000-mile Long March, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the War of Liberation, and the Guizhou Bandit War at the beginning of the liberation. He successively served as squad leader, platoon leader, company commander, deputy battalion commander, battalion commander, deputy regimental commander, regimental commander, and commander of the command section of the direct subordinate unit of the 5th Corps. In December 1982, he retired from Sichuan Construction Engineering Corporation (now Sichuan Huaxi Group Co., Ltd.) and enjoyed provincial and ministerial political and living treatment.
On September 23, 2016, we went to Chengdu, Sichuan Province, to interview Zhao Shixin, a 103-year-old Veteran of the Red Army, who witnessed the Ningdu Uprising———. In order to enable Elder Zhao to open the floodgates of memory as soon as possible in a short period of time, we prepared in advance the photos of people, buildings and landscapes related to the history of the Ningdu Uprising, so that the old man could recall this long history.
The next afternoon, our interview team went to Zhao Laojia as promised, and Zhao Laojia lived at No. 6 Hengde Road in Chengdu, which was the family compound of Huaxi Group, the unit where Zhao Lao was working before he left for retirement. Zhao Yuping told us that there were more than 20 old Red Army soldiers living in this family compound, so it was also called the Red Army Compound, but to this day only two old Red Army soldiers including his father are left.
Elder Zhao heard that he had made a special trip from Ningdu to Chengdu to interview him, so he waited in the living room early for the arrival of our group. When we first saw Elder Zhao, if we had not already understood Elder Zhao, what we saw in front of us was an old man with silver hair, medium stature, a tough body, and a strong spirit, so that we could not believe that this was a 103-year-old Ningdu uprising witness. Elder Zhao warmly and cordially shook hands with us one by one, and this powerful shake not only made me feel the sense of strength of Elder Zhao's body, which was obviously stronger than ordinary people, but also made me feel the toughness of Elder Zhao's body again, and even made me realize in an instant that this power was actually the incomparably firm belief in the revolution in Elder Zhao's life.
The interview slowly opened in this warm and cheerful atmosphere. Although Zhao Lao's eyesight was not good, he still looked at each photo very carefully and for a long time, looking at the kind faces of Zhao Bosheng, Dong Zhentang, Ji Zhentong, and Huang Zhongyue, as well as the "old site of the Ningdu Uprising Headquarters", the "Gongchen Bridge outside the north gate of the city", and a familiar scene that they used to call "Red Face Village", and the floodgates of Zhao Lao's memory suddenly opened.
He told us with a photo of the "former site of the Ningdu Uprising Headquarters": "I know this house, it is on the river in Ningdu County, in 1931, when I was 17 years old, I followed the troops on foot from Nanchang to Ningdu County, to participate in the "encirclement and suppression" of the Red Army by the Kuomintang army, when I was a division commander in the 2nd Battalion 7th Company of the 1st Regiment of the 75th Brigade of the 25th Division of the Kuomintang 26th Route Army, the regimental headquarters and the battalion headquarters were stationed in the "Red Face Village" outside the north gate of the city, only the 74th Brigade was stationed in the city for the defense brigade, and our 75th Brigade and 73rd Brigade were stationed outside the city. I remember that once I entered the city, I passed by this house, which later became the headquarters of the Ningdu Uprising, and Zhao Bosheng lived in this building. ”
Listening to Elder Zhao recall the history of that year so clearly, we saw the opportunity to interject Elder Zhao: "As a northerner, after you went to the south with the army, the troops were stationed in Ningdu County, and you must have left a deep impression on you both ideologically and in life. ”
Speaking of the life of the garrison in Ningdu, Zhao Lao is still fresh in his memory, and his voice is loud: "Most of us in the north are from Shaanxi, Gansu, and Henan, and after arriving in the south, not only are the water and soil unsatisfactory, but the eating habits are different, and the food is brown rice, and the vegetables are vine vegetables (the author's note: referring to the cabbage), carobs, winter melons, and the oil is peanut oil, these are not accustomed to eating, eating and wanting to vomit, many people are not adaptable, diarrhea. Until now I didn't like to eat rice, I liked to eat pasta. Due to the incompatibility of living conditions, many people are sick, some playing pendulum (malaria), cold fever, high fever of more than 40 degrees, some scabies, everyone yellow melon thin, and nosebleeds. Because there are many mosquitoes in the south, there is also a lot of rain, mosquitoes bite the rainwater, it will suppurate and ulcerate, many people are infected with these diseases, the medical security of the troops is very poor, can not be treated, so many people died. At that time, the slope of the north gate of Ningdu County was full of corpses, and at the beginning, a sign was inserted to write the name, but later it was not written. I remember that when I first arrived in Ningdu, there were more than 90 people in the 7th Company, and in the end there were only more than 50 people left, and some companies only had more than 30 people left. ”
Speaking of this, Elder Zhao's tone was a little low, and after a pause, he continued to recall: "At the beginning, in order to solve the problem of eating flour, the troops gathered all the horses and transported flour from Nanchang. Almost dead. When transporting flour, because the road is long, and there is a lot of rain, the flour is wet by rain, and when it is transported to Ningdu, many of them are moldy, so we eat these moldy flour, in such a situation, there are more sick people, almost every day dead, resulting in the mood of the troops is very depressed, at that time there were many senior officers who repeatedly asked Chiang Kai-shek to change defenses, Chiang Kai-shek only verbally agreed, but did not see action. Later, I heard that 3 Communists were secretly carrying out activities in the 26th Route Army, but it is not known who it is. ”
As the only surviving witness to the Ningdu Uprising that we know so far, in the interview, we would like to know that as an ordinary soldier, Elder Zhao can talk about the ideological dynamics from the soldier level, what kind of ideological realm is it, so that a unit of more than 17,000 people can participate in the uprising without bloodshed? But we also know that for a centenarian to recall the amazing righteous deeds of decades ago, not to mention that Zhao Lao was only 17 years old when he was old, and as an ordinary soldier, perhaps the topic was a little big. Elder Zhao's answer to our question was simple but also true, and he told us: "Because of the harsh living conditions at that time, the material conditions and medical conditions could not be guaranteed, and most of the soldiers were scattered and floating, at that time, what we most hoped for was to eat a meal of white noodles, and we did not think about going home." Although we did not get the answer we wanted, it clearly told us how the Kuomintang army treated the soldiers, which was the same as how the local people and the Red Army in the Soviet Area warmly welcomed the officers and men of the rebel troops to join the Red Army after Zhao Lao recalled that after joining the Red Army in the uprising, they tried their best to satisfy the habits of mostly soldiers from the north, so that they could feel the sharp contrast between the Kuomintang army and the Red Army in their treatment of soldiers. Perhaps, this is the simplest idea why most soldiers revolted at that time.
"Some time before the uprising, our battalion headquarters went to Nanchang to lead the army, so we left some sick places to stay behind, because at that time the Red Army often attacked us outside the city, and for safety, the battalion headquarters arranged for us to live in the city, and later, when they returned, we also lived in the city. On the night of the uprising, I was sleeping on the bunk with a high fever, and I saw the brothers take back a number of daily necessities and said that the shop did not want money, and I burned so confused that I could only hear the sound of gunshots and noise for a while. Later, I heard that Zhao Bosheng invited guests in the small Western-style building in the city and invited some officers to a banquet, and the guard company of the General Headquarters subdued some officers who were unwilling to revolt, and the soldiers of the guard company were all tall and strongly equipped, and each person had three major pieces. The next morning, when the uprising was successful, we assembled with our troops. ”
When He saw the old picture of the Shuikou Pagoda in the south of the city, and an oil painting of Zhao Bosheng leading his troops to gather on the beach under the Shuikou Tower in the south of the city to tear up the Qingtian White Sun Flag, he waved his powerful hand and said: "This is the scene of the early morning assembly the next day after the success of the uprising of the troops, under the leadership of commander-in-chief Zhao Bosheng, we all ripped off the Blue Sky white sun hat badge on our hats and threw them on the ground, and then followed the troops to the Soviet area. Along the way, I saw some people wearing red armbands with the words 'Red Guards' written on their arms, and when I was young, I inexplicably asked the company commander: 'What is the Red Guards?' The company commander said he didn't know either. I also saw about a platoon of people, dressed in gray cloth uniforms with small red flags made of paper, shouting: 'Welcome new comrades!' ' and other slogans. I said to Elder Zhao, "Elder Zhao, tell us about the announcement of the establishment of the Fifth Red Army in Guhou, Ningdu." "Solid?" Elder Zhao was a little dazed. For this place name, it was difficult to tune out in Elder Zhao's memory. But his line of thought pointed very clearly to this history, telling us: "The insurrectionary troops marched to assemble on a river beach, and remember that they also set up a platform, and the representatives of the Red Army stood on the stage and told us, why do you want to revolt, you are now the Red Army, and why do you want to be the Red Army, and the representatives of the Red Army on the stage have told us these truths. Obviously, Elder Zhao was still deeply impressed by the history of the early days of the Establishment of the Red 5 Army.
Zhao Lao's revolt was a trumpet soldier before and after the uprising, and his familiarity with the memory of the trumpet score made us marvel, although he was a 103-year-old man, he could still recite it one by one like several family treasures, "Click,,———,———,——— click, click———,———, click Assembled", "Tick tock, tick tock, tick to tock," zhao lao recited six kinds of trumpets——— in one breath, and stressed that this was the red army's score of that year, and his face showed a particularly happy smile, which was enough to see that this was the deep army brigade complex of a veteran soldier.
Elder Zhao told us: "After joining the Red Army, the first battle fought by our 5th Army was to cooperate with the Red 3rd Army to attack Ganzhou, and then I also participated in the attacks on Zhangzhou, Shuikou, Nancheng, and other battles, as well as the fourth anti-'encirclement and suppression' battles of Huangpi and Caotaigang. Elder Zhao talked about these battles, such as several family treasures, and even many scenes of battles are vividly remembered, talking about the Battle of Shuikou in July 1932, Elder Zhao shook his head and said: "That was the most tragic battle..." The tone was full of endless regret, and Elder Zhao could not bear to recall it again. Recalling the battle of Huangshidu in Nancheng before the fourth anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign, Elder Zhao said sadly: "In this battle, my old chief Comrade Zhao Bosheng was sacrificed, I was on the battlefield, Comrade Zhao Bosheng personally came to the front to command the battle, and at the end of the battle, suddenly a stray bullet hit Comrade Zhao Bosheng's right forehead, and I witnessed Comrade Zhao Bosheng's sacrifice with my own eyes.
After joining the Red Army, Zhao Lao, under the political education of the army, quickly grew into a red army soldier with firm convictions, and in August 1933, he joined the Chinese Communist Youth League, and in October of the same year, he was honorably transformed into the Communist Party of China.
Elder Zhao, who followed Chairman Mao and Commander-in-Chief Zhu all his life in the revolution, has preserved in his memory one revolutionary experience after another that is difficult to forget. In the interview, Qi Lao told us about an experience between him and Commander-in-Chief Zhu: "July 1932. A battle was fought at the mouth of the water in Nanxiong, Guangdong. This campaign was commanded by Commander-in-Chief Zhu. Since this was a vicious battle and the fighting was fierce, a company on the front position could not support the withdrawal, and the whole line was shaken, and the situation was very dangerous. At this critical moment, the special agent company of the regimental headquarters rushed up and retook the position. Other units also launched a counterattack to stabilize their positions. The next day Commander-in-Chief Zhu came to our company position, met me and asked me: 'Little devil, have you eaten?' I replied, 'Have you eaten, Commander-in-Chief?' The commander-in-chief said he hadn't eaten, so I went to get some food, and the commander-in-chief ate it, and I scooped another jar of water from a puddle, and the commander-in-chief drank it. Before leaving, he said to our company commander, 'Hold on'. In the end, we finally defeated the 12 regiments of the enemy Chen Jitang and won the Battle of Shuikou.
Before the Long March, Zhao Lao was incorporated into the artillery battalion of the Red 3rd Army as a commander. During the Long March, Elder Zhao participated in the 25,000-mile Long March with the Red 3rd Army... At the end of the interview, Elder Zhao gladly wrote with a pen, "Long live the spirit of the Ningdu Uprising!" Zhao Shixin, a participant in the Ningdu Uprising ———, was 103 years old at the time. And in front of the camera, he said excitedly: "Ningdu is the starting point for my revolutionary career, I thank Ningdu, thank the people of Ningdu, and hope that under the leadership of the county party committee and the county government, the people of Ningdu will live a better life!"
Source: Ningdu County Rong Media Center