In April 2010, in a hotel in a small town on the border between China and Vietnam in Guangxi, a "strange" guest came to listen to the man's accent, obviously a northerner, and he chose the cheapest hostel in the local area, which only cost 8 yuan per day for accommodation.
Usually, he sets up a stall on the local street to repair bicycles, but this man who makes a living by setting up a stall comes out early and returns late every day, and is silent on weekdays, but at night, the owner of the hostel often hears the crying in this person's room.
The owner of the hostel also found that in this border town, the car repairman is actually not alone, some strange faces will often appear around him, as if to talk about the secret joint, what is this northerner coming to the Border between China and Vietnam? What exactly is his identity, and what unknown past events are involved in it.
Just a month after the northern man had come to the border, on a dark night, he had sneaked across the border along the path. However, this middle-aged man disguised himself as a Vietnamese borderman, crossed the border, took such a huge risk, crossed the border, not in a hurry to visit relatives and friends, nor for smuggling and smuggling, his purpose was only for a bunch of loess in a foreign country.
He walked along a trail, after about two kilometers, and finally arrived at the destination, holding the loess in his hand, slowly wrapping it up, the man was nervous and sad, he hurried back to the boundary line, after crossing the boundary monument finally could not suppress his heart, the man burst into tears, and said: "Baoliang, we have arrived home."
This middle-aged man, named Guo Yimin, is a native of Xuchang, Henan, a veteran, and the "Baoliang" he calls "Baoliang" is his comrade-in-arms and fellow countryman - Li Baoliang, who died on the battlefield. In 2010, Guo Yimin was 52 years old, an ordinary laid-off worker, and when he reached the border, he had to make a living by setting up stalls to repair bicycles.
But just a year ago, Guo Yimin made a major decision, he bid farewell to his hometown from Xuchang, Henan, began to travel north and south of the river, and finally came to a border town in Guangxi, and the real purpose of his trip was to find the remains of his close comrade-in-arms and fellow countryman Li Baoliang.
On February 17, 1979 Chinese people's liberation army launched a self-defense counterattack against Vietnam in the border areas of Guangxi and Yunnan. The Chinese army successively conquered the three provincial capitals and 17 counties and cities of Lang Son, Gao Binh and Lao Cai in Vietnam, severely damaged 4 regular divisions and 10 regiments of the Vietnamese army, killed more than 37,300 enemy troops, captured more than 2,200 enemy personnel, captured a large number of weapons and equipment and combat materials, and destroyed military facilities against China in northern Vietnam.
After accomplishing its intended objectives, all Chinese border troops withdrew to China on March 16. In November 1978, the 19-year-old Guo Yimin enlisted in the army, and two months later, Guo Yimin accompanied the troops from Henan to Guangxi and was ordered to participate in the Sino-Vietnamese self-defense counterattack.
At this time, on the border between China and Vietnam, hundreds of thousands of troops were already waiting in a strict position, and war was about to break out. About 40 kilometers from the border, Guo Yimin's regiment held an oath-taking meeting, when there were about two thousand people in the regiment, due to the needs of wartime, the soldiers of the unit all shaved their hair, in order to facilitate rescue and treatment when they were wounded in battle, they took off their hats one after another, and raised their right hands to swear to the motherland, swearing that as a soldier, the soldiers were not afraid of sacrifice, fought bravely on the battlefield, and swore to defend the safety of the motherland and the people.
Guo Yimin was the 53309 unit of the Chinese People's Liberation Army at that time, the deputy shooter of a machine gun company, enlisted in the army, especially rushed to the front line of the war, his comrades-in-arms were all over the country, but Guo Yimin was very surprised to get acquainted with a fellow villager from Jiyuan, Henan.
The accent of Henan Jiyuan dialect is very strong, Guo Yimin can hear it as soon as he hears it, and he happily talks with this fellow and asks him where are you? The fellow replied that it was Ji Yuan's, and the two were fellow villagers. And the Jiyuan compatriot guo knew was the PLA martyr mentioned at the beginning, Li Baoliang, who was also a soldier of the machine gun company.
It was a great deal to meet fellow villagers in one place on the front line, and two young men dug trenches and built fortifications together, and soon became friends who talked about everything. In fact, these two people have not long been enlisted in the army, and they have touched on the war for the first time, although the two are very nervous, they usually encourage each other, and during the rest time when there is no combat mission, Guo Yimin and Li Baoliang are half lying in the trenches talking about what they have seen and heard these days and many things they have encountered.
War is cruel, and bloodshed and sacrifice are commonplace. Guo Yimin and Li Baoliang reached a tacit understanding, once the two went to the battlefield, under the gunfire, as the brothers of the fellow villagers, they could look at each other a little bit. Just after a simple chat between the two people, the combat mission immediately arrived, and in the sound of artillery fire, Guo Yimin and his comrades quickly threw themselves into battle, at this time the enemy army stubbornly held the post and the crane border defense point, and the two sides began a melee street battle.
After two days and two nights of fierce fighting, Guo Yimin's troops successively captured The Crane, and although there were heavy casualties, In the end, Guo Yimin and his comrades rushed to the 540 heights. After the battle, Guo Yimin saw Li Baoliang again, the two looked at each other, just after the battle, their faces were all the colors of mud and cannon fodder, but both of them could instantly perceive each other, just separated not long ago, but it was a feeling of reunion after a long time.
Some of the PLA fighters in this battle have already died, perhaps this is the so-called distance between life and death, and Guo Yimin and Li Baoliang embraced each other excitedly. The unexpected reunion on the battlefield made the two comrades-in-arms of the same township cry with joy, and in the battlefield filled with gun smoke and smoke, in a foreign country with broken walls and ruins, Guo Yimin and Li Baoliang told their respective combat experiences in a rural voice.
Some of their comrades-in-arms around them sacrificed, some of them were injured and sent to the rear, and the fierceness of the war made people feel afraid, but the mutual talk between the compatriots greatly alleviated such tension and depression, and suddenly Guo Yimin said: If I am not hit, you have to worry about me to get me back.
Guo Yimin thought that if he was really glorious in the later battles, he hoped that his fellow villagers could bring their remains or ashes back to their hometown, Li Baoliang agreed, and he immediately said that if I were to be glorious, then you could not throw me here. In this way, the two young men agreed with each other to take their comrades home.
In 1979, Guo Yimin was 20 years old, and Li Baoliang had just passed his 19th birthday, watching his comrades-in-arms around them leave one by one, they also thought of themselves, and they also thought of death, but in fact, after experiencing the baptism of war, death was already something that could be ignored for them.
But one thing, they don't want the land buried under their feet after death, because this is not the motherland, not the hometown. After death, I will take you home, which has become a promise made by two young soldiers on the battlefield to each other, and it is also their last words left in this cruel war.
In early March 1979, after the Chinese army conquered Liangshan, northern Vietnam was basically conquered, and the Vietnamese army had to withdraw some troops from the Cambodian front and send more troops to the Sino-Vietnamese border. Now that our strategic intentions had been met, we would no longer continue to attack southwards, and then choose to alternate cover to withdraw from Vietnamese territory. In order to clear the remnants of the Vietnamese army and block the reinforcements that followed, Guo Yimin and Li Baoliang's troops once again threw themselves into battle.
On March 10, 1979, in order to cover the retreat of the large troops, Li Baoliang and Guo Yimin's company received orders to hold the 612 heights, at this time Guo Yimin and Li Baoliang's respective positions were only a few hundred meters apart. Night fell, and the jungle was as silent as death.
At about 8:00 p.m., gunfire suddenly broke out on the 612 high ground, and Guo Yimin judged by experience that Li Baoliang on the main position was now engaged in a fierce battle with the enemy army. At dawn, the enemy stopped attacking, and Hill 612 gradually calmed down, at which point the troops received orders to withdraw from their positions.
On March 13, 1979, Guo Yimin's Eighth Company returned to China. After withdrawing from the battlefield, the soldiers of the machine gun company of Unit 53309 returned to their camp one after another. However, just when Guo Yimin's safety was triumphant, he heard the news of the sacrifice of his compatriot Li Baoliang. Guo Yimin inquired about Li Baoliang from the company, but was told that Li Baoliang had died on the way to cover the withdrawal of the troops.
The enemy launched many charges, were repelled, in the fifth attack, Li Baoliang, who was in charge of defense, was hit in the neck by the enemy's bullet, and his right neck was injured by a shrapnel, the wound was located in the arterial blood vessel, for a time the blood splashed, the blood bubbles on the neck slowly bubbled up, and after a while there was no longer a sound of speaking.
Hearing the description of his comrades-in-arms, Guo Yimin was shocked and his head was blown up, and his brain was buzzing. Shortly after returning to China, unit 53309 posthumously recognized Li Baoliang as a revolutionary martyr, and At the celebration meeting, Guo Yimin heard a news that made him unbelievable. The body of the martyr Li Baoliang was not brought back to China, but buried on the battlefield, Guo Yimin immediately appeared in his mind at this moment, the two of them mutually entrusted, if anyone sacrificed, those who survived should take themselves home.
Guo Yimin thought at that time, even if I used my life to run over and rush over, I would want him to grab it back. But the war is over, this idea is not realistic, it is impossible. After the celebration meeting, Guo Yimin's heart could not be calmed for a long time, as long as he thought of Li Baoliang, Guo Yimin was always unable to control his emotions.
He did not understand why the body of his comrade-in-arms Li Baoliang had not been brought back to China, what really happened at that time, if he was on the battlefield, he would have to carry Li Baoliang back no matter what. Li Baoliang's 7th Company, which went abroad to participate in the war for only half a month, conquered the border defense areas and forcibly occupied the 540 heights, followed up to hold the 612 heights for a day and a night, and once repelled 6 consecutive enemy charges.
However, Li Baoliang's body was lost abroad, and this matter was also a military secret at that time and could not be leaked, so it has not been revealed to the outside world about how Li Baoliang's body was lost and where it was lost. After that, Guo Yimin tried many times to tell the truth, and finally learned that this matter was close to the only person who knew about it, Li Baoliang's comrade-in-arms, Chen Jianguo, and he hoped to know from Chen Jianguo where Li Baoliang was, and what kind of situation was encountered at that time, and why Li Baoliang's body could not be brought back to the motherland?
In 1981, after Guo Yimin retired from the army, he returned to Henan, settled down in Xuchang, after Li Baoliang's sacrifice, the tombstone was placed in the Guangxi Ningming Martyrs Cemetery, due to the long distance, Li Baoliang's family in Henan, did not go to pay tribute for thirty years, and in Li Baoliang's hometown of Jiyuan, in order to commemorate the young soldier, the hometown people hung a chapter of Li Baoliang's portrait in a showroom in the Jiyuan County Martyrs Cemetery.
But about the martyr Li Baoliang, his remains are still in a foreign country, Guo Yimin has never dared to mention in front of his family, until 2009, after the death of Li Baoliang's father, Guo Yimin left Li Baoliang's body abroad, informed the martyr's brother Li Baoguo, and proposed that if the bones are found, he hopes that Li Baoguo will cooperate in DNA identification.
During this period, in order to find the specific location of the burial of Li Baoliang, Guo Yimin inquired with his comrades-in-arms at that time and asked for help from the old troops, but everyone's opinions were different, and there was never a precise clue. Year after year, the search for clues has not made much progress. Until May 2009, Guo Yimin, under the guidance of enthusiastic people, took to the streets of Xuchang, Henan Province, to play a banner reading "Looking for the Remains of Martyrs" to seek social help.
During this time, Zhao Dekuan, a cadre who had participated in the battle, approached Guo Yimin and told him that a Comrade-in-Arms from Wuhan named Xu Ping had rescued Li Baoliang. This key clue made Guo Yimin overjoyed, he immediately came to Wuhan, Hubei Province, and then through the newspaper media, published the search news and finally found Xu Ping in Wuchang.
It was learned from Xu Ping that after Li Baoliang's body was carried off the position, it was handed over to a Hunan soldier, Chen Jianguo. In November 2009, with the help of his hunan comrade-in-arms Long Liguo, Guo Yimin finally found Chen Jianguo in Changsha after several twists and turns.
As soon as the two met, Guo Yimin explained the reason for his coming, Chen Jianguo was already in tears, he could not forget the situation of that year, after Li Baoliang's sacrifice, they received a retreat order from their superiors, he carried Li Baoliang's body while fighting and withdrawing. However, the situation on the battlefield was urgent, and the enemy's reinforcements would soon arrive, and the commander on the scene had to order the dead comrades to be buried on the spot.
Several martyrs, including Li Baoliang, could only find a hidden place to bury on the spot, and make simple marks, and then Chen Jianguo's troops were quickly transferred, Chen Jianguo was helpless, and this matter was also pressed in his heart for many years. Guo Yimin came this time, he finally said these things, with the memory of the battlefield that year, he sketched a sketch of the burial of the martyr's body. Perhaps going to the Sino-Vietnamese border and referring to the location of this sketch, you can find the remains of the martyr Li Baoliang.
On January 11, 2010, the tomb of the martyr Li Baoliang was relocated to the Ningming Martyrs' Cemetery in Guangxi, and Guo Yimin immediately made an appointment with several comrades-in-arms to go to Guangxi to visit the tomb. In the Ningming Martyrs' Cemetery, when Li Baoliang's tombstone appeared in front of Guo Yimin's eyes, he fell to his knees in front of the tomb of his comrades-in-arms and wept bitterly, "Sorry brother, I'm late!" ”
Guo Yimin then stood in front of the grave of his comrades-in-arms, while burning paper while telling the past events of that year, after keeping vigil for his comrades-in-arms, the next morning, everyone thought that Guo Yimin had fulfilled his wish and was ready to persuade him to leave together. Who knows, he made a decision that surprised everyone - to stay alone in Ningming to work, and he must find Li Baoliang's remains.
This is the beginning of the mention, Guo Yimin went to the Border between China and Vietnam alone, Guo Yimin spent more than 30,000 yuan prepared for this trip, so he bought car repair tools, tricycles, and repaired bicycles in the local area to maintain his livelihood and make a simple living. However, due to the limitations of objective conditions, the difficulty of excavating the remains on the ground is too great, even if Guo Yimin finds the location marked on the sketch, it is impossible to excavate the remains of his comrades alone, and he can only take a bag of soil at the location at that time and bring it back to his hometown.
He hoped that in this embrace of soil, there was the soul of a comrade-in-arms who was born and died, and he hoped that he could really fulfill the oath of that year and take his fellow villagers home, and those PLA soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the motherland and the people could return to their hometowns and fall to their roots. We also sincerely hope that that day will come and will always remember those warriors who sacrificed their lives for the stable life of the country and the people, who are the most beloved people.
Reference: Phoenix Network "Veterans Keep the Promise of Life and Death 30 Years Ago, Looking for the Remains of Comrades-in-Arms"
The People's Liberation Army Daily's 35 years of painstaking search for the bones of martyrs - "My good brother, where are you!" ”》