In August 1958, the 53-year-old Xu Shiyou took off his general's uniform, changed into the uniform of a big head soldier, and went down to the grass-roots company to become a veteran of the 7th squad of the 6th company of a certain army.
In August 1958, Chairman Mao held a temporary enlarged meeting of cadres in Beidaihe, at which he specifically pointed out: All our "commanders," including military commanders and division commanders, should serve as soldiers in grass-roots companies for at least one month, and this is the first year, and it is best to be two months, resolutely obey the orders and commands of squad leaders and platoon leaders. ”
On 20 September, in accordance with Chairman Mao's instructions, the General Political Department made a special stipulation that cadres at all levels of the whole army should serve as soldiers for one month in a company, and issued them to the whole army, which immediately set off an upsurge of cadres becoming soldiers under the company and won a positive response from leading cadres at all levels.
Xu Shiyou, who was then the commander of the Nanjing Grand Military Region, admired and admired Chairman Mao the most in his lifetime, so as soon as Chairman Mao's proposal came out, he immediately and unconditionally responded positively.
After taking the initiative to hand over the military region's next important military and political affairs, The 53-year-old Xu Shiyou took off his general's uniform, took off his big hat, changed into a ship-shaped hat, wore a superior rank, and put on the uniform of a big head soldier, went down to the grass-roots company, and became a veteran of the 7th squad of the 6th company of a certain army.
The company commander and squad leader saw that Xu Shiyou was old, and he was also the commander of the grand military region and the founding general, and his battle achievements were outstanding, and he could not help but numb his claws for a while.
He did not dare to give orders to him, all kinds of dirty, heavy, and dangerous work were not allowed to be done, and he was not allowed to participate in the official duties, and when the troops were training, they let Xu Shiyou watch from the sidelines, for fear that he would be tired and damaged.
Xu Shiyou was anxious: "There is no chief, no commander, no general, some are just a new veteran, since he is a soldier, you can just call me Old Xu." ”
But the company commander and squad leader still couldn't let go, and Xu Shiyou's sharp temper came up at that time: "When a soldier is not bold, how to fight in the future, I have been a general for decades, I am used to managing people, today I will change you to manage me, change the bureaucratic habits that may exist in my body, if you can't discipline me well, then Lao Tzu will remove you from your post." ”
Every night, the troops needed to arrange special soldiers to stand guard, so when the squad leader was reading his name, Xu Shiyou also stretched his neck and waited to hear his name.
But when the list was finished and everyone received the task, Xu Shiyou did not hear his name, so he asked anxiously: "Why is there no name on the list?" Why don't you give me a shift? Are you looking down on a veteran? ”
A few days later, the squad leader and Xu Shiyou became acquainted, and found that the old chief was approachable and could make jokes, so he let go of his courage and said without any courtesy with him: "Old Xu, you veteran soldiers have an old bone, what post are you standing on?" You also don't look at how old you are. ”
Xu Shiyou's founding general was fought one level at a time in the battlefield test of blood and fire, and during the period of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, he single-handedly defeated the red half of the jiaodong sky and won Chairman Mao's commendation in the whole army.
When he was young, he was a tiger and a tiger, and he beat the enemy to be frightened, and now that he is older, he is also an old ji Futuo, who is determined to be in a thousand miles, and does not accept defeat at all: "Don't look at my age, but the body bones are not comparable to ordinary recruits, and it is no problem to stand on a post for one night." ”
At Xu Shiyou's strong request, the squad leader could only ask the company commander and arrange a midnight post for him, and as a result, Xu Shiyou completed the task meticulously.
In just a few days, the warriors found that Xu Shiyou did have two shots, training to swim, although Xu Shiyou's movements were not standardized, but the breath was long, swimming the fastest and the farthest, and he could swim out for thousands of meters in one breath.
Training to climb high, although Xu Shiyou has a small belly, but the action is sharper than the monkey, the hands on the rope, bamboo pole easy exchange, after a while to successfully climb the summit, even the technical almighty soldier tip, can not help but bow to the wind.
In the days when Xu Shiyou was training as a soldier in the company, he ate and lived with the soldiers, never engaged in special, and sometimes the soldiers wanted to take care of him and open a small stove, which would also cause Xu Shiyou to drink and scold angrily.
Once, the troops were ordered to the reservoir to help the masses pick up the earth, and the soldiers and squad leaders were afraid of tired old chiefs, so they did not let him pick up the flat burden and let him shovel the soil.
But unexpectedly, Xu Shiyou's face immediately darkened: "This is looking down on me as a veteran." ”
So he carried a mud basket in each hand and flew back and forth on the construction site, which was the most stable for him, and his speed was even faster than that of the little young man who picked up the flat burden.
Although Xu Shiyou's time in the company was only three months, the soldiers all became his little "apprentices".
When eating, Xu Shiyou often picked up the bench and could come up with more than a dozen tricks, smashing left and right, advancing and retreating like the wind, so that the officers and men could see their eyes shining.
During the recess, Xu Shiyou often taught them to punch, and for dozens of days, each time he taught a different style of boxing, all kinds of techniques, without stinginess, all of which were taught.
Later, every soldier in the company could pick up the bench and play a few times, so that the bench in the canteen was always missing arms and legs, uneven, making the chief secretary complain bitterly.
In the end, Xu Shiyou successfully completed the task of the next company, and when he packed up and returned to the headquarters of the military region, he was also rated as a "five-good soldier" by the company, which made Xu Shiyou, who was full of honor and meritorious service, smile and close his mouth.
Xu Shiyou carefully rolled up the award certificate and personally framed it in his office and treasured it forever to commemorate this short but beautiful love affair with the revolutionary army.