During the Long March, a young soldier joined the Long March at the age of 7, and when the Long March began, he was only 9 years old, the youngest Red Army soldier at the time of the Long March, and now he is 94 years old and still alive. So, who is this little warrior?
This little warrior was called Xiang Xuan. Xiang Xuan's mother, He Mangu, was the younger sister of Marshal He Long. After He Mangu joined the revolution, she married Xiang Shenghui and gave birth to 4 sons and a daughter. Xiang Hui was their youngest son. In 1928, He Long launched the Sangzhi Uprising. The Kuomintang reactionaries began to arrest He Long's relatives and friends. During an operation, He Mangu and Xiang Xuan were captured by the enemy.
After the enemy captured He Mangu, he tortured her inhumanly, and wanted her to explain the whereabouts of He Long. As a result, He Mangu has been gritting her teeth and never confessing, and finally heroically became righteous. He Long's eldest sister, He Ying, spent a lot of money to buy off the prison guards, rescued Xiang Xuan and raised himself.
Later, He Ying's hiding place was leaked by traitors, causing enemy troops to surround him. At the time of crisis, He Yingsai gave Xiang Xuan some belongings and let the 7-year-old escape on his own. Xiang Xuan ran for a long time and then fainted on the ground, but was fortunately saved by the later founding lieutenant general Liao Hansheng. A few days later, Xiang Xuan was taken to his uncle He Long's side.
The year was 1933, and xiang Xuan, who was only seven years old, was appointed by He Long as a service soldier and officially became a red army soldier. In 1935, He Long received orders to lead his army from Sangzhi and go north to participate in the Long March. Xiang Xuan, who was only 9 years old, moved with the large army. In this way, he became the smallest Red Army soldier in the Long March.
During the Long March, Xiang Xuan did not shout a word of tiredness, nor did he cry out a word of bitterness. No matter how difficult the conditions were, he gritted his teeth and persevered. In 1936, Xiang Xuan followed the troops to Yan'an and began to study at the local primary school. It was also in this year that he was received by great men. The great man admonished him to study hard and be a useful person to the country and the people in the future.
In 1943, Xiang Xuan served as a guard company soldier in the 358th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army, and then mastered the skills of sappers and was gradually promoted to company commander of engineers. In a battle in 1948, Xiang Xuan personally led troops to attack the enemy's fortifications, and was unfortunately wounded in the battle, according to post-war statistics, he had 26 wounds on his body and was permanently blind in his right eye. There is still a lot of shrapnel in his body that has not been removed.
In 1955, Xiang Xuan was awarded the rank of lieutenant colonel, and five years later he was promoted to colonel. In 1978, Xiang Xuan was promoted to deputy director of the Armed Forces Department of Xicheng District of Chengdu Military Subdistrict, and officially retired in 1982. Today, Xiang Xuan in 2020 is 94 years old, and his body is still very tough.