The Xiangshan Revolution Memorial Hall treasures a wooden boat from the Battle of the Crossing River, about 8 meters long, made of solid wooden planks spliced by the tenon and tenon process, which is a boat for the people to support the People's Liberation Army to cross the Yangtze River. When the Battle of the River Crossing began, it was nearly 10,000 wooden boats of different sizes like this that shuttled back and forth, carrying the People's Liberation Army, through the dense artillery fire, riding the wind and waves, and sailing to the other side of victory. In August 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping said affectionately: "The victory in the Battle of crossing the river was drawn by the people with small boats.
"Fight across the Yangtze River and liberate all of China!" On April 21, 1949, Mao Zedong and Zhu De issued the "Order to March to the Whole Country", and the first problem that needed to be solved in the battle of crossing the river was the ship.
Before the launch of the Campaign to cross the river, the Kuomintang had dragged all the ships that could be found on the north bank of the Yangtze River to the south of the Yangtze River, and it was too late to tow all the ships to the opposite bank to sink the river. The People's Liberation Army mobilized the masses, and in a short period of time, through organizing mobilization, helping the poor and the poor, distributing grain in the fields, and promising compensation to the ship owners, a large number of boat people were quickly concentrated in place. In addition, the masses of the people and the PLA fighters worked together to salvage the sunken vessels and seize the rush to repair them. According to incomplete statistics, in the battle of crossing the river, the People's Liberation Army requisitioned more than 30,000 ships.
In the exhibition hall of the Xiangshan Revolution Memorial Hall, there is also a fragmented award flag on display. The medal flag is a replica of cloth, 29 cm long, 20 cm wide, and the right side is mutilated, which was awarded by the 106th Regiment of the Second Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in 1949 to "former boat workers" Chen Wenyi and Chen Yuhua's father and son, and the original is stored in the Memorial Hall of the Battle of Crossing the River. The right side of this medal flag was pierced by shells during the Battle of Crossing the River, revealing a charred line of bullet marks, which is an important physical evidence of the unity of the army and the people against the enemy in the Battle of crossing the River. It is this broken banner that bears witness to the history of many people supporting the PEOPLE's Liberation Army in forcibly crossing the "Graben" when the People's Liberation Army swept down to Jiangnan more than 70 years ago, and also silently tells the moving story of the heroes and sons and daughters of the Liberation War.
In the early morning of April 21, 1949, the 106th Regiment's order to cross the river sounded, and countless former groups of people rushed into the river with dense boats. In the dangerous river surface and intensive artillery fire, the sails of the forward ships were shot down, and the bow of the ship was also shattered by artillery fire, so they repaired the ships and continued to cross the river, using all their strength to send the troops across the river.
Eventually, they passed through enemy fire and arrived at the south bank of the Yangtze River without any danger. After landing on the shore, Chen Yuhua, who had already completed the task and had just escaped the disaster of life and death, still refused to leave. What awaited them on the south bank was more intense artillery fire and large areas of enemy mines. In order to open the way for his successors, he carefully cleared the mine leads amid the smoke of artillery fire. Just then, a shell exploded beside him. In an instant, violent explosions and soaring air waves would engulf them all on the shore. In the midst of the fire, Chen Yuhua was covered in scales and blood. The "First Boat Crossing the River" award flag, which symbolized the glorious mission, also blew up a corner. In the pool of blood, he only vaguely remembered that there were our soldiers behind using signal lights to open the way for the troops, and our army landed victoriously.
At that time, there were more than one million people in the People's Liberation Army, more than three million ordinary people who came to support, and an average of three ordinary people stood behind a soldier, which was not only a victory in a war, but also a victory for the people. This "first boat to cross the river" award flag, which has experienced the smoke of gunfire, has witnessed the great miracle of the military and the people working together to change the world and change the earth and turn the mighty Yangtze River into Yangguan Avenue. Today, it still silently tells the world about the glorious history of bloody struggle and courage. (Source: Learning to Power)