On September 27, 1955, our army held its first major award, and those who can wear the rank of general are undoubtedly outstanding figures in the history of our army.
But at the same time, they are all lucky, because there are many people who are equally meritorious, but they have died early, or for various reasons, they regret missing these honors.
For example, the veteran Kong Xianquan introduced today, his experience makes people feel that the world is uncertain.
Kong Xianquan was born in 1911 in Liuyang County, Hunan Province, to a poor peasant family, because he could not eat, he joined the Red Army very early and followed the red army to fight the world.
Kong Xianquan was physically strong, determined, not afraid of death when fighting, and often rushed to the front, so he soon stood out in the ranks, was appreciated by the leaders, and was personally introduced by Huang Kecheng to join the Communist Party of China.
Almost in the same period, he also had a Fellow Liuyang County who also joined the Red Army, named Yang Yong, the two were about the same age, the time of joining the army was similar, and the later development was also very dazzling, if according to normal development, Kong Xianquan's achievements should not be lower than Yang Yong, but the world is uncertain, a battle in 1935 completely changed Kong Xianquan's life.
At that time, the Red Army was constantly attacked and harassed by the Kuomintang troops during the Long March, and in order to get rid of this predicament, the Central Committee decided to take the initiative to attack and capture Loushan Pass, giving the enemy a harsh lesson. Kong Xianquan's unit was the main force attacking Loushan Pass.
Loushan Pass is just like its name, 1576 meters above sea level, the cliffs are standing, known as "one husband when the pass, ten thousand people can not open", belongs to the soldiers must fight the place, is a difficult to gnaw hard bones.
Loushan Pass was of extremely important strategic significance to the Red Army at that time, so no matter how difficult it was to fight, it was necessary to take the initiative and go all out!
After the battle began, although the enemy rushed to fight, after all, it occupied a natural danger, and Kong Xianquan's unit was difficult to conquer for a while.
In a charge, Kong Xianquan led the fighters to attack, but due to lack of ammunition, he soon fell into the inferior position. What's worse is that Kong Xianquan did not pay attention, and was actually swept in the thigh by the enemy's machine gun and fell into a pool of blood. As soon as the enemy officer saw it, he immediately rushed over with his men and wanted to capture Kong Xianquan alive.
At this critical juncture, Deng Keming, commander of the second battalion, led his troops to the rescue and snatched Kong Xianquan away under the enemy's encirclement, and Kong Xianquan also saved his life.
However, although he escaped by chance, the injury on Kong Xianquan's thigh must be dealt with in time, otherwise, Kong Xianquan is likely to die of wound infection.
However, at that time, the Red Army troops were very difficult, and they searched the entire hospital and did not even have a single injection of anesthetic! In the end, Kong Xianquan underwent the operation without anesthesia.
Throughout the operation, Kong Xianquan gritted his teeth and never shouted, and when the operation was over, all the medical staff present gave him a thumbs up and praised him as "Guan Gong's rebirth".
However, although the operation was completed, due to the seriousness of his injuries, Kong Xianquan needed to recuperate and could no longer continue to follow the long march of the troops, so after the organizational decision, he was placed in a local landlord's home and waited until he was healed before serving the revolution.
Before leaving, the leaders of the troops, for the safety of Kong Xianquan, also specially warned the landlord that they must take good care of Kong Xianquan, and if something goes wrong, the Red Army will definitely find him to settle accounts when he returns!
However, no one expected that this warning, which was originally well-intentioned, would later become a "shackle" that trapped Kong Xianquan.
Fast forward to 1937, the Kuomintang formed an anti-Japanese united front, the situation was greatly improved, Kong Xianquan's injuries and illness were almost better, and he decided to go to the troops.
Unexpectedly, the landlord pulled him aside and begged, "If the Red Army comes back again and sees that you are no longer here with me, will I still have good fruit to eat?" ”
During this time, the family was not bad for Kong Xianquan, and Kong Xianquan did not want them to be affected, so he temporarily put down the idea of looking for troops and waited for the opportunity to go later.
However, with the onset of the after-effects of the operation, Kong Xianquan's left leg was a full 10 centimeters shorter than his right leg, becoming a disabled person and not suitable for fighting on the battlefield again. In fact, there were still many jobs suitable for him in the army, but Kong Xianquan only wanted to go to the battlefield to fight, and he did not want his former old comrades-in-arms to see his disabled appearance, so he did not go to the army, but went into exile.
In order to fill his stomach, Kong Xianquan began to work as a mason, known as a "crippled bricklayer".
It was not until after the founding of New China that Kong Xianquan once read a newspaper and suddenly found that his old comrades-in-arms Yang Yong and Su Zhenhua had become the chairman of Guizhou Province, the commander of the Guizhou Provincial Military Region, and the political commissar of the Guizhou Provincial Military Region.
After Yang Yong and Su Zhenhua saw his letter, they were also very happy and said: "I didn't expect Kong Xianquan to still live in the human world!" ”
(Photo: Yang Yong and Su Zhenhua)
In addition, Kong Xianquan also wrote a letter to his former introduction to the party, Huang Kecheng, and with the efforts of the three generals, Kong Xianquan's party membership was finally restored, which made him cry with gratitude.
In 1952, the Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall was prepared, Kong Xianquan also participated in the construction of the memorial hall as an important witness, and became the first director of the Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall, today the memorial hall has a total collection of more than 2,000 cultural relics, of which 1400 were collected during Kong Xianquan's tenure as director.
Later, Kong Xianquan was invited to Beijing many times and was received by President Zhu, President Peng, and others; Kong Xianquan also specially asked Chairman Mao to write an inscription for the Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall, and Chairman Mao gladly agreed and wrote down the six characters of "Zunyi Conference Site."
However, in 1965, Kong Xianquan was removed from his position as director of the Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall, and the reason was also very regrettable.
Originally, at that time, the Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall was to be repaired, and a leader of Guizhou Province proposed to expand the conference room where the meeting was held that year in order to show his attention, but Kong Xianquan resolutely opposed it, saying that the historical relics should maintain their original appearance, could not be expanded at will, and should respect the authenticity of history.
As a result, Kong Xianquan thus offended the leadership and was removed from his post.
On November 7, 1988, Kong Xianquan passed away at the age of 77.
At that time, all seven military regions in the country sent him condolence telegrams, expressing high respect for this veteran who did not have any military rank.
(References: "My Memories of the Long March", "Historical Review of Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall", "Zunyi Evening News")