In 1926, Xiang Xuan was born in Sangzhi, Hunan, and his mother was the female regimental commander of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army in western Hunan Province.
When Xiang Xuan was 2 years old, his mother was arrested by the white bandits, and he was imprisoned with his third brother and fifth sister.
His mother was tortured and killed by the enemy for not willing to betray his uncle Marshal He. The eldest aunt He Ying poured out the financial resources of He and Xiang to the two families to rescue the three of them.
Great aunt He Ying adopted Xiang Xuan and kept him by her side. Didn't expect that
At the age of 7, the eldest aunt was also betrayed by traitors and shot and killed.
Before dying, the eldest aunt handed Xiang Xuan five oceans, two gold rings and a small pistol, leaving him to find the Red Army alone.
On that day, the eldest aunt He Ying and the second aunt He Pengmei were killed by the enemy. Xiang Xuan, 7 years old, escaped from the rain of bullets and bullets.
With the help of his familiarity with the terrain, Xiang Xuan avoided the search and arrest of the white bandits, and fled all the way from Hefeng in Hubei to the deep mountains and old forests of Guizhou.
Finally found his uncle and joined the Red Army.
At the age of 8, Xiang Xuan, with the help of the Red Army, personally shot the culprit who killed his mother. At the age of 9, Xiang Xuan participated in the Long March with his uncle's Second Army.
Due to the early death of his mother, it is impossible to determine Xiang Xuan's date of birth. thereupon
The troops decided to count the day of He Ying's death on April 21, 1933, and Xiang Xuan's determination to join the revolution as his birthday, and the relevant departments identified him as the "smallest Red Army".
First, the naughty and cute little Red Army
Xiang Xuan' real name was Xiang Chuhan, the fourth son of He Mangu, and he had a younger sister under him. When He Mangu had an accident, her sister was only eight months old, and she didn't even have a name, so they called her "DoorMaid".
In 1927, Xiang Xuan's uncle participated in the Nanchang Uprising. Fearing that her family would be persecuted by the enemy, her mother sent her eldest son Xiang Chusheng and second son Xiang Chuming to Shanghai for hiding. Three other smaller children stayed by their side. Xiang Xuan was the fourth oldest, 2 years old at the time. Among the children, he was the strongest and the most mischievous.
According to his uncle's family,
Xiang Xuan's personality is very naughty. Because he was the fourth oldest, everyone didn't call him by his name, they all called him "Four Lepers". The little clever ghost Xiang Xuan, when he was three and a half years old, learned to shoot under the guidance of He Ying.
The trunk of the tree in front of the door was densely packed with holes.
In 1934, the Red Army returned to Western Hunan and captured Zhang Hengru, the murderer who killed He Mangu, alive.
Xiang Xuan and the two warriors were responsible for escorting him back to the military headquarters.
8-year-old Xiang Xuan could not wait for the public trial, so he pushed Zhang Hengru into the ditch on the road, shot and killed him, and avenged his mother.
Uncle Xiang Xuan considered that he was too young, and usually got the needle off his gun. Wait until the troops are going to fight, and then load them for him.
Xiang Xuan, like his uncle, has been particularly good at eloquence since childhood.
He had been a serviceman and a small propagandist in the Red Army. The warriors went to hand out leaflets to their fellow villagers and xiang Xuanye
Go door to door to publicize and explain the big truth to others. As he spoke, a green dragon flowed out of his nose.
Only to see his face not change color and his heart did not beat, wiped it with his sleeve, and then said, the fellow laughed out of tears.
During the Long March of the Red Army, Xiang Xuan was the deputy squad leader of the communications squad in the unit. Once he saw a beautiful little red horse tethered to a tree by the river. Without asking for help, he rode it around majestically. When his uncle found out, he confiscated the foal and returned it to the owner of the horse, scolded him, and almost "expelled from the army." Nine-year-old Xiang Xuan cried and made a pledge, honest for many months.
After the end of the Long March, the troops went to Yan'an and sent Xiang Xuan to a local organ to deliver letters. The children's group members stopped him and asked him who he was, and he said to the other party on his toes: Do you dare to look down on me? I think I climbed snowy mountains, crossed meadows, and participated in the Long March!
Then
The great man just happened to pass by, heard Xiang Xuan blowing the atmosphere, and asked him in surprise: How old are you dolls? You say you are a Red Army, who can prove it?
Xiang Xuan said: My uncle can prove it. The great man asked him who his uncle was,
After learning that it was Marshal He, he smiled and said: This young man turned out to be a member of his family! I believe it!
Xiang Xuan remained in the army and studied hard while fighting. During his lifetime, he fought on horseback and was wounded in more than 20 places. In 1948, when he was the commander of the engineer company, he transformed the Qing Dynasty artillery and successfully repelled the enemy attack. He was hit by a howitzer and blinded by a wound in his right eye. After liberation, he was promoted to colonel and worked in the People's Armed Forces Department of the Chengdu Military Region, retiring in 1982.
II. The "Baby Soldiers" in the Army
In the 1930s,
An American journalist named Snow visited Yan'an. In the book, he introduced the Red Army soldiers he had seen with his own eyes, and the average age was less than 18 years old.
In today's 2020, they are all "baby soldiers". However, at that time,
There is also a group of quite a few "Young Pioneers", all of whom are "Little Red Army". The average age is 11-14 years old.
The children uniformly wore adult uniforms, the military hat was two circles larger than the braincase, and the sleeves were lowered to the knees. Many of them are fatherless and motherless orphans, while others are apprentices who have fled the countryside and are usually responsible for serving as small actors, small servicemen and messengers in the army.
One of the children was particularly eloquent, and at first the reporter suspected that all the words he spoke were taught by adults, but later found that he had given a speech in public the next day, and only then did he believe that it was all his own ideas.
In Shanxi that year, local warlords set up a "correctional hospital" with more than 200 "little Red Army" like Xiang Xuan locked up. Why would such a young child be locked up? It turned out that these small Red Army soldiers did not usually hold guns, but at a critical juncture, they would also go to the battlefield and even "put on the bayonet" with the enemy.
In fact, in terms of age, Xiang Xuan is probably not the smallest Red Army. At that time, there must have been smaller than him in the army, such as his uncle's daughter He Jiesheng. He Jiesheng was born on the long march,
When marching, the aunt carried He Jiesheng on her back and held Xiao Xiangxuan in her hand. When she was camping, her aunt went to run an errand, and Xiao Xiangxuan came over to help He Jiesheng change diapers, and hugged her and teased her.
In 2016, He Jiesheng, who was in his eighties, went to visit his fourth brother Xiang Xuan and published a special article about this past.
epilogue
The little Red Army was loyal to Xuan Yimen, and his mother and two aunts all died tragically under the enemy's butcher's knife. My uncle was forced to take the 9-year-old to join the Long March. Climbing snowy mountains and crossing meadows, Xiao Xiangxuan had never enjoyed the privilege of being Marshal He because his uncle was Marshal He.
Today's Xiang Xuan is already a 94-year-old man,
His right eye was blinded by an enemy shell as early as the age of 22. There were more than twenty pieces of shrapnel in his body, which remained to this day.