The faith of a centenarian veteran

"Source of this article: China National Defense Daily"

The first time I met the old man Wang Youzhi was on a winter day. Cars sped along the viaduct, and I imagined along the way what this veteran who had always maintained a charging posture would look like.

The afternoon sun shines into the living room through the gaps in the foliage, coating the old man with a soft light. At that time, Wang Lao had just passed his 101st birthday. He was dressed simply, his cheeks were rosy, his eyes were radiant, and he was even a little excited about the fire years. Throughout the afternoon, with the sound of the baptism of time, I seemed to walk into the legendary life of this hundred-year-old veteran.

In 1920, Wang Youzhi was born in Xuancheng, Anhui. "I grew up well-off and educated. But the Japanese devils are coming, burning and looting is no evil, how can we agree! In 1938, Wang Youzhi resolutely gave up his studies at Xuancheng Normal School and joined the New Fourth Army. Because of his strong will, culture, and knowledge, he soon joined the Chinese Communist Party. At this time, Wang Youzhi, with a pen in one hand, propaganda and mobilization of the masses to resist Japan, and a gun in the other hand fought in the area of Chaohu Lake and Liangyuan, and participated in battles such as the "Great Victory of Nongshu" to effectively resist the Japanese army.

"Elder Wang, can you tell us the story of the Tiger Regiment?" Fellow comrades listened intently and pointed to the video of the old man returning to the "Tiger Group" in 2019 playing on the TV. "Oh, of course remember..."

In February 1947, the 48th Regiment of the 6th Column 16th Division of the East China Field Army suffered heavy casualties in the Battle of Laiwu, and the morale of the whole regiment was depressed, and the heroic unit "Tiger Regiment", which had repeatedly made great achievements in the War of Resistance Against Japan, was temporarily in trouble. Su Yu, deputy commander of the East China Field Army, and Jiang Weiqing, political commissar of the 6th Column, found Wang Youzhi, and without saying a word, he was given the task of taking over as the political commissar of the "Tiger Regiment" and re-practicing the tiger qi!

Wang Youzhi, who was only 27 years old, used his whole body to tell the soldiers about the history of ancient and modern warfare and the suffering of his fathers and elders in his hometown. The officers and men of the whole regiment were painfully determined and regrouped. Immediately afterward, an important combat task was assigned to the regimental headquarters: immediately depart from the garrison and rush to Menglianggu.

Wang Youzhi immediately led the troops to set off, marching rapidly for 6 consecutive days and nights, reaching the foot of the main peak of Huangya Mountain. At this time, an advance detachment of the Kuomintang army Huang Baitao's department also just drove to the west side of the main peak. "Victory or defeat is between millimeters, it's time to show our tiger spirit!" When the "Tiger Regiment" climbed the main peak to seize the commanding heights, the Kuomintang troops were less than 100 meters away from the summit. It was also this preemptive step that blocked the pace of reinforcement of the reorganized 25th Division of the Kuomintang Army. Then the "Tiger Regiment" joined the general offensive, laying an important foundation for the victory of the Battle of Menglianggu.

This is the most colorful stroke in Wang Lao's career. The heroic "Tiger Regiment" also witnessed another charge from scratch.

"In April 1949, I was urgently ordered to leave the 'Tiger Regiment' and lead a cadre brigade of the 6th Column of the East China Field Army to participate in the Battle of Crossing the River, preparing to take over the city of Nanjing after the liberation of Nanjing." Elder Wang fell into recollection, "The Battle of crossing the river was still top secret at that time, and I could not disclose half a sentence. At that time, the regimental commander shook my hand and asked, 'Commissar, why are you leaving..."?"

I looked at the flickering tears in the old man's eyes and heard the sonorous answer on the TELEVISION, "Wherever the party points, I will go!" ”

The son Wang Peiwen was worried about his father's health, so he offered to take us to visit Wang Lao's bedroom. Walking into this small room, without any ornate decorations, a mirror with a sense of age quickly attracted our attention. The frame has been somewhat deformed, but the mirror surface is spotless. "This is my father's most cherished treasure, which was left to him by General Pi Dingjun as a souvenir." Father would wipe it almost every day. Wang Peiwen introduced.

Through this mirror, the history recorded in the local history is illuminated: after the liberation of Nanjing, the Nanjing Air Defense Command was established, and General Pi Dingjun was appointed as the commander. After several reorganizations of the department, Wang Youzhi has always held important posts and participated in the formation of the new Chinese air defense force as one of the founders.

"At that time, we had just taken over Nanjing, and the Kuomintang was still not dead hearted, and often sent planes to bomb it. My superiors ordered me to take over the Nanjing air defense system, which is undoubtedly a big test! Elder Wang did not know when he also entered the room. He told us that the urban air defense system at that time was built with the help of the Soviet Union, and we had no experience, so we could only grope a little bit and learn from scratch.

Before General Pi Dingjun led his troops out of Nanjing, he pointed to this mirror and said to Wang Youzhi: "Comrade Wang Youzhi, this mirror has been with me for some time, and they all say that they should take the mirror as a mirror and cultivate themselves with a straight heart, and that no matter what position they are in, party members and cadres must look more at the 'mirror'. Since then, this mirror has followed Wang Youzhi to the north and south, and the Air Force Radar Corps Academy and the Huangshan Administration Bureau in Anhui Province have left its footprints.

Outside the window, it is time for work, and the street is gradually getting lively. The afterglow of the setting sun reflects on the ceiling, and the figure of Wang Lao looks particularly majestic. This hundred-year-old veteran participated in the New Fourth Army, walked through the years of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression filled with gun smoke, served as the political commissar of the "Tiger Regiment," led his troops to participate in the Battle of Menglianggu, which was famous in the epicenter of the earthquake, took over the air defense system of Nanjing City, witnessed the construction and development of the air defense cause of new China, devoted himself to local construction, and still did not change his absolute loyalty to the party.

All his life he has been annotating for faith, that is, I will go wherever the party points, and if the motherland and the people need it, I will give everything I have without reservation.