In 1984, when a young farmer named Chai Bingrong was at work, he was surprised by a search notice in the newspaper.
The search notice said that Deng Gong was looking for a nationwide hero named "Chai Yunzhen" to resist US aggression and aid Korea. He served as a squad leader in the 8th Company of the 3rd Battalion, 45th Division, 15th Army of the Volunteer Army, and was wounded in the Battle of Park Dafeng, characterized by a severed index finger on his right hand.
Look for Chai Yunzhen's notice
The more Chai Bingrong looked, the more he felt that something was wrong, because the person described in this notice highly coincided with his father. His father did not like to talk about the past, but Chai Bingrong had also heard him say that he had been a squad leader during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and his father's right index finger was broken, and his name was "Chai Yunzheng", which was very similar to the pronunciation of the special meritorious man "Chai Yunzhen" he was looking for.
So, will his old father be the special hero that Deng Gong wants to find?
Chai Bingrong suddenly couldn't sit still, and rushed home with the newspaper to find his father to confirm. Chai Yunzheng, who was 58 years old at the time, reacted very calmly, and after taking a look at the notice, he told his son that it was not because his name was Chai Yunzheng, not Chai Yunzhen. But there are too many similar coincidences, and Chai Bingrong firmly believes that the person he is looking for must be his father.
Chai Yunzheng
Under his son's persistent questioning, Chai Yunzheng had to admit it, but he was still a little unmoved, and asked his son what if it was really him? He didn't want to cause trouble for the country and the troops.
Chai Yun is with his son Chai Bingrong
But Chai Bingrong asked back, "Don't you want to meet your former comrades-in-arms?" ”
This sentence touched Chai Yunzheng. He quietly left the unit without telling anyone where he was, and even his closest comrades didn't know where he went after recovering from his serious injuries. Chai Yunzheng is old, has been away from the army for more than 30 years, he misses those former comrades all the time, wondering if they are doing well now.
Chai Yunzheng (wearing a hat) with his comrades-in-arms
When Chai Yunzheng joined the PLA troops, it was already April 1949. Although he joined the People's Liberation Army relatively late, Chai Yunzheng has been a soldier for several years and is a person with relatively rich combat experience. However, he joined the national army at that time, and did not take the initiative to join.
When Chai Yun was 16 years old, the Nationalist army went to his hometown to forcibly recruit Zhuang Ding, and Chai Yun was away from his hometown with others to avoid being arrested. But he wasn't very old, a little short, and it was hard to find a job, so he had to learn from other people to do small street businesses. Even so, Chai Yunzheng's income was very small, and he could only barely fill his stomach. Unfortunately, he was still captured by the Nationalist army and forced to fight with the PLA with the Nationalist troops.
During this period, Chai Yunzheng was a prisoner of war, escaped from the Nationalist army twice, and the second escape also moved several Nationalist soldiers guarding him, and joined him in the People's Liberation Army. On April 21, 1949, Chai Yunzheng officially joined the People's Liberation Army, participated in the Battle of Crossing the River that took place in that year, won the second class merit for fighting bravery, and was recommended at the end of the year to officially join the party organization.
Battle of the River Crossing
However, when he joined the army, the soldier who helped Chai Yunzheng register information mistakenly heard "Chai Yunzheng" as "Chai Yunzhen", and Chai Yunzheng was happy that he had finally joined the People's Liberation Army, did not take the wrong name of registration to heart, and did not deliberately correct it. This also laid the groundwork for the future troops to find no special meritorious "Chai Yunzhen".
After the outbreak of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea in 1950, Chai Yunzheng actively responded to the call and joined the Korean battlefield as a volunteer army. The 15th Army of the Volunteer Army to which he belonged was a well-known heroic unit, and Comrades Huang Jiguang and Qiu Shaoyun were both from this unit. Chai Yunzheng was even a hero admired by the martyr Huang Jiguang, but that was an afterthought.
Huang Jiguang and Qiu Shaoyun
In the summer of 1951, in order to break the stalemate between China and the United States, the Volunteer Army decided to launch the fifth campaign. Due to the lack of air superiority weapons of the volunteer army, the soldiers had been fighting for a long time, and their physical strength was close to the limit, and the logistical support could not keep up.
At that time, the commander-in-chief Peng Laozong, out of the consideration of preserving strength, ordered all the main forces to retreat to the north of the 38th Line and temporarily rest. But with so many troops, it is impossible to complete the retreat at once, and it must be carried out in batches. The U.S. military also realized this, seized the opportunity, and suddenly launched a fierce attack. The volunteer troops were ill-prepared in advance and were beaten up for a while.
Schematic of the Fifth Campaign
The headquarters immediately issued an order to Qin Jiwei, then commander of the 15th Army of the Volunteer Army, that they must hold Park Dafeng in the Shibaura area of Gangwon Province, block the enemy who is trying to move north, and cover the withdrawal of large troops. Qin Jiwei knew that his troops were not in a good state, but in order to save the large troops, Qin Jiwei still gritted his teeth and told General Peng that the 15th Army could withstand it for at least 10 days.
Qin Jiwei
The battle lasted until day 6, and the 15th Army stubbornly resisted wave after wave of Attacks, but the casualties on their side were very heavy, and the remaining two companies combined were only 40 people. Due to the excessive casualties, the commanders decided to dispatch some of the logistics troops to the position to fight, and Chai Yunzheng, who was originally the leader of the guard company, took the initiative to ask for help, became the squad leader of the 8th Company and 7th Squad, and rushed to the front.
Korean
Under the bombardment of US aircraft and artillery, the top of Park Dafeng's hill was almost flattened. After receiving the order from company commander Wu Shangzhi, Chai Yunzheng's 7th Squad, against the rain of American artillery shells, launched an attack from both sides of Park Dafeng and engaged in maneuver with the enemy.
This position was repeatedly contested by both sides for 5 days and 5 nights. The volunteer troops suffered heavy casualties, and Chai Yunzhen's 7th Squad, including him, only 3 fighters remained alive. In order to capture the two mountains of the occupied Park Dafeng again, Chai Yunzhen asked Wu Shangzhi for two communication soldiers, plus the remaining two of his men, and the five former logistics soldiers rushed to the mountain full of enemies as if they were dead.
The five of them first crawled forward, and did not stand up until the enemy was in front of them to attack. This move successfully hit the enemy, but also paid a price, and soon Chai Yunzheng lost 3 more comrades, and ran out of bullets and grenades. Chai Yun was gritting his teeth, picking up the enemy's weapon, frantically strafing at the enemy, and with the help of the only remaining comrade, he eliminated the enemy at the top of the mountain.
Chai Yun was sitting down with his comrades-in-arms and resting for a moment. He felt that although the movement on this side was not small, the other hill was a little farther away, and the Us troops on the other side should not have realized that this side of the hill had been occupied. They should not rush to shoot until they receive a response. To understand this, Chai Yun was taking all the weapons that could be collected on the ground, forcibly leaving the comrade here to wait for the receiving company, and went to the second hill alone.
He was fortunate enough to find the command post hidden here by the Americans as soon as he ascended the hill. He threw four grenades at the position, three of which played an important role, and the hill exploded into a mess. In the confusion, an American officer at the command post was also killed by him.
The last surviving American soldier screamed and rushed over, wrestling with Chai Yun. This enemy was much stronger than Chai Yunzhen, and he couldn't move when chai yun was pressed to the ground. Chai Yun was forced to reach out and cut the enemy's eyes, but he mistakenly put his hand into the enemy's mouth. With severe pain, the index finger of his right hand was bitten off by the enemy.
Chai Yunzheng was in pain and relaxed his resistance under the conditioned reflex, and the enemy immediately got up and picked up a stone, smashing more than 20 wounds into Chai Yunzheng until he was knocked unconscious. By the time he woke up, he was already lying in the hospital. It turned out that the comrade-in-arms, after completing the handover with the company, ran to the second hill to find him, killed the enemy, and saved him.
Although Chai Yunzheng was not in danger of life, he lost his right index finger and could no longer pull the trigger, which was equivalent to declaring that he could no longer go to the battlefield. Chai Yunzheng was very depressed. It was his ambition to go to the battlefield to kill the enemy and serve the country, and this matter could not be done, so what was the point of his survival? The frustrated Chai Yunzheng once did not care much about the affairs around him.
Later, he was transferred back to China to continue to recuperate, after a period of depression, his injuries also healed almost, thinking that he would not have the opportunity to go to the battlefield again anyway, Chai Yunzheng did not inform anyone, went to get a third-degree disability certificate, silently returned to his hometown, and then stayed in his hometown to farm, one is 32 years.
Unbeknownst to Chai Yunzheng, his actions on the Korean battlefield made him a hero for the whole army. General Manager Peng sent a telegram on purpose, conferring the glorious title of Chai Yunzheng and other meritorious and first-class combat heroes. His 8th company was named "Special Attack Eighth Company", and the company continued to fight on the Korean battlefield, performing quite well in the Battle of Shangganling a year later, and even became the prototype of the 8th Company in the movie "Shangganling".
Battle of Shangganling
But all this, Chai Yunzhen, who was far away from the troops, did not know it, and he did not even take the military merit badge that belonged to him. Because the news was too lagging behind in that era, and Chai Yun was joining the army, he could not find him, and it was certain that he should still be alive.
The North Koreans simply treated him as a martyr and reserved a place for him in the memorial. When the DPRK leader visited China, he also deliberately mentioned his name and wanted to meet him.
Deng Gong and Kim Il Sung
Deng Gong was also concerned about the whereabouts of this person, and immediately ordered it to be published in the newspaper nationwide to find him. So there was the opening scene, Chai Bingrong took the lead in reading the search notice, and asked about the legendary experience from his taciturn father.
However, because Chai Yun's registration information was left with the wrong name, the organization only if they were scammers trying to impersonate the merit. Fortunately, the chief of Chai Yunzheng rushed to hear the news, saw his appearance and missed a finger, and was very sure that he was Chai Yunzheng, and after 32 years, he finally returned the military merit medal belonging to him to the original owner.
Chai Yun wished to see his former comrades-in-arms, hugged and shook hands with his old comrades-in-arms, and stood side by side to recall the war-torn history, which made him feel very satisfied.
Chai Yun is with his comrades-in-arms
When the chiefs of the unit came to visit him and asked him how he was living and whether he needed help, Chai Yun was smiling and shaking his hand. He said that he was very satisfied with his life in his hometown and wanted nothing else, but if the country faced a crisis again, he was willing to stand up and contribute to the country at any time.
Today, Mr. Chai Yunzheng is not only a special meritorious hero and combat hero in the past, but also selected for the nomination of the "July 1st Medal" that is ready for the first time to be selected and awarded on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Party this year.
List of proposed nominations for the "Order of July 1st"
But it is regrettable that Mr. Chai Yun Zheng has passed away in 2018. However, if he saw the people rejoicing and living a prosperous life today on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the party, the spirit of heaven in his hometown would certainly be very pleased.
Order of July 1st
Pay tribute to every soldier like Chai Yunzheng who has disregarded his own safety and fought for the country and the people.
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