History has its own life, it is like a person, both easy-going and self-respecting. ——Yu Qiuyu
Multi-way centripetal, first move first
On October 1, 1949, the founding of New China, Tibet became the only place in Chinese mainland that was not liberated. Mao Zedong did not allow "others to sleep soundly on the side of the bed," and on November 23, he called Peng Dehuai of the Northwest Bureau and instructed him to undertake the main task of entering Tibet. Peng Dehuai's reality is too difficult. Mao Zedong was anxious, and on January 2, 1950, during a visit to Moscow, he sent a report to Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping of the Southwest Bureau: "It is better to march into Tibet sooner rather than later, and the sooner the sooner the more advantageous it is, otherwise, the night will be long and dreamy." After studying, Liu and Deng asked for instructions from the Erye 18th Army to enter Tibet, and the same was to ask for instructions to march to Tibet from Yunnan, Sichuan, Qinghai, and Xinjiang in four ways, "multi-way to the heart, liberate Tibet." Mao Zedong agreed to this plan.
In May 1950, Peng Dehuai decided that the Xinjiang Military Region would send a small force to march into Ali, Tibet, to cooperate with the liberation of Tibet. According to the reconnaissance situation, the difficulty of this march on Ali was no less than that of the Long March. Wang Zhen, commander of the Xinjiang Military Region, decided to set up an independent cavalry division in Hotan and first sent a company into Tibet for reconnaissance, and the "advance company into Tibet" was born. The name is 1 company of the 1st Regiment of the Independent Cavalry Division of the 2nd Army of the People's Liberation Army, with a total of 139 people and 7 national soldiers. The backbone was the 8th Regiment of the former Kuomintang Cavalry Brigade, which was reorganized from the uprising, and more than 20 backbone party members were drawn. Each person was equipped with 1 rifle, 6 light machine guns per squad, 6 mortars and 2 heavy machine guns in the 4th row, 179 war horses, 35 camels, and the best cold equipment such as two leather coats and a blanket that could be provided at that time.
Li Di served as the commander-in-chief and party representative of the advance company into Tibet, Cao Hailin as the company commander, Li Zixiang as the instructor, and Peng Qingyun, a special combat hero of the whole army, as the deputy company commander. On August 1, 1950, the advance company, as one of the four-way troops of the People's Liberation Army into Tibet, set out from the village of Pulu in Yutian County, Xinjiang, and marched to northern Tibet, with the destination of Kadake (Gar County), the capital of the Ali region of Tibet. Wang Zhen personally sent off the troops, and the commanders and fighters of the advance company were excited and tearful, shouting, "Don't be afraid of difficulties and obstacles, liberate the Tibetan compatriots!" Li Disan led LinkedIn Xiong's troops to hold high the red flag of "marching into Tibet" and embarked on a journey to march into Ali.
Shoulder to shoulder with the Long March, it is difficult to ascend to the sky
This "heavenly road" is even more terrifying than the Long March, crossing the Kunlun Mountains at an altitude of 6420 meters, the Ganges Mountains at 7615 meters, and walking in no man's land with an average altitude of more than 4000 meters. The soldiers of the advance company marched with unimaginable difficulties in the absence of roads, oxygen equipment, and poor supplies in the rear.
When the advance company came to Cooka Osaka (Ice Peak), many of the soldiers developed altitude sickness, and Li Disan ordered them to camp and discuss solutions. Li Zixiang said that they encountered heavy snow when they camped at night, and when they came out of the tent in the morning, they saw that the donkeys were frozen to death in front of them, and they could hardly pass through them. The next day, the advance team began the battle to climb the big iceberg. The air on the iceberg was thin, the slope was steep, the soldiers' chests were stuffy and panicked, their hearts seemed to jump out of their mouths, their heads were about to crack with headaches, and the horses were gasping for breath with their mouths open. Some warriors tied their heads tightly with handkerchiefs, some pulled the horse's tail forward, and some leaned on the horse to insist on walking. People with severe altitude sickness are almost unconscious, and comrades with stronger physiques support the weak.
On August 15, the advance company, without a map or a guide, relied on amazing perseverance to overcome snow blindness and challenge the lack of oxygen in the mountains, and after experiencing hardships and dangers, on the 9th day, it crossed the boundary mountain Daban, which was 6,000 meters above sea level, and entered the northern Tibetan plateau, becoming the first unit among the four-way troops to enter Tibet. This is also the most difficult march in the history of our army, which is more difficult than the Long March of the Red Army. After entering Tibet, the advance company entered a meadow and saw a group of wild horses grazing, and the warriors named the place "Wild Horse Beach", which is still used today.
In addition to altitude sickness, the warriors also have to fight snow blindness. Marching in the scorching snow, most of the soldiers suffered from snow blindness, their eyes were red and swollen like eggs, the pain was unbearable, and the tears flowed incessantly. Hygienist Xu Jinquan took out all the eye drops and used them in large quantities but did not work. Li Disan's blindness was very serious, he could not open his eyes, could not see the road, and in this case, he and his comrades-in-arms studied methods. Peng Qingyun recalled: "One day, just after walking less than 5 kilometers, Quanlian couldn't find a person who could lead the way with his eyes open. ”
Some fighters wiped their eyes with snowballs to relieve pain, and the cooking class soldiers wiped the ash on the bottom of the pot, and immediately promoted this method. A Mongolian warrior used a ponytail braid to block the snow light, and everyone followed suit to make a batch of "earth snow mirrors". Commanders and fighters worked together to overcome snow blindness, and the troops were able to continue to move forward.
Peng Qingyun recalled: "We were blown to the east and west, surrounded by snow, and we couldn't see anything. The biggest threat is not cold, but altitude sickness. We all started to have headaches, nausea, vomiting, rapid heartbeat, and difficulty breathing. Some horses began to have nosebleeds, and Liu Jinji, a 33-year-old soldier from Tianshui, Gansu Province, was killed by altitude sickness, the first person to be killed by an advance company, and this non-combat attrition was just beginning.
In order to solve the problem of food, the hunting group was set up, and the Mongolian warrior Baal Shoko served as the leader, but the white broth was really difficult to swallow, because there was no salt for a long time. One day, When Shoko Bali hunted and did not return, when his comrades found him, he was sitting in the leeward and frozen into a statue. The advances are basically barren lands, and many areas are still no man's land. Peng Qingyun recalled that some fighters complained: "We marched into Tibet and liberated Tibet, but we can't even find a personal shadow here. ”
The advance was even starved of food. Wang Zhen ordered: "We must connect the transportation line at all costs." "The Southern Xinjiang Military Region organized three delivery of supplies, three Uighur migrant workers died, and a large number of livestock died, but they failed to cross the iceberg snow ridge. In the end, only one Uighur youth drove two yaks, and after nine deaths, he handed over half a sack of letters, 15 kilograms of salt and 7 naans to the company instructor Li Zixiang, and the soldiers all cried, after which the advance company asked the superiors not to risk delivering food.
Zamaman fort, between life and death
In order to smoothly carry out peace talks after the Battle of Qamdo, Wang Zhen ordered: "The advance company should stop developing in depth, quickly turn to winter preparations on the spot, rely on themselves, and persist until the spring meeting of the division." "They resolutely enforce discipline: they do not enter the temple in the cold, and they do not buy food when they are hungry. In this way, the advance company spent 270 days in Zamamang Fort, where the altitude is 4517 meters above sea level and the minimum temperature in winter is minus 40 °.
In the northern Tibetan plateau in winter, even camels cannot survive in the cold. Li Zixiang took the warrior Wang Xingcai back to Duomu to transport grain, and spent the night in the wilderness, his 5 fingers were frozen, and Wang Xingcai also crippled 2 fingers.
The Tibetan translator Qiao Delu said bitterly: It is not a difficult thing to die in battle, but none of the soldiers of the advance company can die happily. You can't eat after the swelling occurs, and the puffiness will spread throughout the body for a few days, and the swollen eyes can't be opened. Eventually the skin bursts out of the yellow liquid and dies. One advance company soldier after another repeated this painful process of death. Xu Jinquan isolated the sick soldiers and went to the ground to bask in the sun outside the nest when the weather was clear, but to no avail. Soon, Xu Jinquan also returned to his soul.
Soldiers suffered non-combat deaths, and one day the advance company held 11 funerals, and some soldiers fell on their way back to camp after burying their comrades. This is life and death in Mamanburg.
In January 1951, the advance company sent a telegram to the Independent Cavalry Division: "Now there is no combat phenomenon here, that is, there are many sick numbers, many sick horses, and many dead horses, and we cannot stop this problem from happening." Wang Zhen sent a telegram to the Northwest Military Region twice asking for credit for all the officers and men of the advance company, saying that the advance company had "experienced the greatest misfortune and the heaviest suffering since the Long March of our army."
On February 5, the advance company was awarded the title of "Advance Company of Heroes Entering Tibet", each of whom recorded a great meritorious service, and was awarded a medal of "Meritorious Service of the People" and a medal of "Liberation of the Great Northwest". Since the founding of the People's Liberation Army in 1927, this is the only formed company that has made a great contribution to each person, which is the only case in military history. But on that day, the blood of two more soldiers stopped flowing.
In May 1951, An Zhiming, the second regiment of the Independent Cavalry Division, led reinforcements to Zamamang Fort, and the advance company broke free from death threats. Li Disan, the commander-in-chief and party representative, closed his eyes forever at this time and became the last person in the advance company to die at Zamamang fort.
Portrait of Li Disan
Li Disan's correspondent once self-reported that when Li Disan was critically ill, the party branch decided to let him use the only 1 penicillin. Li Disan said, I implore everyone not to form a resolution, so as not to make me die and bear the reputation of not implementing the resolution. When zeng self-study and sorted out his relics, he saw Li Disan's last diary written on May 7, 1951: Soon after the company arrived at Zamamang fort, I fell ill and did not do a good job, please forgive the party...
He left a will in his diary: two marching diaries were given to his superiors, several books, a flute, a fur coat and a teapot were given to several comrades-in-arms, and the clothes were given to the comrades in the cooking class, because their clothes were badly rotten. When Nanniwan was opened, The prize given by Brigadier Wang Zhen was a fountain pen, hoping to be handed over to his son, a fox tail sent by a Tibetan leader, "Please transfer it to my mother." Such a scene, such a text is heartbreaking.
There are 63 officers and soldiers who are buried here, and they have paved a heavenly road with their lives. In order to prevent the Ali local government from discovering a large number of attritions of our army, all the deceased did not erect grave bags and tombstones.
On August 3, 1952, the advance company was sent to Gadake (Gar County), the capital of the Ali region of Tibet. In the afternoon of the same day, the advance company held a solemn flag-raising ceremony. At this point, after 368 days of arduous marching, the advance company completed the task of "advancing into northern Tibet and liberating Ali" with flesh and blood. Zeng self-study recalled: When they marched to the top of a slope, they finally saw Kadak. It was already afternoon, and in the distance, there were only a dozen stone houses and a hundred and ten people in the small town. He looked around and saw the weary comrades in rags, and none of them shed a tear.
Heroes are wronged, monuments are dusted
You say: Is it such a group of steel advance companies that have been regarded as dead and have a bright soul, and will they commit treason? But history has made such an extremely heavy and cruel joke.
Due to extremely difficult conditions, the radio station of the advance company failed many times and could not contact its superiors. US and Indian radio stations maliciously smeared and sent a message saying: The Chinese army stationed in the first unit of northern Tibet has repeatedly sent personnel to contact the garrison of a certain country and requested to be surrendered. Coinciding with the "three antis" in China, some people suspected that this company composed of rebel troops as the backbone was treasonous. The working group interrogated the members of the advance team, and Ma Zhanshan was forced to sign under torture. The working group determined that there was a "treason group" in the advance company with Cao Hailin as commander and Ma Zhanshan as deputy commander, confiscated the weapons of officers and men, and detained more than 40 officers and men of the company. He also suggested that the central authorities approve the seven or eight backbone cadres who were on the spot to rectify the law. Heroes are wronged, monuments are dusted. At the resolute insistence of Wang Zhen of the Xinjiang Military Region, the "treason clique" was escorted back to Xinjiang for retrial.
The "War History of the Ali Military Sub-district" records that the working group that carried out the "three antis" movement in Ali held the mentality of "grasping the typical" and asking for credit, destroyed human nature, fabricated that there were traitors within the advance company, and concocted Cao Hailin, commander of the advance company, and others as "treason groups."
More than 20 "high-ranking criminals" were tied to camels and taken back to Xinjiang, and Cao Hailin was also shackled to the feet worn by slaves. Guo Peng, deputy commander of the Xinjiang Military Region and former commander of the 2nd Army, personally stepped forward to untie the ropes of the martyred hero. Zhou Kuiqi, a staff officer of the advance company, recalled: When our team was still tens of meters away from the commander, the commander strode over to meet us. The line stopped, and no one spoke... Guo Peng personally untied Cao Hailin, and the escort tried to stop him, guo Peng gave him a slap and angrily scolded "Bastard! ”
When Peng Qingyun learned of this news, he had left the advance company for more than two months and went to Sichuan. At that time, as a dual representative of the troops entering Xinjiang and the troops entering Tibet, he prepared to go to Beijing to attend the national congress of the Youth League. In any case, he could not believe that his company would be "treasonous" and resolutely wanted to return to Ali, and finally under the persuasion of several leaders of tibet and the Southwest Military Region, he arrived in Beijing as scheduled. During his time in Beijing, Peng Qingyun "vouched with his head" to his superiors: The advance company will never treason!
After more than a year of examination, it was confirmed that the "treason clique" was purely illusory and rehabilitated. However, the advance company was dismissed, and the officers and men were sent to their places of origin or to work on the farms of the corps. It wasn't until more than 30 years later, in the 1980s, that the injustice came to an end.
After the company commander Cao Hailin retired from the army, he has been living in the production and construction corps in Aksu. Since then, he has suffered many shocks and even been imprisoned. He told the interviewees: "Don't mothers sometimes blame their sons?" ”
Peng Qingyun, deputy company commander of the advance company, a special combat hero, and a first-class meritorious company commander who participated in the self-defense counterattack on the Sino-Indian border, was sent to the Karamay Urhe Military Station as a station commander until a military region leader who inspected the work found out and was transferred to the logistics department of the Xinjiang Military Region, enjoying the treatment of deputy division, becoming the person with the highest level of treatment in the advance company. He died in 2012 at the age of 82.
The correspondent once self-studyed and translated Qiao Delu to a farm in Gansu, where ye fell into dust and the suffering of the past has become a memory.
Yuan Guoxiang, a former major general of the Southern Xinjiang Military Region, said that General Wang Zhen talked to him twice about the issue of the advance company entering Tibet. Wang Zhen said, "This company is not afraid of suffering and death, and it has advanced into the northern Tibetan plateau and liberated the last piece of land on the mainland of the motherland. Wang Zhen sighed: "There are too many dead people, and Chairman Mao has criticized me." When Chairman Mao criticized, Hu Zhong, the secretary of General Wang Zhen, said, "At that time, we didn't know that Ali had such a harsh climate." ”
This epic expedition of the People's Liberation Army was filmed into the movies "Advance Company" and "Snow Bath Kunlun", which fulfilled General Wang Zhen's wish. It also allows more Chinese people to understand the earth-shattering and weeping spirit of our heroic People's Liberation Army, the iron will, and the spirit of fearless sacrifice.