It is often said that "heroes cannot be allowed to shed blood and tears", and for those who live around us silently guarding us, they may not be so eye-catching, but they are indispensable.
There was once such a person, his name was Hao Zhiquan, a soldier of the Eighth Route Army who participated in the War of Resistance Against Japan, and now that he is more than 90 years old, he has encountered a very difficult problem, due to the loss of the early years of joining the army, he can not enjoy the preferential treatment of the state policy like others, and has to do his best to ask the media and the public for help and proof.
After the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Hao Zhiquan returned to his hometown in Shanxi, and looking at the dilapidated appearance of his hometown, Hao Zhiquan was determined to carry the legacy of his comrades who died on the battlefield and was determined to build his hometown with his own hands. Hao Zhiquan, who started a new life, threw himself into the wave of construction with full enthusiasm. He built houses, farmed fields, and actively responded to the country's early policy calls.
Gradually adapted to the stable life of his hometown, he often lamented this hard-won peace, as a veteran and the most legendary figure in the village, in the exchange with the younger generations, he was very proud to talk about his combat experience during the War of Resistance Against Japan and the Kuomintang Civil War, and whenever he talked about this, his eyes always flashed with tears. For a person who has crawled out of the smoke of war and the pile of corpses countless times, those glorious years have long been deeply imprinted in his mind.
Every time he mentioned his combat experience, especially during the battle against the Japanese, he seemed extremely excited. When Hao Zhiquan was very young, Rikou swept through his hometown in Shanxi, where he was, and witnessed the atrocities committed by Rikou, that is, from that time on, he secretly made up his mind to fight with Rikou to the end. Although he expressed a strong intention to join the army at that time, the Eighth Route Army had regulations that an age like him was too young to meet the requirements, so it was returned, and after several years of waiting, at the age of 16, Hao Zhiquan finally reached the age when he could join the army. Therefore, he did not hesitate to submit another application to join the army.
This time, the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi also said nothing more and agreed to his request. After enlisting, Hao Zhiquan was assigned to the 385th Brigade of the 129th Division to start his career, Liu Bocheng's 129th Division can also be regarded as the "Steel Division" in the Eighth Route Army, Hao Zhiquan made many military achievements with great enthusiasm for battle, and he was quickly appreciated by the leadership, but the next year the Japanese announced their unconditional surrender. Hao Zhiquan was full of pride and joy in the experience of fighting under Liu Bocheng of the 129th Division.
After driving away the Japanese Kou, a reporter once came to Hao Zhiquan's unit for a special interview and left a photo of Hao Zhiquan and the battalion commander, and it was this photo that helped Hao Zhiquan play a great role in the days to come. Hao Zhiquan, who came out of the ravine, has always carried this photo with him, and in his words, this photo is of great significance, even more important than his life.
However, although the foreign enemy was driven away, the Kuomintang reactionaries headed by Chiang Kai-shek were behind their backs in cahoots with the United States and other Western countries, secretly colluding and ready to launch an attack on the Communists at any time.
Sure enough, soon after, the Kuomintang and the Communists turned from comrades-in-arms to enemies because of the problem of national interests, and Chiang Kai-shek brazenly launched a war regardless of the interests of the nation, once again pushing China to hell. And the PLA troops that rose up to fight back naturally could not let their plot succeed.
After the outbreak of the Liberation War, Hao Zhiquan, who was then in the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Military Region, followed the instructions of the troops, and in the face of the arrogant Kuomintang troops in the local area, Hao Zhiquan and his troops fought a fierce battle with them in the Changzhi area of Shanxi.
Since it had been learned from other sources that the leaders of the Kuomintang and the Communists were preparing for the Chongqing negotiations, in order to obtain more political chips, almost everyone in Hao Zhiquan's unit existed as one enemy and one hundred. After the end of the battle, the Nationalist Yan Xishan troops entrenched in Shanxi lost 11 divisions of troops and had to retreat to Taiyuan.
Hao Zhiquan's performance in this battle was very outstanding, after that, he followed the troops to many places, four years of civil war life they carried out one after another reorganization and expansion, to the eve of the Battle of Taiyuan in 1949, Hao Zhiquan and his troops once again set foot on the hot land of their hometown, in the Battle of Taiyuan, Hao Zhiquan was appointed as the leader of the demolition team, his task was to organize people to blow up the city wall, to provide a foundation for the follow-up of the troops.
Hao Zhiquan, who was on the verge of being ordered, threw himself into battle after making simple preparations, and when he braved the rain of bullets and bullets to reach the taiyuan city wall, he was surprised to find that there were dozens of Japanese people on his head... What's going on? In fact, these Japanese were not "devils" in the strict sense, they were hired by Yan Xishan, and after the Japanese surrendered, many people were still left in China, and these Japanese Kouren with hands stained with Chinese blood were secretly hidden by the Kuomintang. Unexpectedly, he was encountered by Hao Zhiquan in Taiyuan, because according to intelligence, there was no enemy here.
However, at this point, there was no way back, and Hao Zhiquan and his comrades-in-arms thus engaged in a deadly struggle with the Japanese under the strong walls of Taiyuan, and the two sides initially tried to kill and injure each other by firing at each other, and after the bullets were finished, they launched a very bloody white-knife battle. In the end, Hao Zhiquan and his comrades suffered heavy casualties before leaving a hole under the walls of Taiyuan. In this skirmish, his company commander was killed, and Hao Zhiquan himself was seriously wounded.
The Battle of Taiyuan lasted for half a year, and if Hao Zhiquan and tens of millions of soldiers had not gone forward to charge forward, the Battle of Taiyuan might have lasted longer, and after learning of Hao Zhiquan's heroic deeds, Commander Xu Qianqian personally came to the hospital to comfort and praise him.
The loss of Taiyuan in this battle meant that The Shanxi that Yan Xishan had painstakingly managed no longer belonged to him. The Japanese mercenaries who had fought him did not fare much better, and those who survived were repatriated to Japan, and because they could not be treated as prisoners of war, their lives were not guaranteed.
After the victory of the Liberation War, Hao Zhiquan stayed in the army for another year, until the outbreak of the Korean War, he received orders to escort the volunteer troops across the river, although he did not directly participate in the tragic war against US imperialism, but Hao Zhiquan also witnessed the sacrifice and victory of his comrades-in-arms. After that, he retired from the army and returned to his hometown and began a peaceful life.
Soon after, Hao Zhiquan had his own family in his hometown, and the family's life was quite fulfilling, until the local government decided to establish a red exhibition hall and an education base in the last century, things changed, at that time, the first thing that people thought of was Hao Zhiquan's boss Hao Sancheng.
Unfortunately, the local government could not find Hao Sancheng's photo in any way, and when they were in a hurry, they thought of Hao Zhiquan, and after three visits and consultations, Hao Zhiquan finally agreed to provide the photo of himself and the battalion commander to the museum for permanent preservation.
Later, after the country's economy had greatly developed, the state formulated a policy to improve the treatment of combat heroes, and due to the lack of archives, Hao Zhiquan did not receive corresponding compensation, and worse, his identity has not been officially recognized by the local government.
After Hao Zhiquan's difficulties were known to the people's love organizations and the media, people came to his home to visit and report, hoping to attract the attention of the whole society to the elderly Hao Zhiquan in this way, in the face of these immature juniors, the elderly Hao Zhiquan was overwhelmed by the fact that he had experienced battles again and again, from the Red Army to the Eighth Route Army, from the Eighth Route Army to the New Fourth Army, from the New Fourth Army to the People's Liberation Army and finally to the Volunteer Army...
Hao Zhiquan's experience can almost be described as legendary, and in the face of the media visit, the simple old man sat peacefully on the old stool and said:
The local government wants me to be able to show my original file to prove my identity, in fact, it does not matter whether I enjoy the preferential treatment of my motherland or not, what is important is that I want to tell others about my experience and career, I was also a soldier!
Due to its age and the fire that once existed in the museum, Hao Zhiquan's identity has not been given a reasonable explanation. As he grew older, Hao Zhiquan slowly lost the ability to farm, his body could not withstand physical work, and the most painful thing was that the old man's son died one step ahead of him. The tragedy of the white-haired man sending the black-haired man befell this ill-fated old man also made people feel the injustice of the sky.
Since then, after many efforts, the identities of Hao Zhiquan and Hao Sancheng have finally been certified, and the local government has also done its best to provide material and spiritual help to the elderly, and then people have finally found a group photo of Hao Zhiquan and the battalion commander.
Hao Zhiquan excitedly told the history of him and the battalion commander and several guards in the photo in front of the media, and pointed to a young man and said: "This is me!" ”。
At this time, although it is difficult to distinguish Hao Zhiquan from the black-and-white photo of his youth, it can be proved by the comparison of the faces of local museums and government workers.
Hao Zhiquan and his comrades-in-arms are well-deserved national heroes, in fact, the old man wants to be very simple, what he values is not a material reward, he only hopes that he and those comrades who died on the battlefield can have a good home. History is a fair magistrate, he will not give up heroes like Hao Zhiquan and Hao Sancheng, the historical data will recognize their identities, the state will give them innocence, in this ancient and sacred land of Shanxi, we can still see Hao Zhiquan and his group photo that has been preserved for more than half a century on the museum's profile.