One day in April 2009, a 104-year-old man named Xiao Wanshi died of illness at the Second People's Hospital of Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province.
The old man was a small employee of the county grain bureau before his death, and when he died, the last words he left for his children were "handle the aftermath in a low-key manner." ”
The child knelt down at the sickbed and agreed to his father's request, and after a simple funeral, the child sorted out the relics for him.
However, while sorting out the relics of the elderly, a dusty suitcase caught their attention.
After carefully opening the suitcase, the family was stunned by the scene in front of them, and there were 56 military merit medals and battle medals of all sizes neatly arranged in the box.
Although it has been sealed for decades, the medal is still shining, and then Xiao Wanshi's son was found out from the old man's file: Xiao Wanshi, 10 first-class merits, 12 second-class merits.
Everyone knows how difficult it is to get first-class merit, especially in the war years, people who can get first-class merit are defending their families and defending the country, fighting bravely to kill the enemy, and really crawling from the pile of dead people.
Even many warriors had already sacrificed when they got the first-class merit, and this old man Xiao Wanshi actually took the first-class merit ten times, which was simply a legend on the battlefield.
But his children only heard that their father had served as a soldier during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, but they never thought that this father, who had worked in the grain station all his life and was not promoted to station chief until he was about to retire, had such a great military achievement.
So why was this Xiao Wanshi able to make so many military achievements and medals? What kind of legendary experience is behind it?
First, the country hates the family and joins the army to serve the country
In 1905, Xiao Wanshi was born in a poor peasant family in Xiyou Village, Xingtai, Hebei Province, because his family did not have a field, so his parents had to do some hard work to support the family.
Xiao Wanshi had a total of five brothers and sisters, he was the third oldest, two older brothers and two younger sisters, although he had a hard time in that war-torn era, the family's life was still relatively harmonious.
In 1937, the "July 7" Incident broke out, and Japan launched an all-out war of aggression against China, and also launched a wave of all-out War of Resistance Against Japan.
However, due to the passive resistance of the Kuomintang, the Japanese army effortlessly occupied the three eastern provinces, and soon North China was also captured by the Japanese army.
With the superiority of manpower and equipment, the iron hooves of the Japanese army trampled everywhere on the land of China, burning and looting without evil, and vainly trying to occupy all of China within three months.
The atrocities of the Japanese army infuriated countless Chinese, and Xiao Wanshi's two brothers also answered the call and joined the ranks of the War of Resistance Against Japan.
Under the influence of his brother, the 32-year-old Xiao Wanshi also signed up for the army and joined the guerrilla group in Xiyou Village.
In the guerrillas, Xiao Wanshi trained hard, fought bravely and was never afraid of bloodshed and sacrifice.
However, due to the continuous attacks on the Japanese army by the guerrillas in the village of Xiyou, it caused crazy retaliation from the Japanese army.
Under the betrayal of the traitors, the Japanese army learned that Xiao Wanshi and the others were partisans in Xiyu Village, so they sent troops to capture Xiao Wanshi's family in order to trap the guerrillas.
However, the Xiao Wanshi family never said the whereabouts of Xiao Wanshi and others, and the Japanese army became angry and angry, so they washed xiyu village in blood, and Xiao Wanshi's family and villagers were brutally killed by the Japanese army.
The guerrillas were also unfortunately besieged by the Japanese army and scattered, Xiao Wanshi's eldest brother died heroically in the battle, and the second brother disappeared and his life and death are unknown.
Xiao Wanshi, who had luckily escaped, returned to the village, only to find that the entire village had been washed in blood by the Japanese army, and the entire village was burned to the ground by the raging fire, and the ground was full of corpses and rivers of blood.
Everything in front of him made Xiao Wanshi grief-stricken, and his whole family was killed by the Japanese army, and now he was alone.
At this time, Xiao Wanshi was on his knees, crying heart-rending, and he secretly vowed to avenge the death of his family and villagers.
We can never understand how painful this kind of hatred between the country and the family is in the era of war, countless family wives are separated, the family is broken, and it is like a thorn deeply rooted in Xiao Wanshi's heart.
In August 1937, in order to avenge his family, Xiao Wanshi joined the Eighth Route Army after reorganizing with the guerrillas and became a soldier in the 772nd Regiment of the 386th Brigade.
The 386th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army was a very famous heroic unit, because the brigade commander was the famous general Chen Geng.
The leader of the 772 regiment to which Xiao Wanshi belonged was Ye Chenghuan, and the deputy leader was Wang Jinshan, the protagonist of the prototype of the Bright Sword, so some people said that Xiao Wanshi had the shadow of the Wei monk in the Bright Sword.
At that time, the Eighth Route Army cooperated with the Kuomintang to resist Japan, saying that it was cooperation, but in fact, the Kuomintang always had a grudge against the Communist Eighth Route Army, looking down on the backwardly equipped Eighth Route Army and jealous of them.
Pictured| Chen Geng
At first, the Kuomintang rarely provided weapons to the Eighth Route Army, which was seriously short of guns and ammunition, and could only fight by capturing the enemy's weapons.
Therefore, Xiao Wanshi, who had just joined the Eighth Route Army, did not receive a gun, but instead received a large knife, but Xiao Wanshi felt that the knife was too short, so he made a spear himself.
Because Xiao Wanshi had practiced martial arts in his youth, he had a very good foundation in martial arts, which was of great help to him in killing the enemy on the battlefield later.
But at this time on the battlefield, in the face of guns and cannons, what can the spear do, because xiao Wanshi has not been able to go to the front line to kill the enemy without a gun, and has been arranged to be a scout.
Once, when he went out to investigate with a few comrades-in-arms, he found a Japanese army detachment of more than a dozen people bathing by the river, and the comrades said that they would report to the chief immediately.
But Xiao Wanshi stopped him and said:
"You see there are guns next to the clothes on the shore, and if you go back and report that we can only use this broken knife, but if we secretly take it, then we have a gun!"
It was also reasonable for the comrades-in-arms to listen, and it was not a matter of holding this big knife all the time, so Xiao Wanshi and a few comrades-in-arms first killed the Japanese soldiers who were standing guard.
Then, after quietly taking away the Clothes and Guns of the Japanese Army, he rushed up and shot fiercely into the river.
Before a dozen Japanese devils could react, they collapsed in a pool of blood, and those who did not climb ashore were stabbed to death with spears.
This battle was really effortless, the harvest was full, and more than a dozen guns were captured at once, and military merit was also made.
With the gun Xiao Wanshi thought, he could go to the front line to kill a few more Japanese devils and avenge his family.
Second, we should bravely kill the enemy and make many meritorious achievements
In the subsequent battles, Xiao Wanshi went to the front line as he wished, full of national hatred and family hatred, he was very brave in fighting on the battlefield, always rushed to the front line, and was not afraid of death.
Because of his many military achievements, Xiao Wanshi was quickly promoted to squad leader, and once he dared to go into the tiger's den alone with only one soldier and sneaked into the Japanese bunker gun tower.
Taking advantage of the darkness and boldness, Xiao Wanshi actually killed 19 Japanese devils in one night, and also brought back 19 three-eight large cover guns and some ammunition unscathed, which caused a sensation in the army.
Another time, Xiao Wanshi was carrying a grenade, and with his strong skills, he sneaked into the Japanese airfield and blew up seven or eight Japanese planes.
But during that battle, because the explosion was too loud, Xiao Wanshi's eardrums were also pierced, and his hearing dropped from then on.
Despite this, Xiao Wanshi still did not retreat on the battlefield in the slightest, and full of hatred was the biggest motivation for him to kill the enemy.
In order to kill more Japanese devils, Xiao Wanshi often studied next to the machine gunner and also served as a machine gun loader.
During a battle, the enemy attacked fiercely, but the machine gunner was a first-time clerk, and he was too frightened to look up when he saw his comrades fall.
Because of his fear, the recruit did not realize that the muzzle of his gun was actually placed in the sky, and at this critical juncture, Xiao Wanshi was anxious to slap the recruit twice.
Then he immediately grabbed the machine gun, roared and fired wildly at the swarming Japanese devils, and under the suppression of Xiao Wanshi's firepower, he finally curbed the Japanese attack and held the position.
And Xiao Wanshi was also promoted to platoon leader because of his outstanding performance.
In 1938, Xiao Wanshi participated in the Battle of Changle with his troops, when the Japanese army concentrated more than 30,000 troops and prepared a large-scale siege of the Eighth Route Army in the southeastern Jin region.
More than 3,000 men of the 117th Regiment of the Japanese 108th Division were swept away by the Yushe Society in the north of Wuxiang, and Liu Bocheng, commander of the 129th Division, immediately withdrew to Wuxiang and decided to annihilate these Japanese troops.
So Xiao Wanshi's 772nd Regiment and the 689th Regiment, the 771st Regiment, and the 769th Regiment fought together to attack the Japanese.
In this battle, the Eighth Route Army won the victory, killing more than 2,200 Japanese troops and capturing a large number of weapons and materials. But the Eighth Route Army paid the price of more than 800 people, and Ye Chenghuan, the commander of the 772 regiment, was also unfortunately killed.
Xiao Wanshi was shot in the lungs during the battle, but fortunately received timely treatment from Bethune's medical team and was able to recover his life.
Pictured| Xiao Wanshi
It can be said that every battle achievement of Xiao Wanshi was really exchanged for his life, but he was relatively lucky, and every time he could pass through the ghost gate and not die.
Third, Xiao Wanshi, who loves and hates clearly
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Xiao Wanshi successively participated in a series of battles such as Shentouling, Xiangtangpu, Changle Village, Changshengkou, Qiquan Village, Xiangchenggu, Twin Peaks, Hongyan, Guanjia'an, Anti-Ninth Road Siege, and Hundred Regiments Battle, which can be described as a legend of Rongma's life.
However, due to Xiao Wanshi's true disposition of daring to act boldly, he also made many mistakes in the military camp and was remembered many times.
According to Xiao Wanshi's son Xiao Yaqiang, he said that although his father never mentioned military merit, he would occasionally mention interesting things about his time as a soldier.
He said that shortly after his father joined the army, he laughed during a military training and was directly slapped by the hot-tempered company commander.
The company commander also asked him to carry the machine gun at the penalty station, and later the instructor saw that he was at the penalty station and asked him why he should laugh during the serious military training.
Xiao Wanshi replied honestly, "Because the warrior in front of me let go of a fart when he took one step, I really couldn't help but laugh."
Then he was imprisoned, but he still felt aggrieved, because he had always heard that the Eighth Route Army was strictly disciplined and never beat people and did not scold people, so why did the company commander beat him.
Unconvinced, Xiao Wanshi was even more heroic in the battle the next day, not only killing several Japanese devils.
He also captured a machine gun and a Japanese captain's combat knife, and the company commander looked at him with admiration from then on.
At the end of another battle, Xiao Wanshi escorted the Japanese prisoners, and when he rested halfway, Xiao Wanshi went to relieve his hands.
When he returned, he found that the warriors had stabbed a prisoner who did not listen to the greeting while he was not there.
Because our army has always treated prisoners preferentially, the brigade commander immediately called and reprimanded Xiao Wanshi fiercely, saying that no matter who stabbed him, it was his responsibility as a platoon leader and must be dealt with severely.
Therefore, Xiao Wanshi was removed from the position of platoon leader because of this incident, but Xiao Wanshi, who was not willing, decided to make up for it with his battle achievements.
So Xiao Wanshi took advantage of the night to explore the Japanese devil's stronghold, killed more than a dozen Japanese soldiers in his sleep with a bayonet, and captured more than a dozen guns.
This time, his superiors did not punish him for his unauthorized actions, but instead promoted Xiao Wanshi, who had made a battle achievement, from a soldier to a squad leader.
However, Xiao Wanshi was remembered, not because he really did something wrong, but only because he violated the principles of organization when he was performing his mission, and his deep compassion for the people at the bottom was violated.
For example, once when Xiao Wanshi was collecting opium in Zhaotongqing, Yunnan, he saw an old man smoking opium, because the disease-ridden old man relied on opium to relieve the pain of his body.
The old man said that he had not lived long, and he could only rely on this opium to alleviate his pain, and Xiao Wanshi could not bear it.
He still gave some of the opium he received to the old man, but later his superiors saw that he was not able to collect it and gave him a punishment.
Another time was when criticizing the landlord, although Xiao Wanshi fought bravely, he was a very kind and soft-hearted person at heart.
Usually, when he saw beggars asking for food, he would give generously, and he might feel that they were all suffering from hardships, so he saw that those landlords were hanged and beaten to death, and he was also very sympathetic to the landlords' plight.
So he said to those people, "Aren't you worse than the Kuomintang?" Can't beat them like that."
As a result, because of sympathy for the landlord, he was questioned that his position was not firm, and he was remembered again.
Fourth, belated love
Xiao Wanshi was 32 years old when he joined the revolution, but he had not yet formed a family, and with the army fighting, more than 20 years of combat career, he dedicated his time to the revolution.
At that time, after liberation, Xiao Wanshi had not yet retired from the army, but at this time, his age was more than 50, which was considered to be an oversized single stick.
Speaking of his marriage, it is also full of legends, when Xiao Wanshi, who was in his 50s, met a young girl named Xia Qifang.
At that time, after the liberation, there was no peace in the country, and Xiao Wanshi would often pin the gun to his waist, which was particularly eye-catching and attracted Xia Qifang, who was doing business in Zhaotong, Yunnan.
One after another, Xia Qifang fell in love with Xiao Wanshi, who often had two guns at his waist, and although the age gap was very large, the two still did not care about the world's vision.
Later, Xiao Wanshi applied with the organization to marry Xia Qifang, but because Xia Qifang was the daughter of the landlord's family, out of birth, the organization rejected Xiao Wanshi's application.
But the things that Xiao Wanshi, who has always been true in temperament, will not be easily changed, and the organization has been doing ideological work for him, but Xiao Wanshi still can't figure out why the two love each other and can't get married?
Later, in a fit of anger, Xiao Wanshi ran to Xia Qifang's house with the correspondent without reporting to the organization, after all, Xia Qifang's family was a landlord, and her father saw a soldier come to the house to propose to him, and he was angry and scolded Xiao Wanshi:
"You are a little soldier, and you are also worthy of marrying my daughter, and do not see if you are worthy of yourself?"
Xiao Wanshi was even more angry when he heard this, and directly pulled out his gun to face Xia Qifang's father, and seeing Xiao Wanshi suddenly pull out his gun, the landlord's face changed in fright, and he had to agree to Xiao Wanshi marrying his daughter.
Although he was later punished by the troops for this incident, Xiao Wanshi did not complain at this time, but was very happy, because he could finally be with his beloved forever.
Picture | Xiao Wanshi's family
Although Xiao Wanshi has been punished many times and his practice is slightly inappropriate, it has to be said that whether on the battlefield or in life, Xiao Wanshi is indeed a very sincere person.
But he never hurt anyone, and he treated love as well, regardless of worldly views, and never abandoned his lover, so heroic and free, making his life more legendary.
In the 60s of the last century, Xiao Wanshi left the army where Rong Ma had spent his life and was assigned to serve at the grain station in the urban area of Lei Bo County, and the officials became smaller and smaller, but Xiao Wanshi never cared about fame and fortune.
However, shortly after Xiao Wanshi came here, he was once again recorded for violating discipline.
But the real situation is that there is a worker who has no rice in the family, and the whole family has not eaten for several days and is hungry, and the desperate worker steals some back from the granary.
Later, after the matter was revealed, the worker was imprisoned, but at this time, Xiao Wanshi, after learning about the worker's family situation, released him and said:
"This is the style of the Kuomintang, and people steal it without food."
This was a serious dereliction of duty at the time, so Xiao Wanshi was severely punished by his superiors, and there was another punishment on the file.
Despite this, Xiao Wanshi was still often charitable and charitable, and he could not see the suffering of others.
Although Xiao Wanshi had been a soldier all his life and had great military achievements, he never mentioned it to anyone, and he never forgot that he was a Communist Party member who served the people.
Often in his own work, mingling with the masses, when building roads, he lived and worked in tents like workers, eating potatoes and rice, and wearing rotten rubber shoes.
When he was in Lei bo County, when some retired cadres scolded people, he never cursed people and never took credit for his achievements.
During the Cultural Revolution, he was criticized for fighting, his home was raided, and he was escorted to the street and climbed three or four kilometers away, only to climb to the finish line and wear out his pants at the martyrs' cemetery.
Despite all the tortures, Xiao Wanshi had a broad heart and a very open mind, thinking that he had climbed for the dead martyrs, and that he was still alive, what could he not think of?
In his later years, although Xiao Wanshi was seriously ill, he still lived optimistically every day, often sitting outside and chatting with the old people in the village, and he could not see that this ordinary old man had experienced a rain of bullets and bullets, and had rubbed shoulders with the god of death several times.
On April 2, 2009, the elderly Xiao Wanshi died of a heart attack in the Second People's Hospital of Liangshan Prefecture at the age of 104, and died in this land where he had fought, ending his legendary life.
Before xiao Wanshi died, he once told his family: "After I leave, don't tell my comrades-in-arms, don't bother the country, don't have to hold a memorial service, and deal with it in a low-key manner."
"The matter is whisked away, hidden and famous", the old man has not learned a few words in his life, even if he has made countless outstanding military achievements in his life, he has never shown off.
Thank you to us for having countless combat heroes like Xiao Wanshi, who defended the territory of the motherland and the dignity of the nation, and built an indestructible Great Wall with their flesh and blood.
We must carry forward and sing the great spirit of the War of Resistance, remember history, remember the martyrs, and use national rejuvenation to make the Chinese dream for which generations have struggled realize it at an early date!