"Fifteen from the army, eighty to return." The short ten words have exhausted the long time of joining the army, the glory years, the young people who left home, and very few people who can come back alive, in addition to lamenting, they have a little more gratitude to those who have fought for the country.
There was such a founding major general, who experienced a lot of hardships when he was young, and at one turn, he found a way to change the status quo, so he "fifteen years from the army", and when he returned home to see his relatives, such a scene occurred.
First, life is full of flavors
The protagonist of the story is called Zheng Guozhong, one of the founding major generals, born in 1913 in Huang'an, Hubei Province.
After the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, the rule of the feudal dynasty was overthrown, the "Three People's Principles" were also spread to a certain extent, and people's thinking gradually changed, but these positive aspects were still limited to urban areas, and the landlords and bullies in rural areas ran rampant, and the lives of the people were still miserable.
In such a big environment, the young Zheng Guozhong has already experienced the difficulty of life, the reality of poverty in the family makes his parents have to sell the two children in the family, and Zheng Guozhong, who has the ability to work, is left behind to do hard labor with his parents.
At the age of ten, in order to make a living for his family, Zheng Guozhong was arranged by his parents to work as an apprentice in a tailor's shop, and with the craft of making a living, at least life would not be so difficult.
The life of the tailor shop is not so good, the shop owner will always be very harsh on Zheng Guozhong, not to beat or scold, coupled with the harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes are too heavy, and finally the tailor shop has come to an end, Zheng Guozhong has to return home, while taking care of family affairs, while looking around for a way to live.
If such a day does not seek change, then he will follow Zheng Guozhong for a lifetime, fortunately, he himself has the idea of seeking to change, change the status quo, and soon such an opportunity will come.
2. Teenagers join the military
In 1927, Huang An broke out the "Jute Uprising", a huge peasant uprising aroused the blood in Zheng Guozhong's heart, he understood that a happy life was to rely on himself to win over, and he had been living a life without dignity, he had had enough.
At this time, he was only 14 years old and enthusiastically signed up for the Red Army, but he was still young, and the long-term malnutrition made him look very thin, and the Red Army rejected his application.
This refusal did not discourage Zheng Guozhong from joining the army, and when he returned home, he would learn some revolutionary knowledge on his own in his spare time and often pay attention to the movements of the Red Army. Two years have passed, and the Red Army has once again come to his village to recruit soldiers, and this time Zheng Guozhong has fulfilled his wish and become a member of the Red Army team.
Joining the army means being far away from home, life and death are unpredictable, Zheng Guozhong is only sixteen years old, after he left, there are only parents and parents at home, they have no one to take care of, and it is really worrying, but in the face of the national righteousness, Zheng Guozhong still chooses to follow the Red Army.
He was worried that his parents would not let him go to war and block him after knowing his decision to join the army, so in the early morning when the Red Army was about to leave, he quietly got up, did not disturb his parents, and then followed the Red Army, left his hometown, and ran to the battlefield.
Soon, the parents found that their children were missing, and after several fruitless searches, they finally learned in the mouths of the villagers that their children might have followed the Red Army.
Listening to the villagers say that few people who go out to fight can come back alive, although the parents are worried, all they can do is to burn incense at home every day and wish their children are safe.
A few years passed in a flash of time, his children had no news, he heard others say that Zheng Guozhong may have died on the battlefield, the news of the five thunderbolts shook the hearts of the two, sad and sad, the days had to go on.
Third, we don't know each other
The young Zheng Guozhong stepped onto the battlefield, and he was honed by life since he was a child, and he created extraordinary adaptability and willpower, from a small soldier who could not even open a gun to a heroic and fearless warrior, he grew up rapidly.
In the face of the enemy, he was not afraid, and he did not flinch in the face of death, and he firmly believed in his heart that when the battle was over, he could go home, and he would not have to live a hard life anymore.
In 1935, as a member of the Red Fourth Front, he followed the troops on a long journey that was the last thing he wanted to touch, the Long March, many of his comrades fell on the road, the hunger of the flood beast, the bullets of the merciless enemy, and the diseases that lurked everywhere, which constituted his greatest memory of the Long March.
Soon into the War of Resistance Against Japan, the threat of the Japanese army is huge, but Zheng Guozhong is not afraid of them, because this time it is the invaders, do not defeat them, drive them away, then his homeland will no longer exist.
He took the lead and rushed to the enemy camp with his troops, and fought with the Japanese army with explosives packs, and finally won the battle, which was the battle of the hundred regiments that started the whole country, and Zheng Guozhong was also honored for his heroic performance in the battle.
Eighteen years of uprooting, saying that it is impossible not to want to go home, between wartime, when he dreams back in the middle of the night, he will always miss his parents at home, even if he misses his family again, for eighteen years, he has not written a letter to his family, because he knows that once he has contact with his family, the family's concerns will become his burden, in case one day he does not write to the family again, his parents will be more worried, rather than this, it is better not to contact the family at the beginning.
Until the liberation war, the People's Liberation Army came to Zheng Guozhong's hometown of Huang'an, and the feelings of thought could no longer be suppressed, Zheng Guozhong asked his superior Liu Bocheng to return to his hometown to visit his relatives, and Liu Bocheng understood his feelings and approved his request.
The nostalgia is even more timid, the homeland at his feet is strange and familiar, many of the familiar old faces in the village are no longer there, and with a nervous and anxious mood, he runs in the direction of the memory to the home in the memory.
Stepping into the door, the father is busy, and the imaginary reunion scene is a little different, the father saw That Zheng Guozhong's look is indifferent, for this "stranger" who suddenly broke into the door of the house, his eyes are a little more vigilant. The father's three words "Who are you looking for" poked Zheng Guozhong's heart fiercely, and finally his mother recognized him, and the family hugged and cried.
Zheng Guozhong did not stay long after a meal, and after a meal, Zheng Guozhong returned to the army to continue his work, and the brief reunion was for long-term companionship.
After the founding of New China, Zheng Guozhong took his family to his side, and the family was truly reunited. In the war years, every soldier left his hometown so that more families could be reunited and happy, and now our happy life is inseparable from their efforts, and we must remember history and be grateful.
Text/Small Fish
Resources:
1. Hubei Yearbook
2. Hubei Archives Magazine
3. History of the Development of Chinese War