Picture 丨 Xu Shiyou
preface
As Xu Shiyou grew older, he became more and more emotional, and he missed some of his past experiences, including some people he met.
In his later years, Xu Shiyou had two wishes, one was to go home to see the coffin prepared for him by his son Xu Guang, after all, that was his final destination.
The other was to go back to the company where he was a soldier in his next company.
Although the previous wish was not fulfilled, the latter was realized, and Xu Shiyou seemed very happy about it.
The old general served as a soldier in the company
He Yunfeng and Zhang Huamin were soldiers
In February 1958,
Colonel He Yunfeng, political commissar of the 13th Division of the Kunming Military Region, and Zhang Huamin, deputy commander of the division, went to the company to serve as soldiers
They ate and slept with the soldiers as ordinary soldiers, and they groped and fought together for two months.
During this time, not only did I establish a relationship with the soldiers, but also explored some political and military training experience.
The incident caught Mao's attention
。
At that time, the army implemented the rank system, and some cadres formed bureaucracy
Mao Zedong was worried about this matter, so on August 21, when the enlarged meeting of the official bureau of the CPC Central Committee was convened, Mao Zedong proposed that
"I see that all our "chiefs" go to be soldiers for a month, during which they must obey the command of the squad leader, you say that you manage people's homes for eleven months a year, and people can't manage you for a month? Everyone hasn't been a soldier in years, so let's go back and be a soldier. ”
After the regulations were issued, officers at all levels responded positively. When Mao Zedong met Xu Shiyou, he specifically asked Xu Shiyou's opinion, and Xu Shiyou always said nothing about Mao Zedong's instructions, and immediately said, "No problem at all!" ”
Picture Xu Shiyou and Mao Zedong
The next day, the Nanjing Military Region organized the first batch of cadres who applied for the next company.
Xu Shiyou should not let himself be the first batch
He chatted excitedly with several approved old generals,
"When I was a soldier thirty years ago, the officers and soldiers did not distinguish between you and me, everyone was like a brother, every day in a fight life, happy not, today we are senior officers can not forget the original, fifty-one years old, can go down to the company to become a soldier, I am so happy!" I'm sure I'll be a soldier! ”
Back at home, Xu Shiyou took off the linen shoes he often wore, changed into the liberation shoes that soldiers often wear now, and then changed into soldiers' costumes one by one, put on a boat-shaped hat, and walked back and forth in the house.
When you meet someone, you ask, "Do you look like I don't look like a soldier?" ”
Wife Tian Pu nodded, "It's really like that." ”
Xu Shiyou looked in the mirror and said,
"You say it doesn't count, the warrior is the mirror, they say that the image is the real image."
Although Xu Shiyou was very excited about becoming a soldier in xialian, his family would be a little worried that Xu Shiyou's body would not be able to eat. Xu Shiyou proudly patted his chest, "Rest assured, I am in good health, I contact the soldiers every day, and there is nothing wrong with being a soldier." ”
Pictured by his wife Tian Pu
On October 17, Xu Shiyou came to the sixth company of an infantry on the border defense front
When the company commander saw Xu Shiyou, he was nervous, trotted up to meet him, and saluted the report. Xu Shiyou took a look at it and said busily,
"You are mistaken, I came to be a soldier, it should be my soldier report to your company commander."
After speaking, he raised his hand in salute, and his voice was loud, "Comrade Company Commander, senior soldier Xu Shiyou came to report, please assign work!" ”
The company commander's face turned red, and it took half a day to speak, "Chief, you have been assigned to the seventh shift." ”
Xu Shiyou was not happy,
"How can you not change it, I am not the chief, I am a high-class soldier Xu Shiyou!"
Picture 丨 Xu Shiyou under the company as a soldier oil painting
Coming to the seventh class, Xu Shiyou saluted and reported to the class leader, and the small class leader panicked and took Xu Shiyou's backpack and poured him a glass of water, "Chief, you drink water." ”
Xu Shiyou shook his head, "You have one more bar than me, you are the squad leader, you will teach me more in the future, just like a master with an apprentice." ”
Although the soldiers were full of curiosity about Xu Shiyou, they were also nervous and in awe, and when they ate, the squad leader and the soldiers rushed to help Xu Shiyou pour water and serve rice.
Xu Shiyou said to them,
"Comrade squad leader, you are too polite in this way, you are my superior, you can strictly discipline me and let me put down the official shelf."
On weekend evenings, the stationed villages show movies and invite the company to watch them. Xu Shiyou had already seen this movie, and in order to keep discipline, he also followed.
Before leaving, the squad leader wanted to help him carry the rifle, Xu Shiyou refused, the two people fought for half a day, Xu Shiyou said helplessly,
"Squad leader, I'm going to get rid of the official frame, you can't cultivate my official frame."
Tu Shu Xu Shiyou and the warriors sentry together
In this way, Xu Shiyou began to eat and sleep and train with the seven classes of fighters, the soldiers were quite nervous at first, and then found that Xu Shiyou was quite approachable, and he became more and more relaxed.
The title also changed from chief, comrade Xu, comrade Old Xu, old Xu, and finally even changed to Old Man Xu.
Xu Shiyou was not angry at all, and said amusedly,
"If I hadn't been a soldier and farmed at home, I guess I would be Xu Laohan by now."
The warriors liked this old soldier from the bottom of their hearts, and their care for him was not polite, but wanted to be good to him. When Xu Shiyou rested, the warriors would warn each other not to make noise, so as not to wake him up.
Tu 丨 Xu Shiyou demonstrated kung fu to the warriors
The warriors often chatted with Xu Shiyou and showed Xu Shiyou a picture of his fiancée and asked him how he was. Knowing that Xu Shiyou had practiced martial arts as a monk in the Shaolin Temple and wanted to open his eyes, Xu Shiyou did not hide it, taking advantage of the gap in labor training to show the warriors, and many fighters became his "apprentices".
He also improved the bench skills in traditional martial arts and taught the fighters to practice, and over time, many fighters could pick up the bench and play twice
Only the chief secretary was bitter in his heart, "The bench in the canteen is always missing arms and legs..."
Once, quanlian went down the river to practice swimming, it was early autumn, the weather was a little cool, the soldiers in the class all advised Xu Shiyou not to go into the water, worried that he was freezing out of the disease, the squad leader knew that Xu Shiyou was not a character who listened to advice, and said, "Old Comrade Xu, you are an observer on the shore." ”
Xu Shiyou refused, he insisted on going down the river, "My eyes are not good, I can't see." After saying this, he followed the warriors and jumped into the river.
During the training, the scars on Xu Shiyou's body attracted the attention of the warriors
Everyone gathered around, reached out and touched his scar and asked him how he got hurt.
Xu Shiyou seized the opportunity to tell the soldiers about the battle stories and revolutionary traditions, and the soldiers' admiration for the old heroes was even deeper.
Tu 丨 Xu Shiyou and the warriors are happy and harmonious
In the army, Xu Shiyou's military skills were also recognized by the soldiers, although he was older and his physical strength may not be as good as that of young people, but no matter what he did, he never fell behind.
When firing live ammunition, Xu Shiyou had to test fire on target No. 1.
Although he likes to hunt and shoot, mountain shooting is more complicated. He jokingly said, "I don't have good eyes, and bullets are still safe on earth." ”
Jokes are jokes,
Xu Shiyou, who picked up the gun, is still very reliable, he is sophisticated in his movements, almost raising the gun to shoot, trying several kinds of firearms, all hit the target.
The warriors also really admired, Ginger is still old spicy.
On another occasion, the company tested the power of the rapid burst rod, and everyone sat 20 meters away from the explosion point and waited for the results.
The moment of the explosion,
A small warrior moved in front of Xu Shiyou and blocked Xu Shiyou with his body
He was worried that the stone chips splashed by the explosion would hurt Xu Shiyou.
Xu Shiyou asked the little warrior to sit in the back, but he just wouldn't. Xu Shiyou's heart was warm, he knew that the warriors were no longer doing this because they were chiefs, maybe this was the friendship of war.
On November 1, the class held a "five good warriors" appraisal meeting, and when Xu Shiyou was evaluated, everyone rushed to speak, "Old Xu has no official shelf at all, and his motivation is greater than that of our young people!" "He's more ordinary than all of us ordinary warriors."
In the end, Xu Shiyou was rated as one of the five best warriors by the class.
Pictured by Xu Shiyou and the warriors
A month passed quickly, and Xu Shiyou was also a little reluctant to leave, and he wrote a letter to the soldiers of the seventh class.
"Dear comrades-in-arms, thank you for giving me a lot of care, helping me study during the day, covering me with clothes at night, and sitting in front of me during demolition training, afraid that I would be in danger, and your feelings made me very moved. I hope you will continue to recognize me as a veteran of the Seventh Class, and I will be honored with that! ”
Although Xu Shiyou's experience as a soldier in the next company was over, the comradeship was not over. He kept in touch with the warriors,
Once, the squad leader came to visit Xu Shiyou, and Xu Shiyou specially explained to the doorman that my squad leader would come in a while.
The doorman heard that he was the commander's squad leader and guessed that he should be very old. Soon
A young soldier came to xu shiyou and said that he was Xu Shiyou's squad leader
The doorman thought he was fooling around and drove the man away.
Later, Xu Shiyou came out to pick up people, heard about this matter, and was angry and scolded,
"You blew my squad leader away!"
He sent someone to chase the squad leader back.
Return to the company to look for the old squad leader
Figure 丨 Xu Shiyou became a soldier under the company
In his later years, Xu Shiyou often remembered this experience of being a soldier in Xialian, and everyone in this story.
In the six months before his death, he used the excuse of grass-roots inspection to return to the "old troops" at that time.
Xu Shiyou sat in a jeep, looking at the scenery outside the window, many scenes were no longer familiar, and he was trying to find his familiar appearance.
The car was parked in front of an unbuilt office building, where all the chiefs of the troops waited for a long time. They welcomed Xu Shiyou to the Liulian conference room, and Xu Shiyou frowned as he looked at the calligraphy and paintings on the wall, at the high-end sofas, and at the fruit snacks on the coffee table.
"I'm going to see the warriors."
After saying that, he walked out of the room, and the leaders immediately followed.
The company commander introduced to Xu Shiyou while walking, "Our company has strict requirements, hard training, completed all the projects ordered by the superiors, and won the collective second class merit..."
The instructor also followed up and introduced, "We even regard the improvement of the soldiers' lives as the main content of the political and ideological work, and the cooking class is also very meticulous and professional, and strives to make the soldiers eat well ..."
After Xu Shiyou listened, he said,
"The instructor spoke better than the company commander and had specific content
So let's go to the cooking class first. ”
A group of people came to the sixth cooking class, and the cooker was preparing lunch.
The floor of the table in the room is clean, and the pots and pans are arranged in an orderly manner
Two cooks were collecting rice, when they saw the chief coming, they stood up straight.
"Little devil, hold out your hand." Xu Shiyou said to the two cooks.
Two pairs of hands stretched out, Xu Shiyou broke his hands and looked over and over, "Not bad, the nails are not long." ”
"Report, the company department has a rule, nails are not allowed to stay long."
"Take off your shoes and let me see if I can?" Xu Shiyou asked kindly.
"Yes, sir." The shorter cooker took off a shoe and handed it to Xu Shiyou for "examination."
"The insoles are beautiful, erlong play beads, married?" Xu Shiyou asked with deep meaning.
The short cook was a little embarrassed, "I'm not married, it's a fiancée." ”
Xu Shiyou smiled,
"Put it on, it's clean, and the food you cook will definitely be clean."
Xu Shiyou turned to the tall cook and said, "What about yours?" ”
The tall cook handed over the shoes.
"It stinks, the insoles are black, and the food you cook is not delicious."
The tall cooker blushed, "Chief, I will correct it later." ”
Xu Shiyou said meaningfully,
"On the surface, anyone can do it, but I can't see the problem."
Then he looked at the cooking class's war storage room, the pigsty, and the vegetable patch. In the pigsty, he saw the steamed buns and rice in the pig food trough, and pondered for a long time, without making a sound.
Later, when he went to the soldier's dormitory, he saw the various shoes under the bed, and he still didn't know what he was thinking.
In the end, Xu Shiyou came to the seventh class, and he remembered the place most. He said to the soldiers of the seventh class,
"You and I are soldiers of the same squad."
The warriors listened very warmly and excitedly, and hurriedly poured water for Xu Shiyou and handed him cigarettes.
Xu Shiyou was very happy, "I'm not going anywhere today, it's not good to set up a banquet here." ”
"Good" "Old Xu is in our class again!" "The chief is going to eat with us!" The seven squads of fighters happily spread the word.
The soldiers of the other squads could only squeeze at the door and look enviously at the smiling faces of the soldiers of the seventh squad.
During the banquet, Xu Shiyou took a sip of wine,
Ask the current seventh class leader where his former old class leader is, and the other party replies that he does not know.
Xu Shiyou was on fire on the spot, "This wine can't be drunk, you are incompetent as a squad leader, I will find your company commander instructor." ”
Xu Shiyou went to ask the company commander instructor, and the two people did not know where Xu Shiyou's old squad leader was now.
"Where did you get my old squad leader?"
The regimental commander hurried to explain,
"Report chief, we all joined the army after 1968, the chief was a soldier here in 1958, we really don't know where the old squad leader went.
Xu Shiyou listened and stopped nibbling.
After returning home, Xu Shiyou walked alone in the small mountain pass with his head down, his mood was a little complicated, and he couldn't say whether he was lost or something.
He tried his best to calm his mind, and told his wife Tian Pu,
"People should serve the old, the future is young, our play has been sung, as long as the body is not faulty, it is happiness." 」
"Our play is over"
That being said, in fact, there will be some sadness and loneliness in his heart, and this emotion will reach a peak after not giving him a new military uniform.
In March 1985, the troops began to distribute new uniforms, while retired cadres who were no longer in their current positions were no longer distributed, but distributed clothing fees.
For Xu Shiyou, a person who has been in the army all his life, the military uniform is already a part of their life.
If new uniforms are not issued, even the old uniforms will have to take off the red five-star and red collar badges, which is emotionally difficult to accept.
Moreover, Xu Shiyou wears a military uniform every day, and does not let him wear a military uniform, he does not even know what he wears.
Picture 丨 Xu Shiyou wears a military uniform every day
In fact, before the order was issued, it was rumored that only retired cadres who did not issue new uniforms, not including cadres who had retired to the second line, Xu Shiyou belonged to the second category, so he thought he would have a new military uniform, and he also specially found someone to measure the size.
As a result, after waiting for a long time, the new military uniform was not delivered, Xu Shiyou sent someone to urge, and the reply he got was, "The new military uniform will not be done for the time being." Xu Shiyou's face went black after listening to it, and he knew that his new military uniform was hopeless.
He grumbled with people, "Mother, it's not interesting to live, I don't even wear a military uniform, it's better to die." Frightened, the person on the other side quickly said, "Old Xu, don't you dare to say crazy things." ”
At this time, Xu Shiyou's life was almost at the end, the hospital frequently issued alarms, and Deng Xiaoping also came to Nanjing to visit Xu Shiyou, who was seriously ill.
Xu Shiyou told Deng Xiaoping about the new military uniform
He said that this was the last small request he had made after decades of being a soldier.
Deng Xiaoping understood Xu Shiyou's feelings, but he could not but adhere to principles.
Pictured: Deng Xiaoping and Xu Shiyou
At a meeting, Deng Xiaoping responded to the matter.
"Should the retired old comrades be issued with new uniforms?" Emotionally speaking, they have spent their lives fighting for the sake of new China, and it is right to issue a military uniform, let alone one set, even ten sets. But rules are rules, can you take care of one, can you take care of a piece? So it's important to take care of feelings, or to stick to the rules. ”
Xu Shiyou understood that this was Deng Xiaoping's answer to himself, and he could understand that he no longer mentioned the new military uniform.
He took off the red five-star and red collar badge of his old military uniform, placed them neatly in the collection box, and locked them in the cabinet.
He was dressed without a red five-star and a red collar badge, looked in the mirror for a while, his face was a little ugly, and he asked the secretary next to him, "How' about it, spirit?" ”
Tian Pu felt sad to see this scene,
She was also an old soldier, and she could understand her husband's lowliness and sadness.
Tu Shu Tian Pu and Xu Shiyou
On October 22, 1985, Xu Shiyou died.
The funeral committee considered a question, Xu Shiyou has worn a military uniform all his life, so what should he wear to the funeral, the new military uniform? Non-compliant, casual wear? Even more impossible.
Fortunately, there was already a precedent, shortly after changing into a new military uniform, an old cadre of the Nanjing Military Region died, and the funeral committee proposed to wear civilian clothes, but the family and comrades-in-arms strongly opposed it, proposing to wear a Type 65 military uniform, not wearing a red five-star and a red collar badge, and still disagreed.
Final decision: wear a military uniform, wear a red five-star and a red collar badge.
With this precedent in mind, the Funeral Board decided to do so, and after the report was approved,
The staff specially made a set of 65-type military uniforms for Xu Shiyou, and solemnly wore a red five-star and red collar badge for him.
Xu Shiyou's play has been sung? Maybe not, he went to another world with a lifetime of pride, met the comrades who had worked together, and what was left was the story and spirit.