The day before the National Day of 2019, a grand ceremony was held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Among them are our grandfather Yuan Longping, as well as the secretary Shen Jilan we are familiar with, and there are many people whose names we cannot name.
But they are all heroes of the people, examples of the people.
Li Yannian
Among the many people, there is an old man in an old military uniform who stands out the most.
He is our protagonist today - Li Yannian.
He is now 93 years old, but he was also a handsome teenager in that era.
You may wonder who he really is? Why was he invited to the Great Hall of the People by the Central Committee?
What did he do? Why is it highly praised by the Central Military Commission?
With this question, let's walk into that glorious period together and uncover the secrets of Li Yannian!
Born poor and oppressed
Li Yannian, born in 1928, lives in a remote rural area of Changli, Hebei Province.
Children born in that era seem to have the same fate,
Li Yannian's family is very poor, and it is difficult to eat a full meal on weekdays, let alone go to school like other children.
After he was a little older, Li Yannian was sent to the landlord's house to work as a long-term worker, not only to do all kinds of hard work every day, but even to be beaten and insulted.
But in order to have a full meal, in order to be able to live, he had to swallow his breath and bear all kinds of white eyes.
However, such days did not last long, and the hometown was attacked by the invading Japanese army, and the landlord's family was killed by the Eighth Route Army for colluding with the Japanese.
Li Yannian had to follow his father around, living a life that was worse than death, not only to worry about filling his stomach along the way, but also to be vigilant against the sneak attacks of the Japanese army.
From that time on, Li Yannian was full of hatred for the invaders and hoped that he could also carry weapons to surround his homeland like the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army.
It's just a pity that he was born at the wrong time, and he was too young to enlist in the army.
Soldier of the Eighth Route Army
After a few years like this, Li Yannian gradually grew into a big guy and a vague judgment about the future road.
In 1942, at the age of 14, Li Yannian went out with several fellow villagers to earn a living, and they traveled for several days to work in a grain factory in Changchun.
Because of his young age, he would not do anything, Li Yannian could only do hard and tired hard work, and it was enough to do hard work.
The key boss also ordered Li Yannian to take care of their family's living after the main work, and he also worked part-time as a nanny.
It's not over, if you don't do a good job, or the boss is not satisfied, you may even suffer a beating.
Northeast before liberation
As the saying goes: where there is oppression, there is resistance.
Until one day, Li Yannian was too tired at work and forgot the instructions commanded by his boss, and as a result, the boss raised his hand to attack him.
But this time Li Yannian did not choose to be patient, but raised his hand to fight back, punching the boss to the ground with one punch, and the colleagues next to him saw that in addition to some fear, there was also a hint of excitement.
After the outbreak of this matter, Li Yannian received a dismissal notice from his boss, in fact, even if he was not fired, Li Yannian would not continue to do it, because he had already thought of a way out.
Film and television drama Li Yannian
Decide to join the army and fight on the battlefield
In October 1945, two months after the War of Resistance Against Japan, the domestic situation was still not optimistic.
In order to increase the right to speak in negotiations, Jiang Ren constantly made small moves, first grabbing a large number of cities and pools handed over by the Japanese army.
Later, he continued to send troops to the Liberated Areas in an attempt to provoke a civil war.
But these things were a little too far away for Li Yannian at that time, and he just wanted to fulfill his childhood dream and join the Eighth Route Army against the invaders.
However, when he signed up, he found that there was no Eighth Route Army now, and Li Yannian could not help but be a little discouraged.
Sign up for the People's Liberation Army
However, the staff of the registration office told him that the current People's Liberation Army is the former Eighth Route Army, and Li Yannian was relieved to register his name.
Soon Li Yannian passed the examination and was incorporated into the Northeast Jihei Column, although he joined the army relatively late now, but it did not affect Li Yannian's play in the slightest.
After a month of recruit training, Li Yannian developed a strong physique and the use of various weapons, which also brought him a lot of help in later battles.
In December of the same year, Li Yannian's company received a mission that there was a wave of Kuomintang pseudo-security regiments in Yushu County that needed to be eliminated as quickly as possible.
Liberation
This was Li Yannian's first time on the battlefield, and it was false to say that he was not nervous, but not long after the battle began, Li Yannian adapted.
And every time he charged, Li Yannian was always the first to rush out of the team and shoot wildly at the enemy in front of him, as if to release all the hatred accumulated over the years.
After the battle, Li Yannian was credited with a small merit for his outstanding performance and bravery in battle.
The first time he went to the battlefield, he made meritorious contributions, and the company commander praised him for his key points, and Li Yannian was also very happy in his heart.
But he was not arrogant, and taking advantage of the gap in the rest period, he would often ask some veteran soldiers for experience on the battlefield and the use of weapons.
Northeast Field Army
From this, it can be seen that behind a person's success, it often takes ten times more effort than others.
In April 1946, the first Changchun Campaign began, Li Yannian followed the troops all the way to the bamboo, after 5 days and 4 nights of fierce fighting, successfully defeated more than 2,500 enemy troops defending the city, and captured more than 14,000 enemy troops, including more than 200 Japanese troops.
This battle can be described as a complete victory, and it also made a good start for the later battle in the northeast.
As he participated in more and more battles, Li Yannian's position was also getting higher and higher, first to deputy squad leader and squad leader, and then to deputy platoon leader and platoon leader.
However, at this time, Li Yannian's fame was not very large, after all, the number of people in Dongye was very large, even the company commander was innumerable.
But all this waited until the end of the Liaoshen Campaign, and earth-shaking changes took place.
During the sniper war in Montenegro, Liang Xingchu, the commander of the Tenth Column, gave the order to hold the position no matter what the cost, and the support of the large troops would soon be in place.
Although Liang Xingchu said this, he didn't know when the large troops would arrive, but this was an order from his superiors, and he could only obey it.
The person he arranged to garrison was Li Yannian, and it should be known that the enemy's unit at that time was the Liao Yaoxiang Corps, and whether it was weapons and equipment or manpower combat effectiveness, it was far superior to our army.
Montenegro sniper warfare
But even so, Li Yannian did not flinch, nor did he feel fear, in order to be able to hit the enemy by surprise.
Li Yannian led his troops to the target position in a hurry overnight, while enemy cars were constantly transporting troops.
However, at dawn, Li Yannian's troops unexpectedly surpassed the enemy's cars and entered the position one step ahead of schedule.
When the fortifications were almost completed, the enemy also began to launch the first round of charge.
At this time, Li Yannian was not in danger, and while commanding the fighters to attack, he took up weapons to strafe the enemy.
In this way, the battle lasted for three days and three nights, and both the enemy and us suffered huge casualties, but Li Yannian's troops still did not let the enemy move forward.
If the War of Liberation was a battle for Li Yannian's reputation, then the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea was a glorious battle.
Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, defend the family and defend the country
After the liberation war was over, although Li Yannian made great achievements in battle, he did not take pride in his achievements, and still ran to the front line, leading his troops to the western Hunan region to suppress bandits.
After waiting for the bandits to be cleared, Li Yannian received a new instruction that he needed to immediately integrate his troops and go to Korea to participate in the war.
On February 19, 1951, Li Yannian was incorporated into the 47th Army of the Volunteer Army and served as the commander of the 7th Company.
At this time, the war in Korea has entered a white-hot stage, and the US military is taking advantage of the opportunity of negotiations to prepare for the autumn offensive.
Naturally, our army cannot let the US military's wishful thinking succeed.
Autumn Offensive
Sure enough, the 47th Army had just taken over the defense of the 65th Army, and was attacked by the 1st Cavalry Division and the 3rd Division.
What the US military did not expect was that after a month of continuous bombardment, no land was gained.
In this battle, the 47th Army exerted momentum and national prestige, but they still had no time to rest and continued to fight in many places.
According to the old man Li Yannian recalled, the most memorable thing for him was the 346.6 highland counterattack.
It was in October 1951 that the 47th Army Command ordered Li Yannian's battalion headquarters to counterattack the 346 heights that had fallen.
After receiving the task, Li Yannian did not dare to delay for a moment, and led his troops out day and night, directly attacking from the left road, and in less than three hours, he took five hills.
However, shortly after they occupied the hill, they were attacked by American artillery fire, and Li Yannian's company was greatly reduced, and when the battle continued until the afternoon, the entire 7 companies could only form 4 squads.
However, the company attacking from other directions was even more unbearable, and the sacrifices of company commander instructors abounded.
Korean
However, Li Yannian was not in danger, reorganized the troops, mourned the martyrs who died, and then boosted the morale of all the soldiers.
Li Yannian was able to speak eloquently and was very good at doing ideological work, and after his propaganda, the soldiers soon became scrappy.
It is said that the volunteer army in Korea is weaker than strong, but I don't think so? What is strong?
Weapons and equipment are strong, aircraft cannons are strong, then the willpower is not strong?
Under the leadership of Li Yannian, everyone exerted their potential to the limit, and the squad leader of the demolition squad, holding two explosive canisters, faced more than 60 enemies, and was obliged to rush up and die with the enemy, just to hold the position.
Throw the blaster
After the battle, Li Yannian's unit annihilated more than 600 enemy troops, repelled several enemy attacks, and successfully defended the 346.6 heights.
Therefore, after the decision of the organization, Li Yannian was credited with special merit once and awarded the honorary title of first-class hero.
In the war years, death is regarded as a homecoming, heroic battles, peacetime indifferent to fame and fortune, silent dedication.
After returning from Korea, Li Yannian plunged headlong into the construction of the motherland, and for decades he never fought for anything for himself.
Even if life is hard and difficult, Li Yannian still maintains his original intention, and those military medals and certificates of the past are also hidden by him, even the guards around him do not know.
After leaving retirement, Li Yannian still cared about major national affairs, consciously studied the party's innovative theories, and often went into schools to tell the fighting stories of that year to young people and inherit the fighting spirit.
What is a hero? That's the hero!
With this article, I would like to express my highest respect to Comrade Li Yannian, the hero of the Republic.