Chai Yunzhen
On an ordinary autumn day in 1984, wet and sweltering weather was enveloping the land of Sichuan and Shu.
Chai Bingrong, 28, holding the steering wheel of a tractor in his hand, was rushing down the township road to the gas station in the face of the hot wind. At the gas station, bored, he picked up a copy of the Sichuan Daily of September 12 of that year, casually flipped through it, and a search notice caught his attention:
"In 1951, the Fifth Campaign to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea heroically killed the enemy in the Battle of Peak Of Resistance ... Seriously injured, he returned to China and was hospitalized".
The search notice of the year
Chai Bingrong read the notice the size of a tofu block, and the first impression in his mind was that this was not his father. It's just that the name on the search notice is Chai Yunzhen, and the father's name is Chai Yunzheng.
The son, who could not hide his excitement, immediately took the newspaper and rushed home. He took the newspaper to his father and offered to go to the army to see it.
Who expected his father to directly refuse, but under the bitter persuasion of the whole family, Chai Yunzhen finally agreed to go to the troops in Xiaogan, Hubei Province. When he went, many of the past events of that year slowly unfolded like a picture scroll, and the dusty past came to mind again.
Chai Yunzhen's portrait of that year
More importantly, he is not a martyr who died on Park Dafeng more than thirty years ago, but a living first-class combat hero and a special hero of the volunteer army.
Chai Yunzhen's unit at that time was the 15th Army of the Volunteer Army, and the commander was the famous Qin Jiwei.
The 15th Army is an old unit with a long history, which was the Ninth Column of the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Field Army during the Liberation War, and was officially renamed the 15th Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in February 1949. It was also in that year that Chai Yunzhen gloriously became a member of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
Chai Yunzhen was born in a poor peasant family in Yuechi County, Sichuan Province, and in his childhood memories, in addition to not having enough to eat, it was a war for many years.
Chai Yunzhen and a new generation of warriors
At the age of 12, he became a small long-term worker in the landlord's family, and his difficult life was like a heavy chain, strangled around his neck, and he could not catch his breath. At the time of deep suffering, the 20-year-old ushered in the victory of the War of Resistance.
Unfortunately, a low-level farmer, who does not feel the joy of any national victory, still struggles every day for his livelihood.
However, only two years later, because the Nationalist government launched a civil war, Chai Yunzhen, who was in the Kuomintang area, was arrested again. Since you can't escape, try not to fight.
Every time he fought with the People's Liberation Army, Chai Yunzhen always hid and did not release his gun, and the corruption of the commanders in the army and the phenomenon of bullying and oppressing soldiers at every turn made Chai Yunzhen extremely disgusted.
Volunteers crossed the Yalu River
When the People's Liberation Army Erye Advance Team crossed the river, Chai Yunzhen's Nationalist government army fell into the arms of the People's Liberation Army, and he, who was originally a machine gunner, turned the muzzle of his gun and became a PLA soldier. In the following battle, Chai Yunzhen was also awarded the second class merit.
After the outbreak of the Korean War, Chai Yunzhen followed a large army across the Yalu River.
In fact, before this, his real name was Chai Yunzheng. He is a Native of Sichuan, with a thick Sichuan accent, and Dong Guicheng, a comrade-in-arms who filled in the information, is also from Shandong.
The misunderstanding in the accent caused his comrades to write his name as Zhen. Therefore, when he entered the Korean War, he had been fighting under chai Yunzhen's name.
Propaganda campaign to resist US aggression and aid Korea that year
In May 1950, in the central part of the Korean Peninsula, allied forces retreated south in the face of the strong offensive of our volunteer army. This is the fifth battle that Peng Dehuai previously called "a great and vicious battle".
At the end of May, the combined army also concentrated its forces to follow while the volunteers were retreating north. Therefore, the 134th Regiment under the 45th Division of the 15th Army of the Volunteer Army was urgently ordered to serve as a blockade to cover the smooth retreat of the main force to the north.
At that time, Chai Yunzhen was in this unit, and before the fierce battle began, he was still subordinate to the divisional guard company.
At that time, the main volunteer troops had completed the orderly withdrawal to the northern area of the 38th Line at the end of May. At this moment, the enemy's planes were already hovering over the heads of the fighters who were tasked with blocking the attack.
The Campaign to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea
This belongs to the Kim Hoa region of North Korea, the mountains are steep, and before the enemy's ground troops have arrived, Chai Yunzhen has built a strong fortification day and night.
Previously, because they were frightened by the night-time raids of the volunteers, the US army had learned to be obedient, there was no follow-up of large troops, and the small troops did not dare to rush to launch an attack on our volunteer army, even under the steel-like wrapping of tanks, aircraft, and cannons, the US army was also advancing step by step, for fear of being too aggressive and being wrapped in dumplings by the volunteers.
On May 30, soldiers of the 1st Company of the 134th Regiment of our Volunteer Army saw four tanks of the vanguard of the U.S. Army and 20 vehicles closely behind them on an unnamed plateau northwest of Park Dafeng. The enemy and us made contact, and the Battle of Park Dafeng was officially launched.
Peng Dehuai in the Korean Battlefield
The battle lasted for a day and a night, and our army, supported by fortifications and deep artillery, destroyed a tank and killed more than 150 enemy soldiers. Not to be outdone, the Americans, who had suffered losses, continued to attack Park Dafeng with a battalion of troops the next day.
The enemy was confronted head-on by 3 battalions and 7 companies, and since it was in the middle of the night and it was still a close-range operation, our army's superiority was brought into full play. The continuous grenade attacks, as well as the fire network woven by machine guns, the strength of one company of the 7th Company repelled three consecutive charges of a battalion of American troops.
On 2 June, the enemy gathered 3 battalions and attacked the 7th Company position again from three directions. The soldiers of the 7th Company stubbornly resisted for a day, annihilating more than 400 American troops. However, the 7th Company also suffered heavy casualties, many positions had been occupied by the enemy, and only 7 men remained in the company.
Qin Jiwei, commander of the 15th Army of the Volunteer Army
At the critical moment, the battalion commander Wu Shangzhi ordered the 9th Company and the 1st Platoon to reinforce the 7th Company. In the early hours of June 3, fighting resumed. The 1st platoon of the 9th Company was divided into four combat groups, two of which attacked from the enemy's left and right flanks, and the other two went around the mountainside and plunged straight into the rear of the American army.
Because the US army had previously been frightened by the volunteer army's interspersed envelopment tactics, at this moment they did not know how many actual strength the volunteer army had, so under the front and rear attacks of the volunteer army, the US army gave up the hard-won position.
During the day on June 3, battalion commander Wu Shangzhi made a troop adjustment, and the 7th Company and the 9th Company were merged into a reinforced company to strengthen the defense of the forward position; Chai Yunzhen's 8th Company was the second echelon.
Volunteer soldiers in battle
Beginning at noon on the same day, the US army once again gathered its forces to launch 6 charge at the forward position of the volunteer army, all of which were repelled by our army.
After a series of defeats, the enemy decided to adopt wheel tactics. During the day of June 4, under the cover of aircraft, the US army dispatched a regiment of troops, with companies as units, to launch a continuous attack on our forward positions, and the US army tried to drag our army down in this way.
The battle lasted for more than a dozen hours, and the large number of American troops finally occupied the positions of the 7th Company and the 9th Company. At the critical moment, the battalion commander Wu Shangzhi ordered Chai Yunzhen, the 7th squad leader of the 8th Company, to counterattack the enemy.
In the following battle, Chai Yunzhen led 4 fighters, not only recaptured 3 hills in a continuous counterattack, but also destroyed the enemy's battalion command post. The Battle of Park Dafeng was pushed to the climax.
Chinese soldiers of the People's Liberation Army and voluntarily applied to go to the forefront of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea
Years later, Chai Yunzhen returned to the public eye again as a special combat hero. Li Xianjuan, director of bayi Film Studio, met this old man busy in the fields in the countryside of Yuechi County.
"Why don't you go back to your honor, don't you miss your old comrades?": Li Xianjuan was full of doubts.
"My company commander died, my platoon leader died, my squad leader died, and the two comrades who fought with me also died, who else can I see?"
Chai Yunzhen's only one answer made Li Xianjuan burst into tears at once.
Peng Dehuai inspected the anti-aircraft artillery positions
On that day, when Chai Yunzhen and his only 4 comrades launched a counterattack against the enemy, you can imagine how tragic the battle scene was at that time.
The 7th and 9th companies had already been exhausted, and Chai Yunzhen was also urgently transferred from the guard company to the 8th company as the second echelon. When the enemy captured the forward position, under the orders of the battalion commander Wu Shangzhi, Chai Yunzhen led the soldiers to set off.
Supposedly there were only 5 of them, and it was almost impossible to retake the position. However, the US military was caught off guard by Chai Yunzhen.
Chai Yunzhen and his comrades, who had crept up the mountainside, found that the American troops were busy reinforcing the fortifications, and the enemy's battalion command post was on the position. When Chai Yunzhen saw this, he passed by and killed the enemy battalion commander who was commanding.
Chinese Volunteer Army soldiers braved artillery fire to rush supplies
"Call me! Don't save bullets! Chai Yunzhen gave orders as he continued to fire at the enemy.
The U.S. army has just occupied our position, and the fortifications have not only not been successfully reinforced, but the commander has also been killed. Because they did not understand the situation of our army, the remaining enemy immediately panicked and scattered.
Chai Yunzhen led the warrior grapes forward, and under a single strafing, he single-handedly killed more than a hundred enemies. However, the U.S. military also quickly stabilized after the initial panic, and the two sides launched a fierce gun battle at the top of the mountain. When the bullets ran out, he picked up the enemy's gun and continued to shoot.
At the end of the battle, all the comrades around him were injured, and Chai Yunzhen's arm and waist were also shot. The 4 American soldiers saw that there was an opportunity to take advantage of it, and pounced on Chai Yunzhen.
The warriors camped in the bitter cold of the wind and snow
Chai Yunzhen was not in danger, and it was another strafing shot, and the three enemies fell in response. The last enemy rushed up, and Chai Yunzhen pulled the trigger again, but found that there was no bullet in the gun. The grenades had long been used up, and as he watched the enemy rush to him, Chai Yunzhen pounced on him and wrestled with him.
This was a tall enemy soldier, and Chai Yunzhen wrestled with him on the slope with his injured body. The enemy picked up a stone and slammed it into Chai Yunzhen's head, and Chai Yunzhen used all his strength to cut his hands into his eyes.
The black man was in pain, but he threw away the stone in pain, hurriedly freed his hand to protect his eyes, and while opening his mouth to bite, in the confusion, Chai Yunzhen's right index finger was bitten.
Volunteer soldiers took over the Datong River Bridge, which had been blown up by the Americans
With a smash to the head, coupled with a severed bite on his index finger, Chai Yunzhen passed out. The battlefield was filled with a death-like silence at that moment. The enemy soldiers thought that Chai Yunzhen was dead, and they couldn't even pick up the guns on the side, and fled down the mountain with a limp.
However, Chai Yunzhen soon woke up, and he found that the soldier had run out more than a hundred meters away, and he was about to escape from his sight.
He must be killed! He used all his strength to pick up the gun on the ground, aimed, pulled the trigger, but did not fire.
Only then did he feel that the index finger of his right hand had been bitten off. He immediately switched back to his left hand, pulled the trigger with his last strength, and the enemy rolled down the hill. Chai Yunzhen also fainted on the position.
Former comrades-in-arms wore medals for Chai Yunzhen
In this battle, Chai Yunzhen's 7th squad recaptured 3 hills, destroyed the enemy's command post, and killed and wounded more than 200 enemy people. In the end, the American army retreated at the cost of more than 1,300 casualties, and our army won the victory of the Battle of Park Dafeng.
Chai Yunzhen's heroic deeds soon spread throughout the various units of the Volunteer Army, and they were praised among the units as a model of combat.
After that battle, Chai Yunzhen was sent to the rear for treatment due to his serious injuries, but he was soon sent back to China for recuperation. When he woke up again, he was already lying in a hospital in Baotou, Inner Mongolia.
Chai Yunzhen's demobilization certificate
In that era of extremely inconvenient communication, coupled with the continuation of the war, Chai Yunzhen soon lost contact with the troops. After recovering from his wounds, Chai Yunzhen, who had lost contact with the original troops, returned to his hometown in Sichuan.
After the end of the Korean War, Chai Yunzhen's unit went through several reorganizations after returning to China, but due to the recruitment of that year, it was not perfect when filling in the information, and the unit could not contact Chai Yunzhen.
However, Chai Yunzhen, who returned to his hometown, did not know that he was awarded the honor of first-class hero and special meritorious service, but the medal was unclaimed.
Chai Yunzhen thus became a hero who "disappeared".
In the 1980s, when Kim Il Sung came to China to participate in the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, he also asked Deng Xiaoping about chai Yunzhen's whereabouts. But at that time, no one knew where Chai Yunzhen was, and could only assume that he was no longer alive.
Newspapers reported on Chai Yunzhen's heroic deeds
In 1984, the former 15th Army, which had been reorganized into an airborne army, was to establish a biography of the former heroes of the unit, and Li Tianen was responsible for the compilation of the stage of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. On the list of martyrs, he saw Chai Yunzhen's name.
In the Korean battlefield that year, Lee Wasen-eun was a war correspondent for the 15th Army. After Chai Yunzhen was sent to the field hospital in the rear, Li Tianen originally wanted to interview him, but by this time Chai Yunzhen had been transferred to China for treatment.
Since then, Li Tianen has been paying attention to Chai Yunzhen's news in many ways, and he heard that Chai Yunzhen has recovered from his wounds, but he has never seen him return to the army. After several reorganizations, he never received any more information about Chai Yunzhen.
In his later years, Chai Yunzhen and his son Chai Bingrong
At this time, seeing Chai Yunzhen's name, Li Tianen immediately raised an objection, saying: Chai Yunzhen is not a clear sacrifice, if he is still alive, it is inappropriate to hastily designate him as a martyr and establish a biography.
As a result, the heavy responsibility of finding heroes lies on Li Tianen's shoulders, and Qin Jiwei, the former commander of Chai Yunzhen's unit and former minister of national defense, specially instructed: "We must do everything possible to find Chai Yunzhen."
But Chai Yunzhen has been missing for more than thirty years, and there was no information about him at that time, and there was a vast sea of people, where should I start?
He finally thought of a way to send a letter to the relevant departments in various localities according to the marching route of Chai Yunzhen's unit at that time, asking local comrades to help find it.
In 1985, Chai Yun-jin was received by Chairman Kim Il Sung
A veteran of Yangquan, Shanxi Province, provided a message: on the battlefield that year, he had bandaged Chai Yunzhen's wounds and remembered that he had a Sichuan accent.
The scope of the search was clear, and Li Tianen published a series of search notices in local newspapers in Sichuan. In the darkness, Chai Yunzhen's son Chai Bingrong saw the news of the search.
In 1984, under the strong persuasion of his family, Chai Yunzhen, accompanied by his son Chai Bingrong, came to Xiaogan, Hubei Province, and they quickly found Li Tianen, the publisher of the search notice.
Finally, after thirty-three years of fame, the hero returned to the public eye. In October 1985, in North Korea, Kim Il Sung solemnly wore the medal from 34 years ago on Chai Yun-jin's chest.
Portrait of Chai Yun-jin in the North Korean Military Museum
Kim Il Sung said at the award ceremony: "Find Chai Yunzhen, history should be rewritten, Chai Yunzhen is not a martyr, but a living hero!" ”
During his time in North Korea, Chai Yunzhen visited the North Korean Military Museum and the Volunteer Martyrs' Cemetery. When he saw a portrait hanging on the wall of the museum, he couldn't help but smile and say, "I'm still alive!" I have to bring back this 'relic'"!
Later, after negotiations with the North Korean side, Chai Yunzhen personally removed this "portrait" of himself that had been hanging for many years and brought it back to his hometown.
After returning to China, Chai Yunzhen was warmly welcomed by the people, and there were countless praises and honors. The old hero faced this situation and said: "Honor belongs to the motherland and the people, and I can only repay with more contributions."
On December 26, 2018, Chai Yunzhen passed away at the age of 93
Later, Chai Yunzhen successively served as a member of the Sichuan Cppcc Committee, a member of the Standing Committee of the County CPPCC Committee, and a deputy to the National People's Congress, and although he had already put down his gun, he still shone in other posts.
On December 26, 2018, Chai Yunzhen passed away peacefully in his hometown at the age of 93. The heroic fighting of that year has become a thing of the past, and his half-life of indifferent fame and fortune and the spirit of a quiet heart are worthy of the praise of future generations.