In the shangcun village of Gao'anzhou in Jiangxi, there is a veteran and veteran party member named Chen Xunyang, who is now 101 years old. He was demobilized from the army for more than 60 years and has been working quietly like an ordinary farmer, and no one knows the details of his experience in joining the army, including his family.
One day in 1993, 73-year-old Chen Xunyang suddenly felt severe pain in his left eye while working at home, and soon he couldn't see clearly. His family immediately took him to the hospital for treatment, and after careful treatment by doctors, his eyes were still not saved, and he had to undergo surgery to remove the eyeballs.
Chen Xunyang spent a total of 630 yuan on this hospitalization. After the town civil affairs department learned about Elder Chen's hospitalization, it sent someone to visit the old man in the hospital and told the old man's son, Chen Bagen,
According to the relevant policies, a part of the medical expenses can be reimbursed for the elderly.
Chen Bagen happily told his father the news, and took the receipt issued by the hospital and prepared to go to the town to reimburse the expenses. Chen Xunyang stopped him and angrily rebuked: "Don't we have any money in our family?" Thanks to the fact that you are still a party member, you always want to take advantage of the organization. ”
Chen Bagen thought to himself with some grievances: "This is what the town announced, and it is not something I have to go to." But considering that his father had just been discharged from the hospital and could no longer be angry, he silently returned the receipt. Chen Xunyang took the receipt and tore it to pieces.
What Chen Xunyang did not know was that his medical expenses were collected by his son after he sold two pigs in the family, which was originally used for his grandson's tuition and fertilizer money for the coming year.
At that time, Chen Bagen did not understand very much, according to the policy to reimburse, and did not do anything harmful to nature, why was his father so angry? As for the cause of insomnia in his father's left eye, the doctor concluded that he had been injured, but Chen Bagen did not know what kind of injury he had suffered.
It wasn't that he didn't want to ask his father, he knew his father's character very well, and after so many years, asking him about the previous things wouldn't have an answer.
These two problems have plagued Chen Bagen for many years.
Chen Xunyang
In previous years, information on veterans was being collected everywhere. At that time, Chen Xunyang's grandson Chen Chuanqiu was a village cadre in the village, and as a cadre, he naturally had to lead by example in responding to the call of his superiors, and he knew that his grandfather had been a soldier, so he ran to register with his grandfather's demobilization certificate.
The staff of the Veterans Service Station was very curious about the experience of such a nearly hundred-year-old veteran, and after carefully reviewing and screening his file, he could not help but be surprised -
This old man turned out to be a great meritorious man who had made first-class merit twice.
Chen Xunyang hid the past for more than 60 years before it was gradually known, when Chen Bagen understood his father.
Even his identity as a hero has been hidden for decades, and he has never asked for treatment from the organization
。 But because he wanted to reach out to the organization because of a few hundred pieces, how could he not make him angry?
Reading this, many readers may ask, what kind of combat experience does Chen Xunyang have? Why did his eye hurt?
Why did he hide his identity for more than 60 years without even telling his family?
Chen Xunyang was born in 1920 and has 6 older brothers. It was a turbulent time, and we often say that the fate of individuals is dictated by the times. If there had been no war, a family like Chen Xunyang might have been poor, but it would probably have been happy.
Chen Xunyang's two older brothers lost contact after taking the initiative to join the Red Army, the other two brothers were captured by the Kuomintang troops and never returned, and the only two remaining brothers during the War of Resistance died in the Japanese bombardment.
A complete home suddenly became fragmented, and there were countless families like Chen Xunyang in that era.
After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Chen Xunyang and his father happily thought that they were finally going to live a stable life. However, the Kuomintang provoked a civil war, plunging the devastated country into war again.
In 1948, shortly after Chen Xunyang's father died, a group of Kuomintang soldiers came to Zhoushang Village and said they were looking for young people to carry equipment. Chen Xunyang knew what this meant, he did not want to get involved in the war, and pleaded bitterly: "I already have two brothers to join the army.
I'm the only one left in the house, so let me go.
”
However, the soldiers couldn't help but say that they tied Chen Xunyang and the other young people with ropes and took them to the battlefield. After several decades, Chen Xunyang's memory has been seriously degraded, but he clearly remembers this scene.
At that time, the People's Liberation Army had entered a full-scale counteroffensive, and due to the tight war, Chen Xunyang was escorted to the battlefield without any training. Many of the soldiers in the national army were captured strong men, and such troops naturally had no combat effectiveness to speak of.
Grab the zhuangding stills
In the Battle of Huaihai, the Nationalist army was defeated and Chen Xunyang was captured. Deceived by the propaganda of the national army,
He thought he was going to be shot and panicked.
A PLA squad leader handed him two nest heads and told him to fill his stomach first. Chen Xunyang nibbled on the head of the nest while shedding tears, but the nest was too hard to swallow. When the squad leader saw this, he went to the cooking class to bring him a bowl of hot noodles.
The PLA's policy toward prisoners is very lenient, and those who are willing to remain in the army are restructured and incorporated into the army, and do not want to stay in the army to issue certificates and travel expenses to let them go home.
At first, Chen Xunyang wanted to go home. At a prisoner complaint meeting, Chen Xunyang heard one sad story similar to his, was deeply affected, and also stood on the stage to tell the tragic story of the loss of his parents and brothers.
After the company commander listened to the talk, he organized more than a hundred people in the whole company to pay tribute to Chen Xunyang's relatives, and also made eight spirit tablets, and the company commander and the instructor personally held the spirit cards. You should know that in traditional Chinese customs, ordinary people will only hold spiritual cards for their immediate family members.
Chen Xunyang was deeply moved, and he said with tears: "I want to stay in the army and avenge the death of my brothers."
Chen Xunyang offered to join the party, but the company commander told him to wait.
It is also reasonable that joining the party is a serious matter, and it must not be done on a whim and must be strictly examined.
After that, Chen Xunyang became a soldier in the 8th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 138th Regiment of the 46th Division of the People's Liberation Army.
On April 20, 1949, as the reactionary Nanjing government refused eight peace conditions, the People's Liberation Army launched the Campaign to Cross the River. This campaign adopted the method of crossing the river widely and frontally, and set up dozens of crossing points on the front line that stretched for more than a thousand miles.
At that time, all the boats on the river were dragged to the south bank of the Yangtze River, while the People's Liberation Army docked in the inner lakes and inland rivers on the north bank of the Yangtze River, and only a few small boats were left, most of which could only carry 8 to 12 people, and the largest could only carry more than 100 people. And the inland lake and the inland river exit were blocked by the enemy forces.
The Platon adopted a very ingenious method, which was to re-excavate the channel, fill the water and drag the ship out. One chief later recalled: "Our boats did not go out by water, but from dry roads." "Of course, this is inseparable from the strong support of the local people."
Chen Xunyang's medal
At that time, Chen Xunyang's 16th Army gathered in Anqing to cross the river, and before crossing the river, the troops needed to select a group of commandos.
There are three conditions: party membership, southerners, and water knowledge.
At that time, most of the troops were northerners, known as "dry ducks", and there were not many people who met the conditions.
In order to thank the People's Liberation Army for its kindness to him, although Chen Xunyang only met the condition of the southerners, he concealed that the company commander said that he understood water and asked to join the commando team.
The commando team is what we often call the death squad, as the first unit to land on the beach, the risk is extremely high. Chen Xunyang was even ready to sacrifice, and he exchanged addresses with a Comrade-in-Arms of Ganzhou, agreeing that if anyone died, the living would help each other bring the relics home.
When the battle began, Chen Xunyang, as the helmsman, and his comrades-in-arms sailed toward the other side of the river like arrows. Dense shells and bullets continued to shoot at the center of the river, blowing up a column of soaring water around them. The river floats with the bodies of fallen comrades-in-arms and fish that were killed by the explosion.
Chen Xunyang couldn't take care of these things at all, and he only had one belief, that is, to rush to the other side as soon as possible to destroy the enemy. When they rushed to the beachhead, the enemy quickly collapsed. Chen Xunyang received another order to shuttle his teammates back and forth between the two sides of the strait.
According to Chen Xunyang's recollection, only 50 of the 300-man commando team broke through the enemy's blockade, while after completely occupying the enemy's position, only more than 10 people remained. In this battle, Chen Xunyang braved the rain of bullets and bullets to make 6 round trips, but he was safe and sound.
After the war, Chen Xunyang was awarded the first class merit and was also awarded the title of "Hero on the Water".
After the People's Liberation Army won the victory in the Battle of the River Crossing, the enemy army quickly retreated to the south. In order not to give the enemy a chance to breathe, the PLA immediately carried out a wide frontal pursuit. At that time, most of the enemy troops marched in mechanization, while the People's Liberation Army relied on two legs, people did not stop, horses did not saddle, day and night in pursuit.
In the south of April, it was rainy and there was a chill. The officers and men of the People's Liberation Army often marched in the rain, but none of them cried bitterly, and they chased the enemy's car with one pair of feet. Sometimes the first echelon of the People's Liberation Army has traveled five or six hundred miles, and the second and third echelons must destroy an enemy force that has been left behind by the first echelon before they can continue to advance.
By the beginning of May, the furthest troops had pursued northern Fujian and northeastern Jiangxi, advancing more than fifteen hundred miles. Chen Xunyang's 16th Army pursued to the vicinity of Changshan in Zhejiang.
At that time, the commander decided to lead the main force to attack Quzhou, and the political commissar Wang Huiqiu led the 138th regiment to attack Jiangshan County.
Chen Xunyang's 8th Company of Sharp Soldiers once again rushed to the front.
After the soldiers of the 8th Company annihilated an enemy guard platoon, the 3rd Battalion immediately cut off the enemy's southward escape retreat.
When the main force arrived, they quickly attacked the city and captured the enemy county magistrate and division commander alive. This time, the 138th Regiment won more with less, annihilating 5625 enemy troops and losing less than 50 of its own.
This was the most brilliant achievement of the 138th Regiment in the War of Liberation.
Chen Xunyang won first-class merit again after the war because of his bravery in battle. The two first-class merits proved that Chen Xunyang was a strong-willed and brave warrior.
He passed the test of the organization and joined the party with honor.
After a short rest, Chen Xunyang's unit marched to the southwest and participated in the campaign to liberate the southwest. When the troops reached Sansui, they received a telegram from Erno: "Be sure to occupy Guiyang on November 15." ”
The commander opened the map and saw that there were still more than seven hundred miles away from Guiyang, but the time was only five days. He had no choice but to order the various departments: "Travel day and night, rush to the front, and occupy Guiyang as quickly as possible." ”
The various units of the 16th Army launched a marching competition to see who annihilated the enemy more and who walked the fastest. Everyone chased after me along the way, and the 46th Division, which was originally on the flank, ran to the front. Other units also chased after the 46th Division.
The commander of the 16th Army recalled that when he studied the mileage of the next day's march every night, he basically measured it by extending his index finger and thumb. Such a quantity is one hundred and twenty or thirty miles, sometimes up to 180 miles.
Fight against bandits
Chen Xunyang also said that it was the most difficult period. Initially the troops ran lightly, and later marched to 20 kg. Chen Xunyang lifted the heavy machine gun, his shoulders were all deformed, and his feet were all blistered, and he felt pain in his heart when he moved. At that time, he even thought,
I'd rather die on the battlefield than walk anymore.
Although he thought so in his heart, Chen Xunyang never gave up, and even did better than many people.
He travels up to 180 miles a day.
In the end, Chen Xunyang's 183rd Regiment first entered Guiyang, and he also won the title of "Model Marcher".
After the liberation of the southwest, Chen Xunyang also participated in the battle against bandits. During one battle, bandits hiding in the shadows fired a shot at him with a bird's claw. Chen Xunyang was bruised in his left eye, and after being treated by the troops, he quickly recovered. Unexpectedly, after 43 years, the old injury recurred, resulting in the removal of the eyeball.
After that, Chen Xunyang followed the troops to participate in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. They did not withdraw from Korea until April 1955.
New China finally ushered in a rare peace, and Chen Xunyang, who had been away from his hometown for 7 years, had already returned to his heart like an arrow, and he immediately applied to the troops for demobilization.
Before leaving the army, chief Yang Dezhi called a meeting of the meritorious officers of the unit, at which he stressed: "You are all heroes in the army, but you cannot be called heroes when you go to the localities. ”
Chen Xunyang firmly remembered this sentence and returned to his hometown with 23 military merit medals. In the decades since his demobilization, he has never mentioned his meritorious service in the army, including his family.
In order to increase grain production, at the beginning of the founding of New China, a great campaign was carried out to build water conservancy and control rivers. Chen Xunyang was ordered to be transferred to the upper reaches of Gao'an to build a dam. At that time, the construction of dams was militarized, and Chen Xunyang once again carried forward the true colors of soldiers, rushing to do the most tiring work, going out the earliest every day and finishing work at the latest.
Between 1956 and 1960, Gao'an County built hundreds of water conservancy projects, most of which Chen Was involved in.
He devoted himself to water conservancy projects and rarely returned home, even when his son was born.
The cousin in the village saw that his enthusiasm for building the dam was so high, so he said, "Your son's name is Chen Bagen." Later, each of Chen Xunyang's children simply carried a dam character, the eldest daughter was called Chen Baying, the second daughter was called Chen Balu, and the third daughter was called Chen Bafeng.
Chen Xunyang and his wife
After the water conservancy project was completed, the county saw That Chen Xunyang had performed well and originally wanted to transfer him to work in the local nursery. For this "iron rice bowl", Chen Xunyang was not interested, he thought that he did not know a few big characters, was he a big old man, or suitable for farming at home. He refused.
Chen Xunyang returned to his hometown to become a peasant, and everyone knew that he had a strong sense of responsibility and handled things fairly, and one after another proposed that he be appointed secretary of the party branch of the brigade. Chen Xunyang did not live up to everyone's expectations, leading the villagers to build ditches and develop orchards.
The villagers' lives are also getting better and better, becoming a model village in the township.
Everyone became rich, but Chen Xunyang's own life did not improve much. Because he was busy with business and the family did not have much money, his three-room cottage had not been completed for 10 years.
Chen Xunyang is extremely strict with his family and will never allow them to take advantage of the public family. His son Chen Bagen once built a large pig farm, and later the township carried out environmental remediation and demanded that pig farms be demolished in various places. Chen Bagen told the town that it would wait for a few months for the sows to be produced and then dismantled to reduce some losses.
The town agreed, but Chen Xunyang did not agree: "You are a party member, you should play a leading role, how can you make a special for your own selfish interests?" ”
In the turbulent years, Chen Xunyang was also treated unfairly because of his experience of being captured by the Kuomintang army. But he always believed that the organization would return his innocence and still pay his dues on time.
Ten years later, Chen Xunyang finally waited for innocence. The organization wanted to help him make up for his work, but he said nothing: "As long as there is a party member, it is enough." ”
After Chen Xunyang's identity as a hero was made public, many people were touched, and wave after wave of people came to the door to offer condolences and interviews. A lot of people asked him
Why have you been hiding your identity for so many years?
Great back
Chen Xunyang replied, "People must understand enough, how many of the comrades who fought with me in those years can't even find the bones, and I can still go home and marry and have children." Where is the face to ask the organization for things, Commander Yang Dezhi also taught us that after returning to our hometown, we must unite the people and cannot be called heroes. ”
Just for a word of advice, Chen Xunyang was willing to be ordinary and poor for more than 60 years, but he never reached out to the organization for anything, even if it originally belonged to him.
Behind this silent perseverance reveals a strong faith and absolute loyalty to the organization.
On the battlefield, he was covered in liver and blood, fearless of sacrifice, and composed heroic songs with military medals. In peacetime, hiding one's identity, silently cultivating and building one's own homeland, and influencing everyone around them with practical actions.
Whether it is a hero on the battlefield or an ordinary person in peacetime, no matter whether he encounters difficulties or grievances, Chen Xunyang has never forgotten his original intention and has adhered to it for decades. This kind of perseverance is worth learning from each and every one of us.
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