In the early morning of December 9, 1947, the Sixth Column of the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Field Army passed through Huang'an to carry out combat missions, but because the road was unfamiliar, it took some detours. At this time, a fellow villager who was doing farm work in the field saw the situation and took the initiative to help guide the troops. During the march, enthusiastic soldiers and fellow villagers pulled up their home and asked him who else was in his family and how his life was. The fellow said that he still had an old mother in his family, and his brother joined the Red Army at the age of 14, has been away from home for 18 years, has not returned, and does not know how it is now.
The soldiers asked his compatriot what his brother's name was, and the compatriot said, "My brother's name is Chen Xilian, who once blew up a Japanese plane. This fellow was none other than Chen Xilian's younger brother, Chen Xili. Chen Xilian is a native of Huang'an, Hubei Province, and his father made a living by farming, and his life was very difficult. In order to subsidize the family, when the farm was idle, my father would go out to do odd jobs, mainly to help people build houses. When Chen Xilian was 8 years old, his father had an accident while helping people build a house and was seriously injured.
In order to treat her father's injuries, her mother sold almost all of her family property, but because the injuries were too serious, my father died soon after. After losing the top pillar, the life of the family is even more difficult. In order to make a living, the young Chen Xilian had to herd cattle for the landlord's family, living in a cowshed and eating leftover rice. Although he came out early and returned late every day, he was often scolded for no reason by the landlord's wife. One day, Chen Xilian got up late because of a stomachache, and the landlord's wife did not ask about the blue and red and came up to beat him, and Chen Xilian, who had been wronged, ran back home in one breath.
When the mother saw the scars on her son's body, she burst into tears in pain. After that, Chen Xilian helped his mother do farm work at home, although he often ate the last meal without eating, but he no longer had to be beaten by the landlord's wife, so Chen Xilian's heart was still very happy. In the autumn of this year, the weather was very dry, the crops were not harvested, Chen Xilian and his mother went out with a rice bowl to beg for food, and just out of the village, they met chen Zhibin, an uncle who was far away. Chen Zhibin is a famous bully in this area, who is not benevolent to the rich and often oppresses the common people, and the locals hate him to the bone.
When Chen Zhibin saw Chen Xilian's mother and son going out to beg for food, he not only did not provide relief, but also scolded and grinned, saying that he had lost the face of the Chen family. Chen Xilian's mother couldn't help but distinguish a few words, and Chen Zhibin actually instructed the family slave to beat her badly. Chen Xilian was furious, clenching his fists and trying to rush over to desperately, but he was pulled by his mother. A teenager, where is the opponent of this group of wolf-like evil slaves? At this time, Chen Xilian was very confused in his heart, and did not know where the way out for the poor was.
Soon after, the jute uprising broke out, kicking off the armed struggle in the Dabie Mountain area. Due to the enemy's strength, the main force of the Eastern Hubei Army was forced to move, and Li Xiannian and others were left in Hongmazhai to continue the guerrilla struggle. In order to expand the influence of the guerrillas, Li Xiannian decided to attack the bully Chen Zhibin. However, Chen Zhibin had a nursing home for domestic slaves, and it was not a good idea to attack hard, so Li Xiannian decided to outwit him. One night, he came to Chen Xilian's house with the guerrillas, asked Chen Xilian to lead the way, and opened the door of Chen Zhibin's house. The guerrillas then rushed up, got rid of Chen Zhibin, and posted a notice on the door, counting the various crimes of this bully.
Under the influence of Li Xiannian, the 14-year-old Chen Xilian embarked on the revolutionary road. Don't look at the young age, but the fight is very brave, so half a year later he became the squad leader. After the Red Army laid the light mountain, Chen Xilian met his old squad leader Sun Yuqing on the street, and his comrades-in-arms were reunited, and they were very happy with each other. Sun Yuqing took out a few copper plates, bought a few fritters and a bowl of chicken blood soup, and asked Chen Xilian and several soldiers in his class to fight tooth sacrifices. Unexpectedly, this matter was reported to Zhang Guotao, and as a result, Chen Xilian and others were put on the hat of the "Eating and Drinking Committee" and wanted to be pulled out to kill their heads.
When Xu Xiangqian learned of this, he immediately rushed over to stop it and said: "A few children are hungry, go to the street to eat something, what to eat and drink committee, arrested, let go, not caught, not allowed to be arrested." Xu Xiangqian's words saved Chen Xilian's life. After that, Chen Xilian and his troops successively fought against the enemy in the revolutionary base area of Eyu-Anhui and the Sichuan-Shaanxi Soviet Region, and made many military achievements, successively serving as the political commissar of the Red 11th Division and the commander of the Red 10th Division, and appeared in the Red Fourth, where the fierce generals were like clouds.
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Chen Xilian served as the commander of the 769th Regiment of the 385th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and led his troops to attack Yangmingbao at night, blowing up 24 enemy planes and making a name for himself in the First World War. After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Chen Xilian participated in the Liberation War and served as the commander of the Third Column of the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Field Army. At this time, he had been away from home for 18 years and missed his mother very much, but because of the tension of the war, he had never had the opportunity to go home to visit his family. Mother Chen has also been thinking about her son, after the People's Liberation Army advanced into the Dabie Mountains, Mother Chen has been instructing her younger son Chen Xili to inquire about the whereabouts of her brother, which is where the scene at the beginning of this article occurred.
When the soldiers learned that the compatriot who led the way was Chen Xilian's brother, they hurriedly sent him to the column headquarters. The commander of the 6th Column, Wang Jinshan, had a very good relationship with Chen Xilian, the two were old comrades-in-arms of the Red Fourth, and they worked together in the 129th Division during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and Chen Xilian also gave Wang Jinshan a red bride. Therefore, Wang Jinshan was very enthusiastic about Chen Xili after seeing him, and specially sent someone to send Chen Xili to the Three Columns Headquarters with a trolley, so that Chen Xilian's mother and son could be reunited. But because of the tense fighting, Mother Chen only stayed for a few days and then returned to her hometown. After the founding of New China, Chen Xilian took his mother to his side, and the old man enjoyed the joy of heaven.