In the autumn of 1971, a nearly 60-year-old beggar came to the gate of the compound of the Jinan Military Region, his face was disheveled, his old cotton clothes were tattered, and cotton had been exposed in many places. The beggar watched for a while, then went straight to the sentry: "Comrade Sentinel, is Commander Yang at home?" The sentry looked the beggar up and down and said impatiently, "Why are you inquiring about Commander Yang?" This is a military secret, I can't tell you! ”
When the beggar heard this, he narrowed his eyes and said, "I'm afraid you weren't even born when I carried the gun!" If you go and tell Commander Yang, you will say that hou Lixiang, an old subordinate of his Red Army period, has come to see him. When the sentry heard that the beggar in front of him was actually an old subordinate of Commander Yang's Red Army, he did not dare to be sloppy and immediately came to the communication room to deliver the letter. After a while, Yang Dezhi, who was then the commander of the Jinan Military Region, actually came to the gate in person to greet him, and as soon as he came up, he shook the beggar's hand and said: "Li Xiang, I didn't expect you to be alive, why didn't you come to me after all these years?" ”
General Yang Dezhi
So who is Hou Lixiang? What kind of relationship does he have with Yang Dezhi? Hou Lixiang is a native of Jiangling, Hubei Province, who studied private school for four years, and when he was 13 years old, his parents died, in order to make a living, he wandered around, because of his small strength, he could not do heavy work, and could only give others short-term work. In 1929, at the age of 17, Hou Lixiang moved to Jiangxi and soon joined the Red Army. Because of his bravery in combat and a certain culture, Hou Lixiang made rapid progress, and it took only a few years to become the commander of the first battalion of the first regiment of the first division of the Red First Army.
After the defeat of the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign, the main force of the Red Army was forced to leave the Soviet zone to begin the Long March, and the Red Regiment played the role of pioneer, and the regimental commander at that time was Yang Dezhi, the founding general who later became famous. During the Long March, Hou Lixiang followed Yang Dezhi to participate in battles such as the forced crossing of the Wujiang River and the strong crossing of the Dadu River, and was wounded five times and made many military achievements. After the Long March arrived in northern Shaanxi, Hou Lixiang entered the Yan'an Anti-Japanese Military and Political University to study.
The Red Army forcibly crossed the Dadu River
Soon after, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression broke out in full swing, and Hou Lixiang was appointed deputy commander of the Guard Regiment of the Eighth Route Army Headquarters. The tense combat life made Hou Lixiang's body worse every day, and in early 1939, his old wounds recurred, and his legs could no longer walk, and he could only lie on a stretcher and march. Soon after, he was sent to the rear hospital for treatment, when the conditions of the Eighth Route Army were very difficult, medicines were in short supply, and Hou Lixiang nursed for more than half a year to recover from his wounds, but his right leg was left with a disability and could not follow the troops to fight.
In order not to drag down the troops, Hou Lixiang took the initiative to change careers, and finally his superiors agreed to his request and arranged for him to return to his hometown to work. It is said that Hou Lixiang had served as a battalion commander of the Red Army and a deputy commander of the Eighth Route Army, and he should be assigned a corresponding post. But for some reason, in the end, the local underground party organization arranged for Hou Lixiang to go to Zhuhe Town as a pseudo-joint security director, responsible for providing intelligence on the Japanese army to the local guerrillas. Hou Lixiang did not complain about this arrangement, and after he took office, he did his duty and provided a lot of intelligence for the guerrillas.
Picture of the guerrillas of the Eighth Route Army
Later, due to the betrayal of traitors, the underground party organization in Gangneung was destroyed, and Hou Lixiang got the wind in advance and survived, but because of his haste, his military card, disabled military card, and other things that could prove his past experience could not be brought out. After that, the Japanese puppet army went around arresting Hou Lixiang, and he could only live in hiding in Tibet and lost contact with the organization. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Hou Lixiang returned to his hometown to become a farmer.
During this period, he tried to contact the organization many times, but due to the loss of documents, he could not prove his identity, and many contacts were fruitless. Soon after the founding of New China, many places launched the "town counter-movement", and Hou Lixiang's experience of being a pseudo-baochang was also pickpocketed, and he was sent to the commune forest farm for labor reform. In the blink of an eye, the time came to the autumn of 1971, and on this day Hou Lixiang inadvertently saw the news from the newspaper that his old superior Yang Dezhi was serving as a commander of the Jinan Military Region, so he made up his mind to go to Jinan to find Commander Yang to prove his past.
General Yang Dezhi talked to the veterans
Hou Lixiang secretly ran out of the commune forest farm, and because he had no money, he came to Jinan with a coal train, which happened at the beginning of this article. Yang Dezhi was very sympathetic after learning of Hou Lixiang's suffering, if he had not left the army due to injury, he was at least a major general when he was awarded the title in 55 years, and now he has fallen to this point, which is really a creation. So Yang Dezhi personally wrote a certificate to Hou Lixiang and urged the local government to implement the treatment of the old Red Army for him. Soon after, the relevant departments in Jiangling rated Hou Lixiang as a second-class disabled soldier of the first class and built a new house for him. In 1991, Hou Lixiang died of illness at the age of 79.