The Long March supplement 丨geng continues to inherit the blood of the Red Army, and the "grass bonfire" is not extinguished

The "grass bonfire" is always bright

■ Wang Yibin, special correspondent of the People's Liberation Army Daily, Gao Junfeng

The officers and men of the "Red Third Company" of a brigade of the Army's 71st Group Army carried forward the spiritual gene of the "Grassland Party Branch" and continued to inherit the blood of the Red Army. The picture shows the officers and men of the "Red Third Company" conducting assassination training. Photo by Pan Chengjie

In the autumn of 1935, 29 wounded and sick red army soldiers sat around a campfire in the watery grassland of western Sichuan. A special party branch, the "Grass Party Branch", was established. Since then, this team has had a backbone. No matter how difficult it was, the 29 wounded and sick people were determined to advance in the direction of the Party Central Committee.

Time flies, and the "meadow bonfire" is still burning. The officers and men of the unit to which the "grassland party branch" belongs and the "model red third company for the construction of the party branch" of a brigade of the army's 71st group army have inherited and carried forward the spirit of the "grass party branch" with the connotation of "following the party with an iron heart and not falling behind one step", and bravely advanced on the new Long March road.

One

In front of the door of the "Red Three Companies" there is a statue: 4 Red Army soldiers supporting each other, marching hard in the mud. Although they were ragged and tired, their eyes were all facing the same direction, and their eyes were firm and powerful. The statue shows the scene of the "grass party branch" leading the wounded and sick through the grass.

In the late autumn of 1935, the officers and men of the 3rd Company of the 28th Regiment of the Red 10th Division of the Red Fourth Front March marched for many days in the watery meadows of western Sichuan, and more and more officers and men were injured and sick along the way. Luo Yuqi, a 15-year-old Soldier in the Red Army, had swollen feet and his wounds were inflamed and rotten from infection. After wading across a small river, Luo Yuqi collapsed exhausted.

"Get up, how can you lie down here?" Comrades, we must grit our teeth and hurry to the hill in front of us. Li Yusheng, the deputy company commander in charge of the collection task, crossed the river with the messenger on his back, saw Luo Yuqi and other soldiers lying on the ground, and anxiously urged everyone to get up and continue to advance.

At a critical juncture when morale is low and your body is close to its limit, how can we lead everyone out of the grass? Li Yusheng realized that he must rely on the strength of the party organization. So, next to the roaring bonfire, the party members raised their right hands and unanimously agreed to set up a temporary party branch and elect Li Yusheng as the branch secretary. After the election, Li Yusheng called on everyone: "The more arduous, the more we must unite, unite around the party, resolutely get out of the grass, and catch up with the troops." ”

In this way, 29 wounded and sick people united around the "grass party branch", hungry to eat a mouthful of wild vegetables, thirsty to drink two mouthfuls of sewage, support each other in the direction of the party Central Committee, and finally all caught up with the large troops. The spirit of "following the party with an iron heart and not falling behind one step" has since been conceived and has become a precious wealth passed down from generation to generation by the officers and men of the "Red Third Company."

"At that time, the revolutionary ancestors still had an iron heart for the Party under such harsh conditions. It can be seen that their faith and belief are firm, and their fighting spirit is tenacious..." On the eve of New Year's Day, a story of a strong army will unfold in front of this statue. Wang Tao, a fourth-class sergeant major, emotionally told the story of the "Grass Party Branch" to the comrades who came to visit.

In the face of wind and rain, the "Red Three Companies" have always followed the banner of the party and forged ahead. The company participated in more than 350 large and small battles, walked out of a large number of meritorious models, and was awarded the honorary titles of "branch is a company fortress" and "model party branch" by the General Political Department of the Red Fourth Front and the Eighth Route Army. In 2006, the company was awarded the honorary title of "Model Red Third Company for Party Branch Construction" by the former Nanjing Military Region. The company has been awarded the collective first class merit 3 times, the collective second class merit 14 times, the collective third class merit 15 times, and the party branch has been commended as an "advanced grass-roots party organization" in the country twice.

In recent years, the party branch of the company has paid attention to guiding officers and men to excavate the company's combat history and thick cultural background, and has continued to organize and carry out activities such as "remembering the original intention of joining the party," "setting an example for the branch committee," "commando team of party members," and "comparing combat positions with skills." In view of the fact that the tasks of the troops are heavy and the points are scattered, the party branch has also actively introduced elements of the times such as "network +", and the micro-classroom can be held at any time and the "e-book house" is carried with them, leading officers and men to study the party's innovative theories and glorious war history, so that "being a good soldier of the party" will become the ideological consciousness and action consciousness of officers and soldiers.

Two

Buckets, coats, straw shoes... Walking into the "Red Three Company" Lianshi Museum, three items displayed in the front booth came into our eyes.

Wang Yuchen, instructor of the "Red Third Company," said: "These objects bear witness to the history of that period of singing and weeping, condense the spirit of the ancestors of 'following the party with an iron heart and not falling behind one step', and are the 'heirlooms' of our company." As the descendants of the 'Grass Party Branch', we must pass on the story of the 'family treasure' and continuously draw strength from the precious spirit to move forward. ”

"The work of the party branch is in-depth and meticulous, and it has a high degree of prestige... There is the power of the Party everywhere. In the Lianlian History Museum, we saw in a document that as early as 1941, the party magazine "Frontline" of the General Political Department of the Eighth Route Army systematically summarized the deeds and experiences of the Party branch of the Three Companies under the title of "Introducing a Model Party Branch": The work system of the branch was both strict and strict.

Over the past few decades, the "Red Three Companies" have undergone many transfers and reorganizations, and the first branch team has insisted on carrying forward the fine traditions and achieved "ubiquitous organization, strict rules all the time, and no party members are hard." Wang Yuchen said: "'The problem of soldiers does not come out of the squad, the problem of party members does not come out of the group, and the problem of cadres does not come out of the branch', this is a piece of work experience of our three companies. ”

The "Red Three Company" Company History Museum also contains more than 680 ideological report letters written to the party branch. The letters came from party members and officers who had been trained abroad, on leave, hospitalized, or even after retiring from the military. One of the oldest letters is gu renzhi, the old company commander, who reported to the party branch of the company in 1970 when he went to Tanzania as a military observer, what he had seen and heard abroad and his thoughts and opinions on company building.

This sincere and sincere report letter gives the spirit of the "Grassland Party Branch" a new era connotation, and together with those battle stories of that year, it constitutes the spiritual home of the "Grassland Party Branch" generations. Through the passages of text, we seem to be able to see what a model party branch should look like, and truly feel the cohesion and appeal of the party in a company.

Three

More than 80 years ago, the good story of the "Grassland Party Branch" spread throughout the Long March Road; three years ago, the battle flag of the "Model Party Branch" was gloriously reviewed by the Party and the people in front of Tiananmen Square. Inspired by the spirit of the "grass party branch," the officers and men of the "Red Third Company" forged ahead with an iron heart toward the party.

The party flag leads the battle flag red, and the transformation and upgrading dare to be the first. In 2017, in the face of practical problems such as personnel reorganization, equipment renewal, and training upgrades, the party branch of the "Red Third Company" carried forward the fine tradition of "good exemplary role of party members", led the officers and men of the company to face difficulties and carry out research and training on key subjects. In the absence of teacher counseling and teaching resources, the backbone of party members took the lead in setting up a group to tackle key topics one by one. After arduous struggle, the company innovated more than 10 kinds of training methods and tactics, effectively improving the ability of the troops to carry out tasks.

Corporal Li Xiaolong, the "physical master" of the company, still remembers the days when he first arrived at the company, when he was trained by the backbone Liu Zhaopan with the "pain and happiness" of the training -- when he first arrived at the company, his physical skills were weak, liu Zhaopan was responsible for helping him "one-on-one", and constantly encouraged him to insist on participating in the training, and in less than half a year, Li Xiaolong's physical performance made a significant leap forward.

Li Xiaolong's experience reflects exactly a "requirement" that everyone is familiar with among the officers and men of the "Red Third Company" -- party members should set benchmarks and no one should be left behind. Under the leadership of the contingent of party members, the officers and men of the "Red Third Company" regarded the "excellent line" of the course as the "passing line" and insisted on demanding themselves with higher standards. In the mass training competition organized by the brigade last year, a total of 8 officers and men of the three companies were rated as "training pacesetters," which was the company that won the most honors in the whole brigade.

"The party will do whatever it wants, and it must do a wonderful and excellent job!" This is what company commander Wu Hongning often told the officers and men of the company. From conscripts and non-commissioned officers to Tigan to deputy secretaries of the branches, along the way, Wu Hongning was deeply influenced and inspired by the spirit of the "grassland party branch", and had already carved the pursuit of adding glory to the flag into his bones. In 2019, Wu Hongning participated in the Army Special Operations Squad Competition. He practiced his sniper skills hard, challenged his physical and mental limits, and finally achieved the first place in the Army Special Operations Squad Leader Training Competition. Today, Wu Hongning is already an international hunter of the well-known group army, but he still feels that his skills must be trained more strongly in order to live up to the reputation of the "grassland party branch" passed down from generation to generation.

"With practical actions, polish the golden signboard of the red triad." In the "Red Third Company," there are many officers and men like Wu Hongning who think and do this. In recent years, the "Red Third Company" has been continuously rated as a "first-class company for military training," and a number of advanced models have emerged, such as Yang Xujiao, the "National March 8th Red Banner Bearer," and Ai Caishan, a "special combat warrior." They have become the "frontrunners" of the company's elite and strong strength and enthusiasm and the exemplary representatives of inheriting the spirit of the "grass party branch.".

"Follow the party with an iron heart and not be left behind in one step" is the distinctive cultural identity of the "Red Three Companies" and the spiritual consensus of officers and men. During the revolutionary war years, they followed the banner of the Party, marched south and fought in the North, and resolutely completed their tasks, relying on absolute loyalty to the Party. Striding forward in the new Long March, they continue to burn the "grass bonfire" and are striving in the direction guided by the party flag.

Source: China Military Network - People's Liberation Army Daily