In August 1963, heavy rains in the southern haihe system of the mainland caused a massive flood, causing serious flood damage to the area around the basin.
In the face of natural disasters, everyone tried their best to stay away to ensure the safety of their lives, but in the isolated mountain village of Shijiazhuang in Hebei Province, farmer Li Deyin jumped into the flood desperately, looking for something near his already submerged home.
The crowd next to them was frightened to see this scene, after all, the flood was very turbulent, Li Deyin was very dangerous to do this, and the rescue personnel who heard the news saw the situation and hurriedly threw a long rope in the direction of Li Deyin to pull him up, and Li Deyin still clutched a somewhat worn cloth bag in his hand after coming ashore.
The people present were curious about what valuable things were in this bag, which was worth Li Deyin jumping into the flood to salvage regardless of safety, so they gathered around to see what was going on.
Li Deyin did not pay attention to the eyes of others, only to see him open the cloth bag, take out the contents and carefully wipe it.
Everyone fixed their eyes on it, the bag was not any gold and silver jewelry, but several military merit badges, and one of them impressively wrote "People's Meritorious Hero". There was a person with a straight heart who asked Li Deyin directly for verification, but Li Deyin only smiled slightly and did not answer the question.
Seeing that Li Deyin was reluctant to say, everyone was no longer bored with themselves, but the older people suddenly remembered that more than ten years ago, there were indeed county leaders who came here to send "meritorious deeds", but the time was long, and the specific situation could not be remembered clearly, and since then, this matter has slowly changed from talking about money after dinner to being forgotten.
Old Man Li Deyin
And Li Deyin also continued to live his own small life after the disaster, the time flew by, came to 2008, this year, Li Deyin is more than eighty years old, his life fell into unprecedented difficulties.
First of all, he was too old to work in the field, and secondly, his daughter who suffered from cerebral thrombosis, the treatment fee was really unaffordable, and in desperation, Li Deyin came to the local Ministry of Civil Affairs, found the department responsible for the resettlement of veterans, and proposed that he hoped that the organization could give some help.
The staff looked at the old man in front of him, thinking that he was just an ordinary retired veteran, so he made a routine registration of his basic information, and when asked about his experience in joining the army, the old man took something out of the cloth bag, which made the people present feel extremely shocked.
On the table were various military medals salvaged by the old man in the flood in 1963, and as a professional staff, he only looked at it and knew that the old man in front of him was extraordinary. Because in addition to the people's meritorious service medal, there are also commemorative medals for the Battle of Crossing the River, the liberation of central and southern China, and the liberation of north China, and even include a distinctive signature seal.
The staff asked Li Deyin to take a break, reported the situation to the competent leader at the first time, and after learning that an old hero came to the unit, the leaders personally came to understand the situation. In the process of communication between the two sides, the veteran who has lived in seclusion for 57 years finally told his story.
In 1926, Li Deyin was born in Gushan Village, Zanhuang County, Hebei Province, and in that chaotic era, everyone's life was not good, and many aspiring young people chose to join the army in an attempt to change the status quo, including Li Deyin's father.
On July 7, 1937, the Japanese army launched the Lugou Bridge Incident, officially kicked off the prelude to the all-out invasion of China, this year Li Deyin was 11 years old, and his father had become an Eighth Route Army, organizing anti-Japanese activities in the local area, and the Li family also became a special meeting place.
At the meeting, the young Li Deyin sat down to listen, and from the initial ignorance to the gradual understanding of the suffering brought by the Japanese to the Chinese people, Li Deyin's young heart set a lofty ambition to devote himself to the revolution and save the country and the people.
After repeatedly "asking for orders" from his father, Li Deyin finally officially joined the Eighth Route Army in 1938 and shouldered the work of a small correspondent. Although this task does not need to be used on the battlefield, the degree of danger is also very high, and it is likely to be killed if it is discovered by the enemy.
Baby Soldier
Li Deyin, who had been clever since childhood, was not afraid at all, he was responsible for the intelligence transmission work of the headquarters of a sub-district, and the main line of action was between Zanhuang County and Gaoyi County, at that time, the anti-Japanese activities in these two places were very frequent, so the Japanese army also invested a lot of checkpoints to screen against the Japanese elements.
If you want to pass on information, you must go through the checkpoint set by the Japanese army, and Li Deyin, who is observing the situation from the side, found that both men, women and children will be searched, so when he returned home, he asked his father to sew the information into the mezzanine of his clothes or in the leg of his pants, so that a simple search could not be felt.
Even so, Li Deyin still kept an eye on him, when the Japanese army wanted to search him, he disguised himself as a child with intellectual problems, and even did not hesitate to roll on the ground and make himself dirty.
Not to mention the Japanese army, even others will not believe that this stupid child in front of him will be the eighth way, so every time he passes the level, he can skip the interrogation stage and pass smoothly. This important piece of information was also sent to the corresponding organizations as scheduled, and with the help of this information, the Japanese artillery towers in the local area were successfully taken by the Eighth Route Army.
Li Deyin's performance made the local Eight-Way Organization praise him greatly, and even gave him a precious place for further study. After studying at the headquarters of the First District of Taihang, Li Deyin greatly improved his political consciousness and combat ability, which made him make great contributions in the subsequent War of Resistance Against Japan.
On August 15, 1945, Japan signed the instrument of surrender, and since then the eight-year War of Resistance Against Japan has ended, just when Li Deyin thought that peace was coming, Chiang Kai-shek launched a civil war, Chinese people once again fell into the vortex of war, and Li Deyin also threw himself into the war of liberation.
Chiang Kai-shek's behavior aroused opposition from people from all walks of life throughout the country, and the Communist Party, which put the interests of the masses of the people first, quickly took the initiative in the war by relying on a strong mass base, and this was followed by a proactive offensive.
In November 1948, the Battle of Huaihai began, and Li Deyin, who had experience in the War of Resistance, formed a fighting style of daring to fight and dare to fight, and as the commander of the Ninth Column Commando, he played a heroic role in this war, not only in the army, but even won the honor of special merit.
During the battle, Li Deyin was ordered to lead the attack on Yang Weizi, although the enemy as a whole was already in decline, but the weapons used were still relatively advanced, such as the tank troops at that time, the intensive artillery fire made the advance of the People's Liberation Army hindered, under Li Deyin's arrangement, more than 60 commandos all tied explosives to their bodies, trying to die with the enemy and open a bloody road for the main force.
After a fierce battle, the People's Liberation Army won a successful victory, but the entire commando team was left with only 12 fighters. While taking stock of the captured personnel, the soldiers found that the enemy general Huang Wei had disappeared, so everyone began to arrest Huang Wei again.
Old photographs from Li Deyin's collection
At that time, Li Deyin was cleaning up the battlefield with two enemy troops who had been plotted against, and they were the two guards next to Huang Wei, Ma Shihan and Zhang Keren.
Just as the three of them walked to the vicinity of the bunker, Ma Shihan suddenly pulled Li Deyin to let him look in the direction of the bunker, only to see three Nationalist officers hurrying out.
Before Li Deyin could ask, Ma Shihan said:
"The one in the middle with the briefcase is Huang Wei."
Li Deyin was overjoyed to hear it, just now the three of them were still discussing the matter of capturing Huang Wei alive, and this person would appear in front of his eyes, which was really nowhere to be found to step on the iron shoes, and it took no effort at all.
However, his rich combat experience told Li Deyin not to act rashly at this time, so he and Ma Shihan and Zhang Keren squatted in the grass next to them with weapons, ready to catch turtles in an urn.
Huang Wei
Soon, Huang Wei's three men entered Li Deyin's ambush range, and when they entered, the three unexpectedly jumped out and aimed their machine guns at them, and Huang Wei, who had no power to fight back, could only surrender.
The news of Li Deyin's live arrest of Huang Wei quickly reached everyone's ears, and he who had been obscure all along was also a fire in the army, and even the brigade commander Cui Jiangong did not hesitate to praise him, and also gave him the private signature in Huang Wei's bag as a souvenir.
Not long after, Li Deyin was invited to the headquarters of the People's Liberation Army to attend the commendation meeting, at which he was awarded the special merit and won a medal of "People's Meritorious Service" of the three armed forces.
At that time, Li Deyin could be described as a beautiful scenery, not only had a cordial conversation with Liu Bocheng and Chen Yi, but General Qin Jiwei also personally helped him get on the horse, and even the letter of merit was written by Deng Xiaoping himself and sent to his hometown.
Li Deyin, who won the honor, did not take pride in his achievements, but continued to devote himself to the next war, and won the military merit medal many times. After the founding of New China, Li Deyin originally wanted to continue to participate in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, but a letter from his hometown disrupted his plans.
The letter said that his father was not taken care of because of his serious illness, hoping that Li Deyin could return to his hometown to fulfill his filial piety, since ancient times, loyalty and filial piety are dilemmas, after careful consideration, Li Deyin finally decided to retire and return to his hometown to take care of his father.
Although he has made great achievements in battle, Li Deyin, who returned to his hometown, has always acted in a low-key manner, never mentioned his merits to anyone, and even did not receive the allowance issued by the government. If it were not for the fact that he had lost his labor and could not support his daughter's medical expenses, this old hero with a strong backbone would not have gone to the government for help.
After listening to Li Deyin's story, the staff asked:
"Why didn't you come to us earlier?"
Li Deyin first shook his head, and then said:
"I am content to survive the battlefield, so where can I trouble the country again?" In terms of merit, those comrades who sacrificed are the greatest. ”
With the help of the government, Li Deyin survived the difficulties of his old age, but until his death, he still felt guilty about causing trouble to the government.
In today's era, many people pay attention to returns, but looking back at these heroes of the revolutionary period, for the sake of the country and the people, let alone in return, they can even give up their lives.
As a descendant, in addition to remembering their efforts, the most important thing to do is to continue to pass on this spirit.