Text | Star Sword Army
Edited by | Star Sword Junwu
"Where there are good years, but someone carries the weight for us", it is most appropriate to describe Wang Jicai and Wang Shihua as husband and wife.
In 1986, As a reserve militiaman, Wang Jicai received orders from his superiors to guard Kaishan Island.
Subsequently, in order to accompany her husband, his wife Wang Shihua also followed Wang Jicai to the island, and the couple insisted on this for a full 32 years.
Kaishan Island is located in the outpost of the Yellow Sea on the mainland, belonging to the city of Lianyungang in Jiangsu Province, with an area of only 13,000 square meters, almost the same size as two football fields.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Japanese army used this small island as a springboard to capture parts of Jiangsu on the mainland, so it was an important national defense strategic island on the mainland.
Kaishan Island has no water and electricity all year round, the sea is turbulent, the wind is raging, and snakes and insects are rampant, which can be said to be a "desert island".
Because the environment was too harsh, few of the militias sent could hold out for a long time, and the longest one only lasted 13 days.
On July 15, 1986, wang Jicai, 27, was the commander of a militia battalion in Luhe Village, Guanyun County, Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province.
After receiving orders to guard Kaishan Island, his relatives and friends all advised him not to go.
The old man in the village even told him that the location of Kaishan Island is remote and deserted, and going there is no different from "going to prison".
However, Wang Jicai believes that Kaishan Island is very important to the mainland's border security, and there must always be someone to stick to it, and if others can't persist, I will certainly be able to persist.
It was with this determination to defend the motherland that he landed on the island without hesitation.
Although he had prepared for all the difficulties, the moment he actually went to the island, he realized that things were not so simple.
As the boat approached the dock, Wang Jicai saw that the island after the rainstorm was full of snakes, insects, rats and ants.
In desperation, Wang Jicai could only honestly stay in a few empty old barracks on the island, relying on the dry food he brought to fill his stomach, and 6 cigarettes and 30 bottles of liquor to relieve his emboldeny.
This went on for 4 days, until the sun came out and the wild animals receded, and then he ran out to breathe.
However, at this time, he felt very lonely, standing on the rock by the sea, all he thought about was his wife and daughter on the other side.
However, at this time, his wife Wang Shihua did not know that her husband had secretly run to Kaishan Island and carried out the task of guarding the island.
Because Wang Jicai was on the island, in order to avoid his wife Wang Shihua being too worried, he deliberately concealed her: "I want to go out on a mission and come back after a while." ”
Wang Shihua is a primary school teacher in the village, and after knowing that her husband is alone on the desert island, she has a lot of feelings in her heart.
On August 30, under the arrangement led by Wang Jicai, Wang Shihua came to Kaishan Island to visit her husband.
After seeing her husband for the first time, Wang Shihua cried out, and after not seeing her for more than forty days, Wang Jicai became black and thin, and his beard was also very long, almost like a "wild man".
The arrival of his wife Wang Shihua made Wang Jicai feel both surprised and sad.
After the two of them walked around the island, Wang Jicai told his wife: "You go back to take care of your home, if I go ashore with you, who will guard Kaishan Island?" ”
Looking at Wang Jicai's sincere expression, Wang Shihua was ready to persuade the words, but he could not say a word, and finally returned home alone.
After returning home, Wang Shihua was full of her husband's vicissitudes, and she thought a lot in her heart, "What if her husband is sick and no one takes care of her?" What if my husband doesn't have enough to eat? ”
Thinking of these problems, Wang Shihua was even more distressed about her husband, and after a few days of entanglement, she decided to quit her job as a teacher and accompany her husband to guard the island.
In the last class, she told the students in a serious tone: "Kaishan Island is very important to the mainland, the teacher must guard it, you must study hard, and contribute to the motherland in the future." ”
Before going to the island, Wang Shihua entrusted her daughter to her in-laws and came to the island with a large bag of luggage.
Since then, the two have begun a 32-year life of guarding the island.
When Wang Shihua first went to the island, she was very uncomfortable with the humid environment on the island, and when she slept at night, the sound of the waves outside the window made her unable to sleep all night.
However, with the company of her husband, with the accumulation of time, Wang Shihua gradually adapted to life here.
Sometimes Wang Jicai needed to leave the island to do things, and Wang Shihua guarded the island alone, observing the sea situation, identifying ships, and guarding military facilities, and she handled them in an orderly manner.
In September 1986, Wang Jicai's father sent the couple a large pile of supplies, which contained a five-star red flag and a note in addition to food.
I saw that the note read: "Guarding the island must have faith, just like defending the position, people are in the flag!" ”
From that day on, the couple got up every day and the first thing they did was raise the flag.
During the 32 years they guarded the island, the couple raised the flag more than 11,000 times.
Because the island is often stormy, the red flag is easily damaged and lost, they also bought more than 200 red flags at their own expense, forever letting the five-star red flag fly over Kaishan Island.
In addition to the indispensable flag-raising ceremony, the couple constantly patrolled the island and looked out over the sea every day, and then recorded the situation.
Sometimes in the event of sudden weather, the couple also has to rescue fishing boats and fishermen.
When encountered illegal smuggling and smuggling, the couple also had to carry weapons to prevent them from landing on the island, and over the years, they helped the Coast Guard crack 6 cases.
On July 9, 1987, the two sons Wang Zhiguo were born on the island. The birth of his son almost cost Wang Shihua his life.
The two had planned to return to shore to produce in early July, but the weather was not beautiful, and the wind blew for several days, plus it was the fishing moratorium, and there was not even a fishing boat.
In desperation, Wang Jicai could only listen to the guidance of the doctor on the phone while personally delivering his wife.
Boiling hot water, sterilizing scissors, cutting umbilical cords... He didn't dare to ignore any detail.
Finally, after his son was born safely, Wang Jicai cried out loudly, feeling sorry for his wife and son.
After the birth of their son, the couple took care of it for a while, and then entrusted their son to Wang Jicai's parents, after which the two returned to Kaishan Island.
In 1992, after more than half a month of continuous typhoons on Kaishan Island, the supply ship could not travel, and the couple had already eaten their food.
When the fishermen brought supplies after the rain had passed, they found two people lying on the bed, almost fainting from hunger.
"Those days, we had to pick up some oysters and conchs by the sea and eat them raw." Speaking of this, Wang Jicai felt very sad.
The difficulties encountered by Shoudao, Wang Jicai and his wife can still overcome, but as the two children grow up, there are more and more places where money is needed, and the couple feels powerless.
It is understood that when Wang Jicai and his wife first went to the island, the annual salary of the two people was only 3700 yuan. After 1995, it was increased by another 2,000 yuan.
There are old and young couples, and it is undoubtedly very difficult for these funds to support the whole family.
When the eldest daughter married, the two could not even get a decent dowry, and the son completed his studies with a loan to go to college.
Although they lived in poverty, the couple never had a crooked mind.
In 1993, a criminal smuggling gang wanted to rent 60 smuggled cars on Kaishan Island and tried to buy Wang Jicai for 100,000 yuan to make him tolerate. However, after Wang Ji learned about it, he refused without hesitation.
Due to the long-term work and life in the humid environment, the couple's health is getting worse and worse, and Wang Jicai is suffering from severe eczema and rheumatism.
On July 27, 2018, Wang Shihua had to go ashore for treatment due to necrosis of the femoral head.
But what she did not expect was that one night after she left the island, Wang Jicai suddenly suffered a heart attack, because he was not rescued in time, and eventually died tragically. He was only 58 years old.
On July 30, Wang Jicai's memorial service was held at a local funeral home. On the same day, hundreds of cadres and citizens came to send off this selfless and dedicated hero.
On August 17, Wang Jicai was rated as a "martyr" by the state. Later, he was posthumously awarded the title of "National Outstanding Communist Party Member".
After Wang Jicai's death, Wang Shihua never dared to forget his mission, and he always remembered her husband's promise.
On August 6, 2018, a week after Wang Jicai's death, Wang Shihua submitted a handwritten application to the leader for continuing to guard the island.
The leader was very touched when he saw the application, but considering her age and health, he did not sign it, but hired her as the honorary director of the militia post on Kaishan Island.
At the same time, Kaishan Island was changed to militia in shifts, rotating every 10-15 days.
Wang Zhiguo, the son of Wang Jicai and his wife, did not choose a high-paying job after graduating from graduate school, but threw himself into the military camp and became an officer at the Nanjing border checkpoint.
In 2018, Wang Zhiguo followed his father's path and voluntarily transferred to the Coast Guard to guard the inviolable marine field of the motherland.
Now, more than three years later, Kaishan Island has undergone earth-shaking changes, not only can drink the fresh water after the desalination of Shanghai water, but also use solar power to generate electricity.
After the electricity is connected, many household appliances are also added to the kitchen, including electric kettle, refrigerator, oven, etc.
At the same time, the houses on the island have been renovated, and public facilities such as auditoriums, reception rooms, book houses, and exhibition halls have been set up.
Of course, the most important change is that the bamboo pole flagpole used by Wang Jicai and Wang Shihua before has been replaced by an electric flagpole.
In January 2021, Kaishan Island was approved by the state and officially became a national AAA-level red tourist attraction.
On June 18, 2021, the best feature film "Shoudao Man", which won the 34th Golden Rooster Awards of Chinese Films, was released nationwide, and the prototype of the story was Wang Jicai and Wang Shihua.
In December of the same year, Wang Shihua donated 76 relics of Wang Jicai to the Memorial Hall of Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province, for the world to remember and admire.
From 1986 to 2018, Wang Jicai and Wang Shihua lived in the deserted Kaishan Island for 32 years.
Although the conditions were very difficult, the two never wanted to give up, in their hearts, national security is more important than the individual, and it is this dedication that supports them to persevere.
In 2018, after the unfortunate death of Wang Jicai, his wife Wang Shihua did not forget her original intention, or often came to Kaishan Island, like her husband was still alive, guarding the island where the two had lived for half a lifetime.
What is the spirit of dedication, Wang Jicai and Wang Shihua have spent 32 years to explain to everyone, they deserve each of us to respect and learn.