During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, although our army did not have advanced weapons and uniforms to withstand the cold, the officers and men of our army still rushed to the battlefield with a pure heart, cared for the people, and fought for the country. At that time, many of the soldiers of our army were peasant soldiers, who had no culture or understanding of any truth, but the only thing they understood was the desire for happiness, and it was this desire that supported them through the most difficult period of the journey.
Lieutenant General Zhan Caifang was once such a small soldier who sought happiness for the people.
At that time, like many of his peers who joined the army, he left his hometown and embarked on the road to join the army because his family was too poor to make ends meet. However, compared to those people, Zhan Caifang's life is even more bitter. When he was 7 years old, his mother died of illness, leaving his father alone with him and his second sister.
Because the family was really poor, Zhan Caifang's father would often go to the mountains to find some wild vegetables to make soup to fill the children's hunger. Unfortunately, because Zhan Caifang's father accidentally picked up poisonous wild vegetables one day and made it into soup, his father and second sister who drank the soup were poisoned to death, and he was only 12 years old this year. In this way, Zhan Caifang lost his parents and sister at a young age, and Zhan Caifang's eldest sister pitied his brother and took him to live in his own home.
After arriving at the eldest sister's house, Zhan Caifang spent a carefree time. With the passage of time, Zhan Caifang gradually grew into a big and small guy, although Zhan Caifang lived very satisfactorily in the eldest sister's home, he still felt that the manly husband should have his own career, so, at the age of 16, he quit his sister and brother-in-law and went to Wuhan alone to volunteer at a school there. There, Zhan Caifang received advanced education and was also exposed to the inspiring red culture, so, under the witness of the people around him, Zhan Caifang successfully became a member of our party and has since thrown himself into the arduous revolutionary process.
At first, Zhan Caifang was only a guerrilla leader who led dozens of people, but with the outbreak of the war, he gradually expanded his revolutionary ranks and became the founder of the Eyu-Anhui Red Army. Gradually, Zhan Caifang's spirit of being a pioneer and being born into death was well known to the whole team, and he became a very prestigious leader.
However, although Zhan Caifang is very brave in fighting the enemy, he is a vegetarian who does not even eat meat in life.
For Zhan Caifang, whether it is chicken, duck, or fish, he does not touch a bite, the only thing he eats is eggs. It was also for this reason that later, only Zhan Caifang's family was allowed to raise chickens in the compound of the military region where livestock were prohibited. Not only that, Zhan Caifang is also a very kind person in life. During the Long March, due to the army's lack of food, there was a soldier who could not survive, in order not to affect the process of the march, the group decided to abandon him and stay on the way of the Long March, just when Zhan Caifang passed by, he was unbearable, and said bluntly: "Let him drag my horse's tail away, such a good young man, it is a pity to give up, he can persist." It was also Zhan Caifang's words that saved the young man's life.
Perhaps because she suffered too much when she was a child, Zhan Caifang hoped to help some of the people who were suffering through her actions. Once, Zhan Caifang had a shotgun that he liked very much, although he rarely used it, but still kept it very well, Zhan Caifang's children also had a fondness for this shotgun, so they often asked Zhan Caifang if he could give this shotgun to himself, but Zhan Caifang never agreed. However, later, a fellow Zhan Caifang came over, he gave him the shotgun that he cherished very much, the child was very puzzled about this matter, so he went to ask his father, Zhan Caifang said in a serious tone: "Life in the hometown is not easy, the shotgun is just a decoration for us, but for them, it is a tool that can really help them live." ”
It is precisely because of Zhan Caifang's kindness that he has made many sincere friends. Among them, the closest to Zhan Caifang is Xu Shiyou, who although he has great military talent, has a fatal weakness, that is, he is drunk as a life. At that time, Zhan Caifang was the company commander of the unit, and Xu Shiyou was his subordinate, and it was reasonable to say that whenever he drank in the army, he should be severely punished, but considering that Xu Shiyou had told himself that he could not live a normal life without drinking, Zhan Caifang relaxed some requirements for him. Later, Xu Shiyou returned to Beijing, and even lived next door to Zhan Caifang, and recalled his former career as a horseman with Zhan Caifang.
In 1955, Zhan Caifang, Xu Shiyou, Hong Xuezhi and others were all awarded military ranks, but the other two were generals, only Zhan Caifang was a lieutenant general, but they were all Zhan Caifang's former subordinates, so they had to call Zhan Caifang," the former leader, "old leader."
Although Zhan Caifang did not agree with the comrades who had fought together in terms of title, in terms of patriotism, they were all of the same height.