I have shared several reminiscences of Wei Hongliang's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression earlier, and the last battle of the Red Army's Long March was fought at the Mountain Castle, which was commanded by Wei Hongliang under the leadership of Chen Geng. The two had known each other before the Long March. One article shared today is a story between Wei Hongliang who recalled the Red Army period during the Peng Yang Infantry School period. When Wei Hongliang was the political commissar of the 23rd Regiment in Jizhong, he had very strict training requirements, which can be said to be not unrelated to this experience.
In October 1931, Chen Geng served as the commander of the 12th Division of the 4th Army of the Fourth Front Of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, and led his troops to participate in the battles of Huang'an, Shanghuang, and Huangguang, as well as the battles of Feng Shou'er, Qiliping, and Fushanzhai in the fourth anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign in the Eyu-Anhui Soviet District. In September 1932, he went to Shanghai for medical treatment due to his injuries, and secretly briefed Lu Xun on the struggle of the Red Army in Eyu and Anhui. Arrested in March 1933 for betrayal by traitors, he was escorted to Nanchang to see Chiang Kai-shek, but he was unyielding and refused to be lured to surrender. Later, rescued by the CCP organization and Song Qingling, he escaped to the Central Soviet Region at the end of May and served as the principal of the Peng (Pan) Yang (Yin) Infantry School. In October 1934, he participated in the Long March, served as the head of the cadre regiment of the Central Military Commission, and led a cadre regiment to seize Kyaukpyeongdu to ensure the smooth crossing of the Jinsha River by the main force of the Red Army. After arriving in northern Shaanxi, he served as the commander of the 1st Division of the Red 1st Army, and participated in the battles of Zhiluo Town, the Eastern Expedition, the Western Expedition, and the Mountain Castle.
General Chen Geng
Wei Hongliang (1915-1990) was a native of Yuanyuan Village, Jiangbei Town, Xingguo County, Jiangxi Province. In 1930, he joined the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. During the Agrarian Revolutionary War, he served as the political instructor of the battalion company of the Peng Yang Infantry School, the inspector of the Political Department of the First Red Army, the political commissar of the radio team, the secretary of the general branch of the 13th regiment of the 1st Division, and the political commissar of the regiment. Participated in the Long March. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he served as the political commissar of the 33rd Brigade of the Jizhong Military Region, the political commissar of the 23rd Regiment, and the political commissar and commander of the 9th Military Subdistrict. During the Liberation War, he served as the commander of the Independent 8th Brigade of the Jizhong Military Region, the commander of the 54th Division of the 18th Army of the Second Field Army, and the director of the Political Department of the Gandong Military Region. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served as director of the Political Department of the Jiangxi Military Region, director of the Political Department of the Engineering Corps of the Central and Southern Military Region, and deputy commander of the artillery of the Guangzhou Military Region. He was awarded the rank of Major General in 1955.
In honor of Peng Pan and Yang Yin, the First Infantry School of the Red Army was renamed the Peng Yang Infantry School of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. The school has two military battalions, a political battalion, and a staff battalion, mainly training company and platoon-level cadres.
In 1933, I studied at the Ruijin Red Army University, and in August, I was transferred with the political battalion to the Jiubao Town Infantry School, and the principal of the infantry school was Comrade Chen Geng.
Jiubao Town is more than thirty miles away from Ruijin, and the streets in the town are lined with osmanthus trees, and when the osmanthus blossoms are in full bloom, they emit a refreshing fragrance. The school is nestled among maple trees, pines and bamboo. There is a wooden bridge in front of the school, and the river under the bridge is crystal clear, and you can see pebbles and small fish. Behind the school is a hill with clusters of camellias blooming in the bamboo bushes, and the environment is very quiet. One day, we walked over the wooden bridge "in a huff" and arrived at the empty playground, the duty officer gave a rest password, we all ran to the shade to rest, just sat down, suddenly someone said: "Hurry, hurry up, Principal Chen is coming." Immediately afterward, the duty officer assembled the team and led us to a dirt platform.
On the earthen platform stood a man, wearing an octagonal hat, wearing a red army gray military uniform, and a pair of golden straw shoes on his feet, looking very powerful in the sun. I took a closer look, he was medium-sized, twenty-eight or nineteen years old, a pair of eyes that were not very large, but bright and bright, with a beard, at this time, I recognized him as Principal Chen Geng. After the duty officer reported to him, he began to speak. His speech was clear, focused, and concise: "Students, teaching is also a war. If you don't teach well and learn well, you won't be able to fight a good battle. The graduates of the previous period have learned very well, and they have fought well on the front line, and we must be like them... Now, first of all, get nervous..."
Since then, we have lived a stressful school life. I, the eldest child of seventeen or eighteen, was appointed as the instructor of the Eighth Company. The company commander was named Yang Bairang, an old comrade who participated in the Ningdu uprising. He was very good in military technology, brave in battle, and treated me like a brother. The only regret is that he is not a party member, because when he filled out the form, he filled out a "kulak" in the origin column.
A few days later, when it was time for a political lesson, Principal Chen Geng came to the company headquarters and said to me: "The next lesson will be taught by you, and you will talk about how to do the political work before and after the battle and during the battle." ”
I was a little frightened when I heard it, and I said in a loud voice, "Headmaster, I can't do it, I can't do it." Because I was short and young, many people in the company looked down on me and called me "the instructor of grilled chicken food" behind my back.
Principal Chen Geng smiled, he patted me on the shoulder and said loudly, "Prepare for the lesson well, if something goes wrong, I will give you a back." ”
I accepted the task with a straight face, and according to the prompts of Principal Chen Geng and carefully prepared the lesson in combination with the battles I had participated in. A few days later, I gave a lecture to Quanlian, and I achieved unexpected success, and everyone responded very well, and since then, no one has called me "grilled chicken food instructor".
Time flies so fast, the osmanthus flowers are sparse, the maple leaves have turned fiery red, and the fir trees are more verdant. The school, again decorated with red and cyan, shouted and shouted and the password of the queue, flew out of here every day.
Training has been very tense, my body is getting thinner and thinner, and I often have stomach pains. One night, I woke up in my sleep, touched it with my hand, and there was a wet patch on the blanket, and it turned out to be a urine kang. Because I was so tired, I leaned to the side and continued to sleep. Suddenly I was awakened by a shout: "Get up, get up!" "I opened my eyes to see that everyone was dressing in a hurry, and Principal Chen Geng was already standing in front of the door, his sharp eyes staring at me. I scrambled up, got dressed quickly, and ran out of the dorm room last.
On the dark playground, everyone was assembling, and I was just about to run into the queue, when a person in the front of the queue shouted, "Stop, where to run!" ”
It was Principal Chen Geng who called me, who took a few steps forward and raised his pocket watch to look at it, and said word by word: "You are thirty-five seconds late." ”
He turned to everyone: "As a soldier, you must have a strict sense of time, and in battle, a mistake of thirty-five seconds will cause great losses." When you assemble in the future, you are not allowed to be late. ”
After he finished speaking, Yang Bai asked the company commander to report quietly: "Instructor Wei is sick..."
"If you are sick, you should take a leave of absence, how can you be late casually?" After saying that, he gave the password to out. Then he walked up to me, looked at my face and said, "You go with me to see housekeeping." ”
I checked the first and second rows with him, then checked the company, and he pointed to my bed and asked, "Pee kang?" ”
I muttered.
He turned his head: "The instructor is still urinating, how to educate others?" ”
I muttered, "I can't control..."
He was on fire: "Well, after that, you will pee on the kang, pee every day..." Someone at the window flashed, that is, the comrades in the laundry class heard the noise and ran, and when they saw that it was Principal Chen Geng, they hurried back.
Principal Chen Geng looked out for a moment, and by this time the sky was already bright. He approached me, looked at my face carefully, and said kindly, "Your face is very bad, it may be roundworms." So, you go to the health team and treat for a period. ”
I quickly resigned: "No, no..."
He turned his face and shouted to the door: "Messenger, call Commander Yang to come." After Captain Yang came, Principal Chen said to him, "You sent two people to send him to the health team." ”
I went into the health team, and after being examined by the doctor, I was given a medicine called "Mountain Road Year". After taking the medicine, a large number of roundworms were laid down, and within a few days, the spirit was much better, but the body was very weak.
A few days later, Principal Chen Geng sent me two chickens and a letter, which I remember simply wrote the following words:
Comrade Wei Hongliang:
I bought two chickens today to send to you to nourish my body, because I only have enough money to buy two chickens...
Chen Geng
After reading the letter, I was very touched, because at that time, President Chen, like us, had a pound of rice a day, and not only could not eat meat, but sometimes did not even have oil and salt.
Soon, I recovered and went back to school.
One day, my father came to see me from Xingguo County, eighty miles away, and when he saw him, he cried, and Yang Bai asked the company commander to quickly arrange for him to live in the company headquarters. While crying, my father stuffed me with a pair of cloth shoes and said, "Boy, these are the cloth shoes your mother made for you, she is not in good health, she wants to see you... She bore you a little brother again..."
Former residence of General Wei Hongliang in Xingguo County
This night, my father lived with us, and he said and cried again, and he had to let me go home. Yang Bai let the company commander not sleep all night, one moment to persuade him, the next to pour him water. Until dawn, I was also moved, and ran to find Principal Chen.
When Principal Chen heard that my father was coming, he was very concerned and asked when he arrived, and what was the situation at home? When he heard that I was asking for leave, he pondered for a while and said: "Now that study is rather tense and the situation is rather tense, according to regulations, cadres above the platoon and company levels are not allowed to take leave." At this point, he looked at my face and said, "According to the regulations, you are not allowed to leave." My father's work is done by me. ”
After he finished speaking, I reluctantly said that I would obey the decision of the organization, but I still wanted to go home and see. Principal Chen saw that my emotions were not right, pointed at my nose and said, "If you want to do your father's work, you must first do your work." I was a little touched and quickly said, "I'm okay, really." He paced a few steps around the house, turned to me and said, "Take your father here in the afternoon, and I'll talk to him." ”
Back at Company Headquarters, I told my father that Principal Chen wanted him to go. When my father heard this, he was a little frightened, so he asked, "Principal Chen won't criticize me, right?" I said with no certainty, "probably not."
At about four or five o'clock in the afternoon, my father and I went to see Principal Chen. Before entering the door, Principal Chen greeted him with a smile, and he grabbed my father's hand, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Brother, how are you!" I heard that you have added another son, and you are a revolutionary force! ”
When my father saw that Principal Chen was so amiable, he also smiled and was no longer restrained. When I entered the house, I saw several plates of dishes on the table, and a chicken. Principal Chen gave way to his seat and said, "Brother, today I invite you to sit down." "Once we sat down, we started eating. Principal Chen and my father pulled the family routine, asked about the life of the family, asked about the Red Guards in the village, and so on. Between the conversations, Principal Chen introduced my study and progress, and said to my father several times: "Brother, you have raised a good son, and they are even model companies, and they have done a very good job." My father was very happy to hear these words, and they talked and talked, and in a moment it seemed as if they had become old acquaintances. Principal Chen Geng said: "Brother, now that the school is very nervous about studying and training, and is preparing to deal with Lao Jiang's 'encirclement and suppression', I am not ready to let your children go home with you." My father was a reasonable man, and although he came very resolutely, after Principal Chen said this, his thoughts were also clear, and he said in a loud voice: "Yes, yes, I agree, I agree." "Before leaving the house, Principal Chen took out half a piece of woven cloth and gave it to my father, which was captured by the Three Legions when they attacked Shacheng.
The next morning, my father happily left the school with a roll on his back, and as he left, he praised him one after another, saying, "Your Principal Chen is really a good person who cares about our poor people!" "When I was separated, I was repeatedly told to study hard.
Little Red Army on horseback
Soon, an order came from above, and I was transferred to the University of the Red Army. I didn't want to go, so President Chen patiently talked to me, talked a lot of revolutionary truths, and asked me to report on time. The next day, I bid farewell to the beloved Principal Chen Geng with tears, picked up my backpack, took a big stride, walked across the familiar wooden bridge, left the foot school covered with green pine and green bamboo, and left jiubao town, but the unforgettable life of the infantry school, especially the majestic and kind voice and smile of Principal Chen Geng and his teachings to me, have always inspired me in the future revolutionary journey.
Further reading:
Wei Hongliang recalled the annihilation battle between the Twenty-third Regiment and Li Qingu (Li Qingu of Dingzhou City).
Wei Hongliang, the commander of the Ninth Division of Jizhong, recalled that he was a fortress household in Qiubianguan Village