【Preface】
"The Red Army is not afraid of expeditions and difficulties, and it is only idle in thousands of rivers and mountains."
The Long March of the Red Army was long and arduous, they climbed snowy mountains and crossed meadows, drank snow to quench their thirst, ate grass to quench hunger, and under such difficult conditions of survival, many soldiers fell on the road of the Long March.
It has been 87 years since the end of the Long March, and many PLA soldiers who have experienced the Long March have left us.
And today I want to talk about the Red Army soldiers who participated in the Long March -- Feng Zigen, who used to be a guard next to Zhu Dezhu.
It is worth mentioning that he is now 104 years old and is still alive.
【Who is Feng Zigen】
Feng Zigen was born in Sichuan in 1919, his original name was Zan Changlin, and he later changed his name to Feng Zigen.
When he was a child, due to family reasons, Feng Zigen developed a character that could bear hardships and stand hard work.
In 1933, it was the teenager Feng Zigen who was very yearning for the Communist Party, so when the Red Army passed through the village, he resolutely joined the Red Army unit and became a Red Army soldier.
Feng Zigen knew the cruelty of war since he joined the army, and sometimes, the comrades who had talked and laughed the day before fell on the cold battlefield the next day. In this case, Feng Zigen was trained to become stronger and stronger, and he held the death wish of "even if he died in battle, he must win the war and let future generations enjoy peace", and bravely and fearlessly charged the battlefield.
In 1934, the CCP's fifth "anti-encirclement and suppression" failed, and the Red Army was forced to start the Long March.
The Long March passes through snow-capped mountains and meadows, overcomes altitude sickness at high altitudes and is difficult to adapt to, and crosses endless grasslands. At that time, the snow and grass under the feet, even the belts and bark, in short, almost everything that could be bitten would become food for the soldiers of the Red Army.
Shortages of grain and grass are one of them, and the rudimentary equipment is even more deadly.
On the snowy mountain, if there is no clothing that can withstand the cold, you can't walk out of this ice and snow, and the white snow mountain is even more harmful to the eyes, Feng Zigen's eyes were stabbed in the process of climbing the snowy mountain, leaving a serious eye disease.
In the meadow, the boundless prairie seems to have no boundaries. If the snowy mountains test the human body, then the grass tests the will of the people.
Feng Zigen recalled this experience and said: "The grassland is more than 600 kilometers long, and it takes seven or eight days to go out at the fastest." ”
Just looking at the road without an end was enough to crush the minds of half of the people, so after the Long March, there were few Red Army left to survive, and Feng Zigen was one of them.
Feng Zigen watched his comrades fall one by one, but there was nothing he could do, he knew that the reason for all this was the war, only if we won, could we end all this, and the casualties would stop.
Therefore, in the subsequent wars, Feng Zigen was exceptionally heroic, almost every battle rushed to the forefront, with the legacy of his dead comrades and the determination to win, fighting out from one cruel war after another.
In 1937, the July 7 Incident, Japan invaded China in an all-round way, and Feng Zigen's Red Fourth Army was reorganized into the 772nd Regiment of the 786th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army. At this point, Feng Zigen rushed to the front line of the anti-Japanese resistance.
On October 26, 1937, Feng Zigen's regiment was ordered to ambush the enemy at the village of Qiqi, which was also Feng Zigen's first engagement with the Japanese army. When he really aimed his gun at the enemy, the anger in his heart finally had an outlet for release, and with the hatred of the Chinese people, Feng Zigen heroically rushed to the enemy.
This was the first ambush of the Japanese army by Feng Zigen's 772 regiment, and in the end, this ambush was a complete victory.
Immediately afterwards, the 772nd Regiment moved to the next position.
The second ambush was at the bottom of the Yellow Cliff, and the 772nd Regiment repeated the same technique, catching the Japanese by surprise. These two victories boosted the morale of the 772nd Regiment, and under the high morale, five days later, the 772nd Regiment once again severely damaged the Japanese army and became a veritable heroic regiment.
Feng Zigen was unfortunately injured in this battle, but his heart was happy, and for him, he felt proud to use this wound to defeat the Japanese army three times.
But in fact, Feng Zigen's injury this time was not light. The medical conditions here could not keep up, so the organization arranged for Feng Zigen to go to northern Shaanxi to heal his wounds, although Feng Zigen did not want to withdraw from the front line, but the superior had an order, he could only obey the order.
As the saying goes, good people are good everywhere. Even if Feng Zigen did not charge at the front, after coming to northern Shaanxi, he also did a different career.
At that time, Commander-in-Chief Zhu De heard about Feng Zigen, and when he went to visit the seriously injured soldiers, Commander-in-Chief Zhu specifically asked Feng Zigen if he would like to go to his side as a guard.
Feng Zigen was flattered, in his opinion, this was Commander Zhu's affirmation of himself, so he immediately agreed. So for a while after that, Feng Zigen was always at the side of Commander-in-Chief Zhu De.
Feng Zigen worked conscientiously and rigorously, and his task was to do a good job in keeping General Zhu secret. Once, Commander-in-Chief Zhu needed to secretly go to Yan'an to attend a military conference, Feng Zigen planned all the routes, and was ready to deal with unexpected situations at any time, almost foolproof, and finally Commander-in-Chief Zhu successfully attended the meeting and returned safely to Shaanxi.
Feng Zigen's work ability is well known, and he never made a mistake when he was a guard around Commander Zhu, so Commander Zhu was very appreciative of him and felt that such a talent should be further studied. It just so happened that the organization was planning to train backbone personnel at that time, so Commander-in-Chief Zhu asked Feng Zigen to study at the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University.
This study is two years.
In 1942, after graduating from university, Feng Zigen returned to the front line and became the commander of the Eighth Route Army Battalion.
In the following two years, Feng Zigen often charged forward, leading his generals to inflict serious blows on the Japanese army many times, and his battlefield experience gradually enriched, and he also became a heroic battalion commander praised by everyone in the army.
In 1944, Feng Zigen was again tasked with attacking the Japanese stronghold in Gaoping County.
In this battle, Feng Zigen led a team of armed engineers to annihilate more than 60 enemy troops and captured more than 60 rifles, which can be described as outstanding achievements.
But unfortunately, Feng Zigen was seriously injured in this battle, his left palm was penetrated by bullets, and his legs and crotch were injured by bullets, even if the injuries were good, they would leave serious sequelae, and his military career could only stop there.
After Feng Zigen learned of this news, he asked the doctor countless times: Can his situation really not go to the battlefield again?
The doctor helplessly told him that his injuries were too serious, that it was fortunate to be able to retrieve a life, and that it was impossible to go to the battlefield again.
Feng Zigen joined the army from the age of 15 to ten years now, he has thought countless times that he may have died in battle, Ma Ge shrouded body, but never thought that he would bid farewell to the battlefield in such a way, so when recuperating from his injuries, he was often stunned and did not know what he was thinking.
Feng Zigen's comrades-in-arms knew how much he wanted to go into battle and kill the enemy, but his comrades-in-arms wanted him to live well, so they rarely mentioned in front of Feng Zigen that they could not go to the front.
Feng Zigen knew in his heart that he would have no connection with the battlefield in the future, he was just unwilling, so many comrades-in-arms died on the way to the Long March and the War of Resistance, but he had to go to the front line in advance because of his injuries. But he also knew how difficult it was for him to survive, so even if it was difficult to give up the battlefield, he had to live strongly.
After leaving the battlefield, Feng Zigen settled in a family surnamed Feng in Qinshui Xinglin Village, and the son of this family also died in the anti-Japanese resistance, so Feng Zigen has been helping the old man. Later, the old man recognized Feng Zigen as a son, and because of this, Feng Zigen changed his name from the original Zan Changlin to the current Feng Zigen.
In the years that followed, Feng Zigen rarely mentioned to his family about the War of Resistance, but sometimes he would tell the children about the Red Army's War of Resistance, which contained Feng Zigen's deep nostalgia for the past and the hope that the children would grow up to serve the motherland.
In the blink of an eye, 70 years have passed, Feng Zigen, who has been living in Xinglin Village, is also more than 90 years old, Feng Zigen's injuries on the battlefield in his early years have left many sequelae, his legs still have untaken clip fragments, and the eye disease caused by climbing the snow mountain has also developed into cataracts in his old age, basically unable to see things.
But he still held a yellowed piece of paper and stroked it very carefully, it was a discharge certificate.
This yellowed discharge certificate reads: "Comrade Zan Changlin is a native of Guangyuan County, Sichuan Province..."
The payment of the certificate was signed by commander Wang Jinshan and political commissar Liu Zhong. The date is "February 26, 1946, the thirty-fifth year of the Republic of China".
This small discharge certificate is the only proof of Feng Zigen's ten years of military service, and it is also the bearer of Feng Zigen's memories of that time, even if the discharge certificate has been yellowed, but that period of time in Feng Zigen's mind, will never be "yellowed".
Although Feng Zigen rarely mentioned the glorious history of the battlefield with his family, he would cooperate with the government to publicize the history of the Red Party.
In 1996, Feng Zigen attended a forum of representatives of the old Red Army in Shanxi Province. He told everyone about the years of his life in Qinshui, and also recalled the days when he fought side by side with his comrades-in-arms, and when he said this, Feng Zigen's eyes were real, and the whole person was full of energy, as if he had returned to the days when he charged forward in the revolutionary ranks.
Feng Zigen also told everyone that the days are getting better day by day, and he has lived with the legacy of his sacrificed comrades-in-arms to the present, just to see how our country has become stronger, and now this wish is about to come true.
In 2005, feng Zigen, as the only representative of Shanxi, was invited to Beijing to participate in the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
Feng Zigen was one of the few old Red Army veterans who had survived since the Long March, and he and other comrades-in-arms stood on the parade car and watched the crowd below them waving happily at them.
When entering Tiananmen Square, Feng Zigen, who was not in good health, still trembled and raised his hand to pay high respect to the people and the head hanging in Tiananmen Square.
China is prosperous and the motherland is strong, isn't this the scene they wanted to see when they fought hard?
When he was in Tiananmen, he looked intently at this powerful motherland, not only for himself, but also for the sacrifice of soldiers, to see this beautiful China for them.
After that, Feng Zigen was also received by the country's loving leaders, and in the face of the leaders' concerns and greetings, Feng Zigen said that he was now living a good life, his life was better, and he also wanted his children and grandchildren to accompany him.
The state attaches great importance to the living conditions of the old Red Army, Feng Zigen since the retirement, every month can receive more than 1,000 yuan of subsidies, in addition to this, there are tens of thousands of yuan of disability allowances, in order to ensure that the retired old Red Army can live a comfortable life.
By 2015, the state subsidy had increased from the original 20,000 yuan to 80,000 yuan, so Feng Zigen's life was very rich. He saw that his children had jobs, and his monthly expenses were not high, and when he saw that many children could not go to school because of family difficulties, he wanted to take out the extra money to provide for the children's schooling.
Feng Zigen's children said that the money belonged to Feng Zigen and how it was used was all up to him.
Seeing that the children had no opinions, Feng Zigen took out the excess subsidies to help those children who did not have money to study. And whenever he looks at the children who can return to school, he always thinks of Premier Zhou's words "reading for the rise of China."
Feng Zigen hopes that these children will be able to use their knowledge to change themselves, change the country, and learn to strengthen the country in the future.
In September 2015, the state awarded Feng Zigen a commemorative medal to Chinese the 70th anniversary of the victory of the People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
This medal was carefully put away by Feng Zigen, this thing is of great significance to him, ten years of anti-japanese war career and the pain of this body in exchange for this medal, Feng Zigen is very precious about it.
The time soon came to 2018, when the biggest joy in Feng Zigen's family was that the old Red Army was a hundred years old.
On February 12, Feng Zigen's 58-year-old son, Feng Baoguo, told his grandson Feng Ningning early in the morning: "When you come home from work, buy a big cake for your grandfather." Feng Ningning said: "Grandpa's birthday is approaching the New Year, and the family will celebrate it every year." This year is Grandpa's 100th birthday, so be more solemn. ”
Feng Zigen, who has always been diligent and thrifty, told them not to be too extravagant and wasteful, let alone to put on a feast, and they would just have a meal together as a family. The children and grandchildren remembered Feng Zigen's words and only told them to the people in their own families.
At 4 p.m., Feng Ningning and his wife and daughter rushed back to the village with a cake, and all 9 members of the family arrived, and there was an old birthday star cake sent by Feng Ningning's uncle on the table.
Feng Zigen was very happy to see the word "Shou" on the big cake, and also took a family portrait with his family, and his hundredth birthday was spent warmly in the blessing of his family.
"I have a daughter, my brother has a son." Grandson Feng Ningning said: "Grandpa now has two heavy grandchildren! ”
Feng Zigen smiled happily, the family was happy, and there were children and grandchildren under the knees, so that in his old age, he was worthy of Feng Zigen's bumpy first half of life.
Now that Feng Zigen is 104 years old, with children and grandchildren as companions, he can rest assured that he can raise his life with peace of mind, which is the happiest life for him.
- 【Conclusion】
Our revolutionary predecessors sacrificed their precious lives for the future of New China, and even if a long-lived old Red Army like Feng Zigen's old predecessors can enjoy their old age in peace, their bodies have left a lot of indelible wounds.
They burned their lives to have the prosperous and powerful new China, and while we are grateful to our predecessors, we also need to undertake our own mission, they put the motherland on the right track, and we need to push the motherland to a broader world stage.
The old Red Army like Feng Zigen experienced the Long March of climbing snowy mountains and crossing meadows, and although we did not experience such great tribulations under the protection of our predecessors, we should still love to struggle.
On the long march road of a generation, we must also be like the old Red Army, not afraid of hardships and dangers, not afraid of difficulties, to build China in the new era as our own responsibility, and to work hard for the prosperity of China.