Bright Culture Weekend Edition: Grandpa's Smoke Past

Author: Liang Xiaoying (Professor, College of Literature, Jilin Normal University)

My grandfather—to be precise, my lover's grandfather, named Wang Dianyi, was a soldier in the Chinese People's Volunteer Army. He entered Korea on February 16, 1951 and returned to China on April 8, 1954.

I read my grandfather's "Memoirs" to know that my grandfather, who usually seemed kind and amiable, was an unsung hero who had made many meritorious achievements.

Grandpa's "Memoirs" is a record of the past of his home country with personal memories, and the past of his grandfather's personal experience in Korea is very legendary.

Grandpa was a native of Hebei Weichang and came from a poor background. In 1946, at the age of 15, his grandfather joined the Northeast Democratic Coalition Army and participated in more than a dozen large and small battles: the Battle of Lishugou Gate, the Battle of the Encirclement and Annihilation of the Yang Family, the Battle of Jinzhou, the Battle of Western Liaoning, the Battle of Shenyang and Yingkou, the Battle of Liaoshen, the Battle of Tianjin, the Battle of Crossing the River, the Battle of Guangxi, etc.

When the Korean War broke out, when he was recruiting in October 1950, his grandfather immediately signed up to join the war. The result? Veterans with rich military experience please be frustrated: the first round has been brushed down!

Originally, I thought that as long as the young people wanted, they could join the army: they went to the recruitment office with great pride, filled in the information, put on the big red flowers, sang the military song and went on the march, which is how it is played in the movie. However, in reality, it is not the case: "The conditions for military inspection are very strict," and "veteran comrades who have made meritorious contributions above the level of party members and squad leaders go to Guangzhou and Wuhan for physical examinations, and if they are qualified, they go to Changxindian in Beijing for final examination." As a result, I did not pass because of trachoma. ”

Patriotism is a spirit, but also an action. Grandpa asked for war again, and a few months later he entered the DPRK as he wished. "In November 1950, an independent regiment of the Northwest Field Army came to Siping, and the Third Tank Division was established on their basis, and in December 1950, we began to enter the DPRK with all our equipment." "At that time, I was in command of the Sixth Tank Regiment and served as the technical deputy company commander. Our company is a Dalian, and there are 301 officers and men in the whole company. ”

When the enemy burned the flames of war to the doorstep of his home, in order to defend his family and defend the country, Grandpa put on his military uniform again and rushed to the Korean battlefield with a youthful enthusiasm.

The hardships during the DPRK exceeded the imagination of ordinary people. When encountering US aircraft bombing, driving in black and not driving lights is a situation that Grandpa often encounters. North Korea has many mountains, which increases the difficulty of the march. "Our side has set up an air defense post every two or three kilometers, and three people at each post, one on a hill or at a high place, monitors the enemy plane, and if it hears the sound of the enemy plane, it immediately fires a gun to call the police. As soon as the moving car heard the gunshot, it immediately turned off the lights. "The black predator plane is circling overhead, and our car, without turning on the lights, has to drive forward in the dark, encountering no moon, and cannot see the road clearly." The driver's assistant got out of the car, dressed in a sheepskin coat, and the driver drove forward according to the white shadow to catch the task. When we first entered the DPRK, we used Su-style gas cars. ”

Logistics supplies could not keep up, and Grandpa was sick. "In the early days of our entry into the DPRK, we ate coarse grain fried noodles. There was no sorghum rice, no vegetables, many comrades had night blindness, I also stalled, walking into the ditch during the day, and I couldn't see anything in the dark day. Later, although the side food improved somewhat, fresh vegetables were still not eaten, which was really very hard. ”

Sweat flowed from the barren hills and sand, and blood splashed on other lands to stain the robes. In such a difficult day, many comrades-in-arms fell down and never stood up again, and Grandpa often thought about it and shed tears, but Grandpa survived the most difficult days and completed the mission entrusted by the motherland and the people with perseverance for peace and justice.

Despite the harsh environment, his battle-hardened grandfather was still brave and brave, and once shot down an American plane with a rifle. Yes, it's true! Not an exaggeration. Grandpa explained the details of how they used rifles to shoot down the plane: "During the day, the small jet enemy plane flew low against the ravine to find the target, found a camouflaged car, and then strafed and bombed, the enemy plane flew very low, we used the rifle to shoot down an enemy plane, I was awarded the second class merit once." ”

If I had said that I had shot down a plane with a rifle, I might have thought it was a myth. But now I believe it, because the plane was shot down by Grandpa! The bravery of my grandfather reminded me of Huang Jiguang, a volunteer soldier who aided Korea at the same time. Huang Jiguang, born in January 1931, has the same poor family as his grandfather, the same age as his grandfather, but Huang Jiguang is a new soldier, and his military age is 5 years shorter than his grandfather. It is worth mentioning that when Huang Jiguang took the initiative to invite Miao to join the volunteer army, he was initially eliminated, because he was short, and later he went to ask the leader of the unit to join the army as he wished.

Grandpa was injured many times, and once he was almost killed by a night drive: "When our rear car just arrived at a bean field for the people, it was found by enemy planes, and five enemy planes came." Start bombarding our car. Blowing up our car, holding me under the car, and throwing all the materials pulled on the car into the bean field, two cannons quickly came and blew up the enemy plane. A crane was called, the car was lifted, and that's how I got out. ”

How many times in his life did Grandpa push himself to the situation of death, and when he was on the verge of death, he survived the rest of his life and made meritorious contributions many times.

Grandpa spent a long time in the dynasty. The Korean Armistice Agreement was signed in Panmunjom in July 1953, and Grandpa returned home nine months after the armistice was signed.

"On April 8, 1954, we went to Siping City and re-lived in Liaobei College." Since then, Grandpa has made a home in the heroic city of Siping, the city that Grandpa personally liberated. After returning from North Korea, he encountered a happy event, saying that it was a happy event, but there was sadness in the joy: Grandpa Tai came to the army to visit his family. After many years away from home, he went on a military expedition and had little contact with his relatives. Seeing his father who had been away for a long time, Grandpa was very excited and very happy, but he was very sad to hear the news that his mother had died, there was a kind of sadness that his son wanted to raise and could not wait, and the grief that loyalty and filial piety could not tear his heart and lungs apart.

The wolf smoke raised the Yalu River and wiped the knife and gun with the son. He did not hesitate to defend his homeland with hundreds of deaths, and his blood stained the green mountains with tears. Huang Jiguang died in October 1952 at the Battle of Shangganling at the age of 21, and was posthumously awarded the title of "Special Hero", and his deeds are well known. The grandfather with bullet marks on his body is also a hero, an unsung hero. Huang Jiguang was 20 years old when he went to the Korean battlefield, his grandfather Wang Dianyi was 20 years old when he went to the Korean battlefield, and there were thousands of Chinese soldiers like them who rushed to the Korean battlefield... At that time, they were young and guarded the China of youth with the self of youth.

The victory in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea was not only a strategic victory, but also a great spiritual victory. My father was a veteran, and when he was a teenager, he always heard his father hum "Majestic and exuberant, cross the Yalu River", and slowly I could sing it. When I was a girl, I read "Who is the Most Lovely Person" and was very moved. When I grew up, I found that my grandparents were the "cutest people".

In 2021, the TV series "Crossing the Yalu River" and the movie "Chosin Lake" were hit. "Majestic and angry, crossing the Yalu River." To safeguard peace and defend the motherland is to protect the homeland. When I saw the soldiers of the Chinese Volunteer Army walking by with their faces singing battle songs in tragedy, it was as if Grandpa was walking among the group of soldiers, striding forward with his head held high.

A great people will not forget their heroes. The story of the hero needs to be recounted, and it needs to be told by future generations, otherwise it will be buried in the dust of history and lose the connection between life and blood. As the light veil-like floating clouds drifted by, I wrote this legendary smoke past, which is inheritance, praise, and memory.

In 2014, Grandpa was gone. I went to Beishan for a funeral that day, it was spring, the night was shrouded, and the rain had been falling. In the past, when we met, Grandpa always cared about us, smiled and asked the children about their studies and work, and rarely talked about their past. That night, after the rain, a crescent moon rose from the east, and the sky was slightly smiling and warm. On this night illuminated by faith, on this night when the dust of history has been swept away from my soul, I would like to talk to my grandfather, about his youth, his dreams, his days in Korea...

Guangming Daily ( 2022.09.30 14th edition)

Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily