Ruijin, Jiangxi is the birthplace of the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic. As early as the period of the agrarian revolution, 113,000 people in Ruijin, which had a population of only 240,000, heeded the party's call and embarked on the revolutionary road, of which 10,800 people died in the long march, which can be described as "inches of red land, sprinkled with heroic blood."
By the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Ruijin had sacrificed their precious lives for the revolutionary cause, including Yang Rongxianxian's eight sons.
Yang Rongxian is an ordinary citizen of the third village of Qibao Township in Ruijin Xiaxiao District, and he and his wife have raised eight sons. Before the arrival of the Red Army, the family's life was very difficult, and they could only barely feed themselves at the end of the year.
In order to supplement the family, Yang Rongxian often worked for people everywhere, suffered from cold eyes, and sometimes even defaulted on wages, and the most difficult time was that the family could not even solve the most basic food and clothing problems.
In fact, Yang Rongxian's family was not alone, in that era, peasants did not have their own land, can only live on rented land, if they catch up with the disaster year, let alone harvest, even the landlord's rent can not afford to pay.
Not enough to eat, not warm to wear, look down on illness... is the normal life of Ruijin farmers, their lives are thinner than paper, like ants, living a humble, lowly life.
This situation did not improve until 1931. That year, the Red Army established Soviet power in Ruijin, and the local peasants finally lived a life of mastery.
The Red Army carried out land reform in the local area, taking the land back from the hands of the landlords and bullies, and then dividing it equally among the poor masses. Yang Rongxian's family finally turned over, and they were able to share the fields and mountains, which was something that they had never dared to think about before.
After owning his own land, Yang Rongxian took his sons to work hard, and his life became better and better every day, and in the next few years, several sons who had reached the age of marriage also married daughters-in-law, and he also became a daughter-in-law.
Yang Rongxian and his family knew that such a good day was given by the Red Army, so their family resolutely defended soviet power.
When the provisional government was established, Yang Rongxian did not hesitate to send the eldest and second eldest to the registration office to join the army, and told them that from now on you are soldiers of the Red Army, do not be afraid when you go to the battlefield, and be a brave soldier.
In that turbulent era, the brothers joined the army and said goodbye to their parents and followed the troops to the battlefield. However, within three months, the two brothers were killed in battle.
After the bad news reached his home, Yang Rongxian was so grief-stricken that he almost cried to the point of fainting, but he did not regret his choice, it was the Red Army that gave the people a happy life, and it was right to fight with the Red Army.
In December 1932, in order to strangle the Red Soviet husband, the enemy mobilized 400,000 troops and launched the "fourth" counter-encirclement and suppression of the Central Soviet Region, with the intention of annihilating the Central Red Army in one fell swoop.
At that time, the strength of the enemy and us was very different, and there were only 80,000 troops in the Central Soviet Region, which was only one-fifth of the enemy's number. As the war intensified, groups of soldiers fell, and there was a shortage of soldiers on the front line.
In order to repel the enemy and win the victory against encirclement and suppression, the Soviet government launched a call to expand the Red Army and support the front line. The people, who had been favored by the Red Army, sent their sons to the registration office.
This time, Yang Rongxian simply brought all six of his sons to register. In the end, because the youngest three sons did not meet the age of the three sons, only the third, fourth and fifth elders eventually proved successful.
However, the battle on the front line at that time was too fierce, our army suffered heavy casualties, and in the fierce and brutal battle, Yang Rongxian's three sons sacrificed one after another, dedicating their youthful lives to the great motherland.
In just one year, he lost five sons, Yang Rongxian's pain is not enough to describe in words, but after crying and sad, he still insisted on his original wish, as long as the front line needed, he would choose to send his son to join the army.
From 1933 to 1934, in just one year, the enemy successively sent 1 million troops to launch the "fifth" counter-encirclement and suppression of the Central Soviet Region.
At the most difficult time of the war on the front line, the people in the revolutionary base areas not only saved money to support the front line, but also responded to the call of the organization again and sent their sons to the battlefield.
At this time, Yang Rongxian, who had already sacrificed five sons, made another surprising decision to send the remaining three sons to the recruitment office again.
This time, the villagers advised him to leave one and send you to the end of the pension, but Yang Rongxian would never agree. Moreover, because the age of the seventh and eighth elders does not meet the age, they have to falsely report their age, and this kind of "goodwill" deceives and makes people cry.
Knowing that swords and guns have no eyes, knowing that there is a risk of sacrifice in battle, Yang Rongxian, who has won the favor of the Red Army, still chooses to send his sons to the battlefield, and his spirit is moving.
Sure enough, soon after, bad news came, lao liu was unfortunately killed in the battle of Guangchang, and Yang Rongxian cried after hearing it. Deng Xiaoping, then secretary general of the General Political Department of the Red Army, was deeply moved when he heard of Yang Rongxian's move.
In the midst of his busy schedule, Deng Xiaoping sent someone to visit Yang Rongxian and told him: "For the revolution, you have sacrificed six sons, and the organization has decided to help you find the seventh and eighth elders and send you to the end of your pension." ”
For the condolences of the organization, Yang Rongxian was very touched, but when he heard that he wanted to find his son, he resolutely refused to agree, if everyone found his son back, then who would fight?
Although the old man did not agree, the organization did so. In the end, after many inquiries, yang Rongxian's two remaining sons, Lao Qi and Lao Eight, were finally found on the battlefield of Huangpi in Ningdu.
The organization informed the brothers of their intentions, but they did not expect that the brothers would not go back, and they said very firmly: "When this battle is over, I will go back." ”
However, the battlefield was merciless, the battle was not over, and the two brothers, like the previous six brothers, donated their youthful flesh to the loyal motherland.
Considering Yang Rongxian's physical condition, this time everyone hid the fact that the youngest two sons had sacrificed to him. In the autumn of 1934, shortly after the death of his son, Yang Rongxian, who was frail and sick, came to the end of his life.
At the time of his death, Yang Rongxian had been softly calling out the names of his eight sons, wanting to see the last side of his younger son, and everyone present was in tears, but everyone still did not tell him this sad fact, even if they left him a thought.
Before Yang Rongxian's death, he was accompanied by only a young son who had just understood things, and with deep thoughts about his sons, Yang Rongxian completed his ordinary and great life.
At that time, Chairman Mao learned that Yang Rongxian was dying, and he hurriedly took his son Mao Mao to the old man to deliver the end, and he also said that he was the "son" of the old man, and Mao Mao was the "grandson" of the old man.
Although Yang Rongxian had already died when Chairman Mao and his son arrived in a hurry, being able to gain Chairman Mao's respect shows Yang Rongxian's greatness and extraordinaryness.
To this day, in the history museum of the Central Revolutionary Base Area in Ruijin, Jiangxi, there is still a copy of the May 30, 1934 Chinese Soviet Provisional Central Government Organ Newspaper "Red China", in the third page of the newspaper, published a news article with the content "Ruijin Eight Brothers vying to become the Red Army", with illustrations on it.
What this report transmits is the story of the eight brothers of the Yang family. Ruijin local, but also every household knows the deeds of "eight sons joining the army", which has been sung to this day.
After the founding of New China, the local people built 8 empty tombs for the eight brothers of the Yang family, and every year on the Qingming Festival, locals or tourists would come here to worship the 8 brothers who sacrificed their lives for the country.
Later, the story of The Eight Sons joining the army was adapted into song and dance dramas, dramas, movies, etc., reproducing the tragic and magnificent years.
In fact, during the war years, there were many loyal families like the Yang family. In those years, for the victory of the revolution, there were touching scenes of "wives sending langs, fathers sending sons, and fathers and sons going to the battlefield together" in the Southern Jiangsu District, and it was precisely because of their unrepentant efforts that there were later victories.
Loving the motherland and being willing to pay everything for it is the spirit of the sons and daughters of China, with such a national backbone, with such a united chinese people, there will be no invincible enemy.
——The end of this article, thank you for reading——