Faced with the unfair fate of the sheep herding and making a living, the teenager resolutely decided to join the army to serve the country, officially enlisted in the army at the age of 14, killed the enemy with a gun at the age of 17, and won nine special merits at the age of 24.
There are not many heroes who can receive their special meritorious honors alive, not to mention that they have won nine times in large and small battles, Zhang Yingcai's name is destined to be remembered by history, and the legendary life of this "soldier king" is definitely worth saying.
Zhang Yingcai
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="6" > sheep herding teenagers join the army determined to change their destiny</h1>
In December 1924, Zhang Yingcai was born into a poor family in Wanrong County, Shanxi.
Like the way out for many rural teenagers at that time, because the family was poor and could not afford the tuition, there was no opportunity to read and write, so Zhang Yingcai came out early to work and make money, thinking of reducing the pressure for the elderly parents at home.
Originally, his life was to herd sheep every day, work hard to earn money, and when he was older, he would do long work for the landlord's family, but he still could not have enough stomach all the time, and he was often bullied by the young master of the landlord's family.
Landlord's wife during the Republic of China period
Once, when he was eating pickles and drinking porridge, the young master of the landlord's family showed the fat in his bowl in front of him and said that he should kneel down and say a few good words, and when he was happy, he gave him this meat.
Zhang Yingcai did not say much, and endured, although he could not eat enough porridge, and he only had to eat these foods for daily hard work, but this person's bullying made the fire in his heart burn more and more vigorously.
It was only when he understood that he was powerless to resist, and this young master scolded him, "Nest sack waste", so he sent someone to hold Zhang Yingcai down and beat him severely.
After being beaten, Zhang Yingcai was even more moved by the idea of leaving his hometown to go outside, but considering his elderly mother at home, he really couldn't rest assured, but such a thought has always been rooted in his heart.
When Zhang Yingcai was 12 years old, he had already suffered a lot at a young age, so when he heard the news that the Eighth Route Army had come to Wanrong County and built a revolutionary base area, he secretly decided and made a decision that he wanted to join the army.
When Zhang Yingcai ran to the recruitment office full of anticipation and said that he was going to sign up for the Eighth Route Army, the person in charge of this matter was a little embarrassed, and Zhang Yingcai was still a teenager at the time, which absolutely did not meet the standards of a soldier.
Zhang Yingcai begged the soldiers, saying that he was not afraid of hardship, that he had always been hard-working and would not drag the troops back.
The soldiers who were watching looked at the child who was so old, his eyes were resolute, he looked like a person who had suffered hardships, and his heart was also soft, so the troops arranged for him to enter the Dingxin Tuition School run by the Eighth Route Army. He said that when he grew up, he grew taller and stronger, and he would come back to pick him up if he could carry the gun steadily.
Although Zhang Yingcai felt lost that he could not immediately go to the battlefield, he could learn knowledge at the accompanying military school, which he had always hoped for, because of his family's poverty, even food and clothing had become a problem, where did he have the opportunity to read, not to mention that he also knew that his cultural level was not high, but he also knew that it was always good to read more books.
Now studying during the day and marching at night, in a very short period of time, Zhang Yingcai has made up a lot of theoretical knowledge and has a deeper understanding of the situation of the country and the people.
Now he was not only about changing his destiny, he wanted to let countless teenagers in the world like him who had suffered and been beaten be able to live a good life, of course, that is, he was not capable of doing it, this idea was only a temporary idea, but in the end this wish was indeed realized.
Two years have passed, Zhang Yingcai has long adapted to the life of the army, but the matter of taking a gun to kill the enemy has not been realized, and he can't help but feel anxious in his heart, and now that his nutrition has kept up, he has grown a lot taller, and he has been waiting for the opportunity to go to the battlefield and become a real soldier.
Zhang Yingcai and associate coach He Xingmao
Soon, this opportunity came, after graduating from the cadet corps, Zhang Yingcai was assigned to the 212 brigade special service company, this unit can be regarded as the most important army of the Eighth Route Army at that time, Zhang Yingcai learned that he had become a member of the special service company, but also secretly determined to do a good job in the tasks assigned to him by his superiors.
In this way, Zhang Yingcai really had the qualification to hold a gun, and his figure also began to appear in major battles.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="21" > young people have made many achievements in the battlefield</h1>
On March 20, 1941, Zhang Yingcai of the Special Agent Company of the 212th Brigade finally ushered in the opportunity to fight. At that time, the Japanese army carried out a frenzied attack on our army's base area around Jicheng, and the 211st Brigade was responsible for the security of the entire unit.
At the moment when the gunshots sounded, Zhang Yingcai was reconnaissance at the border, and in the process of raiding the enemy, their assembly team eliminated a total of 10 enemies, and Zhang Yingcai eliminated an enemy the first time he took a gun to the battlefield.
Although the number of enemies killed was not much, Zhang Yingcai was very excited, he once again clutched the gun in his hand, he could kill the enemy for the country, which was something he had never thought of when he was young sheep herding, but at the moment he felt that something had quietly changed.
Subsequently, the 22nd Brigade continued to march under the orders of the superior, Zhang Yingcai also followed the troops to Fushan, along the way in the face of continuous attacks by the Japanese army, Zhang Yingcai made a brave counterattack, after the company commander Zhang Yaxiong was unfortunately shot and killed, he stood up to lead his teammates to retreat safely, killing more than a dozen enemies along the way.
In a fierce battle at Fomiao Ridge in June, the brigade commander ordered Zhang Yingcai to cover the retreat of the troops, Zhang Yingcai had just taken the order, suddenly a grenade fell, just next to him exploded, Zhang Yingcai did not want to immediately pounce on the brigade commander, with his body to protect the brigade commander.
Fortunately, the brigade commander was unscathed, but Zhang Yingcai's shoulder was directly hit by shrapnel, and the blood was direct, but at this time, people could not care about bandaging, Zhang Yingcai saw that the brigade commander was fine, directly picked up the machine gun and led his comrades to rush over, bound to kill a bloody road.
Subsequently, Zhang Yingcai's excellent performance on the battlefield became more and more, and at the age of 20, he became the deputy instructor of the 5 5th Company of the 57th Regiment, which is rare in the army.
In 1946, Zhang Yingcai received orders to lead his ninth company with two other companies to block the enemy. The attack was at Dongyang Village in the Lüliang area, and the task was to block a Nationalist division.
At that time, the integrated division facing it was well-equipped and its strength could not be underestimated, and Zhang Yingcai also felt a lot of pressure when he received this task, but Zhang Yingcai was not afraid of this, and he knew that although it might not be comparable in equipment, in terms of morale, their Platon Army would never lose.
At the same time, in order to better meet the battle, Zhang Yingcai made an accurate analysis of the enemy's situation, believing that it was better for our army to carry out a surprise attack, so that the odds of victory were even greater, so Zhang Yingcai led more than 30 elite soldiers under his command to kill the enemy camp, and the enemy army really did not expect that our army would carry out a surprise attack.
Seeing the enemy army collapse, Zhang Yingcai knew that his strategy had worked, and at the moment, the more fierce the Vietnam War, the whole blocking for 4 hours, and at the same time facing the enemy's counterattack, Zhang Yingcai also held the pass and never let the other party step into his field.
This battle killed more than 300 enemies, and the results were remarkable, and Zhang Yingcai was only 22 years old, so he won the title of "special hero", which is definitely the highest honor among the younger generation.
But Zhang Yingcai said that this is only the beginning, he must make more new contributions, he feels that he must go more firmly on this road.
In 1949, when the Battle of Eastern Henan began, Zhang Yingcai's unit was responsible for blocking the 83rd Division of Qiu Qingquan's Corps, which was a tank-owned unit and well-equipped than the average army.
Although Zhang Yingcai also knew that the huge lethality of tanks would become the biggest obstacle, he had to find a way to solve this problem first, but perhaps for him, blowing up the tank was not the biggest problem.
Zhang Yingcai led the soldiers to take the lead in attacking the enemy hiding behind the tanks, and these people did not expect that the soldiers of our army would suddenly appear, and for a while they panicked, some people drove the tanks away, and even more they even left their weapons and tanks scattered and fled for their lives.
But how could Zhang Yingcai miss such a good opportunity, he rushed directly with the explosive package, as if he was not fatal, the enemy looked even more frightened, but the blow-up of the tank was really in an instant.
The situation became more and more intense, our army launched a fierce bombardment, the enemy also reacted, began a powerful fire bombardment, many soldiers of our army died in this battle, Zhang Yingcai was hit by shrapnel next to his shoulder, but always with his comrades-in-arms, he will not give up the gun in his hand until the moment when his life disappears.
In this battle, the enemy suffered 700 casualties and captured 150 enemy troops, and Zhang Yingcai performed very well in it, and his contribution was indispensable.
It can be said that in Zhang Yingcai's conquest career, the Battle of Huaihai is an absolutely indelible chapter, and Zhang Yingcai at this time has become a battalion commander from a small soldier in that year.
In addition to the blood and passion that was still not consumed, he had a lot of experience in fighting and learned a lot of practice-tested martial arts, so when facing Huang Wei's 12th Corps, Zhang Yingcai did not hesitate or be afraid.
However, it has to be said that the equipment of the troops led by Huang Wei is the most sophisticated in the Kuomintang, and there are 120,000 troops, which is a figure that cannot be underestimated.
Judging from the equipment, our army's weapons at that time were really incomparable, and the number of enemy troops was completely overwhelming, but it was in such a situation that Zhang Yingcai still took over this arduous task.
Huang Wei
Zhang Yingcai led 500 soldiers, and thus formed a copper wall and an iron wall, blocking the thousands of troops and horses on the opposite side.
Zhang Yingcai, relying on many years of experience in strategic deployment, quickly made a strategy, he withdrew the main force, and put some important equipment on the flank, the purpose is to confuse the enemy.
The enemy put fire on the front, and after a fierce attack, it was found that something was wrong, and our army seized this gap at this time and immediately launched a more fierce attack on the enemy from the flanks.
Our army escorted the Kuomintang prisoners
Then the enemy moved out heavy weapons and tanks, but under the firepower of our army, the advance of the tanks was very difficult, and they could only advance step by step, but only then did our army have more time to deal with this situation.
Zhang Yingcai commanded the demolition troops to carry out the order, and at the same time threw the grenade package directly at the enemy's heavy machine gun position, so that the Nationalist army, which was already in an unfavorable situation, did not win well, the army's counterattack was not successful, and more than a thousand people were lost.
On December 11, Zhang Yingcai and Huang Wei's 12th Corps officially engaged, with the previous contest, Zhang Yingcai knew very well where the weaknesses of this corps were, he first led a battalion to directly attack the headquarters of the Kuomintang 14th Army, in this battle, killed the enemy commander Xiong Shouchun.
Xiong Shou chun
The killing of the enemy general can be said to have greatly encouraged the morale of the army, and at the same time greatly damaged the morale of the opposing camp, and then the battle was won very beautifully, after the battle, Zhang Yingcai's 38 regiment and 1st Battalion won the title of "Steel Battalion", and also officially under the leadership of Zhang Yingcai, under the struggle of all the battalion personnel, everyone in the 1st Battalion was recorded once.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="57" > Shanxi Hanzi iron bone Zhengzheng without losing tenderness</h1>
After the founding of New China, Zhang Yingcai has made a lot of merits, and this 24-year-old young man has already had many honors on his body, and these honors have been casually brought out to make many people look out of the dust.
In his lifetime, he was awarded the title of "Special Class Combat Hero" nine times and the title of "Special Class Combat Hero" three times, and the young Zhang Yingcai surprised many people, and these outstanding achievements were absolutely few at that time.
In September 1950, the first National Conference of Representatives of Combat Heroes was held in Beijing, and in addition to the 92 exemplary representatives from all walks of life elected, the remaining 258 people were representatives of the combat heroes of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
One of the heroic representatives was honored to have dinner at the same table with Chairman Mao, and this man was Zhang Yingcai, who at that time asked very kindly: "Comrade Yingcai, where are you?" ”
Although this was not the first time I had seen Chairman Mao, on such a big occasion, Zhang Yingcai, who had experienced hundreds of battles, was still a little nervous, and he quickly replied: "Chairman, I am from Shanxi. ”
Chairman Mao nodded, glanced at the table, personally brought a bowl of noodles to his place, and instructed the staff next to him to put some vinegar aside, and everyone at the same table looked at Chairman Mao's care for this young talent and smiled at each other.
Photographs and presentations included in the Commemorative Journal of the National Conference of Representatives of Combat Heroes
Zhang Yingcai was flattered, but his heart felt warm, although it was only a bowl of noodles, he knew that Chairman Mao had been paying attention to these soldiers on the battlefield ahead.
This bowl of noodles pinned his thoughts on participating in the war abroad for many years and away from home, thinking that Chairman Mao understood this, was able to understand these fighters, and personally put this bowl of hometown-flavored noodles in front of him.
In the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, Zhang Yingcai, who was not so excited, could not help but wet his eyes when he saw this bowl of noodles now, and Zhang Yingcai, who took over this bowl of noodles, was slightly restrained at the moment, and his face was full of moving looks, which seemed to be far different from the figure of the bloody battle on the battlefield.
Zhang Yingcai has not yet shown the slightest pride and complacency at this commendation meeting, everyone is looking at it, this is a lifetime of proud honor for any person, in Zhang Yingcai's view, it is the party and the country that allow him to have this opportunity to realize his ideal ambitions, and he is deeply grateful to the party and the army.
After the banquet, Zhang Yingcai returned to his residence, but the mood has not been able to calm down, the vinegared noodles are as delicious as ever, and even because they are more delicious because of other tastes, he thinks that he will never forget the taste of this bowl of noodles in his life.
Shanxi Hanzi threw his head on the battlefield and spilled hot blood, iron bones, but because of a bowl of noodles, there were tears in his eyes, it can be said that Zhang Ying had iron bones and tenderness.
Of course, since that night, Chairman Mao has also been deeply impressed by this Shanxi Hanzi and has also been obsessed with Zhang Yingcai.
Later, when the Central Committee decided to open the "Central Reading Class" and after a series of registration work, Chairman Mao looked at the list and found that there was no Zhang Yingcai's name, and he asked Premier Zhou Enlai why there was no Zhang Yingcai on the list.
Premier Zhou now understood that Chairman Mao had always remembered this young and promising soldier in his heart, and hurriedly replied: "Zhang Yingcai was placed in the list of books in the second issue. ”
Knowing that this was the case, Chairman Mao nodded with satisfaction; in fact, it can be said that the members who participated in the first reading class at that time were all leaders at the central level, and Zhang Yingcai's absence from this list was also justified, but he did not expect that Chairman Mao would take the initiative to inquire about it, which shows that Chairman Mao's impression of the heroes he had met several times was very profound.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="77" > middle-aged talent</h1>
At this national meeting of representatives of combat heroes, Zhang Yingcai was selected as a representative to speak in a thank-you speech, which was 350 selected from tens of millions of people, and 7 people were selected from the 350 heroes who were also very excellent, and Zhang Yingcai was among these 7 people.
After the meeting, the People's Daily sent a newsletter titled "Zhang Yingcai, Commander of the Iron battalion," with a sketch portrait of the hero personally accompanied by the sketch master Wang Shikuo.
Introducing Zhang Yingcai's report
This was an incredible honor at that time, and the hero who defended the country and the people was praised by the people of the whole country, and the people of the whole country remembered the name Zhang Yingcai.
Zhang Yingcai was also in tears with such a newspaper, he never imagined that he could one day have this opportunity to go out of his own way.
He was no longer the bullied sheep herding teenager of the past, and from the moment he put on his military uniform and took up a gun to defend his family and defend his country, he was determined to be a qualified soldier.
In 1955, Zhang Yingcai was awarded the Colonel's Military Academy, and was awarded the Order of Independence and Freedom of the Third Class, the Liberation Medal of the Third Class, and achieved the position of deputy commander of the army before retiring.
It has to be said here that there is also the hero's family. Zhang Yingcai's wife, named Tian Qinfang, is also a teenager who joined the army, and as a medical soldier in the army, he has been following the troops on the march and treating the wounded soldiers.
He and his wife are both a close couple and like-minded revolutionary comrades-in-arms, supporting each other along the way, and under the cultivation of the two, their descendants are even better.
Zhang Yingcai's eldest son studied at the military academy, after graduating with a master's degree, he served as a military observer, the second son was a graduate of the Air Force Academy, and later became a first-class pilot of the Air Force, and the younger daughter was no less than the first female staff officer in our army, who constantly accumulated practical combat experience in combat and wrote a lot of military papers.
The family joined the army and shone in their respective fields, Zhang Yingcai and his wife can cultivate such excellent children, inseparable from their careful teaching, but I want to come more or teach by example.
When future generations know their heroic deeds of that year and listen to themselves tell the past of their struggles, such a scene must be remembered and unforgettable.
"Bing Wang" Zhang Yingcai has never disappointed, the teenager is famous, the family style is upright, and he has cultivated several pillars for the country, it can be said that Zhang Yingcai's life is a legendary life, and his story is also difficult to forget.
History will remember such a person, he was once a sheep herding teenager, determined to change his fate to sign up for the army, fight on the battlefield, the more courageous the Vietnam War, made a bad meritorious achievement, was named a general, the name of a hero, and thus preserved.