Gulang County, Wuwei City, Gansu Province to Xiaogan City, Hubei Province, a distance of 1500 kilometers.
On the eve of the Qingming Festival, in a small car galloping on the Lianhuo Expressway, Yi Fangxi, who was sitting upright, hugged a porcelain vase covered with red cloth in his arms - Yi Hanwen, political commissar of the 27th Division of the Red Ninth Army of the West Route Army, who was buried in the martyrs' cemetery in Gulang County, Wuwei City, Gansu Province, finally embarked on the road of "going home" in the arms of his nephew.
This "homecoming" is the first time in 88 years.
In October 1936, Yi Hanwen, who was only 26 years old, was the political commissar of the 27th Division of the Red Ninth Army of the Western Route Army.
"Yi Hanwen is my fourth grandfather, and there are six of them, four of whom joined the Red Army. "It was his nephew Yi Fangxi who came to pick up the martyr Yi Hanwen home, and since he can remember, he has heard from the old people in the family that there was a grandfather in his ancestors who went to participate in the Long March, but this went forever, and he has not been heard from since......
"The fourth grandfather joined the army in his early 20s, and he had no direct descendants, let alone relics to place his feelings on. Yi Fangxi recalled: "When the fathers were alive, they always wanted to find the fourth grandfather, but due to information blockage and inconvenient transportation, they have been searching for it to no avail. ”
As a result, the three words "Yi Hanwen" were passed down from father to child, and then from child to grandchild. Although it is impossible to know his voice and smile, the search for Yingyeol has always been engraved in the minds of everyone in the entire family.
After growing up, Yi Fangxi logged on to the China Heroes Network and typed in the three words "Yi Hanwen", and retrieved "Born in December 1911, died in November 1936, place of sacrifice: Gansu Province." But the most critical content: the burial place is impressively left "unknown".
"Although we know where he died, we never know where he is buried. Yi Fangxi said.
In 2021, the documentary "Dawu People in the West Route Army" filmed by Dawu County won a national award, and the tragic story of the Red West Route Army spilling blood in the Hexi Corridor began to be widely circulated in Dabie Mountain, which made Yi Fangxi, who has been looking for relatives for many years, see hope.
The hard work paid off, and the news of "looking for the fourth grandfather Yi Hanwen" flew out of Dabie Mountain and spread to the land of Longyuan thousands of miles away with the help of people with hearts.
Finally, 88 years later, in the spring of 2024, a phone call about Yi Hanwen brought tears to everyone's eyes: the burial place of the remains has been found!
On March 22, Yi Fangxi received a call from the Gulang Battle Memorial Hall in Gansu, confirming that Yi Hanwen was buried in the red land of Gulang, Gansu. On March 26, under the promotion of many parties, Yi Fangxi, who worked in Nanning, Guangxi, arrived at the Gulang Battle Memorial Hall in Gansu.
A profound revolutionary history slowly unfolded in front of him-
On November 11, 1936, the Red Army's West Route Army and Ma Yuanhai's troops fought a fierce battle in Gulang County, Wuwei City, Gansu Province. In three fierce battles, the Red Army won, but more than 2,400 soldiers died heroically.
Yi Hanwen is one of them.
In the memorial hall of the Gulang Battle in Gansu, Yi Fangxi listened carefully to the narrator's account of the western expedition that took place in Hexi, and he seemed to see the revolutionary process of the Red West Route Army fighting bloodily in Gulang through the heroic deeds and graphic materials lined up on the walls.
"Fourth grandfather, I finally found you, come home with us!" On March 26, in the martyrs' cemetery of the Gulang Battle Memorial Hall in Gansu, the martyr Yi Hanwen, who was buried here, came to his relatives. Yi Fangxi wiped the familiar name again and again, picked up the loess that the martyrs had dyed red with blood in both hands, and slowly put it in the ceramic jar.
Today, the place where Yi Hanwen once fought has changed dramatically, with smooth highways connecting the north and south, and soon, high-speed railways will also pass through the border. In 2020, Gulang County bid farewell to absolute poverty in a historic way, and the masses lived and worked in peace and contentment. Ecologically, the southern edge of the Tengger Desert, which used to be ravaged by wind and sand, is now being treated at a rate of more than 100,000 mu per year, and it is full of green.
This scene is as the martyrs wished.
Comrade political commissar who has been away from home for too long, the highway ahead is unobstructed, please return......
Source: New Gansu client
Release: Publicity and Education Department of the Political and Legal Committee of the Gansu Provincial Party Committee