In the cold winter of 1947, the land of the Northeast was filled with a biting cold wind. In this land covered with ice and snow, a heroic figure broke into people's sight. He is Yang Zirong, a wise and brave PLA soldier, whose goal is to capture the bandit leader "Zashan Eagle", who is a headache for the entire region.
After many days of arduous tracking and wits and courage, Yang Zirong finally succeeded in capturing the "mountain eagle" alive in a night raid, removing a major scourge for the local people. This heroic deed quickly spread throughout the Northeast, and Yang Zirong's name became a household name, and he became a hero in people's hearts.
However, just when people were cheering for Yang Zirong's heroic deeds, an accident suddenly came. Only 16 days later, Yang Zirong died unexpectedly during a mission, and the news came, and the whole region fell into grief. People have speculated about who was so vicious that he would do this to this hero?
For years, the police have been tracking down the killer, but have never found a conclusive clue. Until one spring more than 20 years later, an old farmer with gray hair walked into the door of the police station, his hands trembled, and his voice said in a low voice: "I am the murderer of Yang Zirong." ”
So, who is this gray-haired old man, and how did Yang Zirong die?
Deep Tiger Hole
At the beginning of 1946, the spring was cold, and the ice and snow on the banks of the Mudanjiang River had not yet completely melted. In this vast land, Yang Zirong's second regiment was stationed in this place.
At that time, bandits were rampant in the Mudanjiang area, and bandits often went down the mountain to harass the people and loot property. In order to defend their homeland, Yang Zirong and his comrades-in-arms threw themselves into one battle after another against bandits without hesitation. They traversed snowy fields and trekked on rugged mountain roads, battling their wits and courage against bandits, and paying with their lives for victory.
In these battles, capturing the "mountain eagle" alive was undoubtedly a beautiful battle. Speaking of "mountain carving", his original name was Zhang Leshan, and he was a Shandong man. He followed his cousin to the rivers and lakes since he was a child, and later came to the Mudanjiang area and began a 50-year career as a bandit.
Zhang Leshan was cunning and cunning, good at setting up ambushes and tricks, which caused many troops to suppress bandits to suffer great losses. To make matters worse, he was also appointed to a military position by the Kuomintang, wielding a lot of power, and becoming a major scourge in the Mudanjiang region.
However, according to the situation at the time, it was not easy to rely on force to directly take Zhang Leshan. Zhang Leshan has a huge influence in the local area, and his subordinates are a group of outlaws, fierce and cunning, and extremely difficult. In the face of such a situation, Yang Zirong knew that he could not fight hard, and he had to think of an ingenious way to deal with it.
So, Yang Zirong stepped forward and proposed a bold plan - pretending to be a bandit to break into the enemy, and then looking for an opportunity to outwit Zhang Leshan. This plan sounded risky, but it was the only way to do it at the time.
In mid-January 1947, Yang Zirong led a small team of men and horses to start this dangerous operation. Before leaving, he once again emphasized discipline and precautions to the team members: "From this moment on, we are the people who have been broken up by the Wu Sanhu team, and we are going to Jilin to join the Kuomintang. Everyone should pretend to be bandits, they are not allowed to call comrades, and they must use the bandit vernacular they learned before. ”
After listening to Yang Zirong's words, the team members all knew that this was an extremely dangerous mission, and the slightest carelessness could expose their identities and lead to the failure of the entire plan. Therefore, everyone is extra careful, and they pretend to be as savage as bandits in words and deeds.
Later, Yang Zirong disguised himself as a bandit and broke into the enemy, and finally eliminated this stubborn bandit through the cooperation between the inside and the outside, and captured Zhang Leshan alive. When Zhang Leshan was arrested, he sighed: "In the past, those big marshals, young marshals, and Japanese devils all wanted to arrest me, but they all had no way to take me. I didn't expect that I ended up planting in the hands of your group of dirt and eight roads, it's really unlucky!"
This achievement caused a great sensation that year, and the "Northeast Daily" even reported their deeds, and Yang Zirong became a hero in the minds of many people. His bravery and resourcefulness deeply touched people and made them full of respect for him.
However, just when people were proud of Yang Zirong's heroic deeds, a sad news came: only 16 days later, this heroic soldier died.
Heroic sacrifice
After destroying the cunning mountain eagle, Yang Zirong and his team did not have a moment of rest and immediately plunged into the next fierce battle. They received a report from the people in Lishugou that a group of bandits were hiding in the nearby mountains and forests. Yang Zirong knows very well that the existence of bandits is like a sword of Damocles hanging over their heads for the local people, and they must be eradicated as soon as possible.
After careful investigation, the bandits that the masses said did exist. After grasping the basic situation, Yang Zirong decided to personally lead the team and selected 30 elite fighters to form an elite team. They stepped on the vast snow and braved the bitter cold to march towards Lishu Village. Along the way, the snow fluttered and the cold wind was biting, but the morale of the soldiers was extremely high, and they had only one belief in their hearts: to eliminate harm for the people and eliminate bandits!
At the homes of the villagers in Lishu Village, they got valuable clues about the bandits. Knowing that the bandits were hiding in Meng Laosan's horse frame shed, Yang Zirong immediately summoned Sun Dade, Wei Chengyou and others to form an assault team and decided to attack the bandits' den at night. They followed the footprints on the snow and carefully touched Meng Laosan's horse frame shed.
Yang Zirong kicked the door open and shouted, "Don't move!" The sound echoed in the shed like thunder. Meng Laosan was drinking water with a big wooden ladle at that time, and his hands shook with fright from this sudden sound, and the big wooden ladle fell to the ground with a "clang". Seeing this, Yang Zirong was about to shoot as a warning, but found that the bolt of the gun was frozen due to the severe cold, and he pulled the trigger but did not make any sound.
In a panic, Meng Laosan grabbed the gun beside him and fired a shot at the door. Yang Zirong didn't expect that there would be a problem with the bolt, and he didn't have time to dodge, and he was hit by a bullet in the chest, and the blood instantly stained his shirt red.
The gun in Yang Zirong's hand was like an out-of-control dragon, suddenly slipping out of his grasp and slamming heavily on the ground, making a crisp metal crashing sound. He tried to hold on to the door panel to support his crumbling body, but eventually he slid down weakly, and collapsed by the door.
A hint of determination flashed in Yang Zirong's eyes, and he stretched out his hand vigorously and took out a grenade from his arms with difficulty. It was his last weapon, and his last warning to his enemies. However, his hand was as heavy as lead, and the grenade seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, and he could no longer throw it out.
Sun Dade next to him was so anxious that he immediately rushed forward and hugged Yang Zirong tightly. His voice was full of anxiety and concern: "Platoon Commander Yang, Platoon Commander Yang, you can't sleep, wake up!" Sun Dade's shouts echoed on the battlefield, but Yang Zirong seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep and could not respond.
Yang Zirong's face became more and more pale, his eyes began to blur, and his consciousness was dissipating little by little. But he still struggled to open his eyes and said in a weak voice, "Leave me alone, I can't do it anymore...... You have to focus on the task......" Before he could finish his words, his body shook violently, and then he completely stilled.
At this time, the battle of the other fighters on the battlefield continued. They bravely rushed to the bandits' den, and the guns in their hands made a continuous sound of "bang bang bang", forming a dense rain of bullets. Wails were heard from inside the bandits' den, and one bandit after another was killed under the onslaught of the attack.
The battle was finally over, and the battlefield was filled with a smell of gunsmoke and blood. Everyone gathered around Yang Zirong's body, looked at his serene and resolute face, and couldn't help crying.
On February 25, 1947, it was a gray winter day, and the soldiers and cadres of the Second Regiment, wearing neat military uniforms and heavy black gloves, walked in front of Yang Zirong's body with heavy steps. They were going to hold a grand funeral for this brave and fearless comrade-in-arms. Snowflakes fall gently, as if silently seeing off the hero.
Since then, the soldiers of the Second Regiment have been looking for the brother who killed Yang Zirong, but they have no clue.
20 years later, the killer turned himself in
In 1968, time flies, and more than 20 years have passed since the heroic sacrifice of the hero Yang Zirong. Although the figure of the hero is far away from us, his heroic deeds, the spirit of sticking to the faith and forgetting death, are like bright stars, shining forever in people's hearts. This year, a model play called "Outwitting Tiger Mountain" became popular all over the country, and countless people were deeply attracted by Yang Zirong's bravery in the play and were moved.
It was an ordinary day, in a small village in Mudanjiang, the villagers gathered happily, waiting to enjoy the wonderful performance of "Outwitting Tiger Mountain". On the stage, the actors were fully engaged, vividly interpreting the magnificent chapter of Yang Zirong and his comrades-in-arms outwitting Weihu Mountain. However, in the audience, an old man looked frightened, and his body trembled involuntarily, as if he was touched by the plot on the stage with some kind of fear deep in his heart.
The old man's name was Meng Laosan, and he was not shocked by Yang Zirong's bravery, but troubled by his own sins. Back then, he participated in that fierce battle, and it was his shot that made Yang Zirong fall heroically in a pool of blood. For many years, this secret had been buried in the bottom of his heart, like a heavy stone, weighing him down.
After returning home, Meng Laosan was still in shock, and his mind kept echoing the plot on stage and Yang Zirong's figure. He knew that he could not continue like this, and that he needed to pay for his crimes. After some fierce psychological struggle, Meng Laosan finally mustered up the courage and decided to go to the police station to turn himself in.
When he came to the police station, Meng Laosan's face was pale, and his eyes were full of remorse. He said in a trembling voice: "I turned myself in, I killed Yang Zirong back then! At that time, the situation was chaotic, and I didn't pay attention to who I hit, and I later learned that that person was Yang Zirong." ”
In the past 20 years, Meng Laosan's life can be described as walking on thin ice, every day is like walking on the tip of a knife, and he may fall into the abyss if he is not careful. Every time in the dead of night, that bloody scene would appear in front of his eyes, Yang Zirong fell in a pool of blood, and his eyes that were once full of vitality were so empty that they made people's hearts palpitate at the moment. Although this secret was hidden deep in Meng Laosan's heart and no one knew about it, his conscience was never at peace.
Meng Laosan often sat alone under the dilapidated roof, looking at the distant sky, his heart full of remorse and self-blame. He recalled the days when he was forced to fall into the grass, when he was young and vigorous, and he just wanted to find a glimmer of life in the troubled times. He never thought of killing, never imagined that his hands would be stained with innocent blood. However, at that moment when his life was hanging by a thread, in order to protect himself, he had to make that life-changing decision.
"I was also forced to be helpless back then. Meng Laosan often talked to himself like this, and his voice was full of helplessness and remorse. He knows that his mistakes are irreparable, but he still hopes to find a glimmer of redemption in this world.
Finally, with the efforts of the police, Meng Laosan's identity was revealed. After comparison, he was indeed the murderer of Yang Zirong back then. Although many years have passed, the punishment of the law will not be exempted. However, when facing Meng Laosan, the court also took into account his attitude of repentance and rehabilitation over the years. In the end, the court decided to waive his death sentence and sentenced him to 8 years in prison.
Meng Laosan didn't say anything about this verdict, but just accepted it silently. He knew that this was the punishment he deserved, and it was also the beginning of his atonement.