In modern Chinese history, the name Du Yide may not be well known to the general public, but he is full of legends. In the war-torn era, how can an ordinary soldier grow into a general who is feared by the enemy in the baptism of blood and fire?
In 1996, a past story about Du Yide was recorded by military historian Wu Dongfeng, revealing the unknown side of the general. Why did Deng Xiaoping approve him to go home with a machine gun for revenge?
Du Yide, a child of an ordinary peasant family born in Huangpi, Hubei Province, was thrown into that turbulent era by fate. According to historical records, he left home at the age of 14 to study carpentry in Wuhan, and the difficulty of life made him realize the cruelty and injustice of society early.
But it was this injustice that made him gradually develop a strong dissatisfaction with reality and a desire for change in later years.
In 1929, by chance, Du Yide came into contact with the ideas of the Communist Party. In those days, the idea of the Communist Party was undoubtedly a light that illuminated the darkness of the oppressed people.
Duyde's heart was touched like never before. He decided to join the Red Army and embarked on a revolutionary road full of thorns.
In the Red Army, Duyd quickly rose to prominence with his tenacious will to fight and extraordinary courage. Not only did he excel in daytime battles, but night battles were his forte.
When others groped their way forward at night when they couldn't see their fingers, he led his troops to victory many times with his sensitivity to the environment and excellent tactical awareness, and was known as the "Night Tiger".
Just when his military career was in full swing, a sudden tragedy interrupted his steps. During the War of Liberation, the Dabie Mountains became the target of the reactionaries' purge, and Du Yide's hometown was not spared.
Hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians were reportedly killed in the political storm, and Duyid's father was one of them. How could Du Yide, who loved his hometown deeply, endure such pain?
With a deep personal vendetta, Du Yide reported all this to Deng Xiaoping, who was the leader at the time. Unexpectedly, Deng Xiaoping not only understood Du Yide's feelings, but also specifically approved him to bring a machine gun home for revenge.
This decision was undoubtedly extremely rare at the time, but it also reflected the complexity and cruelty of that era. Du Yide carried a machine gun and became famous in the first battle, cutting down more than 100 members of the landlord return regiment to the roots.
This bloody revenge was not only a revenge for his personal family feud, but also a symbol of confronting reactionary forces in that troubled era.
In the post-war years, Duyd's fame grew. However, he never forgot Deng Xiaoping's kindness and teachings. Deng Xiaoping once told him: "Fighting bravely is the basic, but more important is to have tactics." ”
This sentence deeply influenced Duyid's later military career. He began to pay more attention to the learning and application of tactics and strategies, and was no longer simply brave. It was this kind of experience and lessons learned from actual combat that made him more comfortable in later battles.
Either because of the feelings of their family and country, or because of personal grievances, they stepped into the battlefield and wrote history with their lives and blood. Du Yide, on the other hand, highlights the interweaving of the individual and the times, and shows the choices and sacrifices of the individual in the context of the great era.
Although such an act of revenge was understood and even supported in the circumstances of the time, it undoubtedly raises many questions worth pondering today.
War and revenge bring temporary relief and happiness, but long-term peace and development require more tolerance and wisdom. Duyd reminds us that history is made up of the superposition of the choices of countless individuals. Every decision could be the key to changing the course of history.
When looking back on Duyid's life, we see not only the growth of a soldier and the pain of an era, but also how a person maintains humanity and sanity in extreme circumstances. Although revenge gave him temporary satisfaction, it was more of a yearning for a peaceful life in the future.
Du Yide is a history of ups and downs, a soldier who started from the bottom, wrote his own legend through his own efforts and opportunities in the turbulent era.
His experience reflects the suffering and complexity of that era, as well as the choices and sacrifices of ordinary people in special times.
Although we are in an era of peace today, Du still reminds us that in the torrent of history, every individual choice deserves to be remembered. They are witnesses to history and revelators of the future.