The migrant worker lowered his head and did not dare to raise his head, but Wang Zhen ordered someone to control him and take a closer look, and he was immediately furious: "It turned out to be you, Liu Yuliang! You are a strong bandit, and you dare to mix up with our construction site!" Who is Liu Yuliang? Why is Wang Zhen so angry? What is the relationship between the two? What kind of story is hidden behind all this? Let us find out.
Wang Zhen's origin and pursuit
Wang Zhen was born in 1905 in an obscure village in Xiangtan County, Hunan Province. His father, Wang Dequan, was a tenant farmer of a local family who made a living from farming. The family lived a poor life, with insufficient food and clothing, which was a portrayal of ordinary farmers in that era.
When he was a child, Wang Zhen, like other children in the village, played in the fields all day long. However, these children of poor families are often bullied and humiliated by the landlords in the village. Once, Wang Zhen and his partners were playing in front of the ancestral grave of the landlord's house, and after being discovered by the landlord, they were all beaten badly, and Wang Zhen was even beaten to the point that he was completely decent. Since then, Wang Zhen has gained a deeper understanding of the exploitation and oppression of the landlord class.
As he grew older, Wang Zhen gradually became sensible, and he began to think about all kinds of questions in life: Why do we, the children of poor families, live such a miserable life? Why do landlords and old fortunes have no worries about food and clothing? What is going on in this world? His heart is full of doubts and incomprehension.
In 1923, 18-year-old Wang Zhen left his hometown and went to Changsha to make a living. There, he worked as a worker for a time and later joined the National Revolutionary Army. In the army, Wang Zhen gradually came into contact with Marxist theory and gained a deeper understanding of the contradiction between the exploiting class and the exploited class. He found the answer he had been looking for: only by overthrowing the reactionary rule and establishing the power of the proletariat can the masses of the people truly turn themselves into masters.
In 1927, Wang Zhen joined the Communist Party of China and has devoted his life to the revolutionary cause. He said: "I am a peasant and I know very well the pain of the poor people being exploited and oppressed, and I must work hard to liberate all mankind!"
In the face of the difficult revolutionary road, Wang Zhen never flinched. He participated in the Nanchang Uprising, and later moved to the southern Hunan base area. There, he served as a guerrilla leader, leading the masses in guerrilla warfare, and at the same time vigorously developing the peasant movement, organizing poor hired peasants to seize the land and property of the landlord class.
In 1934, Wang Zhen carried out the arduous Long March with the main force of the Central Red Army. In this journey, he personally experienced the indomitable revolutionary will of the communists. Although they have encountered countless tests of life and death, everyone gritted their teeth and persevered. It was precisely by virtue of this spirit of revolutionary optimism that the great victory of the Long March was finally achieved.
In short, Wang Zhen, who has lived in poverty since he was a child, realized the darkness of the old society through personal experience and found a solution. He resolutely joined the Communist Party and devoted his life to unremitting struggle for the cause of the people's liberation.
The arduous process of reclamation of Nanniwan
In 1945, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression won a great victory, but the Kuomintang reactionaries refused to recognize the legitimate status of the Communist Party, the contradictions between the two parties intensified, and a full-scale civil war was on the verge of breaking out. At this critical juncture, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made a major decision to reclaim new base areas on the periphery of the Kuomintang-ruled areas in case of emergency.
This arduous task finally fell on Wang Zhen's shoulders. At the beginning of 1946, Chairman Mao personally summoned Wang Zhen and instructed him to go to the Nanniwan area in southern Hunan to reclaim a new base area.
"Chairman, don't worry, I will go all out to do a good job for the party and the people!" Wang Zhen agreed.
That being said, reclaiming a new area is not an easy task. The area of Nanniwan is located in the deep mountains and old forests of southern Hunan, and the environment is very harsh. The mountains are high and the roads are steep, overgrown with weeds, and there are many wild beasts, which bring great difficulties to the reclamation work.
In March 1946, Wang Zhen led the officers and soldiers of the 359th Brigade to Nanniwan. At first, people were very frustrated with the situation. Some fighters directly put down their tools and said, "How can this kind of land be cultivated? We might as well go back to fighting guerrillas." ＂
Faced with this situation, Wang Zhen did not get angry, but patiently did ideological work: "Comrades, we communists must have this spirit of enduring hardships and standing hard work. Now that the Kuomintang reactionaries have set their spearhead on us, we must open up a new world outside their encirclement in order to lay the foundation for the future seizure of national power. ＂
Under the encouragement of Wang Zhen, everyone rekindled their enthusiasm. They began the difficult road of reclamation.
First of all, we should concentrate our efforts on opening up mountains and cultivating fields. They used shovels and steel drills to reclaim terraced fields little by little, turning the original barren mountains and mountains into fertile fields. At the same time, they also built canals to divert water from mountain springs to irrigate crops.
Next, they began to build the premises. Due to the lack of building materials, people had to use local materials to build their houses with bamboo and earth. A simple house rose from the ground and became a new home for the warriors.
At the same time, Wang Zhen also organized everyone to catch wild meat, plant vegetables and fruits, and develop a self-sufficient production and life. He personally took the lead in labor, shared weal and woe with everyone, and set an example for the officers and men with practical deeds.
In this way, under the leadership of Wang Zhen, the officers and men of the 359 Brigade overcame many difficulties and finally reclaimed a new base area in Nanniwan. By 1949, it had become completely self-sufficient, not only in terms of food and meat, but also in small workshops for the production of daily necessities and improvised tools.
After Chairman Mao learned of this good news, he personally inscribed the three big characters of "Nanniwan" for the Nanniwan New Area, and instructed: "Nanniwan is a new base area opened up by our party in the southern Hunan region, and its successful reclamation is of great significance for winning the national victory. ＂
It was precisely because of the leadership of the masses and the arduous efforts of communists like Wang Zhen that this new base area was finally reclaimed and a solid foundation was laid for the seizure of national power.
Wang Zhen's new discovery
Early one morning in 1954, Wang Zhen came to inspect the construction site of the railway. This is a new railway line connecting Hunan and Guangxi, which is of great significance for promoting the economic development of the two provinces.
When Wang Zhen walked into the construction site, everything seemed to be in order. Some of the workers are laying railroad tracks, some are piling operations, and some are transporting construction materials, all of them are full of energy. Wang Zhen was very happy when he saw it, and he took the initiative to greet the workers and encourage everyone to make persistent efforts.
"Comrades have worked hard, and I have seen everyone's work. This railway line is very important for national construction, and I hope that everyone will work harder and strive for early completion!"
When the workers saw Wang Zhen personally inspecting the project, they were all greatly encouraged and said: "Thank you Commander Wang for your encouragement! We will definitely go all out to do a good job in the project!"
At this moment, Wang Zhen's eyes inadvertently scanned a worker who was working with his head down. Although he could only see the back of his head, Wang Zhen inexplicably felt that this person was a little familiar. He looked closely, and the doubts in his heart grew bigger and bigger.
"The worker over there with his head down, raise his head!" Wang Zhen suddenly ordered.
The worker seemed startled and quickly lowered his head. Seeing this, Wang Zhen strode over and personally pulled the man's head up.
At a glance, Wang Zhen recognized this person's face, and immediately became furious: "It turned out to be you, Liu Yuliang! You are a strong bandit, and you dare to mix in with our construction site!"
It turned out that the worker was none other than Liu Yuliang, a notorious counter-revolutionary. Liu Yuliang was once a large landowner in southern Hunan, and in order to safeguard his own class interests, he repeatedly reported and betrayed revolutionary information, resulting in the brutal murder of many communists and revolutionary masses. During the Liberation War, he even organized an armed group of bandits, harassing and looting everywhere, creating a lot of trouble for Wang Zhen's 359 Brigade.
Liu Yuliang saw through it and tried to escape. Wang Zhen immediately made a decision, ordered the workers around him to hold him down, and then sent someone to call the public security officers to arrest the criminal.
Afterwards, Wang Zhen said to his subordinates: "Liu Yuliang is a cunning man who has been on the run since the liberation, but I did not expect him to disguise himself as a worker and infiltrate our construction site! Fortunately, we saw through his disguise, otherwise he might have destroyed our project." ＂
After listening to this, everyone expressed their admiration for Wang Zhen's alertness and decisiveness. It was precisely with the leadership of a communist like Wang Zhen that he was able to see through the enemy's disguise in time and avoid a serious hidden danger to safety.
This incident also sounded the alarm bell for everyone. On the road of building new China, we must not only guard against sabotage by external enemies, but also heighten our vigilance to prevent the enemy from blending into our interior. Only by maintaining a high degree of vigilance at all times can we ensure that everything goes smoothly in the construction of the country.
A feat of breaking through the blockade
In 1947, the Kuomintang reactionaries launched a frenzied "sweeping" campaign against the Communist Party in an attempt to wipe out the revolutionary forces in one fell swoop. Not only did they attack the Central Plains on a large scale, but they also set up a blockade around the southern Hunan base area, cutting off all communication here.
In the face of the enemy's heavy encirclement, Wang Zhen was not discouraged, but put forward a bold proposal to Chairman Mao: lead the 359 Brigade to break through the enemy's blockade line, transfer positions, and go straight to the hinterland of the Central Plains.
"Sir, now that we are surrounded by enemies, if we sit still like this, we will be wiped out by them sooner or later. Why don't we take the initiative to attack, break through the enemy's blockade line, move to the Central Plains, and give the enemy a surprise blow!"
Chairman Mao listened to Wang Zhen's suggestion and agreed with it. He said: "Comrade Wang Zhen, your idea is very good. Now we are indeed very well surrounded by the enemy, and if we do not find a way to break through, we will be passive in the future. Your leadership of the 359 Brigade to break through the blockade line will play a great role in our national victory. ＂
So, in October 1947, Wang Zhen led the 359 Brigade to start a difficult breakthrough road. They began with a series of small-scale attacks on the Kuomintang blockade to distract the enemy. When the enemy relaxed its vigilance, the 359 Brigade took advantage of the situation and forcibly broke through the first blockade line.
In the days that followed, the 359th Brigade was like a swimming fish, swimming and moving in the mountains of southern Hunan, launching attacks on the Kuomintang blockade line from time to time. Every time they broke through a blockade, they immediately shifted their positions to avoid being surrounded by the enemy.
Along the way, the 359th Brigade encountered countless tests of life and death. Once, they were surrounded by the heavy regiments of the Kuomintang and fell into a desperate situation. Wang Zhen immediately made a decision and ordered the whole brigade to be divided into dozens of small detachments to attack the enemy from all directions.
On another occasion, the 359th Brigade encountered a rushing river on the march and was about to be blocked. At this time, Wang Zhen personally went into the water to investigate, and finally found a shoal to cross the river. He took the lead in wading across the river and safely moved the entire brigade to the opposite bank.
In this way, under the heroic command of Wang Zhen, the 359 Brigade broke through the encirclement all the way and finally successfully arrived in the Central Plains Liberated Area in October 1948. In more than a year, they broke through more than 100 blockade lines of the Kuomintang and created immortal combat achievements.
After Chairman Mao learned the news of the 359 Brigade's successful breakthrough, he personally recorded a great merit for them: "The 359 Brigade was heavily surrounded by the enemy in the southern Hunan base area, and it was still able to break through the encirclement and move to the Central Plains Liberated Area under extremely difficult conditions, which is a great feat!"
end
The 359th Brigade's breakthrough not only made a major contribution to the national victory, but also demonstrated the indomitable revolutionary will of the communists. It is precisely by virtue of this spirit of revolutionary heroism that we have finally won the great victory of the new democratic revolution.