Preamble:
"Did you hear, Lao Zhong is a deserter, otherwise why would he be farming at home alone now, and other old Red Army soldiers have been rewarded by the state."
"Yes, I heard that he escaped from the battlefield on the battlefield, hey, it's a shame for us 'General County'."
"What's more, I've heard that he betrayed information and was a 'traitor'!"
In the 70s of the last century, such a rumor began to circulate in Changgang Township, Xingguo County, Jiangxi Province, that Zhongfa Town, which had been honestly planting for 30 years, had a hidden identity as a "traitor" and "traitor".
As the rumors continued to ferment, not only did Zhong Fazhen struggle in the village, but even his son was suspended.
Local cadres have repeatedly summoned Zhongfa Town for investigation, and nearby villagers have also avoided it.
Zhong Fazhen originally just wanted to farm quietly and earn a living, but all kinds of unsightly words deeply pierced his heart.
So he decided to write a letter to Li Xiannian, then vice premier of the State Council, and he wrote at the beginning of the letter: "Old chief, I am a red imp who has followed you, please help me prove my identity."
Why did Zhong Fazhen call Li Xiannian the old chief? Why was he mistaken for a "traitor" and a "traitor"?
Interpreter under artillery fire
On December 12, 1936, the Central Committee sent a secret telegram to all military organizations.
The content of the telegram shows that the Xi'an Incident broke out, and Chiang Kai-shek was detained by Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng.
All the troops who received this news were very excited, because it meant that they were one step closer to the achievement of the anti-Japanese national united front.
Naturally, the Red 30 Army, which was responsible for the task of establishing the Hexi base area, also received this telegram, and Li Xiannian, who was the political commissar of the Red 30 Army at the time, excitedly shook the hand of the young telegrapher beside him and asked over and over again whether it was true. Is it true?
The immature-looking telegrapher looked resolute, and once again he translated the contents of the telegram and confirmed that it was correct!
At that time, the Red 30th Army was still facing the encirclement and suppression of the enemy, and the fierce artillery fire continued to pour near the headquarters, but the joy still spread throughout the whole army and inspired the soldiers who were bravely killing the enemy.
And this interpreter who translated the important information of the Xi'an Incident is Zhong Fazhen, who was misunderstood by the villagers as a "traitor" and "traitor" at the beginning of the article.
During his tenure as a telegrapher in the military headquarters of the Red 30th Army, he had frequent contact with Li Xiannian, and was affectionately called "Red Imp" by Li Xiannian.
Since it was the old Red Army that had followed Li Xiannian, why did Zhongfa Town farm incognito in Xingguo County for 30 years?
Why is it rumored to be a traitor and a traitor?
The "Red Imps" in General County
Zhong Fazhen was born in 1919 in Changgang Township, Xingguo County, Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province.
Xingguo County has a strong red culture, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, there are 54 old Red Army soldiers from Xingguo County who were awarded the rank of major general of the People's Liberation Army, and the number of founding generals here is second only to Hubei Hong'an, which is a veritable "general county".
Among the generals of Xingguo, Changgang Township has the most.
Chairman Mao personally came to Changgang Township to do research, deeply studied issues such as the election movement and the lives of the masses, and wrote the famous "Changgang Township Survey".
It was also a model county and a martyr's county in the Soviet region, and was the main battlefield of the third, fourth, and fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaigns. Chairman Mao once personally wrote down the award flag of "Model Rejuvenation of the Country" here.
Growing up in such a strong atmosphere of the Red Revolution, Zhong Fazhen will naturally not drop the chain.
Although he did not highlight his outstanding exploits, he also joined the Red Army early. How early is that?
13 years old.
13-year-old Zhong Fazhen resolutely decided to join the army in order to inherit his father's legacy.
(His father was persecuted to death by the enemy because he participated in the peasant union movement organized by the underground party.) ）
But at first, because of his young age and thin stature, the Red Army soldiers were reluctant to recruit him.
"Children, we can understand your feelings of wanting to serve the country and kill the enemy, you can wait until you grow up a little more, wait until the next batch of Red Army soldiers come here, and then choose to join the army."
The Red Army soldiers patiently persuaded Zhong Fazhen, but Zhong Fazhen was very stubborn.
He stalked the conscription cadres wherever he went, and finally the conscripts reluctantly agreed to his request.
"Then you can go and be a greeter."
The Greeting Soldier is also a type of "Boy Scout", and does not need to go to the battlefield, but is a reserve health soldier who follows the medical soldier to take care of the wounded.
Zhong Fazhen was very happy, anyway, no matter what kind of army, he was already satisfied with being a Red Army.
He worked hard in the rear to take care of the wounded for more than 1 year, and was later transferred to the hospital as a full-time hygienist.
The bloody and bloody scenes of the wounded comrades on the battlefield did not frighten this brave "red imp", who was very eager to go into battle and kill the enemy.
But because the previous encirclement and suppression were fought smoothly under the correct command of Chairman Mao, there was no need for him, a "red ghost", to go into battle.
The accident occurred in the fifth "anti-encirclement and suppression" campaign.
Because some party insiders copied the experience of the Soviet Union and did not follow Chairman Mao's correct guidance, they suffered an unprecedented defeat for the fifth time, and the Central Soviet Region was forced to start the Long March.
Zhong Fazhen also embarked on the Long March with the army.
Faith in the Long March
"We must not be left behind, and we must always follow the party." This is what Zhong Fazhen later said in an interview with the media.
It is difficult for those who have not experienced the difficulties of the Long March to imagine, and we can only experience the glorious years when difficulties and beliefs were intertwined and strongly contrasted from the words left by our ancestors.
During the Long March, he was assigned to the Political Department of the Red Fifth Army as a propagandist.
According to his recollection, "the propagandist was one of the hardest roles in the ranks. ”
For example, when crossing the Golden Mountain, the general Red Army team climbed the mountain during the day, but the propagandists had to march in the middle of the night, and each person had to carry a bamboo tube of ginger soup on his back, and stop at dangerous places along the road to mark them.
After dawn, encourage those field troops who follow up on the mountain. And after the large army is gone, it is necessary to contain the officers and soldiers who have fallen behind.
Zhong Fazhen, who was only 14 years old, said that he seemed to have endless energy at that time, and he didn't know what it meant to be tired.
The harsh natural environment was only a problem that the Red Army units had to face, and the enemy troops who were desperately chasing after each other, and the aircraft bombs hovering over them at any time caused serious attrition on the march.
When breaking through the defense line of the Xiangjiang and Wujiang rivers, there was very little time left for the Red Army, and the troops barely rested and stopped, and marched continuously and rapidly.
Zhong Fazhen recalled that he had prepared dry food for three days and three nights, and was in a hurry to eat and hurry.
This meant that he didn't close his eyes for three days and three nights.
When you're hungry, take a few bites of hard dry food; When thirsty, take a few sips of rainwater stored on the side of the road.
For Zhong Fazhen, the biggest test he faced during the Long March was "crossing the Luding Bridge".
The water under the Luding Bridge is turbulent, and the river hits the embankment with a terrifying loud sound.
No one doubts that once you fall, you will be drowned in the river in an instant.
The iron cables on the bridge are not strong, and they can walk non-stop, and some powerful soldiers can move forward to cross the river by holding on to the railing of the bridge, but Zhong Fazhen can't do it.
Zhong Fazhen was short and thin, and he couldn't hold on to the 13 guardrails with thick bowls on both sides.
Despite the fear in his heart, Zhong Fazhen thought that he must not delay the speed of the army's march because of himself, so how did he cross the bridge?
The answer is "climb across the bridge".
It turned out that in order to make it more convenient for the follow-up soldiers to march, the vanguard laid some simple wooden planks on the iron cables, and Zhong Fazhen lay on these planks and crawled across the bridge.
Every time he talks about this, Zhong Fazhen's eyes are full of pride.
He teased himself: "Everyone else is 'flying over the Luding Bridge', only I am 'climbing the Luding Bridge'." "I'm afraid this is the first person in history!
Zhong Fazhen did not forget to add: "Only after experiencing the Luding Bridge did I know how powerful the vanguard troops who first relied on the iron cable were!" They didn't have anything, and the slippery wire was their only support, but they did it! ”
Every time he thinks about this, Zhong Fazhen's eyes are moist: "Without them, there would be no good life today!" It's a pity they can't see it! ”
Immediately after crossing the Luding Bridge, you will pass through a large meadow, and the swamp inside is also the "demon" that devours the Red Army soldiers.
In order to keep up with the troops, he was thin and pulled the tail of the commander's war horse across the grass, and later when he crossed the river, Zhong Fazhen was very grateful.
In this way, Zhong Fazhen followed the Red Army team and completed the 25,000-mile Long March.
At this time, Zhongfa Town didn't know that the next thing to face was an even more tragic battle.
Captured during the Western Expedition
In October 1936, the Western Route Army was established with the Red Fourth Front Army as the team, and this Red Army team gathered 20,000 horses to march to the Hexi Corridor in order to open the channel of contact with the Soviet Union.
Zhong Fazhen was incorporated into the Red Ninth Army of the Western Route Army and served as a translator. He was only 17 years old at this time.
Those who are familiar with history know that the Western Route Army at this time was not ready to go.
They had less than 10,000 men, and lacked the support of reinforcements, weapons and food, and their opponent was Ma Bufang, who had more than 20,000 cavalry.
Despite this, the Western Route Army fought a bloody battle with the Ma Jiajun in Gulang City.
This battle is something that Jong Fa-jin will never forget.
They ran out of bullets and engaged in a bloody white-knuckle battle with the enemy.
Due to his short stature, Zhong Fazhen hid in the shadows and specialized in cutting the legs of enemy horses.
A knife, a knife, a knife...... Zhong Fazhen was covered in blood, the tiger's mouth was also torn open by the shock, and the big knife in his hand was even curled.
But there were too many enemies, and the battle of Gulang was still lost.
Sun Yuqing, the commander of the Red 9th Army, died heroically after being captured, and Zhong Fazhen and his surviving comrades-in-arms successfully broke through, leaving only more than 200 people at this time.
These people were incorporated into Li Xiannian's Red 30th Army.
It was also at this time that Zhong Fazhen met Li Xiannian and translated the important telegram about the "Xi'an Incident".
However, the arrogant and arrogant "Ma Jiajun" did not restrain the Red Army because of the "Xi'an Incident", but launched a more fierce attack on the Red Army.
The Red 30th Army could not withstand the pressure and was defeated in Yongchang, Gansu, and was forced to break into pieces and transferred to Qilian Mountain to fight guerrillas.
It was during this period that Zhong Fazhen and Li Xiannian were separated.
Zhong Fazhen and the other eight soldiers formed a guerrilla squad, but unfortunately they were captured in the mountains and sent to a barracks of the Majia Army in Xining to work as laborers.
Fortunately, Zhong Fazhen met a woman who was also from Xingguo, Jiangxi, who was the aunt of a regiment commander in the Ma Family Army Corps.
Seeing that Zhong Fazhen was still young and skinny, this aunt and wife kindly let Zhong Fazhen go.
After escaping, Zhong Fazhen originally wanted to go to Yan'an to join the army, but the Japanese army set up blockades in various places, especially the area leading to Yan'an, so he had no choice but to give up.
In this way, Zhong Fazhen begged all the way and fled back to his hometown of Xingguo.
After returning home, Zhong Fazhen learned that his family had died because of his participation in the revolution, and only an old mother was left. The mother begged Zhong Fazhen in pain not to go out again, just be an honest farmer at home, don't let the family die, the filial Zhong Fazhen can only agree.
After the victory of the revolution, Zhong Fazhen had the idea of finding an organization to explain his identity, but thinking that his contribution to the revolution was not great, there was no need to trouble the organization, and it was good to be a peasant at home.
So I planted it in the field, and I planted one for 30 years.
Until rumors spread in the village, Zhong Fazhen had no choice but to write a letter to the central government, hoping to prove his identity and return his innocence.
After receiving the letter, Li Xiannian carefully studied it for a long time, and when he saw the passage where Zhong Fazhen described and translated the telegram of the "Xi'an Incident", he finally determined Zhong Fazhen's identity.
Because if it weren't for the witnesses, it would not have been possible to describe the situation in such detail.
So Li Xiannian forwarded the letter to the Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee, and confirmed that Zhong Fazhen was indeed his own telegrapher back then, and the Jiangxi Civil Affairs Department then confirmed his identity as a separated member of the Red Army.
When the village cadres found Zhongfa Town again, they first apologized to him, then expressed their admiration for Zhongfa Town, and explained the situation to everyone in the whole village:
Zhong Fazhen is not a "traitor" or "traitor", but an "old Red Army" who has contributed to the revolution!
Zhong Fazhen said that he did not expect the organization to give him any preferential treatment, but he was unwilling to bear the unwarranted infamy before writing to the central government, and now that the truth is revealed, he will be content!
I don't care about everyone's previous misunderstanding!
However, although Zhong Fazhen did not ask for anything himself, he never forgot these old Red Army soldiers organizationally.
Since then, he has served as a company commander for migrant workers, and has also served as a workshop director and deputy director of a lime plant.
In addition, the local departments concerned often send people to express condolences, and they have also appeared on CCTV to reminisce about the Red Army, which is enough to prove that the country has not forgotten these people who have contributed to the revolution!
Epilogue:
It is precisely because of these old Red Army soldiers who do not aspire to fame and fortune and go forward to succeed the revolution that we can have a happy life today, so that we will not be humiliated by foreign enemies, and we pay tribute to them!
Come from:
Listening to the Old Red Army Tell the Story of the Long March: Growing Up in the Long March People's Daily 2016-08-29
Remembering the Long March: Ten Sending the Red Army to the Red Army is melancholy, hoping that their relatives will return to their hometowns as soon as possible Nanfang Daily 2016-08-01
Zhong Fa Zhen - Bullets and Bullets Translation Secret Telegram. China National Radio, May 25, 2004
The thrilling story of the 95-year-old Red Army's Long March 2014-10-11 China Broadcasting Network