Source: China Military Network, PLA News and Communication Center Rong Media
Author: Zhao Lei, Li Jiaqi
Zhongfu Village in Changting, Fujian Province, is the "first village of the Long March of the Red Army", and there is a tick line of life on the local "Red Army Bridge".
The length of a spear and a bayonet is about one meter and five meters. "People are higher than guns to be the Red Army", the carved line on the pillar of the bridge, was the lowest threshold for the Red Army to recruit soldiers that year. More than 80 years ago, nearly 600 people joined the Red Army in a single village. Many people are young and not tall enough to join the Red Army. In order to reach this line, some people stuffed paper into straw shoes, some people tiptoed up, and some people got up in the middle of the night, secretly lowered it, and tried to stand in the ranks of the Red Army...
Group photo of some Yi soldiers who participated in the Red Army after arriving in northern Shaanxi (data map)
This is a group photo of some of the Yi soldiers who joined the Red Army after arriving in northern Shaanxi, and their faces are full of joy after completing the long journey.
In May 1935, the Long March of the Central Red Army entered the Yi area of Daliangshan, where ethnic contradictions were deep due to historical reasons, and the Yi people generally blindly hated the Han People. According to the founding general Xiao Hua recalled: "The engineer company that followed the main force, because there was no weapon, was searched by the Yi people for the bridge building equipment and other utensils they carried more than a hundred meters behind the main force..." After the Yihai alliance, the Yi compatriots eliminated the misunderstanding of the Red Army, they welcomed the Red Army with red flags and long guns on their backs, and many Young Yi people immediately signed up to join the Red Army.
When we open the history books and look back at the hard-won victory of 85 years ago, we can see the blockade lines, the snow-capped mountains, the vast meadows, and the great sacrifices made to overcome the difficulties and obstacles. When Chairman Mao mentioned the difficulty of the Long March, he said: "In the middle of twelve months, dozens of planes in the sky reconnaissance and bombing every day, hundreds of thousands of troops underground surrounded and blocked, and the road encountered endless difficulties and obstacles." "Bitter is not bitter, think of the Long March 25,000!" It is not only the artistic lament of posterity, but also the true portrayal of the history of that year.
However, we can see even more the enthusiasm and enthusiasm of the masses along the Long March to participate in this team. In "The Red Star Shines on China," Edgar Snow said, "From the farthest point of Fujian to the end of the road in the far northwest of Shaanxi," "the enduring enthusiasm, the consistent hope, and the astonishing revolutionary optimism of these thousands of young people run through it like a flame."
This unparalleled expedition is a legend, a miracle, and the greatest mystery in the eyes of many.
Marshal Liu Bocheng once said: "The common people are not destined to follow us in their fate. "So why did the Red Army, which seemed to be at the end of its rope, get the unconditional support of the masses of the people on the Long March?
American writer Harrison Salisbury, in "The Long March – An Unheard Story", presents a set of brutal data revealing how farmers in Gannan were enslaved and exploited – landlords rented out land for 50% interest, borrowed 30% interest, 50% interest on grain, 75% on cattle, 20% to 200% for cooking oil, 150% for salt...
"Eating enough" is the most basic living condition for people, but in old China under the rule of warlords, the people of all ethnic groups could not even meet this most basic living condition. Without a basic guarantee of subsistence, without the minimum necessities of life, under the "three great mountains" of imperialism, bureaucratic capitalism and feudalism, hunger and poverty cannot be shaken off like shadows.
"The Red Army absolutely protects the interests of the workers and peasants who have returned home." On the wall of a mosque in Kedu Town, Xundian Hui and Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, the slogan left by the Red Army during the Long March is still clearly visible today.
Red Army slogans left on the town of Kedu in Xundian Hui and Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province. Source: Central Committee of the Communist Youth League
On April 30, 1935, the Central Red Army entered the town of Xundian Kedu. At that time, a Red Army soldier almost clashed with the Hui people because he did not understand local customs. After Commander-in-Chief Zhu De learned about the situation, he personally took the soldier to the imam of the mosque to apologize and asked the Red Army propagandists to write these 14-character slogans in purple clay, and the "homecoming" in the slogan referred to the Hui. This simple slogan deeply imprints the party's political propositions and ethnic policies on the hearts of the local people. After that, the Hui masses sent firewood, vegetables, and eggs to the Red Army. There were also many Hui youths who took the initiative to join the Red Army and follow the Long March.
On the road of the Long March, the Red Army beat up local tyrants, divided up the land, stressed policies, and brushed slogans, spreading revolutionary ideals to a wide area of the country. After 85 years, we can still see that many historical stories about the "Red Army Bridge", "Red Army Well", "Red Army Tree", "Red Army Building", "Red Army Village", "Red Army Grave" and so on are still spreading to this day. The deeds of the Red Army soldiers who fought in blood and loved the people and helped the people made people realize the truest side of the Red Army, and "the Red Army is our own team of poor people" has become the most sincere feeling of compatriots of all nationalities along the Long March.
According to statistics, there were nearly 3,000 guides who led the Red Army during the entire Long March, and there were countless people who participated in building bridges and crossing rivers for the Red Army, raising funds and collecting grain, boiling water and delivering food, covering the wounded, replenishing new soldiers, passing on information, and completing combat tasks.
"The sky is high and the clouds are light, and I look at the flying geese in the south." Less than the Great Wall is not a good man, the itinerary is twenty thousand. The peak of Liupan Mountain, the red flag swept the west wind. Today the long wisp is in hand, when will it tie the dragon? In October 1935, the Central Red Army crossed the Liupan Mountain, completely freed itself from the encirclement and blockade of the Kuomintang army, and opened the last barrier to the revolutionary base area in northern Shaanxi. In the face of the imminent victory of the Long March and the imminent arrival of the new situation of anti-Japanese resistance, Chairman Mao expressed the pride and self-confidence in his chest with this poem "Qingping Le • Liupanshan".
Of course you should be confident! The Long March is a manifesto, the Long March is a propaganda team, and the Long March is a seeding machine. This "unparalleled modern epic" in human history is also the grandest publicity tour. The Central Red Army has traveled through 11 provinces with a total population of 200 million, and wherever the Party Central Committee and the Red Army go, the political propositions of going north to resist Japan will be propagated, the work of cracking down on local tycoons and dividing up the land will be done, and the masses of the people will risk death to support them. On the long journey of twenty-five thousand miles, the red army team became more and more determined, stronger and stronger, and more confident, which became an inevitability.
All the way forward, we must not forget the road we have traveled. Engaging in construction, seeking rejuvenation, fighting floods, fighting earthquakes, eliminating poverty, controlling the epidemic... History and practice have repeatedly proved, and will continue to prove, that the Communist Party of China and the people's army under its leadership are the most reliable backbone of the people Chinese when the storm strikes. Whoever truly represents the interests of the people, struggles with the people, sacrifices together, and creates together, the people will choose whom and who they support. This is an unbreakable truth, which has been true for more than 80 years, and it is still the same on today's new Long March road!
(Produced by China Military Network and PLA News and Communication Center)