< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > he was born on the shore of Dongting Lake, but he formed an indissoluble relationship with camels in the northwest desert;</h1>
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > he founded the first camel corps in China's military history, galloping thousands of miles and making great contributions to the cause of the northwest border defense of the motherland</h1>
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > he has experienced ups and downs, but he has never been discouraged, and has written a monograph on camel breeding in millions of words for decades, completing a gorgeous transformation from a soldier to a scholar. </h1>
We can find out a lot of stories about the desert, such as the very familiar movies such as "Tomb Robber Maze", "Scorpion King", "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and so on.
If you look closely, there is always one figure in these stories that is never absent, and that is the camel called the boat of the desert. In the movie, the protagonists ride camels in the desert to conquer thousands of miles and retreat freely, which makes many fans marvel.
Desert Boat
What is less well known is that in the military history of our country, there has also been such a camel cavalry unit. Although this force has not existed for a long time, history will not forget the great role they played in the process of liberating the Great Northwest.
Today, I will tell the legendary story of He Xinmin, the founder of this camel corps and the first regimental commander of the former Hunan Provincial Counselor.
Elder He Xinmin is 103 years old. His legs and feet have always been inconvenient, he rarely goes out, and only when his physical condition is not very good, he will go to the hospital a kilometer away to see.
Occasionally, the old man would travel once, spanning a radius of less than a kilometer of life for many years, in a wheelchair, to see a camel.
Camels are not only the most important friends in He Xinmin's life, but also he Xinmin's savior.
The first person to study camels in China: He Xinmin
In the late autumn of 1938, He Xinmin, who had just arrived at the Kuomintang Lanzhou Camel Transport Brigade as a trainee, received his first task: to cross the desert and transport a batch of supplies to a supply station.
When He Xinmin followed the camel caravan into the desert, he was instantly shocked by the vast desert scenery.
"The desert is lonely and straight, and the long river is full of sunsets", He Xinmin, who has just graduated from Changsha Changjun Middle School, is immersed in a poetic painting. At this moment, He Xinmin had no idea that a huge crisis was coming towards him and his companions.
The next day, He Xinmin was still reminiscing about the poetry outside the sai, when the right hand holding the reins suddenly tightened, and when he looked back, the camels that had been obedient suddenly stopped moving and fell to the ground.
At this time, He Xinmin found that a smoke suddenly rose from the edge of the distant sand dune, and it rolled closer and closer. In less than five minutes, a fierce wind was carrying layers of sand grains.
The desert that had just made He Xinxin feel relaxed suddenly revealed another side of it - the sandstorm was coming!
Hiding under a camel, He Xinmin felt the cruelty of the desert for the first time, and for the first time felt the fear of death.
dust storm
In the fierce wind, the mournful sound of sand and gravel sweeping and rubbing seemed to never stop, and their convoy seemed to be about to be swallowed up by the moving sand dunes.
After an hour, the sandstorm finally stopped.
Fortunately, this sudden storm did not cause casualties, and He Xinmin could not help but be happy.
But another harsh reality lay in front of them: they were lost.
As the storm changed the position of the dunes, the signs that used to serve as guide references no longer exist. He Xinmin, who had just entered the desert, understood that at this time, even the best guides could hardly find directions.
Getting lost in the boundless desert means death.
Just when He Xinmin was nervous, a camel next to him shouted.
This is an old camel, and it turns out that the old camel knows the way.
He Xinmin and the people of the transport team followed the old camel all the way out of the desert where things were difficult to discern.
The old camel knows the way
Why did He Xinmin, a man from Hunan, come to the northwest to engage in camel transportation?
Why did He Xinmin, who had been in trouble with camels and regarded him as a savior, be so determined to kill camels?
This has to start with the July 7 Incident in 1937 and the full-scale outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan.
The July 7 Incident will never be forgotten
In 1937, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression broke out in full swing, and wolf smoke rose up on the land of China.
At a time when the country was in crisis, He Xinmin, who was studying in high school, thought of abandoning his pen and going to the anti-Japanese battlefield to kill the enemy and serve the country, but no troops were willing to accept him who was physically weak.
At this time, He Xinmin remembered a person, his cousin He Yaozu.
He Yaozu, the boss of the military command
He Yaozu, a native of Ningxiang, Hunan. The elders of the League had close contacts with Xie Jueya and other CCP elders.
He Yaozu graduated from the Japanese Army Non-Commissioned Officer School, joined the Northern Expedition in 1926, was awarded the rank of lieutenant general in 1935, and became the director of Lanzhou in 1937, acting chairman of Gansu Province. His subordinates, Tao Zhiyue, Peng Mingding, and other Xiang generals, later held important positions in the Kuomintang's northwestern authorities, laying the foundation for the peaceful liberation of the northwest in the future.
He Xinmin, who had trekked all the way to Gansu, was severely disciplined as soon as he saw his cousin.
"You don't read books, what do you do when you come out gently?" Want to be an official? There is no official here to do it for you! You have to learn to be a person and learn to do things! Now the northwest is very difficult, all the supplies are transported by camels, there are very few people who study camels, you go to live with camels, first learn to do things! ”
Thinking that joining the transport team could also contribute to the anti-Japanese resistance, He Xinmin immediately agreed. But in the heart of this young man, he never gave up the dream of one day crossing the battlefield and fighting against the Japanese and serving the country.
He Yaozu held an important position and won chiang kai-shek's trust and use
After a death escape from a sandstorm, He Xinmin became interested in the real beginning of the camel.
He suddenly thought, with a seemingly absurd idea: Since its unassuming camel can overcome the weather of the desert and find an oasis of life, can it replace the military horse, gallop on the battlefield, and kill the enemy?
In He Xinmin's view, riding a camel to fight a war, and riding a horse to fight a war, there are similarities, in order to command a cavalry unit to charge the front, you must first master the tactics of the cavalry unit.
Whampoa Military Academy
Therefore, not long after, in 1939, He Xinmin applied for the 14th Cavalry Section of the Whampoa Military Academy.
After graduation, He Xinmin was not able to return to the northwest, but was assigned to the Chinese Expeditionary Force and marched to the yunnan front.
In 1945, the Japanese army announced its surrender, and after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, He Xinmin found Zhang Zhizhong and asked to go to the northwest.
Zhang Zhizhong was very strange, so he asked him what he was going to do in the northwest.
He Xinmin said, I went to the northwest to study camels.
Zhang Zhizhong smiled, well, there is a lot of need for this kind of person over there, you go.
Zhang Zhizhong
Embracing the enthusiasm of building the motherland's frontiers, He Xinmin, who had returned from the Anti-Japanese War, returned to Gansu and served as a staff officer of the Transportation Department of the Kuomintang's Northwest Camp.
At this time in China, the national defense force was weak, the Kuomintang regime used its limited resources to fight a civil war, and the great northwest with poor natural conditions became a forgotten corner.
At that time, the Kuomintang ruled in Xinjiang, mainly relying on the Lanxin Highway to transport various materials from the interior to Xinjiang. However, the long supply line, the Gobi Desert is dense and sparsely populated, which gives bandits inside and outside the country an opportunity. They often robbed the Lanxin Highway, harassed the local people, and caused serious harm to local law and order.
He Xinmin, who served as a staff officer in the Northwest Camp Transportation Department, was very anxious about this.
He Xinmin
In those extremely anxious days, the only thing that could bring He Xinmin a little joy was the arrival of his wife.
The couple has spent few days together since they were married in 1938. After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, He Xinmin, who was serving in Gansu, took his wife to his side to make up for the debts owed by the years of separation.
Although He Xinmin was tight-lipped, his wife Ouyang Yuexiang captured the grim situation of banditry in the northwest from the words of her husband and others.
Bandits in the northwest not only rob convoys and merchants of things, but also kill people indiscriminately!
Camel convoys
Yumen Oilfield was the only oilfield in China at that time.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Japanese army blocked all international transportation lines, and the production of Yumen Oilfield effectively alleviated the domestic oil shortage.
After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Kuomintang government invested a lot of money in the civil war, but it was reluctant to spend money to buy cars for oil transportation in the Yumen Oilfield. Therefore, the oil transportation of Yumen Oilfield mainly relies on livestock.
This allowed the bandits in the desert to see an opportunity.
Some bandits squatted around the Yumen oil field, specializing in sabotage and robbing cattle and sheep.
Xinjiang bandit leader Wu Siman
The Kuomintang cavalry pursued and suppressed several times, but they did not return. At that time, the cavalry unit was still a horse, and the horse entered the desert without grass to eat, nor could it find water to drink, coupled with the unfamiliar terrain, the cavalry unit often could not even touch the hair of the bandits.
The bandits' wanton behavior attracted the attention of Zhang Zhizhong, then director of the Kuomintang's northwestern camp. In order to curb the banditry, he thought of he Xinmin, the cousin of his old friend He Yaozu and who had voluntarily applied to come to the northwest to carry out camel transportation.
In the autumn of 1946, at the behest of Zhang Zhizhong, the 28-year-old He Xinmin formally formed the first camel cavalry combat unit in Chinese military history.
The Camel Cavalry Combat Unit consisted of four regimental companies, much larger than the previous cavalry regiments, in addition to the Camel Cavalry Company, as well as artillery companies, heavy machine gun companies, and special service companies. Later, He Xinmin also set up a camel research room, and also had a research team as a reserve company. Five companies, each created in a configuration of 350 people.
Camel cavalry in the Age of Cold Weapons
As early as 1100 BC, the nomadic peoples of Central Asia and North Africa trained camel cavalry for combat.
In China, the large-scale military use of camels dates back to 107 BC. The Han Dynasty general Li Guangli set out from Dunhuang and led an army of 60,000 men across thousands of kilometers of desert to attack the Central Asian country of Dawan and won a great victory. And it is the tens of thousands of camels accompanying the army that provide logistical support for its army.
Later, as China's economic center of gravity gradually shifted to the Central Plains and southeast, the Great Northwest, which gave birth to the Han and Tang civilizations, was gradually ignored by the rulers, and the military development of camels stagnated.
Now, this heavy responsibility has been entrusted to He Xinmin from the shore of Dongting Lake in the south.
In the eyes of His wife Ouyang Yuexiang, he became the husband of the leader of the Camel Corps and was busier than before.
Camels in the Desert Boat
On this day, He Xinmin led a camel caravan of more than a hundred people into the desert to conduct a marching experiment, but after a sandstorm, they lost their way and walked around in the desert for a few days, running out of water and food, and the troops fell into a desperate situation of life and death.
At that time, everyone, including He Xinmin, believed that the secret of the camel's ability to not eat or drink for several days was that the camel's stomach could store a lot of water.
Some soldiers proposed to kill camels to get water from the camel's stomach.
In the face of more than a hundred warriors whose lives were on the line, He Xinmin finally made a difficult decision.
After killing a camel, the soldiers were surprised to find that there was no water in the camel's stomach, only a little gastric juice.
The tears that the camels shed before they died made He Xinmin at this time very upset.
Camels also shed tears
However, what is more important in front of He Xinmin's eyes is to quickly find the water source, otherwise more than a hundred people are afraid that there will be no return!
Where is the source of life in the vast desert? How will He Xinmin and more than a hundred warriors overcome the danger?
Just when He Xinmin and more than a hundred warriors were lost in the desert, cut off from water and food, and faced a desperate situation, He Xinmin suddenly remembered that in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" that he had read in his early years, he once said that camels "know where the water spring is."
He immediately ordered his subordinates to untie the reins, let the camels gallop, and send soldiers to follow the camels to track them.
Miraculously, the camels seemed to be able to smell the water twenty kilometers away, and actually helped them find the water source, once again saving He Xinmin and his newly formed camel cavalry unit.
An oasis in the desert
After a period of military training, this camel cavalry unit began to shine its sword to the northwest.
Horses can't go into the desert, but camels can, and there are no roads in the desert, but there are roads everywhere.
He Xinmin took his camel cavalry unit to the edge of the desert, mobilized the common people, and regularly provided them with intelligence.
Kazakh herdsmen pointed out the escape route for our bandit troops
On the Gobi Desert, He Xinmin also arranged for the machine gun company and the secret service company to squat early. Through the radio between the company and the company, He Xinmin could dispatch people and horses to chase down the bandits at any time.
After the report of the people who suffered greatly from the bandits, He Xinmin figured out how many bandits were coming, and immediately led the camel cavalry to pursue and suppress them.
Our cavalry braved the wind and sand to pursue the Usman bandits
On the Gobi Desert, the bandits' horses were not as mobile as cars, and they were chased and beaten by machine gun companies and special agent companies; in the desert, the bandits were picked up by He Xinmin's camel cavalry as targets.
After several months of hard work, He Xinmin and his camel corps gradually stabilized the security situation along the Lanxin Highway.
Soon, the Nationalist government also entrusted the heavy responsibility of guarding the Yumen oil field to He Xinmin's camel corps.
The armored vehicle units of our army dealt a heavy blow to the rebels, who were mainly cavalry, in the suppression of bandits
However, at this moment, Ouyang Yuexiang, who had been at ease as a wife at home, obviously felt that the situation had become tense.
In May 1949, Xi'an was liberated, and the First Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army led by Peng Dehuai began to sweep through the Great Northwest.
Peng Dehuai's First Field Army (Northwest Field Army) was merged with the Northwest Military District in 1949
From 1949 to August 26, Lanzhou was liberated, and the defeated Kuomintang troops retreated westward in an attempt to enter Xinjiang through Yumen. Moreover, they spread rumors along the way, "Communist wives, the Communist Party must not only confiscate personal property, but also arrest women and distribute them, and children must also distribute them!" "Stirred up panic in the northwestern people.
Tao ZhiYue
At the same time, Tao Zhiyue, then the supreme commander of the Kuomintang's northwestern authorities, commander of the Xinjiang Garrison District, and a general of Hunan nationality, was actively seeking a peaceful uprising to welcome the People's Liberation Army into Xinjiang.
Peng Dehuai clearly pointed out in the negotiations that it is necessary to ensure the safety of the Yumen oil field in order to provide sufficient oil supply so that the PLA can smoothly enter Xinjiang.
At that time, it was He Xinmin and his camel corps stationed at Yumen.
Tao Zhiyue specifically found He Xinmin's home for this purpose. Before Tao Zhiyue could explain his intentions, He Xinmin's wife, Ouyang Yuexiang, first asked about the rumors that were getting closer and closer.
"Uncle Tao, I have heard people say that communist wives not only share property, but also share all the wives and children of people's families.
Tao Zhiyue laughed after listening to it, "I said little sister-in-law, who did you listen to?" Pure rumors, you can't believe it! ”
New China Admiral Tao Zhiyue
Turning back, Tao Zhiyue proposed a task to He Xinmin, demanding that He Xinmin must ensure the safety of the Yumen oil field and strictly prevent other troops from blowing up or destroying the oil field.
At the behest of Zhang Zhizhong and Tao Zhiyue, He Xinmin organized a meeting of camel cavalry troops. By doing work for officers at all levels one by one, He Xinmin took the lead in setting up a new student association, which meant to break away from the Kuomintang and move toward a new life.
On September 24, 1949, He Xinmin and others electrified the uprising, and the door of the People's Liberation Army into Xinjiang was opened. He Xinmin and his camel corps also went to the new life.
Acting Commander of Xinjiang Military Region Wang Zhen (Neutral) in 1950
Wang Zhen and Tao Zhiyue
After Wang Zhen led his troops into Xinjiang and established the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, the bandits in the northwest region were eliminated. At the same time, with the continuous advancement of military technology, He Xinmin's camel corps, a unique combat service, has withdrawn from the stage of history, and only a small number of patrol units have been retained in some areas.
The cavalry unit of the People's Liberation Army participated in the suppression of bandits in the northwest
Usman and the other bandits were sentenced to death at a public trial
In 1960, He Xinmin entered the counselor's office of the Hunan Provincial Government. With the support of the Provincial Counsellor's Office, He Xinmin overcame many difficulties and immersed himself in the study of camel science.
Someone asked him that the camel class no longer existed, so why study camels? He said: Don't ask about the harvest, but think about it.
He Xinmin's monograph "Camel Science"
In 1983, He Xinmin's monograph "Camel Science" was published and became an indispensable teaching material for camel breeding in China!
He Xinmin also became the first person in China to study camels.
He Xinmin: The first person to study camels in China!