Chai Yunzhen: A first-class combat hero who has been missing for more than 30 years

On the morning of June 29, in the Golden Hall of the Great Hall of the People, son Chai Bingrong and granddaughter Chai Ping replaced their father Chai Yunzhen to participate in the "July 1st Medal" awarding ceremony.

When she first learned that her grandfather had been nominated for the "July 1st Medal", Chai Ping felt incredulous. "Grandpa passed away in 2018 and can still be awarded the highest honor in the party, which shows that those who have contributed to the party and the people are remembered." Chai Ping said.

Born in November 1926 in Yuechi, Sichuan, Chai Yunzhen joined the Communist Party of China in 1949 and later joined the Chinese Volunteer Army in Korea, serving as a squad leader in the 8th Company of the 134th Regiment of the 45th Division of the 15th Army of the Volunteer Army. Heroes such as Huang Jiguang and Qiu Shaoyun were from the 15th Army.

At the end of May 1951, the second phase of the Fifth Campaign to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea was completed. When the main force of our army was preparing to move and rest, the enemy suddenly counterattacked. The 45th Division of the 15th Army was ordered to block the enemy at Park Dafeng in the Shibaura-ri area, and at a critical juncture, Chai Yunzhen received orders from his superiors to retake the position.

In 1994, the book "Buried Hero Chai Yunzhen" was published. General Qin Jiwei, who had served as commander of the 15th Army, wrote the preface to the book, in which he recalled the war situation at that time.

Qin Jiwei recalled that Chai Yunzhen led his comrades-in-arms to seize the commanding heights and strike hard at enemy reinforcements. There were 4 enemies hiding in a certain depression, Chai Yunzhen knocked down 3 in a row, and when he raised his gun to the fourth enemy, he found that the bullets were exhausted and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. Years later, when his granddaughter Chai Ping asked Chai Yunzhen "how the index finger of his right hand was missing", he said, "It was bitten off on the Korean battlefield when fighting the enemy."

The victory of the Park Dafeng Blockade Battle played a key role in consolidating our army's main position in the Korean battlefield. Peng Dehuai sent a telegram of thanks to Qin Jiwei for this, and Chai Yunzhen's 8th Company was also awarded the glorious title of "Eight Company of Special Gong".

On May 1, 1952, the General Political Department of the Chinese Volunteer Army gave Chai Yunzhen a special merit and awarded him the title of "First Class Combat Hero". However, at that time, the medal awarded to Chai Yunzhen was not received.

It turned out that in April of the same year, Chai Yunzhen returned to Sichuan after going through the demobilization procedures from the hospital where he was recuperating, missed the award, and went away for more than 30 years. In his hometown, he successively served as the township chief of Dafo Township, the president of the Agricultural Production Cooperative, and the deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Luodu Commune in Yuechi County.

Chai Bingrong told the China Youth Daily and China Youth Network reporter that the family only knew that his father had participated in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea before, and he usually gave people a very simple feeling, and he could not see that he was a person who had made great contributions. My father often said that when the country needed it, he went to the battlefield to fight; now that the war was over, he would go home to farm and engage in construction.

According to the account of "Buried Hero Chai Yunzhen", in order to find Chai Yunzhen, the head of the search team, Winter Han, and other comrades went to various places to search for details. It wasn't until 1984 that they found Sun Hongfa. At the beginning, Sun Hongfa was a member of the support unit of our army in the Park Dafeng Blockade Battle, and it was he who saved Chai Yunzhen from the battlefield. Sun Hongfa told the search team that listening to Chai Yunzhen's accent, it may be from Sichuan.

The search team also published a search notice about Chai Yunzhen in the Sichuan Daily.

One day in 1984, when Chai Bingrong was refueling the tractor of the People's Commune, he picked up a newspaper at the gas station and saw the search notice. He found that the person described above was very similar to his father. The difference is that the person in the newspaper is called "Chai Yunzhen" and the father is called "Chai Yunzheng".

Chai Bingrong took the newspaper home and asked his father, "The newspaper is looking for whether this hero is him." Chai Yunzhen replied that people were looking for "Chai Yunzhen", he was "Chai Yunzheng", there were so many people with the same name and surname under the sky, and there were so many soldiers who died on the battlefield, don't risk the merits of others.

Chai Bingrong again told the newspaper description and asked his father "if he fought in Park Dafeng and which unit he was in at that time." Chai Yunzhen's answers can be matched with the newspaper description. But Chai Yunzhen was still reluctant to go.

Chai Bingrong did not give up persuasion, and others in the family also came to mobilize Chai Yunzhen. Chai Bingrong told his father that it was written in the newspaper that those who saw this notice or knew its whereabouts could contact the troops and help provide clues. Despite repeated persuasion, Chai Yunzhen and his son finally took a train to Xiaogan, Hubei Province.

When he came to Unit 39155, Chai Bingrong took a newspaper and told the soldiers at the door that he and his father had come to provide clues to the old hero. Winter Han received them and checked the scars on Chai Yunzhen's head, the index finger of his right hand and the details of the battlefield that year, and finally determined that the "Chai Yunzheng" in front of them was the "Chai Yunzhen" they were looking for, and the hero who had been "missing" for more than 30 years was finally found.

Chai Yunzhen's name has also been written as "Chai Yunjin" and "Chai Yunzheng". His "Certificate of Demobilized Soldiers" reads: "Comrade Chai Yunjin is a native of Yuechi County, Sichuan Province, joined the Chinese People's Liberation Army in 1948, and is now specially allowed to be demobilized in order to strengthen the construction of National Socialism." ”

After being found, Chai Yun-jin was invited by Kim Il Sung in 1985 to visit North Korea as a member of the heroic delegation of the Chinese Volunteer Army. During his visit, Kim Il Sung awarded him the Order of Freedom and Independence of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, First Class.

Chai Bingrong said that since his father was found by the army, many leaders have visited him. When asked "what wishes and needs does the old hero have?", Chai Yunzhen replied that all his comrades-in-arms at that time had sacrificed, leaving him alone to survive, and he already felt very happy and contented, and there were no other wishes and requirements.

Chai Ping first realized that her grandfather was a great hero, in an ideological and moral class in elementary school. She said that on that day, they listened to the story of "Who is the Cutest Person", and the teacher told the students that there was such a prototype of such a hero in our Yuechi County, his name was Chai Yunzhen.

In Chai Ping's memory, her grandfather was a very busy person after he left, and he often disappeared at the dinner point. When she grew up, she learned that her grandfather was either helping the neighbors to mediate contradictions and disputes, or helping the people in difficulty to fight for policy support.

On December 26, 2018, Chai Yunzhen died in Yuechi County, Sichuan Province, at the age of 93. Chai Ping said that grandpa had a deep military complex before his death, and he believed that the army could best exercise people's will and cultivate people's character, and hoped that his children and grandchildren would have the opportunity to go to the army for some training. With this expectation, Chai Ping once enlisted in the army. Family style education and military life have cultivated Chai Ping's independent character, she said, "this is the biggest influence of grandpa on herself."

Tian Hongwei, trainee reporter of China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily Source: China Youth Daily

Source: China Youth Daily