In 2006, a "Soldier Assault" that came out of nowhere not only made Wang Baoqiang and "Xu Sanduo" popular in one fell swoop, but also made the name of "Seven Companies of Steel" take root in the hearts of countless audiences. This "Steel Seven Company" is actually the "Steel Seven Company" in the movie "Chosin Lake", which is currently being screened! On October 13, news came from the People's Literature Publishing House that the famous writer Lan Xiaolong's latest novel "Winter and the Lion" has been officially launched. From 2006 to 2021, Lan Xiaolong twice wrote down the past and present lives of the "Seven Steel Companies" twice in 15 years.
On the cover of "Winter and the Lion" is the battle song of "Seven Companies of Steel" in "Soldier Assault"
Like in the movie "Chosin Lake", the main background of the story of "Winter and the Lion" is the Battle of Chosin Lake on the Eastern Front of the Second Battle of the Korean War. At the turn of the autumn and winter of 1950, the Ninth Corps, where the Seventh Penetration Company was originally stationed in East China, was urgently requisitioned to the Chosin Lake Battlefield in Korea. Because there was uninterrupted air reconnaissance by the US army during the day, in order to avoid exposure, the soldiers of the Ninth Corps traveled for three weeks in the extreme cold of nearly minus 40 degrees Celsius, covertly engaging the enemy, and completing the division and encirclement of the US army. Before the 100,000 volunteer soldiers launched a general offensive, the American army was unaware... In the end, the Volunteers relied on the great spirit of sacrifice and war wisdom to defeat the Ace Unit of the US Army, the First Marine Division.
The novel "Winter and the Lion" takes us to feel the greatness and indomitability of the volunteer soldiers in this war through the description of the seventh interspersed connection. Among them, Wu Qianli, the commander of the Seventh Company, is a figure of the backbone of the nation, with both heroic courage, the wisdom of commanding ruoding, and the touching responsibility. He and his eldest brother fought so that their younger brother's generation could not fight, and he and Meisheng "did their best and did their best" for the sake of war. Mei Sheng has a deep attachment to his wife and daughter, and he may be the most eager person in the Seven Companies to "go home", so when the Seven Lians are not left until one-fifth of the seven companies are left, the instructor will also roar, "We just want to go home with the broken ship!" Every single one! Every one! However, in the most dangerous times, he would also use his beloved bicycle to drag explosives into the smoke.
Lan Xiaolong
Lei Gong, the commander of the artillery platoon, was the 17th soldier of the Seventh Company and was also recognized by the whole company as a father-like "Lei Dad". The severe cold of Chosin Lake made the only heavy weapon mortar of the Seventh Company freeze to the chest, the shells could not be loaded, and the battle situation was extremely tight, Lei Gong roared angrily, "Can't shoot out the shells, Lao Tzu himself is the shells", grabbed the shovel and went to block the bullets for his comrades, shouted the battle slogan of the Seventh Company, "Kill from me", and pushed to zero distance with his flesh...
"Lions don't belong to winter, but lions in winter are still lions." In Lan Xiaolong's pen, this group of warriors of the Seventh Company is the lion who guards the gate of the country with his flesh. In the chosin lake battlefield, they relied on three or eight large covers to resist the aircraft and tanks of the US army, and fought against the cold of minus forty degrees with thin cotton uniforms, "almost frozen to death, but still in pursuit"... Such a war needs to be understood, such a sacrifice needs to be proved, and "Winter and the Lion" is such a "understanding" and "proof".
In the preface to "Winter and the Lion", Lan Xiaolong reveals that his father participated in the Korean War as a military doctor, but he has always lacked a deep understanding of the true meaning of the Korean War. By chance, Lan Xiaolong saw a photo of an eighteen-year-old warrior, "he held an orange (maybe a pastry), holding on to the music, a little ignorant, full of life, a little jumpy", and then was poked, resulting in a strong desire to create. Lan Xiaolong sighed, "He's really young. They're so young."
Wu Wanli in "Winter and the Lion" was originally a naughty teenager, a little naughty, a little ignorant, and joined the army with his second brother Wu Qianli for "longer out of breath". On the military column rushing to Korea, Qianli told Wanli about the past of the company and the mountains and rivers of the motherland, and Wanli's sense of responsibility for his homeland was awakened little by little. It is a young life like Wu Wanli, guarding the world behind them for the sake of their homeland.
Back to the mention of Soldier Assault at the beginning of this article. The screenwriter of this explosive drama of that year was Lan Xiaolong, who used his pen to portray the image of xusanduo, Shi Jin, Gao Cheng, Wu Liuyi and other members of the "Steel Seven Company", and the battle song of the "Steel Seven Company" "A thunderbolt and a sword, a group of fierce tigers and steel seven companies; the will of steel, iron blood to defend the country and protect the homeland..." has touched countless audiences. At the ceremony of joining the company in many places, Wu Liuyi also introduced the history of the "Seventh Company of Steel": "During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, almost all the companies of the Seventh Company of Steel were killed and cancelled, but the three soldiers who were covered by all the companies returned with nine deaths. They brought back the will of one hundred and seven martyrs to rebuild the Seven Companies of Steel on these three young men with an average age of seventeen! Since then, the Seventh Company of Steel has lived with their martyrs forever! ”
And the "Winter and Lion" launched by Lan Xiaolong this time is just a prequel to the "Steel Seven Company" in "Soldier Assault": their bloody battle history in the Korean battlefield.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that "Winter and the Lion" also accompanies the book with an excerpt from Lan Xiaolong's upcoming new work "War and Worship". This work will depict the tenacity and indomitability Chinese, indomitability and resistance of the people in the Korean War on many fronts, from military to diplomatic, and recreate the international political situation of the 1950s.
Upstream journalist Qiu Jinyi