Two family letters
■ Li Mengqi Duan Wei
△ The picture shows the family letter of the revolutionary martyr Cheng Xiong. Cheng Quan provided
"Nanri Island, the scenery is good, the wind blows big trees, rats run all over the ground, poisonous insects can't catch it, the sun is full..." In 2015, Cheng Quan joined the army and came to Nanri Island in Fujian Province, and this "smooth slip" impressed him.
When he first entered the barracks, the wet and fishy sea breeze accompanied by the fiery sun made Cheng Quan often feel sick to his stomach. Once, Cheng Quan ran a three-kilometer run along the coastline, groggy due to accidental heat stroke, and fell to the ground. Lying on the beach, watching the sunset on the sea level, his heart constantly gushing with longing for home, and the tears could no longer be held back. During the break, he called his cousin Cheng Xiaomin and said that he was living "the hardest days of his life."
One
When the soldiers came to the army, it was Cheng Quan who had dreamed for more than ten years. Before leaving home, the scene of his father and uncle "acting heroically" for him is still vividly remembered.
That summer, seeing that the only son in the family was going to leave his hometown to join the army, his father Cheng Jiange had mixed feelings, carefully took out two bottles of wine from his treasure, and was busy zhang Luoqi "grand feast".
The Cheng family's "grand feast" is not ordinary. Uncle Cheng Jianhua, who joined the army in 1985, came to his uncle Cheng Guozheng who joined the army in 1989, and cheng Xiaomin, a cousin who joined the army in 2007, also came... Several old class leaders sat together, and the "Grand Feast" was like a "class meeting".
"Quan'er!" Uncle Cheng Jianhua raised a glass and said: "Today is for you to do a grand deed, but this first cup of wine, we still have to salute your grandfather..." At the end of the conversation, several tough men stood up and leaned over and spilled the wine on the ground.
The grandfather in the uncle's mouth is named Cheng Xiong. Although Cheng Quan had never seen him, he was no stranger to him, and he always retained a heavy feeling for him in his heart.
It all started with those two special letters.
Cheng Xiong, a milk name Shiho, joined the Communist Party of China in 1938, joined the Jiangbei Guerrilla Column of the New Fourth Army in 1939, and later served as deputy political instructor, secretary of the party branch, and company commander.
This is a family letter sent by Cheng Xiong to his parents on the front line.
Parents under the knees:
Probably have a considerable amount of time to stay here! Recently, the situation of work has been carried out in two directions, namely, the army and the democracy movement. Of course, this is the most important task of the army's work, but although the people's movement seems to be in a relatively important position militarily, in this military-civilian cooperation, all forces are concentrated to cope with the counter-offensive of the enemy in the second phase of the War of Resistance, in order to achieve the victory of the War of Resistance and the goal of success. Therefore, because of these many important focal points, our comrades in political work are distributed every day on time in addition to the lectures of the various units, and the rest of the time is spent carrying out propaganda work for the democracy movement in the countryside, so that the local people can achieve practical cooperation with our guerrillas.
...... Anqing was under siege, the flames in the city soared into the sky, the cannons were loud, and the enemy's division commander Hao Wenbo was in charge of the whole division, and Anqing could be recovered between the fingers. I think that in today's warm meeting, the second other commemorative meeting can be held in Anqing City.
Write at 3 p.m. on may
The flames lasted for three months, and the family letter arrived at ten thousand gold. In August 1943, the family looked forward to Cheng Xiong's letter again, but they would never have imagined that this letter was actually Cheng Xiong's "last pen"——
Dear Adults,
For the sake of the nation, for the sake of the lovely hometown, for the sake of the brothers and sisters who are connected by flesh and blood, for survival and happiness, the children have to write a letter to bid farewell to their parents, if they cannot live, the parents should take care of their jade bodies and raise their younger siblings. If life is difficult, we can sell the land and houses, paste our lives over, and in ten years and eight years we will be fine, with food, clothing, and houses to live in. Now he must leave Dabie Mountain, go to the forefront to destroy the enemy, defend China, and hope that his parents will not be sad and worried. The birth of a son for greatness, and the glorious death, is my last will as a son, and the sin is great! What a sin!
Ershi tassel kneels
Three months after his family received the letter, 24-year-old Cheng Xiong was bloodied and fell on the battlefield forever.
Two
More than 40 years later, Cheng Quan's uncle Cheng Jianhua joined the army in October 1985. Before leaving, the elders of the family also held a brief "grand feast" for him. The training of the troops was very hard, but Cheng Jianhua never fought a retreat. He said he could always find a reason to persevere in those two letters.
Four years later, Cheng Jianhua retired from the army, and his younger brother Cheng Guozheng joined the army. The brothers hugged on the platform to "change defenses", the younger brother asked the older brother to take care of the elderly, and the older brother sent a message to the younger brother Jingwu and aijun. The whistle sounded, the two waved goodbye, and then missed, can only write to the family to report safety. Cheng Quan's father, Cheng Jiance, signed up for the army many times due to physical reasons. A few years later, Cheng Jianhua and Cheng Guozheng retired from the army and returned to their hometowns, and the three brothers were finally reunited.
As far back as I can remember, Cheng Quan and his cousins have been "militarized management": their father and several "old squad leaders" have demanded that they must "listen to greetings and observe discipline", and at all times they must "sit upright and stand straight"... Although his father was usually serious and quiet, Cheng Quan could still feel from their sighs that his uncle and uncle's ambition of "not being a soldier was enough" and the father's "unsuccessful joining the army" was saddened. Therefore, the young Cheng Quan was even more yearning for the military camp.
In 2007, Cheng Quan's cousin Cheng Xiaomin reached the age of enlistment. He put on the red flower and proudly left his hometown to the sound of gongs and drums. At that time, Cheng Quan was not yet 12 years old, and when he saw his cousin's radiance when he put on his military uniform, he was eager to grow up overnight.
In 2015, Cheng Quan, who signed up for the army for two consecutive years, finally passed the layers of screening to join the army. On the day of leaving the hometown, Cheng Quan strode to the carriage, and the red flowers on his chest swung with the wind. Uncle Cheng Jianhua and uncle Cheng Guozheng stood on the platform for a long time, looking at Cheng Quan's fading back, as if they saw themselves at that time.
Three
On the phone that day, Cheng Xiaomin, a cousin who had recently retired from the army, did not say anything more to Cheng Quan. A few days later, Cheng Quan received a letter from Cheng Xiaomin, which contained only one sentence: "The sky is not afraid, the earth is not afraid, and I am willing to sacrifice my head to protect China." ”
The moment he saw these words, the hot blood in Cheng Quan's body rolled up. This is the oath of resistance written by 18-year-old grandfather Cheng Xiong after the Lugou Bridge Incident in 1937.
Time passed day by day, Cheng Quan gradually adapted to life on the island, he was black and thin, but there was light in his eyes.
In April 2018, grandpa Cheng Xiong's family letter was selected for reading in the TV program. By this time, Cheng Quan had become a new cadet at the Army Engineering University. "Now I will leave Dabie Mountain, go to the forefront to destroy the enemy, defend China, and hope that my parents will not be sad and worried." Children are born for greatness, and glorious death is my last wish to be a son..." Listening to the guests of the program reading the grandfather's family letter with emotion, Cheng Quan recalled in his mind over and over again those who had thought that they were "the most bitter days of life": the fishy sea breeze on Nanri Island, the poisonous sun, the distant sunset and the long coastline... That day, Cheng Quan found that he began to miss the time of Nanri Island, and for the first time he felt that he had read the grandfather's family letter.
(Photo: Zhou Gege)
This article was published in the People's Liberation Army Daily on December 15, 2019
"Military Family" edition
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