On September 25, 1950, a 19-year-old young man named Zhang Guofu came to Beijing, and he was very excited, because he would soon be received by Chairman Mao, Premier Zhou and Marshal Peng!
On this day, the first National Conference of Model Representatives of Combat Heroes was held in the capital, and 307 combat heroes from the 4 million troops in the country will be commended, of which 78 are "special combat heroes", and Zhang Guofu, who looks ordinary, is one of them.
Zhang Guofu was not tall, and was arranged to the front during the group photo, and Chairman Mao saw that he was very young but very energetic, so he singled him out and stood next to Premier Zhou, and let them compare their heights, and then joked: "Tall and short." ”
At this time, Zhang Guofu was already nervous to the point of being stunned, and the chairman asked him curiously and kindly: "Little comrade, what is your name?" How old is this year? ”
Picture | 4 heroes at the National Heroic Model Congress (Zhang Guofu, second from left)
In Zhang Guofu's nervous and stuttering answer, Chairman Mao learned that the young man in front of him was actually the "little hero" who captured Lieutenant General Zhao Bozhao of the Nationalist Army alive and took liao Yaoxiang's headquarters alone, and he happily patted Zhang Guofu's shoulder and praised: "I have heard about your heroic deeds, it is really good!" ”
In the afternoon, Chairman Mao invited several heroes, including Zhang Guofu, to his home for dinner. No one could have imagined that this "special combat hero" who had made a great contribution to chairman Mao's family banquet and had been commended by countless leaders refused the treatment of division-level cadres arranged by the organization after being demobilized and returned to his hometown, and had been a gunpowder in anonymity for 40 years, and even his family did not know his true identity.
It was not until he suffered from severe lung cancer in his later years but had no money to treat it, and his family borrowed money everywhere without results, and his daughter Zhang Xiubo inadvertently discovered that he was a veteran soldier who had been searching for 46 years by the state, so he took his father's medal and asked the former military region chief for help. The veteran commander of the former 47th Army of the People's Liberation Army sent 6 military vehicles to take him to the 301 Hospital of the People's Liberation Army in Beijing overnight, but unfortunately, the strength of the entire expert group failed to save him.
In 1931, Zhang Guofu was born in a poor peasant family in Xinli Town, Yushu County, Jilin Province, when the people of the three eastern provinces endured the disasters of warlord melee and Japanese invasion, and their lives were very difficult. Zhang Guofu's family is not only poor but also owes foreign debts, Zhang's father hopes that the country and himself can live a good life, so he gave his son the simple name of "National Wealth".
In order to reduce the burden on his family, Zhang Guofu did chores for the rich families in the village at a very young age, and the villagers called him to herd cattle. I thought that life would go on like this, but I didn't expect that Zhang Guofu encountered a family mutation when he was 15 years old, which opened his road to joining the army.
In 1946, a Local Kuomintang pseudo-police bully in Yushu wanted to forcibly marry Zhang Guofu's sister, and the sister who was not willing to be humiliated resisted and ran away, while Zhang's father was arrested by the bully and imprisoned for nearly two years before being released, which caused the Zhang family to suffer a serious blow.
In order to avenge the snow hatred, he first came up with the idea of joining the army, at that time, in his view, the Northeast Democratic United Army (the predecessor of the People's Liberation Army) was a place that could seek justice for the poor people, but he was only 15 years old and could not meet the requirements of conscription.
Zhang Guofu had no choice but to entrust someone to help him change his age, and the company commander who recruited the army saw that although he was not tall, he had great strength, and he was also practical and diligent enough, so he let him enlist.
With the conviction of "overthrowing the Kuomintang reactionaries," Zhang Guofu, who was eager for revenge, stood out among the recruits in only one year, and won the first place in a number of military techniques, tactics, and physical training, and his comrades-in-arms jokingly called him "Zhang First."
Zhang Guofu, who had performed well, was soon incorporated into the 47th Army, and only half a year later he made a military achievement and captured the Kuomintang lieutenant general alive alone.
Pictured| Zhang Guofu after enlisting in the army
In May 1947, our army launched a summer offensive against the Nationalist army, and the independent third division of the 47th Army received orders to attack Jiangmifeng in northern Jilin, because there was a small plump hydropower station, which was an important base of the Nationalist army in Jilin, and the supreme commander of the Kuomintang army stationed here was Lieutenant General Zhao Bozhao.
After the battle was launched, the two sides suffered heavy casualties after a day and night of fierce fighting, and the remaining combat strength concentrated on a high land continued to stalemate. Zhang Guofu, who participated in the battle, had already killed the red eye at this time, because countless comrades-in-arms had fallen around him, and even the battalion commander, company commander and instructor had been sacrificed.
If this high ground could not be taken quickly, more comrades would be sacrificed, and Zhang Guofu, who was in a hurry, took advantage of the cover of our army's artillery fire to climb out of the bunker alone and quickly crawled toward the enemy command post against the rain of bullets and bullets. Holding a grenade in one hand and a lead in the other, he broke into the command post and shouted: "Surrender and do not kill, otherwise you will die!" ”
The Kuomintang non-commissioned officers who were still nervously discussing tactics in the institute were frightened and stupid by Zhang Guofu, who suddenly rushed in, and his fierce and death-defying momentum shocked everyone, they thought that the large troops of our army had already hit the headquarters, and when they saw that the general situation had gone, they slowly raised their hands to show surrender, including Lieutenant General Zhao Bozhao. The 16-year-old Zhang Guofu took the enemy's command post with his own courage, captured all radio stations, and cut off the enemy's internal contact.
After losing his command, Zhao Bozhao's troops were in chaos, and our army took the opportunity to attack the high ground to completely annihilate the enemy army, and Zhang Guofu, who took down the command post and captured the enemy lieutenant general alive, was also recorded as a great achievement, becoming a "small hero" in the army, and was also reported by the "Mengjin Bao" after the war.
After the Battle of Jiang Mifeng, Zhang Guofu's company was resting and standing on standby, just in time to collide with another group of Nationalist soldiers, the enemy army had two heavy machine guns, and the intensive artillery fire suppressed our army severely, and in a hurry, Zhang Guofu once again grabbed a grenade and flipped it out of the wall, cleverly circled it to the front of the enemy's side, pulled the lead and threw it at the heavy machine gun, blowing up the enemy's horse, and the comrades-in-arms took the opportunity to cooperate in launching an attack, and then captured this Nationalist army, and Zhang Guofu was once again recorded for his great achievements.
Pictured| Zhang Guofu
In 1948, Zhang Guofu, who had performed well and made two great achievements, successfully joined the party and went all the way from squad leader to deputy company commander. In the Liaoshen Campaign in mid-September, he once again made a miracle.
At that time, the northeast was the only area in the country where the PLA troops exceeded the Kuomintang army, and after the Politburo meeting in early September, the CPC Central Committee decided to seize the advantages of the northeast and engage in a strategic decisive battle with Chiang Kai-shek. After the meeting, Chairman Mao issued instructions to the Northeast Field Army commanded by Lin Biao and Luo Ronghuan: "This decisive battle will absolutely not allow Chiang Kai-shek's army to leave the northeast!" ”
After Chiang Kai-shek learned of this, he hurriedly dispatched Liao Yaoxiang to lead 100,000 "westward marching corps" to support him. In order to consolidate the advantage of the northeast battlefield, our army sent troops to intercept, and the battles of all sizes spread from Montenegro all the way to the Big Tiger Mountain.
Zhang Guofu's unit happened to be wandering around Liao Yaoxiang's headquarters, and as they marched, they spotted enemy troops in a place called the Hu family shack. When Zhang Guofu's company tried to attack, it found that the enemy army was extremely well equipped and the deployment was also exquisite, which just proved the strangeness of the place, and at this time they did not know that they had just crashed into the enemy command post.
The soldiers of the People's Liberation Army hurriedly reported the situation to their superiors, and after careful consideration, the superiors issued an order to Zhang Guofu's company: Stop marching and take the Hu family shack at all costs!
The People's Liberation Army immediately launched an attack on the enemy, and the enemy and we were deadlocked here for a long time, and our army launched dozens of charges without being able to break through the other side's defensive line, and there were also a large number of casualties.
After a long time of unable to attack, our army decided to temporarily retreat to the position, at this time Zhang Guofu watched with sorrow as the comrades who lived together day and night fell in pieces, not willing to let them die in vain, so he had a plan to pretend to be shot and fell to the ground, and then he was ambushed in the pile of corpses, and when the enemy was not prepared, he moved forward, and soon touched the vicinity of the enemy army.
The Kuomintang army relaxed its guard when it saw our army retreating, and Zhang Guofu took advantage of the enemy's rest to jump up and throw two grenades, quickly infiltrated the enemy headquarters with the help of the confusion caused by the explosion, and then showed the last grenade in his hand to the enemy commander.
Zhang Guofu threatened fiercely, "Quickly order your soldiers to lay down their weapons, or we will die here together!" ”
The people in the headquarters were all frightened by his fierceness, and the commander of the Nationalist army quickly issued an order to disarm, and our army not far away saw this sudden situation and quickly launched another charge, and soon destroyed Liao Yaoxiang's general headquarters. A familiar scene reappeared, and the Nationalist army that had lost its command was in disarray, and after being intercepted by our army, it was no longer able to support Chiang Kai-shek in time.
The battle of "Hujia Shack" greatly promoted the victory of the Liaoshen Campaign, Zhang Guofu's heroic posture of rushing into the enemy headquarters with a grenade was observed by the commander of our army with a telescope, he praised this young soldier fiercely, and when he evaluated the merits after the war, Zhang Guofu was also rated as a special meritorious soldier, and he had just turned 19 years old at this time!
Having made several miracles at a young age, Zhang Guofu's title of "National Special Combat Hero" can be said to be well-deserved. However, he was not carried away by the honor, but continued to make achievements in the next more severe test.
Figure | volunteers to enter the DPRK to support
In 1951, the "United Nations Army" led by the United States launched a large-scale autumn offensive on the Korean battlefield, the 47th Army was ordered to enter the DPRK to support, Zhang Guofu's company received the task of "must hold the 345.6 heights", they will have to face the three elite divisions of the US army, the Commonwealth division, the Thai regiment, the Greek battalion, including several times the strength of our army, as well as more than 300 artillery pieces and hundreds of tanks.
The disparity in strength and armament was so great that the fierceness of this battle could be imagined, and every confrontation between the volunteer army and the enemy army would not be less brutal than that of the Battle of Shangganling. Zhang Guofu's company held firm in this high ground, and after eating the grain, it began to chew the leaves hard to barely feed it, and even the ammunition had to be saved.
They held it for seven days and eight nights, during which they repelled several enemy charges, and were almost completely destroyed under the repeated bombardment of the enemy's heavy fire, leaving only 3 soldiers in the company, including Zhang Guofu. In the face of the enemy's final attack, the three silently put the explosives away, and detonated them immediately after the enemy charged. The "United Nations Army" did not expect that after so many days of artillery suppression, there would be a People's Liberation Army that would continue to defend here without fear of death, and they also suffered many casualties under the light enemy.
In the end, there was only one survivor in the 345.6 Highland Defense Battle, but even if there was only one person left, this highland was still defended! It was not until our reinforcements arrived that the dying Zhang Guofu was sent to the hospital, but unfortunately he was too badly injured and had to be transferred back to China with other wounded people for treatment.
After retiring from the Korean battlefield, Zhang Guofu lay in a hospital in Changchun for half a year before recovering, and his heroic deeds were publicized nationwide and published in newspapers several times. However, after recovering, Zhang Guofu became more reticent, and the bloody battle and the sacrifice of his comrades in the whole company left him with indelible pain, and sometimes he would cry while eating dumplings in the hospital canteen, because the dumplings in the bowl would remind him of the scene when the comrades-in-arms made dumplings together after the victory.
After his recovery, Zhang Guofu was highly regarded by the troops and was sent to the Hengyang Military Academy for further study, until after the victory of the Korean War in 1953, he interrupted his unfinished studies and took the initiative to apply to his superiors for demobilization. At that time, everyone was very confused, and with Zhang Guofu's military achievements for a few more years, the future was definitely promising, but he gave up this opportunity and chose to be an ordinary person.
In Zhang Guofu's view, as a soldier, he must stay in the army to fight, and after the war will usher in the era of peace, and his mission as a soldier will end.
Pictured| Zhang Guofu took a group photo with his comrades-in-arms
After demobilization, Zhang Guofu returned to his hometown of Jilin Yushu, and the hero's return to his hometown made the whole county a sensation! When the local government learned of his status as a "special combat hero," it wanted to arrange him to be a leader in the county government units, and often invited him to give reports and speeches, which forced him to think about his experience on the battlefield over and over again.
In his heart, he was very lucky to be able to escape the rain of bullets and bullets, but many of his comrades who fought alongside him remained on the battlefield forever. When the country needs it, as a warrior, he should sacrifice his life and forget his death; after the advent of the era of peace, he can take care of himself with his hands and feet, and does not need the state to specifically allocate resources to him.
Zhang Guofu did not like the impetuous life before, so he asked his superiors to help him change his name to "Zhang Guofu" and then changed his identity to continue living. He cut off all ties with the troops, divided a piece of land in the simplest wishes of the peasants, and begged a kind daughter-in-law while working as a farmer, and the two young people began to live a dull life.
Unfortunately, he was enlisted in the army at a very young age, and now that he has returned to the field, he is not familiar with farm work at all, so his life is becoming more and more difficult. In order to improve his life, he went alone to Hegang, Heilongjiang, where heavy industry was rising, in 1952 and became a firefighter in the Mining Bureau as an ordinary person.
Three years later, he was transferred to the dangerous job of gunpowder escort, because he could use the skills he had learned in the army, a dangerous and heavy job he had been doing for 40 years, during which he and his wife had a total of 5 children, and the family of 7 was crammed into a small house of less than 20 square meters made of furnace ash, and his life was not rich.
As the children grew older and the burden on the family grew heavier, his wife often urged him to apply to the leaders of the factory for a larger house, but he still did not identify himself as a hero of the battle, nor did he accept the preferential treatment given by the state.
In order to solve the problem of living, he personally built a partial building behind the small house, so that the whole family did not have to squeeze into the chase bunk to sleep, but the simple partial building could only barely block the wind and rain, and could not be cool in summer, nor could it resist cold in winter. In order to build this partial building, Zhang Guofu had to borrow 60 yuan of foreign debt, get up early and work several jobs until half a year later.
In the eyes of his family and colleagues, "Zhang Guofu" is a little strange, because whenever the Spring Festival is happy, he always sighs and goes out to buy wine to dispel his sorrows. Whenever he saw a film or television drama like "Shangganling" related to the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, he always couldn't restrain himself from shedding tears, crying and nagging at the same time, "If only they could live until now, how good it would be!" ”
Every time he ate dumplings, Zhang Guofu would always specially take out a bowl and put it on the offering table, and then light three incense sticks, and when his family asked him who he was worshipping, he would be silent.
Family and friends knew he was a veteran with a story, but they didn't know his specific identity until his children had grown up and even the youngest daughter had joined the workforce, and his identity as a combat hero was discovered.
At that time, the youngest daughter went to Xi'an on a business trip, passing through the exhibition area of the 47th Army garrison, she went in curiously to take a look, and through the guidance of the narrator, she saw a photo of her father on the glorious wall of the meritorious exhibition room, and only then did she learn that her father was actually a combat hero like "Huang Jiguang"! His deeds were even written into the article "Lone hero Zhang Guofu" and included in the primary school Language textbook!
After returning from a business trip, the youngest daughter and her family said this, Zhang Guofu was silent for a long time, and finally took out his medals and certificates to confess his past as "Zhang Guofu", and repeatedly told his family not to talk about their identity to the outside world, nor to rely on merit to trouble the army and the government.
The picture | the father's relics shared by Zhang Guofu's eldest daughter Zhang Xiubo
In 1986, the 55-year-old Zhang Guofu retired to retirement, but the wounds and illness left on the battlefield and the experience of escorting gunpowder for many years made his lungs inhale a lot of dust and gradually lesions, as he grew more and more serious, he began to cough frequently and violently, and often could not breathe, the children did not trust to take him to the hospital for examination, but he has been pushing that this is a small problem, do not have to go to the hospital.
In 1996, Zhang Guofu's health deteriorated, and he even began to cough up blood, but he was still reluctant to go to the hospital. The children understood his stubborn personality, deliberately borrowed a car with friends to send him to the doctor, Zhang Guofu, who did not want to trouble others all his life, did not refute the face of outsiders, so he had to follow his children to the hospital.
After the examination in the hospital, everyone learned that his chest and lungs had been severely hydroptic and cancerous! This is tantamount to a thunderbolt on a sunny day for the Zhang family, the family is not rich, the children are ordinary workers, and they cannot afford the high medical expenses. In order to treat Zhang Guofu's illness, the children borrowed money everywhere and sold the family's small house, but they still couldn't make up for the cost.
At the end of 1997, Zhang Guofu had been seriously ill to several degrees of coma, and had to be hospitalized for a long time, and the children stayed outside the ward anxiously discussing ways to save their father.
The fourth daughter sighed and said: "Everything that can be borrowed has been borrowed, and what should be sold has also been sold, and there are still many holes to be filled, what should I do with my father's illness?" ”
After a long silence, the little daughter stood up and gritted her teeth and said, "It's all at this point, I can't listen to my father anymore, I tried to go to the military region I went to before, to see if I can find a way to find the chief, I can't watch my father go..."
The youngest daughter took her father's demobilization certificate, meritorious service certificate, military merit badge and other materials to Lanzhou to find the 47th Army station, and then asked to see the head of the military region.
Li Yuan, the old commander of the former 47th Army's Independent Third Division, received her, and as soon as the two met, the young daughter of the Zhang family handed her a medal and said: "Please ask the chief to save my father!" He's a grand combat hero! ”
Li Yuan, who is now a general, got this "Special Combat Hero Medal" sent from thousands of miles away, and after hearing what she told, the whole person was trembling with excitement. Unexpectedly, the combat hero that the troops had been looking for for for 46 years was still alive, and they had lived so many years in anonymity!
Pictured| veteran Zhang Guofu
He quickly reported to the General Political Department and his superiors on the return of the hero of the battle, and the General Political Department immediately contacted the 301 Hospital of the Beijing People's Liberation Army, specially approved Zhang Guofu to be admitted to the hospital for treatment, and set up a pulmonary expert group for him. General Li Yuan also sent 6 military vehicles to open the road overnight, and the red light did not stop to send Zhang Guofu to Beijing, and all resource scheduling and expenses during the treatment period were borne by the state.
During Zhang Guofu's hospitalization, the head of the unit visited and comforted Zhang Guofu many times, and they were not only happy that the battle hero had reappeared in the human world, but also bitterly that he had carried so many years alone, and even if he suffered more, he did not come to the army to "find trouble."
Zhang Guofu,who was properly cared for, has improved, but his condition is still good and bad. When he was in good shape, the chiefs asked him if he had any demands, and he always replied slowly with only one sentence: "Hope, hope, party, and, country, home, good!" Many of those who came to visit him turned their heads to weep silently when they heard this.
On July 10, 1998, Zhang Guofu fell critically ill, emaciated and weak, lying in a critical hospital bed at the 301 Hospital of the People's Liberation Army in Beijing, and although he had been in a coma for many days, he was still unconsciously chanting something. The children and relatives all stood in front of his hospital bed, and the daughter bent down to listen carefully, and only then did she understand what he had said repeatedly: "Division commander, even the comrades-in-arms have been sacrificed, but the position has been defended!" Ask for reinforcements! ”
Outside the ward stood the founding general Li Yuan, the former political commissar of the 47th Army, Mu Jianhua, and many comrades of the General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army, all anxiously waiting for a miracle.
Unfortunately, the miracle did not come, Zhang Guofu has been suffering from lung cancer for a long time, the lung membrane after cancer is unimaginably thick, the chest cavity is seriously hydrostatic, and the top pulmonary experts of the entire hospital have gathered here and have not been able to snatch him back from the hands of the god of death. The elderly, who were seriously ill, closed their eyes forever after leaving the last words, "Ask for reinforcements."
In that era, there were many heroes like Zhang Guofu, who fought bloodily to defend their families and defend the country, and returned to the field to be ordinary people in peacetime, no matter how tired they were, they did not want to add trouble to the country, perhaps their choice seems a bit "silly" today, but such people are undoubtedly cute and worthy of respect.
The war is gone, and the veterans are gradually withering away, but the spirit of the veterans will never die! Just as Chairman Mao praised at the First National Conference of Model Representatives of Combat Heroes that year: "You are the pride of China, the nation, and the backbone!" ”