Turning to the primary school textbook, one of the pages vividly tells the story of five heroes. They were all young men in their early twenties, standing majestically on the summit of Wolf's Tooth Mountain. Behind him was an abyss, and in front of him were hundreds of Japanese troops.
The Japanese army that rushed to the top looked surprised, and it was hard to imagine that the Chinese army, which had fought fiercely with them for several days, had only five people in the end.
In the face of the enemy's cold bayonet, the last bullet on his body had already been shot out. The five brave men exchanged glances with each other and shouted loudly: "Long live the Chinese Communist Party!" Turning his head and leaping, the figure gradually disappeared into a fog.
They are well-known figures for any Chinese primary school student—the Five Heroes of Wolf-Tooth Mountain.
Figure-Five Heroes of Wolf Tooth Mountain (Ma Baoyu, Ge Zhenlin, Song Xueyi, Hu Delin, Hu Fucai)
However, many people do not know that two of the warriors miraculously hung on a branch during the cliff jump and were saved by a young man. After seeing that the lives of these two warriors were not in serious trouble, the mysterious figure quietly left without leaving a word.
Which two warriors were lucky enough to survive? Who saved them? What kind of story happened later?
To know all this, you have to go back 80 years.
Figure - The Five Heroes of Wolf's Tooth Mountain
In July 1941, Okamura, who had just been promoted to general, took over as commander of the North China Front of the Japanese invasion of China.
The first thing he did after he came to power was to command tens of thousands of Japanese puppet troops to carry out a brutal "sweep" of the Eighth Route Army stationed in the Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region. The whole process lasted for more than two months.
The Eighth Route Army had gained insight into the enemy's motives in advance and had made some preparations. In the face of the various encirclement tactics adopted by the menacing enemy army, the First Military Subdistrict of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region stationed near Langya Mountain not only changed the original terrain and fortifications, but also streamlined its organization and launched a fierce battle with the enemy with the help of the concealment of the "Five Tops and Thirty-Six Peaks" of Langya Mountain.
Photo - Ninji Okamura
In the early morning of September 23, 1941, the Japanese army, after assembling the strength of a corps, launched an attack on more than 5,000 Eighth Route Army troops at Langya Mountain. In order to save time, they hired Zhao Yukun to lead the way.
Who is Zhao Yukun? This man was a butcher in the early years, pulling a group of people into the mountains to become bandits, and then was reorganized by the Eighth Route Army into the detachment commander of the First Army Sub-district. With a large number of secrets in his possession, he soon rebelled against the revolution with the outbreak of the War of Resistance and became a japanese lackey.
Once zhanshan was the king, and he knew the organization of the Eighth Route Army very well, with such a person leading the way, the marching speed of the Japanese devils became extremely fast.
A few days later, tens of thousands of Japanese puppet troops had already fallen down the mountain and could launch an attack at any time. In the face of the enemy's iron barrel-like encirclement, in order to safely transfer the party and government organs and tens of thousands of people in four counties, including Yi County, Yang Chengwu, commander of the sub-district, entrusted the task of breaking through to Qiu Wei, the leader of a regiment.
Qiu Wei, who was recuperating from his injuries, quickly came to the headquarters after receiving the order. "The situation is not optimistic, old Qiu." Yang Chengwu pointed to the map and said to him, "After I think about it, only you can take over this hard battle." ”
Qiu Wei looked at him and said, "Please arrange for the chief, and a group will guarantee the completion of the task." ”
According to Yang Chengwu's idea, he planned to break through in the form of "encircling Wei and saving Zhao", one regiment using the Graben to defend the position of Wolf's Tooth Mountain, and the third regiment and the twenty regiments respectively launched attacks on the Japanese troops in Songshan, Ganhe and other places, trying to tear open a hole, let the regiment act opportunistically, and cover the masses to carry out a breakthrough.
Under Yang Chengwu's battle plan, the Japanese puppet army that was fiercely attacked by the Third and Twentieth Regiments was beaten to flee in all directions. The Japanese thought they were attacked by the main force of the Eighth Route Army, and quickly mobilized their surrounding forces to support them.
A gap of more than a dozen miles allowed Qiu Wei to see the hope of a breakthrough.
Qiu Wei (1913-1957) was a native of Liuyang County, Hunan Province, and a major general in the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China
In order to be able to transfer smoothly and complete the tasks entrusted by the chief, he had to choose a company at the end to cover the safe departure of the common people. In the face of an enemy who may pounce at any time, this company must have extremely high combat effectiveness.
This task was given to the Seven Companies. Instructor Cai Zhanpeng conveyed the order to the whole company quickly. In order to break the post, they needed to arrange for a squad to stay at the Wolf's Tooth Mountain headquarters to drag the enemy. The people who remain can be described as nine deaths.
"Instructor, the sixth class requests to fight!" One person standing out of the crowd was Ma Baoyu, the leader of the sixth shift. As soon as the words fell out, the other soldiers of the sixth squad also stood up together, namely Ge Zhenlin, Song Xueyi, Hu Delin, and Hu Fucai.
Looking at the five young warriors with fearless faces, Qiu Wei was very comforted, and he clapped his hands and praised: "Good! I certainly don't have any seeds under my hands. ”
He stepped forward and patted Ma Baoyu's shoulder and said, "Whether the Seventh Company can successfully complete its mission depends on whether a few of you can hold the enemy back, and we must create a huge momentum, so that the devils think that the entire Wolf's Tooth Mountain is a member of our Eighth Route Army." ”
Two days later, the breakthrough broke out, and a regiment began to cover the retreat of the masses along the mountain road, and Qiu Wei followed the troops behind. At the last parting moment, he once again came to the location of the sixth class and said solemnly and solemnly: "We must drag the enemy to death, and we must not let them turn over the chessboard." ”
"Commander, rest assured, even if we die, we will certainly complete the task," Ma Baoyu said firmly.
In this way, five young people undertook the arduous task of stopping more than 500 Japanese devils.
In the previous battles, the 6th squad has already accumulated rich experience in guerrilla warfare, using the terrain to carry out mobile warfare with the enemy. They were scattered among several nearby peaks, and the gunshots of the small group of troops that had just finished blocking the mountain began to rise again, making the Japanese troops down the mountain overwhelmed.
Not a single person was lost, and the entire six shifts did an excellent job in completing the tasks assigned by their superiors within the allotted time. Seeing that all the large troops have been successfully transferred, they are also ready to follow the direction of the troops.
However, when he reached the hidden path and prepared to go down the mountain, Ma Baoyu stopped, and he thought to himself: "If you return to the team at this moment, it is difficult to guarantee that it will not attract a large number of pursuing troops, and the cover work done before will not be a failure?" Watching the squad leader stop, several people behind him also stood.
"Squad leader, what are you worried about?" Hu Fucai asked.
Ge Zhenlin, who was also a party member, saw Ma Baoyu's hesitation. He groaned for a moment and said emphatically, "Squad leader, you decide, we will all listen to you." ”
Picture - Portrait of Ma Baoyu
Ma Baoyu glanced at the comrades-in-arms around him who had been born and died for many years, and sighed: "Comrades, if we rush down the mountain now, it is very likely that the large troops covering the evacuation of the common people will be exposed, so..." Next, he could not bear to say.
Yes, several of the warriors are young people, and making such a request now is undoubtedly cutting off everyone's way of life. As a party member, he was naturally obligated, but he could not ask others to be the same as he thought.
"Squad leader, I know what you mean." Song Xueyi stood up and said, "If you continue to go down, it is very likely that you will lead the devils to the base area, and the other road is the chessboard, the terrain of that is very familiar to several of us, squad leader, you will give orders." ”
Looking at the whole class with a dead face, Ma Baoyu's blood boiled, and he roared with a big hand: "Go, set off towards the chessboard." ”
Figure - Wolf's Tooth Mountain - Checkerboard Top
Under his leadership, several young people did not hesitate to turn around and continue to advance towards the main peak of Wolf's Tooth Mountain.
In order to attract the enemy, the five fighters moved to the side of the chessboard while fighting, and the dense firepower made the Japanese troops who followed them have the illusion that it was the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, so they stepped up their pace.
Finally coming to the top of the cliffs on three sides, the warriors held the belief that Cheng Ren would take justice and launched a fierce attack on the enemy below the mountain. When the grenades ran out and ran out of bullets, they lifted the stones around them and smashed them down, dragging the enemy for more than five hours.
"Squad leader, we have run out of ammunition, you see," Ge Zhenlin said, pointing to the Japanese troops who were climbing up the narrow mountain road. ”
"Comrades-in-arms, the last moment has come." Looking at the Japanese devils gradually pouring in, Ma Baoyu's teeth and swords returned. The rest of the warriors also stopped throwing stones, and they stood together, arm in arm, and although they did not communicate a word, their inner thoughts were surprisingly consistent.
The guns in the hands of "Down with Japanese imperialism" and "Long live the Communist Party of China" were smashed by them, accompanied by a shout that resounded through the valley, and the five fighters jumped off the cliff like a pre-war charge...
A strong and sharp pain struck, causing Ge Zhenlin, who was in a coma, to wake up instantly, and looking at the branches wrapped around his body, he suddenly realized that he did not seem to be dead. Also hanging from the branches was Song Xueyi. He was hit by a boulder on a cliff at the time, and the pain sent him into a coma.
The squad leader Ma Baoyu, Hu Delin and Hu Fucai, three fighters, fell directly into the bottom of the cliff and died gloriously.
Ge Zhenlin looked at the surrounding situation, it turned out that he had fallen into the bushes on the slope of the mountain on the way to the cliff, and he saw that his situation could not go up or down.
"Instead of this, it is better to tear off the branches and join the comrades-in-arms!" With such a thought in his heart, Ge Zhenlin stretched out his hand to shake the bushes wildly, and several small trees that grew side by side appeared to be very stubborn, although they had been making a "whistling" sound, but there was no sign of disconnection.
Since Heaven had let him die, perhaps so that he could continue to fight devils in the future. Thinking of this, Ge Zhenlin, who was dizzy from the fall, perked up his spirits and decided to slowly climb up the cliff.
Figure- The Checkerboard Of Wolf's Tooth Mountain (Where the Five Heroes Jump off the Cliff)
"Is there anyone in front?" The sudden sound startled Ge Zhenlin. He carefully identified the direction and found that the sound was coming from the gap in the cliff in the upper right. Listening to the timbre, it should be a young man.
"Yes..." The long lack of water made Ge Zhenlin's voice hoarse, and after hearing his response, the voice in the cliff crack sounded again: "Is it the Eighth Route Army?" ”
After receiving a positive reply, the young man said, "Don't move, when the devil withdraws, I will go up and pull you up." ”
After a while, a rope suddenly appeared above Ge Zhenlin's head, and he reached out and pulled it twice, feeling very tight. The young man on the other end of the rope said, "Just pull it up slowly." ”
Just as Ge Zhenlin was slowly rising, the young man on his head suddenly let out an exclamation: "There is also a person hanging on the left branch, you see." He turned his head to look, and the figure of his comrade-in-arms Song Xueyi fell into his eyes, "It turns out that Xiao Song is still alive," Ge Zhenlin said with some choking: "That is my comrade-in-arms, and the troublesome fellow rescued him." ”
In this way, the two brave men who did not die were saved by this young well-meaning person.
Pictured - Ge Zhenlin (right) and Song Xueyi (left) in their youth
It was not easy to wake up the unconscious Song Xueyi, and Ge Zhenlin had the opportunity to look at the savior in front of him. The sweaty young man was dressed in civilian clothes and was not supposed to be a soldier. He was just about to ask where the benefactor was coming from, but he was interrupted by the other person's words.
"I see that you are seriously injured, I know a Taoist temple, there is a Li Daoist who knows some medical skills, I will take you over and let him cure him first." After the young man finished speaking, he immediately picked up Song Xueyi, who was more seriously injured, and took Ge Zhenlin with him, marching all the way to the Taoist temple in his mouth.
It was hard to come to the temple, but I didn't see Li Daoshi's figure. The young man settled the two warriors, afraid that they would get cold, and specially collected dry firewood and lit a fire to warm them.
"Rest in peace, Li Daoshi is expected to be back soon," he wiped the beads of sweat that were constantly slipping from his face and smiled.
"What about you benefactor?" Ge Zhenlin asked.
"I'm all right, there are still little devils on the mountain, but I can't let them find you, I'll go out and put a sentry for you, and you can sleep well." After saying this, the young man left.
The picture shows the Taoist temple during the Republic of China period
The intense feeling of exhaustion and the tiredness of the injury caused the two to fall asleep quickly, waking up the next day. There was an elder beside him who was tinkering with herbs, and Ge Zhenlin looked at him in a Taoist costume, presumably the Li Daochang, whom the young man had always mentioned.
"You are not lightly injured, come, drink the medicine first." Li Daochang walked over with the medicine and handed it to the two warriors.
Ge Zhenlin lifted the medicine bowl and drank it all, suddenly thinking of the young man who saved himself yesterday, he thanked the Dao Chief, and asked him if he had seen a person standing at the door when he returned.
Li Daochang shook his head and said, "When I came back, I saw the two of you lying in the Taoist Temple, and I didn't see anyone at the door." ”
With the help of the mysterious youth and Li Daochang, Ge Zhenlin and Song Xueyi quickly returned to the army, recovered from their wounds in the hospital, and then continued to fight.
What they have not been able to put down is that they have never known the name of the benefactor who saved himself in the cliff.
Whether it was in the battlefield full of artillery fire or in the peaceful years after the liberation of New China, Ge Zhenlin and Song Xueyi have always maintained correspondence, and they have never given up the search for benefactors.
In 1942, the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region held a "counter-sweeping" celebration meeting, and Nie Rongzhen highly praised the heroic deeds of the five heroes of Wolf-Tooth Mountain who were not afraid of sacrifice.
So far, in the past few decades, the firm revolutionary spirit they showed in the battle and the heroism of the Chinese nation that can never be conquered have been widely spread in the land of China.
How could the young man who had saved Ge Zhenlin and Song Xueyi not know that the people he had rescued were two of the heroes of Wolf's Tooth Mountain? But who was he, and why did he hide his righteous deeds?
Picture - Song Xueyi, survivor of "The Five Heroes of Wolf Tooth Mountain" (the one who wears a red flower on his chest)
In 1986, it was the 45th anniversary of the Battle of Wolf's Tooth Mountain. In order to inherit the spirit of the Five Heroes of Wolf's Tooth Mountain, the Five Heroes Memorial Tower, which was severely damaged at the beginning, was rebuilt. As the last survivor of the sixth class, the elderly Ge Zhenlin was invited to the inauguration ceremony.
In his emotional memories, everyone learned that under what kind of desperate circumstances several heroes had made such a great choice.
"Song Xueyi and I were hanging on a branch at that time, and we were rescued by a young man in plain clothes..." Ge Zhenlin described the rescue with great affection, and the whole audience was moved.
"Elder Ge, do you remember me?" After the speech, an elderly man walked up to Ge Zhenlin, his face looking a little cramped and nervous.
Ge Zhenlin opened his eyes wide and carefully identified the other party's appearance, and after a long time, he suddenly stepped forward excitedly and took the old man's hand and said, "It's you!" I've been looking for you for decades! Benefactor"
An encounter that had been delayed for 45 years finally happened in this very meaningful time period.
Pictured - Yu Yaofu (right) and Ge Zhenlin (left)
That autumn 45 years ago, Yu Yaofu, as the director of the Young Anti-Japanese Salvation Congress, was discussing with his comrades how to do a good job in the propaganda work of launching a revolution. Yu Yaofu, who had been discussing the rest of the night, suddenly heard a fierce gunshot, "The devils have attacked!" Realizing that things were not good, he and his comrades quickly moved to the chessboard, but they did not want to disperse with their comrades in the middle of the road.
In order to avoid enemy fire, Yu Yaofu, who was familiar with the terrain of Wolf's Tooth Mountain, decided to hide in the cliff crevices on the back of the mountain and wait for the Japanese to retreat before returning to Yi County.
After a day and a night, the Wolf's Tooth Mountain returned to calm. Yu Yaofu began to climb up the gap, and on the way, he saw a figure hanging on a branch not far away.
That person was Ge Zhenlin, and when he sent the two brave men safely into the Taoist Temple, he feared that the enemy would find him, so he hid in the jungle outside the Taoist Temple, and when he saw Li Daoshi return, he quietly left.
Like Ge Zhenlin and Song Xueyi, even as the years changed, he never forgot that night. In Yu Yaofu's heart, it was a very glorious thing to be able to have the privilege of saving the two heroes. As a rescuer, he did not feel that he had half a credit, but instead took it as a responsibility to publicize the heroic deeds of the five heroes of Wolf's Tooth Mountain.
In the past 45 years, he has worked in different positions, and the only constant is that he has always insisted on collecting and sorting out the historical materials of the five heroes.
In order to let future generations not forget the glorious deeds of several heroes, he took his children on foot on the Wolf's Tooth Mountain many times to recall the cruel battle scenes of that year, but he never mentioned it to anyone about saving the heroes.
It wasn't until he was already over the age that Yu Yaofu felt the need to see him, but it was a wish. Therefore, the benefactor that Ge Zhenlin and Song Xueyi have been looking for has finally appeared in front of the public after 45 years. Unfortunately, Song Xueyi died of illness as early as the 1970s, and he never knew who the savior was before his death.
Figure - Yu Yaofu and his old partner Xing Yunying
The spirit of the five heroes of Wolf's Tooth Mountain has been passed down to this day, which is certainly valuable. And Yu Yaofu did not expect anything in return, and the silent dedication to the spirit of the Five Heroes for many years was also touching.
It is precisely because of these heroes who are not afraid of life and death, with their flesh and blood, that they have exchanged for the peaceful era of the current years.
References: Testimony of the Immortality of Wolf's Tooth Mountain - Zhong Qiyuan, a rescuer who visited the survivors of the "Five Heroes"