In 1982, when they learned that the state had decided to remove the "railway troops", several old cadres were full of sorrow in their hearts, and after announcing the news to the railway soldiers, everyone was silent, because no one was willing to take off their military uniforms and leave this place where they had struggled for many years.
Why did Comrade Deng Xiaoping abolish the "railway soldiers"? What kind of family and country feelings are included in this?
That year, after learning that the railway soldiers were about to be removed, Chen Zaidao, the 73-year-old commander of the railway troops, first found Yang Dezhi, chief of the general staff of the People's Liberation Army. The two were both comrades-in-arms and founding generals, and they were very familiar with each other. After seeing Yang Dezhi, Chen Zaidao asked straight away: "I heard that the Ministry of Railways is going to be withdrawn, is it true?" Yang Dezhi nodded with a heavy face. Then, Yang Dezhi told Chen Zaidao about the causes and consequences of the incident, why he wanted to withdraw the railway troops, and so on.
Although Yang Dezhi had already made the reason very clear, Chen Zaidao still wanted to listen to the opinions of the Railway Army and also wanted to fight with his superiors again. After returning home, Chen Zaidao held a meeting, in which Chen Zaidao clearly pointed out three issues: The withdrawal of the railway troops was Comrade Deng Xiaoping's decision; in addition to the abolition of the railway troops, the infrastructure engineering corps was also abolished; after the revocation, it was put under the management of the Ministry of Railways.
After the meeting, Chen Zaidao, according to everyone's wishes, still decided to do the final struggle, so he prepared a letter to Comrade Deng Xiaoping. Twelve days later, he summoned two other generals (Lü Zhengcao and Kuang Fuzhao) to the home of General Zhang Zhen, deputy chief of the general staff, and at the repeated requests of the three veteran generals, Zhang Zhen said that he would help them convey it to Comrade Deng Xiaoping.
For the three veteran generals, their feelings for the railroad soldiers are indescribable, and only they themselves know it, and others cannot understand it. After all, the railway soldiers of that year also shined in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and a team that the US military was afraid of was suddenly about to be revoked, and it was inevitable that they would be reluctant and hurt in their hearts. After the report was handed in, the three generals fell into an anxious wait.
During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, there was a huge disparity in military strength between China and the United States, and the US air force was particularly powerful. Between 1950 and 1953, the United States sent nearly 60,000 aircraft to bomb our army's railway lines of communication, dropping as many as 190,000 bombs. But what puzzled the U.S. military was that even with such bombing, China's rail route was constantly bombing.
At that time, a spokesman for the U.S. Air Force once said that for almost a year, American, South African, Australian and other allied planes have been bombing communist transportation systems, but north Korean trains are still moving! Frankly, I think they are the strongest people in the world to build railways.
In order to prevent the US military from destroying our army's railway transportation route, the tenacious railway soldiers disregarded life and death to resist the attacks of the US army, and in the case of indiscriminate bombardment by the US army, they still insisted on building railways.
According to statistics, on the railway line at that time, an average of one bomb fell every 7 meters, and the total number of bombs dropped by the enemy army reached 190,000. What is the concept of 190,000 pieces? This comparison makes it clear that this figure is 1.5 times the total number of bombs dropped by Germany on British soil during World War II.
Such achievements stunned the U.S. military, and what they did not know was that 12,000 railroad soldiers had worked hard, and 1,136 railroad soldiers had died as a result.
The predecessor of the Railway Corps was the Northeast People's Liberation Army Escort Road Army. In 1945, Japan announced its surrender, and the country began to vigorously build the Northeast Railway, and the following year, Su Jin was promoted to commander of the Northeast Democratic United Army Railway Command. In 1948, the Party Central Committee further reorganized the Escort Road Army and formed the Railway Column of the Northeast People's Liberation Army, and the number of railway soldiers grew rapidly, from the original scattered number to tens of thousands. The following year, the railway column was reorganized into the Railway Corps, with General Teng Daiyuan as its commander!
According to General Su Jin's later words, he was a "light rod commander" at that time, and there were few soldiers under him. The usual work is to cooperate with the railway staff to carry out picketing tasks.
At that time, the Kuomintang was waging reactionary activities in a big way in the country, and in the struggle between our Party and the Kuomintang, the railway soldiers played an important role, and at that time the railway soldiers also had a slogan: "Wherever the field army fights, we will repair the railway!" "What an ambition and excitement! It is no exaggeration to say that although the conditions were backward in those years, the railway soldiers did all the work that the modern iron construction team could not complete.
Later, Fujian wanted to build a railway from Yingtan to Nanping, but due to the complex terrain, many people were discouraged. They knew that to build such a railway would mean both reclaiming the sea and blowing up mountains, and no other force could accomplish it except for the PLA railway soldiers. In 1954, General Wang Zhen personally led a team to the mountainous area of Fujian. Under these circumstances, Wang Zhen took over this arduous task with the railway soldiers, first blowing up the mountain and then building the road. In this way, with the concerted efforts of the railway soldiers, the railway that needed to be built by "moving mountains and reclaiming the sea" was perfectly completed in only one year and ten months.
Since the formation of the railway column in 1948, the Chinese railway soldiers have created one miracle after another, and many families are proud of the fact that the whole family has produced a railway soldier.
After the founding of New China, in 1953, when General Wang Zhen was appointed commander of the Railway Corps, Chairman Mao specially received him and personally inscribed the three characters of "Railway Soldier". Since then, they have not missed a single foreign war.
It is precisely because of everyone's feelings for the railway soldiers that they cannot accept the fact that Comrade Deng Xiaoping wants to revoke them. So why did Comrade Deng Xiaoping make such a decision?
In fact, the decision to reduce troops is not directed at the Railway Army, but at disarmament as a whole. Because the number of domestic troops was too large at that time, military expenditure accounted for 60% of the national financial expenditure, which greatly affected the development of China's economy. Although he also knew that this was a matter of offending people, for the sake of the development of the country, he preferred to be this "sinner".
Since the founding of New China in 1949, the number of people in the People's Liberation Army has always been relatively large compared with other countries. By 1975, the number was more than 6 million.
But after 1980, Deng Xiaoping pointed out that if conditions permit, we should "strive for peace for a longer period of time!" This view is based on a reasonable and objective judgment. At that time, the relations between the East and the West had been significantly relaxed, and the possibility of another world war in a short period of time was almost non-existent. In order to express to the world the sincerity of Chinese people for peace, disarmament is also imperative.
In the face of chen Zaidao's request from three veteran generals, Deng Xiaoping's reply was also quite perfect. He said only one sentence: "When the war starts, the Ministry of Railways is a railway soldier." A simple sentence not only showed his willingness to dismiss the railway soldiers, but also affirmed the dedication and ability of the railway soldiers, and at the same time, it also calmed the hearts of several veteran generals.
Deng Xiaoping's determination in this matter was great. Dare to undertake the mission entrusted by history, this is Deng Xiaoping's style of doing things. Facts have proved that if it were not for Deng Xiaoping's decision, it would have been difficult for millions of disarmament to proceed. He was under tremendous pressure!
Although the railway soldiers still disappeared in the torrent of history, the spirit of the railway soldiers is eternal, their contributions to the revolutionary cause cannot be erased, and their heroic deeds are also worth remembering!