As the saying goes: "The grace of dripping water, when the spring repays." "Not to mention the saving grace.
In the territory of Sujiapo, Jiangxi Village, Yajiang Town, Xiushan Tujia and Miao Autonomous County, Chongqing,
There is such a "Red Army Cave" and a "Red Army Bridge", these two cultural relics witness a touching story.
The rescued person in the story, duan Suquan, the beggar of the year, later became the founding major general.
The rescuer, Li Mufu, was already an 89-year-old man when Duan Suquan came to repay the favor.
This long-lasting love affair between them not only reflects the deep affection between the military and the people, but also brings us back to the fiery years when Duan Suquan and other revolutionary predecessors fought bloodily for national liberation and the establishment of a new China.
Political commissar Duan Suquan, Xiushan in distress
Duan Suquan was born in 1916 in a peasant family in Gaojing Village, Yantang Town, Chaling County, Hunan Province, in addition to farming to maintain food and clothing, growing tea is the main source of income, although the family is poor, but his parents still send him to study as much as possible.
Although Duan Suquan was talented and intelligent and had excellent grades, he was unable to continue because of his family's poverty, so he had no choice but to drop out of school, and his six-year education in the village private school and primary school opened Duan Suquan's mind and came into contact with advanced ideas.
Duan Suquan joined the peasant movement at the age of 10, joined the regiment at the age of 14, and joined the Communist Party of China at the age of 15.
Duan Suquan served as the director of the organization department of Chaling County, the secretary of the county party committee, and the propaganda director of the Xianggan Provincial Youth League Committee, and accumulated rich experience in the grass-roots revolution.
In August 1932, Duan Suquan led a group of young Red Guards to join the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army in the Xianggan Soviet District and served as the chief of the Youth Section of the Political Department of the Eighth Red Army. His education level was not bad, and he later served as the director of the Propaganda Department of the Political Department of the Xianggan Military Region.
During the "anti-encirclement and suppression" battle, Duan Suquan accompanied the troops on a westward expedition into Guizhou, and he served as secretary of the Qiandong Special Committee and political commissar of the Qiandong Independent Division of the Red Army. Duan Suquan took on a heavy responsibility for the first time and led the creation of the qiandong revolutionary base area.
After the failure of the fifth "anti-encirclement and suppression", the Red Second Army led by He Long and Ren Bishi decided to return to western Hunan and leave an independent division to cover the transfer of the main force.
The commander of the independent division was Wang Guangguang, and the 18-year-old Duan Suquan was appointed as the political commissar of the independent division.
Although it is the number of the independent division, in fact, there are only about 800 people, 400 guns, ammunition is still seriously insufficient, and nearly half of the soldiers' weapons are large knives and spears.
Duan Suquan deeply felt that the task was arduous and the responsibility was heavy, but he still accepted the task without hesitation, drew up a detailed battle plan with the division commander, and carried out pre-war mobilization.
At the end of October 1934, the main forces of the Red Second and Sixth Armies left the base area and marched east to begin the Long March.
The Independent Division, disguised as the main force of the Red Army, moved westward and entered the territory of Xiushan County.
Xiushan County is located in the middle of the Wuling Mountains, bordering Longshan County in Hunan Province in the east and Songtao County in Guizhou Province in the west, and is an important gateway to the southeast of Sichuan and Chongqing.
Duan Suquan's plan was to enter Hunan via Xiushan to join the main force of the Red Army after completing the cover mission, and the enemy was indeed deceived, and the Sichuan warlord Liu Xiang and the Guizhou warlord Wang Jialie joined forces to mobilize more than ten regiments of troops to intercept and encircle and suppress.
After more than 20 guerrilla battles, large and small, the actions of the Independent Division successfully confused the enemy and covered the transfer of large troops, but it was already under heavy encirclement by the enemy.
On November 25, 1934, the Independent Division was ambushed by the enemy's vanguard troops at Yimei, and for a time the gunfire was loud.
Duan Suquan took the lead and rushed to the front of the team, when suddenly a bullet hit his right ankle, and Duan Suquan suddenly fell to the ground.
The warriors fought back bravely and repelled the enemy, but Duan Suquan could no longer walk, and Wang Guangguang arranged for the soldiers to carry him on a stretcher.
The rugged and steep mountain roads of Xiushan County, coupled with the lack of food and medicine, Duan Suquan's injuries could not be treated, which slowed down the entire team's marching speed.
In the face of the swarming enemy troops, Wang Guangguang consulted with Duan Suquan and decided to leave Duan Suquan behind.
The correspondent carried Duan Suquan to a small mountain village in Yajiang Township, found a family to settle down, and hurriedly bid farewell and left.
On November 27, Wang Guangguang led the independent division to take a remote mountain road and jumped out of the encirclement circle and came to the Chuanhegai Highlands.
Seeing that it was about to enter the territory of Hunan, it was unexpectedly encountered in the fog, and the Red Army had to rush to battle.
Hearing the sound of gunfire, the nearby regimental guards and bandits also rushed to intercept it, and the Red Army had just experienced a long period of fighting and trekking, and could not be rested and replenished, and it was already sleepy and tired, and there were few bullets left, unable to resist the enemy's crazy attack.
The Red Army had to fight and retreat, and broke through separately.
After Wang Guangguang rushed out, disguised as a farmer selling peppers, he was unfortunately captured while passing through the enemy checkpoint, and after being tortured, he was brutally killed by the enemy on December 21.
After the Battle of Chuanhegai, only a few dozen people in the entire independent division rushed out of the enemy's encirclement to find the team, and the rest basically died heroically.
afterward
The leaders of the Red Second Army thought that Duan Suquan had also died, and held a memorial service for him.
Tailor Li Mufu, risk rescue
Duan Suquan did not sacrifice, he was able to survive because he met a well-wisher Li Mufu.
At that time, the place where the warriors sent Duan Suquan was Li Mufu's family.
Li Mufu was a famous local tailor, but he could not even maintain food and clothing after years of hard work, he knew that the Red Army was fighting for the poor, and when he saw Duan Suquan, who was seriously injured, he was very sympathetic.
Despite the risk of being implicated by the "tong bandits", Li Mufu gritted his teeth and took In duan Suquan.
Unexpectedly, the next day, when the militia group entered the village to search for the Red Army, it found Duan Suquan, and just as the leader of the militia group picked up a large knife and prepared to kill Duan Suquan, Li Mufu had the courage to step forward and stop him: "He is still a doll, you will let him go!" ”
The leader of the militia usually knew Li Mufu, and when he heard his intercession, he put down his machete, snatched the only three oceans on Duan Suquan's body, and fled.
Worried that other vigilante groups would come to the door again, Li Mufu carried Duan Suquan to a small cave in the back mountain.
The inside of the cave is spacious, the entrance to the cave is relatively low, and in front of it is a bamboo forest, which is convenient for concealment.
Li Mufu cleaned the ground, brought thick straw to spread on the ground, covered a bed of quilts, and every morning and evening, Li Mufu sent two meals to eat, so Duan Suquan settled down.
The wound on Duan Suquan's foot was not healed and began to deteriorate and suppurate, and Li Mufu quietly found a nearby Chinese medicine doctor Su Yu for help.
Su Yu carefully prepared more than ten pieces of Chinese herbal medicine and told Li Mufu how to clean the wound and use the herbs.
Li Mufu used boiling water to eliminate the poison every morning, used the bamboo chips to clean up the pus on it, rinsed the wound with warm salt water, and then applied Chinese herbs.
After changing the medicine,
Li Mufu went out during the day to make clothes for others, and when he returned at night, he brought a few baked sweet potatoes and some pickles to check the wounds.
Under the meticulous care of Li Mufu and his wife, Duan Suquan's wounds improved and began to heal slowly.
The local villagers gradually learned about Duan Suquan, but they were all tight-lipped, did not report it, and provided some help as much as possible.
In this way, Duan Suquan stayed in the cave for more than a month, and Li Mufu's family had one more person to eat out of thin air, and the burden was too heavy, and besides, it was easy to be in danger after a long time.
Duan Suquan did not want to cause any more trouble for Li Mufu, so he proposed to leave here and return to chaling's hometown.
Li Mufu saw that Duan Suquan had already made up his mind, so he found the carpenter master Lei Zishun to help make two crutches.
Li Mufu took a rice bowl on crutches, dressed up as a beggar, parted with Tears from Li Mufu, and embarked on the road of begging home.
A month later, Li Mufu went to Huayuan County to work, and happened to run into Duan Suquan, who was asking for food, and the two of them hugged and cried.
Li Mufu was worried about Duan Suquan's safety, and heard that there were local boats taking the waterway to Chaling, so he quickly sent Duan Suquan to the ship and gave Duan Suquan the hundred copper plate workers he had just earned.
Duan Suquan was deeply moved, and secretly swore in his heart that he would come back to repay his benefactor well in the future.
The kind Li Mufu did not expect that the "little red devil" he tried his best to rescue would become the founding major general of the country in the future.
Duan Suquan returned to the army and continued the revolution
After a long journey, Duan Suquan begged all the way and finally returned to his hometown, and his parents looked at Duan Suquan, who was ragged and bearded, and was stunned.
They thought that their son had already died, but they did not expect to appear in front of them.
The local Kuomintang government heard about Duan Suquan's return to his hometown, but thought that he was just a deserter who was scattered by the Red Army, and did not pursue him too much.
Even the family did not expect that this young man, who was less than 20 years old, was actually the political commissar of the Red Army.
His father entrusted Duan Suquan to find a messenger for the clerks in the township office, and a year later, under the introduction of the matchmaker, Duan Suquan married a girl named Tan Qiuying.
In the eyes of others, Duan Suquan lived a peaceful and stable life.
However, Duan Suquan's heart has always missed his comrades-in-arms and dreamed of returning to the army.
In December 1936, with the outbreak of the "Xi'an Incident", the Kuomintang and the Communists began their second cooperation, and the Red Army was renamed the Eighth Route Army.
Duan Suquan saw a glimmer of light, and he looked forward to returning to the front line to fight with the Japanese invaders.
In September 1937, Tan Maogou, a nearby veteran Red Army soldier who had returned to his hometown wounded, brought good news.
He told Duan Suquan: "When his former superior Ren Bishi was old, he is now the head of the Eighth Route Army Office in Taiyuan, Shanxi. ”
Duan Suquan was ecstatic, and that night he told his family his true identity and plans to find the team, and after a short period of preparation, Duan Suquan bid farewell to his relatives, and after three years of silence, he left his hometown again and embarked on a journey.
Duan Suquan came to Taiyuan,
When Ren Bi saw Duan Suquan suddenly appear in front of him, he was surprised, and he did not expect that Duan Suquan, who had held a memorial service, was still alive!
Couldn't believe it.
Duan Su weighted back to the troops, like a fierce tiger released back into the mountains and forests, full of energy.
Because the domestic situation had undergone major changes at that time, duan Suquan was arranged organizationally to go to the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University and the Central Marxist-Leninist College for further study and political theory.
Beginning in 1940, Duan Suquan returned to the front-line troops, engaged in political work in the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Subdistrict, led the establishment of the Pingbei Anti-Japanese Base Area, and persisted in the anti-Japanese struggle behind enemy lines.
In March 1948, Duan Suquan was appointed commander of the Eighth Column, and on September 12, the Liaoshen Campaign began.
After Duan Suquan commanded the Eighth Column to annihilate two enemy regiments on the outskirts of Jinzhou, he cooperated with the main attacking forces from the north and south to attack Jinzhou from the east.
After capturing Jinzhou, Duan Suquan did not stop and led his troops to the east to participate in the Battle of Western Liaoning.
On October 24, the battle began, the Eighth Column was responsible for blocking the enemy's retreat, and launched a fierce battle with the enemy in the Zhao family shack, six rooms and other places, annihilating more than 10,000 enemy people, successfully thwarting the enemy's attempt to flee south to Yingkou and withdraw east to Shenyang, and made a major contribution to the total annihilation of the enemy's elite liao yaoxiang corps.
Duan Suquan was temporarily ordered to lead the eight columns to the Liaoshen battlefield and basically completed the combat task, however, as soon as the campaign ended, Duan Suquan was transferred away from the eighth column and demoted to the post of chief of the operations department of the Northeast Military Region.
Instead of rewarding merits and deeds, they are degraded, and many people do not understand it.
It is speculated that before the general attack on Jinzhou, Liu Yalou ordered the eight columns to block the airport, in order not to make a mistake.
Duan Suquan asked at that time: "There are two airports in Jinzhou, which one should I block?" "Because of this, the superiors think that the brain is too rigid.
Secondly, in the battle, the Eighth Column lost the Niulangshan position, and although Duan Suquan organized a death squad to retake the position, the commander-in-chief had learned of this news and was greatly angered.
Moreover, due to insufficient artillery fire, the Eastern Road of the Eighth Column was the last to attack Jinzhou City, and although the results were good, it delayed the time for the commander-in-chief to report to the Central Military Commission.
Therefore, at the summary meeting on the 18th, the Eighth Column was severely criticized by the commander-in-chief, and although he suffered some grievances, Duan Suquan did not complain, and when he mentioned this matter many years later, he only believed that the merits of all the eight columns should not be forgotten.
After the founding of New China, Duan Suquan served as the commander of the air force of the Northeast Military Region, participated in the formation of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force, and the 36-year-old Duan Suquan personally learned to fly bombers, and half a year later, he became one of the first generals who could fly alone.
In 1951, when the Korean War broke out, Duan Suquan was transferred to the Volunteer Air Force as the first deputy commander.
He summed up the combat experience of the "five-step method" from search to exit, which played a major role in the battle and was affirmed by the pilots.
After an air battle, when the General Staff reported its achievements, there were exaggerations, and after Duan Suquan knew about it, he insisted on seeking truth from facts and reported it to the central authorities.
The central authorities severely punished those who falsely reported military information, but Duan Suquan offended many people and was ostracized.
After the end of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Duan Suquan served as deputy education director at the Military Academy. In 1964, he was appointed by Premier Zhou as the head of the working group supporting Laos, and in May 1983 he retired from his post as political commissar of the Military Academy.
Among the plastered PLA generals, Duan Suquan's personality was low-key, easy-going, and not eye-catching, once he went to Kunming on a business trip, and when he stayed at the guest house, Duan Suquan said that the administrative level was six, and the waiter saw that his appearance was not proud, there was no arrogance, thinking that he was wrong, he was registered as sixteen levels, and arranged in a three-person room.
A few days later, deputy commander Chen Kang, an old comrade-in-arms, came to visit, and the truth of this oolong incident was revealed, and it became an interesting talk for a while.
Return to Xiushan County and come to repay the favor
Duan Suquan's ability to rise from the dead and continue the revolution is inseparable from the death-threatening rescue of the tailor Li Mufu at that time.
After liberation, he planned to return to Xiushan to find a savior, ending the long-cherished wish that had been buried in his heart for many years.
In 1983, Xiushan held the inaugural meeting of the autonomous county, and Duan Suquan was invited to participate.
He finally had a chance to look for a benefactor, however, because after 49 years, many memories have been blurred, Duan Suquan visited several villages with caves, but did not find Li Mufu, before returning to Beijing, he entrusted the local government to search for it.
When Li Mufu heard the news, he was very excited, and accompanied by his son, he found the Xiushan Party History Office to explain the situation.
When Duan Suquan received the photo of Li Mufu sent by Xiushan, he burst into tears, and he immediately replied: "I am very happy to learn the news of the old man! He was a relative of the Red Army and deserved to be respected. ”
Duan Suquan sent a thousand yuan to the elderly Li Mufu with a letter, and the Xiushan government also sent a big red plaque engraved with the words "Relatives of the Red Army" to his family.
In recognition of his righteous deeds of the year.
The local government also named the cave behind Li Mufu House "Red Army Cave", and today, "Red Army Cave" has become a county-level cultural relics protection unit and is a famous local red tourist attraction.
Later, Duan Suquan sent money, books and materials to Li Mufu many times.
When asked li mufu where else he needed help, Li Mufu replied: "It is very inconvenient for the villagers to cross the river by wading through the water, and they hope to build a bridge on the river." ”
Duan Suquan quickly sent the funds needed to build the bridge.
Soon, a spacious and sturdy cement bridge was built, which greatly facilitated the exchanges between villagers on both sides of the strait, and the villagers affectionately called it the "Red Army Bridge".
Today, General Duan Suquan and the elderly Li Mufu are no longer alive, and the Jiangxi Village, where they fought in those years, is gradually getting rid of poverty and embarking on the road to prosperity through the development of planting and tourism. The two old men under the Nine Springs should feel relieved.
Duan Suquan lived all his life, was born into death, experienced all the periods of the new Chinese revolution and construction, and made great contributions to the liberation of the Chinese people.
One medal after another witnessed his brilliant life, he will eventually go down in the annals of history and be remembered by us, and the kind and righteous old man Li Mufu is also worthy of respect by future generations, and the legendary story and deep friendship between the general and the tailor will also be passed down and praised by future generations.