In 2016, an expedition team accidentally discovered a dried corpse in the mysterious and desolate desert of Lop Nur. As the investigation deepened, the identity of this dried corpse was gradually revealed, and it was actually Li Zhonghua, a heroic soldier who had been missing for many years.
Li Zhonghua once made great achievements on the battlefield of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea, but he became disabled due to a leg injury, but even so, he still paid for the country and became the epitome of countless silent devotees in that era.
This discovery brought back to light a heroic deed that had been in the dust for half a century, and today we will talk about his story.
Li Zhonghua's early life
Li Zhonghua was born in 1930 into an ordinary peasant family in Bazhong City, Sichuan Province, when China was in the shadow of war and poverty.
The children of the poor are in charge of the family at an early age, and the family is poor, living in difficult conditions, and Li Zhonghua has learned to take on family responsibilities since he was a child.
At the same time, he never gave up his thirst for knowledge, and found time to read in difficult circumstances, often for hours at a time, until the oil in the lamp ran out.
In order to reduce the burden on the family, Li Zhonghua often went to herd cattle for the landlord's family, and the old people in the village often lamented the child's tenacity and said that he was a promising child.
When the Korean War broke out in 1950, 19-year-old Li Zhonghua resolutely signed up for the army and became a member of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army.
On the eve of his departure, he shed reluctant tears in his mother's arms, but he also strengthened his determination to protect his family and defend the country. Although the mother was heartbroken, she also knew that her son had the ambition to serve the country, so she just told him to take good care of himself.
On the Korean battlefield, Li Zhonghua showed extraordinary bravery, participated in many important battles, and made many military exploits. His comrades-in-arms said that he was not only brave, but also very resourceful, and could always find a way to save the day in the most critical moments.
Li Zhonghua's heroic performance was recognized by his superiors, and he was rated as an outstanding soldier many times, and even won a second-class meritorious service.
Unfortunately, in a fierce battle in 1953, he was hit in the lower leg by an enemy bullet, and despite his serious injuries, he persevered in his mission.
At the end of the battle, he was no longer able to stand, and was carried back to the medical office by his comrades, and after an emergency rescue bullet was removed, but his calf fell due to the severity of the injury, and he was permanently disabled.
After returning to China, Li Zhonghua was placed to work in a factory, and his physical injuries did not dampen his enthusiasm, and he was optimistic and worked hard to maintain the life of his family.
Under the introduction of the matchmaker, Li Zhonghua married a wife and gave birth to several children many years later. As the children grew up, the family's expenses became larger and larger, and Li Zhonghua realized that it was difficult to support the family's life with his current salary alone.
He was constantly looking for more job opportunities, and he was unable to do many heavy tasks due to a disability in his legs. In 1958, Li Zhonghua received a letter of recommendation from the army, which stated that he would go to Guizhou to build a railway.
Although the job is hard, it pays well and can reduce the financial pressure on the family. With the expectations of his wife and the blessings of his children, Li Zhonghua embarked on a journey to Guizhou, but this time he never returned.
Discoveries of the expedition
At the place of work, Li Zhonghua and other workers braved the scorching heat and cold to work hard, and whenever they couldn't hold on, they may have seen the faces of their family members in their hearts, and used their own hands to support their families.
In 1959, Li Zhonghua suddenly sent a letter back to his family, with a large sum of money attached, and explained in the letter that he had found a better job, and then there was no more.
This letter was his last letter to his family, and since then his family has not heard anything about him, and the letters sent to him by his family according to the address have been lost without any reply.
In general, his family asked around for news of him but found nothing, and Li Zhonghua's disappearance also had a huge impact on the family.
His wife's name is Deng Guangming, and when the neighbors learned that Li Zhonghua had not been heard from, they spread all kinds of gossip that he had found a better life outside and abandoned this home, which made Deng Guangming exhausted.
At the same time, the burden of life also weighed Deng Guangming almost out of breath, but she still firmly believed that her husband did not abandon the family, but encountered some accidents.
Decades have passed, and no one knows where Li Zhonghua went, the only thing he knows is that "he has no news", and he has never sent a message back to his family.
In 2016, an expedition team came to the desert of Lop Nur and accidentally found a mysterious dried corpse as they walked. The corpse was strewn with a number of items, including an old pair of windproof goggles and a backpack that looked like it had been many years old.
After all, a human life was involved, and the expedition members immediately chose to call the police, and the police quickly arrived at the scene to investigate.
The dried corpse had long been unrecognizable, unable to identify by its appearance, and its clothes were also tattered under the erosion of the wind and sand, and only a very old style of clothing could be vaguely recognizable.
The police found a number of items from the backpack next to the dried body, including a flashlight, a Luoyang Daily newspaper and several pieces of illegible letterhead, which became clues for further investigation.
The publication date of "Luoyang Daily" is September 1960, which means that the time of death of the dry corpse is 1960, combined with the vaguely recognizable words in the newspaper, the police deduced that the dry corpse may be a geological prospector in the 60s of the 20th century.
Subsequently, the police contacted the relevant units in Luoyang, but did not find any record of missing persons, but soon the police found a breakthrough.
At that time, there was an old man in his eighties, who had been engaged in geological exploration work in the army when he was young, and according to the old man's description, when he saw the windproof goggles and flashlight provided by the police, he immediately recognized that this was the equipment issued by the army at that time.
The old man also mentioned that around the beginning of the 60s, there was indeed a geological exploration team that visited Luoyang, many of whom were from Sichuan.
Based on this clue, the police narrowed the scope to Bazhong City, Sichuan, and further investigation found that a man named Li Zhonghua had disappeared around 1959.
After relevant investigations, it was learned that Li Zhonghua's father's name was Li Chongshan, and it was unfortunate that the words "father Chongshan" and other words could be vaguely seen in the letters recovered by the relevant departments.
Possible reasons for his death in the desert
Soon the police found Li Zhonghua's wife, Deng Guangming, and explained some information to her, Deng Guangming had mixed feelings after hearing this, both resentment against her husband who had not returned for decades, and a kind of sadness after learning the truth.
She told the police that in 1958, her husband Li Zhonghua said that he had left home to build a railway in Guizhou, and promised to send letters and wages home regularly.
So, what did Li Zhonghua do, and why did he die in the vast desert Gobi? Through various clues, the police speculated that Li Zhonghua was likely selected by the state to participate in a highly classified nuclear test exploration mission.
As we all know, in the fifties and sixties, many confidential studies were conducted on the mainland, and most of these studies required strict secrecy, so they were basically distributed in the vast Gobi Desert.
In the era of underdeveloped machinery and technology, manpower is the best productivity, but not all people can participate in it. As a veteran of the battlefield to resist US aggression and aid Korea, Li Zhonghua's political and physical qualities are very much in line with the requirements.
Combined, it is likely that he was selected to be part of the exploration team, and due to the high level of secrecy of the mission, he has not been able to contact his family.
During Li Zhonghua's mission in Lop Nur, he may not be able to continue due to a recurrence of his leg injury, or he may be disoriented in a harsh environment, and losing his way in the desert is equivalent to stepping into a ghost gate, especially in Lop Nur.
The climate there was unusually harsh, with extremely high temperatures during the day and a sharp drop at night, a lack of water and food, and Li Zhonghua's inconvenient legs, which eventually led to his death in this desolate desert.
The police speculated that Li Zhonghua still adhered to his duties until he ran out of physical strength in the last moments of his life.
Which classified project Li Zhonghua is engaged in, judging from the available information, it should be a nuclear business, because Lop Nur was a nuclear test site on the mainland at that time.
In other words, Li Zhonghua, a heroic soldier, used his life to make a wordless sacrifice for the country's nuclear cause.
We can guess the situation at that time, because the nuclear test needed to be kept secret, so Li Zhonghua could only lie to his wife and say that he was going out to build a railway.
In the early stage, it was very smooth, and he wrote letters and sent money to his family regularly, but later he never contacted his family after the death of Lop Nur, and as for the "money in the envelope", it should be the relevant pension given by the state.
Of course, this is just a kind of speculation on our part, after all, more than 60 years have passed since that era, and many materials have long been lost.
If the above speculation is correct, then his selfless dedication and firm belief have not only achieved the country's nuclear cause, but also deeply engraved on the monument of history.
Although he eventually died in the desolate desert, his spirit will always inspire future generations, in addition to Li Zhonghua, there were many unknown unsung heroes at that time, who exchanged their lives and sweat for the prosperity and stability of the country.
Their heroic deeds deserve to be remembered, and all the heroes who have dedicated themselves to the country and the people deserve our respect. What do you think differently about this?
Resources: https://kns.cnki.net/kcms2/article/abstract?v=gR09I6yibQ7zutt7ifDld8gwbYoZiXQ1cAikmh7a1N4ZyeitRcNXiG7BTD8wY3wqWDZ2r-h0FYTUT6Csq_EJgS3uLw5UsQrvAH3EJHkHSBeNe4mUChIS9BWT6zhWofmgsPcScWSvABmWf0N1MAGWdg==&uniplatform=NZKPT&language=CHS
Lop Nur in the Desert - CNKI (cnki.net)