Harahikiko
*This article is excerpted from the second series of "Rongcheng Literary and Historical Materials" (December 1988), written by Yin Junqing, and the original title is "Fragments of Supporting the Huaihai Campaign"
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In the autumn of 1948, after graduating from Jiaodong Normal School and returning to my hometown, I joined the ranks of migrant workers and participated in the magnificent Huaihai Campaign.
I am from Tou Village, Shanxi. The village chief announced at the mobilization meeting that the service period of the former migrant workers is half a year, the land at home will be cultivated by the village, and each person will be given a dry food bag, a pair of shoes sewn with fresh pig skin, a stretcher for every four people, and other luggage.
At that time, the masses were living a difficult life, and it was not easy to bring their own shoes, socks, and quilts. However, everyone did not retreat because of this, but actively, enthusiastically, and scrambling to join the ranks of the front.
We are the 7th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the East China Sea Stretcher Regiment of the East China Branch Front Headquarters. Battalion commander Lian Yihong, instructor Peng Yizeng, company commander Zhang Yunqi, instructor Wang Shusheng. I was the platoon commander of the first platoon of the Seventh Company. There were thirty-four of us in the platoon.
trudge
The task of our battalion was to support the 13th Column, which was led by a staff officer sent by the troops. He told us that the 13th Column was attacking Taierzhuang in the south of Shandong, and we must get there as soon as possible. So, we went to the front day and night. On the way, our superiors took away our stretchers and replaced them with a five-foot-long flat stretcher and a shelf for each of us. In this way, we went from a stretcher company to a picker company. Everyone trekked more than 1,000 miles and rushed to Taierzhuang. But as soon as we got in touch with the troops, the enemy revolted.
We marched again, each carrying more than 30 pounds of military supplies in addition to their own belongings, and followed the troops straight to the battlefield of Nianzhuang. Chiang Kai-shek's elite troops, Huang Botao's corps, have been surrounded by our regiments.
Positional service
Our company of migrant workers is stationed in a bunker connected to a communication trench and is on standby, and we will deliver whatever is needed on the position. Seven or eight times overnight to get the position to transport things to the east. Generally, things are delivered to the regimental command post, and if artillery shells are delivered, then they have to be delivered directly to the artillery positions. Although everyone was so tired that they couldn't breathe, under the atmosphere of victory, no one complained bitterly, and no one was left behind.
Once, the door panel was urgently needed for the fortification on the position, and the door in that place was a single door, thick and heavy. We were carrying in the traffic trenches, and from time to time we tripped over the telephone lines that lay across the ground, so we had to walk on our waists. And at the end of the communication trench, it was blocked by enemy fire. When passing through the blockade line, the bullets flew straight by the side, but no one cared about that, and only wanted to complete the task and ensure the needs of the war.
The battle of the mill village lasted for half a month. No matter how difficult it is to accomplish our tasks and how heavy the tasks we have shouldered, we have overcome them one by one and successfully accomplished them.
Go into town to pick up shoes
Many people wear old shoes when they go on the road from home, and after a long journey, the shoes have long been unable to cover their feet. As soon as the battle in Lingbi City ended, the company commander suggested that our squad and platoon commanders, who were wearing guns, go into the city to pick up old shoes.
One day, we flocked to the city with the crowd. At about eight o'clock, as I approached the center of the city, I had just picked up two pairs of sneakers when I heard the sound of an airplane's motor. In an instant, a group of enemy planes appeared over the city, dropping bombs and strafing from the side, filling the air with gunsmoke and dust, and the sound of gunfire and bombs mingled with the roar of enemy planes, which was deafening.
The seven of us hid in a bunker, and we felt that the bunker was also shaking. I jumped out of the bunker and saw that our troops were firing heavily at the enemy planes, so I shouted to them to come out quickly and fight the enemy planes with the troops. I set up my rifle in the trench, pulled the trigger, and fired into the air. I don't know how many bullets were wasted, but I just felt my ears buzzing. The company commander ordered us to retreat quickly, and we ran towards the east gate with guns in hand.
Look for the door panels
When the Huang Wei Corps of the Jiang Army was annihilated in Shuangduiji, Anhui, our army was in urgent need of more than a dozen door panels on the position, and the company commander gave this task to our platoon and ordered us to send the door panels to the Xiaozhuang position before three o'clock.
Don't underestimate this task of only a dozen door panels, it is really difficult to accomplish it. Because our station had just been taken from the enemy, the doors of our homes had already been snatched away. In order to complete the task, we had to dismantle the door panels from the abandoned bunker. So a bunker with a bunch of people, picking and prying, each piece had to pay a lot of strength.
Suddenly there was a loud bang, and the enemy dropped a bomb that exploded at a distance of about twenty meters from us. We shook off the dirt from our bodies and, risking our lives, continued to pry at the door. With everyone's efforts, the task was successfully completed and the door panel was sent to the Xiaozhuang position on time.
Ambush the enemy
The battle of the double pile has been going on for more than ten days, and the enemy has been crushed. Small groups of enemies are scurrying around. The head of the regimental headquarters logistics department, Song Unit, organized the migrant workers with guns to annihilate the scattered enemy.
He led more than 20 of us to an open area about 200 meters wide, and let everyone lie down in the grass, loaded with bullets, waiting for orders.
After a while, a tank and a group of infantry, rushed in our direction. When the enemy was less than five hundred meters away from us, suddenly gunfire rang out, and the battle ended in a short time.
It turned out that our troops had long been lying in ambush there, and we were behind the troops, ready to capture the enemy who had slipped through the net. The company commander and the communicator were closer to the position, captured several enemies, and captured several boxes to rob.
Urgent march
At the end of 1948, the Huaihai Campaign was coming to an end. We had a joyful victory year in Yongcheng County, Henan Province.
After the New Year, we embarked on a long-distance march of nine days and nine nights, starting from Henan Province and passing through Anhui Province to Hongze Manpi in Huaiyin County, Jiangsu Province. Because enemy planes tracked the air raids all the way, they could only travel 30 to 50 miles a day during the day; At night, it's fast-moving. Many people have blood blisters on their feet, so they have to use a needle to pass through the blood blisters and introduce a hair to let the plasma flow down the hair to relieve the pain.
After several days and nights of marching, everyone was so tired that they immediately fell asleep when they heard the order to "rest on the spot." As I walked, I heard only the sound of clattering footsteps and the creaking of burdens. Everyone is sleeping as they walk, as if they are not sleeping. In order to remind everyone, the cadres who led the team issued the command of "follow behind" from time to time, and passed it continuously from the head of the platoon to the end of the platoon.
Every time they marched, everyone carried forward the spirit of unity and fraternity, and competed to pick up more things. According to the regulations, the cadres of the squad and platoon do not carry burdens, and they consciously help others carry their luggage and carry burdens when they can go to the army.
In May 1949, the PLA held a grand appraisal meeting to praise the advanced and issue meritorious service certificates. The nine-month pre-support task was successfully completed. Everyone returned triumphantly with the joy of victory.
Sources:
Rongcheng Literary and Historical Materials, Volume 2 (December 1988)