On April 28, 1984, the 118th Regiment and its brother detachments fiercely attacked the main peak of Lao Mountain, defeated the Vietnamese army after a fierce battle of ten hours, took the main peak of Lao Mountain, and successfully completed the combat mission assigned by the superiors.
After the war, at the military merit commendation meeting, the Military Commission decided to award Zhang Zhiping the supreme first-class merit, because he was the first person to rush to Laoshan and take the main peak.
Unexpectedly, he actually refused in public, and choked up: "The first-class merit belongs to the comrades who sacrificed, it is the deputy company commander Zhang Daquan, and the squad leader Han Yuekui, which does not belong to me." ”
The superiors also persuaded Zhang Zhiping bitterly, "We know that you value affection and righteousness, but you were still a farmer before joining the army, and you will not be distributed after you retire from the army without this honor!" ”
The surviving comrades-in-arms around him also persuaded with red eyes: "Yes, Zhiping, for a good life in the future, take it!" ”
Despite this, Zhang Zhiping remembered the brothers who died in the war to recover Laoshan, and he still refused the glory and reward of first-class merit.
"Give the first-class merit to the martyrs who sacrificed, settle their families, I am at least alive, I am already very lucky."
After being discharged from the army, Zhang Zhiping lived a life of poverty and displacement, working and farming everywhere, but he never regretted the decision he made at that time.
What really happened in that war? Why did Zhang Zhiping refuse first-class merit?
One: One refusal to be a hero who stepped on thunder
Let's step into the trickle of time and go back to the old mountains of Yunnan in 1984.
After the victory of the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, the mainland troops began to withdraw, and I thought that Viet Nam would be relented because of this, but I did not expect that "it is good to enjoy the shade with its back against a big tree" and continue to provoke the mainland frontier with the tacit approval of the Soviet Union.
Not long after our troops withdrew, they returned to Laoshan again and recklessly built military fortifications, destroyed the land and villages on the mainland, and even laid many mines and traps.
Not only that, the arrogant Viet Nam wantonly fired artillery into the mainland and launched a war, causing the people on the border between the two countries to suffer unspeakably, and for the sake of homeland security and the stability of the people, our army decided to recover Lao Son and fight against Vietnam again.
Zhang Zhiping lives in a poor family in Bazhong, Sichuan, and his family is a farmer, and he has lived a life with his face to the loess and his back to the sky since he was a child.
In 1982, looking at the vicissitudes of his parents' faces and rickety backs, Zhang Zhiping still chose to confess to his parents that he wanted to be a soldier, and with the support of his parents, he decisively enlisted in the army and became a soldier of the Kunming Military Region.
In the barracks, Zhang Daquan, the deputy company commander, is the person Zhang Zhiping respects and is closest to him, and he is also a good big brother in the life of the soldiers. Under his careful guidance, Zhang Zhiping's combat skills and experience have also accumulated a lot, and he has become a very good pacesetter in the barracks.
Two years after enlisting in the army, his superiors issued an order to go to Laoshan to fight, and his 118th regiment was the main force to recover Laoshan this time.
Although his culture was not high, Zhang Zhiping was willing to study and study hard, and his overall military quality gradually improved, and finally went to the front line of the Laoshan operation with Zhang Daquan.
When the 118th Regiment attacked the main peak, Zhang Daquan, who was the fifth assault company, fought side by side with Zhang Zhiping, and was responsible for leading the team to break through from the west side of Laoshan Mountain.
In this combat mission, Zhang Daquan, as the commander of the assault company, has been charging forward without hesitation, and Zhang Zhiping also followed closely behind, braving the enemy's dense artillery fire and rushing to the target point.
It's just that they only rushed out more than ten meters, the enemy's gunfire continued, and in an instant, 7 soldiers fell in a pool of blood, Zhang Daquan saw that the situation was not good, and immediately ordered everyone to hide next to a hole.
Zhang Zhiping ignored the danger, got up and took a closer look.
"If we want to regain the hill to the north, we have to pass through a 100-meter depression, but the trees or grass have been cut down, and it is difficult for us to break through without cover."
This meant that in order to reach the destination, it was necessary to break through the open space between the two mountains that were completely exposed to the enemy's eyes.
In order to regain the main peak as soon as possible, Zhang Daquan readjusted the combat deployment, divided the team into several squads, interspersed with battles, and ordered three platoons to carry out fire cover at the same time.
Under the fierce battle, Zhang Zhiping and his comrades crawled forward, and several detachments successfully broke through the encirclement, and under the leadership of Zhang Daquan, they reached the No. 21 high ground in the faint morning light.
The cautious Zhang Zhiping found that this place was a minefield for the enemy, and besides, the mountains and forests were dense, and the minesweeper was almost out of order. Everyone was at a loss, and at this time, Han Yuekui, the leader of class 9, stepped forward.
Before the war, company commander Qin Deyong once asked Han Yuekui:
"Our blasting device has only arrived now, and you have no one in the team who has studied and used it, so you have to play a role as a demoman!"
Han Yuekui responded happily, he patted his chest and replied:
"I will kneel and let everyone step on the iron net that I can't pass; When we encounter a steep cliff, we take a ladder; There are too many minefields, so I'll go and get out of the mine! ”
The Laoshan operation urgently needed troops to support, and the 5th Company was preparing to break through with firepower, Han Yuekui remembered his oath before the battle, and he resolutely got up and walked towards the black and oppressive minefield.
He shouted to his comrades-in-arms in his class: "Divide into three groups and follow me to thunder!" ”
In this way, they beat with bamboo poles, slashed branches with large knives, and used their flesh and blood to open a safe path for the assault company, and walked on this road of death without hesitation.
"Boom!" "Boom!"
There were several explosions in succession, and the soldiers who were waiting in place had tears in their eyes, and they clenched their fists one after another, looking at the brothers who were still moving forward.
Han Yuekui was hit by a mine and fell to the ground, his left leg was blown off, his right foot was gone, and the holes in his forehead, chest and other places were bleeding profusely.
The comrades-in-arms on the side wanted to bandage him to stop the bleeding and carry him down, but Han Yuekui pushed his comrades away and said:
"I can't live anymore, you stop, and then you can move forward when I finish stepping on the part in front of me."
In this way, Han Yuekui dragged his disastrous body and crawled forward one by one, gritting his teeth and forcibly opening a safe road of more than 20 meters for his comrades.
At the last moment of his life, Han Yuekui swept away the last thunder of his career, and he shouted with all his might:
"I'm sorry brothers, I can't get out."
The apologetic words lingered in the ears of the warriors, who, with tears in their eyes, roared to the next hill and began to storm the main peak.
II: The second refusal is a cross-intestinal hero
Under the leadership of Zhang Daquan, Zhang Zhiping and his comrades in the commando team forged ahead bravely, opened full firepower, and occupied the second trench on the north side of the hill in less than half an hour.
At this time, the insidious Vietnamese troops hid in tunnels and bunkers, and kept asking the headquarters to fire artillery shells at the main peak position, and our commandos were caught off guard and suffered heavy casualties.
Zhang Daquan hurriedly ordered everyone to retreat, and the Vietnamese army became arrogant again at this time, shouting and shouting in broken Chinese:
"Bag Chinese!" "Chinese guys, come up!"
They shouted and threw the bodies of our soldiers down the mountain, and their arrogant appearance completely aroused the fighting spirit of the soldiers, and Zhang Zhiping and his comrades-in-arms counterattacked angrily, desperate to fight the Vietnamese army.
Seeing this situation, Zhang Daquan hurriedly stopped the soldiers, Zhang Daquan stared at the blood-red eyes, and said to the twenty surviving fighters:
"Wulian has absolutely no cowardice! The Chinese soldiers did not cowardly the bag! Now, I, Zhang Daquan, am willing to fight to the death, and let's rush to the high ground together! Death will also die on the main peak! ”
Zhang Zhiping hurriedly echoed, "Yes! Let that group of Vietnamese soldiers see who is the boss! ”
The commandos remembered their brothers who had died heroically, and they all raised their guns and prepared to attack.
Zhang Daquan calmed down, reorganized the detachment after counting the number of people, and decided to attack again after roughly surveying the terrain near the main peak.
Under the cover of the few remaining weapons and firepower, Zhang Daquan personally led the team to launch a second attack on the north side of the hill with a light machine gun in his arms.
In the fierce battle, Zhang Daquan's left hand was pierced by a bullet from the Vietnamese army, and blood flowed down the barrel of the gun, fainting on the ground desperately guarded under his feet.
After his left hand was gone, he hung the machine gun strap around his neck and grabbed the machine gun in his right arm and fired wildly.
The hot waves were wrapped in sharp shrapnel and dust, like a dark net enveloping our soldiers. I only remember that there was smoke and the sound of shells, which I couldn't see or hear.
I saw the commandos rushing forward bravely, even if there was little cover, the whole team was almost exposed to enemy fire, and everyone did not take half a step back, racing against time to rush to the main peak.
At this time, a shell fell around Zhang Daquan, his right thigh was injured by the shell, his lower abdomen was pierced by sharp shrapnel, and his intestines mixed with blood sprayed out of the wound.
Zhang Daquan had to retreat into a crater, endured severe pain, coiled his intestines and stuffed them back into his stomach, tore off the triangular scarf on his body, hurriedly bandaged it, and then turned around and threw himself into the battlefield.
When Zhang Zhiping's bullet in his hand was finished, he grabbed a gun with a bayonet from the ground strewn with corpses, rushed towards the incoming enemy troops, thrust the bayonet into the enemy's chest, and then pulled the trigger to strafe.
The surrounding Vietnamese soldiers saw Zhang Zhiping, who was red-eyed, surrounded him one after another, and his desire to avenge his comrades was at its peak, and the four Vietnamese soldiers who pounced on him were killed.
Fortunately, with the fire support of the brother company that rushed over, Zhang Daquan led the assault team to finally capture the main peak of the old mountain, Zhang Zhiping was wounded on the side, and choked up:
"It's finally down! Deputy company commander, look, how beautiful the scenery of our motherland is! ”
Zhang Daquan's tears overflowed, it was joy and pain, he covered his lower abdomen that was about to flow out of his intestines with his hand, and forbeared:
"What else to see, hurry up and clean up the battlefield, send a signal flare, and tell them that we have captured the main peak!"
Just as the signal flare was lifted into the air, a bullet passed through the steel helmet, and Zhang Daquan was shot in the head and died on the position of the main peak.
At the last moment of his life, he remained in a charging position: his right hand clenched the machine gun, as if ready to shoot at the enemy at any moment.
No one expected that a Vietnamese soldier suddenly came out of the bunker and raised his gun to shoot a shuttle of bullets, Zhang Daquan fell in a pool of blood, Zhang Zhiping broke down and cried, raised his machine gun and shot the culprit.
But he also knew that Zhang Daquan, who was as close as an eldest brother, would never wake up again.
Three: Conclusion
After that, back to the scene mentioned at the beginning of our article, Zhang Zhiping insisted on rejecting the honor of "first-class merit", because the quota was limited, and he preferred to allocate this quota to other martyrs.
Therefore, the Central Military Commission had no choice but to award him a personal third-class meritorious service.
There is such a saying in the army, "The third-class merit is received by oneself while standing, the second-class merit is received by lying down, and the first-class merit is received by one's relatives." ”
It can be seen that the honor of first-class merit is very high, and the soldiers who have obtained first-class merit are assigned work after being discharged from the army, and at least the second half of their lives can be spent in peace.
But Zhang Zhiping gave up the opportunity to be easy and carefree in the second half of his life, and chose to return to his hometown to do farm work.
He does farm work and odd jobs alone, getting up early and working late to support a family of six.
Even though he was living in poverty, he never mentioned to others that he had won a first-class meritorious service, nor did he ask the state for any compensation.
Everyone who knows the situation laughs at him for being stupid, and he doesn't want to put a good future, he has to come back to suffer, and even his family blames him for this.
But whenever someone asked him if he regretted it, Zhang Zhiping replied consistently:
"I don't regret it, compared to my brothers who sacrificed, I'm still alive and content."
Later, the former comrades-in-arms came to visit Zhang Zhiping, and everyone decided to scrape together the travel expenses to visit the deputy company commander Zhang Daquan in the Malipo Martyrs Cemetery in Yunnan.
The moment he knelt in front of Zhang Daquan's monument, Zhang Zhiping, who never shouted bitterly and was tired, cried loudly.
"Big brother, I'm sorry! I'm useless, I don't have money or time, I came to see you so late, I'm so sorry for you......"
Recalling the eventful years when everyone fought side by side and bravely killed the enemy, to the present day, when the country is prosperous and life is ordinary, everyone present burst into tears.
Whenever someone praised Zhang Zhiping as a hero, he always preached very seriously:
"I'm not a hero, the heroes are all in the Malipo Martyrs Cemetery, the heroes are Zhang Daquan, Han Yuekui, the sacrificed comrades-in-arms, I'm just a survivor."
There are more than thousands of peers who have made ancient mistakes, and what a pity they have survived today.
Thirty years have passed, and the old mountain has long been green and lush, and the scenery is infinite, and what has remained unchanged is Zhang Zhiping's consistent original intention.
-END-
【Text|Cake】
[Editor|Chang Gung]