preface
In December 1957, General Chen Zaidao, then commander of the Wuhan Military Region, attended the Model Veterans Congress held in Hubei Province. At the meeting, Chen Zaidao saw a very familiar face.
So, Chen Zaidao began to search for relevant memories in his mind. Finally, he patted his thigh and said: "When I was the commander of the Red Fourth Army, he was the commander of the 29th Regiment of the 10th Division, and his name was Fang Heming. "Roughly calculated, the two haven't seen each other for more than ten years.
After the meeting ended, Chen Zaidao hurriedly pulled Fang Heming to his residence for a detailed discussion. During the chat, Chen Zaidao knew Fang Heming's experience along the way......
Fang Heming insisted on disarming and returning to the field
Fang Heming participated in the Jute Uprising at the age of 19 and joined the Red Army two years later. During the Red Army, he fought all the way with the troops, and his position ranged from a small communicator, to a battalion commander, and then to a regiment commander. He came one step at a time, and was injured many times in the middle, and even almost died a few times.
During the war years, the medical conditions in the Red Army hospital were too poor, and Fang Heming once did the same "ruthless thing" as Guan Erye's "scraping bones to cure poison".
Once, during the battle, Fang and Ming were hit by a bullet in their left hand, which was deeply embedded in the bone. At that time, there was no anesthetic, so Fang Heming took out his razor and dug out the bullet himself in severe pain. Since he was still fighting, Fang Heming simply bandaged it and continued to put it on the battlefield.
During the Long March, the hardships of crossing snow-capped mountains and meadows are the deepest memories of many old Red Army soldiers. In the winter of 1935, as soon as the Red Fourth Army settled in Hejiaba, Sichuan, the Kuomintang Xue Yue's troops immediately surrounded it. At that time, there were no combat units in the military headquarters, and they were all personnel of some organs. The situation is extremely urgent, and if you want to break through the encirclement, you can only rely on a chain bridge near Hejiaba.
If the chain bridge is destroyed, the military headquarters of the Red Fourth Army will be finished. At such a critical moment, Fang Heming's 35th Regiment heard gunfire coming from the direction of the military headquarters. He felt bad and immediately led the third battalion to run over.
Fang Heming rushed to the front, and he clearly saw that the enemy had surrounded the military headquarters on three sides, and sent a battalion of troops to move in the direction of the chain bridge, trying to cut off the last rear road of the military headquarters. Fang Heming gave an order, and the soldiers scattered the enemy's battalion like a tiger descending the mountain.
At the same time, not far from Fang and Ming, the enemy set up 3 machine guns, and the bullets were fired in the direction of Fang and Ming. Fang Heming reacted quickly, and while dodging the bullet, he threw out a grenade, and the enemy's 2 machine guns were instantly knocked down. When the last machine gun was adjusted, Fang Heming walked over with an arrow and kicked the enemy down.
The 35th Regiment successfully relieved the siege of the military headquarters. At that time, the commander of the Red Fourth Army was Xu Shiyou, and the deputy commander was Chen Zaidao. Chen Zaidao was very impressed by this matter, and after seeing Fang Heming later, he praised him: "The 35th Regiment just fought well. ”
In other words, Fang Heming not only fought well, but also had first-class revolutionary qualities. Since Fang Heming was often injured, the organization provided him with a good horse. But Fang Heming resolutely refused to ride, and he gave up his horse to the more seriously injured warriors. And he himself had to not only carry a gun, but also take care of the fighters who fell behind.
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the troops were integrated. Many people can't accept the integration plan ideologically, but Fang Heming is very indifferent, he only has one sentence: "I will do what the party tells me to do." In this way, Fang Heming became the company commander. Later, he served as the head of the brigade logistics section, battalion commander and other positions.
During a battle to recover the county occupied by the Japanese puppet army, Fang Heming was stabbed by the enemy when he took the lead in climbing the cloud ladder to attack the city. This time the injury was so severe that he had to retreat from the battlefield. In order to take care of him, the party organization asked him to go to the rear to recuperate. Fang Heming went to the countryside, he considered not to cause trouble to the villagers, and after his health improved slightly, he joined the labor queue.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the organization notified Fang Heming to go to Yan'an to recuperate. Fang Heming thought of his physical condition and felt that he couldn't do much when he went to Yan'an. So, he wrote an application upward, hoping that he could return home to work as a farmer and support himself by labor.
Due to Fang Heming's resolute attitude, the organization finally approved his request. At the end of 1949, Fang Heming took some simple luggage and returned to his hometown after a 20-year absence. According to the regulations, demobilized servicemen must register with the township government after returning to their hometowns.
The staff asked him: "What are you doing in the army?" What position have you held? Fang Heming said very simply: "It's an old soldier." This answer made the staff feel strange, how could a soldier who had been doing the revolution so early and for so long should be an official, big or small, without any position?
The following year, Fang Heming received a notice to apply for a demobilized soldier's disability certificate. When filling out the form, the staff asked him again: "What position have you held?" Fang Heming's answer this time was still the same: "Warrior." ”
The staff felt that after being a soldier for more than ten years, he was still a soldier during the Red Army, and at least he was a platoon commander. So, without consulting Fang and Ming, he wrote the word "platoon commander" on his position. After Fang Heming saw it, he immediately went to the staff to revise it, but the reply he got was that writing about the words of the warrior was not logical and not good-looking.
Later, when someone came to the house as a guest, when Fang Heming talked about what kind of officer he had served in the army, he still replied: "Old soldier."
After Fang Heming returned to his hometown, he did practical things for the people
After returning to his hometown, Fang Heming completely took off his military uniform. He began to farm and feed a large family. The old father was too old to work. Soon after the death of his younger brother, his sister-in-law and his four children had no income. Therefore, the burden of the whole family of 7 fell on the shoulders of Fang Heming alone.
He worked hard, but his physical disability and lack of farm tools made it very hard. At this time, someone told him to ask him to go to the government for help, but Fang Heming refused. Fang Heming said that there must be a lot of people like him, and if they all go to the government, how can the government have so much relief money?
Later, Fang Heming studied agricultural production hard, and in less than a year, he became an expert in farming. Of course, the government will also give his family a subsidy for changing rice. In order to buy farm tools, Fang Heming sold some. There wasn't enough rice to eat, so he went down to the pond to dig water chestnuts.
In short, he can ensure that everyone in the family is fed. Sometimes, when the children were reluctant to eat water chestnut, Fang Heming told them the stories of the hardships of the Long March.
In 1953, the government issued patriotic bonds. Fang Heming was very happy when he found out. In order to show his patriotism, Fang Heming used more than 10,000 yuan of old coins earned from working for others to buy some public bonds. Seeing that Fang Heming bought the money for public bonds, some people persuaded him that his family was so difficult, so he should keep it for himself!
In this regard, Fang Heming said that the affairs of the state are the affairs of the people. He believed that the difficulties of the state should be solved first, while the difficulties of the individual were secondary.
As Fang Heming's deeds were disseminated, coupled with his revolutionary experience, it soon attracted a personal visit from Xiong Mengying, the head of the county civil affairs section. Section Chief Xiong asked him about the problems in life and production now, Fang Heming resolutely did not talk about his difficulties, he always said that compared with before, everything is better now.
Section Chief Xiong said, not to mention that Fang Heming had been a regiment commander before, he was an ordinary soldier, and after so many years of revolution, the county also had the responsibility to take care of it. And Fang Heming said that he could work, and there was really no difficulty. Section Chief Xiong saw that his house was very dilapidated, and it seemed that it was about to be blown down by the wind. So, he offered to renovate the house for him. Fang Heming immediately stopped it, he said that if he kept the money to build factories and mines, his house would not collapse for a while.
In 1957, Fang Heming was received by the old chief, the current founding general Chen Zaidao. After Chen Zaidao learned about his deeds, he also asked him: "What are the difficulties in life?" In this regard, Fang Heming gave the old answer: "Everything is fine." ”
At that meeting, the "Hubei Daily" published an article entitled "The General Meets Old Comrades-in-Arms." After the news spread, people knew about Fang Heming's revolutionary deeds and his performance after returning to his hometown, and they all gave him a thumbs up!
Speaking of which, it is no problem for Fang Heming's qualifications to be completely raised by the organization. But he always believed that the country should not cause trouble, and he would do everything himself. This kind of spirit of dedicating one's life to the revolution and the country is really rare!
References: "From the Commander of the Red Army to the Peasant CPPCC Member", "The Commander of the Red Army as a Peasant"