On the night of May 22, 1949, as the cannon fire approached the head of Hongdu, the reactionaries began to frantically arrest and set fire to people in the streets and alleys. The Dongzhou estuary, Hue Gate, and Yanjiang Road are in flames, and they are blood-red. In order to prevent the army from attacking Hongdu, the enemy dog jumped over the wall in a hurry, and even set fire to the throat leading to Hongdu - the "Zhonghong" wooden bridge, the fire devoured the body of the bridge, the army launched a battle for the bridge, the gunfire was loud, the sound of artillery was deafening, with the cooperation of the underground party organizations and workers' armed forces in the city, the army quickly occupied the "Zhonghong" bridge with the momentum of overwhelming the mountains and the sea.

Towards midnight, the sound of machine guns and rifles could already be clearly heard in the urban area. At Hongdu No. 2 Middle School, where I work, the "Response Committee" has already organized all the teachers, homeless workers, and students who have not left to defend the school, and arranged for everyone to patrol the school, and there are people on duty at the school gate 24 hours a day, and outsiders are strictly prohibited from entering the school.

The sound of artillery was far away, and the gunfire was sporadic and sporadic in the past. The reactionary army is like a lost dog, throwing away its armor and fleeing in panic. When the large army approached the city, we took out the colorful pennants and a large red flag that had been prepared for a long time, and waited patiently to welcome the army into the city.

In the early morning of May 23, 1949, heavy rain poured down, and the army attacked the city from several directions. The 15th Division of the 43rd Army broke through the main streets in several ways and soon took control of the heroic Hongdu City. The red flag of victory was re-planted on the head of Hongdu City for the second time! As if coming out of the ground, people shouted, "It's dawn!" "We've won!" "Hurry up and greet the army of loved ones!"

The cheers were earth-shattering, resounding through the dawn of Hongdu City.

People poured into the streets like a tidal wave, flocking to the army. They waved colorful flags and threw many colorful flowers at the hero's soldiers. Workers, students, citizens, some clasped the hands of the soldiers of the army with their hands; Some hugged the army and wept with joy; Some threw their armies into the sky, and then into the sky ....... Citizens and shopkeepers set off firecrackers to celebrate the victory. A row of shops on the street was wide open, and red flags were planted at the door, welcoming the army with joy. It's dawn, it's really dawn! Liberated, really liberated! Turned over, completely turned over! The square in the center of the city is full of people, and the triumphant song is shaking the sky.

Bands of troops patrolled the streets and alleys, and pickets of workers stood guard everywhere, and order soon returned to normal, and the fences in the alleys disappeared overnight. From the bottom of their hearts, people admire the disciplined, well-organized, and well-managed army. Hongdu was liberated, the reactionaries in Hongdu collapsed, and the reactionaries were not far from their final destruction.

There is a poem as evidence: "The green mountains are hidden in the water, and the spring in the south of the Yangtze River is full of thousands of trees." Twenty-two years of Jinling dream, I don't see the jade man blowing the flute again. (Tang Du Mu, "Judge Han Xuan of Yangzhou")

One day, several comrades from the army came to our school, and Lao Xiong, the person in charge of the contingency committee, enthusiastically led them to the office, and Lao Xiong asked me to go in and serve tea to the guests.

A tall comrade of the army took the tea, looked at me, and suddenly shouted: "Xiao Zhang! Don't know each other? ”

I looked up, and as soon as he took off his military hat, I almost exclaimed, "Oops! It's you! Boss He! He laughed heartily. A small soldier (probably a guard) next to him introduced: "He is the political commissar of our regiment. ”

"Oh, Commissar Ho."

I would never have thought of telling us about "Popular Philosophy" and "On Union...... "Boss He", who guided the light in the vast dark night, turned out to be the regimental political commissar of the army! I hurriedly put down the tea tray and held his big hands tightly with both hands, unwilling to let go of ...... for a long time. Everyone in the seats smiled with relief.

"Political Commissar He came to the school to mobilize everyone to participate in the revolution." Lao Xiong said.

Political Commissar He looked at us and said, "Now that we have been liberated, we need a large number of educated cadres, and the troops are given priority. ”

At that time, there were two cadre universities in Hongdu that were enrolling high school students: one was the University of Political Science and Technology, and the other was the University of Military and Political Affairs. The former trains local cadres, while the latter trains military cadres.

When Commissar He was leaving, I timidly pulled the corner of his clothes and asked, "Commissar He, which university do you think I should apply for?" ”

"It's better to go to the army to exercise, and it's better to report to the army like your situation...... Are you afraid to be a soldier? Political Commissar He said with a smile.

"After so much education, I listened to your teachings, I listened to you!" I replied firmly, blushing.

"That's good, I wish you success, and there will be a period later." He shook my hand tightly, patted me on the shoulder cordially, and strode off the campus, several of the attachés hurrying away.

At the end of May and the beginning of June, Hongdu No. 2 Middle School hung propaganda banners of "Welcome to the Army" everywhere, and the students were eager to try it and were full of expectations for the army.

More than 5,000 enthusiastic young people applied for the examination and more than 4,000 were admitted through interviews and written examinations, most of whom were high school graduates and some minor civil servants, as well as a small number of college students and individual university teaching assistants (one university assistant later became the deputy head of our class).

June 16, 1949 was the day I joined the army, and I was approved as a glorious soldier of the Great Army, not to mention how happy I was. Three or four days later, the military university moved to the Nantang County Normal School, 30 miles away from Hongdu, where the organs directly under the army were also stationed.

Since then, I have devoted my pen to Rong, followed the army, marched to the southwest, stationed in Mengbalaxi, and started a new life in my life.

More than 50 years have passed, and with the flick of a finger, the glorious images of "Boss He" and "White-faced Scholar" are still deeply in my memory, and it is they who have led me, an ignorant and fearless young man, to a bright path.

The site of the Military and Political University is located in Nantang Normal School, and its full name is: the fourth branch of the Military and Political University.

A new life begins. Military academies have first carried out a variety of lively political and ideological education to enable every cadet to understand why and why they want to be a soldier, and to establish a correct outlook on life and values. The next step is to educate on military appearance and military discipline. Everyone took off the clothes brought by the old era, put on brand new military uniforms, put on a sparkling five-pointed star hat, and tied a belt around their waists, all of them were refreshed! For the first time, everyone felt the glory and happiness of being a soldier.

The most interesting thing is that when the "order" to mobilize and cut off long hair came down, some girls immediately cried, and the female instructor of the women's squadron cut them quickly regardless of whether they cried or not, and cut off those "wavy style", "oxtail style", "shawl style", etc., leaving three inches of short hair that reached the ears. Some girls also picked up their beloved hair that was thrown on the ground, wrapped it carefully, looked at it and cried.

The boys in the men's squadron, there are also some who pursue romance, and they are unwilling to cut off their long hair, and some boys also cry sadly when they see their beloved long hair being cut.

In the evening, the brigade held a meeting, and Du Jing, the political commissar of the second brigade of the fourth branch of the military university, expressed his views on the matter of cutting hair:

"Students, if we want to make a revolution, we must completely abandon the old ideas, old concepts, old traditions, and old habits of the old society, and accept new and bright things. A small number of students were very sad to even throw away a few hairs, and some even cried their noses, how could they have the courage of revolution! ”

He asked solemnly, "Are there still those who are crying?" There was silence in the ranks.

The commissar continued: "It's good that you don't cry your nose now!" Students who are reluctant to throw away the 'baby' can send it back to their parents, and say, 'The body is skinny, and the parents who receive it must not be ungrateful, please take it in with your parents'. ”

The humor of the political commissar made everyone laugh, and the female classmates laughed more like Huang Ying'er singing among the willows. After Political Commissar Du asked for the dismissal of the meeting, the teams organized everyone to discuss the "matter of cutting hair". A haircut storm cleared.