A. Me and my father

Whether it is a great man or an ordinary person, anyone who writes a book and a biography for him is inseparable from the parents who gave birth to him and raised him. The ancients said: Parents are their children's first teachers. As a farmer for generations, I am no exception.

Let's start with my fathers!

His father was born on October 5, 1934, named Liang Rencheng, with 10 brothers and sisters. In terms of order, he is the third, with two older sisters above; There are five younger brothers and two younger sisters below. Among them, a younger brother died at a very young age because he had no money for medical treatment after his illness. Grandpa Liang Zi'an and grandma Wang pulled 9 children, in the old society of "Zhumen wine and meat stinks, and there are frozen bones on the road", they often eat the last meal but not the next meal, and are forced to be helpless, and the grandparents have to lead the children to beg for food for a living.

Grandpa's father's name was Liang Shangzhi, who had been farming for generations and lived hard. He and his grandmother had two sons, namely his grandfather Liang Zi'an and his second grandfather Liang Yin'an. Due to the poverty of the family, as the eldest son's grandfather Liang Zi'an, he kept the house at home, and the second grandfather Liang Yin'an had to take the second grandmother to "break into the eastern part of the country". They walked all the way to Heihe, near Russia, where they settled down and finally died.

As the eldest son in the family, his father not only never went to school for a day, but also followed his sister and led his younger siblings around to beg for food at the age of seven or eight when the children of rich families were sitting in the school to read and write. When my father was 14 years old, he went to a relative's house in Jinan to "carry the work" (in today's words, it is a part-time job), in addition to being able to eat a full stomach, he can also have a few yuan of wages to subsidize the family. "The children of the poor are in charge of the house early". My father, who was not yet an adult, learned to support his family there, such as frying fritters and making pastries.

On October 1, 1949, Chairman Mao solemnly proclaimed "The People's Republic of China was founded!" at the Tianan-Gate Tower. "Amid the cheers of hundreds of millions of people, the oppressed and exploited peasants were given the long-lost land and cattle, and became the masters of their homes." Turn over and don't forget the Communist Party, and happiness doesn't forget Chairman Mao! This is the common aspiration of hundreds of millions of poor people who have been liberated. Their desire to change the world and take ownership has never been greater. In the good situation of the country, my father also returned to his hometown and actively participated in the great social change.

In 1950, when New China had just been founded, the imperialists led by the United States launched the Korean War and bombed the Dandong region of China, burning the flames of war to the Yalu River, seriously threatening the security of New China. On October 19, 1950, the Chinese People's Volunteers, led by Commander and Political Commissar Peng Dehuai, crossed the Yalu River with great vigor and marched to the Korean battlefield. On October 25, the prelude to the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea was opened.

Just as the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea was in full swing, in February 1953, my father, who was only 19 years old, actively responded to the great call of the Party Central Committee to "resist US aggression and aid Korea, defend the family and defend the country" and enthusiastically signed up for the Chinese People's Volunteer Army. My father, as a follow-up to the reinforcements, went to the Korean battlefield after a brief emergency training. In North Korea, my father and his unit climbed mountains, climbed glaciers, and ate a few bites of fried noodles when they were hungry; Eat a few bites of snow when you're thirsty. They worked day and night to arrive at the designated position of their superiors on time. They did not care about the fatigue of the whole way, and seized all the time to repair fortifications and dig trenches, and everyone was gearing up to fight a big war with the invaders and win glory for the people of the motherland.

The 68th Field Army, where my father belonged, was a heroic unit with a glorious tradition. During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, he successively participated in the "Battle of Jinseong", "529 Heights Offensive Battle", "North Han River Left Bank Offensive Battle", "572 Heights Offensive Battle" and other battles. In particular, it is worth mentioning that his regiment created the heroic feat of the world-famous "Surprise Attack on the White Tiger Regiment".

It was July 1953, and in order to crack down on the criminal acts of the Syngman Rhee clique in sabotaging the Korean armistice, the Volunteer Army Headquarters decided to launch the Battle of Jinseong. On July 10, Yang Yucai, deputy platoon commander of the 609th Regiment of the 203rd Division of the 68th Army of the Chinese People's Volunteers, was ordered to organize a disguised attack squad to go deep behind enemy lines in order to cooperate with the main force to annihilate the enemy in front of him, the 1st Regiment of the Capital Division of the South Korean Army.

After accepting the task, Yang Yucai quickly organized a reconnaissance squad of 12 people, including two comrades of Korean nationality who served as liaisons. In order to facilitate the attack on the enemy, Yang Yucai disguised himself as an American adviser to the South Korean Army, liaison officer Han Dannian disguised himself as the leader of the South Korean Army, and the other 10 people all disguised themselves as soldiers of the South Korean Army, wearing steel helmets on their heads and big scalp shoes on their feet, and made all preparations before departure.

On the night of the 13th, the sky was thick with clouds, and a heavy rain was about to hit. After nightfall, the Volunteers launched a surprise attack on the South Korean Army in anticipation of the enemy. After the Western Group of the Volunteer Army broke through the forward position, the infiltration detachments organized by the divisions of the first echelon quickly advanced in depth and interspersed with the South Korean Army. At this time, Yang Yucai led the reconnaissance squad to advance rapidly along the enemy's rear road under the cover of the artillery fire of the main force. They grabbed the prisoners, got the password, skillfully passed through the enemy's Daodao Gangka, like 12 sharp arrows, and went straight to the location of the regimental headquarters of the "White Tiger Regiment" in Erqingdong.

More than 30 vehicles of various sizes were parked in front of the enemy's "White Tiger Regiment" regimental department. The deputy commander of the capital division and the commander of the mecha regiment are holding a meeting. Outside the headquarters, many people came in and out, and there was a lot of chaos.

Yang Yucai divided the reconnaissance squad into three groups and rushed to the war room, radio station, and guard room of the enemy's regimental headquarters. It was stipulated that the first group attacking the guard platoon should fire first, and all parts of the country should open fire in unison, so as to wipe out the enemy.

Yang Yucai personally led the third team to the war room. The war room was brightly lit, and the scouts quietly lurked by the wall, and when they looked in through the window, they saw an enemy officer hanging up the phone in a frustrated manner, as if to ask what had just happened, and several officers sitting around the table with nervous expressions.

At this moment, the shots of the attack on the guard platoon rang out. Yang Yucai shouted: "Fight!" Scout Bao Yuelu threw two grenades at the window. With two loud "booms," the electric lights in the house went out, and in an instant, thick smoke filled the house inside and outside, and the enemy regimental headquarters couldn't figure out what was wrong for a while, and they were in a mess. Taking advantage of the smoke, the reconnaissance squad rushed in like a divine soldier descending from the sky, strafing with machine guns, taking the enemy by surprise and fleeing in all directions. The commander of the enemy mecha regiment was killed on the spot. The rest of the enemy forces had no choice but to surrender one after another when they had guns in front and no way to retreat. The commander of the captured enemy artillery battalion was busy tearing the symbol collar badge, trying to get by. Only the enemy's deputy division commander and the commander of the White Tiger Regiment fled.

The battle is over. The scout turned on the flashlight and looked into the house, only to see that the room was in shambles. The soldier Bao Yuelu tore off the "Tiger Flag" from the iron frame in the corner of the wall, and excitedly shouted, "Get the enemy's Tiger Flag!" Immediately, he said contemptuously: "What 'White Tiger Group' is, it's clearly a paper tiger." He tied the flag around his waist and said, "This is a proof, lest that old boy Syngman Rhee repay his debts again!" ”

Relying on their loyalty to the party and their resourcefulness and bravery, Yang Yucai led the reconnaissance squad to wipe out the headquarters of the capital division of the South Korean Army in only 14 minutes, capturing a total of 16 people, including 8 officers, killing and wounding 54 people, destroying nearly 40 cars, seizing a number of ammunition, radio stations, and a regimental flag of the "White Tiger Regiment."

After the war, in recognition of the military exploits of Yang Yucai in leading a reconnaissance squad to annihilate the "White Tiger Regiment" of the South Korean ace army, in October 1953, the General Headquarters of the Chinese People's Volunteers awarded him a special meritorious service, and the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea conferred the title of "Hero of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea" on Yang Yucai, and awarded him the Order of the National Flag of the First Class and the Gold Star Medal and certificate.

The movie "Surprise Attack on the White Tiger Regiment" reproduced this wonderful battle, and the glorious image of the scout on the screen still leaves a deep impression on people.

After Yang Yucai retired, he returned to the Jinan Military Region Cadre Rest Center to recuperate. At that time, I was acting as an instructor in a company unit under Qianfoshan of the Shandong Provincial Military Region. Because he is a hero I have admired since childhood, I asked him to give a vivid report on the revolutionary tradition on one of the "August 1st" festivals. After the presentation, we feasted on the hero of my father's unit. During the banquet, when he knew that I had not yet found a partner, he happily told me that he had the daughter of an old comrade-in-arms who worked as a nurse in a field hospital in Changchun, Shenyang Military Region, and was said to be very beautiful. Because his comrade-in-arms is from Cangshan County, Shandong, he wants to find a partner for his daughter in Jinan, so that he can be transferred back to Shandong in the future.

Of course, that's a later story, so I won't say it here. After my father was 26 years in the army, I enlisted in the army. Speaking of which, the 46th Field Army, where I was a soldier, still has some connections with the 68th Field Army where my father belonged.

In accordance with the spirit of the Central Military Commission's instructions, in 1975 the field armies were redeployed. The 68th Field Army, which was originally subordinate to the Jinan Military Region, was transferred from the garrison to the northeast and was subordinate to the Shenyang Military Region; The 46th Field Army, which was originally subordinate to the Shenyang Military Region, was transferred from the garrison to the 68th Field Army's original garrison and was subordinate to the Jinan Military Region.

The 46th Field Army, to which I belonged, not only participated in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, but also became famous in one fell swoop in the self-defense and counterattack on Zhenbao Island, and Yu Qingyang, who we learned in Chinese textbooks, "life is endless, fighting is not stopped" and other combat heroes have emerged.

It is very coincidental that the combat heroes such as Yu Qingyang and Zhou Dengguo who emerged in this battle were from the regiment where I was a soldier. Zhou Dengguo was originally a squad leader of our regiment's special service company, and later became the commander of our division; After Yu Qingyang's death, his sister Yu Qinghong took over the hero's gun and later worked as a military doctor in our army's health center.

Straight to the point. Thanks to the heroic fighting of the Chinese and North Korean peoples, the arrogance of US imperialism has been crushed. On July 27, 1953, the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed, ending the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, which lasted for two years and nine months. Clarke, commander-in-chief of the United Nations forces, said he became the first general in U.S. history to sign a treaty that the United States did not win.

After the armistice, the Chinese People's Volunteers helped the Korean people to do a lot of work for post-war recovery and construction. In October 1958, all the Chinese People's Volunteers withdrew from North Korea and returned to their homeland.

My father returned to his homeland in early 1956. Soon after returning to China, my father was sent to Kunming for further study as an outstanding volunteer soldier. Because these comrades who were escorted were all from poor backgrounds, most of them had never gone to school, and they could not read a few words in Douda, so after entering the school, they first underwent a year of cultural tutoring. Then, prepare for the second year of systematic study of military command and be promoted to cadre after graduation. Just when this group of people was full of infinite hope for their future careers, Kunming received an order from their superiors to demand that all these students be discharged from the army and return to their hometowns. This group of volunteer soldiers, who had passed the smoke of war and the test of life and death, happily obeyed the orders of their superiors and soon rushed to all directions throughout the country.

Afterwards, they learned that due to the large number of cadres overstaffed after the volunteers returned to China one after another, and because of the fact that soon after the founding of New China, another such war was fought, and the economy was very difficult. In desperation, the Central Military Commission had no choice but to cut off its love and make such a decision.

If it hadn't been for this sudden change and the normal trajectory, my father might have been a general for a lifetime many years later. Life is really unpredictable. If that were the case, it is unlikely that an officer who had finally escaped his misery and left the barren land of the countryside would have found a peasant girl as his wife, and then there would have been no half-century-long love affair with his mother, and of course there would have been no birth of our brothers and sisters.

My father was discharged from the army in March 1958. His father, who had participated in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, returned to his hometown and was warmly welcomed and supported by the villagers. As the famous writer Wei Wei introduced in his long newsletter "Who is the cutest person", "they are the cutest people". Soon, upon recommendation, my father was assigned to work for a Texas construction company that was building a bridge over the Reed River in his hometown. It was at this time that the 25-year-old father was introduced to his 18-year-old mother from a neighboring village.

B. Mother's Wasted Years

Her mother's name is Li Yuzhen, born on April 25, 1941. During the Spring Festival of 2010, at my request, my mother told me about her childhood, and her eyes were red and tears were rolling in her eyes. Obviously, it was an unbearable past, a wasted time.

Grandpa's name is Li Chengxiang, three brothers, and he is the eldest. In my mother's memory, he was a private school teacher with some culture in the countryside. Grandpa had been married three times, but all three grandmothers left him due to illness, leaving a daughter each. That is, my eldest aunt Li Yurong, second aunt Li Yugui, and mother Li Yuzhen. My grandmother, my grandfather's third wife, died in her 30s due to the lack of medical care in the countryside at that time, and she had no money for medical treatment when she fell ill. My mother was only 5 years old that year. When my mother followed my grandfather until she was 9 years old, there were unforeseen circumstances, and my grandfather died of illness. Since then, her mother has lived with her elderly grandfather and grandmother. When her mother was 15 years old, her grandfather and grandmother died of illness. Since then, the mother, who is not yet an adult, has been on her own. When she had nothing to eat, she went to the field to dig wild vegetables, climbed to the elm tree to pick elm money, and struggled to get by. In her mother's impression, she only went to school for three years, and then because she had no money to buy books and red scarves, her classmates looked down on this fatherless and motherless child, and in her young heart, her self-esteem was seriously hurt and she dropped out of school in anger.

When I was young, when my mother was busy with household chores, I used to hear her humming a song that seemed to read:

"Little cabbage, the ground is yellow.

Three or two years old, no mother.

It's better to follow Daddy,

I'm afraid of my father and my stepmother.

married my stepmother, three and a half years,

gave birth to a younger brother, who is better than me. ”

The song is poignant, sad, and weeping. It expresses the mother's helplessness about the cold state of the world and the sorrow for her misfortune.

C. Parents' love experience

After the father met the mother, the mother was still quite satisfied with the father's appearance. The father is 1.73 meters tall, with double eyelids and large eyes; Able to speak well, very good at getting things done. His experience as a soldier made him appear mature and sophisticated. But there is a real problem that has become an insurmountable obstacle for them - that is, the family is too poor. My father's family, whose ancestors lived on begging, had three adobe houses in the main house and two adobe houses in the west, and there was not a single decent piece of furniture. The mother, who had experienced hardships, secretly thought to herself, the family is so poor, and there are six younger siblings under him, when will the hard days in the future be the end!

The mother hesitated; Mother hesitated.

On this issue, there is another person who disagrees, and that is my second uncle Li Fangzhou. He was the child of my grandfather's second brother, Li Qingxiang. He is the only male among his grandfather's brothers and brothers (there is also an uncle Li Fanghe who died on the battlefield after serving in the army). Therefore, his attitude is very important and has to be highly valued by his father. The second uncle thought like this: This uncle and sister have gone through hardships and suffered a lot since they were children, so they have to marry a richer family and suffer less crimes.

After my father learned about the situation, he and my aunt went straight to my mother's village, Suzhuang, to find my second uncle to explain the situation. My father said that although the family was poor, they had no roots, no roots, no seedlings, and their lives depended on others. If you think that there are more sisters, you can live separately after getting married. Besides, I have a job now, and I definitely won't let your sister suffer.

The second uncle was also a soldier, and after he was discharged from the army, the state arranged to become a teacher, which was very reasonable. After listening to my father's heartfelt words, I happily agreed.

On October 7, 1958, a few months after my father and mother fell in love, they got married in the two adobe houses on the west side. Soon after the marriage, the construction of Dingqiao in his hometown was completed, and his father moved to Dezhou City with the Texas Construction Company. After my father arrived in Texas, he was very concerned about his mother in his hometown. Not long after, my father returned to his hometown and took my mother to Dezhou City, where she set up a double bed in a room with construction tools and lived a "two-person world".

Dezhou City is located on the north bank of the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It is located in the connecting belt of the two major economic zones of North China and East China and the Bohai Economic Circle, the Yellow River Delta and the "Beijing-Kowloon" Economic Development Zone.

Dezhou is now upgraded to a prefecture-level city, with jurisdiction over one district, two cities, eight counties, and an economic development zone and a canal economic development zone.

After arriving in Texas, my mother first worked odd jobs in a construction company: picking sand and moving stones, and then went to Liaocheng to dig a reservoir. My mother, who has experienced hardships since childhood, is very strong and capable, and is often praised by leaders and colleagues. At the beginning of 1959, the Texas National Cotton Factory recruited workers, and my mother was introduced to the National Cotton Factory. After arriving at the factory, the unit first arranged for her to study in Shijiazhuang for three months, and after she came back, she arranged to do serial work in the preparation workshop.

In June 1960, my father was transferred to work in the Dezhou Water Supply Company due to work needs, and the house he used to live in was uninhabitable. So, they rented a house in Sanlizhuang, in the northwest corner of Texas, which was relatively close to their mother's factory. On December 23, 1961, my grandmother, who had been in Texas for more than 10 days, was supposed to take care of her mother's confinement, but seeing that her mother had not yet given birth, she said that she wanted to go back to her hometown. Because that day was the Lunar New Year, there was still a large family at home to prepare for the New Year. So, my father sent my grandmother back to her hometown. That night, my mother began to have stomach aches. Every once in a while, a wave of pain would hit her, and when the labor pains became more intense each time, her mother thought to herself: It's broken, I'm afraid I'm going to give birth. The mother endured the pain and went to the neighbor's house opposite the door and told them that if her father returned, she would go to the hospital. Along the way, my mother walked and walked alone, and it hurt so much that she squatted for a while. After arriving at the central hospital, my mother endured the pain and was admitted to the obstetrics and gynecology department by herself.

After my father sent my grandmother to his hometown, he returned to Texas overnight because he was worried about his mother, who was going to give birth. When I heard from my neighbor that my mother had gone to the hospital, I rushed straight to the hospital.