In the afternoon, it is the time for the old chiefs to talk at the grassroots level, the veterans returned to their old companies, regain the memories of the year, and the second artillery company is Comrade Wang Jisheng, he is an old man of the 3235 regiment, he is 78 years old this year, he looks and listens to talk not at all like an old man who has been old, Wang Lao retired from his military post, and volunteered to serve as the liaison officer of the 3235 regiment, he has been fighting in this heroic unit from the company instructor to the leader of the regiment, from the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression to the War of Liberation until the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. When the Minister of Defense served as the deputy instructor of the Seventh Company, he was already the head of the political department of the regiment. Wang Lao came to the company with a red face, he was not tall, fat like a Buddha, but he had an extraordinary military temperament all over his body, especially those eyes, which were bright. The officers and soldiers warmly welcomed Mr. Wang's story, and Mr. Wang did not shirk it, so he spoke with relish:

"Everyone knows the story of the five heroes of Langya Mountain." Wang Lao asked.

"Yes." Everyone replied in unison.

"But the heroic deeds of the ten warriors of our regiment are as famous as the five heroes of Langya Mountain, but the story of the ten warriors of Ma Shishan is little known, I will tell you about it today, do you say it is good?"

"Okay—"

"It was in 1942, the Japanese army suffered huge losses in the Pacific theater, and also suffered heavy losses on the Chinese battlefield, in order to consolidate its rear base, Japan concentrated more than 20,000 troops on our Jiaodong base area to carry out an unprecedented and cruel "dragnet sweep", in an attempt to annihilate our Jiaodong anti-Japanese armed forces in one fell swoop, destroy our anti-Japanese base area, on November 23, the Japanese invaders collected the "net" in Mashi Mountain, and some of our troops and masses were trapped in the mountains, The soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, 7th Company and 2nd Platoon of the 13th Regiment (the 3235th Regiment was the 13th Regiment at that time) returned from the East China Sea to the West China Sea, passing through Mashi Mountain. 10 soldiers of the 6th squad worked together to organize the masses to break through the fire net under the leadership of the squad leader Wang Dianyuan, and rescued more than 1,000 people. Later, their deeds were written into a novel by Comrade Jun Qing, which was widely circulated in Jiaodong, and the people of Jiaodong were known as the "Ten Warriors of Ma Shishan".

After listening to Wang Lao's story, the commanders of the whole company fell into a burst of grief, and everyone deeply mourned these martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the country. In order to enliven the atmosphere, Wang Lao improvised a story of "the first boat to cross the river for a thousand miles"; he was a well-known political worker in the whole army, he was witty and talkative, and he was very knowledgeable, and Wang Lao's rich voice brought the soldiers to the war-torn period of the Liberation War.

Chiang Kai-shek, unwilling to lose, on the one hand played a conspiracy of "peace talks" to delay time, and on the other hand, he dispatched troops and generals to build a defense line on the Yangtze River, in an attempt to prevent our army from moving south by virtue of the natural dangers of the Yangtze River, and to achieve the sinister goal of taking the Yangtze River as the boundary and implementing divide and rule. In the face of the deception of the Kuomintang government, Chairman Mao, the Central Committee of the CPC Central Committee, issued a call to "carry the revolution to the end" to cross the Yangtze River and liberate the whole of China. I was then director of the Political Department of the 3235 Regiment, and after full ideological mobilization, the vast number of commanders and fighters were gearing up to be the first boat to cross the river. On April 20, 1949, the negotiations between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party broke down, and the long-awaited historic moment finally came, Chairman Mao and Commander-in-Chief Zhu issued the "Order to March to the Whole Country", and the R Group Army, as the main force of the 8th Corps, undertook the task of breaking through the river defense in the first echelon, and the 3235th Regiment was the "first echelon in the first echelon". I remember that from that afternoon onwards, everyone kept looking up at the sky, hoping that the sun would set soon. When night fell, all companies of the regiment hid the wooden boatmen in the river according to the pre-divided positions, and dragged them into the Yangtze River one by one along the specially dug channel leading to the Yangtze River, and hundreds of wooden boats lined up on the north bank of the Yangtze River, which was not spectacular! The artillery of the artillery positions also took off their camouflage, took off their armor and were ready to "speak" at any time. When he was getting on the boat, there was exciting news from his superiors, Chairman Mao did not sleep tonight, and listened to the good news of the victory of crossing the river! The enthusiasm of the masses boiled over, and the enthusiasm in the hearts of the vast number of commanders and fighters had burned to the extreme, and they were eager to cross the Yangtze River in one step and report their victory to the great leader. At 20:20 that night, the commanders and fighters of the 3235th Regiment had boarded the ship and were ready to go. At this time, Wang Fengkui, the commander of the 3rd Company, sent a messenger to inform each platoon: "Check the boats, personnel, and equipment, and listen to the order to start the boat!" When the correspondent conveyed the second row, he was so excited that he omitted the two words before the boat and became two simple words: "sail the boat." It was too late, it was fast, and the boat of the 3rd Company and 5th Class, which had already been holding back its strength, rushed out like an arrow off the string under the leadership of squad leader Liu Decui. When the boats next to them looked at it, they thought that the crossing of the river had begun, and they also rowed and started the boat. In an instant, hundreds of large boats in the whole group rushed towards the center of the river silently and with a rainbow of momentum. Thus began a great battle that would determine the fate of China, and the boat of the 3rd Company and 5th squad took the lead, and the whole squad coordinated as one, rowing forward with self-made small wooden oars and war-ready shovels. The boat sped forward, and in a short time it sailed through the center of the river. When they were about to reach the south bank, they were discovered by the enemy, and the artillery, light and heavy machine guns opened fire at the same time, tracer bullets "chirped", and bullets flew up and down. The captain Liu Decui grabbed the rudder and drove the wooden boat to the south bank on the Yangtze River west of Xiajia Lake in Fanchang County, Anhui Province. A mistake in conveying the order made the 3rd Company and 5th Squad become the "first boat to cross the river for a thousand miles", which will forever be recorded in the annals of history! Hahahaha! ”

After Wang Lao finished telling this story, he laughed heartily, and everyone was infected by Wang Lao's emotions and laughed out loud.

The old chiefs' activities in the old army were coming to an end, and Wang Lao's correspondent had already urged him several times, and finally Wang Lao said humorously: "Next year, if Marx doesn't accept me, I will come to see you." ”

The officers and soldiers shouted: "Welcome the old chief to come home often, and he must come next year!" ”

"I'm trying to live to be a hundred years old so that I can come at least twenty times." Wang Lao smiled and said goodbye to everyone.

The old chief reluctantly walked out of the various companies, and the officers and men gathered around them to the car, and the moment they boarded the car, everyone noticed that the eyes of these battle-hardened veterans were clearly soaked with tears. After getting into the car, they opened all the windows and stretched out their hands to say goodbye to the officers and soldiers: "If we have a chance, we will definitely go back to our parents' house to have a look!" How much affection is contained in this simple sentence! There is encouragement and encouragement for the juniors, as well as high hopes and entrustment for the juniors, but more of it is the kind of veteran complex buried in the depths of the soul.