1

It was the autumn of 1928, and Shangguanxiong and I left Changling Town, hid in Tibet, and after wandering for more than half a year, joined the Red Army. We were only sixteen years old that year, and now sixteen people are living like flowers, and if I tell them the story of when we were sixteen, they must not believe it, and even think that I am bragging! The years are different, the people are not the same, this is all fate!

In the more than half a year of wandering, we were not so happy, sometimes we were like bandits, when we were hungry, we would find a big family to rob, and then we ran away without our lives; Sometimes it is like a beggar who wants to eat in the sympathetic gaze of others, and that taste is very uncomfortable; Sometimes we seem to be walking the rivers and lakes, playing boxing and knife skills in the market town, mixing and tangling. We don't know how big the outside world is, how far we can go, and for more than half a year, we are still going around in the mountains of western Fujian.

It was a time of great chaos, and we often heard that there was a riot somewhere, and the Red Army was coming somewhere, but when we arrived at that place, the rioting team was pulled away, and the Red Army was gone. We also have to avoid the White Army, for fear of being caught and falling into the tiger's mouth, because Liu Shiqing's son is an official in the White Army. When we were ignorant, we regarded the White Army as the opposite, and we also believed that the only way out was to defect to the Red Army.

We inquired that Ruijin, Jiangxi, which is separated from Changting County in western Fujian by a mountain, was the world of the Red Army, so we rushed to Ruijin over the mountains and mountains. When we reached Shenghua Mountain, it was getting late, so we stayed in the grass of a deserted paper mill and waited for dawn to continue on our way. The mountains here are high and dense, the bamboo is overgrown with weeds, and after the middle of the night, you can hear the howl of jackals in the dense forest in the distance, the sound is terrifying, we have not closed our eyes all night, beware of jackals attacking.

At dawn, we heard gunfire.

Shangguan Xiong jumped up from the hay bunk and rushed out of the hayhouse, and I rushed out of the hayhouse.

The sound of gunfire came from the top of the hill and was very intense. That was the first time we had heard the sound of such a fierce battle. We were very excited, but we didn't know who was fighting with whom, and we couldn't tell who was defending the mountain and who was attacking the mountain. The sound of guns and cannons accompanied by the sound of shouting and killing made our blood boil in the early spring morning, but we could not act rashly, we could only wait.

Shangguan Xiong and I returned to the grass and waited for the end of this battle.

Shangguan Xiong's eyes were full of longing, and my mood was the same as his.

Shangguanxiong said: "It must be the Red Army and the White Army that are fighting!" ”

I said, "Definitely! ”

Shangguan Xiong said: "Earth dog, you say, who can win this battle?" ”

I didn't know in my heart: "I don't know! ”

Shangguan Xiong said again: "Then who do you want to win?" ”

I said, "Of course it's the Red Army, if the Red Army wins, we don't want to go to Ruijin to find them, if the Red Army loses, then we-"

Shangguan Xiong was silent.

I was silent too.

The sound of gunfire fell silent in our anxious waiting, and it was already noon. We got out of the grass and the whole mountain was covered in thick smoke that filled the forest. Shangguan Xiong said, "Let's go to the mountains and have a look?" I nodded at him, and we each took the Devil's Head Knife and carefully touched it up the hill.

Suddenly, we heard a rustling sound.

We quickly hid in the bushes. The sound of rustling came from another patch of grass, and then we heard the sound of someone snorting and panting, and the sound was approaching us. After a while, a fat middle-aged man in a white army officer's uniform appeared in our eyes. Shangguan Xiong whispered to me: "It must be the defeat of the White Army, you see, all their officials have fled here!" I also whispered: "Yes, let's hurry up and arrest this dog officer and give it to the Red Army as a greeting gift, maybe the Red Army will reward us!" Shangguan Xiong said, "Let's go-"

Shangguan Xiong scurried out like a leopard, and I followed closely behind.

We blocked the way of the White officer, because his pistol was pointed at us, and we confronted him, not daring to rush over and capture him. The White Army officer shouted at us: "Who are you? Get out of the way! Otherwise, Lao Tzu will kill you! ”

Shangguan Xiong sneered: "You don't believe it, as long as you shoot one of us, the other will hack you to death!" Try it if you don't believe it! ”

I also said, "You kind of shoot!" Even if we can't kill you, the Red Army will come and clean you up when they hear the gunshots! ”

The officer of the White Army was a bad breed, and after listening to our words, he immediately changed his face: "Little brother, please let me live, I will be rewarded in the future——"

Shangguan Xiong glanced at me, and then he lunged at the White Army officer. I clearly saw that the White Army officer was shooting in a panic, and I thought that Shangguan Xiong had been shot, so I yelled and threw myself at the White Army officer...... Shangguan Xiong was not shot, and I didn't hear the gunshot, it turned out that there was no bullet in his pistol, this was Shangguan Xiong's luck, if there was still one bullet left in his pistol, then the consequences would be unimaginable. We pressed him down in the grass, and Shangguan Xiong took the gun from his hand, looked at it, and then stuck the pistol on the black cloth belt around his waist. I untied the White officer's belt, cut his hands behind his back, and tied them firmly.

The white officer's face turned purple, and he scolded angrily: "You let me go, let me go, be careful that I kill you in the future-"

Any of his threats to us no longer make sense.

We escorted him up the hill and handed him over to the Red Army, who were cleaning the battlefield on the top of the mountain...... In that way, we joined the Red Army, which seemed to be easy to say, but in fact we also risked our lives. What we never expected was that we captured Guo Daming, the brigade commander of the Kuomintang garrison in Changting City. In the battle of Shenghua Mountain, the Red Army ate one of Guo Daming's brigades, and the Central Red Army achieved a great victory in its first entry into Fujian. After the Red Army successfully occupied Changting City, Commander-in-Chief Zhu De also received us, he is a legendary hero, but he is so kind, and his smile is full of fatherly love.

2

When we escorted Guo Daming to the Red Army, Zhang Zongfu, a company commander in the Red Army, thought we were bandits, and he said that the fact that we were able to capture Guo Daming and send him to the Red Army was a major meritorious service, and that we should change our minds and temper ourselves in the revolutionary ranks. Shangguan Xiong and I emphasized that we were not bandits, so he smiled and said to us, "Who in this world admits that they are bandits?" Well, don't defend yourself, from now on, you will not be bandits, you will be Red Army soldiers! However, you must pay attention to reform, and do not bring the habits of bandits into the revolutionary ranks! We couldn't cry or laugh when we heard his words, Shangguan Xiong said: "Whatever he is, as long as he becomes a Red Army, it doesn't matter what he says!" ”

Guo Daming was shot after the Red Army entered Changting City.

On the day Guo Daming was shot, there was a drizzle in the sky, and thousands of Red Army troops and masses gathered in Nanzhai Square in Changting City. After Guo Daming was shot, his body hung upside down on a chestnut tree next to the rostrum. I remember Chairman Mao pointing to Guo Daming's corpse in his speech and saying: "We came here to eliminate harm for the people, and today we will get rid of this great evil." Our Red Army is an army of the poor, united with the toiling masses......" Commander-in-Chief Zhu De announced Guo Daming's ten major crimes, and then ordered the Red Army to pick up the property of Guo Daming and more than 10 major landlords and gentry in Changting City to the meeting venue and distribute them to the masses attending the meeting, and then carried Guo Daming's body through the streets for demonstration.

To be honest, looking at Guo Daming's corpse, my stomach turned upside down, I hid in a corner where no one was around, and vomited wildly for a while. That night, I had a nightmare in which Guo Daming pounced on me, his hands tightly around my neck...... I woke up from a nightmare, sweating profusely. I told Shangguan Xiong about the dream, and Shangguan Xiong said, "What is there to be afraid of, how can the living be afraid of the dead ghosts!" "At that time, I felt that Shangguan Xiong was bolder than me and more bloody than me, maybe these were all innate things.

3

Together with Shangguan Xiong, I was incorporated into Zhang Zongfu's company. This company is known as the "Tiger Company", and the soldiers of the company are as fierce as tigers, Zhang Zongfu said, if the two of us had not caught Guo Daming, we would not have been able to enter the "Tiger Company"! I always felt that Zhang Zongfu was a bragging and a little dismissive of his words, but Shangguan Xiong believed in his words.

In the great victory of Shenghua Mountain, the Red Army captured hundreds of guns, and Shangguan Xiong and I received a Type 38 rifle. When I got the gun, I was jumping around with excitement, Shangguan Xiong was not as excited as me, he just carefully looked at the murderous weapon, his eyes were a little moist, and he muttered: "We also have a gun in our hands!" In fact, he also had a gun in his possession, which was the pistol seized from Guo Daming.

Zhang Zongfu has been observing our expressions. He walked up to us and said, "We should be happy to have a gun!" Guns are our lives, you have to cherish them! By the way, have you ever shot a gun? ”

I said, "We've hit the a**!" ”

Shangguan Xiong also said: "It turns out that my father has a **, and he taught us to fight." Company Commander Zhang, you see the pockmarks on the face of the earth dog, which caused the iron sand to collapse after the explosion during the blowing. ”

Zhang Zongfu was happy: "I thought he was born with a pockmarked face, Li Tugou, your name is not good, I will call you Li Mazi in the future!" ”

My face was hot: "You can call me anything, anyway, I'm a cheap person!" ”

Shangguan Xiong echoed: "I think Li Mazi barks better than Li Tugou." ”

Zhang Zongfu laughed, and then said to me seriously: "Li Mazi, your life will not be cheap from now on, you are a soldier of the Red Army, and everyone in our team is equal!" By the way, I tell you, guns and guns are not the same, and I will teach you how to shoot guns tomorrow! ”

Zhang Zongfu organized us new to the Red Army and taught us about guns and how to use them. Zhang Zongfu didn't know why, but he was very attentive to me and Shangguanxiong, and always opened a small stove for us and told us his own experience. Of course, in the process, he will show off his marksmanship in front of us. He would snatch the gun from my hand and say to me, "Li Mazi, where do you say to fight?" I pointed to a random spot, and he shot it without aiming at it, and the bullet flew out whizzing, and magically hit the target.

We were dumbfounded, it seems that Zhang Zongfu's cowhide is really not blown.

After Zhang Zongfu finished shooting, he threw the gun back to me and said: "As long as there is a war, I am the one who kills the most enemies in our regiment!" You have to learn from me, even if you don't want to be a hero, it's hard! You know, even Commander-in-Chief Zhu praised our unique marksmanship. ”

I gave him a thumbs up: "Company Commander Zhang, you god!" ”

Zhang Zongfu laughed again, and then said, "Have you ever killed someone? ”

Shangguan Xiong lowered his head and fiddled with the gun in his hand, he seemed reluctant to mention our murder in Changling Town. I tried to say that, but when the words came to my lips and I swallowed them back, killing people seemed to me to be a difficult thing to talk about.

Zhang Zongfu saw that we didn't speak, so he smiled and said: "You haven't killed anyone, what kind of bandit are you, I think you are just a little thief at best!" Practice your marksmanship well, and only then can you kill people well! With that, he walked away without looking back.

4

The first time I fought, I realized that I was not as bloody as my master Hu Sande said, but Shangguan Xiong was different from me, or he was never different from me, and he had Shangguan Ming's blood in his veins.

It was a battle to prepare.

We stopped the invading White Army at the Pig Ridge. After we had seized the hill and dug the trench, the White Army began to attack. First, a burst of artillery fire bombarded our position, and after the artillery fire stopped, the white army launched a charge towards the main peak of Zhugu Ridge.

We had a battalion of men, and the White Army had a regiment of men, and they were better armed than we were, and we were clearly at a disadvantage at the first start. In fact, during the bombardment, my head was a little dazed, and looking at those comrades who were killed, I really wanted to run away. I was lying next to Zhang Zongfu, and Shangguan Xiong was lying on the other side of him. After the shelling stopped, Zhang Zongfu asked me, "Are you hurt?" I shook my head. He smiled at me: "It's good if you don't blow it up, you have a chance!" Li Mazi, my soldiers are going to die in battle, and there is no one to escape! Mark my words! ”

I nodded at him, maybe he already knew what was going on in my mind. Why didn't he say these things to Shangguan Xiong, but to me.

As he spoke to me, Shangguan Xiong's gaze was fixed on the white soldiers swarming up the hillside.

He reached out and patted me on the shoulder: "I believe you are good, get ready to fight!" ”

Soon, we came into contact with the attacking forces of the White Army. As soon as the gun went off, Zhang Zongfu couldn't take care of me, he yelled while shooting, like a madman.

My heart was pounding, and my fingers were shaking.

I lay my gun aimlessly, and the White soldiers who fell on the hillside didn't know if they had died from my guns. Suddenly, the body of a comrade next to me pounced on me, and I pushed him away, and found that there was a bullet hole in his eyebrow, and blood was spurting out of the bullet hole. He's dead, and my heart feels like I've been hit by a bullet, and I'm spurting blood. Bullets whizzed past my ears and I was a little dazed.

Zhang Zongfu threw a hand ** out, then reached out and slapped me on the head, and shouted loudly: "Kill Lao Tzu!" How can there be no immortal in war! Li Mazi, you are still alive, you have to fight if you are alive, if you don't kill the enemy, the enemy will want your life! Hit me, hit me hard! ”

Zhang Zongfu's slap woke me up, and I yelled: "Fuck your mother!" ”

Then shoot frantically at the enemy.

Zhang Zongfu said loudly: "Li Mazi, good job!" You've killed an enemy, you've taken aim at Lao Tzu, hit hard! ”

I started aiming, and as soon as I shot out, the White soldier I was aiming at fell! I have no fear in my heart, Zhang Zongfu is right, if I don't kill the enemy, I will be wiped out by the enemy. I aimed at another White soldier and pulled the trigger, and the bullet flew out like an eye, striking him in the chest...... I smelled the strong smell of blood, it thrilled me, drove me crazy, made me forget that I was a sixteen-year-old boy.

The White Army retreated like a tide under our effective resistance.

Zhuguling suddenly fell silent, and only the smoke of gunpowder was still filling.

I let out a long exhale, and lay motionless on the edge of the trench, my head still full of whistling bullets.

Zhang Zongfu was speechless, he leaned his back against the wall of the trench, took out a pipe from his pocket, stuffed it with tobacco shreds, and then took a big sip, his expression was very calm, as if nothing had happened. Shangguan Xiong walked up to me and said to me, "Earth dog, are you okay?" I said, "It's all right, what about you?" He smiled: "It's okay, it's really fun to fight!" How many people did you kill? I said, "I didn't." He said triumphantly, "I killed three people!" "It can be seen that Shangguan Xiong has not been afraid, he has entered the state at the beginning, and he is indeed better than me in this regard.

Zhang Zongfu finished smoking a pot of cigarettes, stuffed the pipe back into his pocket, stood up, and patted my head: "Okay, Li Mazi, I thought you would pee your pants!" ”

After Zhang Zongfu finished speaking, he ordered people to count the number of sacrifices, and asked everyone to carry the bodies of the sacrificed comrades aside and bury them after the battle.

Looking at the corpses of those comrades, my heart ached.

I thought, what would happen if I turned into a corpse?

As long as there is a fight, I may become a corpse!

5

After several battles, I turned out to be a sharpshooter, and I had a sharpshooter with company commander Zhang Zongfu, which was something I couldn't even think of. In a big contest of the Red Army in the Central Soviet Region, Zhang Zongfu and I were tied for first place in the shooting event. In a battle not long after, a platoon commander of our company died, and Zhang Zongfu asked me to take the position of platoon leader.

I knew very well in my heart that if it weren't for Shangguan Xiong's private possession of the pistol, this platoon commander would have been his, because he had done all the work better than me, and of course his marksmanship could not be compared with mine. The pistol was a Browning pistol, and the company commander Zhang Zongfu confiscated it and told us. Shangguan Xiong hid the pistol very secretly at first, but after a long time, his feet were exposed. One night, Shangguan Xiong couldn't help it, and secretly took out the pistol to admire, but he didn't expect to be discovered by Xu Liangfa, the trumpeter of the company, and Xu Liangfa reported the matter to Zhang Zongfu. Zhang Zongfu called Shangguan Xiong to him, and after scolding, he confiscated the pistol. For a few days, Shangguan Xiong hung his head.

But I didn't have to be the platoon commander for two days before I was dismissed.

On the night I became the platoon commander, Shangguan Xiong secretly dragged me to a fellow villager's house, who prepared a table of wine and food, and I said, "Ah Xiong, what are you doing here?" Shangguan Xiong's eyes flashed with tears: "Brother, you are the platoon commander, I am happy in my heart, so I asked the fellow to prepare some wine and food to celebrate you!" If our master hears the news, he will also drink to celebrate, and my father and Huang Qigu under Jiuquan will be happy when they know about it! ”

It's a good excuse to drink.

So, the two of us drank a cup of you and a cup of me. I didn't drink it tightly, but I drank it and had an accident. That night, the troops suddenly received an order to withdraw from the village overnight. The troops were about to leave, Zhang Zongfu couldn't find us, and he was so anxious that he scolded his mother. If someone hadn't seen us enter the villager's house, perhaps we would have been the guns of the White Army, for a regiment of White troops surrounded the village shortly after our troops had withdrawn. Despite this, I was masturbated off after just a day as a platoon commander. After Zhang Zongfu announced the order to dismiss my platoon commander, he scolded us: "You two dogs, if you make a little achievement, your tail will rise to the sky!" Do you still think you're a bandit? Do whatever you want, unorganized and undisciplined! If you don't recognize your mistakes mentally and completely eliminate the habit of banditry, I think something big will happen to you sooner or later! Grandma's, lawless! ”

Afterwards, Zhang Zongfu and I had a private chat. He said that if he didn't deal with me, he would not be able to be the company commander and the soldier, and asked me to put down my burden, start everything from scratch, and the opportunity is still in my hands. I was very grateful to him, and I told him that I had no mental baggage, and I never wanted to be a platoon commander. He said to me solemnly: "It's wrong for you to think like this, a soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier, you should understand this truth!" "I really don't understand that, but I do want to be a good soldier, a brave soldier!

6

The situation in the Central Soviet District is changing rapidly.

From my participation in the Red Army to my withdrawal from the Central Soviet Region in October 1934, we have been fighting in various parts of western Fujian and southern Jiangxi, and have won many battles, Zhang Zongfu has also changed from a company commander to a battalion commander, and I have also become a company commander, and Shangguan Xiong is my deputy company commander.

1934 was a suffocating year, and we faced a powerful offensive of Kuomintang troops several times our strength, and we were repeatedly defeated, and we seemed to be stuck in a huge quagmire, and we fell deeper and deeper. Some people attribute the reason for the Red Army's old defeats to Wang Ming's blind command, and Wang Ming listened to that ghost guy Li De, I don't understand what Li De is doing in China, what do we have to do with our revolution? I don't know anything about what the Comintern is, and I don't know how much power it has. In September, we entered western Fujian from southern Jiangxi, assembled in the south of Changting County with a large army, and finally won a battle in a place called Wenfang, and then the first tragic battle in my life - the defense of Songmaoling, kicked off. When I think about that battle, I still have a dull pain in a certain part of my body, I can't go back in time to grasp anything, many things can no longer be grasped after the river of time has passed, such as life......