"The Red Army is not afraid of difficult expeditions, and thousands of rivers and mountains are just waiting for leisure. ”
The Red Army's Long March was a revolutionary heroic epic of great significance, which lasted two cold and summers, during which it crisscrossed more than 10 provinces and cities, crossed more than 40 high mountains and dangerous peaks, crossed nearly 100 rivers, and fought more than 600 battles with the enemy, large and small.
Its scale, distance, and duration are also unprecedented miracles in the history of human warfare.
The Red Army's Long March is like a glorious monument, and there are also many little-known stories in it, such as Xie Baojin, the "fool" who walked the Long March with a 68-kilogram machine on his back.
"Fool" Xie Baojin
People usually call those who don't know how to be flexible and only admit death as "fools" in life, and sometimes they have a few more contacts with these people, and they have to mumble a few words behind their backs, "Why is this person so stupid?".”
If you use such words to talk about people in person, it is a little inconsistent with the tradition of gentleness and frugality, so people will use metaphorical words to express this meaning, such as "Erzi" in northern dialect, "Shoutou" in southern dialect, and so on.
In the 80s of the twentieth century, in Lingbei Commune, Yudu County, the locals also had a different kind of expression when expressing similar meanings, some people would say, "You are really a big treasure!".”
This sentence, except for the people in Lingbei who can understand it, outsiders are in the clouds when they hear it.
Some curious people can't help but break the casserole to ask the end, and after knowing the answer, they will inevitably be surprised.
It turns out that the "Baojin" in this sentence is not only a real name, but also an old revolutionary cadre who has participated in the 25,000-mile Long March.
What is the reason for such a revolutionary figure to be equated with a "fool"?
This matter has to start with Xie Baojin himself.
Xie Baojin was born in 1898, his family was very poor, there was no money for him to go to school, since he was a child, he went to chop wood and herd cattle, and he was also a good hand at farming.
When he became an adult, Xie Baojin was still a famous "strong king" in the nearby ten miles and eight towns, with a height of nearly one meter nine, one person could easily carry more than 300 pounds of things, which also made him a treasure that various camps fought for when he was in a shoulder business or a miner.
Xie Baojin from the age of 34, is the local Tieshanlong tungsten mine in Yudu County "super miner", when Mao ** happened to be the general manager of China Tungsten Mining Company, heard that there is a worker in the mine like Kua'e who is born with divine power, so he took the initiative to find Xie Baojin and asked him if he would like to become a member of the Red Army.
Mao ** took a fancy to Xie Baojin's strong body, you must know that the Red Army is a team of poor people, and there are not many people with a physique like Xie Baojin, if Xie Baojin is willing to agree to join the Red Army, it is undoubtedly very advantageous.
At that time, Xie Baojin didn't think about it, so he agreed with a smile.
Xie Baojin was then assigned to the Intelligence Department of the General Staff of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, and the 36-year-old Xie Baojin became a Red Army soldier.
Xie Baojin works in the technical unit of the Intelligence Department of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, and his main task is to be in charge of hand-cranked generators.
The generator in the era of the Red Army was very heavy, weighing 136 pounds, and it usually required 8 people to take turns to carry it, and it also needed to be continuously and evenly shaken by both hands to supply less than 100 watts of power generation.
This work is not only a test of arm strength for individuals, but also requires extreme endurance.
At that time, Xie Baojin began to behave "stupidly", he always sat there quietly by himself shaking the generator, as if he couldn't finish the work and was not tired.
Some comrades came over to Xie Baojin and asked, "Are you tired from work, do you need to take a break?" Xie Baojin would always grin and tell each other, "I'm not hard, I'm not tired!".”
Hand-cranked generator is a real physical work, and Xie Baojin, who is strong and strong, has done this job brilliantly and has been highly praised by the organization leaders many times.
After the "September 18 Incident" began, the three northeastern provinces fell one after another.
At that time, Chiang Kai-shek, while repeatedly compromising with the Japanese imperialist invaders, constantly mobilized heavy troops to "encircle and suppress" the Red Army.
In the face of the increasingly serious national crisis, Wang Ming and others, who had gained a dominant position in the Communist Party, made serious political mistakes at the critical moment of the revolution, which also plunged the Communist Party and the Red Army into crises several times.
With the failure of the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" operation, the forces of the Red Army also suffered a heavy blow.
During this period, Xie Baojin has been carrying this machine weighing more than 100 pounds on his back and following the Red Army in the fight against "encirclement and suppression".
Wherever the headquarters is, you can see Xie Baojin and the generator.
In October 1934, the Central Military Commission of the Central Revolution prepared to implement a plan for the transfer of strategy.
Before leaving, the leaders of the Red Army handed over the important task of protecting the generator to Xie Baojin, and specially told him, "Baojin, this generator is the 'ears' and 'eyes' of ***, without it, we will not be able to win the war." ”
Xie Baojin swore that "I will definitely live up to the task assigned to me by the organization, and I will protect it as if I were protecting my own life!"”
At that time, the Red Army's communication equipment was very limited, and in the entire Central Revolutionary Military Commission, there was only one transmitter and one generator in Xie Baojin's hands, and the transmitter also needed generators to provide power for it, so the importance of these two pieces of equipment was self-evident.
In order to ensure the absolute safety of these two "treasures", which are more important than life, the Red Army also specially sent a team of 128 people to strengthen the protection of these two equipment.
Subsequently, Xie Baojin and his comrades-in-arms embarked on the Long March with these equipment.
At the beginning, Xie Baojin arranged for eight soldiers to take turns to carry these equipment, but in the course of the Long March, there were blockades in front of the enemy and pursuers in the rear, and even the heads of the Red Army could not escape the indiscriminate bombardment of Kuomintang planes.
The reinforcement team to protect the generator equipment also fell many soldiers one after another along the Long March, at first the generator was carried by four people, and then slowly reduced to two people, and then later, Xie Baojin carried the generator alone more and more times.
Especially after passing through snow-capped mountains and meadows, the Red Army soldiers who were originally responsible for protecting these equipment have sacrificed very little.
Xie Baojin took the generator to finish the Long March
Seeing his comrades-in-arms fall one after another, Xie Baojin's eyes gradually turned red.
At this moment, the belief in his heart became more and more firm, "Even if I am the only one left, I will bring this treasure back to the organization safely." ”
Before preparing to cross the Xiangjiang River, Xie Baojin specially wrapped several layers of thick tarpaulin for the generator in order to prevent the generator from flooding, and the soldiers also made up a section of Yongdao-style human wall, just to cover Xie Baojin carrying the generator through the pontoon bridge.
The width of the Xiangjiang River was nearly 100 meters, and there was a frenzied bombardment of enemy planes overhead, and the blood of the Red Army gradually stained the surface of the Xiangjiang River.
Xie Baojin finally crossed the Xiangjiang River safely with the generator on his back, but many of the soldiers in the team disappeared forever.
When climbing the snowy mountain, due to the steep and narrow road, there is no way for the generator to be carried by several people, even if it is carried by two people, but as long as the slightest carelessness of the generator, the generator will have various unexpected risks.
For this reason, Xie Baojin asked his comrades-in-arms to carry the generator on his shoulder, and he carried the generator by himself and climbed over the snowy mountain.
Xie Baojin carried it for four days.
Xie Baojin walked through the Jiajin Mountain, which is regarded by Tibetans as "only immortals can pass".
It's freezing here, and with all kinds of altitude sickness, it's hard to get back up once you fall.
In the course of the Red Army's Long March, many soldiers were also buried here.
And Xie Baojin relied on his own strength and loyalty to the organization to climb the snow-capped mountain with this more than 100-pound machine on his back.
By the time they came here, the soldiers of the Red Army had long been short of food and clothing, and it was even difficult for them to camp in the camp.
In the case of rapid loss of body temperature and physical strength, Xie Baojin needs to make a strong psychological construction every step he takes.
What's more, what the warriors are facing right now is not those mountains or rivers that are difficult to cross, but some fears that are difficult to overcome and buried in the hearts of people.
But even so, the soldiers of the Red Army did not dare to stop at all, because there was still an enemy behind them who were chasing them.
When crossing the meadow, Xie Baojin tossed and turned, on the one hand, feeling sad for those sacrificed comrades, and on the other hand, worried about the burden on his body.
Xie Baojin had already heard of some of the conditions in the grassland.
There are swamps all over the place, and if you are not careful, you can easily be "eaten" by the grass.
If you carry this big guy on your back, it will be difficult to pass through the grass smoothly.
Every aspect of the meadow challenges the limits of the warriors' survival, and also makes extremely high demands on their spirit and will.
Xie Baojin thought about it all night, and when the sky was about to light up, Xie Baojin got up early, found some bamboo around and came back, and then made a simple bamboo row.
When crossing the grassland, Xie Baojin put the generator on the bamboo raft, and then hunched his waist all the way, and from time to time he had to look back to see what his "baby" was, and then like a slender man, he dragged the bamboo raft and the generator out of the grassland step by step.
In this way, Xie Baojin defeated the extremely dangerous and "cannibalistic" swamp.
In the process of crossing the meadow, there were many young soldiers who were in trouble due to their short stature, Xie Baojin could not watch his comrades fall like this, and after transporting the generator out, he turned back again and again, carrying some young children on his shoulders, saving many lives.
With his tenacious revolutionary will and enthusiasm, Xie Baojin finally went through hardships and dangers and safely carried the generator to the Yan'an revolutionary base intact.
With such a legendary Long March experience, if there is no such heroic and fearless "treasure gold" spirit, how can it persist to the end?
At the celebration meeting of 30,000 people, ** praised Xie Baojin as a "model of the Long March".
During his time in Yan'an, Xie Baojin held the position of director of the Life Cooperative.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Xie Baojin was transferred to work in the General Staff Headquarters in Beijing, where he was mainly responsible for keeping the property confiscated from various localities.
Until 1952, Xie Baojin, who had worked in the ** Military Commission for 18 years, took the initiative to request a job change to his superiors because of tuberculosis, and in order to reduce the burden on the organization, he was transferred back to his hometown in Yudu from the Beijing headquarters.
Xie Baojin had little education and was honest and responsible, so he was assigned to the local government to serve as the secretary of the general party branch, mainly responsible for the training of party members and the organization of daily training of the militia.
In 1956, a supply and marketing cooperative was established in the township, and Xie Baojin was transferred to the cooperative as deputy director, and also served as a buyer, a job that lasted until Xie Baojin retired at the age of 76.
At that time, the buyers were doing dirty and tiring hard work, and no one wanted to do these things, so Xie Baojin simply rolled up his sleeves and did it himself.
Someone complained for Xie Baojin, saying how could the old Red Army do such a thing?
Xie Baojin still said with a smile as always, "What's wrong with doing such a thing, it's all the same to serve the people." ”
In 1976, Xie Baojin went to Beijing to see a doctor, and by the way, he also visited the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution.
When he was in the exhibition hall, Xie Baojin saw at a glance the generator that he had carried on his back and walked the long road together, and what was different was that this generator was already rusty.
Xie Baojin's eyes turned red in an instant, and countless thoughts and memories rushed into his mind like a tide.
He reached out tremblingly, trying to touch the generator.
At this moment, a staff member of the exhibition hall next to him stopped him and said that this was a precious cultural relic and could not be touched.
Xie Baojin was stunned for a while, then silently turned around and walked away, and when he left, Xie Baojin still muttered, "I still carried this generator on my back to complete the Long March, just like my own son, why can't I touch it now?"”
After finishing speaking, Xie Baojin couldn't help crying.
The staff stood next to him, shocked by Xie Baojin's words, and after learning that the old farmer in front of him was the old Red Army who had walked the whole Long March with a generator on his back, he hurriedly moved a chair for Xie Baojin to sit down.
It was that time that the story of Xie Baojin and the generator spread again.
References:
1] Organization Department of Yudu County Party Committee: Carry the generator to the Long March.
2] County Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Press, Publication and Tourism: Long March Model Xie Baojin.
3] From Zhang Shaohua, Lan Huaying, Guan Dongmei. Lovely Yudu [m].2021: Old Red Army Xie Baojin and his "Baojin" spirit.