I was a self-righteous girl, and my father was an outstanding military talent with a wealth of military experience. I have the impression that he was an intelligent and erudite man who held many important positions in the military and was highly praised by his comrades. Even later, his friend Uncle Yu Li told me that it would be a great pity if his story was not recorded.
When I was younger, I didn't take these words seriously, because I didn't think they had anything to do with me. However, I was deeply moved when I listened to the stories of my fathers who were true, tragic, humorous, and philosophical. It's as if you've become part of these stories, the one who is tracing the footsteps on the battlefield. But it all happened before the parents fell ill and passed away one after another.
Their death was so rushed for me that I didn't even have time to mature. While I tried to take care of them, they left me. In the process of his father's long-term work in the First Division of the New Fourth Army and the Huaye Command, and in the process of being taught by leading comrades such as ** and Su Yu, he completed many special tasks and followed Comrade Su Yu for more than 8 years.
These oral histories and articles reveal and confirm part of the original historical appearance of those wars, and have certain historical value for the study of military war history and General Su Yu's military thoughts.
In the six years that I have been compiling these materials, I have often been moved by the tragic stories of my predecessors, the humor of my predecessors on the battlefield, the wisdom and ingenuity of my predecessors, the pride of our predecessors' heroic feats, and the stories of my predecessors' loyalty to the country, the party, comrades-in-arms, and love. They gave everything for today's era of peace, and we should not forget, we must not forget that history.
After many ups and downs, tears washed away all the troubles, and all that was left was strength. Only by living a more wonderful and sunny life can we be worthy of those who sacrificed for today's era of peace. After writing this book, the mood at this moment is indescribable. I would like to thank all the elders and relatives who have helped me and supported me. I would also like to thank Comrade Ma Yunfei and Comrade Wu Shaojing of ** Literature Publishing House.
Without their help and support, this book would not have come out. Finally, I would like to thank my father's old comrade-in-arms, Uncle Qin Shujin, for giving me the "War Diary", and let me compile the sketches of the original combat routes he drew by himself during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation into the book.
These very precious sketches of the original combat route have truly recorded the combat footprints of our fathers and provided a lot of important information, so that we can get closer to that period of history, understand that period of history, and know that today's era of peace is not easy to come by.
Although in peacetime, our army's military technology has been improved and its military equipment has become more modernized, our army's basic purpose of being loyal to the state, the nation, the people, and the party has not changed, the basic quality requirements for being an excellent commander and an outstanding soldier have not changed, and our army's commanders and fighters have not changed their subjective initiative in future modern wars and have used wisdom and strategy to fight wars.
The valuable experience left by our fathers during the war years is still of great significance for today's army building. These precious experiences can also be applied in the current socialist construction. The book is based on my father's recorded conversations, with some historical research, and with reference to the reminiscences of my predecessors.
My father's recording tells part of the war, but due to my limited knowledge, there are inevitably some errors and inaccuracies in the book, and I ask for your criticism. Yan Xiaoyan, Beijing, May 1, 2009.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that ** Literature Publishing House published "The Fighting Years by Su Yu's Side - Memories of the Old Reconnaissance Section Chief Yan Zhenheng" for the third time in May 2021, and added some new content to the book.