Veteran Xia Shiming buried himself in repairing cars to support the front line battlefield

Mondo Military Updated on 2024-01-19

Employee service card.

Group photo of some members of the auto repair shop.

** Marshal has said many times: "60 to 70 percent of the victory in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea should be attributed to logistics." "In 1951, the rear service department of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army established an automobile repair plant and the second automobile repair plant of the logistics department of the Northeast Military Region. The two factories were mainly responsible for repairing cars damaged on the Korean battlefield, and at that time there was no plant or equipment, so they not only had to work in the open air, but also had to risk the danger of being bombed by enemy planes, rushing to repair them day and night, and send them to the front line in time. Xia Shiming, who was born in 1933, was an auto mechanic at that time.

In 1951, Xia Shiming joined the Chinese People's Liberation Army, "I just learned car repair, I will do whatever the organization asks me to do, absolutely obey the organizational arrangement!"With this mentality, in July 1953, Xia Shimin was assigned to the automobile repair factory of the rear service department of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army. Although he did not set foot on the front line to kill the enemy, he still made contributions to the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea at his post.

That's how he became a car mechanic.

When he was first liberated, Xia Shiming was in Xi'an. At that time, Xia Shimin wanted to be a soldier, but there was a problem during the physical examination, and there was a shadow in his lungs. In 1951, he was assigned to the Mechanical School of the Logistics Department of the Northwest Military Region of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. In school, Xia Shiming mainly studied car repair Xi.

On May 19, 1951, the First Military Commission of the Communist Party of China made the "Decision on Strengthening the Rear Service Work of the Volunteer Army" and decided to establish the Rear Service Command of the Volunteer Army, which was responsible for managing all logistics organizations and facilities in North Korea. In accordance with this decision, the rear logistics headquarters of the Chinese People's Volunteers was established in June, and the logistics headquarters, the political department, the health department, the ordnance department, the transportation department, the supply department, and the cadre management department were set up one after another, so that the logistics leading organs have a relatively sound set of organizational, command, and operational organs.

During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the transportation of materials mainly relied on automobiles. As the main transportation equipment, automobiles rely on the support of the Soviet Union on the one hand, and on the other hand, the old cars left by the Kuomintang troops and the captured US military vehicles. After the US military learned of this situation, they tried every means to sabotage it and cut off the important transportation capacity of our army's logistics supplies. As a result, there were planes bombing in the sky and the ground was sprinkled with triangular nails, both of which led to a sharp increase in the number of destroyed cars of our army. Coupled with the fact that domestic supplementary cars are very limited, the establishment of an auto repair shop is imminent. In 1951, the rear service department of the Chinese People's Volunteers set up an automobile repair factory and the second automobile repair shop of the logistics department of the Northeast Military Region, both of which were responsible for repairing vehicles damaged by bombing on the Korean battlefield.

Xia Shiming's superiors received an order to take a group of people to learn Xi car repair and then go to the front battlefield. However, when he was about to leave, he received an order that he did not need to cross the river, stayed in Dandong, and set up an automobile repair factory. Although everyone preferred to go to the front battlefield, they were refused. Because of the tense war ahead, there is a high demand for automobiles, and the frequent bombing of the enemy forces has caused more damage to automobiles and needs to be repaired urgently. After staying in Dandong, the organization gathered a lot of talents who knew how to repair automobiles from various units, and at the end of 1951, the repair shop was formally established.

At the beginning of the establishment of the repair shop, there was no so-called standardized workshop, not even an office, except for some small board houses, most of which were repaired in the open air. The equipment has only three lathes, and the conditions are very limited. At that time, the US planes bombed frequently, the alarm sounded, everyone had to go to the air-raid shelter to take refuge, the plane left, the alarm was lifted, and then rolled up their sleeves and continued to work. Later, the plane came, the alarm sounded, and everyone didn't want to hide, so they continued to repair the car under the tarp. When it's hot, a handful of soil and oil are smeared all over the face, and there is no difference between working days and rest days.

In 1952, the area of the repair shop was increased, but the factory building was actually about the size of a private house, some of which stored some machinery and equipment, and the other part was a car repair house, which was also very simple. Despite the difficult conditions, everyone was still full of energy. "Repair the car and support the front line" is the belief in the heart of every auto mechanic.

13 cars were repaired day and night in 10 days.

For Xia Shiming, not setting foot on Korean soil to kill the enemy on the battlefield in front of him was his biggest regret at that time. But an experience in a repair shop taught him that it was a great honor to be a car mechanic. As the logistics department of the army, it is also making a decisive contribution to the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.

One day, everyone was working in the repair shop as usual, and suddenly someone came to the factory manager and said, "Let's go out and have a look, there is a group of people at the door!"Everyone ran to the door and saw that there were 13 cars parked at the gate. The vehicles had just been rained down by bullets, and they were dilapidated, with bullet holes everywhere, and the blood stains in the cab had not had time to be cleaned up, apparently left behind by the driver's death. The leaders were very adamant and asked them to repair the vehicles in a short period of time. "According to the deadline he gave at that time, we couldn't repair it at all!Xia Shiming recalled.

By today's standards, those cars are scrapped and broken like that, who is going to fix them?Xia Shiming frowned and sighed. But when you see the bloodstains in the cab, you can fully imagine the cruelty of the battle ahead and the tragic scene of the sacrifice of the soldiers. "Okay, stay, we'll fix it for you!The director of the factory responded to the matter. After that, they began to rush for time and deadlines day and night, except for meals and occasional rests, all their energy was spent on repairing the car. The location of the repair shop is not allowed to turn on the lights at night. Everyone tried to set up lights in the tarpaulin to repair them, and when they heard the enemy planes attacking from afar, they immediately turned off the lights, and after the planes left, they turned on the lights and continued to repair them. Because there is no light to be revealed, the space in the tarpaulin for the repairers to move is very small, and everyone is sweating and oiling during the repair process. In the end, it took about 10 days to repair the 13 cars. When those soldiers came to pick up the car, they thanked them repeatedly, and Xia Shiming and his comrades-in-arms were very pleased.

Memories of the battle hero Li Yuezheng.

At that time, Xia Shiming had a very good comrade-in-arms named Li Yuezheng. "He has a very good relationship with me, he is a combat hero!”

In Xia Shiming's impression, Li Yuezheng suffered a lot of injuries for the car. On one occasion, while driving on the highway, Li Yuezheng's tires were punctured by triangular nails thrown by the US military, and the car was forced to collapse in place. At that time, both sides of the highway were lined with cars that could not be driven due to bombing or damage, and Li Yuezheng immediately went into the grove to find a replacement tire. As a result, when bombed by enemy planes, Li Yuezheng was blown into a bomb crater and was wounded. In addition to this time, he was also injured when the vehicle was seized. Our army won the battle with the American army, and the American army left cars on the road as they fled. When the vehicle is captured, in order to prevent the enemy plane from blowing up the vehicle, the fighters should immediately drive the vehicle to a hidden place. On several occasions, enemy planes immediately came to bomb the car, but Li Yuezheng was reluctant to give up when he saw that the car was of good quality, so he hurriedly drove the car back at the risk of being bombed. On another occasion, Li Yuezheng was in charge of transferring a chief, and on the way, a car collapsed on the road and the road was blocked. He immediately organized everyone to move the vehicle to the side of the highway ditch. Just as the road was clear and passable, enemy planes flew in, and everyone ran into the grove. When he found out that the chief was injured, he immediately picked it up, and finally transferred the chief safely, and this time he did a great job.

Recalling his comrades-in-arms, what saddened Xia Shiming was that Li Yuezheng died of illness in 1966.

Later, Xia Shiming has been working as an auto mechanic in an auto repair shop. In 1958, the repair shop was handed over to the locality, and Xia Shiming continued to work in the auto repair shop after demobilization, as a planner. Later he took up a technical position and became an engineer.

Character profile. Born in 1933, he is a native of Xi'an, Shaanxi. In 1951, he studied automobile repair at the Mechanical School of the Logistics Department of the Northwest Military Region of the Xi Chinese People's Liberation Army. In 1952, he became an auto repair soldier of the Automobile Repair Plant of the Logistics Department of the Volunteer Army. In 1953, he worked as a planner in a local auto repair shop before moving to Lanzhou.

Reporter Hua Xiaojing and Li Qing of Lanzhou.

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