In August 1951, the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea entered a white-hot stage, and the main battlefield was shifted to Panmunjom, 80 kilometers south of Pyongyang. Due to the enemy's air superiority, the front of the Volunteer Army encountered serious difficulties.
At this critical juncture, the General Administration of Railway Military Administration decided to set up a "political commando team," with Fan Yong, a heroic driver who had made special contributions in the War of Liberation of Northeast China, as instructors, and 62 politically reliable, brave, witty, and skilled drivers and crew members to rush to Pyongyang to carry out the task of transporting special arms trains to provide emergency arms support for the front line to resist US aggression and aid Korea.
On the afternoon of August 27, 1951, Ri Yem-ji, director of the Pyongyang Railway Branch, told Pham Yong with a mysterious smile that an important chief wanted to meet him. Fan Yong was ecstatic and asked who it was, Director Li sold a pass, and said that he would know when the time came.
Soon after, a jeep carrying Fan Yong circled around the Great Camel Ridge and stopped in front of the cave of the Chinese Embassy in North Korea. They entered a spacious office, and Fan Yong saw Deng Tuan, head of the second Chinese condolence group to the DPRK, who was reviewing documents.
Head Deng remembered their meeting at the Xibaipo National Heroes Meeting in 1949 and extended a warm welcome to Fan Yong. He held Fan Yong's hand tightly and listened to his major military exploits in Korea, and the two began to talk deeply.
You have successfully driven the front-line munitions train in the harsh environment of enemy bombing and strafing, which makes the two train missions you are responsible for tonight all the more important.
In the first half of the night, when enemy bombardment is at its highest, you'll start the first train, loaded with a cannon called "Katyusha", and while destroying one and a half is not the key, it's the key to successfully evading the bombardment of enemy planes.
And in the second half of the night, when the bombardment of enemy planes has decreased, you will start the second train, in which five carriages are filled with shells of "Katyusha" in exchange for 3 taels **, the value of which is equal to the sum of the first five years of investment in the economic construction of our country.
Therefore, you must do everything possible to drive safely, and this is not only the great trust of the party and the people of the motherland, but also your personal responsibility. Head Deng stood up, held Fan Yong's hand tightly, and said to him with confidence: "The party and the people of the motherland believe that you will be able to successfully complete the task!" ”
Fan Yong's expression was serious, but in the excitement, he expressed his determination and confidence word by word. As he said goodbye, Head Deng clasped Fan Yong's hand again and looked forward to his good news.
After Fan Yong returned from Pyongyang Station, he immediately led three assistants, including Liang Yuxiang and Zhou Rongxin, to the north end of the Dadong River Bridge, and at 18:25 ushered in the first train loaded with shells, the No. 03 military train.
Fan Yong sat on the bridge full of energy, and when he was driving the train through the Datong River Bridge, he was suddenly targeted by the enemy plane "Black Widow", and rows of shells hit the line. Every four or five kilometers, enemy planes would strafe and drop bombs, setting up numerous fire nets and "checkpoints" on the path of the No. 03 Army Column.
In the face of such a treacherous environment, Fan Yong had already put life and death at risk, he advanced at full speed, relying on the experience of driving the military column twice in China under enemy fire, combined with the foreign mountain environment, came up with a clever plan, and told his assistants to act according to the plan.
Two assistants took turns to quickly throw coal into the boiler, and one assistant turned on the air feeder, and then the locomotive emitted billowing black smoke, forming a black smoke curtain between two mountains and a ditch, covering the sky over the No. 03 military train.
Fan Yong skillfully used the terrain and successfully made the No. 03 Army Column gallop forward under the fire of enemy aircraft through the trick of "emitting black smoke". Although several bullets penetrated the driver's cab on the way, causing his assistant Liang Yuxiang's little finger to be broken, he stubbornly gritted his teeth and continued to throw coal.
In the end, the No. 03 military train successfully got rid of the attack of enemy planes and arrived at the Shaliyuan station, which is 40 kilometers away from the 38th line, at 22:20. Fan Yong immediately rushed to Pyongyang, and the driver of the car told him that there were still 10 minutes before the next train, but the driver firmly said that he could make it.
All kinds of vehicles along the way avoided one after another, and the jeep sped like a speed, and finally succeeded in reaching its destination within the allotted time.
Fan Yong and his teammates were approaching the Black Bridge Station when they suddenly encountered a water tank**, causing the jeep to tip over and injuring all four people on board. Fortunately, they borrowed a Soviet-style Gis car and, in a fit of nervousness and fright, rushed to the Pyongyang station at 23:55.
Although Fan Yong was wounded and hungry, he still bit his bread, boarded the No. 05 military column, and crossed the Datong River Bridge at O:20. During the rapid movement of the train, there were no flares in the sky, and there was no strafing from enemy aircraft, which surprised Fan Yong.
However, he did not know that the headquarters of the Volunteer Army had sent dozens of fighters to form a "blockade line" over the Chao* Strait to block enemy planes, thus winning a temporary silence.
Although an enemy plane drilled through the air "blockade line" and fired wildly at Army Train No. 05, the bullets all hit the three carriages at the rear of the train, and the five "Katyusha" shells that were close to the locomotive were unharmed.
Under the protection of the anti-aircraft guns of the Volunteer Army, the No. 05 Army Column successfully arrived at Xingmu Station at 5:20 in the morning, and Fan Yong lived up to the trust of the party and the people. At 21 o'clock in the evening of the same day, in the conference room of the Peony Peak Cave, Fan Yong was cordially received by Yang Yong, deputy commander of the Chinese People's Volunteers, Gan Siqi, director of the General Political Department, and Park Chung-ae, the Supreme People's Committee of the DPRK.
At the ceremony, after Director Gan Siqi introduced Fan Yong's successful completion of major military tasks with great joy, he announced the decision on behalf of the General Headquarters of the Chinese People's Volunteers and the Supreme People's Committee of the DPRK to confer a first-class meritorious service on Fan Yongrong and to award the Order of the National Flag of the People's Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK) of the first class.
Chairman Park Chung-ae, who was smiling, personally put the glittering first-class national flag medal on Fan Yong's chest, and the audience immediately burst into thunderous applause.