The heavens start from Changjin Lake

Chapter 785 Reclaiming Wasteland

Local people's governments and people's organizations organize condolences and celebrations for local garrison troops and their families, as well as the families of martyrs.

The focus is on praising the military's achievements and discipline, and improving assistance to the military, military families, and martyrs' families.

At the grand military-civilian get-together, not only the government supports the army, but the army also propagandizes about supporting the government and loving the people, and has get-togethers with local residents, agencies, groups, schools, and factories.

Literary groups and literary workers from all over the country have actively prepared short scripts, lyrics, songs, New Year pictures, Spring Festival couplets, etc., set up stalls in towns, and distributed them to the public for free. They have also selected cadres to go to rural areas, factories, and the army to help the masses create. and performance events.

It was a grand occasion.

The whole country celebrates.

Firecrackers and fireworks went off from morning to night without interruption. After the firecrackers went off, the waiting children rushed forward. Xia Yuan looked at all this, as if he was back when he was a child.

Walking along the bustling crowd.

Most people wear the same clothes, black cotton-padded jackets and wide cotton trousers. Black and gray tones are the mainstream in this world. A little girl wearing a red cotton-padded jacket looks very conspicuous.

Xia Yuan has rarely seen such a lively scene since the new era.

He felt very novel, just like Grandma Liu visiting the manor, looking left and right.

Those selling breakfast, candied haws on skewers, and making candies. Everyone was spitting out white mist and smiling on their faces.

Hu Shunchun's 335 regiment did not stop in the town. They had tasks assigned by their superiors.

The elder Liu took the blame and asked: "Instructor, that kid is a good prospect to be a soldier. Why did you give up?"

Hu Shunchun said: "He is the only boy in his family. If I take him away, who will cultivate the land at home?"

After saying that, he sighed a little: "If there are two boys, I will take one away and the other one. It's just him, so forget it."

"Instructor Hu, instructor Hu."

As the troops moved forward, someone suddenly shouted from behind.

"What's going on?" Hu Shunchun turned around, and a soldier carrying a gun ran towards him.

"Go and have a look, there is a child looking for you." The soldier took a breath.

"A child is looking for me!?" Hu Shunchun was startled and followed the soldiers to the back of the team. Sure enough, he saw a familiar face, it was Xia Yuan, surrounded by a group of soldiers.

"Why are you following me? Where's your father?" Hu Shunchun ran over and pulled Xia Yuan aside.

"My father asked me to follow him. He said this is a team that seeks happiness for the people." Xia Yuan looked innocent.

"No, you have to go home," Hu Shunchun said.

"I'm not going back, my father asked me to follow you." Xia Yuan shook his head and sat down on the ground, obviously not planning to leave.

How is it possible to just go back after finally catching up with the troops?

"You." Seeing the team walking away, Hu Shunchun sighed, "You can follow first, but I tell you, you have to endure hardship when you join the army."

"I'm not afraid of hardship." Xia Yuan stood up with a smile on his face.

He has never suffered anything.

Back in the team, Old Liu looked very happy when he saw Xia Yuan: "Why are you still chasing me?"

Xia Yuan said: "I want to be a soldier."

The elder Liu smiled and said: "He has a stubborn temper and a sense of consciousness. Instructor Hu, this guy is a soldier."

Hu Shunchun was helpless, "Then let him follow you first."

Old Liu nodded: "Hey. Brat, how can you endure hardship?"

"Yes, my father said, if you can't suffer a loss, don't follow the army. The army is not a place to enjoy happiness."

Xia Yuan nodded, as if it was a matter of course.

Old Liu took off the big black pot behind him and placed it on Xia Yuan. "Your father is right. Carry this pot first and see how far you can run."

Xia Yuan grabbed both sides of the black pot and tied it with a rope. "I won't stop until you are too tired to run."

The elder Liu said: "I can only tell big words, but that's not enough. I have to show some real skills."

Xia Yuan said nothing.

They had to rush to the train station. The distance was at least forty miles or twenty kilometers, and it would take several hours to walk. Everyone relied on their legs to travel across the country and had long been accustomed to rushing like this.

When Hu Shunchun saw the old man Liu letting Xia Yuan carry the iron pot, he couldn't help but said: "Old man Liu, he is only 16 years old, you let him carry such a big pot."

Xia Yuan tightened the black pan on his body and smiled honestly: "Instructor, it's okay."

From the mouth of the elder Liu, he knew that the team he joined was a training team, which usually trained the skills of the soldiers. The elder Liu was the cooking squad leader of the training team. He was quite old, forty or fifty years old, and was the oldest person to join the army. Yes, I heard from the soldiers in the cooking class that Liu came with the army from the early days of the Anti-Japanese War.

"Then when can I touch a gun?"

"Touch a gun? Wait until later. You first learn how to cook."

"."

This walk lasted more than thirty miles. Old Liu thought that Xia Yuan would cry and complain that he was tired, but he didn't expect that this kid was carrying a big black pot on his back and was walking like a tiger. On the contrary, they didn't The young soldiers are all somewhat powerless.

"Hey, this guy has such good physical strength?"

Old Liu was a little surprised and asked him: "Aren't you tired?"

"I'm not tired, it's just a short journey." Xia Yuan shook his head and asked with a smile: "Squad leader, are you tired?"

"I'm so tired, keep walking." Old Liu frowned, not wanting to admit that he was tired.

The commander in front shouted: "Stop advancing and rest where you are for ten minutes."

Old Liu sat down on the ground and took off his hat, "It's hot enough in winter."

He glanced at Xia Yuan and motioned for him to sit down and rest.

Xia Yuan put down the big black pot and then sat on the ground to rest.

"Where are we going?"

"To reclaim the wasteland."

"what?"

Xia Yuan thought they were going to suppress bandits.

I didn’t expect to go farming.

A force has a mission.

Under the leadership of the Chinese Red Party and the People's Government, in order to strive for a fundamental improvement in the country's financial and economic situation, the army, like the people across the country, has launched a vigorous political, economic, and cultural construction.

Hu Shunchun's unit, which belonged to the 38th Army, except for the 113th Division, was ordered to march north in triumph after the Southern Yunnan Campaign to the Taoyuan area of ​​Nanhu to cooperate with friendly forces in the task of suppressing bandits.

The main force of the army rested and reorganized in the Xinyang area of ​​Nanhe River. At the same time, a production committee was formed and accepted the task of opening up wasteland for production and transporting grain.

This is also the mission of many troops after the founding of New China, in addition to suppressing bandits. Open up wasteland, grow food and make money.

The most fundamental problem is that after the founding of New China, the remaining enemies are still arrogant and sabotage the construction of New China from all aspects.

The most representative of these is the bald head.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year in 1950, Chiang Kai-shek issued a letter to his compatriots: "Although I am in Taiwan, a free country in China, my heart is always with you, and I have never left you for a moment... My compatriots in the free zone and I have been together recently. In the future, I will use actions to save you!"

However, within a few days, Chiang personally ordered that seventeen B-24 bombers took turns bombing over Shanghai in four batches, dropping about seventy heavy bombs.

In an instant, a large number of densely packed houses were submerged in the flames, the sound of shells was deafening, and the miserable cries of children were mixed in.

The largest power plant in Shanghai, the American Yangshupu Power Plant, was completely blown up, causing a power outage throughout Shanghai.

542 innocent civilians died in this bombing, and the fireworks of that Spring Festival will never be seen again.

More than 800 injured people spent this difficult Spring Festival on hospital beds.

Beginning in June 1949, Kuomintang aircraft carried out indiscriminate bombings on Shanghai, causing thousands of civilian casualties.

The bombing before the Spring Festival in 1950 was the most serious loss among the previous bombings in Shanghai.

Second.

Hostile elements, illegal capitalist monopolies, and speculators in large economic cities such as Shanghai firmly believe that rice prices will rise before the Spring Festival. They will hoard rice even if they borrow loan sharks, trying to use old society methods to drive up prices.

They once had a monopoly on food in big cities.

Attempting to economically destroy the newly established New China.

For a time, food shortages broke out in these cities. In order to smash the enemy's conspiracy, the superiors asked the troops to transport the local grain to support the grain market in a timely manner.

This became an urgent "combat" task. Under the call of the Military Commission, the whole army launched a heated competition to transport grain. The grain scattered in the countryside was pulled by horse-drawn carriages, pushed by ferry trolleys, picked up by burdens, and carried on shoulders. They even used military trousers as food bags.

Every effort was made to transport food to stations and water transport terminals to support the economic struggles of people in Shanghai and other cities.

At the same time, in order to reduce the burden on the country, the Military Commission organized troops to open fields and grow grain on large areas of barren land in the Yellow River area, and stipulated the task of each troop member to hand in grain.

All armies have troops involved in the task of reclaiming wasteland and growing food.

The 335th Regiment is no exception.

"Reclaiming wasteland and growing food is to reduce the burden on the country and to provide food for more people. What a glorious task it is."

The elder Liu told Xia Yuan while walking.

Xia Yuan listened, his eyes wandering around the surrounding environment.

The forest is dense, and you can see villages after walking for a short distance. Most of them are thatched houses with mud walls, and there are few brick houses. The people wear gray and black cotton-padded jackets, and their faces are covered with dust.

Passing through the village and entering the endless plain, Xia Yuan used his eagle eyes to see the model-like village in the distance.

In 1950, New China had just been founded, and the people's living conditions were very simple.

The situation in big cities is not bad. In rural areas, unless it is a village close to the mountains, the walls will be made of stone. On the plains, there are mostly thatched houses. The villagers live a simple life and fields can be seen everywhere.

When we came to the towns, thatched houses were rare, but in the towns of bricks and tiles, some houses were erected on scaffolding, and construction was suspended on New Year's Day.

As soon as the troops arrived in the town, they heard lively shouts, firecrackers, and gongs and drums coming from the front.

People from the town waving small colorful flags came rushing over. The fastest runners were children, waving small red flags and running over playfully.

Before anyone could react, peanuts and melon seeds began to be stuffed into their arms, as well as eggs, steamed buns, and pancakes.

Hu Shunchun tried his best to stop him, his voice was hoarse from shouting, but he still couldn't resist the enthusiasm of the people. There were a lot of things stuffed in his arms, and he couldn't pick them up or not.

There were also several female dolls, which made many soldiers blush.

After entering the town, it was only two or three miles to the train station. We all walked for several hours, and it was almost dark before we arrived at the train station. Thousands of people gathered in the square of the train station, and many people were crowded around.

The leader of the 335th Regiment shouted with his loudspeaker that the people were so enthusiastic that they could not resist their enthusiasm, just like a ball of flame.

The regiment leader's voice became hoarse, so he asked the regiment chief of staff to continue shouting.

The cold wind howled, and everyone's heart felt as warm as a fire.

None of them had anything in their hands, more or less.

Xia Yuan's pockets were stuffed with peanuts and melon seeds, and he was holding two white-flour steamed buns and a cooked egg in his hands. His heart was full of warmth.

The people are too simple.

White flour steamed buns. His family still eats steamed buns made of sorghum flour during the Chinese New Year. There was too little white flour and he was reluctant to eat it himself. The old father made steamed buns from the few white flour at home and gave them to the village chief.

Everyone in the village was like this, leaving the few white-flour steamed buns at home to their people's soldiers.

Unable to withstand the enthusiasm of the people, seeing the train coming, the regiment leader quickly called on the soldiers to board the train.

The stuffy jar train has a layer of straw on the ground, which is very different from when it entered the court. This is not a secret mission. When the train passes by the train station, everyone will come down to have a rest.

A company was squeezed into the stuffy jar. After a while, the originally cold stuffy jar compartment became warm.

The train was running smoothly, and everyone was lying on the ground.

Last night, many people were sleeping on the streets and were half asleep due to the cold. Their sleep was not very comfortable.

After a long day of driving during the day, I was so tired that my whole body ached. I got in the car, and soon I heard snoring.

In the past, when we were fighting, we could sleep soundly despite the hail of bullets and the roar of artillery fire. Now that peaceful life has arrived, and besides, the train is the wheel heading towards peace, everyone will naturally sleep more soundly.

Xia Yuan was half asleep and half awake, and he felt the swaying train slowly stop.

The train door opens.

Night falls and the cold wind howls.

Outside the station, there were bright lights, and the hanging red lanterns were particularly festive. The people in the town crowded at the station, as if waiting for their arrival.

As soon as the train stopped, a loud noise was heard.

"Coming, coming, the Jiefangjun soldiers are coming."

"But we've waited for them."

"Quick, quick, get your stuff out."

Many people had not yet stared out from their sleep. They were startled when they saw such a scene, and were so excited by the crowd of people that they suddenly woke up.

Liu bit a piece of hay, his cloudy eyes shining brightly, "Who could have imagined that we could build a new China? Who could have imagined that our team would be so popular."

Hu Shunchun was moved and said: "The weather is more than ten degrees below zero, and the people are braving the cold winter to welcome us, and it's late at night."

Xia Yuan didn't say anything, but he was moved in his heart.

The people support the army in this way.

When they arrived on the battlefield, they did not fear the enemy or death.

(End of this chapter)