Yang Luo looked at Gong Erlen and said softly: "Do you remember a comrade named Chen Baofu?"

Gong Erlen became more and more excited when he heard this name. His thin hands grabbed Yang Luo and became tighter and tighter. "Baofu is still alive? He is still alive."

Yang Luozheng pointed out, "He is still alive and is recuperating in Beijing."

Gong Erlen slowly let go of his hand holding Yang Luo, and suddenly laughed to the sky, and the turbid old tears flowed down his wrinkled face.

"Keep wealth! My brother, my comrade-in-arms, you are still alive, I finally no longer lonely haha." After saying that, there was another burst of laughter, "Hero's division, hero's regiment, for many years, the August 1st Army flag is held in hand, and the merits are written among the mountains and rivers. The oath of the Pingjiang Uprising tells us to hold the gun tightly, the horn on the Long March, and call us to break through the pass again, drive away the Japanese invaders, sweep away the enemy's stubbornness, and the famous legend of resisting U.S. aggressing and aiding Korea, inspiring us to move forward forever." Gong Erlen suddenly roared hoarsely, his singing voice was desolate but full of heroic spirit.

Li Xi finally understood that this old man was a hero of the War of Resistance and an old Red Army soldier. Especially when he heard the desolate and majestic singing of the old man, his tears fell down.

The restaurant owner didn't expect that this old man had such a origin. This made him feel incredible. This is a real hero who has reached this point.

Yang Luo took a deep breath: "Senior! Sit down and talk about the situation at that time, how did you survive."

Gong Erlen sat down slowly, his eyes suddenly became vague, "That battle was really tragic. The comrades around him fell one by one, and in the end I was only me, the company commander and Baofu. Suddenly a shell fell down, and the company commander pressed me under him, but the shell landing point was too close to us. The explosion airflow lifted the three of us more than ten meters away, and the company commander's body was broken. I was very lucky. The company commander protected me and broke his arm, but he fainted at that time. When I woke up, my brain was in a splitting pain and would be unconscious again at any time. I kept reminding myself to bite my tongue from time to time to keep myself awake, because the task was not completed, I could not faint."

His tone of speech was very calm, as if he was telling a story that did not belong to him. And he was always a little confused when he spoke. Yang Luo looked at his mouth carefully and found that his tongue was missing nearly a quarter. No wonder he couldn't speak clearly, it must have been bitten at that time.

Gong Erlen picked up the teapot in front of him: "Boss! Please pour me a glass of water."

The boss hurried to the kitchen to bring a thermos, and filled the teapot that Gong Erlen was holding. Gong Erlen took it up and blew it, then took a sip.

Li Xi's eyes were red and swollen. He couldn't help asking as he finished drinking water, "Uncle! What happened later? Have your mission been completed?"

Gong Erlen continued calmly, "I tried my best to turn over and get up to find the explosive pack. At this time, I found that Baofu was dragging one leg with the explosive pack forward little by little. When I saw him put the explosive pack under the bridge and pulled down the fuse, I knew that the mission had been completed. I could no longer hold on and fell into a coma again, but I heard an explosion vaguely. When I woke up again, I found it in a field hospital. Later I realized that this was a US prisoner of war hospital and I was captured."

Speaking of this, Gong Erlen drank another sip of water. None of Yang Luo and the other two were listening quietly.

"One day, a tall and thin Chinese translator came to me with a big belly American missionary. They said out of pity, love for me, and humanitarian spirit of the United Nations Army, gave me three ways. The first one went to Japan and sent me to study. The second one went to Taiwan and the third one went back to the mainland. Then he also said that the Communist Party hated the most for prisoners, which was more evil than hating us. I said! Even if I cut me down, I had to go home! Many captured comrades said this at that time, but in order to achieve their goals, these imperialists actually wanted to stab the word "anti-Soviet and anti-G" on our arms. I said that unless you cut off my remaining arm, you would kill me. In the end, with the insistence of my comrades and I, they did not dare to do this.

One day in August 1953, the Korean War was declared over, and the Chinese People's Volunteer Army and the United Nations Army signed the Korean Armistice Agreement in Panmunjom, and we finally returned to our country."

Gong Erlen's calm face suddenly became very excited, covering his face and cried bitterly, "I hate it, why didn't I die on the battlefield? After I came back, my life was "confessing guilt and reviewing", "I don't talk about my merits, I only talked about it." During the "Cultural Revolution", I was pulled out by the rebels to criticize and fight. The big-character posters, on the walls and on the ropes were slogans saying that I was a prisoner, but I was not a traitor!"

Yang Luo took out a cigarette and lit it and took a sip, "War may be wrong, but defeat is not wrong. War may be wrong, but the soldier is not wrong. You are a real soldier, a real hero." Yang Luo stood up straight and respected Gong Erlen with solemn military strength.

Gong Erlen stood up and trembled his left hand and returned a greeting. Although it was his left hand, the momentum shocked everyone's heart.

"War has defeated me for the rest of my life, but I remembered the war for the rest of my life. Some things I will never forget."

The restaurant owner said, "Old man, I'll cook some dishes for you, and some of us can drink some good food. As long as this restaurant is still open, if you have no place to eat in the future, I'll pack a meal for three meals." After that, he quickly ran into the kitchen.

Yang Luo helped Gong Erlen to the chair and sat down, "Why did you come out to beg for food? Does the local government ignore it?"

Gong Erlen nodded: "Please!" After saying that, he took out a piece of paper from a broken bag behind him and gave it to Yang Luo.

Yang Luo took it and looked at it. His face was gloomy and terrible. This was a letter of introduction from the village committee. It said that Gong Erlen was demobilized and disabled soldiers in our village. He had no children and had no ability to work. Due to the financial difficulties of the village, he was unable to raise him. He was specially allowed to go out for food. He hoped that the people from all over the country would help. Yang Luo's eyes were painful when the seal of the village committee below. Then Yang Luo tore the letter of introduction to pieces, turned around and kicked a table behind him away.

"My god, the central government has repeatedly ordered that we must ensure the lives of those veterans of the War of Resistance, especially disabled soldiers, but these local officials know that they can get enough money and drive our heroes out to beg for food. They really deserve to be killed."

Yang Luo got angry and made Li Xi at a loss.

Gong Erling hurriedly picked up the letter of introduction to be torn to pieces by Yang Luo, and carefully placed it on the table to splice it, "This is nothing. I am a soldier or an old party member. I can't cause trouble for the organization. Just have a bite of food."

It would be fine if Gong Erlen didn't say this, but Yang Luo was even more angry. He took a deep breath, suppressed his anger and took out his phone and dialed the number. Not long after, Wei Qiangjun's voice came from the receiver.

"Yang Luo! I feel panic when you call me."

Yang Luo had no expression on his face: "Old Wei! You know that Chen Baofu, a member of the "Red Team", is still alive."

Wei Qiangjun was obviously stunned for a moment: "I know! I'm still recuperating in the general hospital, I've visited him."

Yang Luo said: "I will tell you a message. There is another person alive, his name is Gong Erlen."

"What did you say? There is another one who is alive?" Wei Qiangjun's tone was very excited.

"Yes! He is by my side now, with no children and no children. The local government said that he was in financial difficulties and could not be raised, so he drove him out to beg for food and was about to come to me today." Yang Luo's voice was not fluctuating at all, and he was calm and a little terrifying.

Wei Qiangjun heard that there was something wrong with Yang Luo's tone, but as a soldier he also understood. Yang Luo was a soldier who had been on the battlefield and climbed out of the dead. He cared the most about the older generation of anti-Japanese heroes. After all, there were not many older generation Red Army soldiers living now. They lost too much for the country and the people, but now the local government officials do not take them seriously. Anyone who fucked such a thing would be furious.

"You keep the old man by your side and I'll go there tomorrow morning."

The expression on Yang Luo's face eased a little, "You go directly to the Jinzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau tomorrow. We will wait for you there. Don't forget to bring senior Chen Baofu here too."

"I understand." After saying that, Wei Qiangjun hung up the phone.

Yang Luo put away the phone. At this time, the restaurant owner had already made more than a dozen dishes and placed them on the table.

Yang Luo said: "Come on! Senior, I'll treat you to some drink today."

The boss hurriedly said, "No! I'll treat you to this meal today." After that, he ran to the counter, looked for a long time with his butt sticking out, and took out a bottle of Wuliangye. "I have treasured this bottle of Wuliangye for several years, but I didn't expect to take it out today and drink it with such an old hero in the War of Resistance Against Japan."

Gong Erlen drank wine that he had only heard but never seen before, and ate dishes that he had never seen before, and once again burst into tears in his eyes.

Li Xi kept pouring wine and picking food for the old man without saying a word, and Yang Luo and the restaurant owner rarely talked. They felt so nervous when they saw the old hero's current appearance that they didn't know what to say.

Half an hour later, Gong Erlen put down his chopsticks and stood up, "Thank you for your hospitality, it's time for me to leave."

Yang Luo said: "Senior! I have contacted Wei Qiangjun, the commander of the Beijing Military Region. He will come tomorrow and he will arrange your future life."

Gong Erlen shook his head: "I said that I am an old Red Army soldier and an old party member. I can still walk around and beg for food. I must not cause trouble to the organization."

When Yang Luo heard the old man's words, he felt like he was hit hard by a heavy hammer. If anyone in China is the most selfless and has the highest awareness, then he is the older generation of revolutionaries, such an old Red Army soldier.

"Senior! I called me just now, and you probably heard that Comrade Chen Baofu will come too. Don't you want to see your comrades?"

Gong Erlen was silent, "I have been captured and have no face to see him."

Yang Luo held his hands tightly, then slowly let go, looking at Gong Erlen and said, "Senior! You just said that being captured does not mean a traitor, and no one can erase your merits. History will not forget you, the Party and the country will not forget you, and the people will not forget you."

Note: Dear brothers and sisters born in the 1990s, I don’t know if you have watched "Heroic Sons and Daughters", but I know that as a post-70s person, I may have watched that movie more than once. The sentence "fire at me" has affected several generations. And the old man Jiang Qingquan is the hero Wang Cheng in the movie. He is still alive and now lives in Daling Village, Songshan District, Jinzhou City, less than fifteen kilometers away from the city center. The plot I mentioned above and what happened after returning to China was his experience. Fortunately, in 2010, the war reporter who wrote about his deeds found him and quelled him, and finally allowed such a hero to stand up and face that glorious history.
Chapter completed!