This military salute given by the frail old man made these soldiers who had been separated from him for half a century suddenly get wet in their eyes.
Chen Chengwu straightened his body almost subconsciously, used the most standard military posture and military salute, and shouted in the most hoarse voice: "Old senior, Chen Chengwu of the Yunnan Military District of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, salute you!"
Under Chen Chengwu's roar, other soldiers put down their equipment and supplies one after another, stood at attention with red eyes, saluted, and saluted the old man loudly.
This battle moved Li Mu, Liu Xinxin and others who were accompanying him to tears, and two lines of tears welled up in the old man's wrinkled eyes.
At this moment, the old man abandoned the local dialect he had spoken for decades and said in standard Mandarin: "National Revolutionary Army, Air Force, Sixth Brigade, Major Pilot, Sun Xiaozhong, thank you... thank you..."
For the old man, due to many special historical reasons, the identity of the soldier has been buried in his heart for more than half a century.
For more than half a century, he has been longing for the day when society would remember his status as a soldier and recognize his contributions. However, he failed to do so several times during the national population census and the promotion of subsistence allowances. Tell the staff that you were a veteran of the war.
The reason is actually very simple. When the old man participated in the Anti-Japanese War, it was only his responsibility and obligation as a Chinese son. After that, he never felt that he took the most credit, and he never felt that society owed him anything. He has been self-reliant all his life and is unwilling to accept unnecessary gifts from anyone. Even though state workers have repeatedly explained to him that the subsistence allowance is a universal welfare, he is still unwilling to accept it, so he has been hiding his participation in the Anti-Japanese War from everyone. In fact, he has been an ordinary farmer in the mountains for decades.
It wasn't until a few days ago that several young people who claimed to be volunteers went into the mountains and asked for their names in the village. He didn't know that his deeds back then had not been completely forgotten by society, and that someone was still searching for information about the Flying Tigers. , and found his name in the local records of various places at that time, and followed the clues step by step to find Baofu Village.
The volunteers brought him some cakes and gifts, and also gave him two thousand yuan. The old man had never touched a hundred-yuan bill several times in his life. His hands trembled with fear when he saw so much money. He dreamed of being a carpenter from a neighboring village. The thickest coffin I made by myself only cost one thousand yuan.
But the old man didn't ask for the money, because he had already received greater wealth than the money, because there were still people who remembered him, and there were people who knew who he was and what he had done.
The people in Baofu Village have been living with the old man for decades, and they don’t know what the old man does. They just call him Lao Suntou, because his name, Sun Xiaozhong, sounds too bookish, and the people in the mountains can’t understand it and are not used to it. The titles between them are mostly "surname" + "Azi" + brother, sister-in-law, uncle, uncle, such as Brother Zhang and Sister Chen. Compared with the old man's name that has a strong flavor of the Republic of China, the villagers' names are more down-to-earth. many.
In the eyes of the villagers in Baofu Village, the old man is an old bachelor. From the day he entered the mountains, he has been a bachelor. In the words of the village elders, the year when the old man came to the mountains, he was like a defeated rooster and a bereaved dog. He came to Baofu Village in ragged clothes and begged the villagers to give him a place to stay. Although the land in Baofu Village was worthless, closed villages generally did not like outsiders to enter, not to mention that the local dialect the old man spoke at that time was not that standard. , but for some unknown reason, the old village chief at the time agreed to his request and told him that no one lived on the small dirt slope at the east end of the village. If he wanted to stay, he could go and build a thatched house there.
So, the old man silently built a thatched house by himself, and found a mountain field far away in the mountains that no one wanted to cultivate. He gathered two acres of land, planted food, and truly lived in Baofu Village. It took thirty years to settle down.
For more than thirty years, the old man has been the most pitiable old grandson in the village in the eyes of the villagers. People always use him to educate their children: if you don't obey, the old grandson will catch you and eat you; if you don't work hard, you will be like the old grandson in the future. If you can't get a wife like Sun Tou, if you can't find a wife, you will be like Old Sun Tou who has no one to take care of him until the end of his life. When he dies, he doesn't even have a coffin bearer...
When these rumors gradually became popular, the old man was almost demonized in the eyes of the children in the village. Many children screamed and left in fear when they saw him. A few brave children would pick up the dirt bumps nervously and vigorously. Throw it at the old man, and then turn around and run away screaming regardless of whether it hits him or not. Their parents rarely care, because they feel that allowing the old man to stay in the village all these years is already an endless favor from the village. , this little thing is not enough for him to repay the kindness of the villagers and himself.
The old man never cared about or got angry about this. Whether it was the children's fright and teasing, or the villagers' ridicule and sympathy, he was not angry or sad. He always raised his proud head in his heart, even if his body was stooped. Same, it has been decades, not even a single tear has been shed.
He always comforted himself like this. When he flew the plane to fight the Japanese, he was determined and courageous to die every time he took off. As the fighter planes continued to take off and land, his spirit had long been honed into a An iron tree that will never wither or fall. This iron tree has stood for decades and has withstood the attacks of Japanese fighter planes and the baptism of historical catastrophes. What it has become today is not even gnawed by ants.
Such a strong old man, when facing these People's Liberation Army soldiers, he couldn't stop crying like rain in an instant.
Different from the recognition given to him by volunteers a few days ago, these people in military uniforms are all active servicemen. Their recognition makes the old man most gratified and moved.
For many years, the National Army pilot named Sun Xiaozhong, the pilot who once guarded the southwest with the American Flying Tigers, no longer felt excitement and excitement. After his wife and children disappeared, his life was like a pool of stagnant water, without any trace of hope. The waves, the silence were terrifying, and at this moment, the water was completely boiling.
The scene of more than a dozen active-duty soldiers and the elderly saluting each other remained still for several minutes. Fortunately, there were two cameras that never stopped shooting from the moment they entered the mountain. The photographers hoped to capture the hardships in the mountains along the way. It was precisely because of this that they I was lucky enough to capture such an image that was completely free of any deliberate effort and came completely from the heart.
At this time, the old man took the lead to break this stagnant scene, and said with an annoyed expression: "I should invite you to sit in my house, but the house is too small and too shabby, and there is no place to put your feet..."
Chen Chengwu shed tears and said: "Old senior, we won't go in, but they..."
As he spoke, Chen Chengwu turned around, pointed at the two cameramen carrying cameras, as well as Li Mu and Liu Xinxin, and said to the old man: "They are from Yanjing. They want to interview you and report your story. Let more people know your story and that of other war veterans.”
The old man nodded slightly and said, "Several young people who have been here before have told me how to interview you. I will cooperate, but..."
At this point, the old man struggled for a moment and begged: "Can you just record a video for me and broadcast it? I want to find my wife and children. If they are still alive, they may have a chance to see it."
Liu Xinxin hurriedly stepped forward and said to the old man: "Senior, if you have anything to say, you can say it to the camera. We promise to spread the video to the people across the country, not just to see it, but also to let them know it." The tremendous contribution you and other veterans have made to this nation."
The old man hurriedly waved his hands: "We should not be ashamed of ourselves, let alone contribution. They are all within our scope. Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the country. It is not merit, but an obligation!"
The village chief was dumbfounded as he listened. He didn't speak for a long time, but suddenly he said something with a shocked look on his face.
The old man smiled, coughed twice, and replied a few words in a dialect that no one could understand.
The guide told everyone that the old village chief was surprised that Senior Sun could speak Mandarin.
Mandarin is a local name for Mandarin. Many people can understand it but can't speak it. There are also many old people who can't understand it. Almost no local villagers as old as Sun can speak it. Mandarin, so when he started speaking Mandarin, the village chief felt as surprised as if a villager in his own village suddenly spoke a foreign language fluently.
The old man's answer was: "Actually, I am not from this province. I have been speaking Mandarin since I was young. It was only after I came to Yun Province in 37 years that I learned the local dialect little by little."
The village chief was beyond shocked, as if his entire life and outlook had been overturned.
Not having the energy to take care of the dazed and surprised old village chief, Li Mu, Liu Xinxin and the cameraman followed the old man into his thatched house.
After entering, everyone truly realized what hardship is. The impact of reality was countless times more real than the pictures sent back by volunteers. Looking down was the dirt, and looking up was the half-white sky. Yun Province is located on a plateau, and the clouds looked like It's much closer than the plain area. The scenery was originally beautiful, but when you see the white clouds from the roof, it makes people feel sad.
The old man didn't have any decent clothes, only a Chinese tunic suit that he had worn for who knows how many years and had been patched countless times. The old man took off his tattered cotton clothes, took out the clean Chinese tunic suit and put it on, and then sat on the ground he built on the ground. On the bed on the bricks, he took a small iron box from the bedside, took out a medal in the shape of an eagle wing, and then hung it carefully on his chest. Looking down at the medal, the old man sighed and said: "It has been decades, and there is no medal." I wore it again, but I was afraid it would be confiscated when I was criticized, so I hid it in a swallow's nest and took it with me to the mountain. This is the first time I have worn it in so many years."
An accompanying female reporter hurriedly squatted in front of him and asked: "Old senior, can you tell me the origin of this medal?"
The two photographers also knelt on one knee and took pictures of the old man and the medal from a low position. Li Mu was so busy that he pulled Liu Xinxin to sit cross-legged on the ground. In this dilapidated thatched house, the old man should be the tallest one.
There were bubbles of saliva at the corner of the old man's mouth. His lips moved for a long time before he said: "This is the Star Sequence Medal. After the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, the National Government specially set up a medal for the National Air Force pilots. It has ten levels of stars from 1 to 10. According to the rules of the National Government at that time, only pilots who have shot down enemy planes are eligible to be awarded medals. For downing one enemy plane, they will be awarded the one-star medal; for shooting down two enemy planes, they will be awarded the two-star medal..."
Li Mu looked carefully at the medal on the old man's chest. In the middle of a pair of golden eagle wings, there was a star in the middle of a white circle. And above it, on the lower left, and on the lower right, there was a star in a trident layout. A total of Four.
The old man touched his medal and sighed softly: "Actually, I only shot down three Japanese planes. The fourth one was shot down by one of my wingman pilots at the time. He died in that air battle. The commander awarded him the medal posthumously." He received a Tripod Medal, and then gave me the record of the downed fighter plane, as well as another wingman pilot. I changed from three stars to four stars, and the other wingman pilot changed from one star to two stars."
The young female reporter said ashamedly: "I'm sorry, senior, I don't quite understand what you mean by wingman. Can you explain it to us?"
The old man took a deep breath and came back from the heavy thoughts just now. He said: "At that time, the aircraft used formation tactics and were divided into lead aircraft and wingmen. The lead aircraft was the commander of the formation. When taking off for combat, the wingman Unconditionally execute all orders from the lead aircraft. The Nationalist Government’s tactic at that time was one commander and two wingmen, a three-aircraft formation, with me as the lead aircraft and two other wingmen.”
At this point, the old man sighed and said: "Since the death of my wingman pilot, the National Air Force has insufficient number of aircraft, so we have changed it to one commander and one wingman, and three aircraft have become two..."
(End of chapter)