Chinanews.com, Beijing, July 27th. Title: Five historical moments of the Army's "Red Company": the epitome of the growth of the People's Army from weak to strong
Author Li Chun Wang Changjie
The "Red Company", a brigade of the 83rd Group Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, was a Red Army company born in the Autumn Harvest Uprising of 1927.
From the gunpowder in the war years, the Southern and Northern Wars, to the international peacekeeping and the National Day military parade in peacetime, the historical moments of this company over 90 years of ups and downs have condensed the step-by-step growth of the People's Army from weak to strong.
Founding of the first "Birthplace"
After the failure of the Autumn Harvest Uprising, the rest of the rebel army was transferred to Sanwan Village, Yongxin County, Jiangxi Province, where morale was low and the organization was in chaos.
On October 15, 1927, in the attic of the Ye Family Ancestral Hall, Mao Zedong presided over a party-entry ceremony for 6 people including Lai Yi, the first battalion, second company and first squad leader of the Workers’ and Peasants Revolutionary Army.
On this basis, Mao Zedong created the first company party branch of the People's Army in the company, setting a precedent for "building the branch on the company."
This is one of the important contents of the "Three Bays Reorganization" in the history of the People's Army. This historical event is also regarded as an important beginning for the establishment of a new People's Army.
Mao Zedong once wrote that the Red Army fought hard and did not disintegrate. "The branch was built on the company" is an important reason.
The second company of the year was the predecessor of today's "Red First Company".
Since its establishment, the company has participated in more than 300 battles and has been awarded honorary titles 5 times. It has won 4 first-class merits, 10 second-class merits, and 14 third-class merits.
For today's Chinese army, this 94-year-old grassroots company is known as "the place where the soul of the army originated."
The night before the move
The night was deep, and the room of Zhou Guangkui, the then "Red Company" company commander, was still lit in the room. The company's defensive deployment plan had just been finalized, and it was time for investigation.
Pushing open the door, the soldiers who had been training for a day were all asleep, but Zhou Guangkui's mood was not as peaceful as the night.
With the deepening of the reform of the size and structure of the army and the organization of forces, the original 18 army groups of the People's Liberation Army have been reorganized into 13 army groups. Many units have undergone reorganization, transfer to subordinates, and defense.
"Red One Company" is also among them.
In July 2017, the troops moved from the hinterland of the Central Plains to Guanzhong, hundreds of kilometers away.
In the middle of the night before the shift, Zhou Guangkui walked into the company honor room.
It is about to "move" soon, and all the pennants, awards, and physical objects have been packed in boxes.
The company commander thought to himself that none of the "heirlooms" of the company could be lost.
Prior to this, the officers and soldiers of the "Red Company" had already begun to study the new training and assessment syllabus and to study new content.
How to quickly adapt to new changes in job functions?
The officers and soldiers of the whole company took the lead in training physical fitness and skills, and responded with sweat and hard work.
Actual combat training bid farewell to "nanny"
"A small group of'enemies' are found in the front, and one group will be wiped out!" The commander gave an order, and the first combat team squatted forward, swiftly fired out its guns, and the soldiers successfully dealt with the "enemy situation."
What is different from the past is that there is no longer a "safety officer" position for this live ammunition assessment.
The "nanny" was bid farewell to the training field, all emergencies that occurred were handled by the team members themselves, and all factors were in line with the battlefield.
According to the current company commander Hu Guanlei, there have been three changes in the training of the "Red Company" in recent years.
The first is "stricter", the training standards are always higher than the syllabus requirements.
Taking the shooting course as an example, the company pursues not only the pass rate, but also the shooting rate.
The second is "more practical," focusing more on dangerous subjects such as driving with lights off at night and shooting live ammunition to further improve the training performance of officers and soldiers.
"The third change is that the training is more lively." Hu Guanlei said that the officers and soldiers of the "Red Company" must not only be executors, but also thinkers.
The officers and soldiers took the initiative to study training and tactics. From the company’s "research room", many innovative achievements such as laser-assisted sighting system and anti-UAV play were born.
"The muzzle is less than 10 cm from my head"
In 2017, Chen Bin was participating in a UN peacekeeping operation overseas with his comrades in the "Red Company".
One day at around 10 o'clock in the evening, a gunshot came from the northeast of post 13, and the duty room ordered the patrol team to investigate the situation.
When he was about to arrive at the scene of the incident, Chen Bin, who was a heavy machine gunner, saw a few moving shadows, and the convoy immediately stopped to strengthen its guard.
At this moment, a group of unidentified armed men rushed out from the roadside and approached the Chinese peacekeepers with guns.
Chen Bin only remembered that the sound of the other party pulling the gun was particularly crisp in the night sky, "The air is solidified".
The monitor brought Chen Bin, who could speak English, to negotiate.
"Just as we were walking in front of them, they suddenly raised their guns and pointed them at us, and the entire team also raised their guns, forming a confrontation with them," Chen Bin said, "I remember very clearly. Their muzzle was away from my head. Less than 10 centimeters."
After negotiations, the situation was resolved peacefully.
On the way back to the camp, the squad leader patted Chen Bin on the shoulder and said, "Good job."
Recalling this, Chen Bin said that at that time, all members of the team did not step back, and their backs were straighter.
"Loyalty means setting aside life and death."
79 seconds in front of Tiananmen Square
In the military parade celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Hu Changchun passed the Tiananmen Square carrying the "Red Company" flag of "Hundred Victory".
"79 seconds may be short for others, but for me, it has become an eternal moment."
But at the beginning of the training camp, Hu Changchun didn't feel so relaxed.
As long as the flag bearer fails in the three assessments, he will be withdrawn from the team.
"It became tense at once, because everyone was afraid of being eliminated."
The daily training runs from 5:00 in the morning to 11:30 in the evening. It is mainly in a military posture, requiring the team members to "do not shake for three hours, and do not fall for four hours."
Under high-intensity training, Hu Changchun's knees began to swell, and the combat boots on his feet changed from 41 to 44 yards.
Every time he eats, he always looks at the "Hundred Victory" battle flag hanging in the cafeteria.
After its formation in 1927, the company participated in five anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaigns, the Long March, etc., and repeatedly made remarkable achievements in the battle.
In a battle at the end of 1940, the company repelled more than a hundred attacks from the enemy and defended the safe transfer of the division.
In November 1942, the third division of the New Fourth Army awarded the company the title of "Victory in 100 Battles".
This honor shines again on October 1, 2019.
Before the start of the military parade, Hu Changchun tried to stay calm.
When the Zhanqi team took the lead in passing Tiananmen Square, he still couldn't restrain his excitement.
"At that moment, I couldn't help but shed tears." (End)