Chapter 46 46. ​​"The Youngest Red Army"

On November 2, 1935, when He Long led the Second and Sixth Red Army Corps to win several battles in Xiangxi Company, Wang Zhen from the rear sent him a special telegram: "Congratulations to Vice Chairman for winning a mortar attack Cannon!" He Long was happy when he saw it, and he knew that the child was born. He Long hurriedly said to the child's uncle Xiao Ke: "Quickly, give me a name, you are a cultural person in the Red Army!" Call Jiesheng!" The birth of He Jiesheng brought endless joy to He Long, who was in his 40s. Since then, as long as he returned to the rear, he hugged Xiao Jiesheng and refused to let go, and he was very affectionate to his daughter.He Jiesheng was He Long's third child, and He Long's other two children both died in infancy.

He Long's first child, He Jinlian, was born to He Long's first wife. In the spring of 1910, 14-year-old He Long married Xu Yuegu, the daughter of a poor peasant who was a few years older than him, at the order of his parents and according to a matchmaker.Later, Xu Yuegu gave birth to her daughter He Jinlian, but within a few years, Xu Yuegu died of illness in Nanchang.After the Nanchang Uprising, He Long went to western Hunan and Hubei to start a revolution, and his daughter He Jinlian was sent to Shanghai.In order to avoid the enemy's capture, He Jinlian had to often hide in Tibet with the adults.She was originally frail and sickly, and her condition worsened, and she died without timely treatment.Later, during the Long March, He Long said to his comrades in arms: "Our He family is still buried in Shanghai!" He took out a pair of shoe buckles from his pocket and showed them to everyone: "Look, this is what Jinlian made for me." Buckles on cloth shoes!"

He Long's second child, nicknamed Hong Hong, was born to He Long's second wife, Jian Xianren.Jian Xianren was born in a merchant family in Cili County, Hunan Province, and was the second child.During the Great Revolution, she and her elder brother Jian Xianwei both studied at Duize Middle School in Changsha, and joined the Communist Party successively.After the failure of the Great Revolution, the siblings returned to Xiangxi and joined the Red Army led by He Long.Jian Xianren was the first female Red Army soldier in western Hunan.She first worked as a cultural teacher in the Red Army, teaching everyone how to read and write. He Long also often went to listen to her classes, and affectionately called her "Mr. Ren". In September 1929, He Long and Jian Xianren married. In the spring of 1930, He Long was ordered to lead the Fourth Red Army to leave Xiangxi for the Eastern Expedition. Jian Xianren was left in Xiangxi because he was pregnant.After the birth of his daughter Honghong, Jian Xianren's bodyguards rebelled, and He Long sent someone to take them back to the army in time. In the spring of 1931, due to the inconvenience of traveling with the army, the mother and daughter had to leave the army again.Not long after, Hong Hong became seriously ill. With no medical treatment and no medicine, Hong Hong, who was only 1 year old, died in Jian Xianren's arms.

After He Jiesheng was born, the Kuomintang concentrated more than 130 regiments of troops to launch a new "encirclement and suppression" campaign against the Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan and Guizhou base areas. The situation was very grim.In order to get rid of the enemy's siege and preserve their vitality, the Red Second and Sixth Army decided to implement a strategic shift.He Long worried that the newborn He Jiesheng would not be able to withstand the long distance, so at first he wanted to foster her with a relative.He carried Jian Xianren on his back, took the child with him, and rode for dozens of miles, only to find that the door of the relative's house was locked and his whereabouts disappeared.He Long had no choice but to come back, and said to Jian Xianren: "Let's take Xiao Jiesheng away, it's just a long-distance expedition, and taking the little baby with you, it's hard for you."

On November 19, 1935, the Red Second and Sixth Army Corps set off from Liujiaping and Ruitapu in Sangzhi County, Hunan Province, and began the Long March.The Red Second and Sixth Army Corps were later renamed the Red Second Front Army, so the Long March of the Red Second Front Army should be counted from this time.Jian Xianren embarked on a long journey with 18-day-old He Jiesheng in his arms.He Jiesheng was the youngest member of this expeditionary army, and was called "the youngest Red Army" by everyone. The next day, the Second Red Army and the Sixth Army broke through the enemy's first line of defense - the Lishui blockade.Jian Xianren's mother and daughter were incorporated into the wounded team, and the last group crossed the Lishui River.When the boat reached the middle of the river, several enemy planes flew over and bombed and strafed the river.Jian Xianren hugged He Jiesheng tightly, desperately maintaining his balance.With everyone's joint efforts, the boat finally sailed safely to the other side. You supported me and I helped you walked across the beach and arrived at the campsite.Jian Xianren, who has not eaten, drank or rested for two days and one night, hastened to take care of the child.After settling down for a while, the departure horn sounded again.

Afterwards, the Second and Sixth Army Corps of the Red Army used the method of attacking the east and attacking the west, and drove straight into the central part of Hunan, and then turned around and advanced towards the eastern part of Guizhou with a feint shot.Jian Xianren led He Jiesheng to follow the large army and continued on the long journey. Once, the Second and Sixth Army Corps of the Red Army passed under the enemy's nose. In order to prevent Xiao Jiesheng from crying and exposing the target, Jian Xianren tied Xiao Jiesheng tightly to his chest with a cloth belt, and then wrapped Xiao Jiesheng with clothes s head.After passing the blockade, Jian Xianren opened the clothes covering it, only to find that Xiao Jiesheng's face was suffocated like a purple eggplant, and he almost suffocated.

Another time, Jian Xianren fell ill and couldn't hold his daughter anymore, so he had to hand Xiao Jiesheng to He Long.He Long wrapped his daughter in his arms with a cloth belt, and commanded the troops to fight against the blocking enemies on horseback, leaping on horses and raising guns all the way, charging into battle.When did Xiao Jiesheng pop out from his embrace, but He Long didn't realize it.After the battle, it was discovered that his daughter was missing. He Long, who was always calm, panicked and hurried to look for her along the way.On the way, He Long found a group of wounded and sick resting on the side of the road. He asked, "Has any of you seen my child? It's a baby! A girl!" Only then did the wounded and sick know that they had picked up the baby in the grass. The baby girl was actually He Long's daughter.They immediately hugged Xiao Jiesheng to He Long happily.Holding his lost and found daughter, He Long, an upright man, couldn't help but burst into tears.

The young He Jiesheng fell ill due to the torment, and had a high fever for several days. He leaned on his mother's back and closed his eyes tightly, neither crying nor fussing.Seeing this, Jian Xianren was heartbroken, fearing that Xiao Jiesheng would repeat the fate of her sister, Hong Hong, and hurriedly carried her to the doctor.There was a lack of medical care and medicine during the Long March. The doctor touched Xiao Jiesheng's hot forehead and said: "There is only one way to reduce the fever. Add an egg white, add a pinch of stove heart soil, mix them together and apply them on the child's navel. Try it." try it.The soldiers in the security class went to several stores to buy two eggs.Jian Xianren was so eager to save his daughter that he used up both eggs at once.When the stove core soil was removed from the child's navel, it was found that the high temperature in He Jiesheng's body had scorched the stove core soil.But this local method is really effective, Xiao Jiesheng's high fever subsided, and his spirit is getting better day by day.

Along the way, everyone took turns carrying and holding Xiao Jiesheng. This newborn baby brought a lot of joy to everyone, and everyone liked to tease this little one.There was a special prisoner in the Red Second and Sixth Army Corps, a foreign missionary named Bo Fuli, who also liked this cute little girl very much.Bo Fuli later recalled in the book: "General He Long hugged the child, so kind, so kind, just like the child's mother, full of tenderness." When He Long learned that Bo Fuli could knit a sweater, he asked him to make a sweater for Xiao Jiesheng. A sweater, Bo Fuli readily agreed.He recalled: "He Long asked the messenger to send me a ball of good-quality wool with a German trademark on it. I think this may be a loot stolen from the church resident. The wool has various colors. There are black, green, purple, brown, and white colors. They also gave a small Chinese-style windbreaker as a reference, and I designed some styles myself and matched it with various colors.” Bo Fuli worked hard overnight knitting, but after finishing knitting the little sweater, he fell ill.

This foreign missionary named Bo Fuli was not a member of the Second and Sixth Red Army, according to the famous American writer Harrison?According to Salisbury, he was "an outsider in the Long March".However, his 18-month life experience in the Second and Sixth Army Corps of the Red Army added a lot of color to his life, and Bo Fuli became a legendary figure in the West. Bo Fuli's English name is Rudolph?Busart, he is a Swiss born in England. In the early 1920s, when he was in his 20s, he was sent by the Church of England to China to preach in Zunyi, Zhenyuan, and Huangping, Guizhou. "Bo Fuli" is his Chinese name, which is based on the allusion of "restraining oneself and returning to ritual".Before the Second Red Army and the Sixth Army joined forces, Bo Fuli and his wife returned to Zhenyuan from Anshun after attending a religious ceremony, when they were caught by soldiers from the Sixth Red Army on the way.The commanders and fighters of the Red Army were very happy to capture these two foreigners. They wanted to take the two "imperialists" as hostages and ask the Kuomintang to redeem them with money to obtain medicines and funds.When Wu Haifeng, the security director of the Sixth Red Army Corps, announced that he wanted a ransom of 100,000 yuan, Bo Fuli shouted desperately: "One hundred thousand? Impossible!" The next day, the Sixth Red Army Corps captured Jiuzhou. Out of humanitarian considerations, the Red Army released Bo Fuli's wife.

Next, the Red Army captured the old city of Huangping County and found a one-square-meter map of Guizhou in a Catholic church.The map was marked in French, but no one in the Red Army understood French.Xiao Ke asked someone to bring Bo Fuli over.Bo Fuli recalled: "When we met, he asked me to translate a French map for him. He asked me to tell him the names of all the roads and villages and towns on the map. He hoped to avoid encountering car roads during the exercise. My conscience was immediately attacked. Questioning. He is only 25 years old, and he is a passionate and energetic leader. A pair of bright big eyes are shining, full of confidence and strength. He is unyielding in the difficult and tortuous journey.” So, under the dim oil lamp , Bo Fuli began to translate for Xiao Ke in blunt Chinese, and Xiao Ke recorded carefully until midnight.Through this incident, they got a new understanding of each other, and the relationship between Bo Fuli and the Red Army improved. During the march, Bo Fuli was impressed by the strict discipline and extraordinary ability of the Red Army.He saw with his own eyes that the soldiers of the Red Army did not take the masses with a needle.Later he said to his friends: "If the peasants knew what the Red Army of the Communist Party was like, no one would run away." Pastor Bo", some even called him "Old Bo".Bo Fuli took the initiative to do things for the Red Army. During the Long March, the Red Army soldiers tried their best to give Bo Fuli special care.When dividing the spoils, he will not forget to give him a large piece of beef.When Bo Fuli's shoes were torn, the Red Army soldiers would take them off and give them to him to wear.When camping at night, he slept on a bed made of straw indoors or on the floor of the temple, while Red Army soldiers usually slept on the ground with only a wooden board under their bodies.Wu Haifeng, the head of the Security Bureau, specially found a mule for Bo Fuli to ride. On April 12, 1936, when the Second and Sixth Red Army Corps approached Kunming, Yunnan, Xiao Ke set up a farewell banquet for Bo Fuli and told him: We have decided to treat different foreigners differently in the future. You are a Swiss citizen. We know that Switzerland is not an imperialist country, has not signed unequal treaties with China, and has no concessions in China, so we decided to let you go.Bo Fuli was both surprised and delighted.Xiao Ke welcomes him to stay in China, and he can run a school, but it is clear that God is not allowed to anesthetize students.Xiao Ke asked Bo Fuli how much he needed for the trip, and Bo Fuli suggested that he needed at least 4 silver dollars. Xiao Ke asked his subordinates to give him 10 silver dollars and told him how to go to Kunming after leaving.Early the next morning, Bo Fuli walked to Fumin County on foot, ending his 18-month life as a Red Army prisoner. After gaining freedom, Bo Fuli immediately started writing his 18-month experience into a book, in which he praised the Red Army for its bravery and strict discipline. In August 1936, when the Second Red Army and the Sixth Red Army were still on the Long March, this book was published by a publishing house in London, England.Due to its popularity with readers, the book was quickly reprinted. In 1986, the famous American writer Harrison?Entrusted by General Shock, Salisbury finally found Bo Fuli in Zalltown, a suburb of Manchester, England. Bo Fuli was already 90 years old.Xiao Ke and Bo Fuli were able to reconnect after 50 years of separation. For many years, Bo Fuli was concerned about one thing: whether the sweater he knitted was worn by He Jiesheng.He never thought that this girl who was born with hardships would grow into a female general of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.