Chapter 32 The 359th Brigade created a miracle

Production using military and civilian cadres is not new. In 1936, Edgar Snow reported on a "Saturday Stormtrooper" method in which "every Soviet cadre, Red partisan, Red Guard, women's organization, and nearby Red Army unit, was mobilized for at least A day's work". However, as a production movement in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, it was first started by the army system.At first, part of the left-behind corps of the Eighth Route Army under the leadership of Xiao Jinguang engaged in agricultural and sideline production, such as growing vegetables, raising pigs, collecting firewood, and making shoes and socks after fighting, which improved the lives of the troops.Mao Zedong affirmed this approach and asked to extend it to all troops of the Left Behind Corps, allowing soldiers to hold guns in one hand and hoes in the other.

In the mass production movement, the 359th Brigade was a banner and created the famous "Nanniwan Spirit". In the autumn of 1939, the 359th Brigade was ordered to return to the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region from the front line in Northwest Shanxi to undertake the glorious mission of defending the Party Central Committee and the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region. In March 1941, the 359th Brigade was ordered to enter Nanniwan to carry out mass production campaigns. Nanniwan is a mountain and river located 90 li southeast of Yan'an, with a radius of about 100 square kilometers, and is the south gate of Yan'an.It used to be a densely populated place, but due to the turmoil of the past century, the area has become a wilderness with few people, overgrown with bushes, thorns, and birds and beasts.

In the winter of 1940, Zhu De put forward the idea that the troops should garrison land, and instructed the troops to reclaim wasteland and garrison land without affecting combat and training.He visited Nanniwan many times, and believed that stationing troops there had strategic value, and the soil there was fertile, suitable for reclaiming wasteland and farming, so he determined it as a land for reclamation of troops.Under the leadership of brigade commander Wang Zhen, the 359th brigade marched into Nanniwan in four batches under the slogan "One hoe and one gun, self-sufficient production and defense of the Party Central Committee".

In March and April in northern Shaanxi, the glaciers have just thawed, and the north wind blowing from beyond the Great Wall is still very chilly, while Nanniwan has nothing but wild grass everywhere and dense forests.But the heroes of the 359th Brigade are not afraid at all, they have plenty of ways: Without a house to live in, they built "tents" with branches and thatch, and dug out cave dwellings. Without food to eat, they traveled hundreds of miles to Yanchuan and Yanchang to carry food; the daily ration of half a catty was not enough to eat, so they sent people to hunt, dig wild vegetables and pick wild fruits to satisfy their hunger.

Lacking production tools, they found scrap iron and steel everywhere, forged iron and made tools by themselves. If they don't know how to farm, they humbly ask the old farmers for advice... The 359th Brigade formulated a plan to train while producing, to produce during busy farming seasons and to train troops during slack seasons. slogan.From the brigade commander down to the orderly and cooks, all participate in production. Together with Xiong Du Linsen, brigade commander Wang Zhen took the lead in opening up wasteland, and he had bleeding blisters with his hands. The soldiers advised him to rest. Like his men, calloused from labor."

Chen Zongyao, head of the 718th Regiment, and Zuo Qi, political commissar, were praised by Mao Zedong for their outstanding performance.Mao Zedong once said affectionately in a meeting report: "Comrade Chen Zongyao is the head of the Eighth Route Army. He led the whole regiment to walk hundreds of miles to carry rice. He didn't ride a horse. He carried rice by himself, and the horse also carried rice. The commanders and fighters of the regiment were moved by his spirit. Everyone was full of energy. No one deserted. Comrade Zuo Qi was the political commissar of the regiment. He lost one hand in the war. They were indescribably moved.”

This is indeed unthinkable for an army other than the Communist Party.The 359th Brigade achieved the success of the Nanniwan reclamation and even the entire large-scale production movement by relying on this spirit of unity, self-reliance, and hard work. Driven by the cadres, the officers and soldiers of the 359th Brigade were full of enthusiasm. Nanniwan, a deserted river that had been silent for a long time, was full of the sound of knives, axes, and shoveling, as well as the cheerful laughter and heroic singing of the soldiers.No one complained, and no one called tired. The army also carried out labor competitions, competitions between squads and squads, platoons and platoons, companies and companies, and battalions and battalions. The success of the moment was reported frequently, which accelerated the progress of land reclamation.

At the beginning, the 175 labor heroes in Chen Zongyao's regiment each reclaimed more than 1 mu of land every day, far exceeding the achievement of the whole brigade in reclaiming 5 points of land.One of the labor heroes named Li Wei created a record of 367 acres of land reclamation in one day.After the experience of these comrades was promoted, the average person in the whole brigade reclaimed 2 acres of wasteland per day, which is equivalent to 4 times the amount of reclaimed wasteland by the local people.And Liu Shunqing, another labor hero of the 719th Regiment, set a new record by reclaiming 411 mu of land in one day.

Where there is sowing, there is reaping.The officers and soldiers of the whole brigade covered 1.12 million mu where the hoe was waving and the soil was turned over, and the food self-sufficiency was 1 month, and the self-sufficiency of funds was 78%. ; In 1943, more than 100,000 mu of wasteland was opened up, and the goal of "no need for a grain of rice, an inch of cloth, or a penny for the government" was achieved, and all food and funds were self-sufficient; With more than one mu, it has reached "more than one cultivated". Not only is it self-sufficient in food and funds, but it also turned over 10,000 shi of public grain to the border region government.The food of the soldiers has also been greatly improved. In 1942, each person ate 2 catties of meat per month, an average of 5 cents of oil and 5 cents of salt per person per day, and a catty and a half of vegetables. They could eat chicken, duck, rice, and white noodles for dinner.Cadres and soldiers lived in flat and spacious cave dwellings, put on warm winter clothes, and covered them with thick military quilts.

Through the efforts of officers and soldiers, in the past four years, they have cultivated more than 350,000 mu of land in Nanniwan, harvested grain and rocks, dug 1,000 holes in caves, built more than 600 bungalows, and purchased more than 10,000 pieces of furniture and farm tools. The former barren hills and wild grass bays have been turned into "northern Shaanxi and Jiangnan" where "crops are everywhere, cattle and sheep are everywhere". In Nanniwan, the 359th Brigade not only engaged in agricultural production, reclaimed dry land and paddy fields, but also carried out a variety of operations, and comprehensively developed agriculture, animal husbandry, handicrafts, commerce, industry, and transportation.

Pig raising, in 1942 the whole brigade raised more than 2,000 pigs. Industry, established textile factories, shoe factories, soap factories, paper mills, and had its own salt wells, charcoal wells, mills, and oil mills.The Daguang Textile Factory run by the Ministry of Brigade Supply can weave more than 200 varieties of shiny cloth, twill cloth and gabardine, which are exported to Jiaxian, Qingjian, Wubao and other places.The transportation team established was mainly engaged in the work of transporting salt. People say that there are three treasures in northern Shaanxi: "salt, fur, and sweet licorice." As the Japanese army occupied the coastal provinces, the source of sea salt was cut off, and the demand for salt in the Central Plains and Northwest provinces increased.The 359th Brigade used 600 mules and horses to form a salt transport team.According to statistics, the brigade's income from industry, commerce, transportation, and handicrafts covered 933% of the troops' needs. In the mass production movement, the 359th Brigade can be regarded as a model of troop production. In July 1942, Commander-in-Chief Zhu De visited Nanniwan and saw that Nanniwan had a completely new look. The mountains and plains were full of green crops, and the new kilns were like high-rise buildings. He wrote a poem and praised it excitedly: When I arrived here at the beginning of last year, there were weeds all over the place, no place to camp at night, and it was hard to find a broken kiln. Today, a new market is opened, the bridal chambers are all over the mountainside, Jiahe is planted in Pingchuan, and new rice is planted in paddy fields. Tuntian is only successful, and the soldiers have enough food and clothing. The farm is rich in cattle and sheep fat, and Malan makes paper. Taking a rest in Taobao Valley, the clear stream is in my arms. ... The smoked wind is blowing, it looks like Jiangnan. In September 1943, when the land in Nanniwan was golden and the harvest was in sight, Mao Zedong and Ren Bishi came to inspect it. Mao Zedong walked into the whitewashed cave dwelling, saw that the tables, stools and all the furniture were made by the soldiers themselves, and said with a smile: "You spend nothing here, comrades create everything with their own hands." Looking at the energetic soldiers, Mao Zedong said humorously: "The Kuomintang will trap us and starve us to death. The more sleepy they are, the fatter you will be. Look, comrades who are so sleepy have even eliminated the willow disease." Then, with a big wave of his hand, he concluded: "Difficulties are not unconquerable monsters. If you conquer them with your hands, they will bow their heads. Everyone is self-reliant, and they have everything they need to eat, wear, and use. At present, we have no foreign aid. Assuming there is foreign aid in the future, we still have to focus on self-reliance.” "Self-reliance" is the main theme of the mass production movement. Relying on this self-reliance, the Chinese Communist Party broke through the enemy's blockade and overcame economic difficulties. Everyone affirmed the achievements of the 359th Brigade.Mao Zedong personally wrote an inscription for Wang Zhen: "Have a creative spirit." The 359th Brigade was hailed by the Northwest Bureau as "the vanguard of economic development", and its experience was promoted.The song "Nanniwan" that has been sung to this day was written by He Jingzhi and composed by Ma Ke in 1943. It truly records and praises the spirit of Nanniwan at that time. At the same time as the 359th Brigade was doing reclamation in Nanniwan, the Fourth Central Security Regiment was working in Huaishuzhuang, Fu County, reclaiming 230,000 mu of land in two years and harvesting more than 300,000 kilograms of grain.The soldier Du Linsen actually created the highest record of land reclamation of 6 acres and 3 points in one day, and became the famous "angry cow". The 385th Brigade stationed in Longdong, under the leadership of the brigade commander Wang Weizhou, drove into the Da and Xiaofengchuan with deep ditches and dense forests to burn wasteland and create land.Jackals, tigers and leopards often appeared in the forest, and the soldiers combined hunting with shooting practice.Some warriors were very clever, and tied the hunted rabbits to the tree together with the grenade. When the leopard ate the rabbit, the grenade exploded, killing the leopard.Once, they brought back to Yan'an an extra-large leopard they had hunted and gave it to Commander-in-Chief Zhu. In addition, the production in Baozichuan, Qingquan Town and other military areas is also in full swing....