Liu Jian
1July, 936, our Red Fourth Front Army crossed the grassland. After a long journey of half a month, I came to the edge of the flood and drought disaster.
One sunny afternoon, as soon as the comrades of the headquarters and the party school were ready to camp, Commander Zhu arrived.
The commander-in-chief wore a patched gray coarse cloth uniform, sandals, hat and briefcase, leaning on a stick, and both ends of the stick were almost polished. Working day and night for the party's cause, coupled with the hard life on the way to the Long March, the commander-in-chief looks black and thin, and the wrinkles on his forehead are deeper and denser than in the past.
The commander-in-chief stood on a grassy slope, shouting and waving: Comrades, come quickly and tell you a good news.
In an instant, this cry attracted everyone around the grass slope. The commander-in-chief looked at the crowd in front and said excitedly: The first good news is that the Northern Red Army and the Shaanxi Red Army led by Chairman Mao have won great victories! The Commander-in-Chief painted the words "Great Victory" very long and emphasized this point. The crowd boiled, and applause and cheers lasted for a long time. The commander-in-chief was very excited and applauded with everyone. Then, the Commander-in-Chief reported two pieces of good news: We crossed the most difficult water grass and got a yak.
"Yak!" Many people cried in surprise. Where can I find yaks on this barren grassland? Only after the commander-in-chief explained that it was given to us by the vanguard troops. In the past week, we ate two meals a day, and only about two fried noodles were soaked in water for each meal to satisfy our hunger. In a few days, it will be difficult to fry noodles in pairs. Since I have a yak, why not make people happy? "Kill the yak and have a good meal." We all think so. But how can a yak feed hundreds of people?
The commander-in-chief guessed our thoughts at once, and he said with a smile, we can't eat them all at once. The most difficult moment has not yet arrived. Comrades, you should have a long-term plan for your life, not just look at the tip of your nose. I'd rather have a meal than nothing! We have a saying in Sichuan that "there is food, but there is no use for it", but we can't do it!
Listening to the commander-in-chief's words, we suddenly felt a little fever on our faces and a little ashamed inside. Until the most difficult time, everyone was talking about saving this yak.
The commander-in-chief said: My opinion is to kill the yak and leave the cowhide beef as dry food. Stewed wild vegetables with beef bones, with good nutrition, is our best dinner today. Wait a minute, let's pick some wild vegetables, he said, looking around with consulting eyes.
"good!" "agree!" Everyone shouted.
Start digging wild vegetables, and we lesbians will go together. At this time, the commander-in-chief appeared around us again. He introduced the names of all kinds of wild vegetables on the grassland: rhubarb, grey vegetables, wild onions, plantain ... The commander-in-chief can also tell the growth period and taste of all kinds of wild vegetables. While digging wild vegetables according to his instructions, we thought: the commander-in-chief must have eaten a lot of wild vegetables because he is so familiar with them. For the liberation of the people of China, he and the Red Army soldiers went through many hardships ... When I thought of this, I couldn't help looking at the Commander-in-Chief, his face that looked a little old but very resolute, and his hand that only showed the veins stood out and pulled up wild vegetables. My heart could not be calm.
The Commander-in-Chief carefully searched for wild vegetables, at the same time analyzed the current domestic situation for comrades around him, and taught us how to cope with difficulties in party member and withstand the severe test of life. He said, as long as we are United and United, we will be able to walk across the grassland, reach northern Shaanxi and meet Chairman Mao. We will certainly be able to strengthen our own strength, defeat the Japanese devils and Kuomintang reactionaries and win the revolution. Listening to the commander-in-chief's words, I have strength all over, even my stomach is not as hungry as before, and it is especially brisk to pull up wild vegetables.
There are not many wild vegetables on the grass. After searching for an hour, everyone got a small one. We washed the wild vegetables and sent them to the cookhouse squad.
The temporary kitchen is located on the grass, and several marching pots are arranged in zigzag. The blue flame licked the bottom of the pot, which was steaming. Pieces of palm-sized bovine bones were rolled up and pressed with boiling water. A breeze blew, and the smell of beef went straight to the nostrils. Everyone smiled and praised, saying that today's dinner was a sumptuous "sumptuous food".
It's time to eat. People are squatting, sitting and standing. The meadow is really a big and good open-air restaurant. I sat down with a bowl of wild vegetables and saw at a glance that the commander-in-chief was also carrying a bowl of wild vegetables and eating them with relish. He praised the taste of wild vegetables to the soldiers beside him while eating. When the soldiers saw the chief eating wild vegetables with him, they were so approachable and didn't feel at home at all, and they all scrambled to talk to the commander-in-chief
A young guard handed the commander-in-chief a big bowl of rice porridge. The porridge is so thin that people can see it. The commander-in-chief looked at it, frowned and asked, "Where did this come from?" The guard replied, "When the vanguard troops sent yaks, they brought you some rice to cook porridge." The commander-in-chief said gently, "Send it to the patient. I eat beef bones and cook wild vegetables, which is very nutritious. " Say, put the wild vegetables in your mouth. He eats so sweetly that he can't see any taste. To tell the truth, stewed wild vegetables with beef bones smell fragrant, but they don't taste fragrant. Let's say wild onions smell like domestic onions and taste like fresh plums, which makes people feel miserable.
The guards know that the commander-in-chief is uncompromising. Although reluctant, I still have to serve porridge to the patient.
One of the patients is the second company commander of the Party School. He has had a high fever for two days and never touched his teeth. But he would rather endure more suffering than eat the porridge of his beloved chief. Several other patients are like him. The guards couldn't help taking it back, but the commander-in-chief asked him to send it again. Go back and forth several times like this, and the guards don't know who to listen to. What shall we do? The porridge is getting cold. Everyone knew that I knew the Commander-in-Chief very well, so they pushed me to persuade him.
I approached the commander-in-chief and said, "Commander-in-chief, I think you should eat porridge." On the position, you are the head; In terms of age, you are older than us; As far as health is concerned, you are no better than us young people. "I said, pulling my fingers, and I said all the reasons I thought in one breath. The commander-in-chief laughed. He strolled into the crowd and said in a steady and clear tone, "Comrades, porridge is still for patients. They are sick! " The commander-in-chief looked at everyone kindly and said. Everyone is too excited to know what to say.
Just then, Comrade Kang Keqing came. After understanding what happened in front of her, she took the porridge bowl from the guard and said to the commander-in-chief, "Boss, just try it. If you don't eat, they won't eat. " Then pour two or three mouthfuls of porridge into the commander-in-chief's cold bowl with a spoon, and distribute the rest to four patients. After drinking porridge, the commander-in-chief took the bowl and said to the patient, I have already eaten, comrades, eat quickly!
The company commander said to other patients with tears in his eyes, "Eat, or you will disappoint the commander-in-chief." The patients were moved to tears. We look at our beloved commander-in-chief and feel infinite warmth and happiness in our hearts.
The setting sun reflected the grassland more brilliantly. Commander-in-chief's steady body, like a pine tree, is more majestic under the sunshine.