During the Anti-Japanese War, a railway guerrilla group was active in Zaozhuang and Lincheng in southern Shandong. This group of resourceful and brave guerrilla athletes battled wits and courage with the Japanese army on the railway lines that spanned hundreds of miles, creating shocking legends one after another. Most of these stories are associated with the name of their captain, Hong Zhenhai.
Today's "Railway Guerrilla" combines Hong Zhenhai and the later captain Liu Jinshan to create the character of captain Liu Hong. Liu Hong's name is a combination of the surnames of two prototype characters, Hong Zhenhai and Liu Jinshan. Among the hundreds of Chinese surnames, the surname "Liu" is the common surname. The common people are more familiar with the surname "Liu" than the surname "Hong". Therefore, Liu Jinshan's surname is used as the surname of the captain Liu Hong in the novel, and Hong Zhenhai's surname is used as the surname. Liu Hong's name was given to him. Liu Hong's character also combines the personality characteristics of the two previous captains, and tries his best to select their advantages. The two captains' bravery and commanding abilities, Hong Zhenhai's heroic spirit and superb speeding skills, and Liu Jinshan's political stability and maturity are all reflected in Liu Hong. In this way, Liu Hong is portrayed as a legendary and perfect heroic figure in Liu Zhixia's writings. However, since most of Liu Hong's deeds in the novel happened when Hong Zhenhai was the captain of the brigade, in order to highlight this point, the writer broke the convention in the novel and called Liu Hong "Old Hong" instead of "Old Liu".
Hong Zhenhai was born in Dabeitang Village, Teng County, Shandong Province in 1910. In early 1940, the Shandong Railway Team was established, with Hong Zhenhai as captain, and was able to flexibly attack the Japanese invaders.
One evening in the late autumn of 1939, in Zaozhuang, a coal town occupied by the Japanese army, a strong man of medium height walked through a sparsely populated alley and strode to Xiaochenzhuang, west of the train station. This man is Hong Zhenhai. He served as platoon leader for three consecutive terms in the Lunan Anti-Japanese Volunteer Corps. Now, together with platoon leader Wang Zhisheng, he was sent to Zaozhuang by the head of the corps to establish a secret intelligence station. Wang Zhisheng worked as a porter at the "International Foreign Trade Co., Ltd." run by the Japanese. One day, when he was helping the Japanese army load and unload supplies at the station, he found a dozen straw bales of various sizes placed on the platform. He secretly opened them and found that they were Firearms and ammunition. When loading the truck in the afternoon, I consciously placed these straw bales next to the carriage door in a convenient place for moving, and at the same time, marked them on the carriage. He said to Hong Zhenhai: "The headquarters asked us to buy weapons, and now we have weapons!" "Where?" Hong Zhenhai asked excitedly. Wang Zhisheng told Hong Zhenhai about the situation he encountered while loading the train at the station in the afternoon.
“Do it!” Hong Zhenhai said firmly. Hong Zhenhai is a native of Dabeitang Village, Teng County, Shandong Province. He has made a living with his father in Zaozhuang since he was a child. He learned how to fly on the train from his friends near the station. Later, due to the pressure of life, he had no choice but to engage in the "two-line" business (picking coal from trains, etc.). The long-term suffering life has made him develop a bold character of daring to think, dare to do, and act bravely for justice. As long as he is determined to do something, he must do it.
At around 8 p.m., Hong Zhenhai put on a pistol, hung a pair of vice-head pliers on his waist, and took Cao Dequan to the bushes west of Zaozhuang Railway Station to hide. At about 9 p.m., with a long whistle, the train carrying the arms slowly left Zaozhuang Station.
Hong Zhenhai came to the railway line and stared at the speeding train. One, two, three... Seeing that there were only two carriages behind him, he flashed past the front of the last passenger car. When the bow-shaped handle at the rear of the carriage reached him, he jumped forward and grabbed hold of it tightly. Stay, and hang up like a flexible monkey. He clung to the side of the car like a gecko and moved toward the door. The iron ribs on the side of the bicycle are only an inch wide, making it difficult to hold firmly in the hands and unstable on the pedals. Hong Zhenhai's entire body weight is actually concentrated on his ten fingers. The speed of the train continued to increase, and the strong wind it brought swept him like an iron broom. As long as he let go of his hand, he was in danger of being swept under the car or thrown out. He held on with all his strength, moved forward, finally approached the car door, and held the door handle.
He took off the pliers from his waist, cut the thick wire screwed on the iron nose with a click, pushed the car door to the side with force, lowered his body and got in. The straw bale placed at the door of the carriage almost tripped him. He quickly grabbed it with his hand like a machine gun and threw it out of the carriage door. Then he touched the second straw bale and threw it out. When he grabbed the third bundle, he suddenly heard the whistle blowing. Knowing that he was almost at Wanggou Station, he hurriedly lifted off two more straw bales, closed the door, and jumped out of the car like a whirlwind.
In the early winter of 1939, Hong Zhenhai and Wang Zhisheng responded to the request from their superiors to expand their staff and arm themselves at the appropriate time. After some preparations, the Yihe Carbon Factory was quickly established, with Hong Zhenhai as manager. Wang Zhisheng serves as deputy manager. They recruited eight comrades, including Cao Wanqing, Li Yunsheng, Xu Guangtian, Liang Chuande, and Cao Deqing, to "share shares" and actively carried out intelligence gathering work under the cover of burning coke.
In early 1940, Hong Zhenhai believed that the time was ripe for establishing an anti-Japanese armed force, so he discussed with Wang Zhisheng and wrote a report to the Sulu Detachment (adapted from the headquarters of the Volunteer Corps) on the establishment of the Lunan Railway Team, and asked his superiors to send Here comes the leadership backbone. The detachment approved his report and appointed Hong Zhenhai as captain of the railway team, Du Jiwei as political commissar, and Wang Zhisheng as deputy captain.
In the autumn of this year, the Japanese army carried out a raid on the mountainous area in southern Shandong. The superiors instructed the railway guerrillas to be active in order to hold back the enemy and cooperate with the mountain troops in counter-mopping up.
The leaders of the guerrillas, after research, believe that there are many benefits to attacking the enemy's ticket cars: first, there are passengers on the ticket cars, and they come from all over the world, so doing so can expand propaganda; second, there are trucks attached to the back of the ticket cars, which can Guns and other supplies support the troops in the mountains; thirdly, there are only a small number of enemy soldiers escorting the vehicle, which can be dealt with easily, and success is easier. Their specific plan was to select 12 smart and capable team members as the advance team, sneak onto the train first, and keep an eye on the enemy; Hong Zhenhai and Cao Deqing, a team member who had worked as a train driver, were responsible for killing the driver and taking control of the locomotive; Wang Zhisheng led 12 people who would board the train The short-gun team members set up an ambush at a predetermined location in advance, waiting for opportunities to cooperate with the vehicle. The other team members, led by Du Jiwei, ambush near a four-hole bridge to respond.
On Saturday, the train from Lianyungang to Jinan has to pass through Zaozhuang. In the evening, 12 team members dressed up as workers, farmers, businessmen, etc. and got on the train from Nigou, Yicheng, and Zaozhuang stations respectively. When dinner time came, they took out the cigarettes, wine, roast chicken, snacks, etc. they had prepared in advance, took the initiative to approach the Japanese soldiers escorting the car, and invited them to "have dinner." The Japanese soldiers thought that these passengers were enthusiastic about "comforting the emperor", so they were unsuspecting and started eating and drinking together with the railway team members.
When the train reached the west of Zaozhuang Station, Hong Zhenhai and Cao Deqing, who were hiding in the trees beside the road, nimbly jumped onto the front of the train from both sides. Hong Zhenhai killed the Japanese driver with a short gun and tied up the stoker (Chinese). Cao Deqing drove the train and accelerated forward. It was approaching the Four-hole Bridge. The train slowed down and the 12 team members who had already been ambushing here, Under the command of Wang Zhisheng, he jumped onto the train skillfully.
When Hong Zhenhai saw the team members led by Wang Zhisheng coming up, he asked Cao Deqing to sound the whistle suddenly. The team members lurking in each carriage heard the signal, displayed their weapons, and pounced on the enemy like tigers. After a period of hand-to-hand fighting, more than 20 Japanese officers and soldiers in the car were wiped out.
In this battle, more than 80,000 yuan, 8 short guns, 12 long guns, a hand cannon and a machine gun were seized. Except for three short guns left by the railway team, the rest were handed over to the detachment.
The news of the Eighth Route Army's attack on the ticket trains quickly spread to Xuzhou, Jinan and other places on the Jinpu Line. The enemies of Zaozhuang urgently called for help from the officers who had entered the mountainous area for "mopping up". Two days later, the enemy who entered the mountainous area for "mopping up" hastily withdrew some of their troops.
On the south side of Zaozhuang Railway Station, there is an international company established by the Japanese army. The local people call it "Foreign Company". This foreign company is nominally a trading house dealing in Japanese goods, but in fact it is a spy agency engaged in intelligence. To get rid of it is to gouge out the enemy's eyes. In order to get guns, Hong Zhenhai and Wang Zhisheng decided to attack a foreign company and killed or injured three Japanese "shopkeepers" of the foreign company. Since then, the enemy has increased its troops and sentry posts, and put up electric grids on the walls of the courtyard around the foreign bank, preventing Chinese people from entering at will.
In the autumn of 1940, the railway team was ordered to form the Lunan Railway Guerrilla Brigade together with two other railway teams active in the north and south of Lincheng, and Hong Zhenhai was appointed as the team leader. He worked closely with the brigade political commissar Du Jiwei and deputy brigade captain Wang Zhisheng to command the guerrilla athletes to launch a larger-scale struggle against the Japanese and puppet troops.
Lincheng Railway Station, located at the junction of Jinpu Line and Linzao Line, is an important base for the activities of the Japanese army's armored train brigade and railway guard brigade. Two battalions of the puppet Yan Chengtian Regiment and a special agent team are also stationed in Gujing Village near Lincheng. The Japanese and puppet troops successively conducted "sweeps" and "clearances" in the areas where the railway guerrilla brigade operated. The Railway Guerrilla Brigade decided to give the enemy a taste of their power and teach them a lesson.
One night in October, Hong Zhenhai and Du Jiwei led more than 20 members of the puppet patrol team to Lincheng Railway Station. With support from the inside, they successfully crossed the blockade ditch and entered the station. The puppet sentry on the platform thought that his patrol was coming and saluted the "sir" who was walking in front. Hong Zhenhai stabbed the enemy sentry to death with a dagger, and ordered his team members to quickly block the crossing and pay close attention to the enemy's movements in the Japanese barracks and bunkers on the east side of the station.
Wang Zhisheng and Liu Jinshan entered the station building and killed Japanese spy captain Gao Gang. At this time, the explosion of grenades sounded in the Japanese barracks on the east side of the station. This was an action taken by Hong Zhenhai to confuse the enemy in order to coordinate the killing of the enemy at the station. After Wang Zhisheng, Liu Jinshan and others killed the enemies in the station, they picked up the two machine guns and more than 20 rifles in the room and evacuated safely from the station. On the way out of the station, team member Cao Deqing followed the captain's instructions and threw a hat with the number of the puppet army Yan Chengtian regiment on the roadside.
Gaogang was eliminated, and the Japanese army felt like they were mourning their heirs. The next morning, a Japanese major general came from Jinan to conduct an autopsy and survey the scene. They maintained martial law at the station for three days and conducted a comprehensive search. Except for the puppet army hat thrown away by the railway guerrilla brigade, they found no clues. The major general was furious, thinking that it was difficult for outsiders to enter this place, and it must be done internally. So, using the puppet army hat as evidence, they confiscated the guns of the Yan regiment and the puppet police section officers in a rage, and tied the regiment leader Yan Chengtian, deputy commander, chief of staff and others to the telephone poles. They stabbed them alive with bayonets and escorted more than 300 of their puppet soldiers into the mine.
Half a month later, a leader of the Japanese army learned from the propaganda of the Eighth Route Army that Gao Gang was killed by the railway guerrilla brigade. He was so angry that he stamped his feet and cursed "Flying Tigers" (referring to the railway guerrillas). cunning".
Amidst the gunfire of the Japanese army's "mopping up", the winter of 1941 descended on the land of Lunan, where vegetation was withering.
Hong Zhenhai and Du Jiwei, who were organizing the railway guerrilla brigade to rest in Weishan Lake, accepted an urgent task of great importance. On this day, Zhang Guangzhong, commander of the Lunan Military Region, said to them: "This year's autumn 'sweeping' in the mountainous areas by the Japanese was very cruel. A few days ago, the quilt factory in our military region was suddenly severely damaged by the enemy, and most of the winter clothes were robbed by the Japanese." The spinning wheels and looms were also smashed and burned. Now that it is winter, I hope you can get some cloth from the Japanese to meet the urgent need."
In a few days, the railway guerrillas will be launched. The team received information through the internal line that there was a ticket train departing from Qingdao with two carriages containing cloth. It would pass through Shagou Station to continue its southbound transportation that day, but the arrival time was during the day.
The goal of intercepting the train during the day was too large, so Hong Zhenhai asked Wang Zhisheng to discuss with Zhang Yunji, an internal staff member in the depot, to find a way to postpone the train's arrival at Shagou Station until the evening. Zhang Yunji followed the railway guerrilla brigade's intention and rushed to Shengxian County in the northern section of Shagou Station. He put sand in the oil can of the train. Shortly after the train left, the bearing caught fire, and repairs had to be stopped in Lincheng until about 10 o'clock in the evening. Just fixed it.
That night, nearly a thousand people organized and mobilized by Du Jiwei gathered in the Huangzhuang area south of Shagou Station. When the train reached the turning point west of Jizhuang, Zhang Yunji and Cao Deqing unplugged the air duct and latch on time, decoupling the two cloth-loaded carriages, and stopped near Tanghu south of Shagou Station. The enemy was unaware and the train continued to move forward. Before the cloth-loading carriage could stop, Hong Zhenhai and Wang Zhisheng ordered their team members to pry open the door and drop the large bundles of cloth. Du Jiwei led the crowd to follow, and everyone raced against time. Some carried it, some carried it, some carried it, and some pushed it. In an instant, a long cloth transporting dragon formed from Huangzhuang to the Weishan Lake. At this time, hundreds of fishing boats mobilized by the Weishan Lake Brigade and the District Committee were waiting for the cloth to be loaded on the lake.
When the cloth was about to be unloaded, a military vehicle carrying Japanese soldiers suddenly came from the south. Hong Zhenhai immediately ordered his team members to lay in ambush. Before the train could approach, grenades exploded at the front of the train, and then machine guns and rifles fired at the enemy. The driver seemed to be stunned. The train drove faster. When he spotted the cloth carriage in front of him, it was too late to brake in time. The front of the train collided with the cloth-carrying carriage and derailed. The Japanese soldiers on the train were killed and injured, and there was chaos.
The Japanese troops at Shagou Station learned that two carriages containing cloth were lost, and they also surrounded the place where the machine guns were heard.
The sound of gunfire is getting closer and closer, but no one can bear to leave if they can’t finish moving the cloth, because this is the winter cotton clothing for the majority of commanders and soldiers! Coincidentally, at this time, the fog suddenly filled the air, and it was difficult to see the other side within a few steps. It was really "God helping me"! Hong Zhenhai took advantage of the natural barrier of heavy fog to deliberately bluff. He organized long and short spears to fight together, creating a formation where the main force came out of the mountain. The Japanese army was really frightened and did not dare to advance easily. The railway guerrilla brigade covered the masses as they fought and retreated.
In this cloth cutting battle, the *** obtained more than 18,000 pieces of fine cloth, more than 800 sets of Japanese military uniforms, as well as blankets, quilts and medicines, etc., and solved the problem of one military region and three military subdivisions. and the question of winter clothing for a teaching brigade.
On the railway lines tightly controlled by the enemy, Hong Zhenhai used flexible tactics, leading his team members to tear up railway tracks, blow up bridges, ram trains, and intercept supplies. Like a sharp steel knife, he inserted it into the enemy's chest. On the arteries and blood vessels, the Japanese and puppet troops were confused and uneasy. The enemy hated and feared them and vowed to "catch them all".