Introduction to "Second Uncle's Turbulent Years"
This book is a full-length biographical novel based on the real life of retired veteran cadre Zhan Zhengzhi (1922-2015). In 1923, Zhan Zhengxiang, a young man from central Hunan, made a living by herding cattle by the Zijiang River. (The real name was changed to Zhan Zhengzhi after 1947). In the autumn of 1943, he was suddenly arrested while transporting grain for a landlord through Yanjiatan on the north bank of Zijiang River. He lost contact with his family for eight years - his parents in his hometown tearfully erected a memorial tablet for him.
After being forcibly recruited into the mortar camp of the 74th Division Artillery Regiment of the Kuomintang, he survived by operating artillery in the sea of blood and corpses in the Battle of Changde. During the Battle of Menglianggu in 1947, he shouted "Follow the Communist Party!" In the front line of fire, forcing the company commander to lead an uprising on the battlefield. When the Korean War broke out, he fought a bloody battle on Mount Ganling and was seriously injured, leaving behind his last words, "Tell Suying, I'm not scared!"
In 1959, as a military representative, he was transferred to the Zhengzhou Coal Mining Machinery Factory, a military industrial base, to shoulder the mission of strategic material deployment:
During the famine in 1962, he used artillery arithmetic to distribute food stamps and direct land reclamation;
During the frenzy of the Cultural Revolution, he put his back on a filing cabinet and shouted at the Red Guards: "Smash it, first smash through my military uniform!";
At the beginning of the reform and opening up, he transformed the artillery command chart into the "Material Scheduling Star Chart", helping domestic hydraulic supports to dominate the world.
In the autumn of 2015, the veteran passed away holding his medal. The tombstone is inscribed:
"Zhan Zhengzhi (1922-2015) - the last soldier not wearing work clothes in the workshop where the smoke has not cleared."
