Tracing the Life Paths of Eleven Disabled Founding Generals, and Reflecting on What a Great Nation's Warrior Should Look Like

A reporter traces the life paths of eleven disabled founding generals, and reflects on what a great nation's warrior should look like—— Spines That Stand Tall ■ PLA Daily Reporter Li Lin

Soldiers of an Army brigade's "Hard Bone Sixth Company" hold a ceremony welcoming new recruits into the company (archival photo). Photo by Ma Jiarui

On the 99th birthday of the People's Army, looking back at history, one photograph has drawn particular attention——

On September 27, 1955, at Huairen Hall in Zhongnanhai, during the ceremony conferring the first military ranks and decorations after the founding of New China, reporter Lin Yang pressed the shutter: among the generals standing in neat formation, one man's right sleeve was empty, another's left sleeve hung flat and hollow, another's trouser legs were empty from the knee down……

That day, among the 1,048 founding generals and marshals who received military ranks, there were 9 one-armed generals, 1 one-legged general, and 1 one-footed general.

On the eve of Army Day, this reporter traced the life paths of 11 disabled founding generals——

One arm holding up the sky, broken bodies standing on the earth. They had lost their arms or legs, yet, just like the revolutionary comrades standing beside them in formation, they straightened the iron spines of Communist Party members and revolutionary soldiers, and set the example of what a great nation's warrior should look like.

One arm, one leg, traversing ten thousand rivers and mountains——

The longest roads, the most dangerous battles — they were never absent

Outside Huairen Hall, a left-handed military salute shook the soul!

Before the rank-conferral ceremony, He Bingyan raised his left hand to salute Chairman Mao. Chairman Mao raised his hand to stop him: "Back in Yan'an I already told you, you don't need to salute……" Premier Zhou took up the words: "He has never feared death — always the first to charge, the last to retreat, wounded in sixteen places in battle."

This scene from the film set the blood of officers and soldiers of an Army brigade surging. They walked into the exhibition hall of He Bingyan's life and achievements at the Yidu City Museum in Hubei Province, and stood for a long time before an old military uniform — the gray cloth faded, torn in multiple places, stitched over densely with thread. Most striking was the right sleeve: it had vanished entirely, leaving only a ragged fringe at the shoulder.

Beside it, a caption read: "Worn by General He Bingyan during his lifetime. When the collar wore through, the right sleeve was cut off to patch it; when the left sleeve wore through, the right sleeve was cut off to replace it. He was still wearing it at the time of his death."

Behind this uniform lies a harrowing story——

In December 1935, on the Long March, 22-year-old Red Army division commander He Bingyan was struck in the right arm by a bullet; the bone was shattered to fragments. The medical director found a carpenter's saw. There was no anesthetic, no disinfectant. He Bingyan had himself tied to a door plank, a towel stuffed in his mouth, and the grinding sound of bone being sawed echoed in the room for more than two hours.

He Long picked up several bone fragments and wrapped them in a handkerchief: "These are He Bingyan's bones — the bones of a Communist. See how hard they are!"

Within days of the surgery, He Bingyan reappeared in the ranks. His wound tore open again and again, scabbed over, and tore open again, but he never once fell behind.

He was not the only one to march the Long March with a severed arm.

On the Long March, Yu Qiuli, political commissar of the 18th Red Regiment, had his left arm shot through — the bone pierced through the flesh, two tendons exposed, the wound rotting and festering. He slung the injured arm across his chest and kept marching, soaking it in cold water each day to dull the pain. His comrades could not bear to watch; he smiled and said: "The enemy shot off one of my arms. I still have my life — I can still make revolution."

Crossing snow mountains, traversing grasslands — for a full 192 days, it was not until the Long March reached Huixian County in Gansu that Yu Qiuli underwent the amputation.

If losing one arm still left a man able to walk, what about losing a leg?

This reporter came to the Red Army battle site at Loushan Pass, where a statue arrests the eye: a Red Army commander with his right leg missing, his right hand gripping a wooden crutch planted in the ground — a recreation of Zhong Chibing completing the Long March on one leg.

In the Battle of Loushan Pass, Zhong Chibing, political commissar of the 12th Red Regiment, had the bone of his lower right leg shattered by a bullet. Without anesthetic, in three separate operations using a wood-chopping knife and a carpenter's saw, his entire right leg was amputated.

Leaning on a wooden crutch, he crossed the snow mountains on one leg — when the crutch gave out, he crawled. His cotton trousers wore through; the wound on his stump festered in the snowmelt; he wrapped it in rags and kept moving forward……

Before the 1955 rank-conferral ceremony began, Chairman Mao specifically asked: "Has Zhong Chibing — the one who walked the Long March on one leg — arrived?" Upon seeing Zhong Chibing, he said with genuine admiration: "That you can stand here today is truly a miracle!"

Among those who created such miracles were also founding Lieutenant General Yan Fusheng and founding Major General Xie Liang.

In the Battle of Luojiabao, Yan Fusheng, political commissar of the 16th Red Division, had his right arm blown off and then fell off a cliff. When he was rescued by local villagers and dragged his wounded body a thousand li to find his unit, the troops had already held a memorial service for him. His comrades had held one such memorial service for him once before as well.

In the Battle of Shandan, Xie Liang, political commissar of the 23rd Red Division, was shot in the left foot; a doctor cut off his forefoot with scissors, raw and unmedicated. After being captured, his wound became infected and required amputation, but he never revealed a single word to the enemy. After being rescued and recovering from his wounds, Xie Liang relearned to ride a horse and fire a weapon, and became known throughout the entire army as the "one-footed general."

On one arm, one leg, one foot, these commanders completed the Long March and marched toward victory.

In the flames of the War of Resistance Against Japan, He Bingyan and Yu Qiuli formed the Eighth Route Army 120th Division Independent Third Detachment — two men, two hands — and led the unit from more than 300 men to over 5,000, earning the name from He Long of the "one-hand" force. In the Yanmen Pass ambush, He Bingyan led the charge at the very front, striking terror into the Japanese army.

The fame of the one-armed generals spread far and wide. Peng Shaohui led the Independent Second Brigade with one arm in the Hundred Regiments Offensive; Yan Fusheng held the line with one arm at the Battle of Heishan for three days and nights; Peng Qingyun led the 141st Division with one arm in 252 engagements over 165 days of fierce fighting against the "United Nations forces" on the Korean War battlefield……

The longest roads, the most dangerous battles — they were never absent.

Merits not traded for titles, battle wounds not leveraged for privilege——

Whatever the organization gives is what it gives — it is not for us to pick and choose

Following the winding course of the Lu River upstream, this reporter and representatives of officers and soldiers from an Army unit arrived at Fusheng Village, Lukou Town, Zhuzhou City, Hunan Province — the hometown of one-armed general Yan Fusheng.

"His old house used to be right over there — the building has long since disappeared!" Following the direction pointed by a local elder, one sees only green fields and vegetable plots at the foot of the hill, cowpeas hanging from their frames, and beside them a stone stele inscribed "Former Residence of General Yan Fusheng."

"All he left to his hometown was this one stele." Stroking the stele, Yan Fusheng's nephew Yan Xiangen said with emotion: "He went through fire and water for the revolution — lost his arm in battle — and after victory never sought special treatment. He always taught us: this life was a gift snatched back from death. How could it be used to claim credit?"

The general's old house collapsed in the 1970s from years of disrepair. At the time, Yan Fusheng was serving as deputy political commissar of the Guangzhou Military Region, yet the thought of rebuilding it never crossed his mind.

Having endured great hardship without staining the original aspiration (初心); having risen to high position without changing one's true character. In the course of this investigation, the story of the "regimental-grade general" was especially legendary and moving.

Su Lu was the first commander of the Changzhi Military Sub-district after the founding of New China. He had lived through the Long March and the Hundred Regiments Offensive, and had his right arm blown off in the Battle of Taiyuan. The organization arranged for him to step down and recuperate; unwilling to sit idle, he repeatedly requested to continue working, and willingly stepped down from his position as a full-division-grade military sub-district commander to serve as a regimental-grade ordnance depot director.

In 1955, Su Lu — still guarding the depot — was awarded the rank of Major General. Premier Zhou clasped his one remaining left hand and praised him for rendering meritorious service to the people. He replied modestly: "I have done far too little. The people have given me far too much."

One-armed general Zuo Qi had said the same. After the founding of New China, he took root with his troops in Xinjiang for more than 20 years. Many comrades returned to the interior and to headquarters organs; he never once applied to the organization for a transfer. Physically disabled, he never once asked the organization for any special treatment.

What, then, did they ask for? A photograph in the Nanniwan Mass Production Memorial Hall seems to offer an answer——

Three commanders of the 359th Brigade stand in a row: Yan Fusheng, Zuo Qi, Peng Qingyun. Three men, three arms, three young faces — all smiling.

The soldiers used mattocks and hoes to break new ground; these men could not grip such tools, so they carried water and food up the hillsides. One noon, soldiers spotted from a distance a man hauling a shoulder pole with only one hand, straining with all his might to keep his balance. When they recognized him as Zuo Qi, political commissar of the 718th Regiment, they said with aching hearts: "How can we bring ourselves to eat this food!" Zuo Qi wiped away his sweat and smiled: "I still have one hand!"

In his later years, Peng Qingyun looked back on those times and said only, lightly: "The soldiers were all watching you!"

To carry the load in hard times, yet not to reach for position when fame and success arrived — this was the common choice of that generation of great-nation warriors.

After the founding of New China, taking into account that Zhong Chibing's right leg had been amputated high up the thigh, the organization arranged for him to leave front-line combat units and take the lead in establishing the Military Commission Civil Aviation Bureau. Zhong Chibing accepted the appointment willingly, built the institution from nothing, and became one of the founders of New China's civil aviation enterprise.

At the time, the organization arranged for one-armed general Chen Bo to transfer into the logistics system and no longer serve as the principal commander of a front-line combat unit. Chen Bo had not a word of complaint: the front lines needed physically whole commanders all the more; logistics support work was equally important. For the ensuing decades, he neither competed for credit nor jockeyed for rank, and devoted himself wholeheartedly to his logistics post.

In midsummer, at He Bingyan's former residence in Yidu, Hubei, dozens of militia members of the "He Bingyan Hard Bone Militia Company" came to pay their respects. He Leisheng, the eldest son of General He Bingyan, told them: "Father often said to the family during his lifetime: whatever the organization gives is what it gives — it is not for us to pick and choose."

In that era, the more a person placed himself low, the higher the organization placed him.

In 1955, He Bingyan had originally been assessed for the rank of Lieutenant General. During the adjustment phase of the promotion list, one more star was added to his shoulders. Among the 57 founding full generals, He Bingyan was the only one at the quasi-corps-army level.

Listening to these stories, one militia Party member wrote in the visitors' book: "Merits not traded for titles, battle wounds not leveraged for privilege — the old general deserved that star!"

Why was the PLA able to win? The answer is not written on the battlefield alone——

Each level leads the next, each level sets the example for the next

The "Hard Bone Sixth Company" exhibition hall is where new recruits receive their first lesson upon joining the company.

Pairs of clear eyes look at an old photograph on the display board: Generals Yu Qiuli and He Bingyan standing together — the one on the right with an empty right sleeve, the one on the left with an empty left sleeve.

The Sixth Company's predecessor was precisely the "one-hand" force led by Yu Qiuli and He Bingyan. To this day, the officers and soldiers of the Sixth Company still remember the words of the old general Yu Qiuli: "To lead soldiers well, you must first be solid yourself."

That solidity was forged in battle, and also in "not reaching out one's hand." During He Bingyan's lifetime, he made a "three-point compact" with his family and children: never forget your roots, never make demands of the organization, never reach out to the government.

When he was serving as commander of the Chengdu Military Region, his four children were boarding at a primary school. A newly assigned guard used an official vehicle on the weekend to bring the children home. He Bingyan stood in the courtyard, his thick eyebrows knitted tight: "The official car is for work. What right do children have to ride in it?"

His wife Jiang Ping served as director of an outpatient department and, by normal procedure, was due for promotion to Lieutenant Colonel. He Bingyan said: "I am the commander — I cannot keep pushing my own wife forward." After four full years of being held back, Jiang Ping asked him in bewilderment: "You won't let me be promoted — what mistake have I actually made?"

He Bingyan was silent for a long time, and in the end only shook his head……

Founding Major General Tong Yansheng had lost both an arm and had a lame leg. In the early 1960s, the organization assigned him a dedicated cook; he sent the cook back: "The country is in economic difficulty — I cannot add to the burden." Without a cook, he led his family in growing vegetables in the courtyard. When the children complained about the plain and simple food, he lost his temper: "If you're already thinking about comfort now, how will you ever be a revolutionary successor?"

One-armed general Chen Bo kept close to his person a Party membership card soaked through with blood, and for decades personally paid his Party dues and made up any arrears. He used this Party card to set rules for his children: no special treatment, no taking advantage.

After the Nationalist Army retreated to Taiwan, many of its generals were still fighting over positions and housing, making a great commotion; meanwhile, their old adversaries — the Communist generals — were doing something else entirely: holding back their wives' promotions, sending back their cooks, using their Party cards to set rules for their children……

Why was the PLA able to win? The answer is not written on the battlefield alone — it is also written in the inheritance and example of each level leading the next and each level setting the example for the next.

In April 2021, the Southern Theater Command Army organized a special interview event titled "A Dialogue Across Time," featuring old and new heroes and models, with representatives from the "Hard Bone Sixth Company" in attendance.

On the stage, "Rolling-Grenade Hero" An Zhongwen recounted how, before a general offensive, he charged into a minefield and rolled over mines, losing his right leg and both eyes: "Even rolling, I had to roll a path to life for my comrades!"

In the audience sat a special soldier — Du Fuguo. While carrying out a manual demining mission on the Yunnan border, Du Fuguo had lost both hands and both eyes. His comrades will never forget his words: "Stand back — let me do it!"

Demining heroes from different eras met at this event.

When it was Du Fuguo's turn to speak, one sentence brought the entire hall to tears: "Although I no longer have eyes, no longer have hands, I still have two complete legs, and I have my comrades' support. I don't look at what I don't have — I only look at what I do have!"

After the event, a soldier from the "Hard Bone Sixth Company" pasted two photographs side by side on the inside cover of his notebook——

One was a photograph of the old general He Bingyan saluting with his left hand; the other was a photograph of Du Fuguo saluting with his maimed arms.

Two special salutes, separated by more than 70 years, seem to speak a thousand words……

Reporter's Notes

Iron Bones, Forever Inscribed with a Patriot's Heart

According to statistics, from the Nanchang Uprising to the founding of New China, more than 3,000 People's Army commanders at the regimental level and above gave their lives; 7 of the Ten Marshals were wounded in battle; 7 of the Ten Generals were wounded; of the 57 founding full generals, only 5 were never wounded……

Chairman Mao once marveled: "From ancient times to the present, how many one-armed generals has China had? There were none in the old era — only our Red Army units could cultivate such unique talents!" The founding generals and marshals' absolute loyalty to the Party, their unswerving commitment to the original aspiration (初心), and their strict demands upon themselves have set for us an eternal example. On the new journey (新征程), commanders at all levels throughout the entire military — and especially senior commanders — should take them as a mirror: firm in faith and conviction, steadfast in sincere original aspiration (赤诚初心), forever preserving an honest and clean character (清廉本色), and setting the example of what a great nation's warrior should look like in the new era for all officers and soldiers of the entire military.

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