I am talking about Jiefang shoes with canvas surface and rubber soles. The uppers are khaki-yellow with some green or grass green. They are also called "rubber-soled cloth shoes". It has been the standard equipment of all soldiers in the army for more than half a century. In the 1970s and 1980s, military uniforms were definitely considered fashionable. Almost every family had several similar pieces of clothing. No matter whether they were authentic or not, even just one piece of clothing from head to toe would have a sense of presence spontaneously.

When I was seven or eight years old, I was at an age when I knew how to be beautiful. I vaguely remembered where my father got me a blue-gray octagonal hat with red five stars. On the head, I found a wooden stick like a gun in my hand, and looked for a place where there were people to show off, and seriously regarded myself as a little soldier in the army. Sometimes I admire myself. I know how to gain a sense of existence at such a young age. Is this true for everyone?

In the second year of reform and opening up, an elder brother from the same family in Tunli enlisted in the army and sent back a set of military uniform photos, full of heroism. This is the most attractive thing about his family. The military uniform at that time was "three-point red", with one red five-star and two red collar badges. The elements were simple but highly recognizable.

I was born in a poor peasantry, so I had little knowledge, and I didn’t pay attention to the clothes of the city people. Probably this kind of fashion belongs not only to the countryside, but factories and government agencies are all dressed in Dika green or Dikalan clothes, which are full of revolutionary colors. The counters of the supply and marketing cooperatives in various communes are almost full of all kinds of Dika fabrics. Before festivals or important ceremonies, women with good family conditions will pull a piece of blue or green fabric to make a piece for men according to their approximate body shape. , decent and solemn.

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Among all military uniforms, Jiefang shoes are the most popular. The reason why it is universally popular is by no means because of its super high value, except that it represents military manufacturing, which is genuine at a fair price, and it is also because of the military and martial arts, and the military camp sentiment is popular. Jiefang shoes are economical, durable, and highly applicable. They are ideal companions for the feet, no matter on flat ground, hillsides, or muddy bog roads. Putting on Jiefang shoes, it seems to have the spirit of a soldier. Anyway, I want to comfort myself, and I feel much more confident. Today's parents or grandparents have all been proud of wearing military liberation shoes.

In order to save money, my father had to use local materials, the kind of shoes woven with corn coating, rough and not strong, of course, not as comfortable as Jiefang shoes, so I longed for a pair of Jiefang shoes. Often when the spring is warm and the flowers are blooming, something is missing on my feet. At this time, my father will take advantage of the opportunity to go to the supply and marketing cooperatives to help me make it, or give me the pair that my brother wore in the previous year. New. I was encouraged, armed with new shoes, more motivated to go to school, and more willing to do what I could do.

After the ice and snow melted, the semi-frozen and unfrozen uneven road surface was soft and did not stick to the soles of the shoes. When I stepped on it, I felt like I was eating crispy ice cream with the soles of my shoes. The wonderful induction prompted me to keep looking for the landing point of my feet, and I walked unconsciously. Speed ​​up, easy and fun.

While encouragement isn't a luxury, it's not easy to come by either, so much so that a new pair of galoshes has been my greatest spring relief. When the shoelaces broke a few pieces, my father pulled a few soft hemp threads and rolled them into thin ropes, which could barely pass through the shoe holes, which felt very good to the touch. If the shoes weren't bad enough, my mother sewed them up with thick cotton thread, and I could wear them all summer again.

Jiefang shoes accompanied me out of my youth, and also cultivated a whole body of pride.

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In those years, when China’s self-defense counterattack against Vietnam was in full swing, Baye next door, who had never traveled far, heard the news from somewhere, and frightened me, saying: “Many people died on the front line, and they will also go to the front line as soldiers in the future! "When I spoke, I showed two rows of die teeth, but I didn't feel scared. The impression given to me by soldiers is that they have to fight. It's an honor to fight to the death on the battlefield!" "Blood-stained elegance" was sung on the loudspeaker, listening to Xu Liang's deeds.

Later, I saw a story on the Internet: "At the front line of Laoshan, a soldier from Lanzhou asked the female nurse who rescued him if he could hug or kiss him at the last moment of his life. He said that he was 20 years old and hadn't talked to anyone yet. , I heard that life without love is incomplete. The nurse looked at the dying soldier, held his head without hesitation, and kissed the corner of the soldier's lips with tears. The soldier sacrificed with a smile, and this kiss became his The last farewell in my life." The story is true, the protagonist no longer hears the heartbreaking sadness of his comrades in arms, and the ashes of the martyrs are placed in the cemetery of his hometown, and he has become the eternal memory of the world.

Baye's words are being transformed into reality in my consciousness through sound and words. I was still young, so I didn't know what it meant to be a soldier, I just felt honored.

Four

I am in junior high school, and the troops from the provincial capital will be stationed in the Quanjiatun area for training for a month after autumn every year, probably because the area is surrounded by mountains on three sides, there is a flat river in front, and the road crosses, which meets the actual combat needs.

Although my house is not big, there are two kangs. During the slack season in summer, my father would call in a few helpers early on to remove the surface of the kang and remove the ash that had accumulated for a year, so as to keep the kang unobstructed and the surface of the kang to be heated. Even, my home is the main residence in the village. When the autumn wind blows, my family is looking forward to queuing up in green uniforms to enter the village. I am walking on the way out of school, and the crops on both sides are constantly swaying my arms.

The main house is divided into two parts, the inside and the outside. The family lives in the outer room, and the inner room is naturally reserved for the garrison squad. They don't dislike the small space. They get up early every day to fold the quilt into tofu cubes. After going out for exercise, they carry water, hold firewood, and sweep the yard according to their respective division of labor. My house has the appearance of a military camp.

Mutual trust has cultivated a special military-civilian fish-water relationship. Every dinner time, I always look forward to them coming back early, stringing a bunch of hot steamed buns with chopsticks, which is very picturesque. Although it is not as good as the sticky bean buns and big pancakes made by my mother, it is definitely a delicacy in the era of lack of refined grains. In the evening, my mother filled the stove pit to the brim, and a large iron pot of water boiled over. The outhouse was wrapped in rising mist, and the earth kang also made the whole house warm. When the garrison squad came back, each of them soaked their feet in a pot of hot water. They said it was very refreshing.

The second brother also yearns for the military camp. He is the most excited and tangled person during the conscription season every year. Seeing his companion enlisting in the army year after year, the second brother was happy every year, and wiped away many tears behind his back. The otitis media that fell when he was a child has become a stumbling block in his hopes. He no longer hopes for the military camp, but Jiefang Shoes has never been absent. My father is the biggest fan of the army, and whenever he has time, he finds topics to talk about, and the second brother also wants to take the opportunity to touch the real thing in the hands of the soldiers. They are simple and capable, vigorous and resolute, strict and responsible, which is the glorious image I admire.

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Probably every boy has a dream of being a soldier, and I am no exception. Listening to them talk about army life and encouraging me to take the military academy exam, I have a unique feeling for the military camp.

 On the day of the actual combat exercise, the wooden windows of my house were rattled by the shock wave emitting green smoke, and the ground trembled. The whole village was not allowed to go out and walk around. The Nanshan and Houshan around the village were deployed as strategic highlands, and the nearest trench was located on the top of Shilazi in the Houshan, 200 meters away from my house, which could be vaguely seen from the back window sill. The sound of charges, machine guns, and shells bursting one after another, can be heard endlessly, and images of war are projected in my eyes. "What would it be like to go into war?" I often wondered.

Danger, death, destruction? These unlucky words jumped out of my mind instantly, and I began to worry again. Practice is war, and war must be won. The duty of soldiers is to stop war and defend peace, but for peace, it will break the tranquility and create trauma. Peace needs to pay a heavy price. I really hope that the war will leave us forever, so that the soldiers will no longer bleed, and there will be no rattling glass windows!

Year after year, the troops are like migratory birds migrating with the seasons, flying back after a year of waiting. That steaming courtyard is our common home.

Yang Guochun was the monitor of the last training squad, a native of Suihua, Heilongjiang, tall and capable. He is busy, thoughtful and responsible. Every night before going to bed, he would quietly hold a meeting for the whole class in the back room, probably to summarize the training results of the day, and also to get along with the masses. He became his father's friend first, and left behind a pair of brand new high-waist liberation shoes when the troops withdrew. After recovering in the second year, he wrote two letters to his father from the post office in Suihua City where he lived. His father read aloud, and the winter snow was slowly falling over the trenches in the back mountain.

My father had been wearing those shoes for many years and was reluctant to throw them away. After washing them, they hung them on the edge of the stone wall and baked them in the hot sun at noon, so that they could be worn in the afternoon. The shading is gradually smoothed out, and many patches are piled up irregularly on the upper. It was put together by the mother to find pieces of coarse cloth with similar colors, which looks a bit abstract. If I can't wear it anymore, I wrap it in a plastic bag and put it on the pedal of the sewing machine, because the pedal of the sewing machine is easy to find, so I will keep it in mind.

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Time always kicks you behind unexpectedly, telling you that life has infinite possibilities. Later, I enlisted in the army as I wished, and the material of the uniform was not the same as that of the time. It was still Dika green, but the color was slightly darkened. Wearing the liberation shoes issued by the army, I traveled far away under the watchful eyes of my father and second brother. I have never been to the garrison in the whole family village, and the green army uniform carries the family's dream.

Putting on the liberation shoes, I became you—the soldier who once gave me strength and had a relationship with me, no longer just a momentary enthusiasm and romantic reverie, but a soul that grew out.

Most of the troops I belonged to were heroes transferred from the battlefields of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. They walked out of Yangguan westward with their liberation shoes, and shouldered the sacred mission of "two bombs and one satellite". At that time, the seven warriors of the field security patrol team wore these liberation shoes and walked eight thousand miles for patrol and reconnaissance in the Gobi Desert, where the surface temperature is nearly 70 degrees in summer, and finally ensured the successful completion of the special mission.

The military element is popular in society, which is the admiration and spiritual sustenance of the people for the soldiers in the hearts of the people. Although there are no authentic products on the market, the enthusiasm to buy them still cannot be stopped. What they buy is not clothes, but feelings, which are the most bloody spiritual symbols of Chinese children.

Knowing that it is impossible, but I still have this long-cherished wish, wishing that there will be no war in the future, and that soldiers are just a symbol, a symbol. After thinking wildly, he quickly denied his assumptions. In peacetime, soldiers solve the people's worries and problems. In wartime, those who offend us will be punished even if they are far away. This is the supreme mission of the people's army.

The era of Jiefang shoes is the progress of new China from scratch to strength. It represents Chinese soldiers, noble character and national spirit that will never fade. How can I not love it! For decades, Jiefang shoes have been constantly updated, but my fate with it has never been separated.

This spring and summer, I owe me a pair of liberation shoes.