Peng Xuefeng Grasps Water Conservancy Construction for the Benefit of the People

In September 1939, Peng Xuefeng, then commander of the guerrilla detachment of the New Fourth Army, led his troops to Xinxingji in the Henan-Anhui border area. The terrain here is low-lying, and there is another long ridge in the south of the village separated from the Feihe River. The accumulated water cannot be drained. Every summer and autumn rainy season, a vast ocean, resulting in local farmers can not work, suffering from hunger and cold. Peng Xuefeng learned of this serious disaster and immediately decided to dig a ditch to drain the water and save the people. He immediately held a joint military-civilian meeting to discuss specific construction plans, and led the troops to survey the terrain.

On the day of construction, Peng Xuefeng made a mobilization speech, asking the officers and men of the army to be as afraid of hardship and tiredness as in combat, so as to eliminate floods for the masses. Under the leadership of Peng Xuefeng, the army and the people cooperated closely. In just one week, a drainage ditch with a length of more than 10 li from Feihetou to lingmu ditch was completed. After the completion of the project, the people of Xinxing area asked Peng Xuefeng to name the name, and he gladly named the ditch "Xinxinggou" by taking the name of Xinxing Ji and the New Fourth Army ". In order to commemorate the project, the emerging masses voluntarily donated money to erect a few feet wide and more than ten feet high moral monuments to praise the deeds of the Communists and the New Fourth Army in loving the people.

After the New Fourth Army guerrilla detachment arrived in eastern Henan, there was a time when the command was stationed in Lizhai Village in Yongcheng County. Li Zhai Village is a low-lying area with waterlogging for years, and nine out of ten are not harvested. In addition, some villages often have friction over drainage disputes. After learning about this situation, Peng Xuefeng immediately proposed to build a long canal with drainage and waterlogging prevention functions in this area. On the day of the construction, Peng Xuefeng came to the construction site with the team and the pickaxe. I saw him take off his shirt, wearing only a white shirt, and wielding a pick to dig the soil. Under his leadership, the soldiers sweated like rain and scrambled to work.

After more than 20 days of intense labor, Peng Xuefeng led the local soldiers and civilians to build a large canal more than 10 miles long. The completion of this canal not only eliminated the flood in that year, but also relieved the long-standing water disputes in more than 20 surrounding villages.

In the autumn of that year, Li Zhai Village received an unprecedented good harvest. In order to express their gratitude to the New Fourth Army, the local people happily named the canal "Aimin Canal".

Daliu Lane in Sinan County (now Hongze District), Jiangsu Province, is a well-known model village built by Peng Xuefeng after he led the Fourth Division to Huaibei. On August 18, 1943, Peng Xuefeng arrived here to attend the meeting of medical representatives held by Huaibei administrative office. During the meeting, some soldiers reported that due to the continuous rain in the past few days, the Huaihe River has skyrocketed and the Daliuxiang river bank has burst. If the burst is not blocked in time, it will cause heavy losses to the masses. After hearing the report, Peng Xuefeng felt that the matter was urgent and immediately decided to suspend the meeting. He led all the medical representatives to rush to the riverbank rupture. At the same time, he urgently informed the division cadres and soldiers to rush to Daliu Lane.

After reaching the site of the rupture, Peng Xuefeng saw that the turbid waves were surging, and there was a danger of another collapse at the rupture. So he did not hesitate to take off his military uniform, jumped into the water, and led the cadres and soldiers to build a human wall at the break, arm in arm, while other cadres and soldiers bravely filled the stone and soil to block the break. Soon, the commanders and fighters of the division also rushed to the scene. Everyone worked together. After more than ten hours of hard work, the rupture was finally completely blocked. After the people in Daliu Lane learned the news, in order to commemorate the incident, the river embankment was renamed "Xuefeng embankment".

Source: People's Political Consultative Conference