On October 5th, 2021, in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, a grizzled old man tottered into a Net bar, asking the staffs whether they could show him the movie Chosin Reservoir. When focusing on the documentary about the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, he became emotional and empathized heavily, occasionally weeping tears. Maybe he was just in a large amount of nostalgia for his old comrade-in-arms. We couldn’t know exactly what happened in his youth but the majority of Chinese, like me, were deeply touched by this scene.
2021年10月5号，江西南昌，一位白发苍苍的老人步履蹒跚地走进了一家网吧，询问工作人员能否给他放映长津湖电影。老爷爷边看边擦眼泪，或许是想起了自己的战友，我们不得而知，但这一幕让无数国人动容。
Back to 1950s, the People’s Republic of China sent the People's Volunteer Army 9th (PVA 9th) to campaign in the Chosin Reservoir area to drive the United Nations out of North Korea. What tortured our army was not only their misses for families and threats from well-equipped American troops but also the extreme and poor climate conditions. A brutal 17-day battle in freezing weather——North Korea's worst winter in 50 years, soon followed. A large part of them didn’t have cotton clothes and shoes to withstand frigidity. What they could only do was just to pull cotton from the quilt to make earmuffs and remove the corn whisker then put it in the galoshes to keep warm. Between 27 November and 13 December, 30,000 United Nations Command troops were encircled and attacked by Chinese troops under the command of Song Shilun. The evacuation from the port of Hungnam in northeast Korea marked the complete withdrawal of American troops from North Korea.
时间推回到1950年，中华人民共和国派遣中国人民志愿军第九军团在朝鲜长津湖地区交战，希望把“联合国军”赶出朝鲜。折磨着志愿军的不仅仅是对家人的思念和武器精良的美军的威胁，更是艰苦的气候条件。17天的战斗，他们都在朝鲜五十年一遇的寒冬中度过。志愿军中的大部分人都没有棉衣棉鞋来抵御严寒，只能从被子里撕出棉花做成耳套，把玉米须扯下来放到胶鞋里保暖。在11月27日到12月13日之间，美军被宋时伦指挥下的中国军队围攻，他们从朝鲜东北部的兴南港口撤离，标志着美军完全撤出朝鲜。
Nowadays, as an epic film in the National Day, Chosin Reservoir gave us a deeper and more immersive understanding to that particular period of history. “Hope that the next generation can live in an era without artillery fire.”, said Ping He. There must be roots for the towering trees; There must be sources for the rivers surrounded by mountains. As the new generation, we could read aloud in the classroom, absorbing the wisdom from knowledgeable masters, enjoy the swelling and surging waves endlessly flowing towards the east and appreciate the elegant sprits of Gangnam’s scenery. However, when the chill wind and reeds blow with frost, please don’t forget them who spilt blood on the field, just aiming to provide us with a calm and peaceful future.
当今，《长津湖》，作为国庆档史诗片，让我们对那段特殊的历史时期有更深和更沉浸式的理解。平河说：“希望下一代，不再活在一个充满硝烟的时代。”参天之木，必有其根；怀山之水，必有其源。作为新一代，我们有莘莘学子的朗朗书声，有涛涛向东的大江大河，有烟雨江南的清雅风骨。但是北风吹起，芦花飞舞漫天霜的时候，不要忘记他们曾在冰雪之中，血洒万里疆场，只为了给我们一个和平的未来。
Author: Yang Siyu
Date: October 8, 2021
