Armed police loyal guard Ding Xiaobing: I personally cut off my broken arm with a dagger
Ding Xiaobing, who lost his right arm, saluted the motherland with his left hand. Image source: People’s Armed Police Report
Xinhua News: Ding Xiaobing, one of the 8th "Ten Loyal Guards of the Chinese Armed Police" and deputy political commissar of a certain ministry in Wuxi, visited Xinhua Military on May 5 to communicate with netizens online.
He said he was 19 when he lost his right arm in a major military operation to protect national security in 1984-85, but did not consider himself a child because "wearing this uniform is no longer a child, but a Chinese soldier."
After the explosion, he tried to take down the enemy with his stump arm
Ding Xiaobing joined the army in 1983. In 1984, he was a scout in the reconnaissance brigade and exchanged fire with the enemy during a reconnaissance and capture battle.
Ding Xiaobing said that at night, we lurked at the front of the enemy position to carry out reconnaissance and capture tasks, and suddenly launched an attack in the early morning. We had four captors and more than 40 enemies stationed on the high ground. We were ready to capture them with great intensity. It should be said that the operation was relatively smooth, and we had already succeeded before the enemy reported it.
But when retreating, Ding Xiaobing and others were met with frantic retaliation from the enemy. He said that at that time, the firepower of the three highlands suppressed us at the same time, blocking our retreat route, and suddenly a grenade came from the highlands. At that time, he didn’t have time to think much, because he grabbed a prisoner, pressed the prisoner to the ground, and grabbed the grenade with his right hand and wanted to throw it out, but it was too late.
He recalled that at that time, a big fireball exploded, and he didn’t know that his arm was gone at that moment. Because of the shock wave of a bomb, I woke up and found that the prisoner was running back. I threw him down at once. At that time, I instinctively wanted to press his neck, but it was tilted all of a sudden. Only then did I realize that the elbow joint of the arm was gone, and the bones of the arm were inserted into the soil at once.
And he said, when I got up, I saw that there was only a little bit of skin on my arm, and it didn’t hurt at all, it was completely numb, and the blood vessels in my arm were spewing out all of a sudden. I pressed the prisoner and started shouting, "Company commander, squad leader, come here quickly, I’m broken."
Cut off the broken arm with a dagger
After the comrades came, they pressed the prisoner, handcuffed him, and made a very simple hemostatic bandage with a tourniquet. After that, we withstood the enemy’s bullets and retreated. There were many bushes during the retreat. Later, we also sacrificed a comrade, and we had to carry the sacrificed comrade back. It can be said that the operation at that time was very difficult, and the enemy’s firepower was also very fierce.
There was only a little bit of skin hanging on the broken part at that time, so the arm was always caught by the branches, and the skin was very painful. Finally, I had no choice but to cut off the hand with a dagger.
At that time, I was afraid of losing my hand, thinking that it would still work if I brought it back and sewed it, so I pinned my broken arm to my waist.
At that time, I almost died several times in the middle. Among the people who pinched me while walking, my old monitor told me, "Xiaobing, you can’t fall down, we will arrive in a while, you can persevere." At that time, it was also a belief that you must complete the task, and others also had an instinctive desire to survive.
It can be said that it is completely a support of faith, and it lasted for three hours, all the way dripping with blood. As soon as I saw my comrades carrying stretchers running from far away, there was still about a mile to go. When I saw the stretcher running this way, I couldn’t do it, and I was loaded underground. Later, I found out that they also used a pacemaker and a heart shot for me. At that time, they thought I couldn’t do it, and I fell asleep for three days.
Wearing a military uniform is no longer a child, but a Chinese soldier
At that time, I didn’t believe that I was alive, because the consciousness and thoughts of the moment I fell down can be said to be unforgettable. When people fell down, I felt that my life was over, I was still so young, and I still had a lot to do. Maybe it was because this awareness was too strong, so when I woke up, I looked at the ceiling and thought if it was really alive, and then I remembered to grab myself, but I really felt it. When I was sure that I was alive, I didn’t know what words to use to describe the feeling at that time.
Then someone asked me to summarize, and I said how to summarize, I said that life is really precious, and it feels good to be alive. So you asked me what was the most impressive thing, and I think it was obviously the operation of this battle.
Host: It sounds really thrilling and very difficult. Then I would like to know Deputy Political Commissar Ding, you said that you were only eighteen or nine years old at the time, but you were still a child.
Ding Xiaobing: But for us, after wearing this military uniform, I felt that we were no longer a child at that time. At that time, it could be said that we were a Chinese soldier shouldering responsibility and heavy trust.
Editor in charge: Li Yongchao