Nanjing Road, the Eighth Elite Company

Author: Adapted by Wang Jiarang, Zhang Chengwu, Cao Zuorui | Illustrations by Gao Shan, You Chongren / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-11-01
Features: The Eighth Company stationed on Nanjing Road in Shanghai is a unit that upholds the red banner of Mao Zedong Thought and remains loyal to the Party and the people's cause. On May 5, 1963, the Ministry of National Defense awarded them the honorary title of "The Excellent Eighth Company on Nanjing Road." On the eve of Shanghai's liberation, the Eighth Company, along with its fellow units, repeatedly studied Mao Zedong's report at the Second Plenary Session of the Party's Seventh Congress, firmly remembering Chairman Mao's teaching: "Capturing the victory of the whole country is just completing one step of the Long March." They deeply realized the profound significance of maintaining the spirit of hard struggle.
In May 1949, Shanghai was liberated, and the Eighth Company took on the task of guarding Nanjing Road. At that time, the bustling Nanjing Road was covered with slogans celebrating the liberation, and the people were singing and dancing in joy. The cadres and soldiers were so moved! Shanghai belonged to the people. To defend the great Shanghai of the people—what an honor!
In the past, Shanghai was a fortress of imperialist aggression against China, especially Nanjing Road, which was a hub of bourgeois lifestyles. The counter-revolutionary forces had hoped that after the PLA entered Shanghai, it would soon rot and decay. They openly threw money at the patrolling soldiers, trying to corrupt them, but the soldiers angrily kicked it away. When patrolling at night, shameless women with a sinister air tried to harass the soldiers, but they were firmly rebuked. On this Nanjing Road, countless warlord and Kuomintang units had rotted away due to money and beauty. But today, in the face of the proletarian soldiers educated by Chairman Mao, it was powerless.
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