The site of the soil picking ceremony for the inheritance of the belief that the soul of the hero returns to its roots. The Young Pioneers poured river water from a glass bottle onto the "Tree of Belief". This year marks the 90th anniversary of the departure of the Long March of the Central Red Army and the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Xiangjiang. On November 29th, at the Jieshou Crossing of the Yangtze River Site Park in Xing'an County, Guilin City, Guangxi Province, the warm sun shone high and the clear water was without waves. A solemn soil picking ceremony for the inheritance of the belief of the soul returning to its roots is being held here. Three years without drinking Xiangjiang water, ten years without eating Xiangjiang fish. The Battle of Xiangjiang was the most heroic battle of the Central Red Army since the Long March, and it was also a crucial battle that affected the survival of the Central Red Army. From November 27 to December 1, 1934, when the Central Red Army broke through three consecutive blockade lines and moved to Guanyang, Quanzhou, and Xing'an in Guilin, Guangxi, it was surrounded and blocked by heavy Nationalist troops. In order to ensure that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the main force of the Central Red Army cross the Xiang River and crush the enemy's attempt to encircle and annihilate the Red Army east of the Xiang River, tens of thousands of Red Army soldiers were bloodied on both sides of the Xiang River. Mourning in silence, bowing, reading the "Message to the Martyrs"... At the ceremony site, after the cannon was fired, 19 descendants of the separated Red Army from southern Jiangxi carried baskets woven from bamboo vines and went to the site of the Xiangjiang Battle to collect soil. Today, they will collect the "heroic soul soil" soaked in the blood of the martyrs of the Xiangjiang Campaign here, and bring it back to the hometown of the Red Army's predecessors, realizing the long cherished wish of the Red Army's predecessors' heroic souls to return to their homeland. The reporter saw at the scene that Lu Cuiying, the daughter of the lost Red Army soldier Lu Xiandui, was kneeling on both knees, tears streaming down her face. She placed a bamboo basket on a rolled out red paper and used a small shovel in her hand to gently scoop up a scoop of soil and put it into a cloth bag inside the bamboo basket. On the special train to Ganzhou, Lu Cuiying tightly held the bamboo basket in her arms. Her father, Lu Xiandui, was a squad leader of the 34th Division of the Red Fifth Army and stayed in Guilin after being injured in the Battle of Xiangjiang. At that time, transportation was inconvenient and information was not available. My father never returned to his hometown in Yudu until he passed away. "With this bag of 'soul soil', I will go back to my hometown with my father and my comrades in arms. I will see their relatives and changes in their hometown for them." Lu Cuiying said. Tang Jianneng, the head of the Support, Preferential Treatment, and Commendation Memorial Department of the Guilin Veterans Affairs Bureau, told reporters that more than 20000 Red Army martyrs from southern Jiangxi sacrificed their lives in the Battle of Xiangjiang, and more than 40 Red Army soldiers stayed in Guilin due to injuries and have been living there ever since. Many of them have never returned to their hometowns. On the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Xiangjiang, the retired military affairs departments of Guilin and Ganzhou jointly launched the "Red Roots, Deep Homeland Love" activity for the descendants of the Red Army to return to their hometowns, allowing the predecessors of the Red Army to "return home" in this way. This is a deep tribute to the martyrs and also an inheritance of the red spirit, "said Tang Jianneng. On November 30th, Zhong Liang, the son of the lost Red Army soldier Zhong Zhifu, launched an early morning visit to Ganzhou for the first time. He, who has a habit of morning exercise, set off from his residence and walked several kilometers along the street, taking photos of the scenery along the way. This is my father's hometown, and I want to share the scenery here with my family, "Zhong Liangfa told reporters. His father, Zhong Zhifu, was from Yanbei Village, Luoao Town, Yudu County. At the age of 14, he participated in the Long March with the army and stayed in Guilin with heavy injuries during the Battle of Xiangjiang, never returning. On the morning of that day, the soil cultivation ceremony for "Inheriting the Belief of Returning to the Soul of Heroes" was held at the Revolutionary Martyrs Memorial Hall in Ganzhou City, surrounded by mountains. The reporter saw at the scene that veteran Chen Hongxiong, who had participated in border operations and made many military achievements, also came to the scene. He solemnly took the "Soul Soil" from Zhong Liangfa's hand and slowly sprinkled it into a dug tree pit. Welcome home, predecessors of the Red Army in Gannan! "After speaking, Chen Hongxiong raised his right hand and saluted with a standard military salute. At the event, the Propaganda Department of the Ganzhou Municipal Party Committee, the Political Work Office of the Ganzhou Military Sub district, and representatives of retired soldiers from Ganzhou successively received the "heroic soul soil" soaked with the blood of Red Army martyrs collected from the Xing'an Jieshou Ferry from 19 separated descendants of the Red Army from southern Jiangxi, and scattered it on the red soil of southern Jiangxi, jointly planting a "belief tree" to inherit revolutionary ideals and continue the red bloodline. Dozens of Young Pioneers wearing bright red scarves, holding glass bottles filled with river water, poured water next to the newly planted "Tree of Faith". In the following days, descendants of the Red Army visited various places such as the Ganzhou Revolutionary Memorial Hall, the former site of the "One Soviet University" in Ruijin City, and the Memorial Park of the Central Red Army's Long March, to learn about the revolutionary history of Ganzhou City and trace the origin of the Central Red Army's Long March. They were grouped according to their parents' ancestral origins and led by the local retired military affairs department to their ancestral homeland to search for their roots and reunite with their loved ones. Before leaving, they coincidentally took a piece of land from their hometown and brought it back to Guilin to comfort the spirit of their ancestors who were sleeping in a foreign land. On this journey, we have reviewed the arduous revolutionary process of our predecessors and gained a deeper understanding of their fearless revolutionary spirit At the end of the event, Pan Enxiang, a descendant of the Red Army, was deeply touched. "Although I am old, as a descendant of the Red Army, I have the responsibility to pass on these red histories and spirits well..." The reporter learned from the Guilin Veterans Affairs Bureau that in recent years, the city has conducted extensive searches, investigations, and visits to the scattered descendants of the Red Army in the Xiangjiang Campaign in five counties (including Lingchuan) in northern Guangxi. A total of 218 Red Army survivors of the Xiangjiang Campaign have been verified and confirmed, and a special "Implementation Plan for Assistance to Red Army Survivors of the Xiangjiang Campaign" has been formulated, which clearly stipulates that the municipal government will regularly visit and comfort Red Army survivors of the Xiangjiang Campaign on festivals such as Spring Festival and "August 1st". At the same time, joint caring enterprises and volunteer service teams regularly carry out activities to care for the descendants of the Red Army, help them solve practical difficulties, convey care and warmth, and guide the whole society to establish a culture of respecting heroes and learning from them. (New Society)