"Obey orders and listen to commands" is the first article in the "Three Disciplines and Eight Notes", which is the most basic requirement for an army and a soldier. But the battlefield situation is changing rapidly, and whether to carry out a given order or adapt to it is a tangled question for anyone.
In most cases, subordinates obey their superiors, faithfully carry out their superiors' orders even at the expense of local interests, and there are many examples of ultimate victories. However, there are also many negative examples, such as a battle commanded by the German general Paulus.
When the Red Army suddenly launched a counterattack and surrounded the besieging German regiments, it was entirely possible for Paulus to break through with all his might while the encirclement was not yet stable, but he faithfully carried out the order of his superiors to "hold out for help", which eventually led to the annihilation of hundreds of thousands of German troops.
Of particular interest is the similar situation that his Soviet opponent Rokossovsky had previously encountered. A year earlier, the German "Blitzkrieg" was so overwhelming in Ukraine that Rokossovsky did not carry out the orders of his superiors to "attack", but ordered his troops to turn to the defensive, and finally destroyed the Germans with cannons, and Rokossovsky was later promoted to marshal.
For example, Zhong Wei, commander of the 5th Division of the "Dongye 2nd Column," not only repeatedly disobeyed the orders of the "Eastern Commandery" in the Battle of Paoshantun and put the cart before the horse, but even made the commander of the "Dongye" mobilize the 1st Column and the 2nd Column to cooperate with it, and finally achieved the brilliant results of inflicting heavy losses on the 88th Division and completely annihilating the 87th Division.
Wang Jinshan, the founding lieutenant general known as the "Madman of the King", also once destroyed the Japanese army's "battlefield watching group" in one fell swoop without the orders of his superiors.
At that time, Hu Zongnan, a unit of the Kuomintang army of Chiang Kai-shek, led a large army to attack the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia region, and Chen Geng urgently ordered Wang Jinshan to rush to Yan'an to protect the Party Central Committee. Chen Geng was well aware that Wang Jinshan would not be killed when he fought, and he repeatedly reminded Wang Jinshan: When encountering the enemy, do not love war, do not fight if you can, and protect the party Central Committee is more important than anything.
However, just when Wang Jinshan led a regiment of troops to Yan'an, passing through the village of Han Luo, northeast of Linfen, Shanxi, the accident occurred. Wang Jinshan received a report that a Japanese transport convoy full of supplies was passing by, and Wang Jinshan could not resist: "Kill this dog day."
Despite the opposition of many people in the regiment, Wang Jinshan made up his mind that he had to fight and said, "What responsibility do I have to bear alone?" ”。
Wang Jinshan did indeed fight a beautiful ambush battle, the battle lasted about 3 hours, more than 120 Japanese troops except for 3 people escaped, the rest were all annihilated. Wang Jinshan learned from a captured document that this gang of friezes was not an ordinary Japanese army transporting supplies, but a Japanese "field watching group", a japanese middle and senior officer, led by a major general brigade commander, and 6 Daisa regimental commanders, and the rest were officers and students of the "Indochina Dispatch Army Infantry School". Allegedly, the nephew of the Japanese emperor was also among them.
The central leadership once commented on Wang Jinshan: "Comrade Wang Jinshan, people say that you are 'Wang Crazy', I don't think that is called madness, that is called revolutionary heroism!" You beat Hu Zongnan to the point of madness! "Taiyue has a king near the mountain, who dares to fight a battle without orders!"
There is a way that "things are clustered by kinds, and people are divided by groups", and there is never a shortage of brave people under Wang Jinshan, who is bold and full of heaven.
In the summer of 1947, the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Field Army had just conquered Dingtao City, and the 18th Brigade of the 6th Column was advancing in the direction of the Sixth Battalion. Wang Jinshan, who was the commander of the column at the time, ordered his men to summon Xiao Yongyin, the commander of the 18th Brigade.
Wang Jinshan said: "Wang Jingjiu did not know whether he was dead or alive, and he put up a one-word long snake array, you see, the 70th Division of the Kuomintang Army was set in the Sixth Battalion, the 32nd Division was in Dushan, the 66th Division was in Yangshan, and Wang Jingjiu's corps headquarters was in Jinxiangcheng. I want you to go to Dushanji, divide the Kuomintang army into small pieces, and then eat him in one bite! ”
Xiao Yongyin quickly led the officers and men of the 18th Brigade to set off after taking the order. When the 18th journey passed through Xue Fuji, west of the Sixth Battalion, the 53rd Regiment of the vanguard suddenly encountered a Nationalist unit, and an encounter inevitably occurred. The battle lasted for more than an hour, and the 53rd Regiment took one or two hundred prisoners of the Nationalist army and sent them to the brigade headquarters.
Brigadier Xiao Yongyin learned from the captives that this group of Kuomintang troops was a unit of the enemy's 32nd Division, which was originally stationed in Dushanji, and that they were ordered to move closer to the Sixth Battalion Of the Nationalist 70th Division, and because they were at the tail of the Marching Sequence of the Nationalist 32nd Division, they had not yet entered the Sixth Battalion, and they were bitten off by the 6th Column and 18th Brigade of the People's Liberation Army.
Xiao Yongyin immediately understood that Wang Jingjiu's brain had finally opened up, and he must have realized that the "one-word long snake array" was in danger of being divided and surrounded by the People's Liberation Army, so he changed the deployment plan, the purpose of which was to change the "one-word long snake array" to "walnuts that could not be smashed."
The enemy situation changed suddenly, and the Dushan Ji that Commander Wang Jinshan wanted Xiao Yongyin to rush to had already been emptied, but the Sixth Battalion Set had added an integrated division of the Kuomintang Army. Xiao Yongyin's brain is running at high speed, do you want to report upwards? What to say? What should I do if the enemy has any new movements?
After pondering for a moment, Xiao Yongyin made up his mind, and he immediately ordered: Immediately stop advancing, and the whole brigade set up camp west of the Sixth Battalion. He took a few guard warriors with him to see the terrain.
The column soon sent a telegram asking why the 18th Brigade had stopped advancing. The chief of staff, who was on duty, immediately found Brigadier Xiao Yongyin and delivered the telegram paper sent by the column.
Xiao Yongyin took a cursory look at the telegram, said nothing, put the telegram paper in his pocket, and continued to examine his terrain as if nothing had happened. This made the chief of staff confused, but his heart could not help but be nervous for the brigade commander for a while, which was clearly "disobedience and disobedience"...
The chief of staff on this side was still anxious, but the 6th Column 53 regiment on the other side had already engaged the Kuomintang army, and the two sides launched a fierce battle, and it was difficult to distinguish between victory and defeat for a while.
At this moment, Brigadier Xiao Yongyin issued an order to the commander of the 53rd Regiment: "I do not require your regiment to attack the Sixth Battalion, I only ask you to watch him first!" ”
Xiao Yongyin had been pondering a question when inspecting the terrain just now, from the map, these six battalions were just a town, and could one town squeeze the troops of the 2 reorganized divisions of the Kuomintang army?
He summoned the chief of staff: "You have to find a way to help me find a few compatriots, and the more familiar you are with the situation of the six battalions, the better." ”
The chief of staff soon found a few old men who had been living in the Six Camps, so when Xiao Yongyin asked about some of the situations in the Six Camps, they all spoke clearly and plainly.
Xiao Yongyin learned from his fellow villagers that there are about 300 households in this town, and there are only 3 to 4 wells in the town...
Sending away his fellow villagers, Xiao Yongyin had a bottom in his heart, and the two reorganized divisions of the Kuomintang army were crowded in a market town with 300 households, and shared 3 to 4 wells with the people in the town, which was also too unreliable, and he judged that the enemy would immediately adjust the camp and must adjust it, otherwise it would be unreasonable.
He grabbed the microphone and decisively gave the order to the regiments: pay attention to monitor the enemy's movements and prepare for battle tonight!
Sure enough, as Xiao Yongyin expected, when it was getting dark, the Nationalist army suddenly began to shell the position of the 18th Brigade.
As soon as the cannon sounded, Xiao Yongyin jumped up from the chair of the temporary headquarters and shouted at the staff officers: "The enemy wants to run!" Get me on a few calls! ”
Just in the first round of artillery fire of the Kuomintang army, the telephone connecting the regiments in the command headquarters was blown off, and the chief of staff urgently arranged for someone to repair the telephone line, xiao Yongyin could not wait, he asked the chief of staff to quickly send correspondents to the regiments to convey the order: each regiment attacked with all its might, and resolutely prevented the enemy from escaping from the six battalions!
After saying that, he picked up his pistol and rushed out of the headquarters, and he was going to rush to the front line and personally command the troops to fight.
Receiving Xiao Yongyin's order, the 6th Column 53rd Regiment, which was in the first line of receiving the enemy, first quickly pounced on the enemy, and then the troops of the 52nd Regiment and the 54th Regiment also rushed into the Six Battalions.
For the Kuomintang troops who were blocked in the six camps, the gate made of loess was simply a ghost gate, Xiao Yongyin deployed a fierce firepower blockade position here, the soldiers of the Nationalist army who rushed out of the village in a panic fell in front of the gate, and a small number of people who had just escaped from the gate of the village fell into the hands of the main force of a column that had already pre-ambushed here.
In this battle to encircle Wang Jingjiu's corps, the original deployment of the commander of the field army was to attack from three sides by 6 columns and 3 brigades, and the 1 column was responsible for carrying the net. However, the 17th and 16th Brigades of the 6th Column were not in place.
When Xiao Yongyin disobeyed and led the 18th Brigade to suddenly appear in the Sixth Battalion And launched a full-scale attack, the two reorganized divisions of the Kuomintang army crowded in the town were crowded, and the scene was chaotic, and the PLA could overthrow a large number of The Kuomintang troops with a single shell.
If the 18th Brigade mechanically carried out the original order to drive to Dushanji, then Wang Jingjiu's troops could completely break through, and our army's plan to encircle and annihilate the Kuomintang army's Wang Jingjiu Corps would be in vain.
Xiao Yongyin and his 18th Brigade fought a great victory in the Six Battalions, capturing 5,000 enemy soldiers and capturing countless car cannons.
After the battle, Li Zhen, the political commissar of the 18th Brigade, realized the seriousness of disobedience and disobedience, and wanted to accompany Xiao Yongyin to the commander of Wang Jinshan to ask For The Guilt.
Xiao Yongyin said: "I carry the responsibility of disobedience and disobedience alone, you don't need to accompany me." ”
Li Zhen said, "Who made me the political commissar of the 18th Brigade, even if it is the sword mountain and the sea of fire, I will accompany you." ”
The two men had already reached the column headquarters between talking, and before they could enter the door, they heard Wang Jinshan's loud voice, and Xiao Yongyin immediately stopped.
Xiao Yongyin heard Wang Jinshan speaking loudly: "This Xiao Yongyin, the boldness is getting bigger and bigger, such a big thing actually does not even say hello, it is really bold..."
"However, the fighter plane is fleeting, and judging from the capture of the fighter plane, his 18th Brigade has done a really beautiful job..." This is the voice of Commissar Du: "Besides, no matter how bold he is, he can still be bigger than you 'Wang Crazy'... You two are so much like that! ”
"The political commissar is saying that I Wang Jinshan ... Hahaha... You really mean a little bit about that. ”
Feeling that Wang Jinshan's tone had obviously eased up a lot, Xiao Yongyin and Li Zhen outside the door were relieved and bold to enter the house.
Wang Jinshan looked up and saw Xiao Yongyin and Li Zhen come in, and slapped Xiao Yongyin's shoulder with a smile: "Xiao Yongyin, your resistance is right, you have made great achievements, I want to reward you!" ”
However, Commissar Du still seriously gave Xiao Yongyin and Li Zhen a lesson.
Looking back at the actions of several of the characters mentioned in this article, we have to deal with a problem, that is, the subjective initiative of the commander. Mechanical rigidity is not enough, too subjective, regardless of the overall situation is not enough, judge the situation, moderate.
The reason why later people can act as "hindsight Zhuge Liang" is because the wood has become a boat, the success or failure is established, and even the hero can be "judged by success or failure".
In any case, we must admit that a commander does need a courage when refusing to carry out the wrong orders of his superiors.