On October 4, 1932, Wujiawan, west of Yingshan In Hubei Province. Xu Xiangqian, commander-in-chief of the Red Fourth Front, and Chen Changhao, general political commissar, were walking on the river beach when they suddenly heard someone shouting "Long live the Communist Party" with all their might, and the two walked in the direction of the sound to see that a young soldier was tied up with five flowers, and another soldier next to him was holding a large knife high.
Xu Xiangqian shouted, "What are you doing?" ”
The little soldier who was tied up was named Zhou Xihan, who was a staff officer at the headquarters of the Red Fourth Front.
Seeing Xu Xiangqian and Chen Changhao,two chiefs walking over, a soldier next to him hurried forward and reported that he had been ordered by Chairman Zhang to "execute the reorganization faction." Xu Xiangqian did not pay attention to the man, but asked Zhou Xihan, "What's going on?" ”
Zhou Xihan's neck was still stalked, but there was a stream of hot tears flowing into his stomach. He looked away and said angrily:
"Chairman Zhang said that the house I got would be bombed by enemy planes, and he deliberately plotted to kill him."
Xu Xiangqian listened and glanced at Chen Changhao. Chen Changhao also seemed to think that it was very inappropriate to kill people casually under such circumstances, especially the staff officers of the headquarters, but he did not dare to say anything, but just sighed. Xu Xiangqian didn't think much of it, and drank, "Let him go!" "The voice is not loud but majestic.
There was silence on the river beach, Zhang Guotao was the highest chief of the Eyu-Anhui Su District at that time, and no one dared to disobey his orders. But Xu Xiangqian was the commander-in-chief, and he was still hesitating about who he should listen to. Xu Xiangqian saw the situation and raised his voice in dissatisfaction and ordered:
"I said let him go! Chairman Zhang there I go to talk! ”
The rope was untied, and Zhou Xihan threw off the numbness of the bundle and had begun to pinp his ache-like arm, grateful that Xu Xiangqian had once again rescued himself from danger and fully explained the reason for his affair.
At that time, the Red Fourth Front was in the fourth anti-encirclement and suppression war, and due to Zhang Guotao's wrong command, the main force of the Red Fourth Front was greatly depleted and the Central Soviet Center Qiliping was lost. The large army withdrew all the way to the east, and never got rid of the passive situation. Zhang Guotao was also frightened and panicked by the fierceness of the enemy, he knew that the passive situation was caused by him, but he was unwilling to admit it no matter what, and in his heart he was even more afraid and annoyed that others said this.
On this day, the troops withdrew to Wujiawan, and Zhou Xihan, as a staff officer of the headquarters, was responsible for finding a camp for the headquarters organs. He found a place called "Lujiazhuang" on the map, but the map was captured, not accurate at all, and when he arrived at the place, he didn't know that there was no Lujiazhuang at all. Seeing that the large army was about to arrive, he had to hastily find another camp nearby.
According to the custom, he arranged the best house for Zhang Guotao, who has always talked about pomp and circumstance, but he did not expect that something went wrong.
After Zhang Guotao saw the house, he said that there were no other buildings around the house and it was vulnerable to air raids by enemy aircraft. He sent someone to find the person who made the house, and when he saw that it was Zhou Xihan, he asked Zhou Xihan why he had framed him. Seeing Zhang Guotao's angry and corrupt look, Zhou Xihan thought to himself, "You know a ghost? air raid? Although the mountain here is not high, but the house is inside the mountain pass, can the reactionary plane have such a great ability? ”
However, the wrong camp was chosen, the troops were allowed to walk more, and the time was delayed, after all, there was a mistake, so he patiently explained: "It is relatively hurried to get this house, and it is true that the air defense problem has not been taken into account, and I will definitely correct it next time." The head of the house was not satisfied, and I immediately adjusted. ”
"I don't need you to adjust, I just want you to tell you who instructed you to do this!" You slipped through the net of the reshuffle! ”
Zhang Guotao did not listen to the explanation at all. When Zhou Xihan heard the three words "reorganization faction," he couldn't help but shiver in his heart, and he knew that Zhang Guotao was about to start borrowing the topic again. In the face of Zhang Guotao's repeated questioning, Zhou Xihan simply threw out a sentence: "I didn't want to murder you, you can do whatever you want!" ”
Hearing that Zhou Xihan was so confrontational with himself, Zhang Guotao suddenly lost patience, what did he think? He raised his chin and pointed his hand casually in one direction:
"Execution, right now!"
Zhou Xihan was escorted out of the courtyard with his arms tied behind his back, until he was escorted to the desolate river beach, Zhou Xihan woke up from his anger, he was not greedy for life and afraid of death, he acted calmly and shocked, but realized that the last moment had arrived, so he ripped open his voice and shouted with all his strength: "Long live the Communist Party!" ”
It was this cry that alarmed Xu Xiangqian, who was walking not far away, and Zhou Xihan was also rescued, and this was not the first time Xu Xiangqian had rescued him from danger.
Zhou Xihan is a native of Macheng, Hubei Province, a native of Dabie Mountain. In 1927, at the age of 14, Zhou Xihan participated in the Jute Uprising, joined the Red Army the following year, and was honorably inducted into the Party. By 1930, the Red Army had grown to more than 10,000 people and was renamed the First Army of the Red Army. Zhou Xihan, a 17-year-old platoon commander, was incorporated into the Thirty-eighth Regiment of the 13th Division of the Army and was appointed secretary of the Communist Youth League Committee of the regiment.
On the way to the regimental headquarters to take up his post, Zhou Xihan passed a small village called Guling, although this village is not large, but the terrain is very high, located only more than a mile away from the regimental headquarters, halfway up the mountainside, looking down on the entire mountain pass in the oblique thorn, a not small sidewalk pointing directly to Yijiaping, where the regimental headquarters is located. He stopped and stood on the hillside to carefully observe the surrounding terrain, thinking that although there were supports on the front and back of the regimental headquarters, this Guling should also have a troop, at least a platoon.
As soon as he arrived at the regimental headquarters, Zhou Xihan did not care about anything else, so he mentioned the idea of placing a unit in Guling with the regimental commander Ren Nan and the political commissar Song Aaron. The regimental commander and the political commissar exchanged a look, did not open their mouths, but just looked at him and smiled. At this time, a chief who had been buried in the map came over and looked up and down at him. The chief looked even younger than the regimental commander, twenty-seven or eight years old, not very tall, plainly dressed, but very capable. He looked at Zhou Xihan, who was tall and thin but always held his head high, raised his hand to pull his emaciated shoulder, and sighed with regret: "It's just thinner." ”
This commander was Xu Xiangqian, the deputy commander of the First Army at that time. Xu Xiangqian's words just stabbed Zhou Xihan's sore spot, and after more than two years of joining the Red Army, he was always annoyed that he had not been able to grow a tough figure. Whether it is fighting, training, or labor, the lack of strength always makes him unable to rise up when he is mighty, and this is also the point that he is always unconvinced in his heart. He muttered unceremoniously: "In the future, Guan Yun is tall, won't he also lose the battle?" How do Zhuge Liang and Pang Shiyuan look? Don't you also win the battle! Besides, now there are machine guns and artillery! ”
Xu Xiangqian secretly rejoiced after listening to it, such a bold talent was exactly what the Red Army urgently needed, so he wanted to further investigate this person. He pulled Zhou Xihan to the unfolded map and asked, "Find your regimental headquarters and Guling, as well as the location of the mountain pass you mentioned." Zhou Xihan was dumbfounded, at that time, the Red Army's military maps were still very rare, he had never seen it. The dense contour line dazzled him, and he didn't understand it for a while, but had to confess: "I don't understand." But he immediately followed up, "But I can learn, there is no skill that I can't learn." ”
Xu Xiangqian was even happier, feeling that this boy was so confident, and it was rare to have the strength of a newborn calf who was not afraid of the tiger and did not accept defeat. In this way, Xu Xiangqian met and liked Zhou Xihan.
This acquaintance opened the prelude to the intertwining of emotions and fate between the marshal and the general of the republic.
Soon after, Zhang Guotao came to Eyuwan and replaced Zeng Zhongsheng, who led the Red Army to win consecutive battles, as the chairman of the Military Commission of the Eyu-Anhui Soviet District, and also served as the secretary of the Eyu-Anhui Central Sub-bureau, becoming the number one in the Eyu-Anhui Soviet District. After Zhang Guotao took power alone, he began to promote left-leaning dogmatic errors and carried out a large-scale struggle against the rebellion. Xu Jishen, Kuang Jixun, Zeng Zhongsheng, and other leaders of the former Eyu-Anhui Red Army were all mistakenly killed one after another, and most of the other generals at all levels were also affected. One day, Zhou Xihan was also invited into the office of the Security Bureau, and someone exposed him as a kulak who had mixed into the ranks of the Red Army.
kulak? Zhou Xihan simply did not believe his ears, and in Macheng Zhou Jia'ao, who did not know that his Ancestors of Zhou Xihan's family had been poor peasants for generations. "Deng Panchu, and Ding Maoxian, they are my introducers to the party," Zhou Xihan blurted out. Both Deng and Ding had secretly gone to the countryside to do mobilization work before the jute riot, and Deng Panchu lived in Zhou Xihan's house. Zhou Xihan carried a red gun to him as a correspondent and followed him throughout the riot. This alone is enough to show that the Zhou Xihan family is not a kulak.
Zhou Xihan originally thought that this would clear him of suspicion, but the cadres of the Security Bureau only skimmed their lips after listening to it. It turned out that Ding Maoxian and Deng Panchu were also regarded as "impure elements who mixed into the revolutionary ranks" and were both under scrutiny. Of course, the "impure elements" cannot prove the "purity" of Zhou Xihan, but on the contrary, it further enhances the problem. About a month later, Zhou Xihan was forced to hand over everything, including military uniforms, and was given a plainclothes and a road note, which read:
Zhou Xihan was born into a rich peasant background, and was expelled from his hometown to produce and released along the way.
In order to prove his innocence and, more importantly, not to leave the Red Army, Zhou Xihan decided to go back to Macheng to find the local Soviet to prove it. It took him several months to finally obtain a certificate from the Soviet government of Macheng County: Zhou Xihan's family had a number of fields, a number of tenant fields, and they lived on tenant fields, and they were poor peasants, not rich peasants.
Zhou Xihan was full of expectations to find the troops, but still had nowhere to live, only to help the kitchen, wash vegetables and collect rice, carry water and chop firewood, and occasionally help the cooks to record a meal account. Until one day, Xu Xiangqian went to the kitchen to find some pots to eat, and saw Zhou Xihan, who was embarrassed. After asking for clarification
Xu Xiangqian found Zhang Guotao and said somewhat angrily: "Zhou Xihan is still a child, does not understand anything, and is very active when he works with me, how can he be a reformist and a rich peasant?" ”
Subsequently, Xu Xiangqian left Zhou Xihan in the organ as a clerk.
In the first half of 1932, Chiang Kai-shek personally led a large army to launch the fourth "encirclement and suppression" against the Eyu-Anhui Red Army, and Zhang Guotao was immersed in the joy of the previous victory, believing that the launching of the army was vulnerable to a blow, not only did not let the main force rest in time and make preparations for counter-encirclement and suppression, but instead forced the troops to attack Macheng, which did not fall, but left the troops in a mess. Zhou Xihan, who usually does not like to talk, complained at this time: "Blind commander! ”
Zhou Xihan as a pre-war mobilization (middle stander)
Some people have reported that he lost a batch of trophy pistol bullets after the Battle of Sujiabu. Discovering a "reshuffle faction that slipped through the net," the cadres of the Security Bureau did not dare to slacken off and immediately reported zhang Guotao.
Zhang Guotao's impression of Zhou Xihan as a small staff officer was not very good, nor was it very bad, but he did not like Zhou Xihan's face very much, squinting his eyes, and the corners of his mouth were a little bent, as if he was defying all authority.
After listening to the report, he was shocked and angry: "Such a bold person, dare to talk about me like this behind my back!" Could it have been directed by someone? Zhang Guotao ordered severe torture.
Zhou Xihan was tied to a stool on the spot and poured with chili water, although the taste of chili water was not good, but he also knew that the taste of admitting that he was a "reformist" in front of Chairman Zhang would be even more uncomfortable. So he struggled desperately and shouted, "I'm not a regrouper!" I am not a counter-revolutionary! ”
Fortunately, just after pouring the first sip of chili water, Xu Xiangqian heard the news and rushed to the next room, he invited Zhang Guotao to the next room, explaining that the "missing bullets" were just the guards platoon leader who took some points from the bullets kept by Zhou Xihan and did not say hello. He vouched for Zhou Xihan with the principle of party spirit, and said in an affirmative tone: "At most, it is a liberal issue, he is my clerk, and I strictly discipline him." ”
In the face of the great enemy, Zhang Guotao reluctantly gave Xu Xiangqian a face, and Zhou Xihan was spared
But it also left a bad impression on Zhang Guotao. So much so that when the incident of the house appeared later, Zhang Guotao blurted out that Zhou Xihan was a "reshuffle who slipped through the net."
In August 1933, Zhou Xihan went to the Red 9th Army as the chief of the operations section, and participated in the anti-three-way siege and anti-six-way siege in the Sichuan-Shaanxi revolutionary base area with the Red Fourth Front. Later, the troops prepared materials for the meadows, and Zhou Xihan went to the logistics department to receive a little more tobacco, and some people criticized him in this name, and also removed him from his post as chief of the operations section and changed him to the political department as the chief of the mimeograph section. It just so happened that Xu Xiangqian went to the Red 9 Army to inspect the work, inadvertently inquired about Zhou Xihan's situation, and after learning about this, he shook his head continuously: "Hey, hey, just such a small matter, I dismissed him, this is a big deal." And immediately ordered: "Zhou Xihan, this person I understand, can fight, transfer him to the Thirty-first Army as the chief of the operations section." ”
With the collapse of Zhang Guotao's counter-revolutionary actions, generals with military talents like Zhou Xihan were reused. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Zhou Xihan successively served as the chief of the operations unit of the 386th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, the chief of staff of the Supplementary Regiment, the chief of staff of the 386th Brigade and the chief of staff of the Taiyue Military Region, the commander of the Southward Detachment, and the deputy commander of the Second Military Subdistrict of the Taiyue Military Region. Become a tough general under Chen Geng. The 386th Brigade was active in the front line of the War of Resistance Against Japan, opening up many anti-Japanese base areas, sweeping the enemy army all the way and threatening the battlefield. As a result, the Japanese army was furious and hung up the slogan "Specializing in the 386 Brigade" on the armored vehicles, and looked around for a decisive battle with it. The 386th Brigade is also known as the "Three Sons Unit", and the "Three Sons" are the lame Chen Geng, the blind Wang Xinting, and the thin Man Zhou Xihan, who are the main leaders of this unit.
In 1940, zhou Xihan was wearing a Japanese army coat on the left, and Chen Geng was wearing a Japanese combat hat and hanging a camera on the right
During the Liberation War, Zhou Xihan was still the most important general of Chen Geng's corps, serving as the commander of the 10th Brigade of the 4th Column of the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Military Region and the commander of the 13th Army of the 2nd Field Army. He participated in a series of battles and campaigns in Tongpu, Linfu, Jindong, Fenxiao, Luoyang, Henan, Advancing into the Central Plains, Huaihai, Crossing the River, and Liberating the Great Southwest, and achieved the battle of capturing sixty-one Kuomintang generals.
In 1955, Zhou Xihan was awarded the rank of lieutenant general. As the founding general of the republic, Zhou Xihan never forgot Xu Qianqian's life-saving grace. In 1982, Zhou Xihan, who was nearly seventy years old, also said with great emotion: "Every time I suffered, it was Comrade Xu Xiangqian who saved my life and gave me the opportunity to continue to work for the party and the people." It is really a difficult revolutionary journey, and there is Xu Shuai who is not dead. ”
Lieutenant General Zhou Xihan
In the era of Zhang Guotao's wanton rebellion, Xu Xiangqian's wife Cheng Xunxuan was brutally killed. Although Xu Shuai could not ask about these things, every time he encountered them, he had to do his best to protect his comrades from being killed. In addition to Zhou Xihan, the founding general Chen Xilian was also pulled back by Xu Shuai from Zhang Guotao's sword. At that time, Chen Xilian got a few copper plates, dragged a few comrades-in-arms to the street to buy oil cakes to eat, and was falsely accused of organizing a "eating and drinking committee" and arrested him. Zhang Guotao ordered him to be killed, but xu Shuai ran into him and said to Zhang Guotao: "The little devils are hungry and know what a 'committee' is?" This is how Chen Xilian was released.
Like Zhou Xihan, Chen Xilian often told people: "It was Mr. Xu who saved me." ”