At that time, Chairman Mao hoped that Acting President Li Zongren would sign a treaty on peaceful nation-building and let the remnants of the Kuomintang troops be formed into the People's Liberation Army. Many people invariably mention a person, who is Su Yu, who is known as the greatest hero of the Huaihai Campaign.
Although the Battle of Crossing the River was later forced to be carried out, the evaluation of Su Yu did not diminish at all, and just after the meeting of the Central Military Commission in 1958, Chairman Mao specially received Xiao Jinguang and asked Su Yu's questions.
When the rank was awarded in 1955, there was one less marshal, that is, Su Yu, who voluntarily resigned from the rank of marshal, why did he voluntarily resign from the rank of marshal at this time?
This has to say about the controversy after the Liberation War, when Su Yu became a celebrity because of the Meng Lianggu War, and after joining the Central Plains War, he even put down a large array to fight the Kuomintang, but in this decisive battle, the People's Liberation Army still paid a great price, which pushed Su Yu, who was responsible for commanding the campaign, to the cusp of the storm. In this case, Su Yu took the initiative to request to give up the rank of marshal and go to work in the Museum of Culture and History, which made many people puzzled.
Seeing that Su Yu took the initiative to give up the rank of marshal, Chairman Mao could not help but feel pity, and after seeing the news, he asked Li Yinqiao, a guard on the side, and said: Who has the greatest merit in this Huaihai campaign? Li Yinqiao pondered for a moment and said that of course it was Su Yu. When Li Yinqiao talked about Su Yu's achievements in that year, he could be said to be one of the best in the army.
In the Huaihai Campaign, in the face of the 800,000 elite troops of the Kuomintang reactionaries, Su Yu did not have the slightest intention of retreating, but instead led the Kuomintang troops into a larger encirclement circle and annihilated the main force of the Kuomintang troops in one fell swoop. Chairman Mao also nodded his head after listening to it, saying that Su Yu's going to work at the Museum of Literature and History was really too much to use.
After the enlarged meeting of the Central Military Commission in 1958, Chairman Mao asked Xiao Jinguang to come to the office alone, so in this separate conversation, Chairman Mao revealed the idea of hoping to transfer Su Yu back to the army. When Xiao Jinguang talked about the future construction of the troops, Chairman Mao accidentally mentioned Su Yu, which surprised Xiao Jinguang, although Chairman Mao only asked him what he thought of Su Yu, but the significance was very profound.
Talking about Su Yu, Xiao Jinguang believes that the main thing is to be affirmed, after all, in the battle situation of the Huaihai Campaign that year, in the face of 800,000 elite Kuomintang troops, if we cannot adopt the tactics of enticing the enemy to go deep and encircle in a roundabout way, then it is very likely that these elite troops will escape from the encirclement circle and even retreat to the Yangtze River, which will bring more trouble to the future liberation war, so Xiao Jinguang is very supportive of Su Yu at this point, and also expresses the meaning that Su Yu's work today is a bit big and small.
After hearing Xiao Jinguang's answer, Chairman Mao expressed the hope that Su Yu would be transferred back to the army, hoping that Xiao Jinguang would transfer the meaning of the military committee to Su Yu. Hoping that Su Yu would return to the army, Chairman Mao asked again: Which post is appropriate for Su Yu to be transferred? Do you want to be re-awarded a military rank? After thinking about it for a long time, Xiao Jinguang replied that he hoped to transfer Su Yu to the PLA Staff Headquarters.
On the one hand, Su Yu's strategic vision is very high, and on the other hand, Su Yu's tactics on the battlefield are very well used, which makes Xiao Jinguang very hopeful that Su Yu can serve as a staff officer. Later, Su Yu failed to achieve his wishes due to physical reasons, and until his death in 1984, Su Yu did not officially return to the official work of the army, so that the general stayed in the Huaihai Campaign forever.
As the first general to voluntarily resign from the rank of marshal after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Su Yu's talent was recognized by the whole army, and Chairman Mao also felt sorry for him, but Su Yu did not give up his military research because he did not work in the army. In his later years, Su Yu began to write an autobiography, expressing the military summary of his life in the form of literature, which became an eternal military treasure.