General Ye Fei wrote: Remembering Comrade Wang Bicheng

I miss Comrade Wang Bicheng

Fei

Thank you for providing the materials for this article.

One

A few years ago, a young party history worker came to interview me and asked me a question: "In the historical materials of the Jiangsu War of Resistance and the East China Liberation War, 'Ye Wangtao' has been mentioned many times. Where is it now? Have you used pseudonyms such as 'Ye Chen' and 'Nie Yang'?"

The years are rushing, and the people and things that have passed away have become a history that needs to be verified! It has aroused people's interest in research!

This reminds me of an old thing. It was August 1965, under the command of Comrade Tao Yong, the East China Sea Fleet won a great victory in the Battle of Chongwu, sinking the large hunting submarine "Jianmen" and the small hunting submarine "Zhangjiang" of the US-made Chiang Kai-shek Army. It just so happened that Comrade Han Xianchu invited Comrade Chen Yi to a banquet, and Comrades Tao Yong, Wei Wenbo, Liu Peishan, and other comrades accompanied me. At that time, Lin Biao's counterrevolutionary clique was "reorganizing" Comrade Tao Yong in order to plot to usurp the leadership of the Navy. Everyone tacitly toasted to Comrade Tao Yong and wished him a good victory. Comrade Chen Yi said with deep meaning: "Ye Wangtao, Ye Wangtao, don't mention it now!" Someone interjected: "Now the children only say that Ye Wang Tao is a person!" Everyone was stunned. Soon, the "Cultural Revolution" began.........

Ye Wang Tao is not a person, but the collective name of Ye Fei, Wang Bicheng, and Tao Yong. Ye Wangtao is not the "Taoyuan Three Knots", but from the summer of 1940, the commander of the three columns under the New Fourth Army's Northern Jiangsu Headquarters, the commander of the 1st Column, The Commander of the 1st Column, Wang Bicheng, the Commander of the 2nd Column, and the Commander of the 3rd Column, Tao Yong. The three columns had been fighting side by side, and the surnames of the three commanders had always been linked.

Today, Comrade Tao Yong was murdered by Lin Biao's heinous party during the "Cultural Revolution" and died prematurely at the prime of his life (Note 1); Comrade Wang Bicheng also passed away last year! I'm still alive.

This article is written in memory of Comrade Wang Bicheng.

Two

Comrade Wang Bicheng is a native of Macheng County, Hubei Province. In November 1927, Macheng and Huang Anqiao launched a vigorous armed uprising, which was known as the "Jute Riot". The rebellious Red Armed Forces were under siege by strong enemies, most of the guns were transferred to the Mulan Mountain area, and only a few people were fighting in situ. In 1928, Comrade Wang Bicheng was only 16 years old, but in this difficult year, he joined the Red Guards, joined the Communist Youth League, became a member of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army in 1929, and transferred from the Communist Youth League to the Communist Party of China in 1930. In the tempering of the war, the young comrade Wang Bicheng served as the signal captain, company commander, company political instructor, 3 battalion commander of the 3rd Regiment of the 10th Division of the Red 4th Front, political commissar of the 1st Battalion of the 263rd Regiment of the 88th Division of the Red 30th Army, deputy regimental commander of the 265th Regiment of the 89th Division, commander of the 267th Regiment, political commissar and deputy division commander. He participated in the Long March.

Comrade Wang Bicheng and I met each other relatively late, and we first heard his name and then met. After the Red Guerrillas, which persisted in guerrilla warfare for three years, were organized into the New Fourth Army, a number of cadres of the main Red Army were assigned from Yan'an to work in the New Fourth Army in the south, and Comrade Wang Bicheng was one of them. After the concentration of the rock temple, I served as the regimental commander of the 6th Regiment of the New Fourth Army. The 6th Regiment belonged to 3 detachments and was stationed on the banks of the Qingyi River in Jing County. Comrade Wang Bicheng first served as the chief of staff of the 2 regiments, and then as the regimental commander. The 2 regiments belonged to 1 detachment and were led by Comrade Chen Yi, commander of the 1st detachment, into the Maoshan area behind enemy lines in southern Jiangsu in late June 1938.

Immediately after that, on June 18, the advance detachment won the first battle at Weigang; on July 1, it attacked Xinfeng Station on the Ninghu railway line, annihilating a Japanese squadron; on August 13, it attacked Jurong City; and on August 23, it ambushed the Japanese fleet at Erling. These are the 2nd Regiment and Comrade Wang Bicheng's small tests. At that time, it was still in the early stage of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and the domestic political situation was still relatively good; in addition to the war reports and internal briefings of the New Fourth Army Department, we could also see the "commendation telegram" sent by Chiang Kai-shek and Gu Zhutong, and it was also necessary to write what "Commander Ye: Commander Ye: Belong to the X Department, attack XX, gain a lot, and still need to supervise to continue to work hard to achieve tasks, and so on. At that time, it was still legal to publicize the New Fourth Army, and Qiu Dongping's "The Destruction of a Japanese Stronghold in Dongwan" was published in the "Time Series" published in Chongqing.

"A stronghold of the enemy in the East Bay." ... As our regimental commander said, it was as strong as iron, and we were in a counter-attack posture, pulling out these eyes one by one and throwing him to the ground. ”

"Skinny regimental commander,......... The sturdy middle-aged man stood motionless, his silence a silence that was neither nervous nor lax, as if listening, whether the team would be hard enough to turn into iron............"

After 50 minutes of fierce fighting, "the commander of the regiment ordered a temporary halt to the firing." Led by Qiongzhou, the head of the enemy work unit, it took 3 minutes to shout Japanese to the enemy. ”

The battle was settled, and a squadron of Japanese troops was completely annihilated, including the squadron leader, Captain Ota. The "regimental commander" and "commander of the regiment" written in this article are Comrade Wang Bicheng, and the "Qiongzhouren, commander of the enemy industry unit" is the author of the article.

What made Comrade Wang Bicheng deeply impressed in the hearts of the maoshan people was the battle of Yanling. Songs that celebrate this battle are called "Yanling Victory". On February 18, 1939, that is, the night of the Chinese New Year's Eve of the old calendar, the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Regiment made a long-distance attack on the enemy stronghold of Yanling Town, broke through the door with decisive action, quickly captured all the puppet troops, and launched a general attack on the Japanese troops in the hedong landlord compound and Changguo Temple. Our army was able to attack with fire under the Tibetan Scripture Building and completely annihilated the enemy.

The reputation of the "King Tiger" is prominent, the enemy army is frightened, and the people are excited!

Three

Comrade Wang Bicheng led the troops to fight side by side with me for the first time in September 1939. At that time, I led 6 regiments to the east in the name of the "Jiangnan Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army" and reached Shanghai nearby, but they were attacked by the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 10th detachments of the Kuomintang Loyal Salvation Army. In August, the battles of Xibei Hongshan and Shoe Mountain lasted for one day and one night, and the enemy and we suffered casualties from each other. The terrain we are in is unfavorable, the task of reorganizing the troops has not yet been completed, and it hastily thrown into battle, and the "loyal rescue" is a fresh force in the Yixing Mountains that has been shrinking for a long time, and the ammunition is sufficient. Our army withdrew from the battle, chose another position, waited for reinforcements, and then fought a decisive battle, but was attacked during the march to the area east of Qingyang. Comrade Wu Kun, deputy regimental commander, was killed, and Comrade Liu Fei, director of the political department, was seriously injured. The commanders and fighters of the whole army were indignant at the reactionary perverse actions of the diehards. Our army immediately threw itself into a counterattack. On the first day, the "JiangKang" 2 and 3 roads were put into battle and fought for a whole day. The next day, Comrade Wang Bicheng led 2 regiments to reinforcements, and I and I were in the hilly area north of Qiaoqi and south of Dingshan in the southeast of Jiangyin. I immediately studied with Comrade Wang Bicheng the situation of the enemy and ourselves, deployed my forces, and decided to launch a general offensive. At this time, however, we received a telegram from Commander Chen Yi, asking us to stop the attack and retreat immediately. Neither Comrade Wang Bicheng nor I was willing to give up the victory that was about to arrive, but we were still determined to make a general offensive at dawn, and sent a telegram to Commander Chen asking for war. In the middle of the night, Commander Chen sent a telegram back, strictly ordering us to stop the attack and immediately retreat west to join him. So we ordered our troops to withdraw from the battle overnight and move to the West Stone Bridge. Comrade Wang Bicheng gave me the initial impression that he had both the enthusiasm to fight and the ability to resolutely obey orders.

In October 1940, the famous Suzhong Yellow Bridge Decisive Battle. At that time, the Kuomintang diehard Han Deloitte supported 100,000 troops, and the direct attack on our army was more than 30,000 troops. Our army has only more than 7,000 people. It was a battle of great disparities in strength. Comrade Wang Bicheng and I fought side by side again. I led the 1st Column, Comrade Wang Bicheng led the 2nd Column for the assault, and Comrade Tao Yong led the 3rd Column to defend the Yellow Bridge. This is also the beginning of our association and being referred to simply as "Ye Wang Tao". The predetermined task was: the 1st and 2nd columns first annihilated the main independent 6th Brigade of the Recalcitrant Army, and then cooperated with the 3rd Column to surround and annihilate the Recalcitrant 89th Army. At about 2 p.m. on October 4, I noticed that the Independent 6th Brigade was heading towards the Yellow Bridge. I attacked in full column, cut it into several pieces, and annihilated it in all units. Comrade Wang Bicheng led the 2nd Column to Gaoqiao, and the Independent 6th Brigade had already passed, and without firing, it maneuvered and flexibly inserted itself to the south, cutting off the contact between the Independent 6th Brigade and the 89th Army. After we completely annihilated the Independent 6th Brigade, the 89th Army was completely exposed. That night, Comrade Wang Bicheng led his troops decisively into the combined units of Gu's 117th Division and the 33rd Division, passed through the Bazi Bridge, rushed to the demarcation area on the Ru (Ju) Huang (Bridge) Highway, cut off the retreat route of the ROK army, divided and surrounded the 349th Brigade and the 33rd Division of the Stubborn 117th Division in the northeast area of Huangqiao, and cooperated with the 3rd Column to attack, first annihilating the main force of the 33rd Division. After annihilating the Independent 6th Brigade that night, the 1st Column went south to engage in a decisive battle, and cooperated with the 2nd and 3rd Columns to wipe out the headquarters of Gu 89th Army and the 117th Division. In this battle, I saw that the attack spirit of the 2nd Column was very strong, and they engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. This reminds me of the Battle of Jiang Wei before the Battle of Huangqiao. Comrade Wang Bicheng's 2nd Column served as a brave team that broke through the frontier, and after the war, "Brave Team" composed by Comrade Li Reinforcement and composed by Comrade Zhang Ming was warmly praised and sung to this day. Comrade Chen Yi once reported to the central authorities on the situation of the Battle of Huangqiao, "seven or eight bayonet fights" and "an unprecedented fierce battle." This is the case of the whole army, and it is also the case of the 2nd Column. This battle also deepened my understanding of Comrade Wang Bicheng. He is a general with both a brave temperament, a determined combat command, and a decisive and resourceful general who can judge the situation.

In April 1945, I led the Soviet-Chinese InstructionAl Brigade (Liao Zhengguo Brigade) across the Yangtze River to the south and served as the deputy commander of the Jiangsu-Zhejiang Military Region. Prior to this, Comrade Wang Bicheng led the 2nd Brigade and Commander Su Yu led Comrade Tao Yong's 3rd Brigade, which had already gone south. In late May, I led the Liao Brigade (the 4th Column of the Jiangsu-Zhejiang Military Region) to cross the Fuchun River to meet the guerrilla column in eastern Zhejiang. Comrade Wang Bicheng led the 1st Column and Comrade Tao Yong led the 3rd Column, which served as a cover and was under the unified command of us. On the eve of crossing the Fuchun River on June 2, I met the stubborn army on the narrow road and was attacked. On June 3, the recalcitrant army stormed Shinden Castle. Comrade Wang Bicheng led his troops to fight fiercely with the enemy. Comrade Liu Beisheng, commander of the 48th Regiment, held the Position of Hushan and died heroically. At this time, it was ascertained from the captured documents and prisoners' confessions that the Kuomintang 3rd Theater of Operations ignored the Japanese attack on the Zhejiang-Gansu Line, but launched a large-scale attack on our army, and the troops invested were the 79th Division, the 52nd Division, the 142nd Division, the Assault Column, the Independent 33rd Brigade, and the "Loyal Salvation" Army, in a vain attempt to annihilate our army in the Xiaofeng area. On June 4, I summoned Comrades Wang Bicheng, Tao Yong, and Liao Zhengguo to a meeting to study whether to fight a decisive battle in the Xindeng area. Because of Comrade Liu Beisheng's sacrifice, Comrade Wang Bi was very emotional and vigorously advocated a decisive battle on the spot. I believe that Xindeng is far away from the base area, coupled with the serious food shortage, the troops and supplies are at a disadvantage, and the enemy's weaknesses have not yet been exposed, so it is advisable to lure the enemy to go deep into the Xiaofeng area to fight a decisive battle. Comrades Tao Yong and Liao Zhengguo agree with me. Comrade Wang Bicheng also expressed obedience to the order, agreed to lure the enemy to the belly of the base area to fight again, and was willing to take on the task of enticing the enemy. Sure enough, the recalcitrant army advanced lightly and was broken by our army in the Xiaofeng area. In particular, the annihilation of the stubborn 52nd Division, the vanguard of the "Anhui Southern Incident," was very gratifying. After this battle, I added another layer of understanding to Comrade Wang Bicheng: He attached importance to comradely feelings but also attached importance to the overall situation; he had a good understanding of Comrade Mao Zedong's tactical thinking of "enticing the enemy to penetrate deep and attacking people later," or the tactics of the Red 4 Front army called "shrinking the position."

Four

Comrade Wang Bicheng has made outstanding achievements in battle. I have little understanding of his exploits during the Red Army era, but I am familiar with the situation after acquaintance. At the beginning of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the main military force mastered by Comrade Chen Yi in the Maoshan area was Comrade Wang Bicheng's 2nd Regiment. In the Battle of Tangma in 1941, Comrades Luo Zhongyi and Liao Haitao were killed. At the end of 1942, he led the 2nd Brigade to the south, met with Comrades Jiang Weiqing, Wu Zhongchao and other comrades, persisted in the struggle in the Maoshan area of southern Jiangsu, and opened up the Zhejiang West New Area. At the beginning of the War of Liberation, the backbone of the Seven Battles and Seven Victories commanded by Comrades Su Yu and Tan Zhenlin were Comrade Tao Yong's 1st Division and Comrade Wang Bicheng's 6th Division.

Comrade Wang Bicheng never boasted of his exploits, let alone prided himself on his achievements, but felt deeply guilty for his defeat at the Battle of Lianshui in December 1946. Comrade Pi Dingjun, who had served as his deputy, knew this best. After the publication of the novel "Red Sun", the military commander Shen Zhenxin, many people believe that it is Comrade Wang Bicheng. Comrade Pi Dingjun pointed out to the author of "Red Sun": Commander Wang is not a proud and complacent person, and the defeat of Lianshui is by no means caused by the paralysis of the light enemy! Of course, artistic creation and the recording of real people and real events are not the same thing, but as a typical archetype of art, it always gives people an association. In particular, this book describes the historical facts of this army, and in the reader's mind, is there no certain connection between the real-life military commander and the military commander summarized by art? It must not be said that soldiers do not understand art.

Comrade Wang Bicheng never had any views on the image of Shen Zhenxin created by "Red Sun" before his death, just as he never talked about the objective reasons for Lianshui's failure.

At that time, the pseudo-"National Convention" opened in Nanjing. For the sake of political necessity, Chiang Kai-shek wanted to achieve a military victory in a vain attempt to quickly occupy the liberated areas of northern Jiangsu. He mobilized more than 20 reorganized brigades and attacked simultaneously in four ways: the reorganized 11th Division and the 49th Reorganized Division, one of the elite main forces, moved from Susu to Shuyang and Xin'an towns; the reorganized 74th Division and the reorganized 28th Division with another elite main force attacked from Huaiyin to Lianshui; the reorganized 65th, 2nd, and 83rd Divisions attacked from Dongtai to Yancheng and Funing; and the 33rd Army and the reorganized 51st Division attacked from Fengxian and Zaozhuang to Linyi and Yancheng. Our army decided to concentrate the main force of the Shandong Field Army and the 9th Column (five regiments) of the Central China Field Army to annihilate the Suqian road, and the other three enemies were clamped down by the Central China Field Army and the Shandong Military Region troops respectively. Fighting began on 15 December. On the 19th, our army completely annihilated the enemy's entire 69th Division. Our army originally planned to continue to annihilate the entire 11th Division, but due to insufficient troops, the enemy again shrank to Suqian, and the enemy of the two Huaihuai provinces had already captured Lianshui on the 16th, and the enemy of Dongtai had captured Yancheng on the 20th, thus stopping the attack on the entire 11th Division, which had been seriously hit. The Battle of Subei came to an end.

Comrade Wang Bicheng's 6th Division (Column) was ordered to hold Lianshui. It is difficult to understand the use of the main force to clamp down on the direction; and it is even more difficult to explain that it is even more difficult to explain that it is necessary to "stick to it" on a vast plain that has no danger to defend except for the sand and gravel of the Yellow River. In fact, this was a futile casualty under the bombardment of the enemy air force and the suppression of intensive artillery fire. It now seems that the strategic principle of concentrating forces to fight a war of annihilation is not so easy to implement, just as Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out during the Red Army period: it is reluctant to put up jars and jars. If the local troops of northern Jiangsu were to take on the task of attacking the enemy in Lianshui by mistake, and Wang Bicheng's division was thrown into the battlefield of Subei, then the annihilation of the enemy's entire 11th division could be won. At that time, the entire 11th Division was relatively easy to fight, because it was still inexperienced in fighting against our army, and it would be more difficult to deal with in the future.

At the beginning of 1947, Comrade Wang Bicheng was reunited with me after a long absence, and his depression became a sharp contrast with Comrade Tao Yong's radiance. Before receiving the Battle of Laiwu, Comrade Wang Bicheng accepted the task in silence.

Comrade Wang Bicheng's 6th Column was tasked with capturing the enemy's 36th Division at Tusikou Town. Under the pressure of our army, the Li Xianzhou group gathered in Laiwu City. I was ordered to command the Left Route Army. At noon on February 23, our army deliberately opened up the main road and let the Li clique, which had lost its family, rush north. I informed Comrade Wang Bicheng to deploy obstructions. At that time, the enemy division headquarters in Kouzhen was still stubbornly resisting at the Guandi Temple, and some people were worried about whether Comrade Wang Bicheng would not use the main force to block it. I know very well that he will not be angry because he has not completely annihilated the enemy of Kou town! Sure enough, Comrade Wang Bicheng blocked the enemy's retreat with all his strength. The fleeing enemy was completely annihilated by our army. Some divisions of this column captured more than 10,000 people!

After the war, Comrade Wang Bicheng's mood was one of the more relaxed, but he did not reveal it, but simply said: "After this replenishment of people and guns, the 6 verticals can recover their vitality." He knew that my 1st Column had a heavy mission, heavy casualties, and few captures, and allocated liberation fighters to supplement our column. There was a second-level combat hero Huang Gen in the 1st Regiment of our column, who came to my column when this group of reinforcements was replenished.

Five

Many comrades said that Comrade Wang Bicheng was a little strange. He is indeed unsmiling, and he is widowed, and he is prone to sullenness and some loneliness.

However, I believe that Comrade Wang Bicheng is rich in proletarian class friendship. As mentioned above, after the sacrifice of Comrade Liu Beisheng in the Battle of Xindeng in western Zhejiang, he was furious and strongly advocated a decisive battle. His friendship with Comrade Liu Beisheng is too deep! This is by no means an individual sentiment. Comrade Liu Beisheng persisted in guerrilla warfare in Xianggan for three years, and was the head of the military special task force regiment at the time of the Anhui Incident, and only after breaking through to northern Jiangsu was he the commander of the 4th regiment. After crossing the Yangtze River south in the winter of 1942, Comrade Wang Bicheng and Liu Beisheng persisted in the struggle in southern Jiangsu. Comrade Liu Beisheng was brave and good at fighting. Our army in southern Jiangsu advanced into the Anhui border of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui. Under the personal command of Comrade Wang Bicheng, the 48th Regiment opened up new areas, especially the Battle of Hangcun, completely annihilated the Japanese army and captured the Type 92 infantry artillery. The New Fourth Army gained great fame. Comrade Wang Bicheng relied on it as his right and left hands. After the sacrifice of Comrade Liu Beisheng, Comrade Wang Bicheng took care of his family and children, and for 40 years, he was praised by the old comrades. This kind of deep friendship is really touching.

Comrade Wang Bicheng took a group photo with Su Yu, Comrade Tao Yong and me in 1949. He took the negatives, enlarged them to 22 inches, and distributed one for each person. This action proves that Comrade Wang Bicheng's old feelings are unforgettable. I often say: Although Comrade Wang Bicheng is silent and quiet, he is actually a person who has fiery feelings in his heart.

What particularly touched me was that Comrade Wang Bicheng and I had never worked in the same unit, but he had a special friendship with me. He was almost not a person to associate with, but he was willing to talk to me deeply. He lived a simple life, never invited guests to give gifts, and did not accept gifts from anyone, but he was like family to me and my family. I remember that when the gas lighter first entered the domestic market, I sent one to Comrade Tao Yong and one to him. He gladly accepted it. When he was sick and admitted to 301 Hospital, I asked him what he needed, and he said he wanted mahjong cards, tape recorders, tapes... I also try to accommodate his requests.

Comrade Wang Bicheng repeatedly advised me to write a memoir, and until he was seriously ill and hospitalized, he also said to Comrade Wang Yugeng, who went to visit: "We must write out the memoirs by Lao Ye." He's cultured, unlike me. We must write out the real revolutionary history and don't let some people write nonsense! ”

Comrade Wang Bicheng is a fierce general. He spent his whole life in a fiery revolutionary struggle, and his achievements were outstanding. It is only because the Battle of Lianshui was not fought well that some people blindly said that Comrade Wang Bicheng could not fight a good battle, which is really unreasonable. Historically, there are only generals in the world who always win, and there are no generals who do not lose battles. Moreover, the Battle of Lianshui was not fought well, and the responsibility did not lie with Comrade Wang Bicheng, but with the improper use of troops. At that time, the enemy attacked northern Jiangsu and Lunan in four directions. Our army decided to contain the other three enemies and concentrate our forces on annihilating the enemy in the north of Suzhou. As for the enemy who invaded Lunan Linyi, our army only used the Lunan Local Corps as the task of containment, and concentrated all the 1st Column and 8th Division of Lunan's main force in the mountains and fields south to annihilate the Northern Road, thus winning the Battle of Subei. At that time, if the enemy who held back the invasion of Lianshui was also played by the local corps, and Wang Bicheng's division was thrown into the Battle of Subei, there was no doubt that the Battle of Subei could achieve greater victories. Using the main force as a diversionary task is obviously an improper use of troops and the dispersal use of troops, so the battle of Lianshui has not been fought well, and the responsibility is not on Comrade Wang Bicheng. Comrade Wang Bicheng rested in peace, history has its own public opinion.

Note: The person who arranged for the First Column of Yamano and the Eighth Division to go south to annihilate the north was Chen Shiyu, then chief of staff of Yamano.

Chen Shiyu turned the world upside down in three years, pages 40 and 41: With the support of Chen Yi, I (Chen Shiyu) and several comrades in the headquarters discussed a plan to concentrate three columns, two to three divisions... The 1st Column and the 8th Division were the attacking forces of the Western Route, and their task was... Cross the Longhai Road and go south... Tang Liang and I commanded the First Column and the Eighth Division; on pages 44 and 45, He Kexi, the deputy commander of the First Column, reported to the headquarters that the two divisions of the First Column had withdrawn to the Eighth Division, and I was surprised to hear it!。。。 They retreated without my orders or Chen Yi's orders... This will have a negative impact on our overall situation. Comrade He Kexi felt that the problem was very serious and thought that my criticism was justified.

Ye Fei recalled that the reason for the withdrawal was that the intelligence was wrong, and he had unconsciously entered the depth of the 11th Division of the main force of Chiang Kai-shek's army at night. Later, Chen Shiyu's command was seriously wrong. Specifically you can refer to bing said this article:

In the Battle of Subei, Ye Fei and Chen Shiyu quarreled, exchanged phone calls, and withdrew their names from their memoirs