On May 14, 1992, Marshal Nie Rongzhen, the last marshal of our country, died in Beijing 301 Hospital. The marshal, who had been witnessing China's reform and opening up since the end of the Qing Dynasty and making great contributions to China's national defense science and technology undertakings, was very calm before his death, and he called his secretary to his side and recorded his last wish with a tape recorder.
Nie Rongzhen was born at the end of the 19th century on December 29, 1899, and was a native of Wutan Township, Jiangjin County, Sichuan. From the age of 7, Nie Rongzhen received 11 years of traditional education. In the summer of 1917, Nie Rongzhen was admitted to the county middle school in Jiangjin County, and began to be exposed to a new style of teaching that was completely different from the previous education, and began to be interested in physics, mathematics and military.
The impact of the school's new education was enormous, and the books that Nie Rongzhen held all day long changed from classics and historical classics to "Evolution", "Heavenly Evolution" and "New Youth". For the situation in the country, Nie Rongzhen's worries and concerns overflowed into words, and the teachers all believed that he would not be a thing in the pool in the future.
Nie Rongzhen in his youth
During the May Fourth Movement, Nie Rongzhen and his classmates participated in the patriotic wave, and because they were too outstanding, they were remembered by the reactionary authorities. Later, Nie Rongzhen participated in the work-study program in France and met Deng Xiaoping, who came a year later in France, and the two began a 72-year revolutionary friendship.
In 1922, Nie Rongzhen and Deng Xiaoping joined the "Young Communist Party of China in Europe" organized by Zhou Enlai, and the two fought side by side, responsible for the propaganda and construction of the Communist Youth League.
After graduating from France in 1924, Nie Rongzhen went to moscow to study communism at the university under the arrangement of the organization, and returned to China a year later to serve as the secretary of the political department of the Whampoa Military Academy. By this time, Nie Rongzhen had grown into a staunch communist and industrial revolutionary.
After the April 12 coup, Nie Rongzhen participated in leading the Nanchang Uprising and the Guangzhou Uprising, and was the first to recognize the importance of party members learning military and technology. In 1930, under the leadership of Zhou Enlai, Nie Rongzhen was responsible for the underground work of the Central Special Branch, passing on intelligence and punishing agents again and again in the complex and dangerous Shanghai.
Later, Gu Shunzhang rebelled, and the white terror of Shanghai penetrated into every corner, Nie Rongzhen was transferred to the Central Soviet Region as deputy director of the Political Department and political commissar of the Red First Army, and Deng Xiaoping was also transferred to the Red First Army as the propaganda director, and the two friends who had been separated for many years once again fought side by side.
Nie Rongzhen was seated in the front row C, and Deng Xiaoping was on the right in the back row
The deeds of the Red Army in meeting divisions in northern Shaanxi after the end of the Long March were widely known, and the news of the base areas in northern Shaanxi was first learned by Nie Rongzhen from the Kuomintang newspapers. In 1935, when Zhang Guotao was engaged in a split within the Party, although the Central Committee decided to go north to establish a new revolutionary base area, its actual plan was to start all over again.
In September of that year, Nie Rongzhen and Zuo Quan won the victory of Hadapu, opening the road to the north and learning that there was a revolutionary base area led by Liu Zhidan in northern Shaanxi. Chairman Mao then made the decision to go to northern Shaanxi, realizing the smooth meeting of the Red Army and ending the 25,000-mile long march.
In order to solve the supply problem of the Red Army in northern Shaanxi, Nie Rongzhen and Deng Xiaoping crossed the Yellow River in the east together, waged a struggle against Yan Xishan, the "Emperor of Tu" in Shanxi, destroyed seven enemy regiments, and captured countless guns and artillery, laying the foundation for the stability and subsequent development of the base areas in northern Shaanxi.
By the end of 1936, the Red Army and the Northeast Army had reached a consensus on the united front and decided to jointly resist Japan. Unexpectedly, Deng Xiaoping was infected with severe typhoid fever, and the water and rice could not enter, and it was in danger. Zhang Xueliang generously sent two truckloads of condolences, including a lot of milk and canned food, and Nie Rongzhen was very determined to leave all the milk for Deng Xiaoping to supplement nutrition, thus saving Deng Xiaoping's life hanging in the balance.
After the "July 7 Incident", Nie Rongzhen became the deputy commander of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and together with Lin Biao, he commanded the Battle of Pingxingguan, annihilating more than 1,000 japanese Sakagaki Divisions, interrupting the arrogant attack of the Japanese army in the early stage of the War of Resistance, and also breaking the myth of the "invincibility" of the Japanese army.
Nie Rongzhen during the Eighth Route Army
Subsequently, Nie Rongzhen led 3,000 people to establish the first anti-Japanese base area behind enemy lines in Wutaishan, Shanxi, and by fully mobilizing the masses, the base area expanded to 72 counties in two years, with a mass base of more than 12 million.
In 1939, when the Japanese army carried out a winter "sweep" of the Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region, Nie Rongzhen led the guerrilla forces to fight with the Japanese army. In the Battle of Yansu Cliff, Nie Rongzhen stood guard at the telephone all night, and only after learning that the troops had won victory did he dare to relax his mind slightly.
But he then speculated that the Japanese would launch a larger "sweep", which would follow the Battle of Loess Ridge. The Japanese army in this battle was an independent mixed second brigade, and the commander Abe Norihide was always touted by the Japanese as a "flower of famous generals" who was good at mountain warfare, and in the fierce battle for 3 consecutive days, Nie Rongzhen and Yang Chengwu commanded the troops to fight flexibly and killed Abe Norihide.
Abe Norihide was the highest-ranking officer of the Japanese army killed by our army in the War of Resistance, and after the end of this war, the whole country was in an uproar. Naturally, the Japanese army was stunned, and patriotic people from all walks of life in the country sent congratulatory messages one after another, and the confidence and enthusiasm of the military and people of the whole country in resisting the war were aroused.
The heroic and good warrior Nie Rongzhen is also a general with a heart of benevolence and kindness. In the Hundred Regiments War in 1940, Nie Rongzhen was responsible for the destruction of the Zhengtai, Pinghan, Jinpu and other railways, but the Eighth Route Army found two young girls under the age of ten in the Jingxin mining area.
After bringing them back to the army, they found out that they were two Japanese girls. Nie Rongzhen, who was in charge of this matter, treated the Japanese soldiers and innocent people differently, and after properly arranging the two little girls, Nie Rongzhen personally wrote a letter to the Japanese army and returned them safely to the Japanese.
Later, when China and Japan established diplomatic relations, the sisters came to China to visit Nie Rongzhen and directly called him their father, which also became an amazing story in the history of sino-Japanese peaceful exchanges.
After the end of the three major battles of the Liberation War, the whole country entered the tense atmosphere of the founding of the country and the army, and Nie Rongzhen also entered the busiest period of his life. At that time, he held important positions in the party, government, and military circles, among which the tasks of chief of staff of the General Staff, director of the Military Control Commission, and mayor of Beijing were the most arduous.
Nie Rongzhen and Zhu De
At the beginning of 1950, Nie Rongzhen made suggestions to Chairman Mao on the diversification and modernization of the navy, army and air force, and paid comprehensive attention to the development of the Platon Army and the preparation of new arms in terms of communications, health, ordnance, transportation, schools and health.
At the same time, Nie Rongzhen attaches great importance to the importance of knowledge and technology, and vigorously grasps the cultural level and equipment establishment of the army. Under the supervision of Nie Rongzhen, the soldiers of the troops in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China generally reached a high or small level of education or above, and they were more comfortable with the mastery and application of the army's modernization technology.
For scientific research talents and university intellectuals, Nie Rongzhen cherished it even more. During the rectification and anti-rightist movements in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Nie Rongzhen made a lot of efforts to preserve intellectuals and technical backbones, and personally called on people and the state to attach importance to and respect talents.
After the outbreak of the Korean War, Nie Rongzhen was busier and hit the back of his head with his feet until he suddenly fell ill in the fall of 1952 and fainted in his office. The doctor diagnosed that he suffered from heart disease and cerebral balance disorders, and needed to be slowly recuperated, and the central government authorized him to resign from the position of general counselor, and other work was also dispersed as much as possible, so that Nie Rongzhen could recuperate with peace of mind.
At this time, Deng Xiaoping was also transferred back to the central government from the great southwest and served as vice premier of the State Council. Nie Rongzhen was raised for three years, and Deng Xiaoping often came to visit him. After Nie Rongzhen recovered in 1956, Deng Xiaoping came to Nie Rongzhen's home with the opinions of the central authorities.
Nie Rongzhen and Deng Xiaoping in their later years
The central authorities have prepared three work arrangements for Nie Rongzhen, responsible for three positions of national defense science and technology, national defense industry, and Beijing mayor. Nie Rongzhen rejected the mayor's arrangement, telling Deng Xiaoping that he wanted to concentrate on science and technology work and let our country enhance its national defense strength as soon as possible.
As a result, Nie Rongzhen became the vice premier of the State Council, who was in charge of science and technology, and as soon as he took office, he formulated the "Fourteen Articles of Science" to guide the development of science and technology in china. Later, the research and development of "two bombs and one satellite" and the development of missiles, artificial satellites, and other heavy weapons of the country all had Nie Rongzhen busy day and night.
Especially in the early stage of the research and development of China's first atomic bomb, the withdrawal of Soviet experts and the shortage of Scientific and Technological Talents in China made the atomic bomb project face the danger of premature death. According to the twelve-year plan formulated by Nie Rongzhen and experts at home and abroad, the "two bombs and one satellite" project requires 180,000 talents with a college degree or above, and only 30,000 science and engineering students graduated in China that year.
In the case of internal and external difficulties and endangered projects, Nie Rongzhen resisted all pressure to report to the central government and insisted on the importance of national defense forces. In the end, with the strong support of Premier Zhou, the research and development was carried out smoothly, and in October 1964, china's first atomic bomb was successfully detonated, and the first artificial satellite also successfully entered space in April 1970, and "Dongfang Hong" resounded all over the world.
What has always carried out Nie Rongzhen's work is his love for talents and intellectuals. When the Fifth Academy was first established, the dean Qian Xuesen was responsible for all affairs, and even the number of tables and chairs in the attached kindergarten had to be decided by him. After Nie Rongzhen knew, he transferred Liu Yalou, commander of the Air Force, to serve as the president of the Fifth Academy, while Qian Xuesen was the vice president, and in addition to scientific research and technology, there was no need to care about anything else.
Qian Xuesen
In February 1962, Nie Rongzhen, Premier Zhou and Chen Yi held a national scientific and technological work conference in Guangzhou to correct the position and provide guarantees for China's intellectuals, put themselves in their shoes and solve obstacles in life and work.
In 1982, at the age of 83, Nie Rongzhen retired due to illness and no longer directly led national defense work, but he was still very concerned about the development of national defense undertakings and scientific and technological work. Listen to the radio and read the newspaper every day, and keep an eye on the country's cutting-edge news.
After the failure of the first launch of China's submarine-to-surface missiles, Nie Rongzhen specifically called the leading department to "tell them that both the test has the possibility of success and failure, and it is like China's women's volleyball team competing for the championship. ”
Until his deathbed, Nie Rongzhen was most relieved about the development of national defense science and technology. When Deng Xiaoping delivered his speech in the south, he had been in the hospital for a long time. Although people say that Nie Rongzhen is a "lucky marshal", because he has never been exposed when he was doing underground work in the white area, and he has not been injured in the decades of revolutionary war, Nie Shuai is very open to his situation.
After the southern speech was delivered, Nie Shuai asked his secretary to read it to him three times, praising the wise decisions of his old comrades-in-arms. Nie Shuai, who has always been capable and sharp, likes to express concisely and concisely said a lot that day, full of appreciation for Deng Xiaoping and good expectations for the future.
Since March 1992, Nie Shuai's condition has been at home, and he himself has been stationed in the ward of the 301 Hospital. On April 12th, he suddenly said to his secretary: I have heart failure, even if the doctor wants to save, it is difficult to rescue, so while the mind is still awake to write a few words, it is called parting words.
Nie Shuai in his later years
After the two secretaries brought the radio, Nie Shuai intermittently and magnificently expressed his last wish:
I sincerely hope that the comrades of the whole party will work together to build a prosperous socialist motherland; at the same time, I hope that the comrades of the whole army will further consolidate national defense, safeguard peace, and hope that the two sides of the strait will be reunified as soon as possible. I hope that the scientific and technological workers throughout the country will bear in mind the heavy responsibility of rejuvenating the country through science and technology, strive to climb the lofty mountains and mountains of the world's high technology, win glory for the country, and make more contributions to the progress of mankind.
On May 14, Nie Shuai listened to the news in the newspaper as usual, and after learning that his hometown of Jiangjin County had come to Beijing for a meeting, he also put forward some views on the development of Jiangjin County, and in the evening he was concerned about the publication and publication progress of the "August 1st Uprising" article. At ten o'clock in the evening, Nie Shuai fell asleep as usual, but not long after, he developed symptoms of heart failure, and the doctor who was guarding the side quickly organized rescue, and Marshal Nie Rongzhen still passed away on this night.
Nie Shuai's memorial service
Among the ten founding marshals, Nie Rongzhen is not the most famous, but he fulfilled the mission of a proletarian revolutionary and military man, especially in the road of national defense science and technology development after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Nie Rongzhen's contribution is irreplaceable. Nie Rongzhen's spirit and achievements are the same as China's first university of science and technology and China's soaring national defense science and technology undertakings, and they have jointly climbed to a higher peak of national development.