preface
Chen Geng was one of the founding generals of our country.
After joining the Party in 1922, Chen Geng experienced several battles such as the Northern Expedition, the Nanchang Uprising, the Long March, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the War of Liberation, and the Korean War, and shed countless blood on the battlefield and made great contributions to the cause of China's liberation.
In 1955, Chen Geng was killed
Awarded the rank of Grand General.
He was an outstanding revolutionary, an outstanding leader of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, who devoted his life to the cause of the liberation of the Chinese people.
Pictured| Chen Geng
Staunch revolutionaries
On February 27, 1903, Chen Geng was born in a family of generals in Xiangxiang, Hunan Province, when he was not called Chen Geng but Chen Shukang. Grandfather is the imperial seal of the General Wu Xian, is a Xiang Army general, repeatedly made military achievements, once fought bravely in the Sino-Japanese War, after the death of his grandmother, his grandfather married a woman surnamed Xiong, she was good at martial arts riding and shooting, originally a female knight under the grandfather's command, and later chose to marry his grandfather, this step-grandmother Xiong Shi was Chen Geng's teacher who learned martial arts when he was young.
Although Chen Geng's blood was the blood of a military general, his grandfather, who had been fighting all his life, had set a directive for his descendants that "no military service, no official", and after returning to the field in his later years, his grandfather looked back at the past battles and was very tired of the blood on the battlefield, so he asked his descendants not to join the army again. Although the young Chen Geng learned some martial arts skills under xiong's teachings, his parents did not give him a chance to join the army. His parents followed the instructions left by their grandfather at that time, and taught Chen Geng to study well and take on the heavy responsibility of running the family business in the future, and even asked him to marry a rich lady.
For his parents to make such an arrangement, Chen Geng was naturally unwilling.
In 1916, at the age of 14, Chen Geng gave up studying and ran away from home, and the teenager wore a very fat military uniform and carried a rifle that was already in line with his head, and resolutely embarked on the road to join the army.
That is, in the year of signing up for the army, he changed his real name to Chen Shukang to Chen Geng.
During the 4 years of serving as a soldier in the Xiang Army, Chen Geng participated in the campaigns against Wu Peifu, the expulsion of Zhang Jingyao, the Battle of the Protector of the Law, etc. The situation of the warlord melee made the young Chen Geng have strong doubts about the warlord war, so Chen Geng chose to quit the Xiang Army.
In 1922, Chen Geng entered the self-study university founded by Mao Zedong, came into contact with many revolutionary groups, and also participated in some revolutionary activities, learned new revolutionary ideas, and joined the Communist Party of China in the same year.
In May 1924, Chen Geng entered the Whampoa Military Academy, and was incorporated into the third team, began to receive officer education, after the first batch of students graduated, Chen Geng continued to stay in the school, during the Whampoa Military Academy, Chen Geng also rescued the kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek by chance.
Pictured| Chiang Kai-shek
It was in October 1925, the 3rd Division of the First General Brigade Tan Shuqing led an army to attack Huayang Wei in Wuhua County, the other side was numerous, Tan Shuqing's division gradually could not resist, although Chiang Kai-shek strictly ordered not to retreat, but Tan Shuqing's officers and men had already fled. In desperation, Chiang Kai-shek could only order his guard company commander Chen Geng to go forward and convey the order: Do not retreat, otherwise shoot anyone who is fleeing from the front.
However, after Chen Geng arrived quickly, Tan Shuqing's troops were on the verge of collapse, the officers and men scattered and fled, and Chiang Kai-shek, who came later, could not handle this situation.
"I have to kill myself here, I don't have the face to go back to see Jiangdong's father."
Chen Geng on the side exhorted:
"A battle is not decided. Stay in the green mountains, not afraid of no firewood, hurry up. ”
The enemy troops were getting closer and closer, and at this time Chiang Kai-shek was already in a state of immobility, and when Chen Geng saw the situation, he immediately carried Chiang Kai-shek on his back, pulled out his legs, ran to a river, and after sending Chiang Kai-shek to a boat, Chen Geng led his troops to resist the pursuing enemy and cover Chiang Kai-shek's safe escape.
This time the rescue made Chiang Kai-shek remember Chen Geng:
"This battle was lost, but I found a general, that is, my good student Chen Geng."
Although he had such a life-saving friendship with Chiang Kai-shek, it did not affect Chen Geng's subsequent "resolute departure."
After the end of the Crusade, Chen Geng was transferred to Chiang Kai-shek's side as a staff officer. One day, when he was sorting out Chiang Kai-shek's things, he found a roster of registered Huangpu students and responsible persons, and when he opened it, he saw a line of annotations written next to his name:
"This person is a member of the Communist Party, so he must not be allowed to lead troops."
The next day, Chen Geng told Zhou Enlai, then the head of the Guangdong District Party Committee, about this situation, and immediately wrote a leave of absence to apply for home.
Pictured| Zhou Enlai
Later, Chiang Kai-shek openly ordered the dissolution of the Young Soldiers' Federation and the Sun Wen Doctrine Society in the military academy, and demanded that no other factions should be allowed in the military academy: "The Communist comrades in the Chinese Kuomintang should temporarily withdraw from the Communist Party and become a pure Kuomintang member, so as not to have suspicion and suspicion among the Kuomintang members." ”
Chen Geng put on his own attitude, openly declared his communist identity, declared his separation from the Kuomintang, and demonstrated his firm conviction and determination to follow the Communist revolution to the end.
Chen Geng has always been a staunch revolutionary with lofty ideals.
There will never be a capitulation
Chen Geng's lofty integrity and firm will are of course not only reflected in his firm choice of communist ranks, but also in all aspects of the future.
After Gu Shunzhang's defection, the CPC Central Committee party organization was forced to evacuate Shanghai, when Chen Geng was shot in the right leg during the anti-encirclement and suppression operation, due to the failure to remove shrapnel in time, his physical fitness gradually declined, in 1933, with the approval of the party organization, Chen Geng went to Shanghai Niu Huilin Orthopaedic Hospital to treat his leg injury.
After arriving at the hospital, Chen Geng lied that his injury was a work injury, fortunately, Dr. Niu Huilin, who treated him, did not ask more questions, but was bent on helping Chen Geng treat the injury, and three months later, Chen Geng was discharged from the hospital, niu Huilin asked: "Is your injury really a work injury?" You're a senior officer in the Red Army, right? ”
Without waiting for Chen Geng to deny it, Niu Huilin continued: "I still can't see how you were injured by the orthopedic department?" I am not a Communist Party, but I respect your Communist Party's single-mindedness for the country, and I do not charge you for your hospitalization. In this way, Dr. Niu Huilin sent Chen Geng out of the hospital safely.
Pictured| Niu Huilin
Chen Geng, who had healed his wounds, did not choose to leave Shanghai immediately, but remembered Qian Zhuangfei's daughter, who had already evacuated Shanghai after promptly informing the party organization Gu Shunzhang of his defection, but his daughter Qian Zhenzhen failed to leave in time.
Chen Geng planned to ask Li Lili if she had anything to bring to her father, but this time, Chen Geng, who had been working in the Central Special Branch for many years and had always been meticulous, made a mistake.
As a relative of the Communist Party in Shanghai, how could Li Lili not have any lurking people around her? Chen Geng had just arrived at the grand theater where Li Lili was located, and was discovered by a man named Ah Lian, who had also worked in the Central Special Branch and later defected, so for Chen Geng himself, Ah Lian recognized it at a glance.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Chen Geng wanted to leave quickly, but the leg injury had just been cured, he could not run fast at all, after knocking down Ah Lian in a lane, Chen Geng quickly ran, but Ah Lian shouted loudly, which attracted the surrounding patrols, and Chen Geng was arrested.
Pictured | Lili
After his arrest, the enemy severely tortured Chen Geng and asked him to confess the situation of the communist underground organization, but Chen Geng preferred to die and did not answer any questions, but only sang the international anthem loudly in court, exposing to the public the heinous crimes of the Kuomintang reactionaries and propagating the communist patriotic proposition of saving the country and saving the people.
The enemy really had no choice but to invite Out Chen Geng's old acquaintance, Chiang Kai-shek, who was once Chiang Kai-shek's savior, but now he had become a prisoner of Chiang Kai-shek's ranks, and when he heard the news of Chen Geng's arrest, Chiang Kai-shek was overjoyed and sent a telegram to the Shanghai Police Headquarters asking them to take good care of Chen Geng and stressing that chen geng could not be abused in any way.
When the two really met, Chiang Kai-shek persuaded Chen Geng with kind words:
"You are Chen Geng, you are a good student of the principal, although you have made mistakes politically, I can forgive you."
"I don't need your forgiveness at all."
Chen Geng replied coldly.
Chiang Kai-shek then offered Chen Geng a lure to surrender.
"You saved my life, I will never kill you, I hope you come to my side, you like to lead soldiers, you can choose a unit to be the commander of the division."
Regarding the so-called "preferential treatment" proposed by Chiang Kai-shek, Chen Geng angrily rebuked him to his face:
"I will never betray our Party, I will never surrender to you."
Chen Geng scolded bitterly, completely ignoring the original friendship between the two. Chiang Kai-shek had no choice but to imprison Chen Geng first, but his custody became more and more relaxed, and later, under the help of our party, Chen Geng, who had been imprisoned for a long time, finally managed to escape and return to the party's ranks.
Fight for the cause of the two bombs
Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chen Geng strengthened his belief in communism and spared no effort to save the country and the people; after the founding of the People's Republic, Chen Geng never forgot to fight for the construction of a strong country...
In June 1952, Chen Geng was transferred back from the battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea and devoted himself to the establishment of the Harbin Military Engineering College and devoted himself to the modernization and development of China's national defense science and technology.
In September 1954, Chen Geng went to the Soviet Union with Liu Bocheng and Peng Dehuai's Chinese military delegation to visit the confrontation exercise of the atomic bomb explosion, and at the summary meeting, the then Soviet Defense Minister Bulganin gave a golden key to Peng Dehuai, who introduced that this was the golden key for the pilot to drop the atomic bomb, everyone knew very little about this key, and they were very curious, so they took it in their hands and passed it to each other. Peng Dehuai immediately responded: "You are the dean of the Military Engineering College, you can organize research!" Let's do it ourselves! ”
Atomic bombs, you have to build your own. This idea was engraved in Chen Geng's heart.
After returning to China, Chen Geng began to make preparations for this matter; in developing atomic bombs, there must first be talented people; Chen Geng planned that Kazakhstan's military industry should cultivate professionals for the development of atomic bombs and missiles, and at the same time put forward suggestions to Zhou Enlai and other leaders of the country, actively winning over Chinese scientists and students studying in the United States, so that outstanding talents could return to China.
Pictured| Mao Zedong and Qian Xuesen
In October 1955, under the struggle of Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai, the famous scientist Qian Xuesen finally returned to the motherland, and when Chen Geng learned of this news, he immediately made a proposal to Peng Dehuai, hoping to invite Qian Xuesen to visit the Kazakh military industry, which currently has teaching equipment and instruments, as well as experts in the study of aviation and rockets, and the school can listen to Comrade Qian Xuesen's suggestions on the development of rockets.
With the support of Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and other leaders, Qian Xuesen came to the Harbin Military Engineering College to visit, and since the Kazakh military industry is a secrecy unit, only the provincial party committee members and above can join the visit.
On the morning of November 25, a car came to the Kazakh military industry, Qian Xuesen and Zhu Zhaoxiang got out of the car, saw a group of officers walking towards them, the front was a chief, saw the two, the chief said warmly: "Welcome, Mr. Qian!" I am Chen Geng! ”
The chief who personally received Qian Xuesen was Chen Geng, then deputy chief of general staff of the People's Liberation Army and dean of the Military Engineering College.
In his welcome speech, Chen Geng also said: "Our Military Engineering College opened the door to welcome Mr. Qian Xuesen. For Mr. Qian, we have nothing to keep secret. In the face of Qian Xuesen, Chen Geng and the Harbin Institute of Technology general had no reservations, which made Mr. Qian Xuesen very moved. During the tour of the school, Chen Geng tentatively asked Qian Xuesen:
"Mr. Qian, can you see if we can Chinese build missiles?"
Qian Xuesen replied with great confidence:
"What can't be made by foreigners, we can also build Chinese."
Hearing this, Chen Geng was extremely excited and immediately shook Qian Xuesen's hand:
"Mr. Qian, you said it so well! I want you to say this. ”
At the dinner table afterwards, Chen Geng said:
"Our military industry will go all out, we want people to come out, we want things out of things, as long as Mr. Qian opens his mouth, we are duty-bound!"
With Mr. Qian Xuesen's support and affirmation, Chen Geng was particularly energetic and energetic, and has been campaigning for China's missile development cause, reporting Qian Xuesen's views to Peng Dehuai, discussing with Peng Dehuai the manpower, material resources, equipment, and so on required for the development of missiles, and talking with Qian Xuesen several times about issues related to the development of missiles.
Later, Qian Xuesen also recalled: "When I returned to China to engage in missiles, the first person to tell me about this was General Chen Geng. ”
Chen Geng was full of thoughts about missiles, even if it was eating, he was always worried about it. On an ordinary afternoon in 1956, Ye Jianying invited Qian Xuesen and his wife and Chen Geng to dinner together, and the topic of conversation at the dinner table was always missiles, about the conditions for developing missiles, the manpower needed, and so on. ”
After eating, several people did not delay and immediately rushed to find Premier Zhou Enlai, Ye Jianying reported to Premier Zhou on the thoughts of several people, and after listening, Zhou Enlai walked up to Qian Xuesen and said: "Comrade Xuesen, just now Ye Shuai talked to me about your ideas, and I fully agree. Now give you a task, please write your idea as soon as possible, into a written opinion. This includes how to form an organization, allocate manpower, what conditions are needed, etc., so that it can be submitted to the Central Committee and the Central Military Commission for discussion. Later, there was the "Opinion on the Establishment of China's National Defense Aviation Industry."
Pictured| Premier Zhou Enlai
After this, the Aviation Industry Committee, the Missile Administration, and the Missile Research Institute were established one after another, and China's missile industry finally officially started, but this is only the beginning, and the development of missiles still needs to face many problems; in order to allocate the technical strength of the research institute, Chen Geng spent a lot of painstaking efforts.
In September 1957, Chen Geng, as deputy head of the delegation, led the Chinese government delegation to Moscow to negotiate with the Soviet government, and after making efforts to coordinate and communicate, on October 15, the Soviet Union formally signed an agreement on assisting China in aviation, rockets, etc., which played a very important role in the development of missiles for New China.
Figure| The first atomic bomb in China was successfully detonated in 1964
In the course of missile research, Chen Geng has always worked day and night, put forward many ideas and suggestions, and made many contributions to the cause of national defense science and technology in New China.
I will always miss Chen Geng
On the one hand, Chen Geng is a general who is brave and good at fighting and always fighting for the country and the people, on the other hand, he is actually an ordinary person, several years of military career, coupled with day and night work, General Chen Geng's health is not very good, as early as 1954, when the Kazakh military industry began to take shape, Chen Geng's angina often occurred.
In December 1957, shortly after Chen Geng returned from the Soviet Union, his myocardial infarction occurred, and he was bedridden for 3 months and felt that his condition had eased, Chen Geng went to the doctor and asked for permission to continue to work. Returning to his post and restarting his work model, Chen Geng returned to the state of a workaholic, completely forgetting his commitment to the doctor, in his eyes, the body is important, the work is more important.
In the time since, Chen Geng has been ill several times, and every time his chest hurts, he will grasp his chest while working, never thinking of stopping.
On March 16, 1961, Chen Geng, whose body could no longer support him, passed away.
After learning the news of Chen Geng's death, all the generals fell into grief, and Leaders Zhu De, He Long, Luo Ronghuan, and other leaders successively sent telegrams to Chen Geng's family; Marshal Nie Rongzhen recited a poem for it: "If it is redeemable, everyone has a hundred bodies"; Premier Zhou Enlai, who was in Guangzhou, made a special call to the central authorities, hoping that General Chen Geng's memorial service would be held after he returned to Beijing; General Su Yu, who was already in poor health, was so emotional that he "collapsed on the ground and could not move"; Guo Huaruo immediately rushed to him, lying on Chen Geng's body, and cried bitterly. General Chen Geng has become an eternal memory in the hearts of many friends.
Pictured| Chen Geng and Su Yu
General Chen Geng left us, but he never left us...