In addition to Cai Shenxi, the founder of the Red 15th Army, Zuo Quan, chief of staff of the Eighth Route Army, and Yang Dezhi, Song Shilun, and Chen Mingren, who were awarded to generals in 1955, Liling also has a famous "general without title", that is, Geng Biao, who was secretary general of the Central Military Commission and minister of national defense.
General Geng Biao's military achievements were outstanding. During the Liberation War, he was the deputy commander and chief of staff of the famous "Yang Luogeng" corps (commander Yang Dezhi and political commissar Luo Ruiqing); in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Geng Biao "changed his career" and became an excellent diplomat, and was one of the first ten envoys sent to foreign countries.
Geng Biao, a revolutionary and diplomat with outstanding merits, also left a famous allusion in the history of the Party called "Geng Biao's Question." What's going on?
In the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Geng Biao served as deputy brigade commander, chief of staff and deputy political commissar of the 358th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army, and the troops were stationed in Qingyang, Gansu Province. While the 358th Brigade was in Qingyang, while grasping training and fighting, it was also reclaiming barren fields and sticking to the city defenses, and the officers and men of the unit helped the local people plant spring and autumn harvests and send clothes and grain, and established a deep relationship between the army and the people. Once, when enemy planes came to bomb, Geng Biao heard that an old man had not yet been transferred, so he disregarded his personal safety and personally found the old man and carried him to the air raid shelter.
In Qingyang, Geng Biao also harvested love. In the summer of 1940, Geng Biao met Zhao Lanxiang of the girls' school, and the two established a relationship after dating, although at first they were opposed by the woman's father, but with the help of Li Fuchun's wife Cai Chang, the two finally married smoothly.
In July 1941, Geng Biao left Qingyang to study at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in Yan'an, and soon after, due to the needs of work, Zhao Lanxiang left his hometown. But Mr. and Mrs. Geng Biao have always dreamed of working, fighting and raising their old Qingyang district, and they can't forget Qingyang's father and fellow villagers.
In 1991, the 82-year-old General Geng Biao and his wife Zhao Lanxiang returned to Qingyang, after 50 years of separation from Qingyang. They were sincerely welcomed and warmly received by the party and government leaders of Qingyang and the masses of the people, and Geng Biao paid condolences to the old Red Army and the old Eighth Road, and talked to the masses about their daily routines and learned about the production and living conditions of the masses. But there were also many Longdong villagers who came to see Geng Biao to reflect the situation and even file a complaint.
At this time, Geng Biao had already left for retirement, and in the face of the opinions and problems of the Qingyang villagers, he could not directly help solve them, nor was it convenient to say anything more, and his feelings were very complicated. On the day he left Qingyang, Geng Biao looked at the local leaders of Qingyang who had come to see him off, and told a story with a heavy heart:
"50 years ago, our 385th Brigade was stationed here, and the troops were a soldier who made the mistake of seriously harming the interests of the local people. The brigade headquarters decided to shoot the soldier in accordance with discipline. Just as the execution was about to be carried out on the playground, a large group of ordinary people came to intercede for the undisciplined soldier, and even the parents of the victims knelt on the ground to intercede with us, and then the crowd of the playground all fell to their knees. Finally, we accepted the pleas of the masses with tears. ”
Speaking of this, Geng Biao's face was solemn, and he paused for a moment before raising his voice and asked, "Now I want to ask you people here today, no matter which one, if you do something wrong, will the people still intercede for you?" ”