At the critical juncture of the Long March, this man turned back and risked death to send a letter, which won the trust of the great man and later became a founding lieutenant general
"Young friends, I want to tell you, never doubt the power of ideals and beliefs. My ideal is communism, the revolutionary struggle for decades, no matter what kind of hardships and hardships I have encountered, this faith has never wavered, it is my ideals and convictions that have given me courage and strength. Everyone encounters vulnerability, confusion, frustration and failure, and ideals often hit a wall in reality, and I am no exception. I have had the pain of losing battles, I have struggled on the line of death, and in the twisted and gloomy atmosphere around me, I have also been resentful, doubtful and even desperate, but in the end, the yearning and attachment to a bright future can always make me stand up again and again in the face of difficulties. --Zeng Siyu
Many people are not very familiar with General Zeng Siyu, but he is a person who has made great contributions to our party, and at the critical juncture of the Long March, he risked his life to send the handwritten letter of the great man to the hands of Xu Commander of the Red Fourth Front, saving the future and destiny of the party and the Red Army in time.
In mid-June 1935, the Central Red Army arrived in Maogong, Sichuan province, to meet the Red Fourth Front In Victory Division.
After meeting the division, how to correctly analyze the situation, determine a new strategic principle as soon as possible, break Chiang Kai-shek's encirclement plan, and establish a new base area has become the most important issue facing the party and the Red Army.
The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee assessed the hour and sized up the situation and determined the strategic principle of the First and Fourth Fronts to jointly move north and create base areas in Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu, thus pointing out the direction for the actions of the two fronts.
Although Zhang Guotao ostensibly agreed with the strategic policy of going north put forward by the Party Central Committee, in fact he wanted to avoid the enemy's main force and go south to Sichuan and Xikang.
In September, the dispute between the CPC Central Committee's policy of going north and the policy of going south reached a clear point. At this time, the First and Third Armies and the Central Column of the Red Army immediately made a decision and marched north alone.
After more than a day of marching, after study and discussion, the chairman wrote a handwritten letter to Xu Xiangqian, commander-in-chief of the Red Fourth Front, to explain the truth.
The task of delivering the letter was given to Zeng Siyu, who was then the communications director of the Second Division of the Red Army, and was equipped with a battalion of troops and a radio station to escort all the way.
After the rapid march, about two o'clock in the afternoon, Zeng Siyu and a battalion arrived at the fork of the designated small hill in time, he immediately observed the east and west ends of the road, because it had rained before, the ground was wet, the horse team would definitely leave traces after marching, and there were no horseshoe prints on the road, he judged that Commander Xu had not yet passed, so he ordered the battalion commander to lead the troops to hide on the north slope to avoid accidents, and at the same time sent cadres to observe the sentry to communicate with the flag signal.
At 4 p.m., the flag signal reported that a cavalry team had come from the east, and as Zeng Siyu had guessed, it was the team under Xu's command.
After seeing the people, he hurriedly delivered the letter, and then returned to the station with the signature of the other party, successfully completing the task.
After this incident, Zeng Siyu began to enter the vision of the great man.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he successively served as director of the political department of the Luxi Military Region, commander of the Jiluyu Military Region, and other positions, and led his troops to participate in hundreds of battles, including the Battle of Pingxingguan and the Battle of Xue Gongling, and never left the front line.
During the Liberation War, he successively served as the commander of the column and the deputy commander of the Jicha Military Region, and in January 1949, he became the first commander of the 64th Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
In February 1951, Zeng Siyu led the 64th Army to the Korean Battlefield, and during the Fifth Campaign, he passed the god of death twice.
On the evening of April 22, Zeng Siyu commanded the Sixty-fourth Army to wade across the river in Shipu, and he rode across the river on his own, but he did not expect that the enemy had laid a telephone line in the river, wrapped the horse's legs, and the horse fell into the river at once.
Zeng Siyu slipped from his horse and fell into the river, choking on several sips of water in a row, fortunately he could swim, deep in the river, and could swim back on his own.
The other time was at the end of the fifth campaign, when the Sixty-fourth Army retreated according to the orders of its superiors, and in the process of retreating, Zeng Siyu did not agree to the idea of the breeder to let him ride a horse, but chose to walk back on two legs.
After a while of kung fu, the enemy plane flew over to strafe, and the war horse that had followed Zeng Siyu for more than five years was killed. The breeder cried and said, "Captain, fortunately you didn't listen to me, otherwise something big would have happened." ”
In March 1955, Zeng Siyu returned from the Korean battlefield to study in the Campaign Department of the People's Liberation Army Military Academy, and was awarded the rank of lieutenant general in September of the same year.
After that, he successively served as chief of staff, deputy commander, commander of Wuhan Military Region, commander of Jinan Military Region, etc. Later, he took the initiative to retire to the second line and assumed the name of nanjing military region adviser until his retirement in 1982.
Although Elder Zeng left his post, his concern for the revolutionary cause was always inseparable. In his later years, he devoted himself to writing a memoir, leaving more than 800,000 words of reminiscences, as a spiritual wealth dedicated to the world, he died of illness at the end of December 2012, at the age of 102.