The founding lieutenant general today is General Cheng Jun, who was awarded the rank of lieutenant general in 1955.
In June 1911, Cheng Jun was born in a poor family in Shishou County's Hengdi Embankment, where he lost his mother at an early age, moved to Laoshanzui due to floods, and studied private school intermittently for two years. At the age of 16, Cheng Jun participated in the peasant uprising in Shishou and joined the Anti-Imperialist Grand Alliance the following year. In 1930, at the age of 19, Cheng Jun joined the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army and became a Red Army scout.
In the brutal battle, he successively served as squad leader, platoon commander, deputy company commander, company commander, battalion commander, deputy regimental commander, regimental commander and other positions, and he could be described as a commander and fighter of the Red Army who grew up step by step and in a down-to-earth manner.
Cheng Jun had both courage and wisdom in fighting, which was highlighted at a very young age. When he was a teenager, once he was releasing his horse, a group of warlords with live ammunition came and scattered soldiers, and involuntarily snatched Cheng Jun's horse and left. Cheng Jun was very afraid, how could the owner's horse be lost? He quietly followed the gang of bandits, and when the soldiers entered a restaurant to eat and drink, he secretly untied the horses tied to the trees, rode on the horses and ran home with a cigarette, and handed the horses to the owner.
But on the other hand, Cheng Jun's bravery sometimes poses great dangers to him and those around him. In the summer of 1935, Cheng Jun was already the commander of the Eighteenth Regiment of the Sixth Division of the Red Second Army. The Eighteenth Regiment was the main regiment of the Red Second Army, and the political commissar of the regiment was Yu Qiuli. In December of the same year, He Long commanded the Red Second and Sixth Armies to begin the Long March. The Red Eighteenth Regiment, led by Cheng Jun and Yu Qiuli, fought hard with the Kuomintang troops who were chasing and blocking along the way, and rushed left and right.
In April 1936, the Red Second and Sixth Armies entered the vicinity of Shiquan County in Guizhou, and were about to enter Mount Wumeng. The Guizhou warlord Wang Jialie built a strong blockade here, and a howitzer battalion was guarded at the throat of Mount Wumeng. Whether or not we can cross Wang Jialie's howitzer battalion is related to the survival of the Red Second and Sixth Armies.
Cheng Jun said, "Huashan is a road, knock down the artillery tower." ”
He Long said, "If you want it, you will open the way!" Tonight, you're going to knock these turtle shells open for me!" ”
Cheng Jun took the order, observed the enemy situation with He Long's telescope, and said with a smile: "God is going to rain!" After saying that, he returned the telescope to He Long and jumped on the horse.
That night, Cheng Jun and political commissar Yu Qiuli led two battalions of the Red Eighteenth Regiment and unknowingly touched the four cannon towers in the east of Shiquan City. When the warriors entered their positions, they gave an order: "Fight! ”
At this time, God seemed to be cheering, and lightning and thunder, accompanied by the explosion of grenades and the strafing of machine guns, resounded throughout the valley. Wang Jialie's blockade line was thus torn open in a big hole.
The Red Second and Sixth Armies successfully entered Mount Umeng and occupied the active position. The Wan Yaohuang Column of the Kuomintang Central Army, which was chasing after the Dragon Department, was momentarily dizzy and followed up on Mount Wumeng in a fiery manner. He Long came with a rifle and laid down a pocket array for the soldiers of Wan Yaohuang's column to drill in.
The task of the Red Eighteenth Regiment was to tie the "pockets". The troops responsible for piercing the "pockets" are risky, and if they are not firmly tied, they will be "eaten" instead. Therefore, the troops with "pockets" are all units that can fight hard battles. Wan Yaohuang saw that his column had been calculated, and immediately ordered a retreat.
In order to tighten the "pocket" mouth, Cheng Jun jumped out of the hidden place, bravely stood on the high slope, shouted loudly, and commanded the troops to annihilate the Wan Yaohuang column. Cheng Jun's move attracted the attention of the native soldiers of Wan Yaohuang's column. The retreating machine gunner moved the muzzle of his gun and aimed it at Cheng Jun. Speaking of late, fast, yu Qiuli, political commissar of the regiment, with his experience, shouted "danger" and quickly extended his left arm to hook ChengJun back to the hidden department. At this moment of life and death, the bullet pierced Yu Qiuli's left arm, revealing bones and tendons. Yu Qiuli's left arm immediately fell down, and the blood flowed non-stop.
"Lao Yu, Lao Yu..." Cheng Jun, who escaped safely, picked up his blood-stained partner and choked up.
Yu Qiuli was in pain due to excessive blood loss, and he couldn't open his mouth for a while. After a simple bandage, he said to Cheng Jun, "It doesn't matter to me, you can command it alone." Cheng Jun cried bitterly. After that, he commanded the Red Eighteenth Regiment and "ate" the two regiments of Wan Yaohuang's column in their "pockets". However, due to the lack of medical treatment and medicine, Yu Qiuli's injured left arm was seriously infected and could not be continuously armed to protect himself. He became a famous one-armed general in the history of our army.