1955 was a year in which the stars shone in the history of China's military construction, and it was also a year in which China's people's army officially moved toward modernization and regularization. A large number of founding generals "rewarded merits and deeds" at China's first award ceremony and awarded titles. Among them, the most widely known are the "Ten Marshals" and "Ten Great Generals".
In addition to Su Yu, the undisputed first general, Xu Haidong was also named a great general, ranking second; Comrade Chen Geng, with his profound seniority in the army and his extremely high merits in the war, was named one of the ten generals, ranking fourth. Some people were puzzled by this, but Chen Geng himself did not care.
Later, he once said to others, who has always been humorous and funny: "There is a very glorious thing in this life, that is, I have been the leader of Xu Haidong for a few days." This famous 'Xu Tiger', when I was his superior, he did not bite me, but helped me fight many hard battles, and I am very grateful to him. ”
The "tiger" in the army - Xu Haidong
Speaking of Xu Haidong, this person is also a well-known figure in the military, but in the Liberation War, because of physical injuries and illness, he rarely participated in the war, and at this time, Chen Geng was invincible all the way, so in comparison, Chen Geng would be more well known in the folk than Xu Haidong. But when it comes to military merit and seniority, Xu Haidong is no worse than Chen Geng, and even lurks above it.
Xu Haidong and another senior general in the army, Xu Shiyou, have a similar experience, both came from poor backgrounds, but were strong in martial arts. Since Xu Haidong joined the Communist Party in 1925 to participate in the revolution, with his own excellent kung fu, he has performed well in revolutionary movements such as the Northern Expedition War, the Nianguan Rebellion, and the Jute Uprising.
And this "Xu Tiger" is not only brave and decisive, but also resourceful. Gradually, his position in the revolutionary ranks also became higher and higher. After the establishment of the Red 12th Division, Xu Haidong served as the commander of the 36th Regiment. And what Chen Geng said about "being the leader of Xu Haidong for a few days" was what happened at this time. At this time, Chen Geng was the commander of the Red 12th Division.
For this division commander, Xu Haidong can be said to be in awe. Even if Xu Laohu was dressed in the arrogance of a martial arts practitioner, when he met Chen Geng, he could only be treated obediently. In 1932, Chen Geng led his troops to participate in the Third Anti-Encirclement and Suppression War. Chen Geng had an order that the 34th Regiment and the 35th Regiment resist the enemy head-on, and the 36th Regiment as a reserve unit was responsible for raising grain and shoes among the masses, taking into account that Xu Haidong, the leader of the 36th Regiment, had a good mass foundation in his early years and was familiar with the content of his work.
But now that the enemy is at present, where does Xu Laohu still have the heart to deal with the villagers' fathers and elders? So he asked the leader angrily, why didn't the regiments send other regiments to do this work, so that they could go into battle to kill the enemy? Chen Geng said angrily, "Why can't others go and you?" You have the most opinions about this tiger! That's an order! Give you three minutes to think about, doesn't it work? ”
Speaking of the division commander's words, as an "old cadre" who has experienced hundreds of battles, even if Xu Haidong still does not understand in his heart, he also knows the truth that "military orders are like mountains", so he obediently salutes and implements them. I just couldn't stand the awkwardness, and complained before I went out: "Every day I either collect grain or make shoes, and I am about to become a 'woman's Taoist family'." ”
Chen Geng heard that it was a burst of fire again, you Xu Haidong is a woman and a Taoist family, then what has he become Chen Geng? Seeing that the division commander was about to get angry, Xu Haidong saw the situation and dropped a promise to complete the task, so he pulled out his leg and slipped away, making Chen Geng laugh behind him.
In the end, Xu Haidong led the whole regiment to complete the fundraising work in three days of effort, and then immediately joined the battle. That lifeless posture was no less than that of Xu Shiyou, the leader of the 34th Regiment. In the end, with the cooperation of the regiments, the Red Army won this fierce battle. In the words of Xu Shiyou, it is "'stinky tofu' (Xu Haidong's nickname) back to the tofu shop", and it is strange not to win.
Xu Haidong's "don't die" is even more vividly reflected in the ping-type Guan Dajie. Xu Haidong, then the commander of the 344th Brigade, was repeatedly wounded in the years of his conquest. However, because of the war, he has not been properly treated and recuperated, leaving a very painful sequelae, and the pain is often unspeakable, but he just quietly endures.
In the face of great pain, he still insisted on being on the front line of the War of Resistance. In the face of the torrential rain, Xu Haidong immediately made a decision and ordered his troops to cross the river urgently before the flood level to seize the opportunity. However, after arranging the ambush circle, it was unexpectedly found that the size of the target team was much larger than the number given in the intelligence. In desperation, Xu Haidong had no choice but to report the new situation to his superiors in time and readjust the operational deployment.
He had only one goal for this battle, that is, to resolutely fight the first battle of the Eighth Route Army's main force in the War of Resistance. In the end, the 344th Brigade, with the cooperation of other teams of the 115th Division, occupied favorable terrain and launched a fierce fire offensive against the enemy troops, killing the enemy without leaving a single one, and achieving the first victory of our army's War of Resistance.
After the great victory of Pingxingguan, Xu Haidong dragged his sick body and followed Zhu Peng and the two men to start the Hundred Regiments War and participated in the battle to crush the "Nine-Way Siege" of the Japanese Kou. In the battles of Zhangdian and Machidian, the troops led by him annihilated a Japanese company, killed and wounded nearly a thousand Japanese troops, and also repelled the Japanese support troops, leading our army to successfully break through.
After that, Xu Haidong finally could not bear the serious injury and fell ill in the North China Battlefield. In the middle and late period of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and even during the entire liberation period, this mighty general, who had been keen to go into battle and kill the enemy, could only stay in the rear to recuperate from his wounds. During this period, Chen Geng finally began to show his skills and made great achievements in the Liberation War.
Some people will wonder that according to the overall seniority and military merit, Chen Geng's contribution is undoubtedly greater than Xu Haidong's, but why is Xu Haidong still ranked before Chen Geng?
In fact, the award of titles in that year, the evaluation criteria are not only seniority and merit, but also a major criterion for evaluating titles. Although Chen Geng served as the leader of Xu Haidong in the early days of the Red Army, in the process after that, Xu Haidong's positions in both the party and the military were long higher than those of Chen Geng. Moreover, during the Red Army period, Xu Haidong also made a major contribution.
At that time, the Central Red Army was already shy after completing the Long March and arriving in northern Shaanxi, so Chairman Mao had no choice but to write a letter to Xu Haidong, commander of the Red 15th Army (Xu Haidong belonged to Zhang Guotao's army at that time), to borrow 2,500 oceans to survive the difficulties in front of him. After receiving the letter, Xu Haidong secretly annoyed that he was not thinking carefully, so Chairman Mao took the initiative to borrow money. At the moment, without saying a word, he allocated five thousand oceans from his own military supplies and directly donated them to the Central Red Army. Xu Haidong not only helped the Central Red Army solve practical difficulties, but also showed his loyalty to the Central Red Army. Chairman Mao later repeatedly mentioned that Comrade Xu Haidong had made great contributions to the Chinese revolution.
It is precisely because of this that even in the Liberation War, Xu Haidong was recuperating from his wounds and did not participate in the war, Chairman Mao still insisted on giving Xu Haidong a title. Moreover, Chairman Mao directly instructed that Comrade Xu Haidong should not only evaluate the rank of general, but also rank second. This is not only a high evaluation of its role and status in the military, but also reflects the central authorities' full affirmation of its outstanding contributions in that year.