When it comes to Leather Brigade and Pi Dingjun, I think many friends who like literature and history are not strangers to it. Pi Dingjun was a native of Jinzhai, Anhui Province, who joined the Red Army in his early years and gradually grew into a member of our army in the midst of war. In 1946, during the breakthrough of the Central Plains, he was ordered to lead a brigade of about 7,000 people to cover the main breakthrough of the Central Plains Military Region. In the end, the brigade broke through the enemy's heavy blockade and arrived safely at the central China base area, where it met with the local People's Liberation Army division near the Suwan Border Region. According to statistics, this brigade kept at least two-thirds of its officers and men and most of its guns.
Later, Brigadier Pi Dingjun stayed in central China. He successively served as the deputy commander of the 6th Column of the East China Field Army, the deputy commander of the 24th Army of the Third Field Army, and the commander of the 24th Army. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he was awarded the rank of lieutenant general, and later served as the commander of the Lanzhou Military Region and the commander of the Fuzhou Military Region. It is said that, in accordance with his seniority and military merits, he should have been awarded the rank of major general. However, the chairman of the Central Military Commission believed that he had made great contributions to the breakthrough in the Central Plains, so he was specially awarded the rank of lieutenant general. This is also the origin of this statement that Pi Yougong shao jinzhong.
As for the famous Leather Brigade, this is a long-established army! Its predecessor was the main force of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army of nearly 2,000 people, and later it was ordered to cross the Yellow River and come to the western Henan region to open up anti-Japanese base areas. After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, this unit came to the Tongbai Mountains, joined Li Xiannian's command, and was reorganized into a main field brigade of the Central Plains Military Region. In 1946, in the famous Central Plains Breakthrough, this brigade was ordered to cover the breakthrough of the main force of the Central Plains Military Region. In the end, most of the officers and men of this brigade successfully broke through to central China.
After the leather brigade came to central China, it joined the combat sequence of the Central China Field Army. Later, the brigade was renamed the Independent Division of the East China Field Army. Brigade Commander Pi Dingjun was promoted to deputy commander of the 6th Column, and Deputy Brigade Commander Fang Shengpu was promoted to division commander. In 1948, the division was transferred to North China and later incorporated into the 18th Corps headed by Xu Xiangqian, the 181st Division of the 61st Army of the 18th Corps. In 1950, the 181st Division was incorporated into the 60th Army, which was later changed to the Armed Police Mobile Division. At present, this division has officially withdrawn from the stage of history.
In 1944, the Japanese army launched the Western Henan Campaign in Henan, and quickly occupied dozens of cities in western Henan. At this time, in western Henan, in addition to the local armed forces, almost no regular army still insisted on resisting Japan in the local area. Against this background, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army and the Central Military Commission decided to draw some elite generals from the Taihang Military Region and enter western Henan as soon as possible to open up a new anti-Japanese base area. After receiving the order, the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army quickly drew out the 3rd Regiment of the New 1st Brigade, and a total of five companies from the 385th Brigade and the Linxian County Brigade formed the 35th Regiment.
In September 1944, the two regiments were merged into one detachment, and an oath-taking meeting was held in Linxian County, which was a guerrilla detachment for the Eighth Route Army's Western Henan Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Detachment. The total number of troops was more than 1,700, with more than 800 rifles and more than 30 machine guns, as well as two mortars. The leaders of the two regiments were Zhong Sheng and Wang Chenghan. Later, Wang Chenghan served as the first division commander of the 181st Division. According to the orders of the 129th Division, Pi Dingjun, commander of the 7th Military Subdistrict of the Taihang Military Region, served as the commander of the detachment, and Xu Zirong, the political commissar of the 5th Sub-district, was reappointed as the political commissar of the detachment.
Fang Shengpu, deputy commander of the 7th Military Subdistrict of the Taihang Military Region, served as the deputy commander of the detachment, Guo Linxiang, director of the Political Department of the 6th Sub-district, served as the deputy political commissar of the detachment and director of the Political Department, and Xiong Xinle, chief of staff of the 8th Sub-district, served as the chief of staff of the detachment. On September 22, the detachment crossed the Yellow River and came to the western Henan region, gradually establishing a new anti-Japanese base area. Before the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, this detachment had grown to more than 7,000 people, annihilated nearly 10,000 enemy people before and after, and established a base area with more than 1 million people. In addition, Wang Shusheng and others also developed many troops in the Henan region.
After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, in accordance with the instructions of the Central Military Commission, Wang Shusheng and Dai Jiying led the main forces of the Henan Military Region to the south to meet the Fifth Division of Li Xiannian's New Fourth Army in the Eyu-Anhui-Xianggan area. These two units, together with the southward detachment of the Eighth Route Army, and the Eighth Route Army's Jiluyu Military Region, formed the Central Plains Military Region. There are no less than 60,000 officers and men in the whole army, with Li Xiannian and Zheng Weisan serving as commanders and political commissars respectively, wang Shusheng as deputy commanders, Wang Zhen as deputy commanders and concurrently chiefs of staff, Wang Shoudao as deputy political commissar and director of the Political Department, and Xu Ziwei as director of the Central Plains Bureau.
The Central Plains Military Region has two columns and three second-level military regions, each with three brigades. Pi Dingjun's unit was reorganized into the First Brigade of the First Column, with him as the brigade commander and Xu Zirong as the brigade political commissar. The brigade had three regiments, one of which was reorganized from a regiment of the Fifth Division of the New Fourth Army. As for Wang Shusheng, commander of the Henan Military Region of the Eighth Route Army, he served as the commander of the First Column and concurrently served as the deputy commander of the Central Plains Military Region, and Dai Jiying, the political commissar, served as the political commissar of the First Column. The commander of the second column was Wen Jianwu, and the political commissar was Ren Qianbin, who also had three brigades under his command.
In 1946, the Nationalist army successively gathered more than 200,000 officers and men near the defense zone of the Central Plains Military Region, forming a joint encirclement posture against the main force of the Central Plains Military Region. In June of that year, according to the instructions of the central authorities, Pi Dingjun and Xu Zirong's first brigade disguised themselves as the main force of the military region and marched to the east. The main force of the Eastern Hubei Military Region stood still and was responsible for confusing and containing the enemy army. As for the main forces of the Central Plains Military Region, they were ordered to break through to the west and move to the western Henan, western Hubei, southern Shaanxi, and eastern Sichuan regions, and persisted in these areas for a long time in order to contain the enemy and cooperate with other liberated areas.
On June 26, the main force of the Central Plains Military Region was divided into two routes, under the command of Li Xiannian and Wang Shusheng, and broke through to the west, and soon launched a fierce battle with the Nationalist army. According to the deployment, the first brigade had to hold the enemy main force for at least three days, and then wait for the opportunity to break through. As for the main force of the Eastern Hubei Military Region, it was ordered to stay where it was and was responsible for continuing to contain and confuse the enemy army. After several days of fierce fighting, the 1st Brigade successfully completed the combat tasks given by its superiors. Then, after a heated meeting and discussion, the First Brigade finally decided to cross the Dabie Mountains and break through to the central China region.
The enemy troops in front of them have more than ten times the strength of the leather brigade, but they have poor coordination with each other and many loopholes. The leather brigade set out from the combined headquarters of the enemy's two integrated divisions, and after fierce fighting, quickly left the Dabie Mountains and successively crushed many local forces in the western Anhui region. In July of that year, the leather brigade had already entered the central Anhui Plain. Because the pi brigade was advancing too fast, the main enemy force responsible for the pursuit was far behind the pi brigade. By July 19, 1946, the brigade had reached Fengyang, Anhui, near the Jinpu Railway, and was close to the Suwan Border Area.
Unexpectedly, at this time, the enemy troops stationed along the Jinpu Railway used ironclad trains to cut the fur brigade into several sections, and the leather brigade was in danger! The leather brigade had never touched an ironclad train, and at first it was a little helpless. However, the officers and men of the leather brigade were brave and tenacious, and soon climbed up the high ground next to the railway, and used bundles of cluster grenades to blow up the enemy and flee. At this time, the Huainan Military Region of the New Fourth Army had already sent a detachment to meet the division in victory with the leather brigade in the midst of the bombarding artillery fire. Subsequently, the leather brigade finally arrived at the base area in central China, and about 5,000 officers and soldiers survived.
After coming to central China, the leather brigade was first renamed the 13th Brigade, then changed to an independent division, and successively participated in the famous Huaiyin Defense War and lianshui Defense War. This unit repeatedly fought against the integrated 74th Division in northern Jiangsu, and its combat effectiveness soon took a qualitative leap. In 1947, this division participated in the famous Battle of Menglianggu, and after a bloody battle, it finally joined hands with friendly forces to annihilate the main force of the reorganized 74th Division. At the end of that year, the division was ordered to north China, which was later reorganized into the 37th Brigade of the 13th Column of Xu Qianqian Corps.
Subsequently, the brigade participated in the famous Battle of Linfen, the Battle of Jinzhong, and the Battle of Taiyuan. In 1949, the brigade was reorganized into the 181st Division of the 61st Army of the 18th Corps, with division commander Wang Chenghan and political commissar Zhang Chunsen. Subsequently, this division entered the great northwest and repeatedly repelled the fierce attacks of the 82nd Army of the Majia Army in Xianyang, annihilating thousands of enemy troops. At the end of 1949, the division entered the Great Southwest again, and since then it has been assigned to the Southwest Military Region. In the 1950s, the division was assigned to the 60th Army, later changed to the Armed Police Mobile Division, and has now been abolished.
Let's talk about the fate of other units of the Central Plains Military Region: the leather brigade preserved 5,000 people, which was later reorganized into the 181st Division of the 61st Army. The 359th Brigade and the Central Plains Military District Guard Regiment, with a total of less than 1,500 men, were later expanded into the 2nd Army. The main force of the military region, several thousand, later grew to more than 8,000 people, and finally developed into the main force of the Jianghan Military Region, commander Zhang Caiqian. The main force of the military region, with thousands of people, grew to more than 8,000 people, and was incorporated into Chen Xilian's 3rd Column and Zhang Caiqian's 12th Column... According to my statistics, 50,000 or 60,000 people have survived less than 15,000 officers and soldiers.
Let's talk about the fate of the main cadres of the fur brigade: The brigade commander Pi Dingjun, the founding lieutenant general, served as the commander of the Fuzhou Military Region. Political commissar Xu Zirong, who did not receive a military rank and served as vice minister of public security, died in prison in 1969. Deputy Brigade Commander Fang Shengpu, founding major general, served as deputy director of the Shaanxi Provincial Revolutionary Committee. Guo Linxiang, deputy political commissar and director of the political department, founding major general, was later awarded the rank of general in 1988 and served as deputy director of the General Political Department. Chief of Staff Zhang Jiemin, founding colonel, later promoted to major general, served as deputy commander of the Gansu Military Region.
The commander of the First Regiment, Wang Chenghan, a founding major general, was awarded the rank of general in 1988 and served as commander of the Chengdu Military Region and political commissar of the Academy of Military Sciences. The commander of the Second Regiment, Zhong Cheng, was a founding colonel, later promoted to major general, and served as deputy chief of staff of the Nanjing Military Region. Cao Yuqing, the commander of the Third Regiment, was a founding major general who served as deputy commander of the Shanxi Provincial Military Region. Zhang Chunsen, political commissar of the Second Regiment, was a founding major general who served as the second political commissar of the Anhui Production and Construction Corps. Li Yinglin, political commissar of the First Regiment, founding colonel, served as deputy secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of the Chinese Academy of Sciences...