In 1955, when the title was conferred, many young and promising military generals of the Republic came to Huairen Hall in Zhongnanhai, where Marshal Zhu De saw a very familiar face, and this young man also saw Zhu De and hurried to the military salute.
Zhu De smiled and said, "You little devil, you have also become a lieutenant general." ”
The little ghost head in Zhu De's mouth, named Liu Xiyuan, was the political commissar of the "38th Army" of the Banzai Army, and when he was awarded the title this year, he was only 38 years old, the youngest founding lieutenant general.
21 years ago, Zhu De had met with Liu Xiyuan, Liu Xiyuan was a native of Luling, Jiangxi, born in 1917, at the age of 13, he joined the local vanguard in Ji'an, a year later, he officially turned into the Red Army, the first time in participating in live ammunition shooting was, Liu Xiyuan because of his thin body, strong recoil of guns, a row made him take a few steps back and fell to the ground.
In 1931, in a speech contest, Liu Bocheng, who was then the principal of the Red Army, discovered Liu Xiyuan, a "good seedling", and decided to train him: "I want you to serve as a member of the party branch and secretary of the regiment branch. ”
When Liu Xiyuan heard this, he waved his hand one after another: "Chief, I'm afraid I can't do it."
Liu Bocheng replied directly: "You little devil is still very modest, no need to resign, it is you." Under the cultivation of Liu Bocheng, Liu Xiyuan served as the secretary of the regiment branch, and during his tenure, he worked diligently and diligently, which was deeply appreciated by Liu Bocheng.
In 1934, Zhu De came to the Red Army school to select cadres, and he took a look at Liu Xiyuan and said: "This little red devil can become a general in the future." "When the title was awarded in 1955, the opening scene appeared.
Subsequently, Liu Xiyuan followed Zhu De to the Red Army and served as the youth officer of the general party branch of the direct subordinate team, after which Liu Xiyuan successively served as the youth officer of the political department of the 6th Division of the Red 3rd Army and the secretary of the party general branch of the 4th Division of the Red 1 Army.
At the end of the Long March, the Red Army arrived in northern Shaanxi, and Liu Xiyuan entered the second phase of the Red Army University.
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Kuomintang and the Communists carried out the second cooperation, the Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army, Liu Xiyuan served as an instructor of the 3rd Battalion of the 686th Regiment of the 343rd Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army.
Liu Xiyuan's unit braved the rain and was ordered to go to the ambush site, on September 27, after the Japanese army entered the ambush circle, under an order, the whole division began to shell, Liu Xiyuan and the battalion commander Deng Keming rushed directly from the mountain to the road to engage in white-knife warfare with the enemy, this year, Liu Xiyuan was only 20 years old, don't look at him young, but he waved the knife is not ambiguous at all.
The 686th Regiment was ordered to capture the Laoye Temple on the commanding heights, and the regimental commander Li Tianyou handed over the task to the 3rd Battalion, and after the battalion commander Deng Keming was wounded, Liu Xiyuan led his troops to continuously charge the Laoye Temple, and after a bitter battle, our army finally occupied the Laoye Temple.
In the Battle of Pingxingguan, our army won a great victory, and Liu Xiyuan had a lot of credit in it.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Liu Xiyuan successively served as the political commissar of the 686th Regiment, the political commissar of the 6th Regiment of the 2nd Brigade of the 115th Division, and the secretary of the Binbei Prefectural Committee of the COMMUNIST Party of China.
After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Luo Ronghuan was ordered to lead most of the troops of the Shandong Military Region into the northeast, Liu Xiyuan was also among them, and after coming to the northeast, he was appointed secretary of the Tonghua Prefectural Committee of the CPC and commander of the Tonghua Military Region.
After the founding of New China, Liu Xiyuan was appointed political commissar of the 38th Army.
The 38th Army was the main force of siye, and its first commander was the invincible and victorious general Li Tianyou, and after Li Tianyou went to Guangxi to work, Liang Xingchu became the second commander of the 38th Army, Liu Xiyuan, and he partnered with him and became the political commissar.
On June 25, 1950, the Korean War broke out, when Liu Xiyuan learned the news, through newspapers, radio, etc., to understand the progress of the Korean War, he was keenly aware that although the Korean People's Army led by Kim Il Sung was like a bamboo, the United States would never be willing to lose, it would fight back, and the flames of war would eventually burn to the northeast border of China.
If the central authorities decide to send troops to aid the DPRK, then the 38th Army will certainly be the preferred unit, and the 38th Army is the main force in siye and is very familiar with the situation in the northeast.
In July, the Central Military Commission issued a document to form the 38th Army, the 39th Army, the 40th Army, and the 40th Army into the Northeast Border Defense Army, and Liu Xiyuan realized that the pace of the war was getting closer and closer.
On September 15, the US military openly participated in the Korean War, and in October, the CPC Central Committee and Chairman Mao made a major decision to "resist the United States and aid Korea and defend the family and defend the country" after careful consideration.
The 38th Army was immediately reorganized into the 38th Army of the Volunteer Army; on October 9, when Peng Dehuai held a meeting of cadres at and above the divisional level of the troops entering the DPRK in Dandong, the 38th Army was selected as the first batch of combat units to enter the DPRK. ”
Liu Xiyuan's attitude made Peng Dehuai and other heads of the Central Military Commission very pleased.
This year, Liu Xiyuan was only 33 years old, and 16 years ago, Zhu De had predicted that he would become a general in the future, which was obviously a "prediction come true".
During the first campaign, the 38th Army was ordered to attack Xichuan, and in this battle, although the 38th Army annihilated more than 4600 people, they missed the fighter plane because of an intelligence "a black regiment of American troops".
This battle was not fought well, Peng Dehuai's volunteer army meeting, fiercely scolded the commander Liang Xingchu, Peng Zong said: "You are the main force, but you did not insert into the designated position on time, let the enemy escape, the slow movement affected the entire battle situation, what the main force, the main force bird...."
Liang Xingchu stood up and responded, "Don't swear! ”
Peng Dehuai was angry: "Don't scold? You Liang Xingchu did not play well, Lao Tzu is scolding you! You delay the fighter plane, cut it according to the law! Scolding you is polite, I Peng Dehuai have no other skills, but I still have the ability to cut horses! ”
Hearing this sentence, Liang Xingchu stopped making a sound.
When he returned to the military headquarters, he held a meeting and conveyed the contents of the meeting of Zhisi, and Liu Xiyuan, who was the political commissar, was very guilty; in his chagrin, he accepted General Peng's criticism; at the same time, he held a meeting of cadres at and above the regimental level, and Liu Xiyuan stressed: "A new campaign is about to begin, and in this campaign we will annihilate the enemy in large quantities in order to stop the enemy's offensive and fundamentally change the situation of the war." Therefore, in this campaign, we must make the greatest efforts to overcome the shortcomings in past operations, endure and overcome all hardships and difficulties with the greatest determination, and strive for a complete victory in the campaign. ”
At the same time, Liu Xiyuan also set off an activity in the army to "create a heroic unit and win glory for the 38th Army." The soldiers of the 38th Army gritted their teeth one by one, saying that it was the next battle, and they must play the prestige of the volunteer army.
In early November, the second battle began, the 38th Army was ordered to attack Tokugawa, Liang Xingchu and Liu Xiyuan made a careful decision on the deployment of the campaign before the battle, at 10:00 p.m. on the 24th, more than 200 soldiers of the advance team of the 38th Army arrived at Yangliu Peak at dawn, and then they marched more than 100 miles through the night to Wulingli and occupied the Wulingli Highway and Bridge.
On the 26th, they blew up the bridge.
At the same time, the 113th Division of the 38th Army crossed the Datong River, advanced hundreds of miles overnight, and came to the south side of Tokugawa on the morning of the 26th, cutting off the enemy's inexorable road, while the 112th Division came to Unmatsu-ri on the west side of Theogawa, cutting off the contact between the Tokugawa enemy and the military corner.
The 114th Division was a frontal attack on Tokugawa, and at 11:00 a.m. on the morning of the 26th, they had already captured Tokugawa and Hokuto Myeongdong, and immediately went to the front line, and after the 3 divisions launched an attack at the same time, they fought until 7 p.m. on the 26th, and the 38th Army completely annihilated the enemy in Tokugawa.
In order to expand the results of the battle, Liang Xingchu and Liu Xiyuan ordered the 112th Division, the 113th Division, and the 114th Division to attack the former Price River, and the task of the 113th Division was to penetrate the three institutes south of the Price River to encircle the American army, and among the three divisions, the 113th Division had the heaviest task.
By the 27th, Liang Xingchu, Liu Xiyuan received calls from the 112th Division and the 114th Division, which had arrived at the predetermined location and had achieved continuous results, but the 113rd Division had never heard from it.
It was not until the early morning of the 28th that the combat staff officer received a telegram: the 113th Division marched 145 miles in 14 hours, before the fully mechanized American army, and successfully interspersed into sansholi.
The 113rd Division, which created a miracle in the history of war, marched 14 hours and marched 145 miles.
At 10:00 a.m. on the morning of the 28th, the US army launched an attack on Sansholi, the volunteer soldiers heroically counterattacked, the US army made several unsuccessful charges, ready to turn around and break through from Longyuanli, the 113th Division headquarters, and then sent the 337th Regiment to seize Longyuanli.
On the 29th and 30th, the US army broke through to Sanshouli and Longyuanli respectively, but they were strongly blocked by the 113rd Division, and Liang Xingchu, commander of the 38th Army, and Liu Xiyuan, political commissar, immediately ordered the 112th Division and the 114th Division to quickly move closer to the 113th Division and completely annihilate the American army.
On the 30th, the 112th Division occupied Songku peak, and its 335th Regiment and 3 Company, in the front position without any cover, repelled enemy tanks, aircraft attacked several times, and in the end, only 7 men were left in the 3 companies, and they never let the enemy advance.
After the Military Political Department reported the heroic deeds of the 3rd Company, the writer Wei Wei wrote a newsletter article "Who is the most lovely person?"
The 114th Division rushed to Sansholi to take over the positions of the 113th Division, and in this battle, the 38th Army annihilated more than 7,400 enemy troops, captured more than 3,600 prisoners, captured hundreds of artillery pieces, more than 1,500 cars, 14 tanks, and a large number of weapons and equipment.
At the end of the second battle, the 38th Army was greatly meritorious, and when Peng Dehuai wrote praise to them, he added two sentences at the end of the telegram: "Long live the Chinese People's Volunteer Army!" Long live the 38th Army! ”
Since then, the 38th Army has become the "Long Live Army", and Liang Xingchu and Liu Xiyuan shed tears of excitement when they saw the telegram.
Subsequently, Liu Xiyuan participated in the third and fourth battles, and in 1952, Liu Xiyuan returned to China and was appointed deputy director of the Youth Department of the General Political Department, after which he successively served as chairman of the All-China Youth Federation, director of the Organization Department of the General Political Department, deputy director of the General Political Department, deputy political commissar of the Lanzhou Military Region, and deputy political commissar of the Nanjing Military Region.
In 1955, Liu Xiyuan was awarded the rank of lieutenant general and was awarded the Order of August 1, Second Class, the Order of Independence and Freedom, Second Class, and the Order of Liberation, First Class.
In 1983, Liu Xiyuan left retirement to enjoy the full-time treatment of the Grand Military Region, in 1988, he was awarded the People's Liberation Army First Class Red Star Meritorious Service Medal, in 2003, Liu Xiyuan died of illness at the age of 86.