General Liu Zhenhua, who served as political commissar of the Shenyang Military Region and the Beijing Military Region after the founding of the People's Republic of China, accomplished a special mission in the campaign to liberate Hainan Island and made great contributions to the liberation of Hainan.
01
As early as December 18, 1949, just after the end of the Battle of Liangguang, Mao Zedong telegraphed: "The four armies entering Guizhou rested for twenty days, most of them scattered to suppress bandits, and the forty-third army and forty army prepared to attack Qiongya." ”
On January 10, 1950, Mao Zedong further instructed that the troops crossing the sea must strengthen their preparations, establish radio contacts with the Qiongya Column, strengthen the reception work, and strive to solve the Hainan Island problem within the spring and summer seasons.
Accordingly, the Fortieth Army and the Forty-third Army successively advanced into the Leizhou Peninsula and began preparations for the sea crossing operation.
At this time, Liu Zhenhua was the director of the Political Department of the 118th Division of the 40th Army.
Although the Fortieth Army feared the Kuomintang army on the battlefield of the liberation of the northeast and was exclaimed as a "whirlwind unit," it was the first time it had participated in a sea crossing operation, and its technical equipment was backward, not only did it not have the cooperation of the navy and the air force, nor even the landing craft, but relied entirely on wooden sailing ships as means of transport.
In particular, some cadres have heavy ideological baggage, because just a few months ago, in October 1949, the Fujian front-line troops crossed the sea to attack Kinmen Island and failed, losing more than 9,000 soldiers.
Liu Zhenhua did not think so, he believed that "defeat is the mother of success," and if we can seriously accept the lessons of the Battle of Kinmen in the Battle of Hainan and make full preparations in all aspects, we will certainly be able to win the battle.
He went deep into the troops, organized military training on the one hand, and meticulously did ideological work on the other, so that the vast number of commanders and fighters of the whole division gradually established the confidence of conquering the seas and defeating the Kuomintang army.
02
In March, the Fortieth Army and the Forty-third Army each sent a vanguard battalion to dive across the sea and join the Qiongya Column. The superiors decided to send another reinforcement regiment to carry out the submarine in late March.
Accepting the lessons of the Battle of Kinmen, the first vanguard battalion to sneak across Hainan Island was directly led by Gou Zaisong, chief of staff of the 118th Division of the 40th Army.
Who will command the special mission of commanding a reinforcement regiment? The situation at sea is complex, the enemy troops on the opposite shore are heavily guarded, and the slightest mistake will be buried at the bottom of the sea.
Han Xianchu, deputy commander of the corps and commander of the Fortieth Army, finally announced on behalf of the army party committee that Liu Zhenhua would serve as the commander-in-chief of the reinforcement regiment.
At 19:00 on March 26, the northeast wind suddenly rose. Liu Zhenhua led a reinforced regiment of 81 ships and more than 2,990 officers and men from the port of Dengloujiao on the Leizhou Peninsula into the Qiongzhou Strait. On the aircraft sailing ship as the command ship, standing side by side with Liu Zhenhua was Ma Baishan, deputy commander of the Qiongya Column.
After sailing for more than an hour, the northeast wind stopped and the fleet slowed down.
Liu Zhenhua hurriedly asked Ma Baishan, "At this speed, can you reach the landing point before dawn?" ”
Ma Baishan said flatly, "No! There are at least thirty or forty kilometers away from the landing site, so you hurry up and order the rocking tank, and the machine sailboat starts the machine. ”
Liu Zhenhua immediately issued an order to the fleet by radio: "Replace the wind with manpower, shake the oars, and keep moving forward!" ”
03
At midnight, the spring fog grew thicker, nothing could be seen from 3 meters away, and the entire fleet disappeared in the fog. Worse still, in the fog, the communication between the ships failed.
The only radios could be the command ships of the brigade to contact the command ships of the battalions. As a result, the formation of the convoy began to drift, and it was impossible to understand each other's positions, so the ships had to judge the direction according to the compass and rough charts.
Liu Zhenhua felt the seriousness of the problem: it was difficult for the whole team to ensure that they would land together at the predetermined location.
He immediately held urgent consultations with some battalion and regiment cadres, and the results were different, some advocated continuing to move forward, and some advocated retreating to choose another auspicious day.
Liu Zhenhua resolutely decided: Even if the contact is lost, all ships must maneuver to dock, and a single ship must dare to land, and the general direction is Five Finger Mountain!
Liu Zhenhua immediately reported this determination and deployment to the military headquarters through radio, and the reply he received was: Overcome all difficulties and resolutely proceed according to the original plan.
In order to turn the commander's determination into the action of the whole team, Liu Zhenhua sent the order to the battalions by radio, and demanded that the battalions immediately convey to the ships, while the command ships of the brigade started the machine and guided the nearby ships forward with the sound of motors.
04
When dawn broke, the military commander Han Xianchu sent an urgent telegram to ask, "Where are you now?" How far is it from the landing site?"
But Liu Zhenhua could not give an accurate answer, and even Ma Baishan, known as "Hainan Pass", could not figure out where they were at the moment.
Finally, based on the distance from the shore, the landing site was determined to be 27 nautical miles east of the intended level. With the momentum in place, Liu Zhenhua immediately made a decision: move closer to me and prepare to force a landing!
Liu Zhenhua calculated the strength of the troops: Although the company command ships were only 200 people together, the situation was compelling and could not wait any longer, and if they were still stranded at sea at dawn, they would inevitably be attacked from three sides by the defending aircraft, warships, and firepower on the shore, which was very dangerous! He was determined to lead the 200 men of the four ships to land first.
However, at this critical juncture, an unfortunate thing happened: a shell from the defenders hit the ship of Li Guangwen, deputy regimental commander, and Zhang Zhidong, director of the political department, both of whom were wounded and the ship was damaged.
Liu Zhenhua was full of anger and tiger anger, and he shouted: "Follow me!" "Led 3 boats to the coast bravely. The battle unfolded fiercely. In less than 5 minutes, the command ship was hit by dozens of bullets. But the warriors and shipwrights were very brave.
Liu Zhenhua first organized and commanded small troops to quickly capture 3 strongholds on the island, eliminated 4 companies of defenders, expanded the landing field, and then commanded the troops to land tenaciously, fought a battle against the water, repelled the defenders' frenzied counterattacks again and again, fought hard for a whole day, defended the landing field, and finally received most of the follow-up troops.
05
Due to the change of landing site, the originally expected qionglong receiving troops on the island have not been able to contact. Liu Zhenhua and everyone were alone.
After a day of fierce fighting, the night is low and the waves crash on the shore. Liu Zhenhua and everyone buried the remains of the martyrs, lifted up their seriously wounded comrades-in-arms, and quietly left the Chengmai coast and marched toward the interior of Hainan Island and the rear of the defenders.
For four consecutive days, Liu Zhenhua led the troops and the Kuomintang army to fight around, and finally broke through the difficulties and obstacles along the way and reached the predetermined destination - Meihou Village.
Here, Liu Zhenhua did not bother to take a moment's rest, and immediately borrowed the radio station of the Prefectural Committee of the Western District of the CPC and sent the first telegram to the military headquarters four days apart.
After receiving Liu Zhenhua's telegram, Han Xianchu, the bloodshot-eyed army chief, immediately called back: "Congratulations on your victory in the crucial landing!" ”
In accordance with the orders of the commander of the Fifteenth Corps, the Qiongdao Western Front Headquarters, with Ma Baishan as commander, Chen Qingshan (deputy director of the Qiongzhong Political Department) as the political commissar, Gou Zaisong and Chen Qiuguang (the first commander of the Qiongzhong Commandery), and Liu Zhenhua as deputy political commissars, was immediately formed to expand the Qiongya base area, further mobilize the masses, create conditions, step up preparations, carry out internal and external cooperation, and welcome the landing of the large army across the sea.
April 16 was the day when the 40th and 43rd Armies of the People's Liberation Army launched a general offensive on Hainan Island.
The headquarters of the western front of the island commanded more than 10,000 people from the two brother units under its command, and successfully landed with the main forces of the Forty Army. At the same time, the first part of the Forty-third Army also landed successfully.
Han Xianchu then led a landing army and attacked straight towards Haikou City. Liu Zhenhua left liu zhenhua to lead the second battalion of the 352nd regiment and 3 regiments of the qiongzhong 1st general brigade led by Ma Baishan to besiege the defenders of Lingao County and 1 division.
Two days later, the defenders saw that the situation was not good, and they broke through in a hurry, and were annihilated by one, surrendered one, and the rest scattered and fled. The main force of the People's Liberation Army won a decisive battle with the Kuomintang army at Meiting and captured the city of Haikou.
Sweeping through a thousand armies, it quickly planted the five-star red flag at the end of the world. On May 1, 1950, Liu Zhenhua and his comrades-in-arms joined the people of Hainan in celebrating the liberation of Qiongdao Island.