In 1955, the first major award of the whole army produced a total of 55 generals, including many strong martial artists. Among them, Xu Shiyou's name is known to many people, because of his experience as a monk in the Shaolin Temple, and many people rumor that he is a Shaolin master.
But in fact, Xu Shiyou's martial arts may not be able to beat Geng Biao, who was not awarded a title; even when he wanted to compete with Geng Biao, he was rejected by Geng Biao with a smile.
Either Geng Biao's martial arts could really outperform Xu Shiyou, and why didn't he become a general later?
Geng Biao
Born in the world of martial arts, Geng Biao, who has grown up to be a pioneer in the road
Geng Biao was born in 1909 in a farming family in Yanjiachong, Liling Beixiang, Hunan Province, 3 years younger than Xu Shiyou. Geng Biao grew up poor, but his father Geng Chunan was a martial arts master.
At the age of 15, Geng Chunan defected to his uncle Geng Zhilin in the Qing Army's pro-army camp and served as a soldier in the pro-army camp for 9 years. Geng Chu Nan had trained a strong martial art and was even selected as the Great Inner Guard. Because of his martial arts skills, the emperor rewarded him with a pair of tiger heads and double hooks.
Later, geng chu nan was not accustomed to the dark corruption of the imperial court, so he took advantage of the death of his uncle Geng Zhilin and returned home to farm in the name of shouxiao.
Later, when he competed with people, he often used a tiger's head double hook, and his friends called him the "double hook hero". Therefore, although Geng Biao did not read many books due to his family's poverty since he was a child, he practiced a solid kung fu under the guidance of his father.
farmer
But practicing martial arts alone is not enough to eat. So when Geng Biao was 7 years old, his family fled to Shuikou Mountain in Changning County, Hengyang. They heard that the lead and zinc mines there had a good income, and the family lived there for ten years. While being a tired and dangerous miner, Geng Biao used his free time to continue practicing.
When he grew up, he had a good body, and every day he did more work than others, and he paid more; but his cruel and dark exploitation of the mine and the mine owner's hatred for the life of the miners.
In 1925, Geng Biao came into contact with Marxism under the guidance of others and joined the Communist Youth League of China, joining the Communist Party in August 1928. During the Great Revolution, Geng Biao participated in the formation of the Shuikou Mountain Workers' and Peasants' Red Guards.
Using his own kung fu, he sneaked into a nearby arms depot and stole 16 guns, officially starting his military career. After that, Geng Biao commanded guerrilla operations under the arrangement of the party organization, until September 1930, after cooperating with the main Red Army to win the great victory in Wenjia City, Liuyang, he went to Jinggangshan and officially became a member of the Red Army.
Red army
Geng Biao and Xu Shiyou have too many similar experiences, such as they have become Red Army division-level cadres in their 20s. Unfortunately, because the equipment of the Red Army was too backward, not only was there a shortage of guns and bullets, so that Geng Biao, as a commander, had to often pick up his saber to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.
In the famous Battle of Nanxiong Shuikou, Geng Biao, as the chief of staff of the Red 9th Division, saw the frenzied attack of the Nationalist army, and most of the cadres were killed or wounded. At the critical moment, he replaced the wounded division commander, and with the surviving officers and men repeatedly charged and killed in the enemy position with sabers, he reversed the battle situation and waited for Chen Yi's reinforcements.
In October 1934, the Red Army was forced to march, and Geng Biao was then the commander of the Red Fourth Regiment of the Red Second Division of the Red First Army. When the Red Army reached the fourth blockade line, it was caught in the three-sided attack of the superior enemy. Because the Red First Division was not in place in time for a while, Geng Biao's Red Second Division became the vanguard of the whole army and was under many times the pressure.
On the left bank of the Xiang River, the Red Fourth Regiment was located in the battlefield, according to intelligence, there were 9 regiments of enemy soldiers, but in fact it was 15 regiments. Due to the heavy casualties of the troops, most of the positions were lost.
Battle of the Xiang River
Luo Ruiqing, director of the Legion's Political Protection Bureau, personally came to supervise the battle and scolded Geng Biao. Geng Biao was physically ill at that time, but he couldn't take care of so much at this critical juncture of life and death.
He led the surviving officers and soldiers to fight the enemy back in hand-to-hand combat, and he single-handedly hacked and slashed the enemy in a platoon. By the end of the battle, Geng Biao had become a completely bloody man, and he himself had been so scented that he could not eat for several days.
It can be said that just by watching the Xiangjiang War, Geng Biao can become famous in one battle, but the last thing he wants to remember in his later years is the Battle of the Xiangjiang River. After passing the Xiangjiang River, the Red Army continued to advance, and the Red Fourth Regiment once again became the vanguard of the whole army. After entering Sichuan, Chiang Kai-shek had a sudden attempt to wipe out the Red Army on the banks of the Dadu River.
At the critical moment, Geng Biao's Red Fourth Regiment made a great contribution. They reached Anshun field at an astonishing speed and snatched a ship that the enemy failed to burn. Subsequently, the Red Fourth Regiment and the troops crossing the river attacked Luding at the same time along both sides of the Dadu River.
In the battle to capture the Luding Bridge, Geng Biao led the Red Fourth Regiment to 120 kilometers ahead in 24 hours, setting a record for human marching. Being able to take down the Luding Bridge at such a fast speed made Chairman Mao exclaim, "Remarkable." He also wrote a letter to Geng Biao praising his bravery.
On the Long March Road, Geng Biao's heroic story is more than that. After the Battle of the XiangJiang River, the Red Army's weight and pack horses were almost completely lost, and when the Long March reached the meadow, Geng Biao's mount was lost again.
He was worried about what to do in the future, and saw a wild horse on the steppe; he, who had never been able to train a horse, had to rely on a single effort to conquer this wild horse, and this horse also brought back more than a dozen wild horses for the Red Army, which made the central leaders who were worried about packing horses give a thumbs up.
The Red Army marched through the meadows
The monk general wanted to compete with him, but Geng Biao calmly refused to patiently explain
The legendary founding general Xu Shiyou, formerly known as Xu Shiyou (許士友), was born in February 1906 in Xujiawa Village, Tianpu Township, Xinxian County, Henan Province, to a very poor peasant family.
When he was 8 years old, he went to the Shaolin Temple with Lin Zijin, a Shaolin monk who was passing by, and worked as a miscellaneous servant for eight years. After leaving the Shaolin Temple, he served in Wu Peifu's army and then in the Northern Expeditionary Army.
In November 1927, our Party forces on the border of Henan and Hubei launched the "Jute Uprising", and Xu Shiyou joined the Red Fourth Front and quickly emerged. He set a record of rising from squad leader to regimental commander in just one year.
Xu Shiyou has been a death squad member 8 times and a death squad captain 5 times. When the Red Army attacked Huang'ancheng in November 1931, he served as the commander of the 34th Regiment but took the lead in rushing into the enemy position. In the 1934 Wanyuan Defense War, Xu Shiyou had been promoted to deputy commander of the Red 9 Army and commander of the 25th Division, and still took the lead in carrying a large knife to kill the enemy.
Xu Shiyou
Xu Shiyou was a very good martial artist, he killed the enemy on the battlefield, and he also liked to perform martial arts to the warriors in his daily training, or pull other generals to compete. For example, Qian Jun entered the Shaolin Temple at the age of 11 and practiced the cinnabar divine palm; Xu Shiyou specifically asked him to try his fists and feet.
In 1936, the Red Fourth Front met with the Red Fourth Front in northern Shaanxi, and Xu Shiyou and a number of generals of the Red Fourth Front entered the Red Army University as cadets. When Xu Shiyou heard stories such as Geng Biao's courageous battle against the Xiangjiang River, he released the wind to compete with him, and everyone knew that Xu Shiyou and Geng Biao were both powerful characters, and many people talked about it in private.
But after Geng Biao heard about it, he didn't pay any attention to it at all, and only replied lightly, "Whether it is a fist or a big knife, Xu Shiyou is not my opponent." These words reached Xu Shiyou's ears again, and immediately aroused his curiosity.
Xu Shiyou struggled to find Geng Biao who insisted on competing in the martial arts, but Geng Biao used his busy official duties to shirk it. However, Xu Shiyou did not give up until he reached his goal, saying that he was willing to wait for Geng Biao to finish his official duties. Geng Biao had no choice but to seriously say that there was an emergency meeting to be held, and Xu Shiyou left unwillingly.
Later, Xu Shiyou repeatedly looked for Geng Biao, making Geng Biao overwhelmed; finally Geng Biao had to patiently explain to Xu Shiyou why he refused his request to compete.
Geng Biao also knew Xu Shiyou's strength and his temper, and if he had to compete with Xu Shiyou, he would probably have to win or lose; at that time, the two would inevitably be injured, which no one wanted. Whoever is wounded is a loss to our army.
Now everyone's task should be unanimous to the outside world, leaving the powerful kung fu on the battlefield and leaving it to the enemy. As for who is more powerful than him and Xu Shiyou, it does not matter at all, and it is victory to win the revolution together.
Geng Biao's personality is relatively calm, and he will not be like Xu Shiyou who will have to compete with people at every turn.
In particular, when Xu Shiyou and Geng Biao met at the Red Army University, it was a period of great sensitivity and tension between the Red One and Red Four students. If xu shiyou and Geng Biao win or lose in peacetime, it will not hurt.
But in that case, whoever lost could trigger an unnecessary storm. Affecting the unity of comrades for a momentary victory or defeat is entirely due to small losses, and Geng Biao's gentle refusal reflects that he has a better overall view than Xu Shiyou.
It turned out that Geng Biao's worries were very reasonable, and soon after Xu Shiyou was grumpy, he almost made a big mistake because of a momentary impulse.
Fortunately, the great leader Chairman Mao discovered the crux of the problem in time and impressed Xu Shiyou with his broad mind. Xu Shiyou repented of his impulsiveness, and was not so rash afterwards; so for decades afterwards, he never mentioned the so-called contest with Geng Biao.
For the sake of the overall situation, Geng Biao turned to the diplomatic front, and promoted the modernization of national defense without a title
After the Red Army University parted, Xu Shiyou and Geng Biao almost never worked together again.
After 1936, Chairman Mao wanted Geng Biao to work in the Red Fourth Front and serve as chief of staff of the Red Fourth Army. Geng Biao was very reluctant to hear the news, worried that there would be people like Xu Shiyou who would trouble him again.
Chairman Mao encouraged him not to be afraid, and gave him two words: Start following, and then catch up. Encouraged by Chairman Mao's enthusiasm, Geng Biao passionately went to the Red Fourth Army and contributed to the unity of the two main forces of the Red Army.
In 1937, xu Shiyou became the deputy brigade commander of the 386 brigade and went to the anti-Japanese front to continue his legend of the big knife. Geng Biao also became the deputy brigade commander of the 385 Brigade. However, just as he was full of ambition to prepare to kill the little devil, he was told that he must stay and defend Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia.
Geng Biao felt even more aggrieved than Xu Shiyou at that time, and ran to the division chief several times to make trouble. Finally, Chairman Mao personally appeased him and explained to him the importance of defending the rear area of Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia.
Sure enough, after 1939, both the Japanese and The Kuomintang diehards had the idea of sneaking into Yan'an, but thanks to Geng Biao's heroic counterattack, the security of the Party Central Committee was ensured.
In 1940, the Qingyang area of Gansu, where Geng Biao was located, also began reclamation. But unlike Nanniwan, Geng Biao's area was often infested with a large number of wild beasts; nearby farmers were often bitten by wild beasts, let alone farming. Geng Biao was overjoyed to hear it, since he didn't have the opportunity to fight the devils, it was not bad to practice his hands with wild beasts.
So Geng Biao led the warriors to use various hunting tools to capture four tigers and more wolves, rabbits and other wild beasts in a month.
The skins of these beasts were exchanged for silver dollars to buy much-needed items in the Borderlands. Even a skinned tiger was sent to Yan'an, which opened the eyes of Chairman Mao and President Zhu. Since then, Geng Biao has had the title of "Fighting Tiger Taibao".
By the time of the Liberation War, Xu Shiyou had become the commander of the Shandong Corps, still fiercely fighting and charging, and achieving major victories in the battles of Meng Lianggu and Jinan. Chairman Mao once praised him greatly: "Xu Shiyou is a warrior general who has conquered the eastern half of the sky! Geng Biao, on the other hand, never had such an opportunity.
Before the Kuomintang and the Communists could fight a major battle, the Central Committee arranged for Geng Biao to assist Ye Jianying in negotiations with the Kuomintang authorities and the U.S. envoys. In the northeast battlefield, he also negotiated with Chen Mingren, the defender of Siping.
Since both were from Liling City, Chen Mingren actually detained him to try to persuade him to join the Nationalist army; Geng Biao and he finally got out of the verbal battle, and three years later Chen Mingren had to admire his analysis and foresight.
In 1948, Geng Biao became the chief of staff of the Second Corps of North China and participated in the Battle of Pingjin, but he never had the opportunity to rush to kill. In fact, this is also the embodiment of the strength of the People's Liberation Army, there are so many cannons still using Geng Biao to fight them in hand-to-hand combat!
Chen Mingren
After the founding of New China in 1950, the newly formed Ministry of Foreign Affairs was in urgent need of talents. After Chen Yi became minister of foreign affairs, the central government decided to send generals to become the first batch of diplomats in New China, including Geng Biao.
Although Geng Biao believed that he was from the military and was not suitable for the outside world. But Premier Zhou said to him, you once dealt with the Kuomintang and the Americans, how can you say that you are not good at the outside world? In this way, Geng Biao, together with a group of generals who had made great military achievements, took off their military uniforms and put on suits.
Geng Biao became the first foreign ambassador to the West in New China, and for more than a decade he served as an ambassador to Sweden, as well as a minister to Denmark and Finland, an ambassador to Pakistan, and an ambassador to Burma and Albania. He has done a great deal of work to maintain friendly and cooperative relations between his host country and China.
Geng Biao is better known for his 1963 ambassador to Pakistan, when the border negotiations between the two countries reached a stalemate, and he successfully exchanged his concessions on the demarcation of the Karakoram Corridor by abandoning Hunza (Kanjuti), an "enclave" that our country never really ruled.
Geng Biao (right)
Geng Biao has brilliantly safeguarded national interests and China-Pakistan relations, and has become a good story for China to resolve border disputes.
Geng Biao began to serve as ambassador to Albania in 1969, contributing to the transformation of China's foreign policy. Previously, because Albania supported China, China gave it great assistance.
However, after Geng Biao arrived at the post, he found that the Albanian government did not use China's materials in the right place at all, resulting in serious profligacy and waste.
Geng Biao finally realized that such aid could not be sustained with China's national strength at that time. So he wrote a long report and sent it back to China, which was praised by Chairman Mao: "Geng Biao dared to tell the truth, reflected the real situation, and was a good ambassador." ”[3]
In 1979, Geng Biao, who had been fighting on the diplomatic front for nearly 30 years, once again won the military post and became the secretary general of the Central Military Commission. In fact, with Geng Biao's seniority, if there is a rank system at this time, it is completely possible to grant him a supplementary rank.
Geng briefly served as defense minister from 1981 to 1983 before becoming vice chairman of the National People's Congress. He served briefly, but became the first Chinese defense minister to visit the United States. He and Navy Commander Liu Huaqing boarded the U.S. aircraft carrier and experienced first-hand the gap between China and the United States in terms of weapons modernization.
Therefore, after returning to China, he actively supported Deng Xiaoping in reducing the size of the army and concentrating financial resources on the development of high-tech weapons. Moreover, when Geng Biao served as ambassador and later went abroad, he realized that in the 1980s, china may face new security threats;
So at his suggestion, in 1982, China formed the first SWAT team - "Ground Anti-Hijacking Special Police Force". Therefore, some people later called Geng Biao "the father of China's special police".
He dedicated his life to the revolution, and the spirit of the old hero is forever immortal
When Geng Biao returned from the diplomatic front to the role of a soldier and worked hard for the development of the people's army, Xu Shiyou was serving as commander of the Guangzhou Military Region. He commanded the Eastern Front in 1979 in the Sino-Vietnamese self-defense counterattack and achieved great success, but his command style also attracted a lot of criticism.
In the 1980s, Xu Shiyou's body was not as good as before, but his temper was getting bigger and bigger. For many years he never left the wine, and finally caused physical problems. But even if the central leaders advised him to quit drinking or go to the hospital for good treatment, he insisted that he was not sick. It wasn't until doctors checked that his liver cancer was in its advanced stages that he unfortunately died in 1985.
Geng Biao remained open-minded after resigning from all his posts in 1991 and died of illness in 2000. It is said that the life of a person who practices martial arts is hard, and Geng Biao still showed his kung fu foundation many times in his later years.
Geng Biao and his daughter in his later years
Looking back at the life experiences of these two founding fathers, we can still get some inspiration.
A person's life has to go through multiple tests. As famous generals fighting on the battlefield, Xu Shiyou and Geng Biao were both talked about. However, when encountering some setbacks and inflection points in his life, Geng Biao's attitude was open-minded, while Xu Shiyou was too straight. Although Xu Shiyou made many military achievements, there were also many criticisms of him by later generations.
In contrast, Geng Biao is not so controversial, and his role as a military and diplomat is commendable. This is also a valuable asset we have received from our two old predecessors.