Among the revolutionary ranks was a hero who stood tall in the world, and he produced 800 founding generals. After the founding of the country, he was qualified to be a marshal, but he repeatedly resigned, why is this? Such a great hero who brought out 800 founding generals and made so many contributions to the country, why is he unwilling to be a marshal and enjoy the honor?
The hero's name is Xu Xiangqian, born in 1901, a native of Yong'an Village, Wutai, Shanxi Province, and his family is particularly poor. Although he was sent by his family to read and write as a child, he was soon forced to drop out of school to work as an apprentice in a grocery store because of his family's poverty.
At that time, the apprentice's treatment was very low, he lived a particularly hard life every day, this harsh environment, caused great harm to his body and mind, but he did not give up on himself, but worked harder to squeeze out time to learn and improve his own ability.
Two years later, he was successfully admitted to the Shanxi National Normal School, began to receive the most formal education, and returned to Wutai County as a primary school teacher after graduation.
During this period, Xu Xiangqian, who had been exposed to progressive ideas, often preached patriotic ideas and anti-feudal ideas to students, but was dismissed by the school and lost his job. Subsequently, Xu Xiangqian joined Dr. Sun Yat-sen's guard and went to Shaoguan to participate in the famous Northern Expedition oath activities in history.
In 1924, Xu Xiangqian was admitted to the first phase of the Whampoa Military Academy, and after graduation, because of his outstanding ability, he stayed in the school as a platoon leader. In the second year, he followed the army to fight the warlord Chen Jiongming, and was promoted because of his outstanding talent, and was transferred to the Sixth Brigade of the Second Army of the Nationalist Army, serving as an instructor and staff officer.
In 1927, Xu Xiangqian joined the revolutionary organization and became an honorable party member. In April of the same year, he was sent to the Wuhan Central Military and Political School as a captain. Xu Xiangqian, who embarked on the revolutionary road, always followed the footsteps of the organization, did not change his position because of the turbulence of the situation, and laid a good foundation for the overall victory of the organization.
For example, in June 1929, Xu Xiangqian was sent to northeastern Hubei as deputy commander of the 31st Division of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. At that time, under the name of the Red 31st Division, there were a total of 4 brigades, adding up to a total of more than 300 people, and the cadres were basically young peasants.
As an intellectual, Xu Xiangqian actively gets along with everyone and leads by example in everything he does. With his approachable attitude, he quickly mingled with everyone. Under the leadership of Xu Xiangqian, the 31st Division grew rapidly, and in just two years, it grew to 40,000 people.
This is an extremely terrible expansion rate, to know that the Red Army team led by Mr. Peng at that time, a total of not more than 10,000 people, if you compare the two, it is not difficult to find that Marshal Xu Qianqian is indeed an extremely good military scientist.
What is even more admirable is that among the 40,000 Red Army troops that Xu Qianqian developed, 800 people stood out, and in the following years of war, they made many military achievements for the organization and became the founding generals of new China by virtue of their extraordinary ability.
From this point of view, Xu Xiangqian has laid a solid foundation for the overall victory of the organization. Xu Xiangqian himself also made indelible historical contributions to the motherland during the war.
For example, during the War of Resistance Against Japan, Xu Xiangqian was ordered to go to the Shanxi region to negotiate with the warlord Yan Xishan. During this period, he took advantage of every opportunity to propagate the anti-Japanese ideas of the revolutionary organizations everywhere, and at the same time tried to persuade Yan Xishan to agree to the establishment of the National Revolutionary War Mobilization Committee in the Second Theater.
At the same time, Yan Xishan also made a promise to facilitate the establishment of an anti-Japanese front for the Eighth Route Army and not to secretly obstruct the Eighth Route Army against the Japanese army. After that, Xu Xiangqian, Liu Bocheng and others cooperated to establish a revolutionary base area in the Taihang Mountains area, and in just three months, they achieved extremely outstanding achievements.
Fearful of Xu Xiangqian and others, the Japanese army repeatedly sent troops to attack in an attempt to destroy the revolutionary base areas. In the face of the surging Japanese army, Xu Xiangqian and others did not have any fear, they actively prepared for the battle, and successively won the battle of Phoenix Mountain, the ambush of Changshengkou, the battle of God of War Touling, and the anti-six-way siege.
According to some data, Xu Xiangqian and others annihilated at least 7,000 elite Japanese soldiers at that time, which greatly eased the pressure on other battlefields. After this series of battles, the Japanese army was basically driven out of the southeastern Jin region. Since then, the Jin-Ji-Yu Revolutionary Base Area with the Taihang Mountains as the core has basically taken shape.
After the victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan, the extremely decadent National Government ignored the interests of the common people and insisted on launching a war in an attempt to completely crush the People's Liberation Army. The People's Liberation Army had no choice but to fight back, relying on the support of the common people and constantly maneuvering with the enemy. After the outbreak of this war, Xu Xiangqian returned to Shanxi and was responsible for liberating the region.
At that time, Xu Xiangqian's troops were insufficient and materials were quite scarce, while the warlords of Yan Xishan, whom he faced, had been entrenched in the local area for many years, not only with a large number of generals, but also with a steady stream of material support, and the strength of the two sides was very different. Faced with such a large gap, Xu moved forward steadily and steadily, looking for an opportunity to break through Yuncheng and directly remove Yan Xishan's Jinnan barrier.
After many duels, Xu Xiangqian successfully used flexible strategies and tactics to defeat the main force of Taiyuan with fewer troops, successfully changing the balance of strength between the two sides. In April 1949, Xu Xiangqian sent troops to launch a general offensive against the Taiyuan area, directly eliminating 138,000 troops and completely destroying the Yan Xishan warlords who had been entrenched in the Shanxi region for 38 years.
All in all, Xu Xiangqian made great historical contributions to the motherland throughout the war period. In the whole army, his qualifications and military achievements are among the top few. So when Xu Xiangqian was awarded the rank, why did he choose to refuse?
When he learned that he was about to be awarded the rank of marshal, Xu Xiangqian showed particular indifference, saying: Since the revolution has been successful, it does not matter whether the rank of marshal is successful or not, as long as the country's future development is smooth.
Fortunately, the great man and other leading cadres repeatedly persuaded Xu Xiangqian to change his mind and accept the rank of marshal. However, Marshal Xu is not a person who covets power and status, and he holds many important positions, and after seeing the state introduce policies to support the rejuvenation of cadres, he voluntarily resigned from many important positions, such as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and vice premier of the People's Republic of China.
It is worth mentioning that Xu Xiangqian, who became a marshal, did not change his simple life because of the promotion of power and status, he was never willing to spend money indiscriminately, and he did not want anything that should not be bought.
The sweater he wears has always been sewn by his own hands during the war, and he has been wearing it for 30 years and has not been willing to throw it away. Xu Xiangqian's self-discipline and frugality have made many people ashamed.
Thank you for reading, and if you find this article helpful to you, don't forget to like, comment, retweet, and bookmark