The young cadre told three truths, was promoted three ranks by the deputy commander, and later became the founding general
In May 1934, the Red Twenty-fifth Army rushed to the county town of Luotian in Hunan Province, fought a battle with the enemy, and then the troops rested and summarized, and helped the masses harvest wheat.
At a battle summary meeting, a small cadre of only 19 years old caught the attention of Xu Haidong, deputy commander of the Twenty-fifth Army, liu Zhen, deputy squad leader of the first detachment of the pistol regiment of the Twenty-fifth Army.
At the meeting, Liu Zhen talked about some views on the battle of Luotian, and what was completely different from the unanimous praise of the people for this battle was that he highlighted the shortcomings of the troops, especially the problems of tactical application, including the organization of firepower, the deployment when withdrawing from the battle, and the coordinated use of artillery weapons.
Although Liu Zhen's speech was short, every sentence was the truth, and the sentence was on the point. After listening to his speech, Xu Haidong immediately expressed his appreciation, believing that he was a deputy squad leader who was overkill and had the potential to become a commander.
Soon, Xu Haidong promoted Liu Zhen to the post of instructor of the first company of the 224th Regiment of the 75th Division. Later, this experience was said to be "Liu Zhen said three truths and was promoted three times by Vice Commander Xu."
In November of that year, Xu Haidong promoted Liu Zhen to be the political commissar of the first battalion of the 225th Regiment (at that time, he was not called an instructor, he was called a political commissar).
In the summer of 1935, the 225th Regiment passed through the area of Manchuan Pass, and the 1st Brigade of the Enemy Shaanxi Army Security Also followed. The 225th Regiment fired a false shot and prepared to ambush the enemy in the area of Yuanjiagoukou in Shanyang County, Shaanxi Province.
After the troops arrived at Yuangoukou, Han Xianchu, commander of the first battalion of the 225th Regiment, and Liu Zhen, political commissar, accepted the order issued by the regiment commander: they led the whole battalion to stick to the middle of the "pocket array" and were responsible for cutting off the enemy army.
After consultation between Han Xianchu and Liu Zhen, they decided to put most of the main forces on the front line, and each company left only one platoon as a reserve.
Early the next morning, Han Xianchu led the cadres above the platoon to look at the terrain. Liu Zhen was responsible for boosting morale and checking the readiness of weapons, ammunition, and dry food.
Next, everything is ready, just waiting for the "net" to catch the "fish".
In the early morning of July 1, the commanders and fighters of the first battalion got up early to eat, and then the whole team set off and entered the Yuanjiagou pass to ambush them.
Yuanjiagoukou is a ravine tens of miles long, lined with mountains high into the clouds, overgrown with weeds, and forests of chestnut trees. A path in the middle of the ditch, accompanied by a small stream, meanders away. The whole ravine really resembles a long pocket, laid out in the midst of thousands of mountains.
Under the leadership of Han Xianchu and Liu Zhen, the three companies of the first battalion were like three sharp sharp knives, quietly lurking in the vast forest.
At about ten o'clock in the morning, the enemy did appear. These guys didn't expect that there would be a Red Army ambush here, and one by one they walked to the creek with a big swing, and they couldn't wait to lie down or sit, and some of them took off their clothes and washed their faces in the stream, and all obediently fell into the "pocket array" under the Red Army's cloth.
Just at this moment, the Commander of the Red Army gave an order, and the loud charge horn sounded. Suddenly, the military trumpets sounded in unison among the mountains, the gunshots were loud, the red flags were unfurled, and the Red Army soldiers divided into several ways and roared angrily and pounced on the enemy group.
This sudden attack frightened the enemy, and they suddenly became a chaotic mess, like a swarm of headless flies.
Liu Zhen led three companies to rush toward the enemy, and halfway up the mountain they bumped into a group of more special enemies, all of whom were armed with short guns, which seemed to be the enemy's pistol team.
The commanders and fighters of the three companies threw a bunch of grenades head-on and crushed the guys. Seeing that there was no way out, they had to raise their hands and surrender. The soldiers of the three companies took prisoners and pistols one after another, and worked for a while.
Suddenly, Liu Zhen saw a guy dressed as an officer in the enemy group, pulling out his legs and desperately running down the mountain. Liu Zhen thought to himself, "The thief must capture the king first, and he must catch this enemy officer!" He immediately chased after him.
When the enemy officers noticed that the Red Army was eyeing him, and they were in hot pursuit, they temporarily stopped, used the stones, mounds, and trees by the river as cover, and turned around and drew their guns to shoot at Liu Zhen.
He fired a few shots and ran for a while, fighting and fleeing; Liu Zhen also chased and fought, following the enemy officer to death. The two sides were like hide-and-seek, and they could not stand each other for a while.
At this time, Liu Zhen alone had chased out a long distance, and the bullets in the pistol were getting less and less. When he saw that he had only one last bullet left, he decided to seize the opportunity to strike decisively and break the stalemate.
Just as the enemy officer was finishing a series of shots and was pressing the bullet into the gun, Liu Zhen whizzed like lightning to the enemy officer's hiding place and grabbed both of his arms. Then the two became entangled and wrestled.
Although Liu Zhen was thin in stature, this enemy officer seemed to have neglected his training in normal times, and he was violently knocked down by Liu Zhen. But after all, this guy had a short gun in his hand, and he actually saw the opportunity to shoot a shot, and Liu Zhen's left arm was penetrated by a bullet, and the blood flowed instantly.
At the critical moment of his life and death, when he was weak and almost unable to support himself, the flag bearers of a battalion just chased after him. Seeing that his comrades were in danger, he unthinkingly poked the head of the enemy officer with the iron tail end of the flagpole, and he was going to die at once.
The Red Army's ambush battle annihilated all the First Brigade of the Shaanxi Army, and the enemy brigade commander Tang Sitong also became a prisoner of the Red Army. It was not until the end of the battle that the wounded Liu Zhen learned that the enemy officer he was chasing was the captain of the guard of the First Brigade of the Shaanxi Army.
Although Liu Zhen was wounded in battle, his brave pursuit of enemy officers alone was highly praised by his superiors.
After hearing about this incident, Deputy Commander Xu Haidong commented that Liu Zhen "not only has a military mind, but also has a strong fighting spirit, and is a cadre with courage and strategy." ”
Two months later, after the Red Twenty-fifth Army arrived at the Shaanxi-Gansu base area, it was reorganized, and Liu Zhen, who was only 20 years old, was promoted to political commissar of the 225th Regiment of the 75th Division of the Red 15th Army. Since then, he has become an excellent commander of the Red Army, made great achievements in the Southern Expedition and the Northern War, and became the founding general of New China in 1955.