The old saying goes: Han Xin leads the army, the more the merrier.
In the war-torn modern era, famous generals have emerged in an endless stream, but if han Xin can command a huge number of soldiers and can obtain the reputation of "general of constant victory", it may be as scarce as a rarity, and one of the founders of new China, General Su Yu, is one of the best.
The reason why General Su Yu was able to leave a strong mark on the history of Qing was due to his extraordinary military talent and fanatical study of the military. Zeng Tao, who was the ambassador of the People's Republic of China to France in the 1970s, once said of General Su Yu: "General Su Yu's mind is always thinking about how to fight a war. This evaluation is due to an interesting incident that happened when Zeng Tao received General Su Yu in France.
In 1970, after overthrowing the increasingly right-leaning Masamba Deba, the head of the Congo army, Nguwabi, renamed the Congo the "People's Republic of the Congo" and said that he would continue to improve socialism under the leadership of the "leading big brother" of socialism, the Soviet Union.
As a member of the "socialist camp," China must, of course, help Africa's first socialist country. Therefore, led by General Su Yu, the Chinese military delegation went to visit the Congo.
After the military visit, Su Yu and his party prepared to leave Congo and return to their motherland. However, when Chairman Mao saw the "itinerary for returning to China" reported by Su Yu and his party, he immediately called Su Yu and asked him not to rush back to China to report, and when he passed through France on the way, he went to see the scenery of this "romantic capital".
Chairman Mao's original intention was to let General Su Yu relax in France, because after the founding of the People's Republic of China, General Su Yu, who had always loved to command large armies in battle all his life, never had the opportunity to show his outstanding military talent.
However, Chairman Mao really underestimated General Su Yu's love for the military, and this trip to France not only failed to dilute the military attachment in General Su Yu's mind, but on the contrary gave him a deeper understanding of the military in the new era.
What Chairman Mao did not know was that, in fact, as early as the beginning of this overseas visit, General Su Yu had mentioned to his fellow Major General Duan Suquan that this visit to the Congo would definitely pass through France, and if he had the opportunity, he must go to the site of the Normandy landing battle that changed the strategic situation of World War II.
After General Su Yu and his party arrived in Paris, Zeng Tao, who had already received the notice at the time, had already arranged a "French style experience" itinerary for General Su Yu's military delegation. After a brief introduction, Zeng Tao smiled and said to General Su Yu: "General Su, there are too many places worth visiting in Paris, the 'capital of fashion', and I have arranged it in the past few days to ensure that you will have an unforgettable journey." ”
Just when Ambassador Zeng Tao was about to change his tone and introduce the first stop of their tour, General Su Yu waved his hand and said: "Ambassador Zeng, let you bother, but I don't like to shop and browse the local customs, if conditions permit, I want to go to the site of the Normandy Landing Battle of that year to have a look." ”
Zeng Tao was not too surprised to hear this, but inadvertently nodded slightly: General Su Yu had an almost crazy obsession with the military, and now it seems that the rumors are not false.
Although the preparations for many days did not come in handy, since General Su Yu had some expectations, he naturally wanted to take this group of people to a good experience of the legacy of the magnificent Normandy landing battle. To this end, Zeng Tao also specially invited a French military expert who had specialized in the Study of the Normandy Landing Campaign, so that he could answer the questions that General Su Yu would ask during the tour at any time.
The town of Alomanche, where the Normandy landing site is located, is still some distance from Paris, and it takes nearly two hours by car. On the way, the scenery of the French mainland is indeed as Ambassador Zeng Tao said, beautiful and picturesque, but General Su Yu's eyes have never been attracted by the scenery along the way, which makes Zeng Tao's curiosity about General Su Yu even stronger.
Two hours later, Su Yu and his party finally arrived at the site of the Normandy landings that they had been thinking about since they went abroad. After two hours of running, Rao was slightly tired from the entourage who had enjoyed the scenery along the way, but General Su Yu was excited, and as soon as he got out of the car, he hurried to the battlefield of that year.
Zeng Tao and the others quickly followed general Su Yu's pace, and General Su Yu went straight to the center of the Normandy landings. General Su Yu stood with his hands in his hands, looking around at the remnants of the battlefield that had been captured by the Surprise Attack of nearly 3 million Allied troops more than 70 years ago, and could not help but sigh: "In December 1943, after many days of heated discussions among the Allies, Eisenhower finally decided to choose the location of the second european battlefield in Normandy, which needed to cross the English Channel. ”
Without waiting for Zeng Tao and other entourage to answer, General Su Yu held out his right index finger and pointed to the sea directly opposite: "From here to the south, 100 kilometers deep, that is, the huge battlefield opened by the Allies in 100 kilometers each, to the east is Utah Beach, where the first shots of the airborne troops were fired, and to the west is the important river crossing point of the landing battle- the Kang'en Canal." ”
General Su Yu explained the overwhelming landing battle as if recalling a battle he had personally experienced and commanded in those years, which made not only Zeng Tao and others marvel, but even the military expert in France was shocked. To this end, the military expert also specifically asked the translator next to General Su Yu: "Has General Su Yu inspected the site of the Normandy landing battle before?" ”
When the interpreter heard this, he couldn't help but look a little proud and said, "It is the first time that general Su Yu has visited Paris, France, let alone inspected the Normandy landings." The translation of a sentence made the French military expert who had deeply studied the Normandy landings more deeply admired General Su Yu, and the curiosity and incredulity in his eyes were difficult to hide.
What the French military expert did not know was that as a general Who loved to command large armies in combat, this Normandy landing battle with a total of more than 4 million troops on both sides was simply the "ideal" that General Su Yu dreamed of.
Before the French military expert could react from the shock, General Su Yu turned his head and humbly asked him, "The Normandy landings are arguably the greatest landings in the history of world wars, and although I have carefully studied every detail of this war, there are still a few questions that have not been answered. ”
After hearing the interpreter express General Su Yu's meaning, the French military expert immediately straightened his collar and prepared to show his knowledge in front of the battlefield-hardened Chinese founding general, but when General Su Yu's question was raised, he was immediately dumbfounded, because he could not answer any of them. And these problems, I will list them below.
1. In the 1940s, the main means of transportation was the train, so how the nearly 3 million Allied troops completed this creative legend in a very short period of time has always been the biggest mystery that has plagued The mind of General Su Yu. So the first question General Su Yu asked was: What kind of transportation means did the Allies use to easily transport these nearly 3 million people to Normandy?
2. Secondly, Normandy in 1944 was only a small port with no name, and nearly 3 million Allied troops were able to successfully pour into France through this small port to defeat Nazi Germany, and the basic credit should be attributed to the artificial port built in the Bay of Seine, so General Su Yu's second question was: What kind of structure was the artificial port built in the Bay of Seine that year, which could support the smooth passage of 3 million Allied troops?
3. The artificial port in the Senna Bay played a far more important role in this protracted war, when the artificial port was built, it was attacked by the German army like a tidal wave, but it was easily resisted by the cement piers at the front of the artificial port, so there was also a strong interest in these immobile "pillars of merit" General Su Yu. Immediately after the previous question, General Su Yu asked the French military expert a third question: How many cement piers were built when the Allies built the artificial port, and what was the specific internal structure?
4. It is said that the artificial port built at that time can be floated, so what method is used to make the artificial port fixed at a specific location so that nearly 3 million Allied troops can accurately and continuously pass through, which has always been a place where General Su Yu has been puzzled. So General Su Yu's fourth question was: What methods did the Allies use to allow the port to be accurately positioned while floating?
When the translator translated General Su Yu's four questions one by one to the French military experts, the military expert, who had just been eager to try and was ready to show his style, immediately awkwardly pestle in the same place like a deflated leather ball and did not know how to answer. General Su Yu saw that this French military expert had been unable to answer several questions he had raised head-on, and his heart immediately understood.
Then, he laughed: "I am a person who does not play cards according to common sense, and always likes to study some inconspicuous small places. Watching General Su Yu find himself under the steps, the French military expert could only smile helplessly and did not forget to throw a grateful look at General Su Yu.
However, although his own question could not be answered by this military expert in France, General Su Yu would never give up lightly. General Su Yu personally went to the site of the artificial port in The Bay of Sena to measure, and General Su Yu did not let go of every tiny place, and after walking through the entire artificial port, Zeng Tao carefully found that the small book carried by General Su Yu was already dense.
After recording the last stroke, General Su Yu breathed a sigh of relief, turned his head to Zeng Tao and the others and laughed: "Hahaha, this trip to Paris is really worth it!" ”
After returning to his motherland, General Su Yu compiled the observations of the trip to Paris and the data recorded at the Normandy ruins plus his own insights into a pamphlet, and the details of the Battle of Normandy recorded on it were even praised by Marshal Ye Jianying.
In fact, the reason why General Su Yu was so refined in the subtleties of the Normandy landing battle was not entirely because of General Su Yu's love of the military, and more importantly, the Normandy landing battle, as a landmark large-scale army landing battle, was of great reference significance for the future battle to recover Taiwan.
Speaking of Taiwan, this should be the biggest regret of General Su Yu's life. In April 1949, after the victory in the Battle of the Crossing River, the Kuomintang Chiang Kai-shek authorities fled to Taiwan, and after the general liberation of Chinese mainland, Mao Zedong and other central leaders began to plan to cross the Taiwan Strait to complete the great cause of the reunification of the motherland.
Because of his outstanding performance in decisive battles such as Huaihai and Crossing the River in the Liberation War, Su Yu was appointed by Mao Zedong as the commander-in-chief of the liberation of Taiwan. Although Su Yu was a little surprised by Mao Zedong's hand-pick, the ensuing major mission made Su Yu feel both excited and worried.
Commanding large corps to fight has always been Su Yu's strong point, but the liberation of Taiwan is quite special. Not only because of the unique geographical location of the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan Island, but also the headache for Su Yu was that behind the Kuomintang at that time stood the "behemoth" of the United States.
The people's army was able to win the war of liberation because it conformed to the times and the popular will of hundreds of millions of Chinese people, not to mention that in land warfare, the main competition was the courage of soldiers and the level of commanders. However, the liberation of Taiwan is different, the liberation of Taiwan requires the support of profound naval equipment and other equipment, and if the people's army at that time encountered the MOST powerful US army in the world at that time, in the face of the advanced military equipment of the United States, the people's army will inevitably suffer a big loss.
What really surprised Su Yu was that the "big brother" of the Soviet Union even began to deliberately avoid the issue of liberating Taiwan. However, although it is a bit beyond imagination, after all, our own "family affairs" do not have the support of the Soviet Union, and the liberation of Taiwan is also to be carried out.
However, just as Su Yu had trained his army and was preparing to retake Taiwan in one fell swoop, the Korean War broke out, and the US Seventh Fleet openly entered the Taiwan Strait with the obvious intention of preventing the Chinese Communist Party from liberating Taiwan. After careful consideration by Mao Zedong and other central leaders, they decided to rush to the aid of the DPRK first and then resolve the Taiwan issue later.
Soon, hundreds of thousands of volunteer troops, commanded by Marshal Peng Dehuai, marched to the Korean front. General Su Yu lost this opportunity to recover Taiwan, which became the biggest regret of the rest of his life.
On this trip to Paris, General Su Yu will sort out what he has seen and heard in Normandy, in order to provide assistance when the liberation of Taiwan really begins in the future, even if General Su Yu himself can no longer personally command this battle for the reunification of the motherland, he also hopes to play some reference significance for future generations.
General Su Yu's wife, Chu Qing, once said: "Su Yu can skip food or drink water, but he cannot fail to study military warfare." This sentence spoken by the person who knows General Su Yu best is probably the objective evaluation that best summarizes General Su Yu's words and deeds in his life.
In 1984, General Su Yu, who had loved to study military warfare all his life, came to the end of this life. Even at the time of his final death, General Su Yu had in mind the great cause of the reunification of the motherland.
General Su Yu, please rest assured that your unfinished business will eventually be perfectly resolved at some point in the future. As General Secretary Xi Jinping said: "The Communist Party of China, the Chinese government, and the people of the Chinese have always regarded the settlement of the Taiwan issue and the realization of the complete reunification of the motherland as an unswerving historical task. ”