preface
In September 1985, at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 12th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Li Desheng, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, together with 63 other members and alternate members of the Central Committee, wrote a letter to the Central Committee to make a request. In the face of so many people "writing to the letter," what was the attitude of Hu Yaobang and the Central Committee after receiving the letter?
Figure | Lee Tak Sang
Li Desheng "retired at a high age"
After the meeting, Li Desheng stayed in a hotel, and on the same day, a well-known reporter inquired about Elder Li's temporary residence, thinking of trying his luck and making a report on "Elder Li's request at the meeting." Unexpectedly, after learning about the situation, Li Desheng replied to the reporter very happily: "Good, welcome at any time!" ”
This afternoon, Li Desheng was reading "World Science and Technology" and other materials, and the reporter came according to the agreed time. Li Desheng immediately stood up and shook hands with the reporter, and his wife Cao Yonglian enthusiastically brought a plate of fruit.
According to the reporter's recollection:
On that day, General Li Desheng was dressed in a military civilian uniform with an old color, without any official frame, and appeared to be dignified, modest, and approachable.
Then, the reporter threw out a question, that is, "Why did Elder Li withdraw from the central leading organ this time?" ”
Figure | Li Desheng is at work
Li Desheng smiled and said: "As early as the Twelfth National Congress of the Party, I proposed not to elect me to the Central Committee again, and suggested that some other young comrades be elected. But my wish was not fulfilled at the time. In July this year, I wrote a letter to General Secretary Hu Yaobang and once again made my request. I am very happy that the Central Committee received my letter and forwarded it as a document for the reference of the Politburo. ”
At the end of the conversation, Li Desheng's entourage secretary immediately took the letter, and the main content of the letter was as follows:
"I am almost a rarity this year, I have been re-elected to the Politburo for several consecutive terms in the Central Committee, and now I am no longer able to meet the needs of the situation in all aspects, so I should retire and let the young people shoulder the burden and be tempered as early as possible."
Needless to say, the letter expressed the general's sincere wishes.
At the end of the interview, the reporter asked Li Desheng: "What hobbies do you have, and how is your amateur life arranged?" ”
Li Desheng replied very crisply: "I don't have any other hobbies, my hobby is work." I can't play poker or chess, and reading is my best rest. ”
"So your health is not affected?" The reporter couldn't help but ask again.
Li Desheng smiled and said: "In so many years, I have never been hospitalized for illness. I get up at five o'clock every morning for a walk and go to bed at twelve o'clock in the evening. Eat well, sleep well, maybe that's why your body is good. ”
Li Desheng's political demeanor left a deep impression on the reporter. "Throw yourself wholeheartedly into your career, don't worry about personal self-interest, and probably have your own happiness in it, which may be a secret to the long life of Communist Party cadres despite their fatigue!" The reporter thought to himself.
According to the above dialogue, the reporter found that General Li Desheng was very passionate about his work, so he concluded that Elder Li could not retire. Sure enough, although Li Desheng withdrew from the Central Committee, he went to the newly formed National Defense University as a political commissar. Later, it was not until 1990 that Li Desheng retired from his post due to physical reasons. Of course, this is a later story.
Li Desheng "Poured Blood" for Army Building
Before Li Desheng was transferred to the central government, he basically fought in the rain of bullets and bullets. He joined the Red Army before the age of 14, and then experienced many big battles and vicious battles from soldier to platoon commander to army commander. In the war, the soldiers he led could attack and defend well, and made many battle achievements...
In February 1930, after Joining the Red Army, Li Desheng became a small soldier. It was not until after the beginning of the War of Resistance Against Japan that he was appointed as the commander of the signal platoon of the regiment's direct subordinates. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Li Desheng was promoted many times because he was brave in battle and had certain command skills. In 1943, he was promoted from battalion commander of the 76th Regiment to commander of the 30th Regiment. The "Battle of Mafang", which was of great significance in the history of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, was personally commanded by him.
In this battle, Li Desheng led 82 commandos into the Japanese Mafang stronghold. With his order, the commandos brandished large knives and slashed at the heads of the devils. After the battle, Yan'an's Liberation Daily published an editorial giving Li Desheng and his subordinates high praise.
In the early days of liberation, Li Desheng was promoted to brigade commander of the 17th Brigade of the 6th Column of the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Field Army.
In early July 1948, Liu Deng's army launched the "Xiangfan Campaign" in order to open up the Han River section and establish a strategic forward base.
In the second phase of the campaign, Wang Jinshan, commander of the Sixth Column, was ordered to capture the "City of Xiangyang". This place in Xiangyang is surrounded by water on three sides and backed by mountains on one side, which can be said to be easy to defend and difficult to attack. Wang Jinshan pondered for a long time, and proposed to "seize The Pipa Mountain, zhenwu mountain, and the Iron Buddha Temple", "split the three passes with the sword", open up the corridor to the west of the city, and then concentrate the main force to attack from the west gate. Once the strategy is determined, then, who will take on this difficult task? At the operational meeting, Li Desheng preemptively expressed his position: "Our Seventeenth Brigade is the main attacker!" ”
Figure | Xiangyang Ancient City
On July 8, the first level of the knife split - Pipa Mountain.
The terrain of The Pipa Mountain is steep, and the defending enemy of the mountain has built a circular defensive position with bunkers and bunkers as the core. On the same day, Li Desheng ordered the 2nd Battalion of the 52nd Regiment to attack Pipa Mountain first, but this was ineffective. On the 9th, Li Desheng ordered the 3rd Battalion of the 49th Regiment to attack Pipa Mountain again. In the end, after 15 minutes of fierce fighting, the defenders were completely annihilated. Unfortunately, the commander of the 49th Regiment, Gou Zaihe, stepped on the mine on the position and died honorably.
Figure | The tomb of the revolutionary martyrs of Pipashan is in harmony
On July 10, the second level of the knife split - Zhenwu Mountain.
Zhenwu Mountain is located in the east of Pipa Mountain, about 1 kilometer away from Xiangyang City, and is known as "a lock in Xiangyang City". At about 7 p.m., Li Desheng ordered the 2nd Battalion of the 49th Regiment to launch an attack on Zhenwu Mountain under the cover of artillery fire, destroying 18 defending enemy bunkers in 20 minutes. At about 8 o'clock, our army occupied the enemy's position and repelled many enemy counterattacks.
On July 13, the third level of the knife split - the Iron Buddha Temple.
The outer layer of the Iron Buddha Temple has barbed wire, as well as a minefield of more than ten meters wide, and the enemy's defensive forces have a battalion, and it is difficult to attack hard. Therefore, Li Desheng decided to postpone the attack on the Iron Buddha Temple. He ordered the 50th Regiment to carry out covert operations first, secretly digging underground passages. After the tunnels were dug, he organized forces to clear mines and basically remove enemy mines. When the preparations were ready, Li Desheng commanded the troops to attack from the ground and the ground at the same time. That night, the 1st Battalion, 2nd Battalion and 47th Regiment of the 50th Regiment captured the Iron Buddha Temple, annihilated more than 100 enemy soldiers, and all took control of Xiguan.
After the "three passes of sword splitting", Wang Jinshan decided to adopt a highly concentrated method of warfare, using all the troops of the six columns in the main impact direction of the west gate, with the Seventeenth Brigade as the first echelon of the siege, and Li Desheng as the commander of the siege.
Before launching the general offensive, Li Desheng and his deputy brigade commander went deep into the forefront, surveyed the terrain while observing the enemy's situation, and also depicted the enemy's bunkers, artillery towers, and fire points as maps. After returning home, according to the target of the attack and the performance of the firearm, Li Desheng adopted the method of "division of labor and responsibility" to implement the attack task to each regiment. To Li Desheng's move, Wang Jinshan praised: "It's quite scientific! ”
Figure | Li Desheng (middle)
In this way, under the command of Li Desheng, on July 15, our army launched a general attack on Xiangyang City. On the 16th, the Battle of Xiangyang ended in victory...
After this war, a war to resist US aggression and aid Korea that shocked China and foreign countries was quietly brewing...
In the later stages of the Battle of Shangganling, Li Desheng served as a front-line commander. At that time, he was the deputy commander of the 12th Army.
According to the orders of its superiors, the 12th Army, after completing the defensive operations in the Jincheng area of Shangganling, would retreat to the Gushan area for recuperation in early November 1952. However, on the way to the transfer of troops, a new order was received: to draw troops as a reserve of the 15th Army, ready to participate in the Battle of Shangganling.
On this day, after Li Desheng received a new order, he hurriedly took the combat staff to the corps headquarters. Commander Wang Jinshan said to him: "The 12th Army has now been transferred to the battle reserve of the corps. The comrades of the whole army, from top to bottom, must be ready to throw themselves into battle... We are reporting that we are preparing to set up a five-holy mountain combat command post under the command of the 15th Army, and you are responsible for the unified command of the units belonging to the 12th Army and the 15th Army fighting on the Shangganling Front. ”
Li Desheng said that the combat situation should be reported directly to the corps in a timely manner, and it should also be reported to Qin Jiwei, commander of the 15th Army. The battle is fought on their positions, and they must obey their overall command so that unity can be promoted.
Li Desheng returned to the military headquarters and then set out for Shangganling. When he arrived at the 15th Army, met with Commander Qin Jiwei, and listened to the combat situation and lessons of the 15th Army over the past ten days, Li Desheng had a general understanding of the characteristics of the enemy and our attack and defense. After much research, it was decided to withdraw the 45th Division of the 15th Army from its position and be replaced by the 31st Division of the 12th Army. At the same time, the 34th and 35th divisions of the 12th Army were all pulled together and prepared for a decisive battle with the enemy.
Then, Li Desheng braved the barrage of artillery fire and drove to the Command Post of the Five Holy Mountains.
In the command post, Li Desheng held a meeting of cadres at and above the regimental level to promote military democracy and let cadres and leaders express their own views. As the saying goes, "The crowd collects firewood and the flame is high". When the various inspirations come together, the solution is naturally born. In the use of troop strength and firepower, Li Desheng used the combat deployment of "light before and heavy after strength, heavy before and light after firepower". Practice has proved that this kind of creative deployment can not only greatly reduce their own casualties, but also give the enemy a devastating blow.
After the 31st Division of the 12th Army took over the defense, it tried every means to repel the enemy and held its position. On 7 November, Chairman Mao personally drafted a telegram to the Corps Headquarters stating:
"This operation near the Five Holy Mountains has developed into the scale of the campaign and has won great victories, and I hope that you will encourage this army, fight resolutely, and strive for victory."
Figure | Lee Deok-sang in front of a tunnel in North Korea
Later, with the unity and cooperation of the commanders of the 15th Army and the 12th Army, the Battle of Shangganling was victoriously concluded. On December 15, the command post on the front line of the Five Holy Mountains was ordered to be abolished. I have to say that Li Desheng played an extremely important role in this battle to show the prestige of the Chinese army...
At the end of 1957, Li Desheng, then the commander of the 12th Army, was transferred to the Beijing Higher Military Academy to study. For a general who has experienced many battles, it is tantamount to adding wings to the tiger. After 3 years of study, Li Desheng still returned to the 12th Army as a commander. In the absence of a war, Li Desheng put the work of military training in the first place.
In this context, in the 1960s, the well-known "Guo Xingfu Teaching Method" came into being.
At the beginning of 1961, Li Desheng went to the advanced training company, the 2nd Company of the 100th Regiment of the 34th Division. After arriving at the troops, Li Desheng immediately saw the problem. That is to say, the enthusiasm of soldiers in training is very high, but cadres lack flexibility in teaching and engage in modeling.
For example, in training, there is no discipline and no goal. In order to achieve "good results" in training, some companies specially selected windy and rainy weather to shoot targets when firing live ammunition; when practicing tactics, some companies specially selected uneven and uneventful flat ground to carry out.
How can such a trained soldier be pulled onto the battlefield to fight? Li Desheng thought to himself, we must let the cadres and fighters wake up!
One day, Li Desheng conducted an inspection test in the 2nd Company of the 100 regiment of the 34th Division, without greeting him in advance. The content of the assessment was: the enemy "airborne" on the triangle mountain 5 kilometers away from the camp, and the task of the 2nd Company was to assemble immediately and run to "destroy the airborne enemy." ”
After the 2nd Company had run 5 kilometers with weight, Li Desheng ordered again: change direction to pursue the enemy!
In this way, this company tossed and turned over the mountains for a long time before it came to the bottom of the Triangle Mountain. As soon as the troops arrived, Li Desheng immediately ordered: 2 companies aimed at 36 targets, carried out live fire, and finished shooting within 8 minutes. As a result, the company, which was considered the best trained, barely managed to play a "pass".
Afterwards, Li Desheng summoned Guo Xingfu, the deputy company commander in charge of the training of the 2nd Company, and had a long talk with him. Li Desheng said succinctly:
"The company is the foundation of the whole army, like the cornerstone of a building, the foundation stone is not solid, not strong, can not build the building. Even if it is barely repaired, it will not withstand the test, and it will collapse if it encounters a slight impact, let alone a storm. ”
Then, Li Desheng asked Guo Xingfu a few more questions, and from the other side's answers, Li Desheng believed that Guo Xingfu was very familiar with the soldiers of the company, and also felt that the current training situation urgently needed to be improved, and he was a good seedling of an excellent cadre.
At the same time, Marshal Ye Jianying, who has always paid great attention to the issue of training, gave a series of instructions from theory to specific requirements. He pointed out: In peacetime, troops should rely on training to learn to fight wars and rely on training to enhance their combat effectiveness. Finally, he stressed: We must train the army strictly, from difficulties, and from the needs of actual combat, and require the number one military and government leaders to personally grasp the training.
Ye Shuai's instructions enabled Li Desheng's department to more clearly define the specific policy for training work. Li Desheng led the joint working group of the army, division, and regiment, and after the 100 regiments and 2 companies were laid down, some reforms were made to the training content and training methods. After a period of repeated rehearsals, there was a preliminary look. Soon, the training site will be set up, and after the meeting, everyone agrees that the detachment led by Guo Xingfu is better trained.
According to Li Desheng's many years of work experience: If a unit wants to be alive, it must grasp typical examples, and if typical models are successfully grasped, they can drive the overall work.
Therefore, he put this "typical" on Guo Xingfu's body. His goal is to have people like "Guo Xingfu" in all units in training...
Soon after, under the circumstance that the Central Military Commission called on the whole army to learn Guo Xingfu's teaching methods, the all-army large-scale military training and contest movement entered an unprecedented climax...
As long as it is good for the troops, Li Desheng must "learn the scriptures."
From December 1973 to June 1985, Li Desheng served as commander of the Shenyang Military Region. One day in 1978, Li Desheng heard that the Political Department had set up a chicken farm, so he drove to visit.
At that time, the chicken farm had only two adobe houses and fed 600 chickens. Li Desheng looked at the clean and white chickens from house to house and kept praising: "Yes! Just do it! We must find a way to make the cadres of the organs eat more eggs! ”
He asked a person in charge: "How many eggs can each person eat per month in the organ unit?" ”
The person in charge replied: "Two catties can be supplied for the New Year's Festival." ”
Li Desheng waved his hand and said, "No! Too little! At least one egg per person per day is guaranteed. ”
Figure | Li Desheng participated in military activities in Shenyang
Later, with the support of the Party Committee of the Political Department, the following year, they broke ground and built a new 400-square-meter high-bed group chicken coop, and the number of chickens was increased to 3,000. Soon, the cadres of the organs were eating 4 kilograms of eggs per person per month.
At the same time, Li Desheng also summoned the comrades in charge of life management in the headquarters and logistics departments and asked them if they had raised chickens in their units. When the other party replied "no technology, lack of feed, fear of losing money", Li Desheng seriously criticized. He said that there is no technology to learn, lack of feed to find a way to do, the same conditions, the Political Department can do it, why can't you do it?
Figure | Li Desheng worked in the Shenyang Military Region
Li Desheng reiterated: We should not underestimate raising a few chickens and eating a few eggs, because it implicates the cadres' bodies, work energy, and feelings for the troops!
In this way, under the guidance of Li Desheng, the chicken farm has become bigger and bigger. Later, the number of chickens in the chicken farm increased to 6500, and the number of eggs supplied to the cadres of the organs also reached 6 catties per person per month!
Li Desheng's life, as his son Li Heping said:
"As a heroic general in the people's army and a senior leader of the party and army after the founding of New China, my father's revolutionary spirit of not being afraid of sacrifice, being loyal to the party, and being selfless and fearless has left a deep memory on me."