Xu Shiyou was born on February 28, 1905, to a peasant family in Chengmagang District, Macheng County, Hubei Province (now part of Xinxian County, Henan). When he was a teenager, due to the poverty of his family, he was sent by his family to the Shaolin Temple for miscellaneous labor on the way to escape. In the Shaolin Temple for several years, Xu Shiyou practiced kung fu hard, his arm strength was outstanding, and he was proficient in eighteen martial arts.
After joining the revolution, with the exquisite martial arts he had trained since childhood and his hatred for the enemy, he participated in the death squad 7 times and served as the captain of the death squad 5 times, and fought many hard and vicious battles. Every time he fought, he rushed ahead, was wounded many times, and repeatedly built a miracle. In 1934, when counterattacking the "Six-Way Siege" of the Kuomintang army in the Sichuan-Shaanxi Soviet Region, Xu Shiyou led the 25th Division of the Red 9th Army to hold the Wanyuan City in Sichuan Province, using flexible and mobile tactics to crush the enemy who was absolutely superior in numbers, and made a major contribution to the defense of the revolutionary base areas in Sichuan and Shaanxi. After the battle of Wanyuan's defense, he led his troops to follow Xu Forward to cross the Jialing River, attack the south, break the Zi Tong, Zhan Jiang Oil, Kebei River, invincible, indestructible.
General Xu Shiyou
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Xu Shiyou served as the deputy brigade commander of the 386th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army. In January 1939, the Japanese North China Front mobilized more than 30,000 troops to carry out a large-scale sweep of the anti-Japanese base area in southern Hebei. Liu Bocheng divided the main force of the 129th Division and the local armed forces into several combat groups, mobile annihilation of the enemy, and counterattack against the Japanese sweep. During the counter-sweeping campaign, the 386th Brigade Operations Group discovered the characteristics of the Japanese army having to send troops to retaliate after each attack, and the brigade commanders Chen Geng and Xu Shiyou decided to ambush the Japanese army in the Guduosha area of Xiangcheng, south of the county seat of Wei County. From February 7 to 9, the 386th Brigade Operations Group commanded the 3rd Regiment of the EastWard Column, the newly organized 1st Regiment, and the 688th Regiment of the 344th Brigade of the 115th Division, and attacked Wei County, Quzhou and other county towns day and night, luring the Japanese army out. On the morning of the 10th, the 40th Regiment of the Japanese 10th Division in Weixian County took 1 reinforced infantry company with several guns and took 8 cars out of the city to pursue the south. At about 12:00, the Japanese pursued to the vicinity of the south grassland and were blocked by the cavalry company of the 386th Brigade. The cavalry company fought and retreated in the direction of Xiangchenggu, luring the Japanese army into the bag-shaped ambush area, trapping the Japanese army in a three-sided fire net of ambush troops. After half an hour of fierce fighting, the Japanese army broke through to Xiangchenggu and attacked the position of the 1st Battalion of the 688th Regiment, and after being frustrated, attacked the northeast corner of Xiangchenggu. Although the Japanese army invaded the city, it was already surrounded by the 688th Regiment and the Supplementary Regiment. At 17:00, the Japanese army began to break through to the northwest and escape, but was blocked by the 688th Regiment that was ambushed at Zhangjiazhuang and Malubao. At this time, the return route of the Japanese army was cut off by the newly formed 1st Regiment. The units of the 386th Combat Group took advantage of the situation to launch an attack, fiercely fighting until dusk, and finally completely annihilating the Japanese army. At the cost of more than 50 casualties, the combat group of the 386th Brigade killed more than 200 Japanese troops, captured 8 Japanese troops, surrendered 4 guns, and dozens of long and short guns, creating a model example of ambush warfare in the plains.
As for the warriors, Xu Shiyou loved the soldiers like a son and cared for them.
In April 1944, the Independent Battalion of Mouhai County of the Eighth Route Army fought a fierce battle with the Japanese army in Songbai Village, Mouhai County, and the battle was very fierce, the enemy suffered more than half of the casualties, and our army also suffered great losses. There were 13 soldiers in 10 companies, 2 platoons, 5 squads, and only Tan Zhenjing, who was seriously injured, remained.
Tan Zhenjing (middle)
When Tan Zhenjing, who was badly injured in the leg, was taken to the field hospital, doctors and comrades-in-arms thought that his chances of survival were slim. After being treated in the hospital for more than a month, he still couldn't stand up, so he was transferred to the Wu dye temple in Kuncheng Mountain to recuperate. When transferring to the hospital, passing through the Headquarters of the East Naval Division, Commander Xu Shiyou made a special trip to visit the wounded soldiers. Xu Shiyou inquired about Tan Zhenjing's injuries and encouraged him to cooperate with the treatment, have the confidence to stand up, and strive to return to the army as soon as possible. And personally helped Tan Zhenjing, who had inconvenient legs and feet, to go to the toilet. In 2005, 78-year-old Tan Zhenjing recalled the time When Xu Shiyou helped himself to the toilet, he was still in tears.
Xu Shiyou presented the flag to the eight consecutive companies on Nanjing Road
In the summer of 1962, General Xu Shiyou inspected the "Good Eighth Company on Nanjing Road" and saw that the soldiers' lunch was pumpkin porridge, so he asked everyone: "Is the porridge enough to eat at noon?" The squad leader Xu Jinlong replied: "Report chief, eat enough." General Xu Shiyou walked to the edge of the pot and stirred a few times back and forth in the pot with a spatula: "Fart, how can you eat so thinly?" General Xu Shiyou was furious: "You are deceiving people!" Then he strode over to the company commander and the instructor and asked, "How do you eat porridge at noon?" The company commander replied: "You can sleep for three hours at noon when you eat porridge, and soldiers have to stand guard for several hours at night and eat dry food at night." General Xu Shiyou said: "At present, the country's food supply is difficult, but it is also necessary to ensure that the soldiers are full, otherwise, the soldiers will not be able to stand guard and eat." When General Xu Shiyou was leaving, he said to the entourage of the military region: "Even if you smash pots and sell iron, you must also let the soldiers eat well and eat enough." "