In China's modern history, the status of Hunan cannot be ignored, and several national disasters have taken the lead, and Hunan has heroes who have stepped forward and become the backbone of the political situation. The vigorous Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement made the rule of the Qing Dynasty like an autumn leaf fluttering in the wind, and it was the stability of the Xiang Army led by the Zeng family that broke through Tianjing in one fell swoop and continued the life of the Qing court for nearly half a century.
In the Republic of China period, the people of Hunan made great sacrifices for the cause of resistance against Japan, and this land was full of heroes, not to mention the national army, even in our party system, the big figures were one after another, and after the founding of the Country, many revolutionary soldiers became homageable founding generals.
The hero we are talking about today is General Zhang Zhen from Pingjiang, Hunan, who is also worth mentioning that he was also the last founding lieutenant general to die of illness, and it was also the 70th anniversary of the victory of the world anti-fascism.
Joined the Red Army
Zhang Zhen was born in a family surnamed Wu in 1914, and unfortunately, when he was born, his father Wu Qicai was already seriously ill, and it did not take long to leave, leaving his mother and Zhang Zhen, as well as two older brothers and an older sister. With the ability of his mother alone, he could not take care of his four children, especially Zhang Zhen was too young, in order to let his son live, the trustees gave him to Zhang Jilun, who was a smith, as a son.
The adoptive parents did not have their own children, and regarded Zhang Zhen as their own, allowing him to have a happy and happy childhood life. In his memory, he only remembered that his mother had beaten him once, because he heard that others were not biological, and when he came home, he asked his mother if he was, and his mother changed the gentleness of the past, beat him fiercely, and questioned him: "You were not born to me, who was born, from that little bit I personally raised." ”
At that time, Zhang Zhen was only four years old, who would understand the meaning of this sentence, but he remembered this sentence for a lifetime.
At the age of 15, he joined the Qian Dajun Department of the Nationalist Army with his neighbors, and his military life for several months was very unpleasant, the recruits were either bullied by veterans or punished by their commanders, he heard that the Red Army came to his hometown, and under their leadership the lives of the neighbors had changed greatly, so he left the team and returned to Pingjiang to join the Red Army.
Zhang Zhen has been a national army for several months, can use guns, has received some military training, the most valuable thing is that whenever he fights, he is charging forward, he likes to use his brain when fighting, and soon stands out from the new recruits, not only joined the party, but also became a company instructor in just a few months.
Dou Lou fights
After several anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaigns in the Soviet Zone, Zhang Zhen accumulated rich combat experience and left behind many painful experiences. In the Battle of Guangchang, on the battlefield full of artillery fire, Zhang Zhen's ears were blown up by the sound of artillery shells and could not hear the sound, and he could only rely on gestures to communicate with the messengers and give orders. In this battle, more than half of the soldiers of the battalion he led were sleeping on the battlefield, and the Red Army suffered as many as 5,000 casualties throughout the battle.
Even after such huge losses, the Red Army ended in defeat, and with the loss of Guangchang, the situation in the Central Soviet Region was precarious, and a strategic shift began a few months later.
During the Long March, Zhang Zhen, the regimental communications director, handled all the work very well, especially when taking people to investigate the enemy's situation around the enemy camp, because of his caution and caution, there were no casualties in each mission, and even if there was an enemy situation, he was evacuated in time under his proper arrangements.
So much so that Huang Kecheng, the political commissar of the Fourth Red Division, noticed him as the communications director, and later, under the promotion of Huang Kecheng, when the Red Army reorganized the Eighth Route Army, Zhang Zhen was appointed as a staff officer, and later promoted all the way to become a staff officer of the Eighth Route Army headquarters.
Of course, it is not a pity that people like him who are resourceful and can fight and can fight are placed in the rear. In 1938, Zhang Zhen was sent to Zhugou, Henan, and became the chief of staff of the guerrilla detachment of the New Fourth Army, and his partner was Peng Xuefeng, a famous general of our army.
At that time, the guerrilla detachment only had a few hundred people, and it was really difficult to make a name for itself in the eastern Henan region, but the first battle had to be fought well and fought beautifully, but in the battlefield, the fighters were changing rapidly, and how to grasp the timely attack could only be done by excellent leaders.
One day in October, they camped in the village of Doulou in Huaiyang, when they were attacked by a japanese cavalry force in the early morning. Peng Xuefeng immediately made a decision, led by Zhang Zhen to counterattack from the front, Peng Xuefeng led the seventh squadron to attack the enemy in a roundabout flank, and the Japanese cavalry was attacked on both sides, and they were suddenly a little flustered.
After more than an hour of fierce fighting, together with the enemy chieftain Lin jin, Lieutenant Lin Jin killed more than a dozen Japanese troops and wounded dozens, the Japanese army had already suffered more than half of the casualties, and finally could only escape. Only five of the guerrillas who had been attacked were wounded, but a platoon leader was killed.
During the Battle of Dou Lou, the guerrilla detachment of the New Fourth Army marched east to resist Japan in the first battle, and the first battle was successful, which greatly shocked the hearts of the army, opened up a good situation, and announced a good start.
The warhead remained in the body for nearly a decade
In the following years, this team grew stronger and stronger under the leadership of the two men, and the number was changed several times, and later became the Fourth Division of the New Fourth Army, but unfortunately the old partner did not see the day of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, and in 1944 Peng Xuefeng was shot and killed in a battle, causing the loss of a general in our army.
In fact, on the eve of the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, when Zhang Zhen inspected the enemy situation on the front line, his right shoulder was also hit by a bullet, which was really dangerous. Because of the tight and numerous combat tasks at that time, as a commander and fighter, he could not leave the team to delay the front-line command, and after a simple treatment in the hospital, he returned to the front-line troops, a delay of several years, and later forgot about the warhead left in the body.
In 1954, the general went to Beijing to attend a conference, and because of the unbearable headache, he was sent to the hospital for a comprehensive examination, and found the warhead. During the treatment, the bullet was also taken out, and it was calculated that the bullet had accompanied the general for ten years.
A year later the general was awarded the rank of lieutenant general, and he did not expect that many years later all four of his sons would also become generals.
Although the general fought on horseback all his life and was injured many times, his physical fitness was quite good among the founding generals. In the 80s, they were all over 70 years old and still insisted on working. In 1985, the veteran general was dismissed from the post of deputy chief of the general staff, for which the general had long been mentally prepared, and he also began to plan to live his old age, but he did not expect Chairman Yang to talk to him personally and put him in charge of the preparatory work for the establishment of the National Defense University.
The old general felt that it was difficult to resign, decided to continue to exert his residual heat, and later became the president of the National Defense University. Three years later, the 74-year-old veteran general was awarded the rank of general.
In 1992, the Central Military Commission began to readjust the leading bodies of major units, and the generals also had plans to retire. However, when he met Deng Gong, Deng Gong took his hand and greeted his physical condition cordially and said, "You are ten years younger than me, you can still work for another term", so the old general's idea of retiring was dispelled again, and he became the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission. It was not until 1997 that the veteran general really quit the leadership team of the Central Military Commission and ended his 68-year military career.