Zhang Aiping
preface
Xu Shifu was the former deputy director of the General Office of the Kuomintang Naval General Headquarters and the brother-in-chief of the Navy, Gui Yongqing, the commander-in-chief of the Navy; and Zhang Aiping, who devoted herself to the cause of communism when she was a teenager, was a famous general of our army who fought with the Kuomintang for half a lifetime, and the commander and political commissar of the East China Navy, the first people's naval force in New China.
On political views, personal experiences, and religious pursuits, the two have nothing in common.
however
He and he were confidants and friends.
In order to make China strong and not be insulted by outsiders, in order to cast a Great Wall on the sea, they came together on the same road. In a common cause, they formed a friendship of tribulation.
In the 1990s,
Xu Shifu mentioned Zhang Aiping in an interview with reporters, and could not help but cry and recall: "Life is rare to have a confidant! ”
For Zhang Aiping, Xu Shifu is not only sad, but also more of a sentiment and thought.
The Party Central Committee entrusted Zhang Aiping with "unimaginable tasks."
At the beginning of 1949, the Party Central Committee issued a great order to "fight to Nanjing and liberate all of China."
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) drank from the Yangtze River, vigorously prepared to march toward southern China.
At this point, a crucial issue was raised on the agenda of the Party Central Committee: the People's Liberation Army urgently needed to build its own navy. The Party Central Committee sent an urgent telegram from Xibaipo to the East China Military Region: Immediately form a navy, and be sure to cooperate with the army in liberating Taiwan by the end of 1949.
You know, in the environment at that time, this requirement was difficult to meet.
Engels once said: "Modern warships are the epitome of modern industry." The modern navy, on the other hand, is "the epitome of the latest contemporary technology." Due to the complexity of the technology, it takes 6 to 9 years to train a navigator, and a ship's operator also needs to go through 2 to 3 years of formal training. This is a common practice in all countries, and it is impossible to do anything else.
It is precisely because of this that the Kuomintang has been engaged in the navy for decades, and it has not really formed combat effectiveness.
Although the central authorities selected some more knowledgeable fighters from the army to join Zhang Aiping's navy, these "dry ducks" who "changed land to sea" had never seen the sea, let alone known what a warship looked like. Can they create a modern, combat-capable navy in just one year?
Unless a miracle occurs, it is simply impossible to complete the task.
But the party gave Zhang Aiping an "unimaginable task."
Zhang Aiping, a middle school student who came out of Daba Mountain, is also a "dry duck" who has never dealt with the sea. Although he liked to hit the water on the tank beach on the Xiazhou River in Bashan when he was a child; although during the anti-Japanese period, in order to fight the bandits on Hongze Lake, he was ordered to organize a "Turkish navy" with small wooden boats and won a great victory in the lake, but this could only deepen his experience of the difficulty of water combat.
Zhang Aiping, who was ordered to take the opportunity of emergency, faced many difficulties and was facing a completely unfamiliar battlefield.
The sea is not a tank beach, and the "foreign navy" is by no means comparable to the "Turkish navy" organized 10 years ago with a long novel written by the Russian Ssunovkov, "The Battle of Tsushima". Zhang Aiping had nothing: no experience, no technology, no ships.
But the biggest problem is that there are not a large number of people who can command maritime operations, can control ships, and are familiar with various technologies of the navy.
Zhang Aiping thought bitterly about anxiety and could not sleep at night. This Confucian general who could not release the scrolls had always had the habit of picking up the lamp to read at night, and this night, he held the "Warring States Policy" in his hand to cover up the scroll and meditate,
Suddenly, a thought came to mind: Why not use the strategy of "Recruiting Talents and Talents of the Xinling Emperor" and recruit naval talents?
If the Kuomintang has left us with a mess, then there is a legacy that is genuine, that is, a large number of professionals of all kinds in the Navy that have been cultivated and cultivated in the past few decades. Most of these people are scattered throughout the continent. They either revolted, surrendered, changed their professions, or for various reasons became anonymous. They are the objects of Zhang Aiping's recruitment.
Chiang Kai-shek inspected the Kuomintang Navy
However, at the East China Navy Party Committee, some people raised objections to this: although the former Kuomintang naval personnel had technology, they were politically unreliable. If you use them, you may even drive the warship away!
It is certainly not surprising that such an opinion has been made. Soon after the liberation of the mainland, many people were suspicious of the communist policy, and even fantasized that the third world war would break out, the United States would intervene with troops, and Chiang Kai-shek would make a comeback. However, Zhang Aiping held that many people in the former Kuomintang Navy originally devoted themselves to the naval cause not for the selfish interests of one party and one faction, but for the aggression of the great powers, and in order to protect the country from humiliation and avoid imperialist bullying. Therefore, on the issue of building a navy, they have a common ideological basis with us.
The officers and men of the Kuomintang Navy's "Changzhi" ship arrived in Shanghai after the uprising
At the party committee, Zhang Aiping patiently explained. He said: "In order to defend China, we must build a strong navy, we and the former naval personnel are in touch with each other, and our aspirations are common. The ancients clouded, the things under the world, became the same, and lost in the difference. We should first seek the 'same' of 'building a strong navy'. For this purpose, whether you are a Manchu Qing, a Beiyang government, or a faction of the Kuomintang Navy, we should welcome it. As for some of their political views, we can slowly transform them through patient education, especially in common work, in the practice of the revolutionary struggle. ”
Zhang Aiping quoted from the side, the Tao ancient and the present, a table of words is extremely convincing. The Party Committee of the East China Navy immediately made a resolution to openly recruit Kuomintang naval personnel, and made a report to the East China Bureau of the CPC to this end.
"This policy is very good, do it quickly." Chen Yi quickly replied in a tone of approval.
Mao Zedong and Chen Yi
Soon, the news that Zhang Aiping had created the People's Navy and Recruit talents spread out, attracting many former naval personnel at once. Among those who came to register were Lieutenant General Zeng Yiding, a kuomintang navy veteran, Zhou Yingcong, Rear Admiral Zeng Guosheng, and a large number of important backbones of the navy, such as Yang Canghuo, Lü Meihua, and Luo Liuxi.
Zhang Aiping personally came to the door and touched Xu Shifu
Zeng Guosheng studied in Dongying in his early years, studied shipbuilding, studied and worked in the British Royal Navy, served as the mechanical director of the Kuomintang Navy, and was a shipbuilding expert with deep knowledge of ships. When the Kuomintang withdrew from the mainland, he hid in his hometown in Fujian.
When Zhang Aiping learned of this person, she went to Fuzhou overnight with Jin Sheng, former director of the General Office of the Kuomintang Naval General Headquarters and an underground member of the Communist Party of China, to urge Zeng Guosheng to come out of the mountains.
Zhang Aiping and Xiao Ke
Jin Sheng explained his intentions, and Zeng Guosheng immediately expressed his great approval for the establishment of a new navy, and went to Shanghai, where the East China Navy is located. He stayed with a relative who worked as a hawker in a humble and remote house.
Jin Sheng asked Zhang Aiping, did he send a car to pick up Zeng Guosheng?
"No more." Zhang Aiping waved her hand.
With a beep, a military jeep pulled up at the narrow alleyway. The car walked down zhang Aiping, who was still dressed up on a hot day. He turned into the dark alley, banged, and ran into the small attic.
Zhang Aiping, commander and political commissar of the East China Navy, personally drove the Burrow and Corporal Li Xian, which flattered Zeng Guosheng. Under the surprise, the layer of fog that hung over his heart suddenly disappeared.
The Communist Party is no longer in the fog of five miles, but is so close to itself, so close that it can push the heart.
So they sat down and had a heart-to-heart conversation.
Building a navy required a large number of ships, but due to the destruction of the Kuomintang before leaving and the subsequent indiscriminate bombardment, most of the ships in Zhang Aiping's hands were piles of scrap iron.
"You see, how can we get a large number of ships that can be used for combat as soon as possible?" Zhang Aiping asked eagerly.
With his own knowledge and experience, Zeng Guosheng said with full confidence: "Merchant ships can be converted into warships." He also said calmly: "I am willing to take on this work." ”
I couldn't imagine that this former admiral had so sincerely given his heart to the naval cause of New China! He seemed to have almost effortlessly solved the urgent need that made Zhang Aiping uneasy.
Wei Traditional and Zhang Aiping
But a bigger, more critical question is yet to be asked. That's where to go to find a large number of sailors who can maneuver ships? For this reason, Zhang Aiping was anxious all day long and worried.
At this time, Xu Shifu was called.
Xu Shifu, the brother of Gui Yongqing, the former commander-in-chief of the Kuomintang Navy, was an all-rounder of the navy who had achieved a lot of achievements in learning.
At first he did not hesitate. He wrote a letter to his friend Jin Sheng, euphemistically indicating his desire to serve the new navy.
Zhang Aiping learned of this person, was overjoyed, and urged Jin Sheng to mobilize.
However, after Jin Sheng introduced this person's experience, there was a disagreement within the party committee on whether to absorb Xu Shifu.
Nationalist Navy
Because of his profound knowledge, Xu Shifu was highly relied upon by the highest authorities of the Kuomintang. At the beginning of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he worked in the attendant office of the chairman of the Central Military Commission, and was personally assigned by Chiang Kai-shek to investigate and visit various universities and make reports as "a messenger of Chairman Chiang Kai-shek.".
Soon after, Chiang Kai-shek personally asked Xu Shifu to host the magazine "Sea Breeze". In an editorial in the journal, Xu Shifu's idea of "going to the sea to fight guerrilla warfare" was praised by public opinion from all walks of life and had a huge impact on the whole country.
From 1943 to 1946, Mr. Xu Shifu studied at Swashmore University in Philadelphia and the Graduate School of naval academy at Anapur Leith Naval Academy. After returning to China, he served as the deputy director of the General Office of the General Headquarters of the Navy, and proposed the "Reorganization Plan" and a series of important Ding Revolution proposals for the post-war unified navy, which was praised and praised by Chen Cheng and Gui Yongqing. It can be said that the main measures for the construction of the Kuomintang navy after the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression were almost all taken by Xu Shifu.
This is indeed a Kuang Shi talent, but he is also a close confidant of the highest authorities of the Kuomintang.
General Chen Shiyu inspected the Second Fleet of the Kuomintang Uprising Navy
Can such a person sincerely serve the construction of the people's navy? Many people are skeptical about this.
Zhang Aiping believes that Xu Shifu should be specifically analyzed.
Xu Shifu, who was originally born in Hubei and grew up in the northeast, was born in the kindergarten class of the Northeast Military Admiral School. Because of Zhang Xueliang's relationship with the Communist Party and the Communist Party's advocacy and insistence on resisting Japan, most of the officers and men of the Northeast Army, including Xu Shifu, were not ideologically opposed to the Communist Party, and even naturally had a sense of closeness. Therefore, on the eve of liberation, at the critical moment when the Kuomintang fled to Taiwan, Xu Shifu was able to heed the persuasion of Jin Sheng, automatically broke away from Gui Yongqing, hid in the home of a friend on the Bund in Shanghai, and stayed.
Later, Gui Yongqing sent people around to find him, and even wanted him, but he was not moved. Now, he has taken the initiative to come to the door, intending to defect to the People's Navy. This shows that he has a certain understanding of our party and our army, has a patriotic heart, and has a common desire to build a navy and defend the country. We should not turn away such people.
Zhang Aiping repeatedly persuaded everyone with a heavy heart: "A thousand armies are easy to obtain, and one will be difficult to find!" Time is running out. We need such talent very much now. We should make a decision on the spot, and we must not miss the opportunity! I suggest, resolve to put such people to work and make them really work. ”
In order to buy time, Zhang Aiping resolutely received Xu Shifu and had a long talk with him all night.
"Whoever treats others with sincerity, people respond with sincerity." Zhang Aiping remembered the words of Cheng Yi in the Song Dynasty. This sentence was given to him by Comrade Zhou Enlai when Zhang Aiping was doing united front work at the Office of the Eighth Route Army in Wuhan in the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japan.
Zhang Aiping, with a dedicated attitude, gave Xu Shifu a good gift.
He asked Xu Shifu to talk about the history of the former Navy, organization and equipment training.
Nationalist warship
Xu Shifu does not shy away from his views. He held that the original navy had many factions, including the horsetail system, the blue bird system, the lightning system, and so on, and the root cause was caused by the long-term warlord melee, the lack of national unity, and the fact that Chiang Kai-shek did not attach importance to naval construction later. It was not until the late stage of the Liberation War, when he saw that he could not stay on the mainland, that Chiang Kai-shek hurriedly pulled Gui Yongqing, who was the head of the Chinese delegation in Britain, as commander, and Gui Yongqing was completely an outsider to the navy. He found some people who stayed in Britain and the United States as brothers, and tried to use the feudal gang set to engage in a modern navy, which was really pedantic, and of course, it was impossible to really build the navy well.
However, Xu Shifu said: "The Navy has also had a glorious history. The Xinhai Revolution was a sign and a ship uprising, and the Crusade against Chen Jiongming was also based on the Zhongshan ship. The Kuomintang trained a lot of naval talents, but did not play a good role. ”
Xu Shifu has unique insights, a frank attitude, and no words of flattery. This left a good impression on Zhang Aiping.
"You are welcome to join the People's Navy." Zhang Aiping said earnestly: "We have no experience in building a navy. I hope that you will sincerely cooperate and come up with more ideas for the naval cause of new China. ”
This conversation left a lifelong impression on Xu Shifu.
He felt that this extraordinary Communist in front of him had the heart of a national soldier, and not only talked elegantly, but also loved people with generosity and thirst. This greatly impressed him. In particular, Zhang Aiping was so humble and courteous to such a defeated general, treated each other with absolute sincerity, and never showed contempt or arrogance, which made Xu Shifu's soul greatly shaken.
If Xu Shifu's thoughts were still hesitant before, then now he finally made up his mind.
He decided to go to the registry and join the People's Navy.
Decades later, Xu Shifu talked about the scene at that time and still shed tears of admiration: "I want nothing else to participate in the revolution. At that time, I only thought that Zhang Aiping was a good person, very kind, very sincere, and very respectful of people, so I made up my mind. ”
"Sincerely recruit the world". This is where the power of a wise leader lies.
Xu Shifu: I have never seen a high-ranking official like you, who wears patched clothes!
Since then, Zhang Aiping has given full trust to Xu Shifu to let go and use it.
He recruited Xu Shifu to join the Naval Construction Research Committee. This is an institution specializing in the study of major issues in naval construction, and most of the participants are former navy elders and senior admirals, and Xu Shifu's qualifications in front of them are obviously too young.
At Zhang Aiping's suggestion, Xu Shifu became a member of the Ship Investigation Committee to participate in major military aircraft such as naval equipment strength.
Zhang Aiping lived with Xu Shifu at that time. In the event of a major incident, he always took the initiative to move to Xu Shifu's apartment to teach, without the slightest vigilance.
Lin Zun, a former senior admiral of the Navy, an elder of the Kuomintang Navy and commander of the Second Fleet, came to Shanghai from Nanjing, and Zhang Aiping set up a banquet to receive the wind. The banquet was only one table, but Zhang Aiping did not forget to invite Xu Shifu to participate.
Xu Shifu felt that he was trusted, so he worked harder and happier.
Zhang Aiping's care for Xu Shifu's life is even more meticulous.
At that time, the country's economy was very difficult, and the people's liberation army was very hard, but in order not to affect Xu Shifu's life, Zhang Aiping insisted on paying them a monthly salary. The salary could not be paid, so the rice had to be used in lieu of money. Zhang Aiping asked the management department to send rice to each family on a monthly basis. Once, when he heard that a former naval officer had come to carry the rice himself, he immediately criticized the chief of management and the chief of staff of the headquarters.
Xu Shifu was 34 years old, but he had not yet started a family. Zhang Aiping is very concerned about this. When he learned that Xu Shifu's fiancée, Wang Fuyin, lived in Beijing and was a graduate of the Literature Department of Fu Jen University, he urged Xu Shifu to go to Beijing as soon as possible to complete the marriage.
One afternoon in August 1949, Xu Shifu prepared to resign to Zhang Aiping and go to Beijing.
Pushing open Zhang Aiping's door, he was shocked to see zhang Aiping's underwear patches one by one, and he was immediately moved to tears.
Is this the case with senior Communist generals? Work day and night, do your best, want nothing in life, and wear patched clothes! If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, who would have believed that this general, who was dressed up on any occasion, had his clothes so worn out?
Looking around Zhang Aiping's bedroom, there was nothing but a hard paving board, an old military blanket, and a yellow satchel. It's really a place to live in, and the room is hanging!
Zhang Aiping saw Xu Shifu standing in the doorway in tears, and thought that she had encountered something unpleasant, so she asked with concern why she was crying, was there something on her mind?
"No." Xu Shifu's voice trembled with excitement, "Whether in the Kuomintang army or in the American army, I have never seen a high-ranking official like you, wearing patched clothes!" Commander Zhang is really a good son of the people! ”
"What's this?" Zhang Aiping smiled: "Our country has just been liberated, the people's life is still very hard, we still have to struggle hard!" ”
On the 28th of that month, Zhang Aiping took Xu Shifu with her to see Chairman Mao.
Mao Zedong
Xu Shifu received a prestigious honor that he will never forget. At the Zhongnanhai Yinian Hall, Chairman Mao had cordial conversations with Lin Zun, Zeng Guosheng, Xu Shifu, Jin Sheng, and others, and took a group photo to commemorate the occasion.
What moved Xu Shifu the most was that Chairman Mao personally sent them all the way to the gate.
The Communist Party respects the wise and the wise, even the Supreme Leader!
Xu Shifu tearfully recalled: Zhang Aiping knows people!
In September 1949, the East China Naval School was officially established.
Naval School of East China Military Region
According to Xu Shifu's plan, groups of "dry ducks" entered the school for technical training. Overcoming the difficulties brought about by the low level of education and poor comprehension, the "Tuxiucai" with a high degree of political consciousness carefully studied the ABC of naval technology with the help of former naval personnel. Good people who study technology hard are endlessly good.
Xu Shifu went to the sea school every day to inspect and supervise the organization and implementation of the training plan, and went deep into the student team to enthusiastically counsel, and was busy until late at night.
Three months have passed, and groups of "dry ducks" who have initially understood the navy's knowledge and ship-handling technology have joined hands with the former navy personnel who have taken on a new look after studying and thinking.
They learned and worked together, moving the classroom to ships and the vast sea. They tried their first battle on the vast Taihu Lake, causing the pirate lake to escape. They cleared mines at the mouth of the Yangtze River and began to contribute to the country's economic recovery.
Soon, a people's navy composed of multiple ships suddenly appeared on the vast eastern sea. Together with 10 battalions of army units, they liberated Tanhu Island and Shengsi Islands, which are located between Shanghai and Ningbo.
At this time, only one year had passed since Zhang Aiping was commissioned to form a navy.
Birthplace of the People's Navy
The miraculous rise of the People's Navy greatly shocked the remnants of the Kuomintang forces entrenched on the coastal islands. The enemy of the Zhoushan Islands, which has a "150,000 elite national army" stationed in the "150,000 elite national army" and a fleet and an airfield, is frightened and goes away without a fight!
The People's Navy took advantage of the victory and went south, but it could not be collected at once.
On the ocean surface of Toumen Mountain Island, they used "small boats and big warships" to weizhen the East China Sea, and even foreign news agencies quickly made reports.
They competed with Hu Zongnan, the "King of the Northwest", for the four islands of Lushan Mountain, causing the "often defeated general" to lose his troops and lose his island and lose his official position, and he fell into a "glorious downfall."
They sank the main warship of the Kuomintang, the cruiser "Taiping", so that the Invincible Kuomintang Navy could no longer fight back.
They cooperated with the army and air force to launch the first cooperation in the history of our army to cooperate in the sea crossing landing operation, conquered Yijiangshan Island in one fell swoop, and forced more than 10,000 Chiang Kai-shek troops on The Great Exhibition Island to retreat without a fight.
Since then, the entire eastern Zhejiang Ocean has become the domain of the East China Navy (later changed to the East China Sea Fleet).
Chairman Mao and the People's Navy
Zhang Aiping created a miracle in the history of naval construction in China and abroad, and Xu Shifu fulfilled his own promise, and a deep revolutionary friendship was established between them.
Xu Shifu will not forget that when he loved his first child, the careful Zhang Aiping took advantage of the business trip to Beijing to take Xu Shifu with him so that he had time to take care of his wife and children.
After Xu Shifu's family moved to Nanjing, Zhang Aiping and his wife Li Youlan always came to visit during the New Year's Festival. Although Zhang Aiping had been transferred to the East China Military Region at this time.
Zhang Aiping was a very emotional and faithful general, and he attached great importance to both public and private feelings. He always cared about Xu Shifu's thoughts, work and life.
"It's rare to have a confidant in life!" Speaking of Zhang Aiping, the elderly Xu Shifu wiped his tears with his hands and excitedly said to reporters: "Zhang Aiping understands people! ”
Disclaimer: This article is the original article of the headline number Zhengshi Observation, and any unauthorized reprinting, plagiarism, and washing of manuscripts must be investigated!