Picture | Liu Huaqing visits the US aircraft carrier
This picture has seen countless military fans cry.
It was in 1980, and Liu Huaqing, then deputy chief of staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, was 64 years old, and it was the first time he had boarded an aircraft carrier in his life.
Unfortunately, the aircraft carrier belonged to the Americans, and on the grounds of secrecy, Chinese visitors were not allowed to touch any of the ship's facilities.
So, our 64-year-old veteran general tiptoed up, leaned forward, and looked enviously into the cabin...
It was this veteran general who spent the entire second half of his life on the construction of aircraft carriers, and he once said:
"If China doesn't build an aircraft carrier, I won't be blind!"
12 years later, General Liu Huaqing became the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, and he was ready to retire without any psychological preparations, and even prepared to resign and give up the opportunity to the young people, but finally gave up because of Deng Xiaoping's insistence...
Liu Huaqing, "the father of China's modern navy" and "the father of China's aircraft carriers", began to stand on the last shift of his life...
"To die is to die in the ranks of the Red Army"
Liu Huaqing joined the revolution very early, just 13 years old. At the age of 14, he joined the Red Army, and since then he has formed an indissoluble relationship with the communist team, the Long March, the War of Resistance Against Japan, the War of Liberation, along the way, how many fierce battles he has experienced, how many times he has faced many life and death tests.
Pictured| Liu Huaqing in the Long March
In 1934, when Liu Huaqing was only 18 years old, during the Long March of the Red Twenty-fifth Army, his unit was ambushed by the Kuomintang troops, and in that fierce battle, he was seriously wounded in the leg and could no longer hold out. The leader approached him and said:
"According to the regulations, you can be demobilized and resettled on the spot, are you willing?"
Young Liu Huaqing jumped up at once:
"I disagree! Even if I were given 100 oceans, I wouldn't leave it! Death must also die in the ranks of the Red Army! ”
In this way, Liu Huaqing endured severe pain, followed his own team to death, defeated the pain of illness, defeated the god of death, and completed the long march with iron will!
After the beginning of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Liu Huaqing and Deng Xiaoping intersected, and at that time, at the headquarters of the 129th Division, Liu Huaqing fought together with Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping for a period of time.
During the Liberation War, Liu Huaqing accompanied Liu Deng's army thousands of miles into Dabie Mountain, and participated in the Battle of Yangshan Ji, the battle was very fierce, Yangshan Ji was surrounded by water on three sides, backed by Yangshan Mountain, easy to defend and difficult to attack, while the enemy arranged heavy defense here and built a strong fortification.
Liu Huaqing, then political commissar of the Sixth Brigade, led three regiments into battle, and together with the brother troops, completely annihilated the enemy's Sixty-sixth Division and won a total victory.
After this battle, the passage into the Dabie Mountains was completely opened, and the Sixth Brigade led by Liu Huaqing was recorded for his great merits once and commended by the whole army.
Veritable "Father of China's Modern Navy"
In 1954, Liu Huaqing went to the Soviet Union to study modern naval technology and command work, which lasted four years. After returning to China in 1958, he served as the first deputy commander and chief of staff of the Lushun Base of the Navy, the deputy commander of the North Sea Fleet of the Navy and the commander of the Lushun Base.
As soon as you enter the Navy Gate, the First Naval Man. In this way, Liu Huaqing stepped into the Navy's "one acre and three points of land" and formed an indissoluble relationship with the Navy of the People's Republic of China.
Picture | Liu Huaqing inspected the naval unit
In 1961, Liu Huaqing became the first president of the Seventh Research Institute of the Ministry of National Defense and began to lead the development of the 035 submarine. In 1966, Liu Huaqing became deputy director of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, assisting Nie Rongzhen in charge of equipment scientific research.
It was also during this period that Liu Huaqing began to pay attention to the development and application of aircraft carriers in the world's naval powers, and the idea of "building China's own aircraft carrier" began to grow stronger and stronger.
Do it when you think about it. In May 1970, Liu Huaqing presided over the completion of the Preliminary Opinions on the Construction of Aircraft Carriers. In May 1972, Liu Huaqing returned to the Navy as deputy chief of staff, still devoting his heart and soul to equipment research. In 1975, Liu Huaqing mentioned in his "Report on naval equipment problems":
"We must start developing aircraft carriers as soon as possible."
In 1982, Liu Huaqing, who had left the Navy for three years, returned to the Navy as commander of the Navy, and began to promote the modernization of the People's Navy, developing large surface ships, nuclear submarines and naval aviation, and proposed:
"To make China an important maritime power in the Pacific."
He also put forward a naval strategy of "active defense and coastal operations". A lot of strategic work was done during his time in charge of the Navy, such as:
1. Underwater launch vehicle;
2. Setting up of the Nansha Fiery Cross Reef Marine Observatory;
3. Decision-making and development of guided-missile destroyers.
In 1984, he opened a new chapter in the history of naval development, and it was also a new chapter in the history of aircraft carrier development, that is, at the Naval Equipment Technology Work Conference, he first publicly proposed:
"Aircraft carriers are always built".
Three years later, in 1987, he held the "Flying Captain Class" with great foresight, which was to train future aircraft carrier captains for the country.
Pictured| the aircraft carrier Liaoning
In 2005, China's aircraft carrier construction project was finally approved. Liu Huaqing, who is 89 years old, burst into tears with excitement and shouted three times:
"Oh well! All right! All right! ”
Deng Xiaoping: "Choosing such a person to be vice chairman of the Central Military Commission is probably better than looking at the qualifications."
In 1987, at the age of 71, Liu Huaqing felt he should retire as a naval commander and leave the opportunity to young people. However, because of Deng Xiaoping's perseverance, he opened a new chapter in his life.
It was November 1987, and Liu Huaqing was appointed by Deng Xiaoping as deputy secretary general of the Central Military Commission. Liu Huaqing was greatly surprised, but Deng Xiaoping told him:
"The reason why you were transferred here is because the army wants to carry out modernization, and now you are the only one who is familiar with scientific research and equipment in the whole army, and the purpose of your coming here is to grasp equipment and modernization."
Liu Huaqing did not live up to Deng Xiaoping's expectations, and he worked diligently and brainstormed in his office, and soon opened up the work situation.
Pictured| Deng Xiaoping and Liu Huaqing
In November 1989, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 13th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held, at which deng Xiaoping's conversation materials with Jiang Zemin, Li Peng, and others were printed and distributed, which pointed out:
"Deng Xiaoping took the initiative to resign as chairman of the Central Military Commission; he nominated Jiang Zemin as chairman of the Central Military Commission, Yang Shangkun as the first vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, Liu Huaqing as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, and Yang Baibing as secretary general of the Central Military Commission."
This again surprised Liu Huaqing, after all, he was 73 years old, and he was afraid that he would not be able to shoulder this heavy responsibility, so he took the initiative to contact Wang Ruilin, director of Deng Xiaoping's office, intending to resign and ask Wang Ruilin to relay to Deng Xiaoping on his behalf. After reporting, Wang Ruilin replied to Liu Huaqing:
"Chairman Deng's idea has been decided and will not change."
Liu Huaqing thus became vice chairman of the Central Military Commission.
On October 6, 1992, on the eve of the 14th Party Congress, Deng Xiaoping personally wrote a letter to the Politburo of the Central Committee, proposing proposals for the new Central Military Commission team:
"In the future, comrades Liu Huaqing and Zhang Zhen will mainly be in charge of the daily work of the Central Military Commission under the leadership of Comrade Jiang Zemin."
This proposal was fully endorsed by the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee, and Liu Huaqing remained as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission.
Later, at the First Plenary Session of the 14th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Liu Huaqing was elected as a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee at the age of 76 and entered the central leadership collective.
"This is something I never dreamed of... This is the cultivation of the Party, and it is inseparable from Comrade Xiaoping's teaching and trust in me."