One day in June 1970, a group of Chinese guests suddenly arrived on the Normandy ruins in northwestern France. The old man who saw the leader was very excited, from time to time he raised his telescope to observe the distance, constantly changing positions, occasionally stopping to think, and then sketching on the notebook, not knowing what he was calculating?
Perhaps it was something that he had found, and the old man analyzed it over and over again to the people next to him, restoring the situation on the battlefield at that time. With the various analyses blurted out, the French military scholars who accompanied him were stunned and asked in disbelief: "Is this general really the first time you have come to France?" ”
At this point, the role of the guest of honor is switched.
However, despite the restoration, some of the details are still unclear. So the old man asked 4 questions to the French military experts around him. However, in the face of the old man's question, the French military expert was suddenly dumbfounded, his face became more and more ugly, and he did not know how to reply for a while, but had to say: These questions are estimated that the commander-in-chief at the time, Eisenhower, could not answer them.
Seeing their embarrassment, the old man was not disappointed, and comforted: "Please don't be surprised, I just asked casually!" ”
Then, the old man went down to the beach by himself, walked two or three miles on the beach, measured them one by one, and after careful calculation, found the answer to the question. When he went back, the old man said excitedly: "This trip is really worth the trip, and the harvest is very fruitful!" ”
So, who is this old man? Why did you visit the Normandy ruins? Which 4 questions did he ask that the French military scientists could not stop?
Visit the Normandy ruins
In 1970, a Chinese military delegation led by General Su Yu prepared to return home after completing its visit to the Congo. When the itinerary was reported to the Central Committee, Chairman Mao immediately issued instructions so that Su Yu and others would not have to return to China first, and that when they passed through Paris, France, they could stay for a few days and have a good rest, and at the same time call the Embassy in France to do a good job of receiving Su Yu and the delegation.
The embassy staff in charge of the reception at that time proposed to take them to experience the french customs and culture. Although Paris was devastated by war, it was still one of the most prestigious cultural and economic centers in the world, especially for its romantic atmosphere.
After Su Yu heard it, he only smiled slightly, and politely refused on the pretext that he did not like shopping and playing, and let them take the delegation and others to play on their own, which immediately made the staff stationed in France a little embarrassed.
Finally, Huang Zhen, the ambassador to France who was also a soldier and had participated in the Long March, understood Su Yu's dedication and obsession with the military field, and said: Do you want to go to the Macedonian defense line or the Normandy ruins to see?
Su Yu's eyes lit up, and without hesitation, he chose to go to the Normandy ruins. So after making some preparations, Huang Zhen invited a French military scientist who had studied the Normandy landings, and then drove away with Su Yu and others.
The site of the Normandy landings was in the town of Arromanche, and the scenery along the way was indeed as beautiful as the staff said, but after Getting on the bus, Su Yu took out a pen and paper and began to write and draw. After a few glances at the French military scholars around them, they were surprised to find that it was a topographic map of the coastline outline from Paris to the town of Arromanche, and the location instructions were also very detailed, as if it were a military map.
After arriving, Su Yu looked around and hurried to the Normandy Memorial, the highest place, where he looked down on the site of the famous battle of World War II. At that time, he analyzed while watching: from our feet to the south of the sea 50 kilometers deep, is the main battlefield opened by the Allies 100 kilometers in all directions, to the east is the Utah Beach where the airborne troops landed, which is also the place where the Allied casualties are the smallest, and its left wing has also parachuted down a British paratrooper division to seize the crossing point of the Conn Canal.
Just by looking at the ruins, such a series of correct judgments can be made, which not only surprised the staff stationed in France who accompanied the visit, but also made the French military scientist feel stunned and asked the people around him: "Are you General Su Yu really coming to France for the first time?" ”
4 questions not worth the trip
Su Yu just waved his hand, modestly saying that he had only collected and consulted the information in many ways, and there were many details that he did not understand.
Subsequently, with the consent of French military scholars, he asked four questions.
First, when the Normandy landings began, the Allied forces had a strength of up to 3 million. So, with so many troops, what means of transport and landing tools did the Allies use, and what were the specific data?
How did the 3 million Allied troops cross the English Channel and land in Normandy in the first place? In the face of the enemy's wild bombardment, how can the hundreds of thousands of vanguard troops of the large army be preserved at sea? What were the tools and quantities used? All of this is tempting enough for Su Yu. After all, landing operations, strategy and play methods are important, but the basic support is the key. No one landed, how to fight?
Second, in order to facilitate the landing of mechanical heavy troops, the Allies established two artificial ports, but how to fix them and make them float freely?
A big war, no heavy firepower, is tantamount to cooking without rice. Cross-sea landing operations, if there is no tank artillery blessing, how to fight? Whether it is to achieve victory or to reduce the casualties of the soldiers, heavy firepower is indispensable. In the beginning, the Allies continued to transport fire through artificial ports, so how was it built? What is the shape, the structure? It's all a problem.
Third, the situation was urgent at that time, the Allies built a total of several cement piers, and what kind of raw materials were used and what kind of structure was composed? Are there any specific parameters?
At that time, the Allied transport machinery was heavy, and the enemy would certainly not watch it, so why did it have little effect since it launched a fierce bombardment? The key lies in the crisscrossing cement piers built by the Allies. So, what is their shape, their structure?
Fourth, the most fundamental question, the Allies dispatched the army, navy and air force, aircraft artillery tanks and more than 9,000 warships, but the depth of the entire Bay of Seine is about 50 kilometers, how to achieve multi-service and weapons cooperation, and achieve combat results?
On the battlefield, the distribution of firepower is a key factor, so how did the Allies do it all? This made Su Yu very curious.
However, after 4 questions, the French military scholar suddenly choked up, his face was not good,and he had to say embarrassedly, I am afraid that the supreme commander at that time, Eisenhower, could not give a detailed answer to this.
These are actually the questions that Su Yu has always wanted to understand, and for this reason, he has even consulted a lot of information and asked many military generals and experts, but he has not been answered. Therefore, Su Yu was not surprised, but smiled and comforted the scholars, saying that he always liked to pay attention to small details, liked to ask questions, and please do not blame.
In order to figure out the answer, Su Yu personally went to each place of the site, measuring and analyzing it with footsteps and experience. When you visit the entire artificial harbor, the books you carry with you are already dense. On the way back, Su Yu said happily, "This time is really worth the trip!" ”
After returning to China, Su Yu wrote down the contents recorded above in detail, and after Ye Jianying, Qin Jiwei and others read it, they also praised it.
This is just a World War II battlefield site thousands of miles away from the motherland, why did Su Yu have such great interest and thought?
It turned out that in Su Yu's view, this classic large-scale army landing operation had great reference significance for the future recovery and liberation of Taiwan!
The ultimate goal is to liberate Taiwan
After Chiang Kai-shek's defeat and retreat to Taiwan in 1949, how to recover the island became the most important issue after the founding of the People's Republic of China. For this reason, Chairman Mao hand-picked Su Yu as the commander-in-chief for the liberation of Taiwan.
At that time, the situation on the mainland had been decided, and the whole country was extremely eager to liberate Taiwan, so at this time it was the best time to attack the Kuomintang, which was entrenched overseas, and liberate Taiwan.
But Su Yu knew in his heart that although he was good at large corps combat, there were still many places to consider in the face of cross-sea landing operations.
Although the closest place to Taiwan at that time was Pingtan County in Fuzhou City, there were 126 islands scattered there, commonly known as QiandaoJiao County, which was not suitable for landing operations between land, sea and air.
And on the rough sea, where to choose to land? What kind of escort force is used? What shipping methods are used? How to make the dense troops still able to attack flexibly, so as to be able to land smoothly? These are all problems that Su Yu has never encountered before, but they also have to be considered.
As a high-ranking military general, one would think of a question that most people would not think of. That is to say, if the international situation changes and other countries intervene, I am afraid that it will be too late to liberate Taiwan. Not only that, he has been fighting in the front line for many years, and he also needs to consider how many casualties he has to pay and how many enemy troops he has annihilated in order to achieve the combat objectives.
These forward-looking analyses are consistent with the views of Chairman Mao and most of the party's top generals. For this reason, Su Yu also said: To fight Taiwan, six or seven points of certainty is not enough, nor is it possible to grasp eight or nine points, and if you want to fight, you must be very sure.
And what makes Su Yu very worried is the United States behind Taiwan. Since the founding of New China, the United States has adopted a hostile policy, supported Chiang Kai-shek and resisted the Communists, and constantly sent fleets to invade China's territorial waters. Therefore, when armed measures are really taken against Taiwan, they will certainly not stand idly by.
Su Yu had considered seeking help from the Soviet Union, but in this matter, the Soviet Union chose not to ask, and Su Yu understood that the Soviet Union was afraid of the reason why the United States would join in, and did not care much. After all, the liberation of the entire Chinese mainland relies on Chinese its own strength, and in the face of the Taiwan issue, we should still rely on ourselves.
To this end, Su Yu made a lot of deductions and calculations, and even took into account the comprehensive national conditions at that time.
For example, it has been calculated that the Kuomintang defenders are between 300,000 and 400,000, and if the troops attacking Taiwan are 500,000, nearly 140,000 tons of materials need to be prepared, and 575 thousand tons of ships need to be dispatched.
But these are only domestic problems that can be solved. However, the only constant in the world is change. Just after Su Yu made a set of battle plans, 650,000 People's Liberation Army assembled and were about to cross the sea to liberate Taiwan, the Korean War broke out.
The eyes of the whole world converged on East Asia, and the US Seventh Fleet brazenly blocked the Taiwan Strait. At this time, new China could not be carried out on both sides, and in order to resist the United States and aid Korea and defend the country, Su Yu's plan to attack Taiwan was also forced to be shelved.
He could only look at Taiwan across the sea and sigh: Lose this opportunity, next time it will be difficult.
Be prepared to liberate Taiwan
Su Yu's premonition was accurate, after the end of the Korean War, the international situation changed drastically, and the matter of recovering Taiwan was also shelved for various reasons.
Although he had been mentally prepared, the liberation of Taiwan had always been his spiritual pillar, and when the day of the collapse came, it was really difficult for him to bear more! In particular, chairman Mao also refused to include him among the candidates for leading the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
This veteran general wanted to do his best in the future to make more preparations for the recovery of Taiwan. That's why I was so interested in the Normandy landings, even to the point of forgetting to eat and sleep, just to find even a little more experience to learn.
In fact, with Chairman Mao's extraordinary foresight and insight, he did not give up after the plan to attack Taiwan was shelved, and made many preparations.
In 1961, the famous British general Montgomery visited China and was cordially received by Chairman Mao. During the conversation, Chairman Mao introduced to Montgomery this way: Among all my comrades-in-arms, Shu Suyu is the best at fighting and is good at fighting in large armies, and he fought the Huaihai Campaign in this way.
As the British field marshal in World War II, and the world-famous general who planned the Normandy landings by Eisenhower, he also nodded seriously in approval.
In fact, the two had never met in their lives, but Montgomery had a high recognition and admiration for Su Yu, and once commented: There are two military experts I admire the most, one is Napoleon of France, and the other is Su Yu of China.
During that conversation, Chairman Mao also had a detailed exchange of views on the Normandy landings with Montgomery, which he personally planned and participated in, and gained a lot of valuable experience. Chairman Mao asked Su Yu to stay in France for a while, perhaps also wanting him to take this opportunity to investigate the Normandy ruins.
In fact, after Su Yu visited the Congo, he and Major General Duan Suquan in the delegation said: This time returning to the National Assembly through France, if you have the opportunity, you must go to investigate the Normandy ruins.
One of Chairman Mao's arrangements was to satisfy Su Yu's wish and to make preparations for landing in Taiwan one day.
However, this day never came. Not being able to see the recovery of Taiwan and the reunification of the country has always been a regret in the heart of General Su Yu.
On February 5, 1984, Su Yu died in Beijing at the age of 77. During the cremation of the remains, the family found three shrapnel from the ashes of his head. It turned out that the headache that once tormented Su Yu actually came from this, but even so, when the headache occurred, Su Yu never gave up the work of how to smoothly liberate Taiwan.
Veterans don't die, they just wither away gradually. It is only a matter of time before Taiwan returns to the motherland, and it will certainly be resolved along with the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
When that day comes, incense will be burned to su yu, the god of war.