One day in September 1950, the Navy's Qingdao base received a notice from their superiors to receive a Soviet expert in order to communicate with each other and facilitate future work together.
At that time, the Qingdao base had just been established, and according to the common practice at that time, all levels were inseparable from the help and guidance of Soviet experts who had come to China.
Commander Yi Yaocai (1955 Major General), Political Commissar Duan Dezhang (1955 Major General), Chief of Staff Yang Guoyu (1961 Major General) and others personally rushed to Building 6 of the Donghai Hotel in Qingdao City and met the Soviet expert.
The translator first introduced the names and positions of Yi, Duan, Yang and others to the experts.
Then, Yi Yaocai briefed the experts on the situation. Without saying a few words, the expert interrupted him, stared directly at Yang Guoyu with both eyes, and said: "Since you are the chief of staff, you should be very level, and I will come up with a math problem to test you." ”
Without waiting for Yang Guoyu to answer, he quickly took out a pencil and wrote "D = 2.2 (√H + √h)" on the white paper, and said "H, can be assumed" while handing it to Yang Guoyu.
Yang Guoyu took this exam question, and there was a buzz in his head. Yi Yaocai and Duan Dezhang were also confused when they saw each other, and there was an embarrassing silence in the room for a while.
In the end, Duan Dezhang came out to break the siege, and he calmly said to the experts: "All 3 of us are poor children, who came out as Red Army soldiers from a young age, and have not gone to college or navy. In the future, please ask experts for more help. ”
The expert didn't say anything, but the expression on his face was obviously saying that Yang Guoyu, the chief of staff, was not qualified. This made Yang Guoyu feel landless.
At the time of parting, the expert said: "Tomorrow at 8 o'clock in the morning, I will go to the Qingdao Mountain Observatory, and your commander and political commissar do not have to go, please ask the chief of staff to be there on time." ”
The next day, Yang Guoyu went on time, and the expert asked Yang Guoyu to go to sea with him by boat. Just out of Qingdao Port, experts pointed to a small island between Yang Guoyu: What is this island?
Yi Yaocai, Duan Dezhang, and Yang Guoyu were three major generals
Yang Guoyu said that it was "Dagong Island", and this question was answered correctly.
Then, the expert pointed to some of the equipment on the ship and asked Yang Guoyu to explain their performance.
Yang Guoyu pretended not to understand and did not answer.
When asked how far the radio communication distance on the ship was, Yang Guoyu had to answer "1000 kilometers!" ”
The expert listened to the laughter, Yang Guoyu knew that he must have answered wrongly, and his face was really a little hanging.
That night, Yang Guoyu turned over and could not sleep.
He was originally the chief of staff of the Eleventh Army, and he came to the Navy with ideological baggage. I didn't expect to hit a few nails in front of the experts just after taking office, and the ideological baggage was of course heavier.
Yang Guoyu thought to himself: I followed Liu Deng's leader to fight in the north and south for 13 years, until the national victory, Tianjin, Nanjing, Shanghai, Chongqing... Where can't you give me a "qualified" job, but I want me to come to the Navy Qingdao base as an "unqualified" chief of staff!
The more Yang Guoyu thought about it, the more he wanted to retreat. In the end, he decided to go to Xiao Jinguang, the commander of the Navy who was in Qingdao, to complain about his grievances.
Xiao Jinguang was very busy at that time, but he still used the evening time to receive Yang Guoyu.
It seemed that Xiao Jinguang already knew the unpleasant things that Yang Guoyu had encountered, and guessed his thoughts from a glance at his face.
General Xiao Jinguang
Xiao Jinguang cordially beckoned Yang Guoyu to sit down, and before he could speak, he said bluntly, "I see you can do it!" Can be chief of staff! ”
Yang Guoyu was trying to pour out the prepared words, and Xiao Jinguang immediately said: "I said in Beijing that Yang Guoyu can be the chief of staff of the Qingdao base." ”
Yang Guoyu was a little anxious, and really wanted to interrupt Xiao Jinguang's words and say "I can't do it", which showed Xiao Jinguang's sincere, patient and solemn expression, and swallowed the words that came to his mouth.
Xiao Jinguang said heartily: "The post of chief of staff is very important, but it is not appropriate. I was the chief of staff. The command is the party's commanding organ in the army. Combat, training, and army building must all be organized and implemented by the headquarters and are all directly related to the chief of staff.
"When a battle is won, it is often said that the commander and political commissar have good leadership; when the battle is lost, something goes wrong, and the chief of staff is often criticized. During the Red Army period, Liu (Bocheng) was dismissed twice, but he worked hard during the Long March and made great contributions to the country and the people. As long as we serve the people wholeheartedly, the people will not forget. ”
Xiao Jinguang said, paced a few steps indoors, and stared at the window for a while, as if he was looking at the vast sea.
He turned around and said with some excitement: "In the past, old China had no defense at sea, but now we must concentrate on building coastal defense and consolidating national defense." Qingdao is on the front line of coastal defense and is the gateway to Beijing. At present, the Korean War is fiercely fought, American aircraft can fly over Qingdao at any time, and warships can invade from the sea at any time. We are defending Beijing, and we have a great responsibility! ”
Hearing this, a shadow on Yang Guoyu's heart gradually dissipated, replaced by a heavy sense of responsibility.
After Xiao Jinguang's enlightenment, Yang Guoyu realized that he was embarking on a new difficult and glorious journey, and Yang Guoyu's personal fate had been closely linked to the coastal defense construction cause of the entire country.
The unpleasantness brought by experts to Yang Guoyu has also become a kind of encouragement and encouragement.
Determined to learn from scratch, Yang Guoyu found 8 teachers in the army (7 to teach naval expertise, 1 to teach culture), and the study time was at night.
In addition, he learned from Soviet experts (half of his time had to be taken up by translators). From the performance of equipment, to the management of naval units and auxiliary facilities, and various work systems, learn everything.
At the beginning, he learned to have a straight and swollen brain, and slowly over time, he learned more things, his confidence was enhanced, and his work became more and more smooth.
Since then, Yang Guoyu has successively served as deputy commander and chief of staff of the naval training base, deputy chief of staff, chief of staff and deputy commander of the Navy.
He was awarded the rank of Colonel in 1955 and promoted to rear admiral in 1961.
It can be said that Yang Guoyu has made remarkable contributions to Chinese the modernization and regularization of the PLA naval forces and to defend the territorial sovereignty of the motherland.