In April 1949, our People's Liberation Army crossed the river to occupy Nanjing, the bright red flag flew high in the Nanjing Presidential Palace, Chairman Mao heard the news, and wrote the famous poem "Seven Laws. The People's Liberation Army occupies Nanjing:
Zhongshan was windy and rainy, and millions of heroes crossed the river. The tiger is better than the past, and the world is turned upside down.
It is advisable to chase the poor and the poor, and not to become the overlord of the famous school. If the heavens are full of love and the heavens are old, the right way in the world is vicissitudes.
The poem Chairman Mao was written in April 1949 and was first published in 1963.
So, which unit gloriously planted the red flag in the presidential palace of the National Government in Nanjing? Some people say that it was Wu Huawen's troops who had been traitors, but what was the actual situation? Let's recall today.
Glory should have belonged to Chen Geng
On February 11, 1949, in accordance with the instructions of the Central Military Commission and Chairman Mao, the General Front Committee of the Huaihai Campaign was transformed into the General Front Committee of the Battle of Crossing the River, and Deng Xiaoping was appointed secretary of the General Front Committee. On March 31, Deng Xiaoping, secretary of the General Front Committee, organized a discussion and drafted the "Outline for the Implementation of the Beijing-Shanghai-Hangzhou Campaign" to the Central Military Commission.
This "Outline for the Implementation of the Beijing-Shanghai-Hangzhou Campaign" analyzes the reaction of the enemy after the implementation of the Battle of Crossing the River, as well as the specific response plan and marching line of our army, and assigns combat tasks. In the outline, there may be four manifestations of analyzing the enemy defending Nanjing, and each manifestation, the task of capturing Nanjing and capturing Nanjing is planned to be undertaken by Liu Deng's army in Sanye, and it is set to arrange for the specific implementation of the troops for Chen Geng's Fourth Corps.
Nanjing was an ancient city and the political center of the Kuomintang government, and it was of great significance to capture Nanjing. After receiving the task, Chen Geng actively made preparations, and on the basis of the teaching materials and guidance documents drafted by Commander Liu Bocheng, such as "Research on River Crossing Operations," "Tactical Guidance on Crossing the River Before the Enemy," and "Notes on Tactics for Crossing the River," he specially formulated an operational plan and a takeover plan for the capture of Nanjing.
On April 21, Chairman Mao and Commander-in-Chief Zhu De issued an order to attack the whole country, and the People's Liberation Army launched an all-out offensive along the Yangtze River. After the People's Liberation Army broke through the Yangtze River defense line, Su Yu judged that Nanjing had fallen into chaos according to the development of the situation, and on April 22, he sent a telegram to Commander Chen Shiyu of the 8th Corps:
"If the enemy in Nanjing escapes, the Thirty-fifth Army shall immediately cross the river and occupy Nanjing, maintain order, and protect all public and private property abandoned by the enemy, and the army shall pay special attention to abiding by policies and strictly enforcing urban discipline."
At this time, Chen Geng's troops were far away from Nanjing, and Chen Geng wrote in his diary:
"We were no longer needed for our mission to capture Nanjing."
It's just that the 35th Army makes everyone feel uncomfortable, why is this?
What is the origin of the 35th Army?
The 35th Army was originally Wu Huawen's unit, this Wu Huawen's reputation was not very good, in the early years of joining the army to follow Feng Yuxiang, under the cultivation of Feng Yuxiang, from soldier to step by step, as the chief of staff of the regiment. In 1938, following Feng Yuxiang's acceptance of the Kuomintang reorganization, Wu Huawen was promoted to brigade commander, and because of his meritorious service in the Taierzhuang War of Resistance, he was promoted to division commander. If history stops here, Wu Huawen can also be regarded as a famous anti-Japanese general, but the next tumultuous operation of Wu Huawen's Wuhua Cultural Department is a big surprise.
What even the Japanese could not imagine was that in 1943, Wu Huawen defected to the traitor Wang Jingwei. Okamura Ningji, the supreme commander of the Japanese invasion of China, was very strange, specially received him, and made him the commander of the 3rd Front, during which he played for the tiger and did not do bad things. In 1945, Japan surrendered, the traitors could not continue, Wu Huawen again defected to Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Kai-shek in order to seize the territory, accepted him, and let him as the commander of the 5th Route Army. Next, everyone knows that in the Battle of Jinan, he surrendered to the People's Liberation Army, causing Wang Yaowu to be defeated and captured by our army.
After the Battle of Huaihai, Wu Huawen's troops were more dispersed and escaped, more than 20,000 people remained in three regiments, and Su Yu arranged for the Lunan Column and the 35th Army to be reorganized.
After the reorganization, the 35th Army had a total of 3 divisions, and the division headquarters was formed by the reorganization of the Lunan Column organs, each division had 3 regiments, two of which were reorganized from the troops of the Lunan Column, and one was reorganized from the Wuhua Cultural Department.
Which unit was the first to enter the presidential palace?
After receiving orders to attack Nanjing, Wu Huawen withdrew from military command after claiming illness, and later served as a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and died of illness in 1962.
The 35th Army was actually under the specific command of the Political Commissar He Kexi. On April 23, the Kuomintang government saw that the general situation had gone, and indeed fled Nanjing in a hurry, and the 35th Army quickly entered the city of Nanjing.
The first to enter the presidential palace was the 312th Regiment of the 104th Division, formerly the 138th Regiment of the 46th Division of the LuzhongNan Column. Guan Yuquan, then commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 312th Regiment of the 104th Division, recalled that it was his troops who first broke into the city of Nanjing, and under the leadership of the masses in the city surnamed Sun, they found and occupied the "Presidential Palace". He shot and smashed the portrait of Chiang Kai-shek, and went to the presidential palace to tear off the Kuomintang flag and replace it with a red flag symbolizing our army.
According to recollections, the first to raise the red flag in front of the presidential palace was the 315th Regiment of the 105th Division of the 35th Army, which was formerly known as the 141st Regiment of the 47th Division of the Luzhong South Column.
Obviously, the PLA troops that captured the presidential palace, from commanders to specific units, are all traditional units of our army that are rooted in the red and have nothing to do with the former Wu Huawen troops.
In various historical periods, the People's Liberation Army has reorganized many units that have surrendered to the people, and those who can remain have slowly integrated into our People's Liberation Army and become an inseparable part.