Among the early senior generals of our army, there was only one person who participated in the War to Resist France and Aid Vietnam and the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and that was the general Chen Geng.
In January 1950, just a few months after the founding of New China, the Vietnamese side asked China to help them fight against the invading French army. In July, the central government sent Tan Gung to Vietnam as a senior military commander to assist the Vietnamese army in combat. In the following border battle, Chen Geng commanded the Vietnamese army to annihilate thousands of enemy troops, and won a complete victory, turning the tide of the war.
In early November 1950, Chen Geng returned from Vietnam and reported to Chairman Mao on the situation of resisting France and aiding Vietnam. At that time, the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea had already begun, and at the end of November, Chen Geng went to the Korean battlefield with illness to inspect. For this reason, he was jokingly called a "militant" by Chairman Mao.
Chen Geng
Later, when Chairman Mao met with his North Korean friends, he said: "Chen Geng returned to Beijing from Vietnam and reported to me about the aid to Vietnam and resisting the Law. I said, you Chen Geng is belligerent, just heard that fighting with the US imperialists, you have the spirit, the illness is half better. I said, then you have to thank Truman! ”
Of course, the term "belligerent" is Chairman Mao's joke, the war is cruel, not to mention the battle with the most advanced weapons and equipment in the world, the beginning of the war, some generals still have the idea of fearing the enemy, but Chen Geng took the initiative to ask for war, so Chairman Mao must have a kind of satisfaction in Chen Geng's jokes.
In January 1951, after the end of the Third Campaign to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Chen Geng temporarily left Korea and returned to China by train. At that time, the US military planes bombed along the railway line every day, and also dropped a lot of time bombs, and the train could only stop and go, waiting for the danger to be eliminated before starting, so the train to Shenyang delayed a lot of time, Chen Geng did not rest well, and he was very tired.
In Shenyang, Gao Gang, then the first secretary of the Northeast Bureau, held a welcoming ceremony for Chen Geng and asked him to stay for two more days. It was difficult to be gracious, but Chen Geng had to agree. That night, Gao Gang specially organized a dance party in the name of welcoming Chen Geng. Gao Gang is known for his hospitality and playfulness, but Chen Geng does not want to attend the dance, saying that he has a problem with his legs and cannot dance.
It should be known that when Chen Geng was young, he had a solid foundation in martial arts skills, and he was also known as "Scud", and there was a saying in the Whampoa Military Academy at that time, "Jiang Xianyun's pen, He Zhihan's mouth, but Chen Geng's legs." Unfortunately, in a battle in Huichang, Jiangxi Province, Chen Geng was shot in the left leg, the wound was infected, and he was almost amputated.
In the end, chen geng, in the absence of anesthesia available, had to endure the pain and let the doctor take a scalpel to scrape off the rotten flesh of the wound, only to save his leg. When Chen Geng, who loves to joke, was hospitalized, he also bragged to the female nurse, "My leg is a god leg, I never went to the hospital when I was injured, I hit Huizhou, a bullet drilled into my calf, I cut it out and continued to rush forward..." But after the injury, his left leg still left sequelae.
It's not a disaster to say. In 1932, Chen Geng's right leg was injured again, and due to running and fatigue, the leg injury was not fully recovered, which bothered him for a lifetime.
Therefore, when Chen Geng stayed in Shenyang in January 1951, he told Gao Gang that his legs were not good, so he would not participate in the dance. Gao Gang was willing to let him go, and dragged him to the organ dance hall. Moreover, Gao Gang had already made arrangements in advance, and picked a young and beautiful girl in the organ to be Chen Geng's dance partner.
High post
Chen Geng reluctantly sat down in the ballroom. After a while, the music was playing, the lights were flickering, and the dance party was open. Everyone had just started dancing when they suddenly heard someone in the corner of the ballroom shouting "Help!" So the music stopped abruptly, and everyone gathered around in amazement to see what was happening.
When I came to the front, the person who shouted "help" was the famous General Chen, who was facing a young girl in a daze. The crowd laughed. Everyone knows that Chen Geng is humorous, and wherever he goes, there is laughter. But this time Chen Geng was a bit embarrassed.
It turned out that as soon as Chen Geng arrived at the dance hall, he was entangled with the girl arranged by Gao Gang and had to ask him to dance. Chen Geng repeatedly explained, not to mention dancing, his legs are difficult to walk, but the girl does not believe it, and he has to pull him to dance to try. She also said that this is a task arranged by the leader, and if it cannot be completed, it will be questioned by the leader. After saying that, he went forward and pulled Chen Geng forward.
Fashionable women of an earlier age
Chen Geng has always been witty and humorous, but this time there was really no other trick, and he shouted "help" in a hurry. This voice shouted all four people, and it really worked, as soon as everyone came, the girl was embarrassed, and she couldn't take care of Gao Gang's instructions, and ran away as soon as she slipped a cigarette. Chen Geng sat down for a while and rested.
In fact, Chen Geng insisted on not jumping this time, and the leg injury was on the one hand, but the main reason was that the volunteer army was fighting in the snowy North Korea. It's just that he was embarrassed to embarrass Gao Gang in person, so he had to "make this decision", which is also where General Chen Geng is praised.
Not long after the "Ballroom Incident", Chen Geng was appointed commander and political commissar of the 3rd Corps of the Volunteer Army, leading the troops into the Korean War, and then served as the deputy commander of the Volunteer Army. In just a few months, Chen Geng left the Vietnamese battlefield and went to the Korean front, which was really a conquest.
Reference: Anecdote about Chen Geng's trip to North Korea