preface
Figure 丨 Founding Lieutenant General Zheng Weishan
Among the star-studded founding generals, General Zheng Weishan does not seem to be so particularly dazzling, but a closer look at the general's long career shows extraordinary performance...
General Zheng Weishan's final battle
In 1950, General Zheng Weishan was promoted to deputy commander of the Nineteenth Corps, and in 1952, General Zheng Weishan and Commander Yang Dezhi led his troops into the Korean War, and during Zheng Weishan's time in the Nineteenth Corps, his main task was to assist the commander of the Corps, Yang Dezhi, in carrying out work and commanding operations.
In April, General Zheng Weishan led the Nineteenth Corps to participate in the fifth campaign, successfully completed the tasks assigned by the volunteer headquarters, after which the korean battlefield between the enemy and us formed a confrontation situation near the 38th Line, and in July, the US army was forced to accept the armistice negotiations, but insince, launched two offensives in summer and autumn, both of which were crushed by the volunteers.
In June 1952, General Zheng Weishan was transferred to the acting commander of the 20th Corps of the Volunteer Army for one year and one month, although the time was not long, but it fully demonstrated his command ability of wisdom and courage.
After general Zheng Weishan took up his post, he personally inspected the main positions in the front line in the face of enemy fire, had extensive talks with most of the cadres of divisions and regiments, and some grass-roots cadres and soldiers.
Pictured| Li Zhimin on the left, Zheng Weishan, the telephone holder, and Yang Dezhi on the right
General Zheng Weishan held that only by relying on a solid position can it be possible to effectively defend the enemy with superior equipment; therefore, the general advocates that we should first further strengthen the construction of the position on the existing basis, form as soon as possible cadres with tunnels as the backbone, connect with trenches and communication trenches, have a large-depth defense system, and strengthen material reserves, so that we can truly fight and hide.
General Zheng Weishan's idea was quickly vigorously supported by other leaders of the corps, and after careful discussion among cadres at and above the division level, it was thoroughly conveyed and implemented in the troops, which better unified the operational thinking of the whole corps.
Subsequently, the troops set off an upsurge of preparations for war; on the one hand, they stepped up the construction of their positions, and on the other hand, the leaders combined themselves with the masses, selected targets, felt the enemy's situation, drew up plans, practiced tactics, and actively carried out preparations for tactical counterattacks.
On September 20, 1953, the Xx Corps launched a tactical counterattack in accordance with the unified orders of the Volunteer Command.
Because the troops were ideologically united and well prepared, the battle progressed very smoothly, and the battle lasted for two months, seizing 23 enemy positions, fighting more than 400 enemy counterattacks, and annihilating more than 10,000 enemy personnel.
After the war, the troops had high morale, actively selected points, and invited them to fight one after another; in this regard, General Zheng Weishan persuaded commanders at all levels to conscientiously sum up their experiences, and personally went deep into the troops to analyze the battle examples together with the commanders and fighters, summed up the specific experiences in many aspects, such as the selection of attack targets and breakthrough points, the counterattack of the firm position, and the use and coordination of artillery fire.
Picture | Zheng Weishan (second from left) was appointed acting commander of the 20th Corps
After that, each army selected a number of points to make preparations for counterattack, and once approved, it said that if it was fought, it would be able to win, and the scale of the counterattack also developed from annihilating the enemy by squad and platoon to annihilating the enemy's one company and one battalion; since then, the enemy no longer dares to go to the volunteer position to show off its might, and in the end, the focus of the forward struggle has been pushed to the enemy's position.
The CPC Central Committee and the Central Military Commission spoke highly of the volunteer army's current operation, and Chairman Mao vividly referred to this style of fighting as the "zero-knock candy" method of warfare.
Soon, congratulatory messages from the CENTRAL Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Central Military Commission pointed out:
"If this method of warfare continues to be practiced, it will surely lead to the death of the enemy, and it will certainly force the enemy to adopt compromises and finally end the Korean War."
In May 1953, in order to force the enemy to accept the armistice and deal a heavier blow to the enemy, the Volunteer Command decided to launch a summer campaign.
The campaign was determined to be carried out in three stages: the first stage was mainly to capture the enemy's forward support points and clear the way for the next offensive; the second stage was to seize the positions above the battalion in the enemy's first defensive zone; and in the third stage, to straighten the front south of Jincheng, the volunteer defense line was pushed to the enemy's second defensive zone.
It is worth mentioning here that during this campaign, Zheng Weishan put forward the bold idea of capturing the 883.7 and 949.2 highlands.
It should be known that the position is dangerously terrainy, well-fortified, and is defended by a reinforced regiment of the enemy, separated from the volunteer position by a deep ditch, far away, and the volunteer artillery cannot cover it, and the enemy is in a commanding position, and can be blocked by artillery fire to prevent the volunteer infantry from approaching, and it is more difficult to seize the enemy's occupied high ground.
After many investigations, General Zheng Weishan advocated boldly lurking infantry in the dense forest in front of the enemy's position before the war, and gathering artillery fire between the enemy and our positions before they could seize it in one fell swoop.
Pictured | old photo of General Zheng Weishan
The general believed that lurking troops and assembling artillery under the eyes of the enemy, although it was a risky move, was likely to succeed because of the enemy's surprise.
To this end, General Zheng Weishan carefully inspected the preparations of the troops carrying out this task and met with all the comrades of the six companies and the other two platoons who were lurking. He saw that the latent troops were very well prepared, the morale was very high, and the confidence in victory was enhanced.
This campaign, from the beginning, went quite smoothly, in which the capture of 883.7 Heights and Cross Hill and other battles were completely won.
After the battle began, before the enemy could figure out where so many shells were coming from, the volunteer infantry had appeared in front of them, and the enemy was suddenly in chaos, and the position was soon completely occupied by the volunteers.
After this battle, General Xu Shiyou pulled General Zheng Weishan and said, "Good you Zheng Weishan! They all say that I promise Shiyou not to die in battle, and I want to say, you Zheng Weishan are not dead! You have so many people lurking under the nose of the enemy, in case of failure, how do you explain to Chairman Mao, you are too bold, even I pinched a sweat for you. ”
After listening, Zheng Weishan explained with a smile: "I have been thinking about this battle for a long time, and the troops have made a long preparation, so I plugged my brain shell and made up my mind to fight this battle." ”
In July, under the command of General Zheng Weishan, the Twenty Corps fought day and night to achieve the purpose of the campaign, eliminate the enemy north of Jincheng, and straighten the front south of Jincheng.
Pictured| rocket artillery battle in the Battle of Jincheng
This was General Jeong Wei-san's last battle, the most glorious page of his war career, and a miracle on the Korean battlefield.
On July 27, 1953, the "United Nations Forces" led by U.S. troops were forced to sign an armistice. General Zheng Weishan returned to his homeland in August. In recognition of his merits, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea awarded him the Order of the National Flag, First Class, and the Order of Independence and Freedom, First Class.
In the autumn of 1954, General Zheng Weishan entered the Campaign Department of the Nanjing Military Academy. Before the expiration of the term, he was transferred back to Beijing at the beginning of the following year. Peng Dehuai, who presided over the work of the Central Military Commission, twice asked him to take up the main leading position of the North China Military Region (later renamed the Beijing Military Region), and he both stated that his political level was low and it was difficult for him to perform his duties, and he was willing to serve as a deputy and assist those who were able to carry out his work.
In the autumn of 1955, General Zheng Weishan was awarded the rank of lieutenant general and was awarded the Order of August 1st Class, the Order of Independence and Freedom of the First Class, and the Liberation Medal of the First Class.
Deng Xiaoping told Zheng Weishan: When you go to Lanzhou, you must accomplish two things
General Zheng Weishan has always insisted on administering the army strictly, and he held that doing a good job in education and training, as well as in the building of work style and discipline, is the only way for the troops to enhance their combat effectiveness in peacetime. Therefore, he paid close attention to the building of troops and organs, and demanded that cadres conscientiously study modern war knowledge and science and technology.
General Zheng Weishan spared no effort in fortifying the North China Military Region, and did a lot of work on the fortification of the Eastern Front in the 1950s or on the Northern Front in the 1960s. Especially for the fortification of the northern line, from the layout of the project, the survey and the fixed point, to the construction, acceptance and summary of the promotion experience, he must be personal.
The picture | a group photo of Zheng Weishan and Xu Shiyou and other generals
To this end, General Zheng Weishan traveled all over the mountains and rivers of North China and climbed all the important mountains. He was familiar with the location of the main tunnels and other combat readiness projects in the whole region. Thanks to his meticulous planning and strict management, the progress, quality, economy, and safety of the national defense projects of the North China Military Region have been in the leading position of the whole army for many years.
Zheng Weishan served as deputy commander of the North China Military Region and later the Beijing Military Region for 14 years, with solid work and remarkable results, and made important contributions to the building of organs, troops, and the fortification of North China.
In 1982, General Zheng Weishan received an order to be transferred to Lanzhou as commander of the Lanzhou Military Region and first secretary of the party committee of the Lanzhou Military Region.
Before General Zheng Weishan took office, Deng Xiaoping, chairman of the Central Military Commission, personally asked to see him by name, and after meeting Zheng Weishan, Deng Gong said: "I am at ease that you will go to Lanzhou to become commander. You are an expert in leading soldiers to fight, and I don't need to say more. What I want to instruct you is that after you go to Lanzhou, you must accomplish two things: First, educate people and strive to select and train 10 successors in the northwest; second, plant trees, green the great northwest, the northwest has more loess plateaus, more wind and less rain, and the climate is dry, and we must help the northwest region to do a good job in greening and benefit future generations. ”
General Zheng Weishan nodded his head after listening to it: "I will certainly bow down and strive to complete the tasks entrusted to me by the CPC Central Committee." ”
Pictured| Deng Gong and Zheng Weishan
In the spring of 1983, after Zheng Weishan went to work in the Lanzhou Military Region, in addition to presiding over the daily work of the military region, he would go deep into the troops to familiarize himself with the situation at other times.
General Zheng Weishan spent more than half a year leading the personnel of the organs to survey the terrain of the northwest, either by car or on foot, or by plane or on horseback, and traveled more than 70,000 kilometers successively, visiting important mountain passes under the jurisdiction of the Lanzhou Military Region, and studying and formulating a complete set of defensive operation plans for the northwest region under modern conditions in accordance with the strategic principle of active defense of the Central Military Commission.
This plan has better solved the long-standing problems of defensive operations in the northwest plateau, such as the vast mountains and high ground, the sparse water, and the large grassland and desert area.
In the autumn and winter of that year, in accordance with the defensive operation plan for the northwest region, General Zheng Weishan organized and held study classes for cadres at and above the division level, conducted campaign training, conducted on-site study and study in several predetermined major battlefields and important regional areas, and then launched live military exercises, followed by intensive training of cadres at and above the regimental level, and began to solve the problem of combining future battlefield construction and peacetime training of troops with future wars.
In 1985, General Zheng Weishan began to grasp the work of "educating people," and he devoted his main energy to the inspection and allocation of leading bodies at and above the regimental level in the whole region, and recommended a number of talents to the Central Military Commission.
General Zheng Weishan worked in the Lanzhou Military Region for 3 years, and according to Deng Gong's instructions on "planting trees," every year on Arbor Day, he would organize the troops of the military region to coordinate with the localities to carry out greening.
Photo | General Zheng Weishan (first from right)
During the general's tenure, the Lanzhou troops made great progress both in the camp and in helping local trees and grasses. The Central Greening Committee's evaluation of the lanzhou military region's greening work is "high understanding, rapid development, great achievements, and good impact."
In June 1985, General Zheng Weishan retired to the second line, and from September 18 to 23, the National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held in Beijing, and General Zheng Weishan was co-elected as a member of the Central Advisory Committee of the Communist Party of China.
Although General Zheng Weishan has only worked in the Lanzhou Military Region for more than three years, his diligent and sincere work spirit and down-to-earth work style have left a deep impression on the organs and troops, and he has done his utmost to fulfill the glorious mission of an old comrade.
After General Zheng Weishan retired to the second line, he still cared about the troops, party building, and the lives of the people in the old areas, and he would take time out of his time to inspect the field every year and spare no effort to do the work within his ability. In July of the same year, after the memoirs of General Zheng Weishan were published, all the money was donated to his hometown to support the construction of the school.
From September 25 to January 1, 1987, the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held in Beijing, and General Zheng Weishan was elected as a member of the Central Advisory Committee, after which he attended the 14th and 15th Party Congresses of the Communist Party of China, and in July 1988, General Zheng Weishan was awarded the Red Star Meritorious Service Medal of the First Class.
General Zheng Weishan died
In April 1998, during a routine examination, General Zheng Weishan found that there was a shadow in the lungs, and after repeated examinations, he was diagnosed as a lung tumor and needed to be removed.
Pictured| Chairman Mao and Zheng Weishan
At first, people didn't want to tell the general about his illness, but General Zheng Weishan said: "What does it matter, the big deal is a death, and those of us who want to die have died several times." Don't fight me in ambush. ”
After listening to the general's words, people only needed to tell him about his illness, and after General Zheng Weishan learned of his illness, he not only did not have any mental burden, but also, as usual, he should work and eat.
At that time, General Zheng Weishan was over eighty years old, and before the operation began, he made another request not to be under general anesthesia so as not to affect the memory.
Before entering the operating room, General Zheng Weishan also said with a smile: "The battle is about to start, concentrate your troops, concentrate your energy, and fight as planned." As long as you get off the operating table, you have a fifty percent certainty of victory. ”
The operation went relatively smoothly, three days after the operation, General Zheng Weishan miraculously got out of bed, appeared in the corridor on the fifth day, and frightened the staff a lot, and three months later, General Zheng Weishan also came to the opening ceremony of the Old Army Military History Museum to give a speech...
However, on March 16, 2000, General Zheng Weishan was admitted to the PLA General Hospital because of a recurrence of lung cancer accompanied by a large-scale infection of the lungs. As his illness worsened, General Zheng Weishan realized that the end of his life was approaching, so he successively gathered his relatives and children and the staff around him to calmly make arrangements for the aftermath.
General Zheng Weishan, pictured |
After that, General Zheng Weishan made a categorical request to the hospital: stop using expensive drugs and save as much as possible on medical expenses, in addition, General Zheng Weishan also pulled out the needle several times.
On April 19, when General Zheng Weishan learned that the head of the Central Military Commission had instructed the hospital to rescue him at all costs, the general solemnly wrote to the Central Military Commission in the name of an old Communist Party member and veteran soldier, in which the letter read:
Cmc:
My body was getting weaker and weaker, and I felt that the days were not long.
As a veteran party member who joined the party in 1930, I can live to this day... Seeing the return of Hong Kong and Macao and personally participating in the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the motherland, I have been relieved and satisfied...
Man is always going to die, this is the law of nature. I solemnly request that when I am not able to do so, stop the treatment of me at the right time and save more medical funds, which is also my last contribution to the party.
I don't have much savings in my life, please turn in my last month's salary as my last party fee to the organization, and send the books I have accumulated to a school in Dabie Mountain for the children in the mountainous area to use.
The central authorities have long advocated the funeral, and I was one of the old comrades who took the lead in signing the funeral. After I died, I did not hold a memorial service, did not bid farewell to the body, did not enter the Babao Mountain, did not engage in any form of farewell ceremony, the body was dissected by the medical unit and cremated, and the ashes were scattered on the mountain on the roof of the Dabie Mountain.
One last salute!
An old Communist Party member and veteran soldier Zheng Weishan
On May 9, 2000, General Zheng Weishan, who was good at war and had caused the enemy to be frightened, died at the age of 85.
After receiving this letter from General Zheng Weishan, the Central Military Commission burst into tears, and the Central Committee was not surprised by the old general's last wish, because they knew that the old general had firmly believed in serving the people all his life, but the central authorities did not fully agree to the old general's request in the letter, because General Zheng Weishan's contribution to the people in this life was tremendous.
After the death of the old general Zheng Weishan, there is a pair of links in front of his spiritual hall, which is the best summary of the old general's life:
The thirteen-year-old revolutionary boy was born into the history of his lifelong conquest of thousands of battles
At the age of fifteen, he joined the party with integrity, rigidity, and righteousness, and suffered all kinds of hardships and boldness, and did not change his loyalty to Geng Zhao's descendants
On May 21, after the body of the old general Zheng Weishan was cremated after medical autopsy, the family followed the old general's last wishes and took a train to send the general's ashes to the Dabie Mountainous Area where Zheng Lao was born and fought, in The Village of Yalingwa in Xinxian County, Henan Province.
Pictured | General Stone
In order to remember this son of Dabie Mountain forever, on a huge stone where the general scattered his ashes and where the general herded cattle when he was a child, the three characters of "General Stone" handwritten by the famous calligrapher Li Duo were engraved, and since then, General Zheng Weishan has been with the green mountains and green waters of Dabie Mountain...