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Xu Qianqian Marshal dress photo
As mentioned in the canteen earlier, among the 19 corps of the People's Liberation Army, the most legendary and special corps is the 18th Corps.
First of all, the 18th Corps and the 19th and 20th Corps are three corps directly under the Central Military Commission.
Secondly, the 18th Corps was the most frequently mobilized, and was transferred to Ichino and Nino successively.
Finally, the 18th Corps had 4 direct commanders, namely Xu Xiangqian, Peng Dehuai, He Long, and Zhou Shidi, including 3 marshals and 1 general.
Such an experience is the only case in the whole army.
What's going on?
This must first begin with the 18th Corps.
The 18th Corps was formerly formed in February 1948 as the Forward Command Post of the Jin-Ji Luyu Military Region, with Xu Xiangqian, deputy commander of the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Military Region, under its jurisdiction 9 regiments of the 8th Column, the 18th, 19th and 20th Divisions of the Taiyue Military Region, and two independent brigades of the Taihang, Jiluyu and Jinan Military Regions, with a total of about 50,000 people.
In mid-May, after the liberation of Linfen, the forward command post of the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Military Region was ordered to be reorganized into the 1st Corps of the North China Military Region, with the 8th, 13th, and 15th Columns under its jurisdiction.
Xu Xu, then the first deputy commander of the North China Military Region, was the former commander and political commissar of the 1st Corps, Zhou Shi was the first deputy commander and deputy political commissar, Chen Manyuan was appointed chief of staff, and Hu Yaobang was appointed director of the Political Department.
From the left, Zhou Shidi, Xu Xiangqian, Chen Manyuan and Wang Xinting
This unit is not full of soldiers, the equipment is extremely poor, especially lack of heavy weapons, lack of experience in attacking tough battles, especially in ideology, organization, and work style, there are a lot of locality, looseness, and guerrilla habits, it is difficult to call it a regular field army.
Fortunately, this unit met Xu Xiangqian.
Xu Xiangqian's command style is fierce, hard, fast, fierce, and lively, he has great ambition and courage, he uses troops with both strange and superhuman courage, dares to fight hard battles, vicious battles, big battles, and headwind battles, and is good at guerrilla warfare in mobile warfare and in position warfare.
As early as the red army period, he took the lead in fighting large corps operations in all the Red Army across the country, and the battles of Huang'an, Shanghuang, Sujiabu, Huangguang, and the anti-"six-way siege" were all his representative works.
What is even more valuable is that Xu Xiangqian not only has a top-level command and combat level, but also a leader in military training ability.
Under the leadership of Xu Xiangqian, this weak soldier in the standard sense began to be sublimated.
Among the units in the 1st Corps of North China, the 23rd Brigade of the 8th Column, the 37th Brigade of the 13th Column, and the 43rd Brigade of the 15th Column have the strongest combat effectiveness.
Xu Xiangqian awarded the 23rd Brigade the honorary title of "Glorious Linfen Brigade"
The 23rd Brigade is known as the "Linfen Brigade" and is the only unit in the whole army with divisional honors.
Lin Bin, the commander of the 37th Brigade (founding major general), was able to attack both strong points and assaults, and the 127th Regiment under his command was awarded the honorary title of "able to attack and defend, invincible in the world".
The 43rd Brigade, known as the "Leather Brigade", the brigade commander is the founding lieutenant general Pi Dingjun (Pi Yougong, ShaoJinzhong).
During the Liberation War, he successively fought in the five major battlefields of the Central Plains, East China, North China, Northwest China, and Southwest China, and participated in the Central Plains Breakthrough, Lianghuai, Lianshui, Yancheng Defense Battles, Menglianggu, Linfen, Jinzhong, Taiyuan, Xianyang Blockade, and March into the Southwest, and other famous battles, with outstanding merits.
In fact, at that time, Xu Xiangqian was sick, but he sat on a stretcher and took the 1st Corps of North China from a local partial division into the main force, and fought hard battles in succession, such as the Battle of Yuncheng, the Battle of Linfen, the Battle of Jinzhong, and the Battle of Taiyuan, and ate the main force of Yan Xishan's Jin army in one bite at a time.
In particular, in the Battle of Jinzhong from June to July 1948, Xu Xiangqian commanded 60,000 people, annihilated more than 100,000 Jin troops, and destroyed the Jin army's aces "pro-training division" and "pro-training artillery regiment".
After this victory, even Mao Zedong praised Xu Xiangqian and praised xu xiangqian one after another, and personally sent a telegram of congratulations:
"The Battle of Jinzhong was under the direct command of the two comrades of the Forward and The Division... In just one month, such brilliant results have helped the whole war situation greatly. ”
And Yan Xishan lamented in a long voice:
"I lived in vain for sixty-five years, and I made Xu Xiangqian, a descendant of the villagers in a neighboring village, work hard."
On the eve of the end of the Jinzhong Campaign, Xu Xiangqian suggested to the Central Military Commission to launch the Taiyuan Campaign and strive to liberate Taiyuan.
Xu Xiangqian's proposal was approved by the Central Military Commission, and the troops of the Jinzhong Military Region, two other brigades of the 7th Column of the Northwest Field Army, and the 1st Brigade of the North China Artillery Corps were under the unified command of Xu Xiangqian and Zhou Shidi.
Xu mobilized forward before the war
At this time, the number of Taiyuan front troops of the People's Liberation Army had reached more than 80,000 people, and Yan Xishan expanded its strength to more than 100,000 people after grasping Ding and replenishing.
In late September, Xu qianqian deployed to prepare a battle plan, scheduling a siege of the city on October 19, planning to capture Taiyuan within three months.
Taiyuan is one of the heavy industrial cities in North China, but also the base camp of Yan Xishan, after years of construction fortifications, bunkers, fortifications, in the country is rare, has become a veritable fortress city.
For various reasons, the first attack on Taiyuan was unsuccessful.
In January 1949, the Battle of Pingjin ended, and Taiyuan became the largest remaining enemy stronghold in North China.
In February, the 1st Corps of North China was renamed the 18th Corps of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, which was directly under the Central Military Commission, and the command structure of the unit remained unchanged.
Among the commanders of the corps, Xu Xiangqian was the only marshal.
Hence the 18th Corps, also known as the "Marshal Corps".
After the 1st Corps of North China was renamed the 18th Corps, the 8th Column was changed to the 60th Army, and the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th Brigades under the 8th Column were successively renamed the 178th, 179th, and 180th Divisions of the 60th Army, with Wang Xinting as the commander and political commissar, Zhang Zuyu (founding lieutenant general) as the commander, and Yuan Ziqin as the political commissar in June.
The 13th column was changed to the 61st Army, and the 37th, 38th, and 39th brigades were renamed the 181st, 182nd, and 183rd Divisions in turn, with Wei Jie as the commander and Xu Zirong as the political commissar.
The 15th Column was changed to the 62nd Army, and the 43rd, 44th, and 45th Brigades were successively renamed the 184th, 185th, and 186th Divisions. Liu Zhong was appointed as the commander of the army and Yuan Ziqin as the political commissar (later Lu Ruilin was appointed as the political commissar).
In March, the 18th Corps prepared to launch the Second Battle of Taiyuan. The Central Military Commission transferred the 19th and 20th Corps and the 1st Division of the Four Field Artillery corps directly under it to aid the Battle of Taiyuan.
The Battle of Taiyuan was led by Xu Xu, commander and political commissar of the 18th Corps, and former commander of the Taiyuan Front Headquarters, as commander and political commissar and secretary of the General Front Committee, who was responsible for all the command work of the Taiyuan Campaign.
Battle of Taiyuan
Just at this time, Peng Dehuai, deputy commander-in-chief of the People's Liberation Army, commander of the First Field Army, and political commissar, returned from the central authorities to the northwest to Taiyuan to visit the troops.
Xu Xiangqian was too ill to support himself, so he asked the Central Military Commission to command the general attack on Taiyuan instead of Peng Dehuai.
In this way, Peng Dehuai began to directly command the 18th Corps, and he became the second marshal commander of the 18th Corps.
At 2:00 a.m. on April 20, Peng Dehuai commanded the 18th Corps and the various battle units to launch a general attack on Taiyuan from the south and the north.
On April 24, the Battle of Taiyuan ended, and the People's Liberation Army annihilated more than 138,000 Kuomintang troops and successfully liberated Taiyuan.
On April 25, the Central Military Commission ordered the 18th Corps and the 19th Corps to be transferred to the northwest to fight, transferred to the command of the First Field Army, and participated in the liberation of the Great Northwest.
On May 16, because Xu Xiangqian needed recuperation, the Central Military Commission ordered Xu Xiangqian to be relieved of his post as commander of the 18th Corps (in October, he was reappointed chief of the general staff of the People's Liberation Army), and Zhou Shidi succeeded him as commander and political commissar, Wang Xinting as the first deputy commander and deputy political commissar, and Chen Manyuan as the second deputy commander and chief of staff.
At this time, the Central Military Commission had already drawn up a plan to liberate the Great Southwest.
Marshal He Long
During the Liberation War, He Long gave his old unit, the 1st Corps and the 2nd Corps, to Peng Dehuai's command, and he did not directly command the troops.
After determining the strategy for the liberation of the southwest, Mao Zedong, in order to make up for He Long's regrets, prepared to let He Long lead his troops to join Erye to liberate the southwest.
Mao Zedong took the initiative to ask, "Which corps are you willing to take?" ”
He Long replied without hesitation, "The Eighteenth Corps is the closest, and it has been decided." ”
This answer was very unexpected, but the Central Military Commission agreed to He Long's request, and immediately dispatched the 18th Corps of the First Field Army, the 7th Army, the 19th Army, and other units under the command of He Long, commander of the Northwest Military Region, to march into southern Shaanxi and northern Sichuan, and annihilate the enemy.
Thus, He Long became the direct commander of the 18th Corps and the third marshal to directly command the 18th Corps.
The 18th Corps was also the only corps under he long's direct command during the Liberation War.
On 23 November, the 18th Corps was transferred to the command of the Second Field Army and began preparations for the Great Southwest.
In the liberation of the entire great southwest, He Long led the 18th Corps to annihilate more than 70,000 enemy troops, liberate 40 county seats, and successfully liberate Chengdu.
The 18th Corps advanced to the southwest
On January 30, 1950, the 18th Corps was ordered to establish three military districts in western Sichuan, northern Sichuan, and western Kang, and each military subdivision was organized by field divisions and divisions.
With the corps organ and the Western Sichuan Military Region as a second-level military region, commander Zhou Shidi and political commissar Li Jingquan have jurisdiction over four military sub-districts in Wenjiang, Meishan, Mianyang, and Maoxian.
In April, the 18th Corps was abolished, and the various armies under its jurisdiction were formed into the Western Sichuan, Northern Sichuan, and Xikang (now Sichuan and Tibet) Military Regions, and the 18th Corps withdrew from the stage of history.
Throughout the Liberation War, the 18th Corps and its predecessor units, under the command of Xu Xiangqian, Peng Dehuai, He Long, and General Zhou Shidi, annihilated 241015 kuomintang troops, suppressed bandits 214463, and made indelible contributions to the founding of New China.
The four commanders of the 18th Corps, Xu Xiangqian, Peng Dehuai, and He Long, needless to say, Zhou Shidi was also a legendary figure.
Zhou Shidi
Zhou Shidi was a first-term student of the Whampoa Military Academy, and at the same time as Xu Xiangqian, after graduating from the Whampoa Military Academy, he participated in the formation of Sun Yat-sen's "IronClad Team of the Grand Marshal's Office of the Founding Army and Navy" and served as the captain and deputy captain.
During the Northern Expedition, Zhou Shidi served as the commander and chief of staff of the 1st Battalion of the Independent Regiment of the 4th Army of the National Revolutionary Army (Ye Ting Independent Regiment).
During the Nanchang Uprising, Zhou Shi was the commander of the 25th Division, and many of the founding marshals at that time were only company commanders.
Unfortunately, after the failure of the Nanchang Uprising, Zhou Shidi did not follow Zhu De, Chen Yi and others to Jinggangshan, but traveled to Hong Kong, Nanjing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Fujian and other places, otherwise it would never have been possible to only award the general with his qualifications.
During the Songhu War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Zhou Shidi was the commander of the Shanghai Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army;
During the Fujian Incident, Zhou Shidi served as the chief of staff and regimental commander of the 49th Division.
Subsequently, Zhou Shidi successively served as chief of staff of the Second Red Front, chief of staff of the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army, chief of staff of the Northwest Jin military region (later renamed Jinsui Military Region), deputy commander of the Jinsui Military Region, commander and political commissar of the Northern Jinbei Field Army.
Until May 1948, Zhou Shidi was transferred to the 1st Corps as deputy commander and deputy political commissar, assisting Xu Xiangqian to build a local armed force into an ace corps!
The 18th Corps is a heroic unit, the ace of the People's Liberation Army.
The "Marshal Corps" is well-deserved, and the 18th Corps deserves it!