Welcome to ShiYuan History Column No. 2507. At the end of the Liberation War, Lin Shuai commanded the Siye Southward Army to annihilate the Bai Chongxi Clique and achieved a crucial and major victory. However, in the process of marching south, there was a corps commander who made Lin Zong very faceless, and Lin Shuai was still angry with him. The commander of the corps was Chen Geng, and his 4th Corps was now under the unified command of Siye, but during the battle, General Chen Geng repeatedly disobeyed Lin Shuai's instructions and asked the central authorities to make a decision on the military disputes that arose, and the chairman also supported Chen Geng. In the end, Chen Geng's corps achieved great results and proved its military judgment ability. Why was it difficult for Lin Shuai, as Chen Geng's superior at this time, to dispatch the other party freely?
First of all, let me explain that our army has always paid attention to unity between the upper and lower levels, and Chen Geng is not a disobedient in the true sense. Chen Geng fought in a war of his own faction and had a unique military ideology. It wasn't that Chen Geng didn't respect Lin Zong, nor did he think that Lin Shuai's command level was not high. On the contrary, Chen Geng, as the commander of the Erye 4th Corps, once said to his subordinates after receiving the order of the central authorities: This time to fight with the main force of the four fields to the south, we must learn more from others and respect big brothers. The reason why Chen Geng said this is because a large part of Siye's predecessor was the Central Red Army, and many of the soldiers of his 4th Corps were from the Red Fourth Front, and regarded the Central Red Army and Siye as big brothers. It can be seen that Chen Geng's respect for Lin Shuai and others is still very humble and low-key.
General Chen Geng was humorous and lively by nature, and he respected the main forces, but he still had his own ideas on specific military operations, and he would conduct military screening for the tasks arranged by his superiors. Chen Geng has always insisted on what he thinks is the right way of playing, no matter how much higher the other party's job level is than his own. Although the flexible Chen Geng generally does not adopt a "hard-shouldered" attitude, he also dares to skip the level to ask the chairman for instructions at different times, and is recognized by the head of the central government. Chen Geng actually had the confidence to do so.
Several corps commanders of Siye, even the veteran Cheng Zihua and Xiao Jinguang, did not dare not listen to Lin Shuai's instructions. However, the Chen Geng Corps was different, they were the troops of the Second Field Army in terms of organization, and even in Erye, they usually fought independently, and they were not much constrained by Noji. This time to follow the Fourth Field Army to participate in the southern front operations, mainly the Central Military Commission in the overall layout of the arrangement, the 4 Corps is the stronger of the two fields of the corps, to deal with the Bai Chongxi Group is more difficult than the southwest operation, so the chairman personally under the task, let this corps follow the Four Fields to attack.
Although Chen Geng was a subordinate at this time, his early seniority was higher than that of Lin Shuai. During the Nanchang Uprising in 1927, Chen Geng and Lin Shuai both participated in the battle, originally Chen Geng was a graduate of the Huangpu Phase I, Lin was always his fourth primary school brother, and Chen Geng was a battalion commander and Lin Shuai was a company commander at the time of the Nanchang Uprising, and his position was just one level worse. However, chen Geng was injured and arrested later, which delayed some opportunities, and the promotion of military positions was very slow. The comparison of the positions of the two men in the middle and late period of the Red Army underwent great changes, with Lin Shuai becoming the commander of the main army, the commander of the 115th Division during the War of Resistance, and Chen Geng as the commander of the 386th Brigade. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, a friend asked Chen Geng why Chen Geng joined the revolution earlier, but his later position was lower than that of Lin Zong. Faced with this somewhat embarrassing question, Chen Geng was first stunned, and then laughed and replied to his friend: Because people are improving faster than me! This shows Chen Geng's Lotte personality and broad heart, and he still appreciates Lin Shuai, especially the level of military command.
Although the positions of the two have a gap with the different stages of development, Chen Geng's ability and mood are not low, and Lin Shuai does not really regard Chen Geng as a subordinate of course. Both are well-known generals of our army, and their views on the same military issues often have different angles and form certain differences. During the southern front operation in 1949, although the 4th Corps was dispatched by Lin Zong, Chen Geng often used his own judgment to propose a combat plan. The two more famous disagreements were decided by the Chairman.
The first time was when the chairman proposed a major detour strategy, demanding that Bai Chongxi's rear be encircled and not allowed to escape. In the process of execution, Lin Zong had asked the 4th Corps to prepare for a war with the Gui clan in Hunan, but Chen Geng disagreed, believing that the enemy should be ignored and the troops should accelerate their movement to the Guangdong area. This style of play was later approved by the chairman, and finally implemented according to Chen Geng's opinion, lin Shuai was not good at saying anything about it.
The second time was after the 4th Corps invaded Guangdong. Lin Zong, worried about the retreat of the enemy in Guangxi, asked the 4th Corps to attack from east to west and temporarily put aside the combat mission in Guangdong. However, Chen Geng disagreed again, believing that a hasty westward advance would not only be impossible to fight, but also that the enemy on the eastern front might be let go, and both ends would not be perfectly fought, so he resolutely disagreed. In order not to embarrass Lin Zong, the corps found various reasons, which showed that Chen Geng's emotional intelligence was still very high. In the end, it was the chairman who made the decision: according to Chen Geng's way of playing. The southern front finally achieved a great victory, and the Bai Chongxi group collapsed. Such a situation is actually somewhat embarrassing. After all, in the previous northern battlefield, when Lin Commander lin commanded the shino-chan troops, there had never been such a scene, and no corps commander or commander dared to disobey his orders, and finally won the battle.
Chen Geng dared to fight according to his own ideas, and did not listen to his superiors' arrangements in some specific scenarios, first, because of his outstanding military qualifications (the commanders of the 19 corps were basically generals after the founding of the country, Chen Geng was one of the few who won the rank of general), and second, his tactical level was indeed strong. Coupled with the affirmation of the head of the central authorities, with the character of General Chen Geng, there is nothing that he does not dare to do, and it is difficult to change other generals. It is precisely because it is Chen Geng that Lin Shuai did not show any dissatisfaction afterwards, and the relationship between the two is still good.
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