As we all know, Zhu De began to serve as commander-in-chief of the Red Army, commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army, and commander-in-chief of the People's Liberation Army from 1930 until 1955, for a period of 25 years, so everyone used to call him commander-in-chief, and originally the party always demanded to be called comrade, but Comrade Liu Shaoqi said that there were only three exceptions, the first was Chairman Mao, the second was Premier Zhou, and there was Commander-in-Chief Zhu.
Marshal Zhu De, commander-in-chief of the three armed forces
Although Zhu De served as commander-in-chief for a long time and made meritorious contributions to the party and the country, unfortunately, until the liberation of all of China, Zhu De's commander-in-chief could only be regarded as the commander-in-chief of the army, because at that time our army did not have a navy and air force, and the initial navy was still a few small ships of the Kuomintang warships who surrendered to the uprising, and the Kuomintang air force saw that we did not have air supremacy and bombed Beijing, all this situation required us to build a powerful navy and air force.
In April and November 1949, the navy and air force were formed separately, and Zhu De said happily, now that I, the commander-in-chief, have finally lived up to its name.
Commander-in-Chief Zhu De and naval soldiers
In March 1950, Commander-in-Chief Zhu pointed out at the Air Force Conference that we should build a strong people's air force, and he believed that when we build the air force, first of all, we must complete the task of liberating Taiwan and Hainan Island with other services, and achieve air supremacy in a certain territorial sea and airspace. Then gradually on this basis a completely new and powerful air force was built. In order for this air force to have complete air supremacy over all our territorial waters and airspace to be able to repel the attack of any aggressor, every commander and fighter in the air force must have a clear understanding of this task and come up with all kinds of ways to accomplish this task with all their strength. Commander-in-Chief Zhu also said that the conditions for building the Air Force are much better than when the army was first established in the Jinggangshan period; although at present we do not have many aircraft, few personnel, and there are still other difficulties, but we have full confidence that we will certainly be able to overcome difficulties and build a strong air force.
Commander-in-Chief Zhu De and Air Force Commander Liu Yalou
Less than a year later, under the leadership of Liu Yalou, all the commanders and fighters of the Air Force formed a basic air force combat brigade, and at that time coincided with the beginning of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. January 21, 1951, was a memorable day, the day when the Continental Air Force and the United States Air Force first met. At the pre-war oath-taking meeting, Commander-in-Chief Zhu De personally came to perform a grand march for the air force soldiers, which caused a cheer from everyone, and Zhu De encouraged everyone: We finally have our own air force! Your troops are neat and you are well trained! You are about to fly to the front line to participate in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea! The army units ahead are looking forward to your air support, your task is very glorious, and I hope that you will continue to improve politically and ideologically, technically and tactically, and become invincible air heroes!
On this day, the US Air Force still thought that we had no air force, and then sent out 20 F-84 fighter-bombers along the Pyongyang to Singanju area to carry out indiscriminate bombing along the railway line in an attempt to prevent the logistics supply of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army. More than three hundred enemy planes were shot down successively, and many air force combat heroes such as Wang Hai emerged, completely subduing the US military.
Commander-in-Chief Zhu received the air force combat heroes
After the victory in the war, Commander-in-Chief Zhu De personally received the combat heroes and gave everyone great encouragement, and he also encouraged everyone to master the technology and tactics of the Air Force. The victory or defeat of the Air Force in combat is sometimes a matter of minute by minute, and only by mastering technology can we defeat the enemy, so all air force commanders and fighters should learn technology and combine politics and technology well, so the organization system of the air force should be different from that of the army. Zhu De's opinions were of great help to the building of the Air Force; Liu Yalou implemented Commander-in-Chief Zhu's instructions into the practice of the Air Force and achieved remarkable results; Zhu De paid great attention to the building of the Air Force, and also sent his grandson to the Air Force to join the army and later became a general.
Zhu De was also full of enthusiasm for the Navy, and when the Navy was just established, Zhu De wore a naval uniform for the first time and came to the naval base to inspect and give him attention and encouragement.
Zhu De affirmed the achievements made by everyone during this period of time, held that the task of the navy is very arduous, and hoped that everyone would pay close attention to the work and must build a strong navy. Like his hopes for the Air Force, Zhu De encouraged naval commanders and fighters to study military technology well, to learn it all, to understand it clearly, to prevent possible risky aggression by the enemy, and to ensure that the Chinese and people are not threatened or obstructed by any enemy to build their own country well.
Chairman Mao attached great importance to Commander-in-Chief Zhu De's proposal, and Chairman Mao later wrote an inscription for the Navy: In order to oppose imperialist aggression, we must build a powerful navy!
After decades of construction, the people's navy developed from a few small ships to the three major fleets of the North Sea, the East China Sea, and the South China Sea, and in 1974, in the Battle of the Paracel Sea, the Chinese Navy made another meritorious achievement, and they defeated the American-style South Vietnamese Navy with a weak victory and a strong victory, so that the enemy army was wiped out, which was the first time that the Chinese Navy defeated the foreign fleet, and won the first victory since the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese Naval War in 1894.
One last inspection of the Navy
In August 1974, at the invitation of Navy Commander Xiao Jinguang, Commander-in-Chief Zhu De, who was 88 years old, boarded the warship again to inspect and watch the naval performance, which was not the same as his first inspection of the Navy more than twenty years ago, Commander-in-Chief Zhu was very concerned about the Navy, he also sent his other grandson to the Navy to join the army, seeing that the Navy had changed so much, Zhu De was very happy, encouraged the Navy Commander Xiao Jinguang, Xiao Jinguang said that he would definitely convey Commander Zhu's words to the officers and men of the whole army. Zhu De modestly waved his hand and said that I was no longer the commander-in-chief, and Xiao Jinguang immediately said: No, in the hearts of our naval soldiers, you will always be our commander-in-chief!
Commander-in-Chief forever