On February 2, 1976, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China officially issued document No. 1, which attracted the attention of the whole country.
At this time, Premier Zhou had just passed away, and Chairman Mao was in poor health, and everyone knew that this document would determine the development of New China for many years to come, so they were very concerned.
Document No. 1 has only two contents, the first of which is "Comrade Hua Guofeng will serve as acting premier of the State Council."
Hua Guofeng
For this article, everyone expressed understanding, Premier Zhou has passed away, and Hua Guofeng is qualified and capable of serving as prime minister.
However, the second clause that followed surprised everyone, because the second clause turned out to be, "At the suggestion of Chairman Mao, Comrade Chen Xilian will preside over the work of the Central Military Commission."
Chen Xilian
You must know that before that, Marshal Ye Jianying presided over the work of the Central Military Commission, how did this suddenly become Chen Xilian.
Although Chen Xilian was also an old comrade with outstanding ability, he was still a little worse than Ye Shuai.
For a time, many people were very puzzled by this decision and did not understand why Chairman Mao chose to hand over military power to Chen Xilian at this time.
Most people feel that Chen Xilian is not qualified to preside over the work of the Central Military Commission, and there are even artificial rumors that Chen Xilian is "seizing power."
So why did Chairman Mao hand over military power to Chen Xilian, and who was Chen Xilian to be so trusted by Chairman Mao?
He joined the Red Army at the age of 14 and became a division commander at the age of 20
Chen Xilian was born in January 1915 in Pengjia Village, Huang'an, Hubei Province, which is today's Hong'an County.
When it comes to Hong'an County, everyone may feel very familiar, the jute uprising took place here, it is the hometown of the two presidents Dong Biwu and Li Xiannian, as well as 223 generals such as Chen Xilian and Wang Jian'an, and is even known as "China's first general county".
Dong Biwu
Like many outstanding generals on the mainland, Chen Xilian came from a poor family, his parents were oppressed peasants, and his life was very difficult.
When he was very young, his father was seriously injured and died while working, leaving only his mother and four children to live a difficult life.
In order to take good care of her four children, Chen Xilian's mother not only farms, but also does her best to do odd jobs to support her family.
However, in that era, the status of women was very low, and it was very difficult for a woman to support four children, so Chen Xilian's family often starved, and sometimes even went out to ask for food.
In order to help his mother share the pressure of life, the young Chen Xilian could only go to the landlord's house to raise cattle and live a life under the fence.
Such a life is very miserable, and the landlord will scold Chen Xilian if he is not in a good situation, often beating Chen Xilian to the point of injury, and he does not care at all about Chen Xilian's life or death.
In the eyes of these landlords, even if Chen Xilian is beaten to death, it is not a big deal, and it is a big deal to lose some money and it will be over.
At the beginning, the young Chen Xilian also told his mother that although her mother was distressed, she had no choice but to hold Chen Xilian and cry.
Later, after being beaten, in order not to make his mother sad, he secretly covered the wound and endured the pain without telling his mother.
Once, the landlord beat him so badly that he could not hide the wound, so he secretly hid in the cowshed to sleep, and waited for the wound to be better before returning home.
Such a life made Chen Xilian determined from an early age that when he grew up, he must liberate the poor people who were bullied by the landlord class like him.
Later, he heard about the Red Army and the guerrillas, knew that it was a detachment that was the master of the people, so he tried to inquire about this detachment and wanted to join them in the revolution.
One night in April 1928, Chen Xilian, who was only 13 years old, went to Xiaojia Temple a few miles away and found the Huangpo County guerrillas stationed here, strongly demanding to join the guerrilla brigade.
Zhan Caifang
After learning of Chen Xilian's request, Zhan Caifang, the leader of the guerrilla brigade, asked curiously:
"You're so young, why do you have to join the guerrillas?"
Chen Xilian directly lifted his clothes, showed Zhan Caifang the scars on his body, and said:
"I was 8 years old and I herded cattle for the landlords, and they beat me every day, don't you just fight the landlords to help the poor, I want to help the poor with you."
After seeing Chen Xilian's body full of scars, Zhan Caifang was both distressed and angry, and was silent for a long time before he spoke slowly.
"Boy, you're good, but you're too young, and when you come next year, I'll let you join the team."
Zhan Caifang knew how dangerous it was to join the revolution, and Chen Xilian was only 13 years old, too young.
Chen Xilian could only nod his head in agreement, and after staying in the army for a few days, he was personally sent home by Zhan Caifang.
Former residence of Chen Xilian
After returning home, Chen Xilian looked forward to growing up quickly and joining the Red Army to participate in the revolution at an early date.
However, when his mother learned of her son's thoughts, she firmly opposed and even tied Chen Xilian to the house with a rope.
This was because she knew better than her son how dangerous it was to join the revolution, and she could not lose her son, but she did not expect that Chen Xilian's determination to participate in the revolution would be so firm.
In April 1929, Chen Xilian, who had been at home for a year, could not wait any longer, so he looked for an opportunity to secretly leave home and join the Huangpo County guerrillas.
After joining the guerrillas, he took the initiative to learn all kinds of knowledge and actively participated in various revolutionary activities.
In the autumn of that year, Chen Xilian's unit was incorporated into the Third Regiment of the First Division of the Red First Army, and the division commander was Xu Xiangqian.
Xu Xiangqian
Under the leadership of Xu Xiangqian, Chen Xilian and the soldiers went out of the Pinghan Road three times and defeated many enemy troops.
Although Chen Xilian was very young, he was very brave in battle and was not afraid of the enemy at all.
In September 1930, during the third attack on Pinghan Road, the 15-year-old Chen Xilian also captured an enemy army and captured a sleeve.
In this year, he also successfully joined the Communist Party of China with his excellent performance in the battlefield.
Even the battalion commander Gao Hanchu praised him in a post-war summary, "The little fat man is small and ambitious, and he is very brave in battle, and I see him like a small steel cannon." ”
Chen Xilian and Wang Jinshan
In this way, Chen Xilian had the nickname of "Small Steel Cannon", and it gradually spread.
In 1931, the Red Fourth Front was established in Hong'an, and Chen Xilian was incorporated into the 30th Regiment of the Tenth Division and became a squad leader.
In August 1932, Chiang Kai-shek mobilized 300,000 troops to carry out the fourth "encirclement and suppression" of the Red Army, and Chen Xilian served as the instructor of the 30 regimental company, leading the soldiers of the company to fight fiercely with the enemy at the forefront.
Chiang Kai-shek
In 1933, the Red Fourth Front was reorganized, and Chen Xilian was appointed as the political commissar of the 263rd Regiment of the 88th Division of the 30th Army, when he was only 18 years old, which showed how excellent Chen Xilian's performance was.
In March 1935, in order to cooperate with the Long March of the Central Red Army, Chen Xilian accepted orders to lead a regiment to fight the enemy and successfully covered the northward movement of the Central Red Army.
However, due to too much fatigue and physical injuries, Chen Xilian had a high fever for more than ten consecutive days, and his body became very weak, so he had to be hospitalized for recuperation.
After his discharge, he was appointed commander of the 10th Division of the Red Army.
Chen Xilian mobilized fighters
During the Red Army period, Chen Xilian performed well, so he was able to become a division commander at the age of 20, but his performance in the War of Resistance Against Japan was even better, especially in the Battle of Yangmingbao, and even the Kuomintang Chiang Kai-shek praised him.
He repeatedly made meritorious contributions to the War of Resistance Against Japan and humbly consulted Chairman Mao
In July 1937, the Lugou Bridge Incident broke out, and Chen Xilian's unit was reorganized into the 769th Regiment of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army.
Lugou Bridge
Chen Xilian served as the commander of the 769th Regiment, and there were more than 2,000 people in the whole regiment, all of whom were Red Army soldiers who had fought with him in bloody battles, and their combat effectiveness was very strong.
Subsequently, the whole regiment was sent to the front line, led by Chen Xilian to fight the Japanese army.
In October 1937, the Japanese army broke through the Kuomintang defense line in the north of Shanxi Province, continued to the south, and occupied Dai County and Cheng County, and the Kuomintang retreated to the Xinkou area.
Chen Xilian obeyed the orders of the division commander Liu Bocheng and led the 769th Regiment to attack the Japanese troops heading south from the flank in the area east of Dai County and Cheng County.
Liu Bocheng
In mid-October, Chen Xilian led the team to the Sulongkou and Liujiazhuang areas, and he found that the Japanese troops in Dai County and Yangmingbao often transported soldiers and heavy weights on the nearby roads, which made him pay special attention to the movements of the Japanese army.
During this period, Japanese planes often flew in the sky and frequently bombed the Kuomintang troops in Xinkou.
After careful reconnaissance, he found that the Japanese planes were flying from the direction of Yangmingbao, so he judged that the Japanese airfield was near Yangmingbao.
Yangmingbao
Therefore, he immediately sent Kong Qing, the commander of the second battalion with rich experience in reconnaissance, and Zhao Chongde, the commander of the third battalion, to climb to the nearby mountain to observe.
As soon as the two men carefully climbed up the hill, they saw an airfield south of the town of Yangmingbao, where Japanese planes were refueling and taking off, while landing planes were undergoing repairs.
Subsequently, the two hurriedly told Chen Xilian about this discovery, and the soldiers were very excited and expressed their intention to eliminate the Japanese airfield.
Chen Xilian was also very happy in his heart, the Japanese aircraft bombing caused huge casualties to the troops of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, if this airfield could be eliminated, it would cause a serious blow to the Japanese army.
However, Chen Xilian did not have the impulse, he first asked the soldiers to find the villagers near Yangmingbao to inquire about the news of the Japanese airfield.
From the villagers' mouth, it was learned that the Japanese troops at the airport were weakly guarded, and there were only more than 200 Japanese troops in the entire airfield, but there were many Japanese troops stationed in Yangmingbao.
After receiving this news, Chen Xilian immediately decided to attack the Japanese airfield at night and eliminate all Japanese aircraft.
On the night of October 19, Chen Xilian led the soldiers to use the cover of night to quietly go to the Japanese airfield in Yangmingbao.
Because there were many Japanese troops stationed at Yangmingbao, they had to fight quickly and destroy all the aircraft as quickly as possible, so the soldiers were all lightly armed.
Soon, the fighters arrived at the airport and, under the leadership of Chen Xilian, put the grenade into all the Japanese aircraft.
With Chen Xilian's order, all the Japanese aircraft exploded in an instant, and the entire airport became a sea of fire.
The Japanese army immediately gathered troops to surround the soldiers of our army, and the soldiers immediately fought fiercely with the Japanese army and eliminated a large number of Japanese troops, but the battalion commander Zhao Chongde unfortunately died in the fierce battle.
Zhao Chongde
At this time, a large number of Japanese reinforcements were coming quickly, and after Chen Xilian saw that all the planes had exploded, he immediately led the troops to retreat according to the plan and left the battlefield safely.
Soldiers of the Eighth Route Army who died
In less than an hour of the entire battle, Chen Xilian led the fighters to destroy 24 Japanese aircraft and annihilate more than a hundred Japanese troops, but more than 30 soldiers in our army also died heroically.
After the war, Chen Xilian immediately telegraphed the battle situation to the commander-in-chief Zhu De, the division commander Liu Bocheng and others.
After learning the news, Zhu De was overjoyed, and Liu Bocheng also praised him one after another, "Chen Xilian, the 769 regiment, has done a beautiful job!" ”
This news soon spread throughout the country, became the headline at home and abroad, and was another great victory since the All-out War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression by the Chinese army, because Chairman Mao also remembered Chen Xilian's name.
Chairman Mao
In addition, Chiang Kai-shek also issued commendation orders to the 769 Regiment and gave them bonuses.
After the night attack on Yangmingbao, Chen Xilian continued to lead the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army to defeat the Japanese army again and again, making outstanding contributions to the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan.
Wei Zhen resounded in the hall, broke the Baijin Road, and guarded the Shi'an Mountain, these are All Chen Xilian's outstanding achievements in the neutrality of the War of Resistance Against Japan, and his name even frightened the Japanese army, and it was also passed into the ears of Deng Xiaoping and Chairman Mao many times.
Chairman Mao and Deng Xiaoping
But he did not feel complacent and proud, because when he was a child, life was hard, Chen Xilian did not go to school, the level of education was not good, he also knew his shortcomings in this regard, often humbly asked others to see, study hard.
In 1943, he went to Yan'an and entered the Central Party School to study, which was his first time in school, and he was still a little nervous.
Here, he also met Chairman Mao, and what impressed him most was that when he asked Chairman Mao for advice on questions that he would not have had, Chairman Mao gave him very kind and patient answers, which made him unforgettable and admired Chairman Mao incomparably.
Chairman Mao
During the Liberation War, Chen Xilian served as the commander of the column and led the army to participate in many battles such as the Battle of Northern Henan, the Battle of Huaihai, and the Battle of Crossing the River.
Sun Dianying
Especially in the Battle of Northern Henan, Chen Xilian also led his troops and brother troops to capture the Kuomintang general Sun Dianying alive, making indelible and tremendous contributions to the founding of New China.
Shouldering Chairman Mao's heavy trust, he presided over the work of the Central Military Commission
After the founding of New China, Chen Xilian served as the commander of the artillery of the People's Liberation Army in 1950 and made many efforts to promote the development of Chinese artillery.
In 1955, Chen Xilian was awarded the rank of general at the age of 40.
In 1959, Chen Xilian served as the commander of the Shenyang Military Region, focusing on strengthening the combat readiness of the military region and vigorously grasping tactical training, which greatly improved the combat effectiveness of the army.
In 1973, at Chairman Mao's suggestion, Chen Xilian was transferred to the Beijing Military Region as commander.
As soon as he took office, Chen Xilian threw himself into intense work, strengthened the training of the troops, strengthened the ideological construction of the soldiers, and achieved remarkable results, which won the unanimous praise of the people.
In 1975, Chen Xilian was appointed vice premier of the State Council, assisting Premier Zhou in charge of the national defense industry and other work.
Premier Zhou
For Premier Zhou, Chen Xilian has great respect and is very excited to work with Premier Zhou.
However, on January 8, 1976, Premier Zhou died of illness, and Chen Xilian felt extremely sad.
While grieving, he also knows how important his work is, does not dare to slacken off a little, and is very serious and responsible.
Little did he know at this time that in the near future he would have more important responsibilities on his shoulders, and indeed for the whole country.
On February 2, 1976, shortly after the death of Premier Zhou, the whole country was immersed in an atmosphere of mourning.
At this time, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued Document No. 1, which attracted the attention of countless people, and the content of Document No. 1 also shocked many people.
The first is "Hua Guofeng as acting premier of the State Council", which is not surprising, after all, Hua Guofeng does have this qualification and ability.
What really shocked people was the second content, "At Chairman Mao's suggestion, Chen Xilian replaced the sick Ye Jianying and presided over the work of the Central Military Commission." ”
Chen Xilian and Chairman Mao
As soon as this news came out, everyone felt incredible, before this, the work of the Central Military Commission had been in charge of Ye Jianying for many years, how could it suddenly be replaced by Chen Xilian.
As for the fact that Comrade Ye Jianying was ill, many people did not believe it.
Ye Jianying and Chairman Mao
Therefore, there are many malicious artificial rumors that Chen Xilian is "seizing power."
At this time, Chairman Mao's words perfectly shattered these rumors.
Chairman Mao said, "Chen Xilian has been a member of the Red Army since he was a child, he has fought very well in war, he has also managed artillery, and he is also the vice premier of the State Council. ”
This is Chairman Mao's affirmation of Chen Xilian, and these words prove that chairman Mao and the Central Committee let him come out and preside over the work, not that he wanted to seize military power.
After feeling Chairman Mao's trust in him, Chen Xilian was very moved, and he also knew how heavy the courage on his shoulders was, so he worked very cautiously.
He did not disappoint Chairman Mao, during the period of presiding over the work of the Central Military Commission, he had great respect for Ye Jianying, and when he encountered big and small problems, he would always consult with Ye Jianying, and did not have the slightest idea of seeking power for himself.
Born into poverty, he never forgot that he participated in the revolution for the sake of the people and the people, and finally, with his efforts, he successfully completed some of the work of the Central Military Commission and won the unanimous praise of the people.
Chen Xilian
After handling the problem well, Chen Xilian took the initiative to retreat to the second line and continued to let Ye Jianying preside over the work of the Central Military Commission.
As for Chen Xilian, Deng Xiaoping once specifically said to others, "Comrade Chen Xilian is extremely loyal to the party, and we all trust him." ”
Deng Xiaoping and Ye Jianying
From this, it can be seen that Chen Xilian only stood up when the people needed him, and did not have any selfish intentions of his own.
He also told his children that he would never give them the green light to do things on his own.
In February 1998, Chen Xilian arrived in Hong Kong with Old Comrades such as Xiao Ke, and after seeing that Hong Kong was still prosperous after the reversion, Chen Xilian could not help but sigh.
"Xiaoping failed to realize his wish to come to Hong Kong, and we did it for him."
Looking at the five-star red flag flying in Hong Kong, Chen Xilian at this time also had a wish, that is, to be able to see the five-star red flag flying over Macao.
Macao's return
On June 10, 1999, at the turn of the century, Comrade Chen Xilian unfortunately died of illness at the age of 85.
Looking at the legendary life of Comrade Chen Xilian, he stood up when the people needed him and selflessly dedicated his life to the country and the people.
Bibliography:
Hongyan Chunqiu: The Life of Founding General Chen Xilian; 2020-01-05