On September 27, 1955, in Huairen Hall, heroes gathered and the stars shone.
On this day, New China held its first award ceremony.
At the ceremony, a total of 1,048 generals were awarded military ranks.
Among the brilliant general stars, there is one general star that stands out. He was the youngest founding general, Xiao Hua.
However, this Xiao Hua, who was repeatedly praised by Chairman Mao as "remarkable", was later imprisoned for 7 years without permission.
Second from the left
Xiao Hua was born on January 21, 1916 in Xingguo County, Jiangxi Province, when his family was very poor, and his parents were forced to work as coolies as a mason. Later, under the influence of revolutionary ideas, his parents became early members of the CCP.
In his later years, Xiao Hua vaguely remembered that when he was a child, many uncles and aunts often came to his home as guests. It turned out that at that time, their home had become a transportation station for the underground party organization in Xingguo County.
Influenced by his parents, in the spring of 1927, Xiao Hua, who was only 11 years old, joined the "Gannan Youth League", a peripheral organization of the party. Mainly engaged in the task of delivering letters to party organizations. Don't look at Xiao Hua's young age, but he is a well-known person in Xingguo County, and anything that reaches his hands can be done brilliantly.
In February 1929, in order to cooperate with the Red Army's external operations, the Xingguo Party organization launched a second armed insurrection and occupied Xingguo County, creating favorable conditions for the Red Army to advance east into Gannan and western Fujian.
In April of that year, Chairman Mao led the Third Column of the Red Fourth Front to Xingguo County for the first time. On the podium of tens of thousands of people, many people heard Chairman Mao's speech for the first time. Among them is 13-year-old Xiao Hua.
At that time, Xiao Hua was already the secretary of the Xingguo County Party Committee of the Youth League. Chairman Mao had also heard of this outstanding young man, but because of the tension of the war, he did not meet him.
Xiao Hua during the Red Army period
First conversation with Chairman Mao
It was not until the following year that Chairman Mao came to Xingguo County for the second time. Only then did I meet Xiao Hua, who was a little devil. In 1930, Mao Zedong came to Xingguo for the second time and lived in the Jiang Academy of Liàn.
When he first arrived in Xingguo, Chairman Mao heard that Xiao Hua in Xingguo County was very capable, and when he was the secretary of the Xingguo County CPC Committee, he traveled all over the county and established a Youth League Committee and League Branch in every region and village of the county, and his organizational ability was very strong.
Xiao Hua (first from left) with the leaders of the Young Communist Division
Therefore, when he was idle, Chairman Mao was very eager to meet with Xiao Hua. Just at that time, Xiao Hua needed to report on his work, and Chairman Mao's special opinion was on the side.
After listening to Xiao Hua's report, Chairman Mao stood up and smiled and said, "You are the very capable Xiao Hua, right?" How old are you this year? ”
Xiao Hua held his chest and replied, "Fourteen! ”
Chairman Mao nodded with satisfaction and asked, "How many years have you been in school?" ”
Xiao Hua: "Seven years! ”
Mao Zedong picked up the "Xingguo County Chronicle" in his hand and chatted with Xiao Hua. The two of them had a good chat, and Xiao Hua, who was young, was very knowledgeable.
Xiao Hua (first from left) accompanies Chairman Mao
After the conversation, Chairman Mao deliberately brought Xiao Hua to Luo Ronghuan: "This child must be cultivated well, and he will definitely become a great instrument in the future!" This was the first time Chairman Mao praised Xiao Hua as "remarkable." In this conversation with Chairman Mao, Xiao Hua benefited a lot.
After Xiao Hua, his life was like hanging up. At the age of 14, he served as the political commissar of the 3rd Company of the Special Service Battalion of the Red 4th Army, the political commissar of the Special Service Battalion at the age of 15, the political commissar of the Red 30th Division at the age of 16, and the political commissar of the Red 15th Division at the age of 17.
Doll Commander
At the age of 22, Xiao Hua served as the commander and political commissar of the anti-Japanese advance column in the eastward march. He is brave and good at war, and is known as the "Doll Commander".
Xiao Hua accumulated profound combat experience in the war, and he was good at using strategy to win victories on the battlefield. When the Jilubian Anti-Japanese Base Area was founded in 1938, he was not moved by the provocations of the enemy and responded calmly. In order to expand the base areas, Xiao Hua was good at bringing the masses closer together.
Xiao Hua during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (second from the right)
During Xiao Hua's combat career, he fought with many senior Kuomintang generals, each time letting them return home. For example, in 1946, Xiao Hua and Du Yuming confronted nearly 100,000 people.
In order to annihilate the enemy to the greatest extent possible with fewer casualties, Xiao Hua chose to abandon the city and lure the enemy deeper. With his knowledge of the terrain, Xiao Hua led the army to easily ambush and annihilate an enemy division, and the name of the doll commander did not go away.
Negotiator
In addition to being able to fight and win wars, Xiao Hua is also an expert in wisdom and strategy in terms of negotiation.
In 1938, Xiao Hua led the Eighth Route Army eastward anti-Japanese column to persist in the anti-Japanese resistance in the land aircraft border area. At this time, Shen Honglie, chairman of the Shandong Provincial Government of the Nationalist Government, passively resisted the Japanese. Not only that, he also joined hands with Lu Zhonglin, chairman of Hebei Province, to plan and organize the "Jilu-Yu Joint Defense" and tried to use both soft and hard methods to drive the Eighth Route Army under Xiao Hua out of the Jilu-Yu Border Region.
Xiao Hua (first from left) and Chen Guang
In order to break the joint defense, Xiao Hua formulated a strategy of "fighting deer with Shen". Therefore, in early December 1938, Xiao Hua decided to negotiate with Shen Honglie. At that time, Xiao Hua was only 22 years old. And Shen Honglie was already more than half a hundred people. For the doll in front of him, Shen Honglie did not pay attention to it at all.
In order to give Xiao Hua a way out, Shen Honglie ordered people to set up checkpoints on the way to Xiao Hua's way. Unexpectedly, Xiao Hua chatted with the entourage and was not moved. After Xiao Hua entered the city, Shen Honglie arranged him in a hotel and avoided him in an attempt to force him to leave.
If he had been left out in such a cold snub, he would have turned around and left long ago. But Xiao Hua not only did not leave, but also thought of countermeasures.
First of all, Xiao Hua drafted a "Letter of Condolence to the People from All Walks of Life", and then asked the people around him to print a lot of points and distribute them on the street. Let the people of Huimin County know the sincerity of Xiao Hua's trip.
Secondly, Xiao Hua ran to the hospital in the county town and comforted the wounded with great fanfare. He also went to the school and gave some anti-Japanese speeches. At this time, everyone in the whole county knew that Xiao Hua had come to resist Japan, and his attitude was very resolute. All sectors of society even accused Shen Honglie of passive resistance to Japan.
This time it was Shen Honglie's turn to panic. He immediately arranged for someone to prepare a conference room for the county government and invited Xiao Hua to come. At the meeting, Xiao Hua was passionate and righteous, and after three hours of argument, Shen Honglie was forced to agree to the anti-Japanese agreement.
Shen Honglie was very impressed with the doll commander in front of him, and personally sent Xiao Hua out of the city.
He has been entrusted with important tasks many times
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chairman Mao entrusted Xiao Hua with many important tasks.
In 1949, at the age of 33, Xiao Hua had become a prominent general in the People's Liberation Army, and by this time he was already serving as the political commissar of the 13th Corps of the Fourth Field Army. On March 31 of the same year, Chairman Mao received cadres at and above the fourth field army division level in Xiangshan.
When Xiao Hua toasted Chairman Mao, Chairman Mao smiled and said, "You are a commander for a while, a political commissar for a while, and you have a good time." This is the second time Chairman Mao has praised Xiao Hua as "remarkable."
Xiao Hua accompanied Chairman Mao
On April 1 of the same year, Xiao Hua was invited by Premier Zhou to the Shuangqing Villa. After getting out of the car, he knew that Mao Zedong had asked to see him by name. Seeing Xiao Hua, Mao Zedong was very happy.
Xiao Hua and Zhou Enlai
Chairman Mao: "We are waiting for you, sit down!" ”
After Xiao Hua sat down, Chairman Mao revealed the real reason for summoning him. Originally, from August 14 to September 8 of that year, the World Democratic Youth Alliance was held in Hungary and invited a new Chinese youth delegation to attend.
Chairman Mao thought about it, and among the many generals, he thought that there was only one person who could do the job, and that person was Xiao Hua. Unexpectedly, after hearing the task, Xiao Hua did not immediately agree. After all, interlacing is like three.
Chairman Mao saw Xiao Hua's concern: "Once born, two times mature." I think when you first came to the Red Army to report, you would not fight a war, and now you are not commanding tens of thousands of troops? ”
Listening to Chairman Mao's words, Xiao Hua gladly accepted this task. Later, Xiao Hua led a delegation to Europe and successfully completed the task of visiting abroad.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chairman Mao arranged Xiao Hua to the General Political Department. Among the several deputy directors of the General Political Department in the 1950s, Xiao Hua was the youngest and the one who made the greatest contribution.
Xiao Hua (first from right) and Deng Xiaoping
Chairman Mao was very appreciative of Xiao Hua. When the Eighth CPC National Congress was convened, Chairman Mao talked about attaching importance to the issue of "two Chinas." The "two Hua" here refers to two people, one is Deng Hua and the other is Xiao Hua. This shows how much Chairman Mao attached to Xiao Hua.
Mysterious disappearance
However, the talent that Chairman Mao attached so much importance to mysteriously disappeared for 7 years. In early 1968, Xiao Hua was locked up in a small courtyard in Pine Hutong, where the area of the house was only 5 square meters, and the windows were nailed with iron plates.
It was not until September 1974 that Chairman Mao thought of Xiao Hua, whom he had not met for a long time. So, Xiao Hua's name was written on the Tiananmen Square viewing list. That year, Xiao Hua attended the National Day ceremony. On the upper floor of Tiananmen Square, when Xiao Hua saw Chairman Mao, he said the first thing he said: "It is good to see Chairman Mao." ”
old age
After his freedom, Xiao Hua was entrusted with heavy responsibilities many times. In 1977, he became the political commissar of Lanzhou Military Region. In June 1983, he was elected vice chairman of the National Committee of the Sixth CPPCC National Committee.
In mid-April 1985, the 70-year-old Xiao Hua was diagnosed with advanced cancer. After three months of treatment, the bones of the body became weaker and weaker. At the beginning of July, many old comrades-in-arms came to visit. Among them was General Yang Dezhi.
Yang Dezhi
Seeing the comrades who used to fight together lying on the hospital bed, Yang Dezhi's eyes had long been wet with tears. He said sadly to Xiao Hua, "Comrade Xiao Hua, do you have any other requests?" ”
Xiao Hua: "Youth is the future of the country, for the development of talents..." Xiao Hua said with difficulty in the hospital bed, during which Xiao Hua stopped several times due to his physical weakness.
Yang Dezhi: "Do you want to take a break?" ”
Xiao Hua shook his head: "My days are short, don't say it now, I'm afraid I won't have a chance in the future." ”
Xiao Hua is very clear that in the previous selection and promotion of cadres, he has always paid attention to knowledge and expertise. However, with the rapid development of science and technology, if cadres are promoted in this way, it will not be enough to dominate the overall situation, which will be detrimental to the development of the country in the future. Therefore, with amazing perseverance, Xiao Hua wrote nearly 6,000 words of suggestions on the hospital bed.
He spent the last bit of his life dedicating the last light and heat to the country.
This is the main reason why the founding general of new China was highly praised and praised by posterity. Because they never think about themselves, even in the last moments of their lives, they still care about the country and the people. They were great men, lovely people, the most respectable generals of the Republic. They have lived forever in the long river of Chinese history.