< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > introduction</h1>
In the history of the People's Liberation Army, General Xiao Jinguang (also known as Xiao Jinguang) was a distinctive and far-reaching figure. He served as the first commander of the Navy and the principal of the First Naval School.
▲General Xiao Jinguang
For the new China at that time, if it wanted to build a naval contingent, it was extremely difficult, mainly manifested in the lack of professional talents, lack of weapons and equipment, and lack of operational theory.
How lacking talent the People's Navy was at that time, an interesting story about Xiao Jinguang can be explained. In mid-October 1949, Chairman Mao summoned Xiao Jinguang to dinner together, and Chairman Mao said that the central authorities planned to let Xiao Jinguang start to form a navy. ”
Chairman Mao laughed and said, "Air Force Commander Liu Yalou was airsick, and you, the commander of the Navy, were seasick, and this is our cadre policy." ”
▲ Xiao Jinguang inspected the old photos of the naval unit
Although Xiao Jinguang was a "halfway monk", he quickly adapted to his work in the Navy, according to the general policy of active defense strategy.
These theories and guidelines have played a huge role in the creation and rapid development and growth of the Navy.
Under the circumstance that the Soviet side categorically tore up contracts and withdrew experts, General Xiao Jinguang did not cry bitterly and tired, nor did he wait for the demand; he implemented the principle of "independence, self-reliance, and self-reliance" put forward by the central authorities, organized scientific and technological personnel to carry out scientific research and tackled key problems, and solved the problem of weapons and equipment.
▲Old photos of Soviet experts aiding China
In this way, in a relatively short period of time, Xiao Jinguang brilliantly completed the task of creating a navy, which made the new Chinese navy a sea combat force with a considerable scale and able to defend the coastal defense of the motherland.
In fact. His life was devoted to the motherland and the party, and from the moment he joined the Communist Party of China, a new star was rising, and his extraordinary life began.
Today, we take several fragments of General Xiao Jinguang's life as an example to approach that bloody period together.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > had seen Lenin, studied in the Soviet Union twice, and Had a special early life experience of Xiao Jinguang</h1>
Compared with other founding generals, Xiao Jinguang's early experience is quite special. Xiao Jinguang was born in Changsha, Hunan Province, a small handicraft family, although the family conditions were not very good, he insisted on studying, attended private schools and new-style schools when he was a child, and also participated in the "May Fourth" anti-imperialist patriotic movement, and joined the regiment in 1920 at the age of 17.
▲ Lenin gave a speech to the people with an oil painting of the scene
In the early spring of 1921, the Third Congress of the Comintern was held, and Xiao Jinguang, as a representative of the Oriental nation, was invited to attend the meeting, during which he had the privilege of listening to Lenin's speech.
Three years later, Lenin died, and Xiao Jinguang, as the representative of the Eastern nation, guarded the soul of the revolutionary teacher. Also in this year, Xiao Jinguang returned to China after finishing his studies at the Oriental University in Moscow and worked as a trade union worker in the Anyuan Road Mine in Hunan.
The following year, he was sent to Guangdong to work, during which he participated in the Northern Expedition and served as a party representative of the Sixth Division of the Second Army of the National Revolutionary Army.
In November 1931, Xiao Jinguang, then chief of staff of the Fujian-Guangdong-Gansu Military Commission, attended the First National Congress of the Chinese Soviet Republic as a representative of the western Fujian base area. On the afternoon of the end of the meeting, just as he was preparing to pack his bags and return to western Fujian, Chairman Mao came and said to him: "The central base areas are preparing to set up a Red Army school, and I hope you can stay and be the principal." ”
The former site of the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic
Xiao Jinguang said: "I have not done school work, can I do it?" Chairman Mao said very firmly, "you have learned military knowledge in the Soviet Union, and you have also had experience in leading soldiers. If Chiang Kai-shek can run Huangpu, you can't run a red school? If we make our teaching strength stronger, conscientious and down-to-earth, I believe that our Red School will definitely surpass Whampoa's. ”
With Chairman Mao's approval and encouragement, Xiao Jinguang had a bottom in his heart. Subsequently, Xiao Jinguang was officially appointed as the principal of the "Red School" under construction. But shortly after Xiao Jinguang was appointed as the principal of the "Red School", a big thing happened.
On December 14, 1931, under the leadership of Zhao Bosheng, Dong Zhentang, and Ji Zhentong, the Kuomintang 26th Route Army stationed in Ningdu, Jiangxi Province, held an uprising, declaring that it would join the Red Army and oppose Chiang Kai-shek's resistance to Japan. When such good news came, the central base areas were agitated, and the leaders of the Central Military Commission met overnight to discuss how to receive and reorganize this insurrectionary force.
▲ Stills of Red Army soldiers
Comrade Li Fuchun, then head of the Central Military Commission, secretary of the Jiangxi Provincial CPC Committee, immediately approached Chairman Mao and asked, "Who should be sent to receive and change this insurrectionary contingent?" ”。 Chairman Mao pondered deeply: "This matter is of great importance, and we must send competent people to it." ”
Then, Chairman Mao analyzed: "Most of the upper officers of the Twenty-sixth Route Army are graduates of the Baoding Officer School and the Feng Yuxiang Northwest Officer School, and some even graduated from the Japanese Non-Commissioned Officer School. These people must attach great importance to the aspect of academic qualifications and qualifications, so we must send a comrade whose academic qualifications are comparable to those of his qualifications and who at the same time have work experience in the old army to take up the leadership work. ”
Li Fuchun thought about it and said, "If you look at it according to the two conditions of academic qualifications and qualifications, there is no more suitable person than Xiao Jinguang." He had two studies in the Soviet Union and was also a party representative of the Northern Expeditionary Army. Undoubtedly, he was the most suitable candidate, but he had just gone to the Red School! ”
Hearing this, the chairman had an idea in his heart and said flatly: "There is a delay in things!" The Red Colonel could send another person, but the matter of incorporating the Twenty-sixth Army could not be postponed. ”
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > Yunwen Yunwu, can play good dance, Xiao Jinguang's excellent comprehensive ability</h1>
On December 18, Xiao Jinguang received a transfer from the Central Military Commission to serve as the political commissar of the newly reorganized Red Fifth Army. Xiao Jinguang, who received the order, was both excited and felt the heavy responsibility of this work. So he decided to go to Chairman Mao first and ask him how to carry out his work after the insurrectionary troops.
Chairman Mao was very pleased with the visit of Xiao Jinguang, who, although he was then Chairman of the Provisional Central Government of the Soviet Republic, was in an extremely difficult position, because at that time his post in the party and the army had been dismissed. As soon as he saw Chairman Mao, Xiao Jinguang expressed his intentions directly: "Chairman, I have come to ask you for guidance. ”
▲ Old photos of Red Army cadres
"I heard about it," Chairman Mao was immediately refreshed: "The work of reorganizing the Fifth Red Army was recommended to you by Comrade Fuchun, and I very much approve of it!" ”
"Chairman, I feel a great responsibility! Where should we start with the education and transformation of the Red Fifth Army? Xiao Jinguang asked very sincerely.
Chairman Mao pondered for a moment and said seriously: "This is indeed a difficult and important task; at present our base areas are short of personnel and guns, and if we can transform and educate this contingent of more than 17,000 people, this will be a great force." But ah, if you don't get it right, it's also very troublesome. To carry out the spirit of the Gutian conference to the end, everyone should unify their thinking. Employ people without doubt, doubtful people do not use. Since we want to reform, we cannot doubt our comrades, but not to doubt people do not mean that we should not grasp the situation, but must do the relevant work. We must make every comrade doing ideological and political work have a bottom in mind. ”
After some exchanges with Chairman Mao, Xiao Jinguang was greatly inspired, and after arriving at the Red Fifth Army, he made three major moves.
At the same time, a large number of outstanding middle- and lower-ranking officers were selected from the "Red School" to enter the unit.
Among the original officers, a large number of officers were promoted, mixed, and served as cadres at a higher level.
For those officials who are truly unqualified and their minds cannot be reformed, they will be given sufficient travel expenses. In this way, the "three-pronged approach" was basically stable within a few days. From this process, it is not difficult for us to see that Xiao Jinguang, whether engaged in ideological and political work or managing the army, has his own methods and outstanding comprehensive ability.
Chairman Mao, Zhou Enlai and Bogu were in Yan'an
In the second half of 1933, the Kuomintang army launched the fifth "encirclement and suppression" of the Central Soviet Region. In the face of the strategic principle of "resisting the enemy outside the country" advocated by Bogu and others.
Shortly after this incident, three enemy divisions besieged Lichuan, and at that time Lichuan only had a seventy-man teaching team and some local guerrillas in Xiao Jinguang's hands. Although Li Chuan was the headquarters of the Fujian-Gansu Military Region, the main force of the Military Region had already gone to Fujian with the Three Corps.
He withdrew from Lichuan with a teaching team of more than seventy people. After that, Zhou Enlai went to consult Chairman Mao.
Chairman Mao knew very well that Xiao Jinguang's failure to defend Li Chuan this time was not entirely the responsibility of Xiao Jinguang, so he resolutely rejected this proposition and said: "I see who dares to move him!" Although Chairman Mao lost power at this time, his prestige was very high and his influence was also very large, and Xiao Jinguang was not shot in the end.
However, Li De and Bogu dismissed Xiao Jinguang for the same reason and sent him to a military court. Soon after, Xiao Jinguang was expelled from the party and the military, sentenced to 5 years in prison, and deprived of the right to appeal.
▲Stills from Chairman Mao's youth
During Xiao Jinguang's imprisonment, Chairman Mao sent He Zizhen to visit him, and asked He Zizhen to convey to Xiao Jinguang: "The fall of Lichuan was caused by the 'left-leaning' military line, and it is not all your responsibility. ”
Chairman Mao's remarks gave Xiao Jinguang great comfort. A month after Xiao Jinguang was imprisoned, because of the protection of Chairman Mao and others, Xiao Jinguang was released and transferred to the Red Army University as a teacher.
。 Because he had studied in the Soviet Union, Xiao Jinguang could dance the Soviet sailor dance, with a strong body, a spinning leap, and everyone applauded in the wonderful place. In addition, Xiao Jinguang is also good at playing musical instruments, especially erhu, dong zhen and mandolin.
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > persuade to establish a base camp and covertly make a surprise attack</h1>
On August 22, 1936, the "Luochuan Conference" was officially held, and Xiao Jinguang, who was then the chief of staff of the Central Military Commission, also participated in this meeting. At the meeting, Chairman Mao proposed the establishment of a nationwide anti-Japanese base camp in Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia, so that while the Red Army transferred its main forces to the front, it also had to leave a unit to consolidate the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia base area.
▲Old photos of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia revolutionary base area
At that time, many people disagreed with the establishment of a base camp in Yan'an, believing that the barren land in northern Shaanxi was poor and the people were in poverty, and such a difficult situation was not suitable for the anti-Japanese base camp. In addition, they were also worried that the base areas would not be able to hold after the main force was transferred, and advocated that the Party Central Committee follow the main force.
When everyone was opposing Chairman Mao's opinion, Xiao Jinguang stood up:
"I agree with Chairman Mao's opinion that the ten-year civil war left only the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia base area, the only base area, which is the only basis for us to go out to resist Japan, and the Party Central Committee has full focus on taking root here. As a base area, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia first of all speak from the geographical conditions, it is precisely because it is inconvenient to communicate, and there is the Yellow River in the middle as a natural barrier, easy to defend and difficult to attack, is the weak link of the enemy's attack, and it is not far from the north China front, and the command is convenient. Secondly, from the perspective of the masses, we have been doing our work here for two years, and the ideological consciousness of the masses here is very high. Let the main force go to the front, which can already pose a great threat and containment to the enemy. We have left one more army, and it is entirely possible for the Party Central Committee to gain a foothold in the northwest. ”
。 Finally, everyone agreed with the idea that the Party Central Committee should continue to stay in Yan'an. Soon, at the recommendation of Chairman Mao, Xiao Jinguang served as the director of the General Left Guard Office in the rear of the Eighth Route Army, and then the General Left Guard Office in the rear of the Eighth Route Army was renamed and renamed the Left Guard Corps internally, and Xiao Jinguang was still the commander.
▲Old photos of the Japanese army invading China
In the spring of 1938, the Japanese army began to regularly send reconnaissance planes to reconnoiter the movement of Yan'an. The frequent reconnaissance activities made the Central Military Commission feel threatened, predicting that the Japanese army was likely to have a plan to attack northern Shaanxi, and Chairman Mao immediately instructed Xiao Jinguang and Chief of Staff Cao Lihuai to pay attention to the movement of the Japanese army, strengthen vigilance, and prevent an attack. Sure enough, soon the Japanese soldiers divided into several routes, went straight to the east bank of the Yellow River, and quickly occupied some ferry ports.
In the face of the Japanese attack, the CPC Central Committee made timely arrangements and ordered all parts of the Eighth Route Army to block the Japanese attack. Under the stubborn resistance of our main force, the pace of the Japanese army's attack on the west bank of the Yellow River was delayed.
On March 12 of the same year, a Japanese army of more than 2,000 people along the way, with the cooperation of aircraft artillery, invaded XingXian County in northwestern Jin and began to cross the river. The commander of the Sixth Police Regiment calmly responded to the battle, and after waiting for the enemy's large troops to go down the river, the enemy gathered and immediately issued an order before all the machine guns were fired at the same time.
Under the concentrated blow of fierce artillery fire, the enemy fled in a panic. At the same time, a reserve force of the remaining corps crossed the river and fought from the enemy's back, but the enemy did not support it, and withdrew in a hurry in the direction of Xingxian County. In early May, a Japanese brigade attempted to cross the river west near the Songjia River to invade Jundu.
Xiao Jinguang ordered Wen Niansheng of the Eighth Police Regiment: "Immediately lead a unit to carry out a surprise attack, pay attention to concealment, cross the Yellow River in the east, and when the enemy has all reached the shore, carry out a night attack when they have not yet gained a firm foothold." ”
▲ Defeated Japanese army (stills)
In accordance with Xiao Jinguang's orders, Wen Niansheng, the commander of the Eighth Police Regiment, personally led a unit to quietly cross the Yellow River east before the Japanese army reached the opposite bank, hiding and waiting for the enemy on the shore. In the middle of the night, the Japanese army arrived, and taking advantage of its proximity to the shore, the attacking troops raided a brigade of the enemy's vanguard unit, annihilating more than 200 enemy troops, and immediately disrupted the enemy's combat deployment. Faced with such a situation, the enemy was forced to turn around and retreat, and the night attack was a complete victory.
From August 1937 to August 1945, he served as the director of the Left-behind Office in Xiao Jinguang for eight years.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > concluding remarks</h1>
In fact, the actual experience learned in the transformation of the Red Fifth Army was a part that could not be touched in the previous school study, and he understood that he needed to learn a lot, and only by continuously learning could he improve himself, so after that, he also tried hard to try various fields, to practice, to learn, to enrich himself.
▲ Xiao Jinguang old photo
。 He has a firm belief and goal, such a firm national belief, the goal of struggle and dedication for the motherland allows him to keep himself in the twists and turns.
Later, in the battle to guard the Base Camp of Yan'an, he fully demonstrated his outstanding military leadership ability and keen insight, and it was possible to usher in spring if he endured the cold winter. These small temperings and performances are just a footnote to his extraordinary life, and his life is destined to be extraordinary!
Resources:
Memoirs of Xiao Jinguang
"Several Basic Issues in Naval Construction at Present"
"Admiral Xiao Jinguang"