Division commander and comrades
—Remembering Comrade Liu Bocheng
(April 13, 1989)
Comrade Liu Bocheng was an outstanding proletarian revolutionary and military strategist of our Party, who made many achievements in the past few decades, from the Southern Conquest and Northern War during the revolutionary period to the army building after the founding of the People's Republic of China. He commanded many famous battles in his lifetime, and his mastery and resourcefulness attracted the attention of both inside and outside the party. Comrade Zhu De said that he had "'expanding the style of fame and generals'.
I have known Comrade Bocheng since the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. At that time, Comrades Chi and Deng Xiaoping led the 129th Division to the southeast of Jin to open up an anti-Japanese base area. Comrade An Ziwen and I often went to the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army and the Northern Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to report on the work of the Death Squad and the death squad, and these two leading organs were both operating with the 129th Division at that time, so it was indispensable to teach Comrade Bocheng. Later, I also worked under his guidance. He is fifteen years older than me, a division commander, and a comrade-in-arms. The past history haunts the chest, and now I will briefly describe the fragments to commemorate Comrade Bocheng.
(i)
Comrade Bocheng came from a poor background, participated in the war to protect the country and the law led by Sun Yat-sen, and became famous for his courage and good fighting, and became a famous general in Sichuan.
After he joined the revolution, he served for a long time as chief of the general staff of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. In the anti-"encirclement and suppression" struggle in Jinggangshan, he often coincided with Comrade Mao Zedong's military thinking, advocating "luring the enemy deeper," "attacking the west with sound from the east," and using flexible strategies and tactics to destroy the enemy. Under his participation and command, the fourth victory against the "encirclement and suppression" was achieved. Later, he was attacked by Li De and removed from the post of chief of the General Staff. During the Long March, he resumed his original post, assisted Comrade Mao Zedong in commanding the Red Army, and made important contributions to outwitting Zunyi, crossing the Chishui River, crossing the Jinsha River, and forcibly crossing the Dadu River. Therefore, he became famous as the chief of the General Staff. At that time, there was a saying in society that China's most capable chief of staff was only "two and a half". One of them is Comrade Bocheng.
He commanded the war, and indeed reached the realm of using troops freely, miraculously and ingeniously. In the early period of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the First Column often cooperated with the 129th Division in battle, and Comrade Bocheng commanded a series of beautiful battles. For example, in the battle of Qibang Village, the enemy was ambushed twice in three days, creating a miracle of "overlapping ambushes". In the battle of Shentou Ridge, he used the tactic of "attacking where he must save and annihilating his rescuers" to surprise Licheng with a small force to attract enemies to help, and ambushing on Shentou Ridge with most of his troops to annihilate reinforcements, which was also ingenious. Even the Japanese aggressors had to marvel that the Shentou Ridge ambush was "China's first-rate guerrilla tactic."
The Jin-Hebei-Luyu Military Region was established in 1945, with Comrade Bocheng as commander, Comrade Xiao Yiping as political commissar, and I as deputy political commissar. Soon, the famous Shangdang Campaign was organized. This battle was also fought very cleverly. When Yan Xishan sent troops from Taiyuan to help, Comrade Bocheng immediately commanded his troops to brave the downpour, day and night, to the northwest of Tunliu, encircle and annihilate the enemy in the Laoye Mountain and Mopan areas, and then return to the division to collect the enemy in Changzhi City, annihilating a total of 13 enemy divisions and more than 35,000 people. The victory in this battle strongly supported Comrade Mao Zedong's negotiations with Chiang Kai-shek in Chongqing.
Comrade Bocheng held that in fighting a war, we must win a war by outwitting it, and we should make more efforts on the word "magical." He said that there are three tactics in combat: one is "the ox to the horn", the second is "the horse kicks", and the third is "the wolf bites". Obviously, these are summaries of his long-term combat experience, both popular and practical. In the many battles in which Liu and Deng's armies later chased the Central Plains, advanced into the Dabie Mountains, crossed the river, and liberated the southwest, Comrades Bocheng and Xiaoping made their use of tactics even more changeable, embodied everywhere the principle of using troops to win by outwitting, and always led the enemy by the nose. A high-ranking Kuomintang officer once wrote in his diary: Among all our senior generals, "none of his talents can surpass Liu Bocheng's," that he was "brilliant in commanding and unfathomable," and that "some people say that Liu Bocheng commands the Ministry of National Defense, and it is true that he believes it!"
Although he is a well-known person in the country, Comrade Bocheng has always been humble and self-contained, humbly and modestly, and no matter how great his merits are, he has never boasted of himself. He doesn't consider himself a "genius" and most reluctant to be called a "victorious general." His outstanding military command skills and superb military theoretical attainments are the crystallization of many years of diligent study, hard work, careful thinking, and truth-seeking. He is well versed in the art of war throughout the ages, and even in the midst of military control, he has never stopped studying military theory. He insisted on exploring in practice, and after each major battle, he must carefully sum up in order to understand _L make progress. In the study and deployment of the combat plan, he gathered the opinions of the masses, repeatedly thought about it, and was cautious. In particular, he reproduced his accurate grasp of all aspects of the situation, and called the task, enemy situation, self-situation, place, and time the "five elements", believing that if the "five elements" were uncertain, they would "lose cleanly."
He also paid special attention to encouraging the troops to show creativity in practice, often saying: "Regardless of whether it is a yellow cat or a black cat, if you can catch mice, you are a good cat." This is originally a Sichuan proverb, which means that no matter what tactics you use in battle, as long as you can win the battle and destroy the enemy, it is good. Later, Comrade Xiaoping also liked to use this phrase to express his thinking of seeking truth from facts and stressing practical results. I believe that our cadres, especially leading cadres, whether engaged in economic, political, military, cultural, or other work, should strive to cultivate and continuously develop their spiritual qualities of diligent study, hard work, careful thinking, and seeking truth like Comrade Bocheng. This is essential for good leadership.
(ii)
In October 1945, after the Shangdang Campaign, the Pinghan Campaign was organized. The uprising of Gao Shuxun was a masterpiece of Liu and Deng in this battle. I was involved in some of these planning. Since then, all units of our army have extensively launched the "Gao Shuxun Movement" against the attacking Kuomintang troops, which has played a very important role in dividing and disintegrating the enemy army.
Before the Pinghan Campaign, Chiang Kai-shek sent Sun Lianzhong's 30th Army, 40th Army, and New Eighth Army from Xinxiang, Henan, to the north along the Pinghan Road, intending to open up the Pinghan Line and further organize attacks on our base areas in northern and northeastern China. The Party Central Committee and Comrade Mao Zedong instructed the Jin-Hebei-Luyu Field Army to set up a battlefield in Handan, destroy the enemy, and guard the southern gate. This battle is about the whole picture. After intense planning, Comrades Bocheng and Xiaoping decided to set up a "pocket array" in the narrow areas north of the Zhanghe River, south of Handan, and on both sides of the Diyang River, and wait for the enemy to penetrate northward before attacking. Comrade Bocheng said humorously; Like a cat eating a mouse, first soften it before eating. To first implement "encircling one without annihilation," another important consideration is to strive for Gao Shuxun's uprising on the spot.
Gao Shuxun was a former general of the Northwest Army, deputy commander of the 11th Theater of the Kuomintang and commander of the New Eighth Army. At that time, Comrade Wang Dingnan sent an important piece of information, saying that Gao Shuxun was dissatisfied with Chiang Kai-shek's ostracism and discrimination against him by his cronies, and expressed his willingness to get in touch with our army. After study, Comrade Xiaoping asked Comrade Wang Dingnan to quickly go to Gao Shuxun's headquarters and persuade him to have a clear understanding of the situation, look forward to the future, resolutely hold an uprising, and make contributions to the people. When Wang was leaving, Comrade Bocheng again instructed General Gao that this was the best opportunity for him to march toward the revolution, and that he should make a decision at the right moment; When the interruption continues, it is chaotic. After Comrade Wang Dingnan conveyed Liu and Deng's message, Gao Shuxun's attitude was very good, but he was worried that his family was still in Xuzhou. Liu and Deng immediately asked the central authorities, and the central authorities sent a telegram ordering Comrade Chen Yi to send someone to take Gao's family members from Xuzhou and send them to the Liberated Areas, and Gao was very grateful.
On 29 October, Liu and Deng sent Comrade Li Da, chief of staff, into the garrison of the New Eighth Army to visit Gao Shuxun and further strengthen his determination to revolt. Comrade Li Da was also an old member of the Northwest Army and participated in the revolution during the Ningdu Uprising in 1931. Gao Shuxun saw Li Da, and the old people met and talked happily. Comrade Li Da encouraged him to follow Feng Yuxiang's Five Origins Oath and Dong Zhentang and Zhao Bosheng's Ningdu Uprising. Gao immediately said: "The uprising was declared on October 30."
On 31 October, the headquarters agreed that Comrades Xiaoping and Li Da would command the frontline operations, and Comrade Bocheng and I would go to Matou Town to meet with Gao Shuxun. I remember that he was accompanied by comrades Zhu Muzhi and An Gang, responsible persons of the Xinhua News Agency and Xinhua Ribao. Comrade Bocheng first conveyed to General Gao Shuxun the telegrams of Comrades Mao Zedong and Zhu De, spoke highly of his just actions of holding high the banner of righteousness, opposing civil war, and advocating peace, and welcomed and extended condolences to him and all the soldiers. Gao Shuxun was very excited and said: Thanks to Zhu De, Mr. Mao Zedong and General Liu's wrong love, I will die forever. Comrade Bocheng asked him: I wonder what other problems General Gao needs our help to solve? He hesitated for a while and said: This time, the commander of the 40th Army who went north with me, Ma Fa, the commander of the 5th and 30th Army, Lu Chongyi, was a colleague of the Northwest Army in the past, and he hoped that after the uprising of the New Eighth Army, he would not fight them again.
Considering that Comrade Bocheng was inconvenient to reply, I replied from the side: This is a war between two armies, we will not fight them, they will also fight us, and we cannot say that "friends are righteous and good." We will not lenient to diehards who refuse to lay down their arms. General Gao will be aware of this matter and ask for his understanding.
After the news of Gao Shuxun's uprising was announced, Ma Fawu, Lu Chongyi and other Kuomintang generals were extremely shocked and overwhelmed. Our army took advantage of the situation to launch a fierce attack. On November 2, more than 23,000 enemy soldiers were completely annihilated, and the high-ranking generals of the fifth rank of Mafa were captured. Subsequently, Gao Shuxun led the New Eighth Army to Wu'an County for reorganization and established the "Democratic National Construction Army", and the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China appointed him as its commander.
(iii)
Comrade Bocheng attached great importance to the political work of the army. He often said that the army must absolutely obey the party's leadership, and if it does not obey the party's leadership, it will slide into the road of warlordism. I recall that in a report, he once expounded on the importance of political work: The factors that win or lose a war are not entirely military equipment and technology, but to a large extent, but also the degree of combination of political power and technical strength. The warlords had good weapons and some had high military technology, but they were still crushed by us. Why? Just because they do not have and cannot have the political work and political power that we have. What kind of family are we? The predecessor of the 129th Division was the Red Fourth Front, which started with a cane gun. The 120th Division was pulled out of Xiang'e and started with two kitchen knives. The 115th Division was developed after the Nanchang Uprising and the Autumn Harvest Uprising. Guns, kitchen knife fights, victories over machine guns, mortars, not because we have great political power. If the Communist Party does not have political superiority and does not have the support of the masses, it will not have strong cohesion and will achieve nothing.
Although these words were said decades ago, they are still clear and meaningful today.
Comrade Bocheng has great respect for political commissars and all political workers. Not only did he do this himself, but he also demanded that the commanders of all columns respect their political commissars and comrades who did political work. He and Comrade Xiaoping have worked together for many years, and in their work they have always been mutual consultations, mutual support, and very tacit cooperation.
Every time a military conference was held to discuss the operational plan, before making a final decision, Comrade Bocheng would ask Comrade Xiaoping to express his opinions, and often announced at the end of the meeting: Comrade Xiaoping's opinions would be followed. Comrade Xiaoping also showed great respect and concern for Comrade Bocheng. Their unity and cooperation and sincere friendship have always been good stories within the party and the military.
In December 1942, on Comrade Bocheng's 50th birthday, Comrade Xiaoping said in his congratulatory speech: "We live together and work together. The relationship between us is very harmonious, and the working relationship is very coordinated. We occasionally argued, but none of them were stubborn. Which opinion is more correct, do it consistently. Whenever we hear that certain comrades are fighting over their superiors and subordinates and over their peers, we always think that we are right and others are not right, and we always want to overwhelm others and improve ourselves. If these comrades take the interests of the country, the people, and the party as their starting point, and not their personal honor and status, how can they make such mistakes? Comrade Bocheng has constantly persuaded and educated comrades in this spirit. ”
Comrade Xiaoping's remarks are remembered when he heard them, and he was deeply moved; Now I revisit it, and I feel even more timeless. If our comrades, especially leading cadres, can act in accordance with "such a spirit" and are not self-righteous, but if they are humble, not burdened by personal interests and reputation, but sincerely cooperate and work together with each other for the benefit of the party and the people, and work together with one heart to uphold the truth and correct mistakes, then our work will ensure that it is based on democracy and science, and our cause will continue to move towards the realm of success.
Here, I would also like to interpolate a conversation between Comrade Zhou Enlai and me. That was during the Third Plenum of the Seventh Central Committee in 1950. One day, during a casual chat, Comrade Enlai asked me thoughtfully: You have worked with Bocheng and Xiaoping for many years in Jinji Luyu, what do you think of the work of the two of them? I said: they cooperate very well in their work, they are indeed of one heart and one mind, and there is harmony. He shook his head and said: I am not talking about their cooperation, but I am asking you what you think of their working methods. Without thinking, I asked: Prime Minister, you are an old leader, and you have known them very early, you see? He smiled heartily: Okay! You returned the problem as it was.
I also laughed: didn't you say that "you still need to tie the bell to solve the bell"? We call this "answering questions and asking questions"! Comrade Enlai said: According to my observation over many years, the two of them have their own distinctive working methods, with Comrade Xiaoping "lifting as light" and Comrade Bocheng "lifting as lightly as heavy." Do you think that's the case? I said: I completely agree with the Prime Minister's assessment, and these eight words are very accurate. The fact that they work so well together is probably an important reason. Then, Comrade Enlai asked me again: So, which of these two working methods do you prefer? Without waiting for me to answer, he opened his opinion: In terms of wishes, I appreciate Comrade Xiaoping's "heavy lifting" more, but to be honest, I can't do this as a person. Like Comrade Bocheng, I often "lift the weight as much as weight" in my work. This may have something to do with my long-term responsibility for specific implementation.
Later, I recalled from time to time the conversation that Comrade Enlai had with me. I often think that it is indeed not easy for a leading cadre to have both working methods. However, as far as the work of the party and the work of a leading body is concerned, it is necessary to have both at the same time, and both are indispensable. When making strategic decisions or solving major problems, it is necessary to have the method and momentum of "lifting the weight lightly" in order to enhance confidence and make a decision at the right time, otherwise it may delay the decision and delay the opportunity; After making decisions, when determining specific tactics and specific measures, we must pay attention to "lifting the light" everywhere, in order to be meticulous and solid, otherwise, there may be omissions and mistakes. The ability to master and apply these two working methods is an important indicator of the leadership level and leadership art in our work.
(iv)
The Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China is a famous grand gathering of unity in the history of our Party. That atmosphere of democracy, unity and harmony is still fresh in my memory. On the eve of leaving Yan'an, Comrade Mao Zedong asked Comrade Ren Bishi to talk to me once, hoping that after I returned to the troops, I would persist in proceeding from the line of victory of the seven major unities and do more unity work in the troops. I immediately told him that with the cooperation and guidance of Comrades Bocheng and Xiaoping, I am confident that I will do this work well.
In upholding unity, Comrade Bocheng and Comrade Xiaoping set an example everywhere and took the lead in setting an example. Comrade Bo Cheng often said: Revolutionary unity has a bearing on the survival of the revolution. The stronger the unity, the stronger the morale and the more prosperous the cause. This is political common sense, and it must not be forgotten. Er is a person who has got along with Comrade Bocheng, and he feels it. He is open-minded and has the air of Haina Shirakawa.
The 129th Division was reorganized on the basis of the Red Fourth Front, plus part of the Red First Army and the Northern Shaanxi Red Army. Comrade Bocheng paid great attention to doing a good job of unity within the army, especially to uniting the cadres and soldiers of the former Fourth Front Army.
He emphatically pointed out: The responsibility for the setbacks suffered by the four fronts during the Long March lies with Zhang Guotao and his erroneous line. As for the vast numbers of cadres and soldiers of the Four Fronts, they have all gone through thousands of arduous tests, and the revolution is firm, and special respect and unity must be given to them. Just because Zhang Guotao has a problem, you can't look at them differently. The kind of one person who is at fault, one after another, or one person who has the way, chickens and dogs ascend to heaven, or pulling mountains, engaging in sects, and the party is the same as the party, is by no means the practice of our communists, but the political power trick of feudal officialdom. In the ranks of the revolution, at no time should they be contaminated with this feudal poison, otherwise the harm will be deep and the consequences will be terrible.
His words were deeply appreciated by everyone. Comrade Bocheng treated the cadres and soldiers of the First Army or the Fourth Front Army and the Northern Shaanxi Red Army equally. When there were some disputes and disunity, he always first criticized the comrades of the former First Army.
On the issue of using cadres, he and Comrade Xiao Yiping also paid great attention to promoting and appointing comrades from the former Fourth Front Army. For example, Chen Xilian, Xie Fuzhi, Wang Xinting, etc., who served as the commanders of the column, were all thousands of troops of the original Fourth Front Army. When I first arrived at the 129th Division, Comrades Bocheng and Xiaoping told me: Don't look at the comrades of the Fourth Front, most of them are workers and peasants, and their education level is not high, but they fight battles to live up and live. They instructed me to understand and master this characteristic and pay more attention to training and using these cadres.
In early 1940, the 1st Decisive Column was officially incorporated into the battle order of the 129th Division, and the 386th Brigade formed the Taiyue Column. Comrade Chen Geng was appointed commander of the column, and I was the political commissar. Comrades Bocheng and Xiaoping pointed out many times: The 386th Brigade has many Red Army soldiers, has experience in combat, has many intellectuals in the first column of decisive death, has a high level of education, and can learn from each other's strong points to complement each other's weaknesses and communicate with each other. It does not matter that intellectuals temporarily lack combat experience, they will have experience in fighting children's battles, and they should be boldly promoted to cadres. After the battle of the party, Comrade Bocheng once talked to me: This battle was fought very well, and the soldiers said that one beam and another beam would be fought very hard. It can be seen from this that the commanders and fighters of the death squad, including many intellectuals, have cultivated their fighting style. I said: Some people say that the Shanxi soldiers are relatively weak and will not fight. He said: Who said that? Whether there will be a war or not, the key lies in the leadership.
Comrades Bo Cheng and Xiaoping attached great importance to unity and the use of intellectuals, not only because they themselves were great intellectuals, but more importantly, because they were well aware of the importance of intellectuals to the victory of the revolution. Since ancient times, the world can get it immediately, but it cannot be ruled immediately. After the world was transferred to economic construction, we should have respected knowledge and intellectuals more, but our lessons in this regard are too profound.
Comrade Bocheng also attached great importance to military-civilian unity. I remember that after the victory in the Battle of Pinghan, a guard platoon leader had a dispute with a militia captain in his hometown, almost to the point of using a knife and a gun. When Comrade Bocheng learned of this, he immediately sent people to mediate to help them realize their mistakes and extensively carry out unity education among the troops through this matter. Comrade Bocheng also told everyone the story of "reconciling each other." He said: During the Warring States period, Shao Yun was the capital of the State of Zhao, and the Prime Minister of the State of Zhao, Lin Xiangru, and the general Lian Po were once out of harmony, and the countrymen were worried because the State of Qin was eyeing the State of Zhao at that time. However, the veteran Lian Po soon recognized the mistake and pleaded guilty to Lin Xiangru, and the two reconciled and served the country with one heart. Why has this story been popular and beautiful for thousands of years? Just because it promotes the importance of solidarity. Comrade Bo Cheng also asked us to organize cadres to visit the ruins of Carriage Return in Handan City, and to have literary and artistic workers write and perform the Peking Opera "Jiang Xianghe," all with the aim of better strengthening the unity of the army and the unity between the army and the people.
(v)
Comrade Bocheng is a man of great importance, a strong talker, and his language is funny and humorous. This is not unrelated to the breadth of his experience and the wealth of knowledge. Because of this, everyone was willing to listen to him.
Growing up in the countryside, he was familiar with the dialect of Sichuan folklore, and he often quoted some important truths in his military and political work. For example, he used "five fingers to press five fleas, but not one can grasp one" to explain why he concentrated superior forces to destroy the enemy; he used "mosquitoes bite bodhisattvas" and "dogs with casseroles to bump around" to explain the blind behavior caused by not paying attention to understanding the enemy's situation in war, and used "ship masts are used as horse stakes" to describe the improper use of cadres, and so on.
I think Comrade Bocheng's style of speech and writing is worth learning. It has no bookish atmosphere and no smell. If speeches and compositions are profound, indiscriminate concepts, and games are difficult to understand, even if such a style of writing can be popular for a while, after all, it will not have vitality. Unfortunately, this kind of thing is far from extinct at the moment, and even has a growing trend, why it is very good to reflect on this.
Comrade Bocheng likes to tell stories and jokes, and he is humorous and profound, so he can often laugh and be thought-provoking. I remember once, he recounted what he saw at a banquet held in Luoyang by Wei Lihuang, commander of the Kuomintang's First Theater in the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. He said: The Kuomintang has a "rule" that whenever "Chairman Chiang" is mentioned in his speech, everyone present must stand up to show respect. After Chief Wei's speech, I mentioned "Chairman Chiang" many times in my speech, and the Kuomintang generals really "heard that Jiang Bi stood ,,, result....... Stand up, sit down, sit down, stand up, so that you can't even take chopsticks.
While speaking and depicting, Comrade Bocheng laughed loudly when he heard it. And he himself remained silent and continued: This is indeed almost a joke, but it reflects the superior-subordinate relationship of the Kuomintang. Those officers, on the surface, are obedient to their "chairman," but in fact they are not "carrying bamboo poles with them and making a play on the spot." If they really "lean down on unity" between the top and bottom, why will they always lose the war? They call Chiang Kai-shek "president", in fact, what president! It is nothing more than to be on top, but to judge everything, so that you can not miscalculate everywhere?
Another time, Comrade Bocheng told such a joke when talking about strengthening discipline. He said: I can't remember which book wrote about such three Xiucai, and walked to a white wall, and there was a sign on the wall that said, "This wall is not allowed to be painted." So they started talking. A Xiucai said, "Not allowed to draw? I want to draw a picture!" The second one said, "You draw and I draw!" The third one said, "Draw everyone!" The results are all powerful, and the white wall is naturally not white. Obviously, Comrade Bocheng used this to paint a portrait of those who ignored revolutionary discipline and knowingly committed crimes. To this day in our real life, the story has not lost its allegorical significance. Aren't the trajectories of those who use power for personal gain, those so-called "fallen masters", very similar to these three show talents? They have no party discipline and state law, see profit and forgetfulness, compete with each other, compare with each other, "you 'plot' (privately) I also 'plot'", "you 'pour' I 'pour'", this is how many crooked winds blow.
Comrade Bocheng read many books, not only on Marxist books but also on some historical works. Probably in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, he once asked me if I had read Zeng Guofan's "Family Letter", and I said that I had read it in my early years. Then he expressed his opinion: This "Zeng Wenzheng Gong" is not desirable, but do not talk nonsense because of others.
His "Family Letters" are not all corrupt views, and some of them can still be used for reference. For example, he wrote many letters to his younger brother Zeng Guoquan, who was already a general of all armies when he was defending Nanjing. Zeng Guofan's letter advised him to guard against irritability, and to be calm, calm, and thoughtful; The other is to advise him to pay attention to the early selection of "substitutes", saying that "those who do great things should choose multiple substitutes as the first righteousness." I interjected: These two articles mentioned by Zeng Guofan are not unreasonable as the art of administering the army for government.
Comrade Bocheng said: With regard to selecting "substitutes," or "assistants," any leader has this task. However, it is not easy to choose the "substitute" correctly, because if people do not know themselves, it is not easy to know people. Therefore, we should pay special attention to two points: First, we must conduct multiple investigations and carefully select people, and we must not use mediocre talents to fill up the numbers, let alone let the clever disciples take advantage of the gap, but must make the selected people have both ability and integrity. "The handsome of the virtuous, the virtuous of the virtuous", both are indispensable; Second, for the "substitutes", of course, leaders must trust them, let them work, and listen to their opinions and suggestions, but they must choose the good and follow their opinions and suggestions, and abandon them if they are not good, and cannot listen to them all. Otherwise, you may become a "substitute" and actually become a "helmsman". There are many examples of such phenomena in history. I think these views of Comrade Bocheng are sincere and intriguing.
(vi)
There are two more things that I keep in mind. One was when Comrade Bocheng visited my mother, and the other was when Comrade Bocheng angrily denounced one of his sons. The two things seem ordinary, but they can be seen and known, and they are clearly separated from love and hatred.
At the end of 1939, Yan Xishan launched the "December Incident," and the situation suddenly became tense. At that time, my mother and I were living in Yanzhai Village in Qinyuan County. One day, Comrade Bocheng and Comrade Xiaoping personally came to Yanzhai, except to discuss with me how to counterattack Yan Xishan's attack and the merging of the First Column with the 386th Brigade, mainly to visit my mother. Unfortunately, I wasn't home that day. Afterwards, my mother told me that two guests, like big people, would say "hello aunt" as soon as they entered the door and bowed deeply to her. My mother also said: One of the elders, who looked not much younger than me, also called me "aunt." They asked this and that, and they said and laughed, asking me to worry less about you and take good care of my body, but it was kind. Listening to the accents of the two, it seems that they are both from Sichuan. I couldn't get up to answer the salute, and I didn't entertain people.
I said to my mother: They are all my superior leaders, the elder's surname is Liu, the younger's surname is Deng, they are all from the 129th Division, one is the division commander, the other is the political commissar, the "Liu and Deng chiefs" I talked to you about before. She listened and said excitedly: It turned out to be the two of them! When you see them, you want to pay for me, saying that I am old and useless, and it is too disrespectful. I conveyed my mother's thoughts to Comrade Bocheng, saying that the old man was very grateful to the two of you for visiting her, and I had been thinking about this incident. Comrade Bocheng smiled: I think it is because the aunt's courtesy is too heavy, she is very old, let's go to visit, it should be completely deserved, didn't Meng Fuzi say "the old man, and the old man"? Respecting the elderly and honoring the wise is a traditional virtue of the Chinese nation that has endured for thousands of years. If I don't do a good job in this regard, please remind and criticize more.
I remember that I often came to visit my mother at that time, as well as many comrades such as Teng Daiyuan and Bi Zhanyun. Although the conditions were very difficult in the war environment, the upper and lower levels, between the old and the young, and among comrades, were considerate and respectful of each other, and there was a common practice and fraternity everywhere. From this I think of a question, and it can be said that since the founding of our Party, there have always been some arguments, as if the Communists only talk about revolution and only know how to engage in class struggle, but do not talk about less humanity, do not understand human feelings, and do not want humanitarianism.
As for Comrade Bocheng's angry denunciation of one of his sons, I remember that I also listened to him before and after the "December Incident." It happened after the August 1 Nanchang Uprising. Comrade Bocheng went to Shanghai via Hong Kong and later to the Soviet Union. Soon after he arrived in Shanghai, a son born in his hometown found him a place to live, along with a woman who was showing off his skills. Comrade Bocheng already knew that Chi had misbehaved, and immediately aroused his alarm and immediately asked his intentions. The other party replied: I am going to get married, I need a sum of money, and I hope to do my best to help. Comrade Bocheng said: First, I am not an official, I am not an official and nobleman, and second, I am not a businessman, I am not a rich businessman, but I have been running around the frontier for many years, and I have no savings on hand. Second, even if I have money, I can't give it to you, you are already an adult, you should go straight and support yourself, instead of letting loose and relying on the shadow of others, then it will harm yourself.
When his son heard this, he said sharply: Well, let's walk and see! After saying that, he flicked his sleeves and left. Comrade Bocheng said to his wife: This guy is definitely going to snitch, and we must transfer immediately. As expected, soon the enemy came, but pounced. This incident not only shows that Comrade Bo Cheng is extremely alert, but also fully demonstrates his revolutionary righteousness in destroying his relatives.
Although Comrade Bocheng has passed away for a long time, his revolutionary spirit will coexist with the civilization of the nation and the wisdom of the people, and his glorious achievements will be accompanied by the development of history and the progress of the motherland.
We and our descendants will continue to draw strength from his spirit and achievements, and forge ahead courageously for the revitalization of China and the realization of the four modernizations.