"May I ask General Hong, which university did you graduate from?"
At the 1986 exchange meeting between the logistics departments of the Chinese and US militaries, Leons, commander-in-chief of the US Ocean Fleet, asked Hong Xuezhi with pride.
Hong Xuezhi only has a primary school education and has never studied in college, while Lyons and most of his relatives graduated from West Point and Harvard University, which is obviously trying to use his academic qualifications to find a sense of existence.
Everyone sweated for Hong Xuezhi, only to see that he said a word unhurriedly, and a crisis was resolved in just a few words.
What did Hong Xuezhi say, and why did the Americans embarrass him?
The twists and turns of the honeymoon period
It all started with the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States in 1979.
In 1979, under the joint promotion of the top leaders of China and the United States, the then largest economic power and the most populous country finally established stable diplomatic relations.
Since then, under the pattern of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, China and the United States have embarked on a decade-long honeymoon period, not only in the economic and trade fields, but also in the military field.
However, under the cloak of peace and stability in the relations between the two countries, what is hidden is the vigilance and vigilance of the United States against China.
Especially after the 80s, China's reform and opening up has achieved initial results, the economy has taken off rapidly, and it has entered the forefront of the world.
In 1980, the U.S. government invited a Chinese military delegation to visit the United States, mainly to discuss aerospace and maritime military affairs.
At that time, the United States had just developed an aircraft carrier, and as soon as he got off the plane, General Liu Huaqing expressed to the US representatives his desire to visit.
As a result, the other side refused to agree to it under the pretext of military secrets.
In the next few days of negotiations, General Liu Huaqing repeatedly applied.
On the last day of the delegation's departure, the US representative finally relented and allowed the Chinese delegation to visit the aircraft carrier early tomorrow morning.
That night, General Liu Huaqing stayed up all night, and the aspiring young people of the delegation were also very excited, and everyone discussed and listed dozens of questions, just waiting for tomorrow to be able to consult American technicians in person.
What happened the next day surprised everyone.
The Americans, who had originally agreed to do so, suddenly repented and allowed only the Chinese delegation to stand on the periphery of the aircraft carrier and watch from afar.
General Liu Huaqing wanted to enter the deck, and he was not allowed to go up to the operation room. Because the aircraft carrier was too high, it basically blocked all of General Liu Huaqing's view.
In order to see the specific situation inside, he could only stand on tiptoe.
The founding general of New China was actually treated like this in the United States!
You must know that at this time, China has no plans to develop aircraft carriers, and China's military industry does not yet have this strength, even so, the United States is also taking precautions against China in every possible way, and all this happened to be recorded by a foreign journalist with a camera.
This photo of General Liu Huaqing has also inspired thousands of Chinese. The grievances of the Chinese delegates during their visits to the United States are not limited to this, as the American side often flaunts its military industry and economy to China, and even dismisses the fruits of China's modern development victories, both verbally and verbally.
Therefore, in 1986, when the US Government again invited the Chinese delegation, the mainland side was extremely vigilant about this, so the Central Military Commission decided to send General Hong Xuezhi, who responded quickly and humorously, to lead the delegation, so that he could also exchange experiences with the US representatives on the issue of military support.
Verbal sparring at the dinner party
Before leaving, Hong Xuezhi was ready to accept the difficulties of the United States, but things turned out to be unexpected. Not only was the commander-in-chief of the US Ocean Fleet, Lyons, physically present, but even media reporters took photos on both sides of the red carpet for interviews.
After that, the two sides held a round-table meeting to conduct in-depth exchanges on the issue of military logistical support, and the US Government made very thoughtful arrangements for Hong Xuezhi and his entourage in all aspects, which inevitably aroused doubts in the hearts of many people.
After all, this is very different from the treatment of General Liu Huaqing when he visited the United States.
Hong Xuezhi looked at Lyons s kind smile, and his heart became heavier and heavier, what kind of medicine is sold in the American gourd? But it can't be revealed.
Finally, at night, Lyons, who had been disguised for a day, showed his fox tail.
After a day of interviews and talks, the U.S. government prepared a lavish reception dinner near the hotel where General Hong Xuezhi was staying, accompanied by senior U.S. military generals in addition to Lyons.
As soon as 8 o'clock arrived, the leaders of the two sides entered the venue and began to greet each other warmly.
At this time, there were no media reporters to take pictures, and although Lyons was still smiling on his face, every word he said had a deep meaning, and he wanted to dig a hole for Hong Xuezhi several times, and even wanted to discuss the internal political issues of the Chinese government in depth.
However, Hong Xuezhi is not an ordinary person, he can't get a needle in, he can't splash water, and he pushes the problem left and right in just a few words, and he says it cleverly.
Since it was time to talk about political issues, Hong Xuezhi refused to speak, so Lyons changed the topic and planned to start with himself.
Just when everyone was excited about the discussion, Lyons suddenly asked: "After today's day of exchanges, I admire General Hong's knowledge, I want to know which university the general graduated from?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the atmosphere in the venue fell silent instantly.
The US delegates all covered their mouths and smiled, looking at Hong Xuezhi mockingly, waiting for his answer.
The Chinese delegates were obviously nervous, for fear that Hong Xuezhi would not answer well and be embarrassed by the United States.
The reason why this question is so difficult to answer is that General Hong Xuezhi only has a primary school education.
Hong Xuezhi was born in troubled times, his family was poor, and when he was just able to walk, he had to help his parents with farm work in the fields, and his family had no money to send him to study.
At a young age, he played in the countryside with the children of his village, and it happened that the Communist Party came to the village to hold a literacy campaign, which allowed him to seize the opportunity to start reading and writing.
However, the underground party's literacy campaign did not last long, as Chiang Kai-shek intensified his suppression of the Communist Party and was forced to leave, so Hong Xuezhi barely knew a few words and could read and write, which could only be regarded as a primary school level, let alone a university.
This is also a common phenomenon among the first generation of founding generals of New China.
But the United States is quite different.
Lyons graduated from the West Point Military Academy, and all the generals present were from the same school as him, and most of the civilian officials came from famous universities such as Harvard and Stanford.
Of course, this is what the United States is most proud of, and they always boast of producing high-quality political and military talent.
An embarrassing moment for a high-achieving student
Before the banquet began, Lyons had already investigated Hong Xuezhi, so he had this question.
Just when everyone was nervous, Hong Xuezhi, the focus of the audience, suddenly spoke: "I graduated from your American Air Force Academy!"
In a word, the situation reversed, the Chinese delegates breathed a sigh of relief, and the Americans turned pale.
The Air Force School is a past that Americans don't want to talk about.
Everything has to go back to the war-torn Korean battlefield in 1951.
Due to the failure of the first four battles, MacArthur, commander-in-chief of the United Nations forces, proposed to Truman to use atomic bombs against China, but this proposal was rejected by Truman on the spot.
In order to avoid the fate of being replaced like MacArthur, Ridgway has been studying the strategy and tactics of the Volunteers, and he found that logistics support is the weakest link of the Volunteers, so he dispatched a large number of air forces to prepare to intercept the Volunteers' rear army food and grass.
For a time, the situation on the front reversed.
At the last moment, the Central Military Commission sent Hong Xuezhi to the battlefield and put him in charge of logistics support.
In order to resist the bombing of the US Air Force, Hong Xuezhi formulated three strategies.
First of all, he asked the engineering team to build trenches hundreds of miles deep along the way to transport grain, and at intervals they had to dig a doorway to the inside of the trench.
In order to speed up the transportation, they usually advance on the road, and once the US troops start bombing, they can enter the trenches anytime and anywhere to take refuge and move quickly.
Once the first vehicle finds that there is an ambush or gap in front of the US army, it can immediately attract the attention of the rear army through the signal flares, so that the troops behind can quickly change the grain transportation route and reduce casualties a lot.
Finally, he had the artillery bombards on either side of the grain trucks, and as soon as they spotted the U.S. Air Force approaching or lowering their flight altitude, they immediately aimed their cannons and bombarded them into the sky. In this way, even if the US plane could not be damaged by artillery, the billowing smoke from the shell explosion could block the view of the US military.
After a series of arrangements by Hong Xuezhi, Li Qiwei's plan was completely disrupted, and the logistics troops were impregnable, effectively guaranteeing the front-line soldiers' operations.
Not only that, Hong Xuezhi's strategy also destroyed a number of American planes, becoming an opponent that made the US Air Force gnash its teeth.
Hong Xuezhi's answer made Lyons feel pressured, but he has now been put on fire, and he can only end up laughing.
Unexpectedly, at this moment, Hong Xuezhi said half-jokingly and half-seriously: "And your Air Force School didn't send me a graduation certificate!"
As soon as these words came out, everyone was dumbfounded.
Hong Xuezhi's words have the courage to teach the US Air Force a lesson again at any time, which made Lyons change his face in an instant.
It's ridiculous that a Hongmen banquet carefully arranged by the American army actually made General Hong Xuezhi, who despised them look down on with a primary school education, easily resolve it in a few words, which shows that the top students in the United States are nothing more than that!