On December 14, 1973, Chairman Mao summoned relevant members of the Politburo to discuss the transfer of the eight military regions.
"There are also problems with mobility. For example, 'Liaolian' and '831' (two mass organizations in Liaoning Province) will criticize you, so it doesn't matter. ”
In the end, Chairman Mao added:
"Now, I have hired a military adviser named Deng Xiaoping. A notice was issued to become a member of the Politburo and a member of the Military Commission. The Politburo is in charge of everything, party, government, military, and civilian studies, east, west, north, south, and center. I want to add a secretary general to the Politburo, if you don't want this name, then become the chief of staff. ”
On the afternoon of December 21, Chairman Mao met with the relevant members involved in the transfer of commanders of the military region in the small living room of the Zhongnanhai swimming pool, and announced the order of the transfer of the commanders of the eight military regions.
"You, Commander Chen, Comrade Yang Dezhi from Jinan, and Comrade Xu Shiyou from Nanjing, these comrades have been in one place for too long. ”
Chairman Mao's "Commander Chen" is the Chen Xilian we want to talk about, what people didn't expect is that two years later, Chen Xilian actually succeeded Ye Jianying, presided over the work of the Central Military Commission, and became the "Generalissimo of the World's Soldiers and Horses", today we will talk about Chen Xilian's story.
On January 4, 1915, Chen Xilian was born in a poor peasant family in Pengjia Village, Gaoqiao, Gaoqiao, Huang'an, Hubei Province, Chen Xilian's childhood was very unfortunate, when he was three years old, his father died early, after that, Chen Xilian and his mother depended on each other, in order to reduce the pressure on his mother, Chen Xilian had to herd cattle for the landlord's family, and was bullied and squeezed, which laid the foundation for Chen Xilian to later embark on the revolutionary road.
In November 1927, the famous "Jute Uprising" broke out in Chen Xilian's hometown, after which the seeds of revolution were widely sown in this hot land, and two years later, at the age of 14, Chen Xilian signed up for the guerrillas and was immediately incorporated into the 11th Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army.
On November 7, 1931, the Red 4th and Red 25th armies were combined into the Fourth Front Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army in Qiliping, Huang'an, with Xu Xiang as the former commander-in-chief, Chen Changhao as the political commissar, and Liu Shiqi as the director of the Political Department (later Wu Huanxian), with nearly 30,000 troops.
What is Chen Xilian's position at this time?
He served as a company political instructor in the Red Fourth Front.
Although the level is not very high, but Chen Xilian fought very bravely, once, Chen Xilian risked his life to raise the banner that was knocked down, desperately rushed forward, under his influence, the whole army of soldiers fought bravely, won the battle, afterwards, Chen Xilian was praised by his superiors:
"Don't look at Lian Fu's young age and not tall, but he is really not afraid of death when he fights, he rushes forward with a flag, just like a small steel cannon. ”
Not long after, Chen Xilian's title of "Little Steel Cannon" spread throughout the army.
During the Anti-Japanese War, Chen Xilian served as the regiment commander of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, when the Japanese army stopped dozens of planes at Yangmingbao Airport, after hearing the news, Chen Xilian's eyes were full of fire, and under the leadership of the local villagers, he led the soldiers to blow up 24 planes at the airport, and also eliminated more than 100 Japanese soldiers.
Hearing this news, Deng Xiaoping was very happy and exclaimed:
"You Chen Xilian can fight, you are a general!"
In 1950, Chen Xilian was transferred to the commander of the People's Liberation Army artillery, and did a lot of pioneering work for the development of the artillery of New China, and in 1955, Chen Xilian was awarded the rank of general by the Central Military Commission and became the founding general.
At the Lushan Conference in 1959, Deng Hua, commander of the Shenyang Military Region, was implicated, and Chen Xilian assumed the post of commander of the Shenyang Military Region, and Chen Xilian held this position until 1973.
In 1973, after the transfer of the commanders of the eight military regions, Chen Xilian was reappointed as the commander of the Beijing Military Region, and since then, Chen Xilian has been more and more respected by the central government, and his position has been continuously improved, and in 1975, he was appointed vice premier and became a deputy state-level leader.
On February 2, 1976, the Central Committee suddenly issued a document, proposed by Chairman Mao, Hua Guofeng was appointed as the acting premier of the State Council, and Chen Xilian replaced Ye Jianying, who was ill and hospitalized, to preside over the work of the Military Commission.
After Chairman Mao's death, the "Gang of Four" accelerated the activities of usurping the party, at this time, Chen Xilian proposed to Ye Shuai to take action against the "Gang of Four", and with the support of Hua Guofeng, the Central Committee smashed the "Gang of Four" in one fell swoop, stabilizing the situation at a critical moment.
However, in the ensuing debate on the "two whatevers" and the "standard of truth," Chen Xilian stood firmly on Hua Guofeng's side and supported the "two whatevers," which led to his dismissal in 1980 as a member of the Politburo, vice premier of the State Council, and commander of the Beijing Military Region.
On June 10, 1999, Chen Xilian died in Beijing at the age of 85.