Su Yu was the number one general in New China, and his contributions to the War of Liberation were so high that few generals could compare with him. In the battles of central Jiangsu, northern Jiangsu, southern Lunan, Laiwu, Menglianggu, Shatuji, eastern Henan, Jinan, and even Huaihai, Su Yu fought more and more wonderfully, and the more he fought, the more strange he became, and the more soldiers in his hands, and his position became higher and higher. By the time of the Huaihai Campaign, Su Yu held 16 columns and became the acting commander and acting political commissar of the East China Field Army, and at the level of the field army, he was on a par with Peng, Lin, Liu, and Deng. Su Yu has more than one general, and it is not impossible to award it to the marshal.
Someone once asked a question: If Su Yu had not participated in the War of Liberation, would he have the qualifications of a general? It is not uncommon for a general or above to be a general who participated in the War of Liberation; taking Zhang Aiping as an example, he missed the entire War of Liberation because of his injury. But in 55 years, Zhang Aiping is still a general. If Su Yu had not participated in the War of Liberation, would he have the qualifications of a general? The answer is obvious.
1. During the period of Su Yu's Red Army: I was able to touch the side of the general
Su Yu joined the people's army very early, but because he was too young, when he participated in the Nanchang Uprising in 1927, he was only a 20-year-old ignorant student, and his position was only a squad leader. Therefore, like President Lin and Luo Ronghuan, he did not have the opportunity to preside over or lead an armed uprising, so Su Yu was not "the founder of the Chinese People's Liberation Army."
But as the saying goes, "a fierce general must be sent to the army", he did not go to military school for a day and started from a big soldier, but it became an advantage for Su Yu's growth. When Dayu was reorganized, Su Yu and Lin Zong were appointed as company-level cadres, Su Yu was the political instructor, and Lin Zong was the company commander. Soon after, Su Yu followed Zhu De to Jinggangshan and served as the commander of the 28th Regiment of the Red 4th Army.
From the age of 20 to 30, Su Yu fought in the Red Army for ten years, and gradually grew from a grassroots officer to a senior general. In December 1930, Su Yu served as the commander of the 65th Division of the 12th Army, and soon became the commander of the 64th Division, entering the ranks of division-level cadres for the first time.
But surprisingly, Su Yu's position has not been promoted in the next few years. Originally, the gap between Su Yu and Mr. Lin was not large. In November 1931, Su Yu took office as the chief of staff of the Red Fourth Army, partnering with the army commander General Lin. 10 months later, Lin Zong rose sharply in rank and became the commander of the Red First Army. was originally a twin star, but Su Yu lagged behind. Three months later, Su Yu was transferred from the Red First Army to serve as chief of staff of the Red 11th Army; seven months later, he was transferred to the chief of staff of the Red 7th Army; during the Long March, Su Yu joined the anti-Japanese advance team in the north, and later served as the chief of staff of the Red 10th Army.
Why did Mr. Lin and Su Yu start the same, but Su Yu fell behind?
First of all, Su Yu never went to a military school, let alone the Whampoa Military Academy.
Secondly, Su Yu was injured too much. Since joining the Red Army, Su Yu has been charging forward, seriously wounded six times, three of which were not removed until after his death. Therefore, Su Yu recuperated for too long, delayed his progress, and lost many opportunities to fight.
In the end, the combat units changed frequently, and because Su Yu was able to fight and staff officers, he became a panacea in the eyes of the chief, and he successively served in 10 different units.
In the battle of Tanjiaqiao in 1934, the Red Tenth Army was dispersed, and Su Yu led 800 strong men to break through and lost contact with the central government.
But gold always shines, Su Yu has been fighting behind enemy lines for a long time, fighting hard in the encirclement and suppression of the enemy, the betrayal of traitors, and the disease and hunger, cultivating Su Yu's quick-witted, ruthless, and fierce tactical style, which also strengthened his judgment, decisiveness and leadership, and provided the foundation for his subsequent development.
Throughout the period of Su Yu's Red Army, judging from his age and position, his ability has been reflected to a certain extent, and his post has been promoted rapidly, and the Red Army's division-level cadres have been the standard for conferring the rank of general in 55 years. In other words, Su Yu during the Red Army period was enough to award the general.
Second, during the Anti-Japanese War: General Su Yuda's rank was certain
In September 1937, Su Yu and his team officially walked out of the mountains and forests in the south of the Yangtze River and were incorporated into the New Fourth Army of the old leader Ye Ting, serving as the deputy commander of the second detachment. Because the commander Zhang Dingcheng was transferred to Yan'an, he soon became the acting commander.
During his tenure, Su Yu achieved brilliant results, and successively commanded the ambush battle of Shuiyang Town, the battle of Hengshan, the surprise attack on Guanshumen and other battles, destroying more than 400 Japanese puppet soldiers, capturing 57 Japanese puppet soldiers, and blowing up a train. In August 1939, the Jiangnan Command of the New Fourth Army was established, and he served as the deputy commander, partnering with Chen Yi and Mr. Chen.
In the Battle of Huangqiao, Chen Yi and Su Yu commanded the 7,000 New Fourth Army to defeat Han Deqin's 11,000 recalcitrant army and achieved a hearty victory.
In January 1941, Ye Ting and Xiang Ying led more than 9,000 people from the New Fourth Army to the north, but they were ambushed by Gu Zhutong and fought hard for many days, only more than 1,000 people broke through, and the deputy commander Xiang Ying was killed by traitors. This was the "Southern Anhui Incident" that shocked China.
After the Southern Anhui Incident, Chiang Kai-shek declared the New Fourth Army a "rebel army" and cancelled its name, while the Jiangnan Command led by Chen Yi and Su Yu became "bandits without formation".
However, Mao Zedong was not to be outdone, and chose to face Mai Mang, announcing the rebuilding of the military headquarters of the New Fourth Army, appointing Chen Yi as the acting commander and Liu Shaoqi as the political commissar. Not only that, Mao Zedong also announced the formation of seven divisions under the New Fourth Army. Because his old superior Chen Yi was promoted, Su Yu was also promoted and became the commander of the First Division of the New Fourth Army. The generals of the other six divisions were,
Zhang Yunyi, commander of the Second Division, Zheng Weisan, political commissar, Huang Kecheng, commander and political commissar of the Third Division, Peng Xuefeng, commander and political commissar of the Fourth Division, Li Xiannian, commander and political commissar of the Fifth Division, Tan Zhenlin, commander and political commissar of the Sixth Division, Zhang Dingcheng, commander of the Seventh Division, and Zeng Xisheng, political commissar.
In addition to Su Yu, the commanders of the other six divisions, except for Li Xiannian, Tan Zhenlin, Zhang Dingcheng, and Zeng Xisheng, Zheng Weisan, who was recuperating due to illness, and Peng Xuefeng, who sacrificed his life, are basically generals.
In other words, when Su Yu became the commander of the New Fourth Army, he already had the qualifications of a general. If there are no major changes, Su Yu's rank of general is a certainty.
After the establishment of the seven divisions of the New Fourth Army, the "princes" of the seven roads began to call for wind and rain in the land south of the Yangtze River, each showing their magical powers. In the five-year long run, the seven divisions that were originally neck and neck have changed. The ten fingers were not ordinary, and Su Yu stood out like an awl in a cloth bag. According to page 37 of the Annals of Su Yu, "(Su Yu) made the greatest contribution in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. ”
Why?
First of all, Su Yu's contribution to establishing a base area is difficult for anyone to match.
After Su Yu became the commander of a division, he concurrently served as the political commissar of the Soviet-Chinese Military Region and the secretary of the Soviet-Chinese Military and Political Party Committee, and became a feudal official in a large strategic area.
Chairman Mao attached great importance to the Soviet Union and China, and regarded this plain, which was developed in agriculture and commerce, and densely populated, as "the Guanzhong of Han Gaozu". Back then, Han Gaozu leveled the world with the land of Guanzhong, and the Soviet Union and China should have the same effect.
At that time, the Japanese army, the recalcitrant army, and the New Fourth Army were divided into three parts of the world in the Soviet Union and China, and the New Fourth Army, which lacked guns and ammunition, was the weakest. Su Yu first started with the puppet army and defeated more than 5,000 people of the main force of the "Imperial Allied Army" Li Changjiang.
In the face of the sweep of the Japanese army, Su Yu used the water network in the south of the Yangtze River to deal with the Japanese army. Su Yu and his comrades-in-arms built open dams, hidden dams, traffic dams, and blocking dams on the river, so that our army's flat wooden boats could pass unimpeded, while the Japanese army's steel motorboats had a deep draft and could not move an inch in the water.
The bridge was changed to a small bridge, the fixed bridge was changed to a movable bridge, the big road was changed to a small road, and the detour road was changed to a straight road, so that the New Fourth Army could come and go freely, but the Japanese army could not move an inch.
The large and small canals were dug to change the hydrological and geomorphological features of the Soviet Union and China, so that the cobweb-like rivers could be connected and the water and land connections within the New Fourth Army could be communicated.
In this way, Su Yu artificially established a "natural danger" on the Soviet-Chinese Plain in Yima Pingchuan, making it difficult for the Japanese army to move an inch, and they could only watch the expanding Soviet-Chinese base areas in a hurry.
From March 1944, Su Yu saw that the time was ripe, and organized a large corps to command the Cheqiao and Nankan battles successively, breaking the balance of war in Central China, the New Fourth Army occupied 60% of the land in the Soviet Union and China, and the Japanese army was declining, so it could only hide in the big cities and the main transportation routes.
Looking at Su Yu's excellent results, Liu Shaoqi exclaimed:
"In the past few years, my first division has achieved the greatest achievements and established the greatest contribution in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. In the whole army, the troops of the first division fought the most battles and achieved the greatest results. ”
After Liu Shaoqi returned to Yan'an, he happily reported to Mao Zedong that Su Yu was the commander of the seven divisions of the New Fourth Army who fought the most battles and was the best.
Su Yu expanded the base area and also built the base area. Su Yu saw the stitches and set up quilt factories, printing factories, cigarette factories and other production enterprises, established financial and economic systems such as taxation and trade, and took the lead in printing and distributing currency with Mao Zedong's face in the Central China Base Area, thus ensuring the needs of the Soviet-Chinese Base Area. Every day, the Soviet-Chinese base areas can receive one million quintals of public grain and 20 million yuan in taxes. In particular, the "Pegasus" cigarettes produced by the Suzhong Cigarette Factory have become hard currency in the entire Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, and have contributed tremendous wealth to the New Fourth Army.
In addition to replenishing the military supplies of the New Fourth Army, the output of the Soviet-Chinese base areas can also support the big brother, the Eighth Route Army. From the summer of 1943 to the autumn of 1944, Su Zhongguang could buy 1.6 million bags of flour with the money he sent to the Taihang Mountains.
At the same time, the arsenal of the New Fourth Army was also flourishing in the Soviet Union, and in 1944, Su Yu was ordered to go south to prepare for the creation of the Jiangsu-Zhejiang Military Region. The Soviet-Chinese military factory made more than 350 mortars of 73 mm and 52 mm calibers and more than 10,000 shells. In the first units going south, each regiment had an artillery company, an artillery squad for each company, 73 mortars were assigned to the company, and 52 mortars were assigned to the platoon.
Compared with the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army is a little brother, but this little brother's equipment is better than the Eighth Route Army. In the Jiangnan water network, the New Fourth Army wearing brand new military uniforms and patrolling everywhere in steel motorboats is everywhere. In this regard, Su Yu has made great contributions.
3. The first general
In addition to the merit of establishing a base area, Su Yu was also the only commander of the New Fourth Army who commanded two divisions. In 1942, the 6th Division of the New Fourth Army failed to "clear the countryside" of the anti-Japanese puppet army and had to withdraw from the base area in southern Jiangsu.
In late December, Tan Zhenlin led the division to cross the Yangtze River north and enter the central Soviet region of Suyu. In March 1942, the military headquarters of the New Fourth Army ordered the troops of the Sixth Division to be commanded by Su Yu, and Tan Zhenlin was the political commissar of any division.
In May 1942, the Central China Bureau officially assigned Zhenjiang, Danyang, Wujin, Suzhou, Changshu, Taicang, Jiangyin, Wuxi and other places to the Central Jiangsu District of Jiangbei, which were all under the unified management of Su Yu.
Since Tan Zhenlin had not been able to take up his post in the 1st Division, the Military Headquarters of the New Fourth Army suggested that Su Yu should be the political commissar of the 2nd Division, and that the 1st and 6th Divisions should be under Su Yu's command, so as to facilitate the unification of powers.
When Mao Zedong heard this, he issued an order on October 26 in the name of the Central Military Commission and the General Political Department: "The leading organs of the 1st and 6th Divisions will be merged internally and under the unified command of Comrade Su Yu. ”
In this way, Su Yu justifiably served as the commander of two divisions, and his jurisdiction covered the Soviet Union and Central China and Jiangnan. The number of men under his command has expanded from three brigades to five, and he has become the most powerful of all the men and horses of the New Fourth Army.
The army in his hands was expanded, and Su Yu immediately ordered Wang Bicheng to lead the 1st Division, 2nd Brigade and 4th Regiment, as well as the Soviet-Chinese Party School and the Ninth Branch of the Anti-Japanese University, to cross the Yangtze River to the Maoshan area in the south of the Yangtze River, extend the tentacles of the 1st Division to the south of the Yangtze River, restore the base areas in southern Jiangsu that had fallen, and lay the foundation for the later large-scale southern expedition to Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
The New Fourth Army established seven military regions, and Su Yu created two -- the Jiangsu-Zhejiang Military Region and the Soviet-Central Military Region. If Su Yu's record is not outstanding, then who can be more outstanding than him?
Later, Su Yu commanded three battles of Tianmu Mountain and completely gained a firm foothold in Jiangnan. Mao Zedong was overjoyed when he heard this, and made a famous prediction - "Su Yu can command 400,000 or 500,000 troops in the future." ”
I have to say that a great man is a great man, and his prophecy is true!
All in all, Su Yu rose through the ranks and rose from a grassroots officer to a senior general. During the Red Army period, Su Yu was already a division-level cadre and had already touched the side of the general.
During the Anti-Japanese War, Su Yu consolidated the Soviet-Chinese base area, established the Jiangsu-Zhejiang Military Region, expanded the first and sixth divisions of the New Fourth Army, struck at the Japanese puppet army, and rescued countless compatriots. Both the achievements of the army and the merits of governing the people are second to none in the New Fourth Army.
Even if Su Yu did not participate in the Liberation War, with his world-class achievements during the Anti-Japanese War, it was more than enough to award the rank of general, and he could still rank in the forefront.
Through the Red Army's conquest, three years of guerrilla warfare, and the experience of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Su Yu also pointed out the skills of the large corps. As Mao Zedong said in 1938: "For a commander, at first he will command a small corps, and later he will command a large corps, which is progress and development for him." ”
With these foreshadowing and progress, Su Yu finally became a blockbuster in the Liberation War and became the top general of the People's Liberation Army. Su Yu was finally awarded the first general, but in terms of position and treatment, he was at the level of a marshal.