In 1960, Wang Shusheng took a fancy to Xu Xiangqian's TV and said, "You have two, I'll move one away." Xu Xiangqian smiled and asked rhetorically: "Have you finished writing your "General Rules for the Battle of the Synthetic Army"? Wang Shusheng was stunned, turned around and left, and came back with a thick stack of manuscripts after a while. Looking at Wang Shusheng's energy, how will Xu Xiangqian react, and how will the friendship between the two continue?
The peasant movement pulls out new seedlings
In the autumn of 1926, Wang Shusheng successfully graduated from a middle school in Macheng, Hubei Province. This young man from a farming family has been alert and active since he was a child, and has the nickname "Jumping Monkey" in the local area. While other children mostly went home to work as farmers after graduation, Wang Shusheng was unique and wanted to join the torrent of revolution.
At this time, the landlords and gentry in the rural areas of Hubei were rampant and domineering, and the peasants were exploited heavily. Wang Shusheng knew very well that the only way to change all this was to mobilize the masses and overthrow the old system. So, under the introduction of his teacher Cheng Zhihai, he joined the Communist Party and began to brew a peasant movement.
In the spring of 1927, the peasant self-defense army in the Macheng area rose under the call of Wang Shusheng. He divided the peasants into four lines and made them so intricately guarded that the local warlords could not get their hands on them. After three days and three nights of fierce fighting, Wang Shusheng actually led the peasant self-defense army to a complete victory with a precise strategic layout, capturing more than 3,000 enemies and seizing a large amount of munitions.
The victory of this peasant movement made Wang Shusheng famous in one fell swoop. Teacher Cheng Zhihai thought that this "jumping monkey" was difficult to control, but in this battle, he saw his extraordinary command talent. From then on, Cheng Zhihai began to hand over the heavy responsibility to Wang Shusheng and gave him guidance on the road of revolution.
At this moment, a young man who was four years older than Wang Shusheng also joined the ranks of the revolution. He is Xu Xiangqian, a hot-blooded young man from a poor peasant family. Xu Xiangqian has had the ambition to serve the country since he was a child, although his family is poor, he is constantly self-improving, diligent and studious, and finally admitted to the military academy.
In the summer of 1927, Xu Xiangqian was influenced by Marxism in a political class at the military academy, and since then he has established his belief in communism. He resolutely quit the Kuomintang, joined the Communist Party, and began his revolutionary career.
The tunnel exploded and was reborn
In 1931, the September 18 Incident broke out, and the clarion call for an all-out war of resistance was sounded. This year, Wang Shusheng was already the commander of the 30th Regiment of the 10th Division of the Red Army, and was leading the troops to bypass the Chenghe River and go to Hubei, Guangdong and Anhui to join the divisions.
However, at this critical moment, a national army unit ambushed Wang Shusheng's troops by the river. Led by the infamous General Yue Weijun. It was rumored in the army that Yue Weijun dispatched troops quickly and was able to completely annihilate the enemy army within two days.
As soon as the news spread, the young generals under Wang Shusheng couldn't help but be afraid. After all, their strength was just over two hundred. In the face of such a fierce enemy, life and death are uncertain, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to escape.
However, Wang Shusheng has always been bold and never afraid. He immediately made a decision, organized the whole army to take a shower in the ditch, and loudly encouraged: "If you want to die, my brothers will also die for the revolution! What is there to be afraid of? Speaking of which, we are still heroes in the mouths of others!"
These words immediately boosted the morale of the whole army. But Wang Shusheng knew in his heart that it was not enough to just talk about it, he had to think of a clever strategy to get out.
So, Wang Shusheng took out the military map and studied it carefully. Soon, he came up with a brilliant idea to dig a tunnel, and he immediately divided his troops into two ways, one to continue to scout the enemy, and the other to start digging the tunnel according to the location he had marked.
In order to prevent the tunnel from being discovered, Wang Shusheng specially instructed that the tunnel should not be too deep, and only need to be able to accommodate one person. In several key locations, he even pre-arranged explosives in case of emergency.
Sure enough, early the next morning, the national army discovered the traces of Wang Shusheng's troops, and Yue Weijun personally supervised the army to attack. Just as they were about to launch a general attack, the explosives in the ambush suddenly exploded, blasting a safe passage!
Wang Shusheng ordered one group of people to evacuate, and he took another group of people to cover. In the short time that the Nationalist army was pinned down by mines, most of the Red Army had been safely transferred.
At this moment, a unit of chief of staff of the 18th Division of the Red Army led by Xu Xiangqian arrived and joined Wang Shusheng. Seeing Wang Shusheng's tactical arrangement, Xu Xiangqian was full of praise and gave a thumbs up again and again.
Soon, the two cooperated tacitly to completely annihilate Yue Weijun's troops, captured Yue Weijun himself alive, and captured thousands of enemy soldiers. In this battle, Wang Shusheng relied on his extraordinary wisdom and courage to save the day, and Xu Xiangqian also saw the excellence of this young general.
After the war, Xu Xiangqian patted Wang Shusheng on the shoulder and said, "You are a good seedling to be a general, young man, not bad!"
Wang Shusheng responded humbly: "You are four years older than me, and you are still an old man? If you hadn't led the troops to catch up, I would have become a meat bun now!"
The two looked at each other and smiled, as if they had known each other for many years. That night, they chatted all night and formed a revolutionary friendship.
China was established to take the lead
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Wang Shusheng and Xu Xiangqian worked side by side and helped each other, contributing excellent strategies and tactics to the final victory.
In 1937, Xu Xiangqian was ordered to lead the New Fourth Army to launch a fierce attack on the enemy, and the famous Battle of Songhu began. In this battle, Xu Xiangqian bravely commanded and defeated the Japanese attack, laying a solid foundation for the eight-year War of Resistance.
At the same time, Wang Shusheng also fought bravely in central China. He led the newly formed Eighth Route Army, adopted guerrilla tactics, and dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese army. Among them, the "Hundred Regiments Battle" launched by Wang Shusheng was particularly thrilling.
In this battle, the Eighth Route Army, with only more than 10,000 troops, launched hundreds of attacks on the Japanese army at the same time, catching the enemy off guard and at a loss. In the end, although the Eighth Route Army suffered heavy casualties, it also completely crushed the arrogance of the Japanese army.
The two of them made many miraculous achievements during the Anti-Japanese War, which can be described as a great success. However, because they are in a different place, they rarely see each other. Sometimes, Xu Xiangqian has just triumphed from one battlefield, and Wang Shusheng is about to go to another front line.
It was not until 1949, when the People's Liberation Army finally conquered Beiping and Tianjin, ushered in a complete liberation, that the two were able to reunite.
Seeing the five-star red flag flying high in the sky above Tiananmen Square, Wang Shusheng and Xu Xiangqian looked at each other and smiled, their faces filled with gratification. The new China, which they have fought for for most of their lives, was finally born!
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the two once again parted ways and joined hands to contribute to the rejuvenation of the country. Xu Xiangqian was responsible for promoting the First Five-Year Plan, which pushed the country's industrialization process to a new level. Wang Shusheng became Ye Jianying's right-hand man, in charge of the Academy of Military Sciences, engaged in military theory research.
Although the two men had different jobs, they both shared the same revolutionary zeal and worked tirelessly for the prosperity and strength of the motherland. Sometimes, Xu Xiangqian would deliberately take time out to visit Wang Shusheng at the Academy of Military Sciences and talk about decades of comradeship.
Whenever this happens, the two of them always recall those days of hard fighting. From the peasant movement to the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and then to the War of Liberation, they have lived and died together several times along the way, and have formed an unbreakable revolutionary friendship.
Television has a long history
1960 was the tenth year after the founding of the People's Republic of China. After a lot of hard struggle, the people's living standards have finally improved significantly. This year, the first batch of domestically produced TV sets finally came out and began to enter people's homes one after another.
As the country's senior generals, Xu Xiangqian and Wang Shusheng naturally also received a brand-new TV set. However, when Xu Xiangqian returned home and opened the package of the TV, he found that there were two TVs inside!
One has Xu Xiangqian's name written on it, and the other has Wang Shusheng's name written on it. Seeing this scene, Xu Xiangqian couldn't help but smile. He remembered the eventful years many years ago, when the two of them were young guys.
At that time, he and Wang Shusheng were as close as siblings. Whether they went hand in hand in the peasant movement, or fought together in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, the two can be said to share life and death, weal and woe.
Although they later went to different battlefields and jobs, their revolutionary friendship was never interrupted. Whenever he is free, Xu Xiangqian will always go to the Academy of Military Sciences to catch up with Wang Shusheng and talk about the past.
Thinking of this, Xu Xiangqian sighed with emotion in his heart. He decided to take both TVs home with him. When Wang Shusheng came to his house as a guest, he gave Wang Shusheng a copy, so that this old revolutionary comrade-in-arms could also enjoy the fruits of New China's development as soon as possible.
Sure enough, within a few days, Wang Shusheng came to Xu Xiangqian's house as a guest. As soon as he entered the door, he saw two brand-new televisions in the living room, and his eyes lit up.
"Hey, Comrade Xu Xiangqian, why do you have two TVs?" Wang Shusheng said in surprise, "When I leave, I'll move one back, I don't have one at home!"
When Xu Xiangqian heard this, he pretended to be serious and said: "That's not good, you haven't handed me a report yet! When you list the outline of the "General Principles of Combat of the Synthetic Army," I will consider whether to give you a television set. ＂
It turned out that Wang Shusheng was anxious to write the "General Principles of Combat of the Synthetic Army" at that time. As an important work of military theory, this compendium is essential for guiding future military training.
Hearing Xu Xiangqian's words, Wang Shusheng was stunned, and then turned around and left. After a while, he returned with a thick stack of manuscripts, which were the outlines and first drafts he had written for the Outline.
Seeing Wang Shusheng's energy, Xu Xiangqian laughed and nodded again and again. He patted Wang Shusheng on the shoulder and said, "Okay, since you are so attentive, then I will give you this TV first." When the "General Rules" is completely finished, I will send you a better TV!"
end
In this way, after a warm period of reminiscence, Wang Shusheng happily left with the TV. Xu Xiangqian, on the other hand, continued to wait at home, waiting for the final outcome of the Outline.
The friendship between the two, like this TV, has gone through vicissitudes and will never be erased. It will accompany them through the last journey of their lives.