Preface
In 1973, Xiao Jinguang, then the commander of the People's Liberation Army Navy, was in the office, he had just finished correcting the mountains of documents on the table, and breathed a sigh of relief, when he was flipping through the newspaper, he unexpectedly learned that an old soldier named Chen Xingfa was still alive.
He was overjoyed and immediately called the relevant departments of Jiangxi Province, and after the phone was connected, Xiao Jinguang said excitedly:
"Is Comrade Chen Xingfa retired in Jiangxi? He is an old revolutionary, you must take good care of him, and if his health allows, please invite him to come to Beijing to have a look!"
However, when they talked on the phone, Xiao Jinguang blamed: "I am the commander of the navy, why don't you contact me?"
Why does Xiao Jinguang care so much about Chen Xingfa, and who is Chen Xingfa?
Become a "fierce general" under Xiao Jinguang
Chen Xingfa was born in a poor family in Peiyuan Village, Gugang Town, Guixi City, Jiangxi Province.
In 1929, the enthusiasm of the revolution ignited Chen Xingfa's excitement, so he resolutely bid farewell to his master, and before leaving, the master told Chen Xingfa:
"You have to remember that the Red Army is the army of our poor, he is sweeping away the injustice in the world and creating peace for the poor, you are worth doing such a thing!"
So, Chen Xingfa left his hometown to join the revolution, until the founding of New China, he never returned to his hometown, and it was also in the torrent of revolution that he got acquainted with Xiao Jinguang, and he also became Xiao Jinguang's "life-saving benefactor.......
In 1933, Chen Xingfa served as the commander of the special service company of the 56th Regiment of the 19th Division of the Red Seventh Regiment under Xiao Jinguang and Su Yu, and then joined the Communist Party of China and began to work with Xiao Jinguang.
Chen Xingfa became a member of Xiao Jinguang's "fierce general", he fought bravely and tenaciously, in the struggle, always charged, in a battle, the bullet entered his left eye, through the brain, he was seriously injured.
However, Chen Xingfa, who was seriously injured, did not feel sad that he could not fight with the army in the future because of his injury, but instead sent him by his superiors to carry out secret work to protect our party's high-ranking cadres and become a "red secret officer" of our army.
In 1933, Li De, a military adviser to the Comintern, came to China, but as a foreigner, he did not understand the operational command of our army, and he rigidly copied the European battlefield, resulting in the collapse of our army.
Xiao Jinguang, who was the political commissar of the Red Seventh Regiment, was very angry when he learned of this, and had a fierce quarrel with Li De, because of many quarrels, Li De regarded Xiao Jinguang as "a thorn in the eye and a thorn in the flesh", and the failure of the Lichuan Battle made Li De think that Xiao Jinguang had always opposed his military command, which led to such a result.
Li De ordered: "Sentence Xiao Jinguang to death", he was furious and shouted:
"Xiao Jinguang has been derelict in his duties many times, first he gave Li Chuan's hands to the enemy, and now he dares to give up Huwan, this is deliberately sabotaging our entire deployment against encirclement and suppression, and it should be dealt with by military law!"
As a subordinate, Chen Xingfa was shocked, he immediately found Chairman Mao and explained the situation, Chairman Mao learned and said: "Comrade Xiao Jinguang can't be blamed for this matter", so it was Chen Xingfa's "timely" that saved Xiao Jinguang's life, and after Xiao Jinguang learned about it, he also silently remembered Chen Xingfa.
After that, the Central Committee ordered the dismissal of Xiao Jinguang from the post of political commissar of the Red Seventh Regiment and escorted him to Jianning, Fujian, the headquarters of the Red Army, for review.
Until the Red Army began the Long March in 1935, Xiao Jinguang was appointed as an instructor at the Red Army University, and Chen Xingfa became the commander of the machine gun company of the Red Tenth Regiment.
However, Xiao Jinguang has always remembered his life-saving benefactor, at this time Chen Xingfa had already returned to the field, he took the initiative to apply to work in his hometown in Jiangxi, and retired honorably to the local armed forces department, until Wang Dongxing found him......
Xiao Jinguang unexpectedly learned of Chen Xingfa's whereabouts
In mid-October 1949, just after the artillery of the Battle of Hengbao stopped, Xiao Jinguang, who was in Changsha to form the Hunan Military Region, received a telegram from the Central Military Commission, saying that Chairman Mao had something to interview him, and Xiao Jinguang only took a secretary and hurriedly set off to Beijing.
In Zhongnanhai, Chairman Mao said to him:
"Although the combat task of liberating the whole country is still quite arduous, the task of forming an air force and a navy has been put on the agenda, and the preparatory work for the establishment of the air force is almost over, and the central authorities have decided to let Comrade Liu Yalou be the commander, and now we want to start preparing for the construction of the navy. ”
At this time, the mainland's coastline of more than 18,000 kilometers was more than 18,000 kilometers, and more than 6,500 islands with an area of more than 500 square meters were facing the dilemma of having no defense against the sea; in particular, many islands in the southeast had not yet been liberated, and the Kuomintang still carried out sea harassment from time to time.
Xiao Jinguang felt very sudden, so he said frankly to Chairman Mao:
"Chairman, I am a landlubber and I don't understand the navy, so how can I be the commander of the navy? I am so seasick that I can't even sit on a sea ship, and I have been on a sea ship five or six times in my life, and I am very dizzy. ”
Chairman Mao smiled:
In the past, the mainland had a sea defenseless and was bullied by others, and if we build up the navy, we will not be afraid of imperialist bullying, and the navy must be carried out, and if we want to build the navy, we will not be afraid of imperialist bullying, and the navy must be carried out, and if we want to build the navy, we must not be afraid of imperialist bullying, and the navy must be carried out, and it will not work without the navy, and if we want to build the navy, someone must take the lead. ”
Chairman Mao believes that Xiao Jinguang knows the traditions of our army, and he studied Europe in the Soviet Union, is proficient in Russian, understands the Soviet military age, and is convenient for the Soviet Union to learn naval construction. ”
Xiao Jinguang also solemnly accepted the chairman's appointment, military orders are like a mountain, Xiao Jinguang customer service difficulties, immersed in hard study, in the review of foreign military information, and formulated a series of guidelines, principles, and measures, the initial construction of China's maritime defense system.
And many times to worship the provocation of the Kuomintang armed forces, received praise from Chairman Mao, in this position, Xiao Jinguang worked for 30 years, almost devoted all his efforts in the second half of his life, but he never forgot his life-saving benefactor "Chen Xingfa"......
Chen Xingfa, who returned to his hometown in Jiangxi, went to work in Ninggang County under the arrangement of the organization, for which he said:
"I obeyed the organization's arrangement, and I wanted to go to the remote mountainous areas to participate in socialist construction and do my best. ”
During his work in Ninggang County, Chen Xingfa often went to the streets and went to the countryside to investigate, and when asked again, he always said:
"I used to be a soldier, and I am now, and a soldier has to obey orders, obey the arrangements of the party organization, and I have to do specific work. ”，
For this reason, he was also awarded the title of Ninggang County Advanced Worker and Model Communist Party Member.
In 1965, Chairman Mao came to Jinggangshan, where the guard Wang Dongxing saw Chen Xingfa, who had been immersed for many years, at this time he had served as the deputy head of the perimeter guard, to protect the safety of Chairman Mao's return to Jinggangshan, Ang Wang Dongxing told Chairman Mao about Chen Xingfa's deeds, Chairman Mao said as soon as he learned about it:
"Immediately transfer Comrade Chen Xingfa."
When Chen Xingfa learned that Chairman Mao had transferred him to another post, he said to Wang Dongxing gratefully:
"Thank you Chairman Mao for your concern, but many comrades have lost their lives on the battlefield, and I am very satisfied here now without any difficulties. ”
In 1973, Xiao Jinguang was still serving as the commander of the Navy at this time, and he was very excited to learn that Chen Xingfa was still alive in the newspaper, and he made a special call to the Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee:
"Is Comrade Chen Xingfa retired in Jiangxi? He is an old revolutionary, you must take good care of him, and if his health allows, please invite him to come to Beijing to have a look!"
and also raised money to build a house for him, and then Xiao Jinguang, who couldn't wait, dialed Chen Xingfa's phone, but Xiao Jinguang reproached: "I have been a naval commander for so many years, why don't you come to me?"
After hearing this, Chen Xingfa responded with a smile: "I have always known your news, I am doing well, and you are also very busy with the construction of the navy of New China, and you don't want to cause trouble for you, so I have not looked for you." ”
After that, Xiao Jinguang on the other end of the phone couldn't cry, Chen Xingfa, as a veteran, didn't want to repay the truth, and General Xiao Jinguang had noble morals and never forgot to save his life, they are all good cadres of our army for the country and the people, real Communist Party members.