Xiao Hua was the youngest founding general of our army, and he was only 39 years old when he received the rank of general in 55. After that, Xiao Hua continued to be reused by the Central Committee, and in the sixties he became the director of the General Political Department of the whole army. However, with the change of social situation, the general was framed and suppressed for a time, and was even imprisoned for more than six years, until 1974, when he regained his freedom and resumed his leadership in the army. In his later years, Xiao Hua was very grateful to a founding marshal, Ye Jianying.
At the beginning of 1967, people with ulterior motives committed evil, chaos appeared in many areas of the country, and the "Big Four" trend affected the army. The people's army is an important weapon for protecting the country, and Marshal Ye Jianying, who presided over the daily work of the Central Military Commission, insisted that the army "cannot be chaotic," and he managed to protect a number of important generals. Under Ye Jianying's arguments, the relevant groups felt that it was difficult for the Military Commission to penetrate, so they extended their hands to the General Political Department. Because the political activities in the army were led and responsible by the General Political Department, and if Xiao Hua, director of the General Political Department, did not compromise, those people would not be able to succeed, so they openly proposed to "bring down Xiao Hua" at the meeting.
On the night of January 19, the "rebels" suddenly attacked and dispatched hundreds of people to surround Xiao Hua's residence. The general had been engaged in revolutionary work for many years, and he was very vigilant, and when he felt that something was wrong, he went to his neighbor Fu Zhong's house from the back door. Fu Zhong is also the founding general of the People's Republic of China and has rich political experience, so he told Xiao Hua that it is not advisable to stay here for a long time, and to hurry to Xishan Ye Shuai's house while it is dark to ensure safety. In this way, Xiao Hua, director of the General Political Department, took Fu Zhong's special car and went to the old man's residence overnight to take refuge and escaped.
At the meeting the next day, when those people saw that Xiao Hua did not come, they began to sneer, saying that the director of the General Political Department had "deserted" and should boldly make a review and accept criticism. Such words and deeds that reversed black and white made the old handsome Ye Jianying furious. He said with a straight face: Let me tell you that Comrade Xiao Hua has been seriously threatened and is now in my house. I "hidden" him last night, so you can even defeat me together!
Ye Jianying is highly respected, and he is the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, and the other party does not dare to make a mistake when he hears this. The more Ye Shuai spoke, the more angry he became, he slapped the table with a "snap", shook the teacup to the ground and shattered, and Ye Shuai's palm also had a sharp pain, and he angrily reprimanded the other party: If the army engages in the "Big Four" and makes people panic, what should we do if foreign enemies invade? Will it depend on you people when the time comes? After the meeting, the doctor examined: The distal end of the fifth metacarpal bone of the right hand was fractured. Ye Jianying has always been mild-tempered, but he is very resolute on major issues of right and wrong, and in order to protect Xiao Hua and stabilize the army, he accidentally injured his hand on the conference table.
At that time, Ye Shuai was already 70 years old, and his body was not as tough as when he was young, but after the fracture, he still insisted on personally drawing up the "Eight Orders of the Military Commission", requiring the rebels not to attack the army and to ensure the normal order of the army. Chairman Mao agreed very much with Ye Jianying's suggestion and criticized "the director of the General Political Department is nonsense". Not only Xiao Hua, but afterwards, Ye Jianying and Premier Zhou managed to send many military cadres who came to Beijing from other places to the Jingxi Hotel, and arranged guards to protect them from harm.
Thanks to the efforts of Ye Shuai and others, the "Eight Orders" were successfully promulgated, resisting the "Big Four" in the army and protecting many comrades. But the good times didn't last long, in February 67, Ye Jianying, Xu Xiangqian, Chen Yi and other old cadres lost their temper in Huairentang, and were seriously framed by that gang, and they were once removed from their posts and were in a difficult situation. As the director of the General Political Department, Xiao Hua worked hard to maintain order in the army, but also suffered hardships in the later period, and was removed from his post and imprisoned in early 1968. Fortunately, the general was restored to his post in his later years and served as the first political commissar of the Lanzhou Military Region and other important posts. Recalling Ye Shuai's selfless help back then, Xiao Hua is still grateful.
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