In 1955, Chen Geng was awarded the rank of general, while Xu Xiangqian, who was also a classmate of the first phase of Huangpu, was a marshal, and even the younger students of the fourth phase were marshals.
Some people who didn't think it was a big deal to watch the excitement deliberately ridiculed Chen Geng, saying: "Chen Geng, you were one of the three heroes of Huangpu back then, why can't you even catch up with the fourth phase of the apprentices now?" ”
Chen Geng knew that this was someone else making fun of him, so instead of getting angry, he proudly said to them: "My general is even more powerful than the marshal!" ”
Everyone thought he was bragging again this time, but they didn't believe it, Chen Geng said: "You go to check the military history, when I was the division commander in Hubei, Henan and Anhui, Xu Laohu, Monk Xu, and the small steel cannon Chen Xilian, are they all my subordinates?" ”
Xu Laohu refers to Xu Haidong, the general ranking is ahead of Chen Geng, and Monk Xu refers to Xu Shiyou, he and Chen Xilian were both generals in 1955.
In this way, Chen Geng, a general, is indeed more powerful than a marshal, and these three are all from the 12th Division of the Red Fourth Army.
On November 7, 1931, the Red Fourth Front Army was established in Qiliping, Huang'an, Hubei, under the jurisdiction of the Red Fourth Army and the Red 25th Army. The Red Fourth Army was the main force of the Red Fourth Front Army, with the commander-in-chief Xu Xiangqian concurrently serving as the commander, under the jurisdiction of the 10th, 11th and 12th divisions, and the three division commanders were Ni Zhiliang, Wang Shusheng and Chen Geng.
Chen Geng's Red 12th Division was under the jurisdiction of the 34th Regiment, the 35th Regiment and the 36th Regiment, the commander of the 34th Regiment was Xu Shiyou, the commander of the 35th Regiment was Gao Shaoxian, the commander of the Red 36th Regiment was Xu Haidong, and Chen Xilian was still a small squad leader of the Red 12th Division at that time.
There is not much information about Gao Shaoxian, the commander of the 35th Regiment, he is a native of Huang'an, Hubei, born in 1907, and is also a fierce general, but he died in the Battle of Huang'an in 1932, so he is not well known.
Xu Shiyou, the head of the 34th Regiment, and Xu Haidong, the head of the 36th Regiment, are very famous.
Xu Shiyou was born in Shaolin, is a practitioner, a big knife dances elusively, it is said that he also served as the captain of the death squad when he was a military commander.
Xu Shiyou can not only fight, but also has a very high emotional intelligence, Commander-in-Chief Xu likes it, Chairman Zhang and Political Commissar Chen also appreciate him very much, and specially approve Xu Shiyou to drink openly in the army, because they all know that Commander Xu never delays things when he drinks.
When Xu Shiyou and Chen Geng met for the first time, they were a little unhappy, what happened?
At the beginning of his post, Chen Geng went down to the company to inspect it, and because he was parachuted into the Red 12th Division as a division commander, many officers and soldiers did not know him.
At that time, the Red 34 Regiment was training. Under the leadership of the regiment commander Xu Shiyou, the soldiers brandished heavy broadswords, and between the flashes of the knife, accompanied by a loud shout of "ha, ha", the momentum was majestic and immense, and this scene suddenly attracted Chen Geng, who was inspecting.
Chen Geng is a general, and he has been practicing martial arts with his ancestors since he was a child, and he has a lot of experience in swordsmanship. At this moment, he saw that the soldiers of the 34th Regiment were very level, and he couldn't help but admire: "Okay!" ”
Xu Shiyou was practicing happily, and when he saw being pointed at by others, he stopped, stepped forward and yelled at Chen Geng: "Wearing glasses, what are you pointing at here?" Don't bother with our training! ”
At this time, someone quietly told Xu Shiyou, saying, "He is the new Master Chen Geng." ”
Chen Geng walked directly in front of Xu Shiyou, and deliberately reproached with a straight face: "The division commander is here, why don't you report it!" ”
In fact, Xu Shiyou has long heard of Chen Geng's name. He knew that this high-achieving student in the first phase of Huangpu was not only a famous general of the Central Special Branch, but also a martial arts family with strong martial arts. Therefore, when he learned that Chen Geng was going to serve as the commander of the 12th Division, Xu Shiyou's heart was already full of expectations.
So, Xu Shiyou quickly stood upright, saluted Chen Geng, and reported in a loud voice: "Report to the division commander, the 34th regiment is practicing knife techniques, please review it from the division commander!" ”
Chen Geng originally had a plan and wanted to scare Xu Shiyou, but seeing his bold expression and exuding a sense of innocence, he suddenly felt love in his heart, and couldn't help laughing out loud, and asked Xu Shiyou: "Your sword skills are well practiced, what kind of knife skills are you?" ”
Xu Shiyou replied: "Report to the division commander, it's the Shaolin Liuhe knife!" ”
Chen Geng nodded yes, and then asked, "Then who taught it?" ”
Xu Shiyou said: "Report to the teacher, this is what I taught!" ”
Subsequently, Xu Shiyou described his experience in Shaolin in detail, Chen Geng nodded frequently after listening, patted Xu Shiyou's shoulder and exclaimed: "It turns out that you are a Shaolin lineage!" No wonder you have won many victories on the battlefield, it turns out that you are blessed by the Buddha! ”
After that, Chen Geng also solemnly chanted "Amitabha".
Everyone present laughed, Xu Shiyou was also in a much more relaxed mood, he never thought that this highly respected teacher Chen Geng would be so humorous, not pretentious, and very angry with him.
When Chen Geng was a division commander in the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Region, he fought with Hu Zongnan and Li Mo'an, his classmates in the first phase of Huangpu, and he did not fall behind, and he almost captured alive Tang Enbo, who was an instructor and student captain of the sixth phase of Huangpu.
Therefore, in September 1932, Chen Geng was promoted to chief of staff of the Red Fourth Front Army. However, it was not long before he wounded his right leg in the battle and had to leave the army for treatment in Shanghai, and then to the Central Soviet District.
Before the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Chen Geng was briefly transferred to the Red 31st Army as the commander, and the predecessor of the Red 31st Army was the Red 12th Division where Chen Geng served as the division commander during the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Region. Therefore, when the Red 31st Army was reorganized into the 129th Brigade of the 386th Division of the Eighth Route Army, Chen Geng naturally became the brigade commander.
In October 1938, Xu Shiyou, who graduated from Kang University, was appointed deputy commander of the 386 Brigade. At first, Xu Shiyou was very reluctant, he was used to being alone, and with his ability, it was more than enough to be a brigade commander, so why should he be a deputy to others.
However, when he heard that the brigade commander of the 386 Brigade was Chang Chen Geng, Xu Shiyou readily agreed, saying that it was a great honor to be the deputy of the teacher.
The commander of the 36th regiment, Xu Haidong, was no less brave than Xu Shiyou, and he was nicknamed "Xu Laohu". The reactionaries' bounty on him reached an astonishing 250,000 yuan, tied with Chairman Mao and President Zhu.
Xu Haidong is also a practitioner, in his early years, he had the true biography of Fan Qingfeng, the successor of Baguazhang, and learned to swim in the Bagua Palm, and he was also a master of using knives.
Whenever he fought, Xu Haidong always liked to pick up the big knife and take the lead in charging forward, which made Chen Geng, who was the division commander, anxious. For this reason, Chen Geng did not educate Xu Haidong a lot, and always said to him: "Bullets will kill people, and it eats meat." ”
Sure enough, Xu Haidong hung up in the follow-up battle and was admitted to the hospital. Chen Geng went to the hospital to see him and asked teasingly: "Is the bullet a vegetarian or a meat?" ”
Unexpectedly, Xu Haidong said: "I don't eat vegetarian food, I don't eat meat, it's bones." After hearing this, Chen Geng laughed, but he didn't expect this Xu Laohu to be quite humorous.
However, if Xu Haidong doesn't take the lead in the charge, he will not be "Xu Laohu". After every battle, Xu Haidong was covered in blood, both his own and the enemy's, so frightened that the nurses didn't dare to come forward to help him bandage.
In the winter of 1932, Xu Haidong led two regiments to encounter two divisions of the enemy, and the situation was critical. The suggestion of the two regiment commanders was that there was a huge disparity between the strength of the enemy and us, and the heroes should not suffer immediate losses, but should retreat first, and it was important to preserve their strength.
As soon as Xu Haidong heard that he was going to withdraw, he couldn't help but be angry, and in his dictionary, there was no word "preserve strength" at all.
Immediately, Xu Haidong issued an order and decided to eat this group of enemies, and the two regiment commanders each led a regiment to outflank them from both sides, and he personally led a special agent company to attack from the front.
At that time, it was snowing heavily in the sky, and the wind was cold, Xu Haidong didn't care about God's business, he immediately took off his cotton clothes and cotton pants, and only one pair of pants was left, and he rushed out first with a big knife.
When the soldiers saw that Xu Haidong was so brave, their morale was immediately encouraged, and everyone was not ambiguous, they took off their cotton clothes and pants one after another, and rushed out with him.
The enemy had never seen this kind of fighting, and soon the morale of the army collapsed, and after a while, they rushed away, and the two divisions were beaten to pieces, and our army won a complete victory.
In mid-April 1934, the Red 28th Army and the Red 25th Army were combined to form the new Red 25th Army, with Xu Haidong as the commander and Wu Huan as the political commissar. Even so, Xu Haidong still did not change the habit of taking the lead in the charge, so the combat effectiveness of the Red 25th Army was very strong, and the momentum on the Long March was like a bamboo, and after arriving in northern Shaanxi, the number of people not only decreased, but also increased a lot.
It is worth mentioning that Xu Haidong has a strong party spirit and never cares about the level of his position, which can be reflected in two things.
In June 1934, the Party Central Committee sent Cheng Zihua to work in the Red 25th Army, and his superiors meant to let him serve as the chief of staff of the Red 25th Army to assist Xu Haidong.
After Cheng Zihua arrived, he expressed the intention of his superiors to the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Provincial Party Committee, but Xu Haidong insisted on giving up the post of army commander to Cheng Zihua and reappointed himself as deputy army commander.
Xu Haidong said: "Comrade Cheng Zihua is a top student of Huangpu, he is stronger in military theory than me, he also participated in the Guangzhou Uprising, and he has more experience in revolutionary struggle than me. ”
Cheng Zihua couldn't shirk the blame, so he had to take office. However, Xu Haidong's prestige in the Red 25th Army was too high, and the army commander suddenly became a deputy commander, and the officers and soldiers of the Red 25th Army couldn't figure it out.
Xu Haidong had no choice but to come out to do the work in person, he said to everyone: "I am voluntarily demoted, I am addicted to war, drinking, but not an official, if I am an official but not let me fight, I might as well be a platoon commander!" ”
After the Red 25th Army arrived in northern Shaanxi after the victory of the Long March, it was combined with the local Red Army to form the Red 15th Army Corps, with Xu Haidong as the commander, Cheng Zihua as the political commissar, and Liu Zhidan as the deputy commander.
Later, the Central Red Army also arrived in northern Shaanxi, and Xu Haidong saw Peng Dehuai, and immediately stated that the Red 15th Army Corps obeyed the commander-in-chief Peng and the central command.
When Chairman Mao wrote a letter to borrow money from the Red 15th Army, Xu Haidong did not say a word, and spent 5,000 from 7,000 oceans to the Central Red Army, and also drew a light machine gun from each company to support the Central Red Army.
Chairman Mao praised him on many occasions: "Xu Haidong is the best Communist Party member, and he is a person who has made great contributions to the Chinese revolution." ”
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Xu Haidong served as the commander of the 344th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army. Not long after, he fell ill on the front line due to physical reasons, so he missed most of the Anti-Japanese War and later the Liberation War.
Even so, Chairman Mao still insisted on awarding Xu Haidong the rank of general, and he wanted to rank second among generals, second only to Su Yu.
At this moment, Xu Haidong surpassed Chen Geng, but Chen Geng felt that it was nothing, but he was proud, after all, he had been Xu Haidong's division commander. The old subordinate has surpassed himself now, and his face is also bright.
Chen Geng said: "The most glorious thing in my life is to be the leader of Xu Haidong for a few days. He is the famous 'Xu Laohu', I led him, he didn't bite me, but he helped me fight many tough battles. ”
As for Chen Xilian, his later achievements were great, surpassing the old chief Chen Geng.
When Chen Geng was the division commander, Chen Xilian was still a small squad leader in the Red 12th Division, and there was no intersection between them.
Chen Xilian, nicknamed "Little Steel Cannon", also likes to take the lead in the charge when he fights, and became the political commissar of the Red 11th Division at the age of 23.
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Chen Geng served as the commander of the 386th Brigade, and Chen Xilian was the commander of the 769th Regiment of the 385th Brigade.
In May 1938, the 769th Regiment was expanded into the new 385 Brigade, and Chen Xilian was promoted to brigade commander, on an equal footing with the old leader Chen Geng.
Chen Xilian is able to write and martial arts, and is deeply appreciated by Chief Liu Deng, and even Political Commissar Deng praised him as a general and can fight.
In February 1949, the 34-year-old Chen Xilian was appointed commander of the Third Corps of Erye, once again on the same level as the old chief Chen Geng.
In 1955, Chen Xilian was awarded the rank of general, and served as commander of artillery, commander of the Shenyang Military Region, commander of the Beijing Military Region, and was entrusted by Chairman Mao in 1976 to briefly preside over the daily work of the Central Military Commission.