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Text | Edit: Shi Zai has no money
Preface
On the eve of the National Day in 1970, the founding general Li Tianyou died peacefully in Beijing at the age of 56. This battle-hardened hero has made countless outstanding achievements on the battlefield, and his life is closely linked to the flames of war. His remains are frozen by the camera, leaving the last glimpse of the general's solemnity and majesty. The family members around him showed deep sadness and reluctance in their eyes. If General Li Tianyou was able to continue his career at such a young age, what kind of glory would he create for the country and the people? Let's take a little history to learn about it.
Li Tianyou was born on January 8, 1914, in a toiling peasant family in Lingui County, Guilin, Guangxi. The poverty of his family forced him to take on the burden of life at an early age. When he was only 8 years old, he studied at a private school in the village for two years, but due to financial constraints, he had to give up his studies and support his family instead.
His daily routine is filled with hard physical labor: he goes up the mountain in the early morning to chop firewood, in the afternoon he forages for food such as wild herbs and fern roots in the fields, and at night he weaves straw mats with his family. As a young boy, he carried more responsibilities than his years, and often traveled long distances to distant markets to sell straw mats for a small income.
In 1926, when the livelihood became more difficult, the family moved to Jinzhuao in Longsheng County, and Li Tianyou had to go into the mountains more frequently to cut wood and burn charcoal. The family was extremely poor, and in desperation, his father even sold his brother Li Tianbao to a wealthy local family in exchange for food needed for survival.
Li Tianyou's inner intolerance made him take extreme measures. He secretly traveled dozens of miles to retrieve his brother from the buyer's home, an act fraught with danger, but a demonstration of his deep affection for his family. As a result of this operation, families had to move again and be displaced.
In the spring of 1927, the family moved to Guilin. Here, in order to make ends meet, Li Tianyou used to sell firewood, flats, tofu and vegetables along the streets, and even did child labor in a rice noodle shop. Despite this, the family was still in difficulty, and his second sister was forced to marry into a water family because the family could not afford to provide for her, and she has not been heard from since.
A series of misfortunes and hardships in the family have exercised Li Tianyou's indomitable willpower. In particular, witnessing the forced betrayal of his second brother, the disappearance of his second sister, and the early death of his younger brother due to malnutrition deeply inspired his determination to leave home and find another livelihood.
In 1927, the 13-year-old boy resolutely left home and began his own journey of survival. This decision was made not only to break free from the shackles of poverty, but also to pursue a hopeful future. Although his early experience was full of hardships, it also laid a solid foundation for him to devote himself to the revolution and become a people's hero in the future.
In 1931, the Red Army and the enemy fought a fierce battle in Meihua Village, Ruyuan County, Guangdong. Despite the large number of enemies, our army only relied on the courage and strategy of being outnumbered, and Li Tianyou led his troops to fight hard to kill the enemy, and achieved great killing results. In this battle, our army paid the price of the lives of more than 600 soldiers, and Li Tianyou himself was hit 3 times in the battle of the big knife and fell to the ground with serious injuries.
The correspondent found the comatose Li Tianyou on the battlefield, and while everyone was mourning, Li Tianyou woke up unexpectedly, and his strong will and indomitable spirit inspired the whole army, so he was known as the "little tiger".
In 1932, Li Tianyou was wounded again in the battle of Ganzhou, but after he recovered from his injuries, he quickly returned to the battlefield and was promoted to the deputy commander of the 58th Regiment of the Red Seventh Army, and later served as the regiment commander, showing outstanding military leadership. In the fourth anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign, he led his troops to win many victories, including the battles of Huangpi and Caotaigang, and defeated three divisions of the Kuomintang army.
In 1933, as the commander of the 53rd Regiment of the 5th Division, Li Tianyou, under the command of Peng Dehuai, his troops successively conquered Quanshangbao, liberated Pengkou in Fujian Province, and annihilated the 78th Division of the 19th Route Army of the Kuomintang. In mid-August, Li Tianyou's troops and the 366th Regiment of the Kuomintang 19th Route Army encountered halfway up the mountain in Xiqin, Nanping County. The opponent is well-armed and has strong combat effectiveness.
Li Tianyou was well aware of the difficulty of this battle, he carefully arranged the strategy, through a series of precise military deployments, he personally led a battalion to charge in the battle, although the commander of the first battalion Zhao Bi died heroically, but Li Tianyou's command inspired the morale of the soldiers, and finally achieved the encirclement and annihilation of the enemy. This battle became a model in the history of the Red Army.
In 1934, Li Tianyou was promoted to commander of the Red Fifth Division. In the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" battle of Gao Hu Brain, although his left hand was injured, he still stuck to the command, led the troops to withstand the enemy's many fierce attacks, and demonstrated extraordinary decision-making and perseverance.
During the Long March in October, Li Tianyou led the Red Fifth Division to fight in Guanyang Xinwei, Guangxi, and won more with less, covering the central government to cross the Xiangjiang River. In the face of the extremely disparity in equipment, under the continuous bombardment of the Kuomintang army, the troops paid great sacrifices, and many senior commanders died heroically, and the troops suffered heavy losses.
During those difficult days, Li Tianyou led the remnants of the troops to hold their positions, and with endless courage and firm faith, they ensured the safe evacuation and strategic transfer of the Red Army and the inheritance of the revolutionary fire. After the battle in November 1935, Li Tianyou was appointed deputy commander of the Red Second Division, during which the division commander was Liu Yalou and the political commissar was Xiao Hua.
After that, Li Tianyou began a new military career under the guidance of Lin Biao. In the ensuing Eastern Crusade, Li Tianyou performed well and took the initiative to ask to join the front-line troops in the battle. Under his leadership, the 5th Regiment of the 2nd Red Division successfully inflicted heavy losses on the 2nd column of the Jin Sui Army, highlighting his military command ability.
In May 1938, illness forced him to leave the front line and go to Yan'an and Xi'an for medical treatment, but because his condition did not improve, he was sent to Moscow for treatment in June 1939, while studying at the Frunze Military Academy.
Although Lin Biao was also treated in the Soviet Union, Li Tianyou did not relax his studies and recuperation. In 1941, he attempted to return from Outer Mongolia via Suiyuan, but had to return due to the Japanese blockade. Although Lin Biao criticized him for being too cautious, he was actually forced by the situation.
Until 1943, Li Tianyou disguised himself as a businessman, went through hardships and dangers, and finally returned to Yan'an, returning to the battlefield after a seven-year parting. However, the pattern of the war had changed, and he was placed in the rear as chief of staff of the North Manchurian Military Region and commander of the Songjiang Military Region, although these positions did not give full play to his front-line command skills.
According to the recollection of his son Li Yaning, during his tenure in the Songjiang Military Region, Li Tianyou skillfully avoided a potential catastrophe. When he went out with a senior general to survey the terrain, Li Tianyou, relying on his military intuition and accurate grasp of the terrain, had a hunch that the river behind the village might become a strategic disadvantage. He insisted on evacuating at night, a decision that prevented the ensuing bandit attack.
At the end of 1949, with the complete liberation of Guangxi, Li Tianyou was appointed deputy commander of the Guangxi Military Region, shouldering the heavy task of reorganizing order. Guangxi, an area that had been controlled by the Kuomintang Gui faction for a long time, was extremely chaotic in the early days of liberation, with spies and bandits running rampant in the countryside.
In 1950, just after New Year's Day, Zhong Zupei, commander-in-chief of the Kuomintang anti-communist National Salvation Army, incited the people to create a riot in Gongcheng. Li Tianyou quickly mobilized his troops, and with the support of friendly forces in Hunan, he successfully quelled the chaos in Gongcheng and captured the mastermind Zhong Zupei. However, this victory did not completely eradicate the problem.
Soon after, larger riots broke out in Yulin, Liuzhou and other places in Guangxi. Li Tianyou commanded thousands of troops and launched a three-month fierce anti-bandit operation. In just a few months, they eliminated nearly 40,000 bandits and dispersed more than 50,000 people, greatly weakening the bandits' power.
In August 1950, Chairman Mao severely criticized Guangxi Province for its efficiency in suppressing bandits, pointing out the weakness and mistakes in the policies of the provincial party committee. Although Li Tianyou had military talents, the leniency policy of the provincial party committee led to the easy release of many bandit leaders after they were arrested, making it difficult to thoroughly suppress the bandits.
In order to change this situation, Chairman Mao sent another telegram in November of the same year, demanding that the Guangxi Provincial Party Committee completely eliminate the bandits by May of the following year. This telegram is not only an expectation of Li Tianyou, but also a stern warning to the Guangxi Provincial Party Committee, which clearly states that it is necessary to improve the leadership style and strictly implement the instructions of the central authorities.
In the following months, Li Tianyou intensified his military operations and reorganized and strengthened his strategy of suppressing bandits. In particular, he emphasized working with local governments and the population to enhance intelligence-gathering and rapid response capabilities, while cracking down on bandit gangs that reoffend. Through these measures, Guangxi's public order has gradually improved, which not only laid the foundation for Guangxi's long-term stability, but also added a new page to Li Tianyou's personal military career.
In 1952, Li Tianyou was diagnosed with acute nephritis. In the face of illness, he relied on the training and tenacity of his many years of military career, and believed that he could withstand this test of health. Having escaped death on the battlefield countless times in the past, he did not pay enough attention to the severity of acute nephritis, and was in the midst of a stressful period at the time, so he decided to postpone treatment and continue to devote himself to his busy schedule.
Then some people will definitely ask, why Li Tianyou, who has made great achievements in war, has been unknown after the founding of the People's Republic of China, in fact, it is because Li Tianyou temporarily left the front line due to illness during the Anti-Japanese War, and then went to the Soviet Union for further study. Although Li Tianyou's studies in the Soviet Union enriched his knowledge of military theory and tactics, it also created a reputation gap between him and the generals who frequently won on the battlefield.
After returning to China, although he made achievements in the Northeast Battlefield, several defeats in the Battle of Siping showed that his record was not so glamorous, especially compared with famous generals such as Lin Biao, whose brilliant achievements in the Northeast almost overshadowed the brilliance of other generals. Although Li Tianyou's military career was fruitful, his contribution seems to be overshadowed by Lin Biao's dazzling performance.
In addition, Luo Rongheng's political work and logistics were equally critical to Siye's success, but in the shadow of grand strategists such as Lin Biao, generals like Luo Rongheng and Li Tianyou were often not well known to the wider public. Li Tianyou's role after the founding of the People's Republic of China was relatively small, he failed to command major battles or hold important military region positions, and he did not participate in major historical events, all of which limited his popularity in history.
By the end of 1969, Li Tianyou's health had not improved, but was showing signs of further deterioration, despite long-term treatment. The results of the examination showed that his urine protein increased substantially, the number of red blood cells in his blood dropped sharply, and his physical condition deteriorated.
Despite repeated admonitions from his family and doctors to the need for a thorough rest, a formal order to take a leave of absence was delayed due to the lack of knowledge of his illness from his superiors. Du Qiyuan, Li Tianyou's wife, is well aware of her husband's suffering and the seriousness of his condition. For this reason, she decided to intervene personally in January 1970 and directly contacted her superiors to explain Li Tianyou's actual situation.
Du Qiyuan's insistence eventually prompted the issuance of the leave order. However, when Li Tianyou underwent a more comprehensive physical examination, the diagnosis given by the doctor was extremely heavy: "With the current medical conditions, his condition would not have deteriorated to such a point. But now, even with the best treatment, it is difficult to reverse the deterioration of the condition. I'm afraid he won't last long.
This news was like a bolt from the blue for Du Qiyuan, and he had mixed feelings in his heart. Her husband, who had experienced life and death on the battlefield, is now facing an inescapable end of life. Faced with this reality, she knew that she had to be stronger and provide Li Tianyou with as much care and support as possible.
Even after receiving the rest order, Li Tianyou's personality made it difficult for him to stay at home quietly. His sense of responsibility still drives him to keep an eye on what's going on in the outside world and try to continue to contribute to the best of his ability. Du Qiyuan and the doctors had to take more careful care of him, trying to delay the further deterioration of his condition, and despite the difficult road ahead, they faced an inevitable future together.
Among the founding generals, Li Desheng, Chen Zaidao, Ding Sheng, Huang Yongsheng, Zhang Aiping, Teng Haiqing and others not only performed significantly during the war, but their participation in subsequent major political movements also greatly enhanced their popularity. These experiences, for better or worse, have given the public a deeper understanding of them. By contrast, Li Tianyou's untimely death in 1970 missed the culmination of China's political and social upheaval in the decades that followed, and his story seemed to come to an early end.
Li Tianyou's early death means that he failed to witness the political promotion of veteran cadres in the 1980s. For example, his deputy Yang Yong during the Anti-Japanese War was promoted to secretary of the Secretariat of the Central Committee in 1982, reaching a high position at the level of deputy state; Hong Xuezhi, who has a similar status to Li Tianyou, was appointed vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in 1990, which is also an important position at the vice national level.
If Li Tianyou had lived longer, his position and status might have been even more prominent, given his military and political talents and contributions. This "what if" is purely hypothetical, but it is not difficult to imagine that in the Chinese political arena, Li Tianyou's influence and popularity may rival or even surpass that of his peers.