The founding generals of new China, who spent most of their lives in the Southern Expedition and the Northern War, walked through the years of fierce fire and smoke, and their experiences were often legendary anecdotes.
And the founding general Chen Xilian, who belongs to the well-known honesty, how honest is it? Compared with other famous generals, although there are not many hilarious anecdotes, compared with ordinary people, General Chen Xilian's experience is equally extraordinary.
Chen Xilian was born in 1915 in Gaoqiao Town, Hong'an, Hubei Province, from a poor family since childhood, when he was a child, he went to work in the landlord's home, and was always beaten by the landlord.
Chen Xilian
Enraged, Chen Xilian joined the Red Army and followed the revolutionary team in the southern expedition to the northern war.
Regarding Chen Xilian's anecdotes, take his nickname "Little Steel Cannon", in July 1930, when he was a teenager, Chen Xilian, with the Red First Division attacking Pinghan Road, under the command of Xu Xiangqian, went to fight the Fifth Regiment of the White Army's instructor.
Although the enemy's equipment far exceeded that of our army, it was caught off guard by the Red Army, and in the fierce melee, the leader told the fifteen-year-old Chen Xilian to follow behind, but Chen Xilian rushed to the front of the line with a drum.
Chen Xilian also captured civilian officials in the enemy ranks and captured a Parker pen.
In the classic battles that Xu Xiangqian commanded next, Chen Xilian also performed prominently, and every time he killed the enemy, he bravely moved forward, plus he was not very tall, so he got a nickname called "Small Steel Cannon".
In October 1933, Chen Xilian, as the regimental political commissar of the 263rd Regiment, invaded Daxian County, Sichuan, beat up the warlord Liu Cunhou, captured a large number of supplies, and made a lot of jokes.
Take wax paper, which is generally used to wrap things and play a moisture-proof role.
However, some soldiers did not know wax paper, and they could not read and write before they worked as farmers at home, but after joining the Red Army, they learned to read and read, so after capturing the wax paper, they were neatly trimmed and bound into a book, and wanted to use it as a notebook.
It is conceivable that the wax paper is slippery, and when writing on it, it naturally does not leave any handwriting, and the soldier complains: "The paper made by the reactionaries is also contaminated with reaction!" ”
Then there was the fact that someone had seized toothpaste, and he had never seen it before, so he put it in his pocket and went back to bring it to the leader, saying that he had seized the candy of the reactionaries.
When he arrived at Chen Xilian, the joke was even bigger, he came from a civilian family, and at most he had seen a few silver dollars, and as a result, after seizing a batch of gold bricks, he used them as copper ingots and did not care.
During the night rest, Chen Xilian's bed was shaky and unstable, so he remembered that the "copper ingot" seized today was picked up and put on the leg of the bed.
When he woke up in the morning, a director in charge of logistics, named Zheng Yizhai, went to the barracks to visit the soldiers, only to see Chen Xilian's legs under the bed legs, cushioned with large golden bricks.
Zheng Yizhai was shocked, so he criticized Chen Xilian and said, "How did you do it, such a valuable thing is not handed over, it is hidden under the bunk!" ”
Chen Xilian was not happy on the spot, so he retorted, "There is nothing to hide here!" It was all copper nuggets, and a number of them were thrown into the pit. Liu Cunhou's these crap, use it to cushion the bed, what a fuss! ”
Zheng Yizhai smiled bitterly and explained that he said, "This is gold, it is a golden brick!" homosexuals! ”
After saying a word, the soldiers in the barracks instantly came to the spirit.
Li Xiannian sighed and said, "Xi Lian! You, like me, have only heard of gold bricks, but you don't know that's the thing. Today was an eye-opener! ”
Chen Xilian quickly took someone and collected the copper ingots he had brought out of the bank, and then went to dig a pit of dung and fished out the gold he had thrown away.
This anecdote was widely circulated, Chen Xilian did not recognize gold in his eyes, and mistakenly treated gold bricks as copper blocks, which became a joke.
In July 1935, Chen Xilian had already become a division commander, followed Xu Forward to the South and the Northern War, and made great achievements and prestige.
Chen Xilian belonged to the well-known honest men among the generals, such as the Battle of Shentouling, which was fought by Chen Xilian's troops during the War of Resistance Against Japan.
It was March 1938, when Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping of our army formulated the tactic of encircling points and letting Chen Xilian, the commander of the 769th Regiment, lead the troops to fight on the left wing.
Chen Xilian of battlefield mobilization
Chen Xilian drew more than fifteen hundred Japanese Kou and brought them into Liu Bocheng's encirclement, the brother troops killed more than a thousand enemies and captured more than eighty people, and only more than a hundred Japanese Kou escaped from the encirclement, which was the famous ShentouLing Victory.
The 769th Regiment led by Chen Xilian was mainly responsible for creating fighters, so it did not kill the enemy, so that the results of the battle were not very prominent, and the captured materials were even less.
So many people in the regiment complained, thinking that the big guys only chewed the bones, but did not eat the enemy's flesh, which was really humiliating...
Chen Xilian did not say anything, everything obeyed the command, and Deng Xiaoping, the political commissar of the division, after learning about this incident, promised: "Next time let him eat meat, but the strength to gnaw on the bones cannot be lost!" ”
Sure enough, in the ensuing Battle of Xiangtangpu, Deng Xiaoping asked Chen Xilian's troops to "eat" a full meal of meat.
At 9:00 a.m. on March 31, 1938, devil's transport force, about one hundred and eighty large trucks, entered the ambush circle of the 129th Division.
Division commander Liu Bocheng, political commissar Deng Xiaoping, and deputy division commander Xu Xiangqian have devoted a lot of effort to this battle, and they can only win and not lose!
Xu Xiangqian and Deng Xiaoping ordered the troops in front of the ambush circle to release a hundred large trucks and enter the area where Chen Xilian had ambushed.
When the enemy entered the encirclement of our army, the leader of the 129th Division immediately gave the order and opened fire!
The meat was indeed a piece of fat, a whole hundred and eighty trucks, full of the invaders' supplies, guns and ammunition.
But the enemy also sent elites to protect this convoy, which was a major test for Chen Xilian.
The 769th Regiment had long been unable to contain the war will in its heart, and with the order of the regimental commander Chen Xilian, they rushed down the hillside and launched a series of bloody battles with the devils, destroying a hundred large trucks.
Chen Xilian (right)
In August 1940, Chen Xilian participated in the Battle of the Hundred Regiments commanded by Peng Dehuai, and he was responsible for breaking the western section of the Zhengtai Railway, and after cutting off the railway, he had to prevent the enemy from building roads.
Chen Xilian went from guerrilla warfare to position warfare now, and he braved the poisonous gas of the Japanese and fought fiercely with the enemy for six days and nights, and he cut off the Zhengtai Line with his hand and made a great contribution!
Although Chen Xilian did not have money to go to school when he was a child, he attached great importance to learning.
But then again, studying on the front line is far from enough, and practicing writing on the river beach with wooden sticks will not reach higher standards after all, so it has become inevitable to go to Yan'an to study.
In 1943, the troops led by Chen Xilian had become the fist unit of the Eighth Route Army, good at fighting hard battles and vicious battles, and with more and more outstanding cadres in the army, Chen Xilian finally had time to go to Yan'an to study.
Chen Xilian entered Yan'an in August 1943 and was arranged to study at the Central Party School to systematically master theoretical knowledge.
At the same time, Chen Geng also came to Yan'an to study, and was in the same class as Chen Xilian and in the same branch.
The relationship between the two has always been very good, but their personalities are very different, Chen Xilian belongs to the typical honest people, and Chen Geng has a lively personality.
Chen Geng, the eldest brother of Chen, Chen Xilian, the younger brother of Chen, and the younger brother, are active in various organs and departments in Yan'an.
Chen Geng became famous earlier, and he was also familiar with many leaders of the Party Central Committee, and took Chen Xilian to visit the door everywhere, and as long as he had leisure time, he would go out to visit friends and old leaders.
Chen Xilian's personality does not know how to refuse, as long as Chen Geng comes to shout, he will follow along.
However, in the process of visiting the door, I saw the fruit tree at the door of Zhu De, a large date tree, and a large apple tree.
The fruit is red and large, permeated with a harvest atmosphere, and the sweet and nourishing taste has infinite appeal to the students of the Party School.
To steal the fruit from the door of the commander-in-chief's house, Chen Xilian did not have the courage, but Chen Geng was not, and Elder Brother Chen wanted to fight the idea of fruit trees.
Zhu De lived in the cave and did not know that the fruit tree outside his door had been targeted by Er Chen, and every time Er Chen came to study, he would carefully guide him.
After Chen Geng went to Zhu De's house to study once or twice, he had figured out the terrain, so he found a long stick and took Chen Xilian with him to start the action.
According to the plan formulated by Elder Brother Chen, let Brother Chen deliberately knock on the door, and the knocking will make a banging sound, at which time Chen Geng can seize the opportunity, use the noise of knocking as a cover, and use the long stick to knock on the fruit on the tree.
When all was said and done, Chen Geng took Chen Xilian and went to visit Zhu De, not only to learn strategy and tactics, but also to eat sweet apples and dates.
Just when Chen Xilian knocked on the door, Chen Geng immediately moved his hand, and the fruit slammed down.
When Zhu De opened the door, he only saw Chen Xilian outside, so he took it into the house, but he did not know that the fruit outside the door fell to the ground.
Chen Geng saw Chen Xilian enter the house, he slowed down for a while and then went over to knock on the door, Zhu De came out to open the door, and also took Chen Geng into the house.
Chen Geng walked into the cave, and after seeing Chen Xilian, he pretended to be very surprised and asked, "Oh, Xilian old brother, you are also in the boss here?" ”
Chen Xilian was a little confused, he had never done such a thing in his life, so he echoed and responded, "Hmmm, I'm here too, and you're here too." ”
As the commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army, Zhu De began to explain a series of strategic arrangements formulated by the Central Military Commission to fight the Japanese invaders externally and prevent the reactionaries from engaging in friction internally.
Chen Geng and Chen Xilian studied for a while, bid farewell to Zhu De and walked toward the door, while Mr. Zhu was sent all the way to the door.
When the crucial moment came, Chen Geng inadvertently looked at the fruit tree in front of the door, so he said: "Boss, the fruit on your tree has fallen a lot, it is a pity." ”
Zhu De said quietly, "Since it has fallen, you should pick it up and eat it." ”
Where will Chen Geng be polite? While saying thank you to Mr. Zhu, he walked under the tree and put dates and apples in his pocket.
Chen Xilian looked at it, and finally did not hold back, and also went to the tree to learn Chen Geng's appearance, loading a lot of fruit.
After the pockets were stuffed, Er Chen smiled and said goodbye to Zhu De, and Zhu De shook hands with Er Chen and told Er Chen to study well.
Elder Brother Chen returned with a full load of Chen Little Brother, and there was a pile of fruits on the bed, this specialty of northern Shaanxi, which was crisp and sweet to eat, and it was really delicious in the world.
While enjoying the sweetness of the fruit, Chen Geng said to Chen Xilian that the commander-in-chief was so deceitful, the next time we went, we should change our clothes and change the kind with large pockets.
In this way, Chen Geng took Chen Xilian to Zhu De's house many times to study, so that after going more and more, the fruits on the two fruit trees at the door became increasingly rare.
After all, the paper wrapped in this matter could not hold the fire, and the founding general Chen Qihan, who was the secretary of the third branch at that time, quickly knew the source of Er Chen's fruit.
Chen Qihan has a frank personality, and over time he can't help it, and once when he talked to Commander-in-Chief Zhu, he quietly said: "Boss, do you know why Er Chen always visits your house?" ”
Zhu De hummed and smiled, and at this time Chen Qihan said, "Actually, it is to steal the apples from the trees in front of your house to eat!" ”
Zhu De heard this and laughed, in fact, he already knew about this matter, and responded: "Chen Geng's trick, can he still blind me?" Steal it, I can't finish eating it anyway! ”
Jude
Obviously, Zhu De had already discovered the reason why the fruit was becoming scarcer, and the reason for the fruit was not the pest and disease, but the long stick in Chen Geng's hand.
But Zhu De did not care about this matter, in his mind, the fruit is secondary, the important thing is to let Er Chen learn more, master more situations, ideas, strategies...
After Chen Qihan returned, he happened to run into Chen Geng, the eldest brother of Chen, and Chen Xilian, the younger brother of Chen, so he told the matter again.
Chen Geng and Chen Xilian, that was an embarrassment, since they learned of this matter, they did not dare to visit the commander-in-chief's home again.
However, in the Yan'an Party Central Committee, everyone looked down and did not look up, and Erchen and commander-in-chief Zhu De always had to meet.
Once, Zhu De was walking on the road and met Chen Geng and Chen Xilian head-on, and the second Chen on the other side could not hide from it, with a smile on his face, and quickly saluted and said hello.
Zhu De said, "Chen Geng, Xi Lian, why didn't you come to visit the door later?" I also want Xiao Kang to leave the fruit on the tree for a autumn, and when you come to steal it, if you don't come, they will all be ripe and fall to the ground. ”
Suddenly, Chen Geng was embarrassed in his heart, so he said, "Busy, busy studying." ”
The above is the joke that Chen Geng took Chen Xilian to pick the fruit of the commander-in-chief's house.
Erchen's interesting story in Yan'an was far more than that, when Yan'an wanted to build an airport, and Chen Geng and Chen Xilian went to volunteer labor.
Although they are famous republican generals galloping on the battlefield, when they reach the high-tech link of repairing the airport, they can only do some rough work of pulling soil.
When the work started, the two people used a car, one person pushed in the back, and one person pulled in the front, responsible for the airport mating.
The party school dormitory is far from the airport, so every day it is to push the car, and after a busy day, push the car back.
The next day, Chen Geng thought that this was too wasteful of labor, every day when he went to push a cart and a person walked, when he came back, he also pushed a cart and walked alone.
Chen Xilian was confused and did not understand what Chen Geng meant.
Chen Geng then said: "When I go to the airport to work, I push the car and you sit in the car; when you go back to the dormitory at night, you push the car and I sit on the car." ”
Chen Xilian thought that this was feasible, and did not think too much at the time, And Brother Chen was indeed very right and could save labor.
Therefore, every day when he went to work, Chen Geng pushed the car, while Chen Xilian sat in the car, and the second Chen went to the airport together. At the end of the busy day, Chen Xilian would push the car again, and Chen Geng would take the car and return to the residence of the party school.
After a few days in a row, Chen Xilian realized that he had fallen for Chen Geng! Because every day when I go to the airport, people have just woken up and eaten, so they are full of strength and can push people to walk a long way.
However, after a busy day, Chen Xilian was already tired and had sore legs, and Chen Xilian had to push Chen Geng back to the residence of the party school.
When Chen Geng sat leisurely in the car, when he returned to the party school residence, he had already eased up, and when he got out of the car, he went to visit the door everywhere.
Chen Geng was tired and tired, so he protested to Chen Geng and wanted to change the order of the two people, hoping to push Chen Geng himself when he went and Chen Geng pushed himself when he returned.
Chen Geng naturally did not agree, which was his elaborate way of "saving labor", rejected Chen Xilian's proposal, and did not care about Chen Xiaodi's protests.
After friendly consultation, when Er Chen went in the morning, Chen Xilian pushed Chen Geng and when he returned, he also pushed Chen Geng; the next day, Chen Geng pushed Chen Xilian to go, and then pushed Chen Xilian back.
In short, in the friendly exchanges between the two Chens, the airfield in Yan'an was built.
Of course, Chen Xilian's most important thing in Yan'an is to study, and this is the first time he has entered the school since he was born.
According to Chen Xilian's recollection, he wrote: "Because I marched all day to fight wars, I had very little time to study culture, and I had limited knowledge of words, so I could only read some simple telegrams and combat documents, and I could not do large articles. When I encounter words I don't know or concepts I don't understand, I take the initiative to ask my teachers or old comrades-in-arms for advice. When I was reading Chairman Mao's writings, I encountered something difficult to understand, so I asked Chairman Mao for advice..."
During this time in Yan'an, it was precisely because Chen Geng was with him that Chen Xilian met the great Mao Zedong for the first time.
According to Chen Xilian's recollection, Chen Geng had long known Mao Zedong very well, so he was not nervous; but Chen Xilian was very nervous.
Mao Zedong saw Er Chen coming to visit the door, so he got up from his chair and went to shake hands with Chen Xilian.
Mao Zedong said, "Oh, you are Chen Xilian, I have heard of your name..."
In the course of the conversation, Mao Zedong was very kind and kind, and asked Chen Xilian about his life and study.
Chen Xilian asked Chairman Mao one by one about the questions he had not understood all along, and Chairman Mao answered Chen Xilian's questions.
postscript:
Throughout Chen Xilian's life, from a poor child who was beaten and bullied by the landlords to a famous general of the Republic, he came from a humble origin and achieved brilliant achievements!
Wherever there is oppression, there will be resistance, and Chen Xilian faces the oppression of the old society, joins the ranks of the people, and takes the road of light.