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<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="2" > urgent</h1>
In 1949, as the Platon Army marched across China, it encountered a thorny problem in Xinjiang: how to deploy rapidly in Xinjiang during the cold winter.
At that time, the military and political situation in Xinjiang was: Tao Zhiyue, commander-in-chief of the Kuomintang Xinjiang Garrison, and Bao Erhan, chairman of the provincial government, revolted, and Xinjiang declared peaceful liberation, but in fact the situation was dangerous and tense.
Outside xinjiang, Hu Zongnan repeatedly sent telegrams to his Xinjiang cronies, ordering them to resist, and also formulated a plan to destroy all towns and villages along the eastern highway of Xinjiang and turn these places into no man's land.
In Xinjiang, although the Tao Zhiyue Department had declared an uprising, its subordinate troops had a mixed structure and uneven quality, and there was a vicious act of organized robbery. In early October, the county seat of Kuqa was robbed by "rebel troops" and the county seat of Luntai county was burned and looted; in the middle of October, the "rebel troops" of Shanshan rebelled, and the 533rd Regiment of the 178th Brigade of the Hami "Rebel Force" reorganized and robbed the bank.
For a time, the whole of Xinjiang was in social turmoil. Tao Zhiyue and Bao Erhan could not control the situation, so they asked the People's Liberation Army to quickly enter Xinjiang.
A corps in Jiuquan
But how easy is it to march into Xinjiang? From Lanzhou, the nearest inland city to Xinjiang, it is also nearly 2,000 kilometers away from Urumqi.
At that time, the main forces of the First and Second Corps of the People's Liberation Army were stationed in Jiuquan, Gansu, which was the closest station to Xinjiang in Gansu. Even from here to Xinjiang, it takes a long journey of thousands of kilometers, through the Hanhai Gobi, over the iceberg snow ridge.
Even if you reach Urumqi (Dihua), it is still a long way to travel to all parts of Xinjiang. Xinjiang's territory is too vast, the distance between the two counties is hundreds of kilometers at every turn, and the concept of distance in the interior is no longer applicable here.
In the late Qing Dynasty, Zuo Zongtang led the Xiang army into Xinjiang to suppress the rebellion, which took more than two years; in 1943, the Nationalist government entered Xinjiang to take over the political power, and it took 70,000 troops two and a half years to reach Dihua, Kashgar and other places.
Moreover, Xinjiang did not have a single inch of railway at this time, the roads were bumpy, and the means of transportation were still very scarce. The PLA collected and seized only about 500 Kuomintang military trucks, most of which were in poor condition, lacked spare parts, and were unable to be used on long distances. In addition, it will enter a harsh winter, and once the wind and snow blow up, it will cause great difficulties for the marching army.
Some people have also suggested using airlift, but the newly formed PLAAF has only one flying squadron, and it is a problem in itself to be transferred to Xinjiang in a short period of time, even if it can arrive in time for transportation capacity.
After much deliberation, in early October 1949, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to request the Help of the Soviet Union in completing the task of airlifting the People's Liberation Army into Xinjiang. Wang Jiaxiang, the first ambassador of New China to the Soviet Union, urgently contacted Soviet Foreign Minister Vyshinsky and submitted a request to the Soviet side for airlift troops to enter Xinjiang. Just 4 hours later, Stalin agreed to this proposal.
The Soviet Union decided to send an aviation corps of 45 Li-2 transport aircraft to China to support it under the name of "leasing civil aviation aircraft". The two sides agreed that the Soviet Union would help the Chinese side to airlift 20,000 people and 120 tons of materials, and the Chinese side would pay 280,000 silver dollars for freight.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="16" > originated in the United States</h1>
The Soviet-2 transport aircraft may not be familiar to everyone from the name, but when it comes to its brother, the C-47 that has carried out the "Hump Route" mission, you must be familiar with it. The Ri-2 is the "Soviet version" of the C-47, and both are derived from the same model: the DC-3.
C-47
In 1936, the Soviet Union introduced a full set of drawing technology of DC-3 from the Douglas Company of the United States in the form of purchasing a production license, and began to produce it in the Soviet Union. This piston transport aircraft has a maximum speed of 325 kilometers per hour, a cruising speed of 240 kilometers per hour, a maximum range of 2650 kilometers, a ceiling of 6400 meters, a load of 7.65 tons, and a crew of nearly 20 people, which was a very advanced indicator in the 30s.
On April 11, 1936, the People's Commissariat for Defense of the USSR sent a delegation to the United States. After negotiations, the Soviet Union paid the United States $500,000 and imported drawings, documents and a large number of parts for the assembly of the aircraft from Douglas. The two sides signed a contract through the U.S.-Soviet Trading Company, and the United States officially allowed the Soviet Union to produce dc-3s domestically.
In September of the same year, the Soviet Union sent a group of experts to Douglas. Their primary task is to receive drawings and translated documents, including U.S. industrial production standards, aircraft application and pilot guidelines, raw material composition tables, and more.
Why did the United States transfer such advanced models to the Soviet Union?
First of all, there was no ideological dispute between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1930s, and the environment for the Soviet Union to introduce American technology was very relaxed. Beginning in 1934, Stalin did not shy away from acknowledging in public that the Soviet Union lagged behind the West in many respects, saying that he wanted to learn from the West to do business, "Now we learn from imperialism and develop and expand the Soviet state."
DC-3
Second, the United States in the thirties was also completely different from after World War II, not seeking political hegemony, but more keen on trade. In its attitude toward the export of Soviet technology, the United States was much more flexible and pragmatic than Britain and France, and the two sides cooperated closely in the industrial field, especially in the dual-use industrial field.
The Americans helped the Soviet Union build a modern automobile industry and export the most advanced aircraft, things that seem bizarre today were commonplace at the time.
In the mid-to-late 1930s, with the support of Stalin, all walks of life in the Soviet Union began to import technology from the West on a large scale, from trucks, tanks, communication technology to aircraft, and a vigorous movement to "learn technology from the West" was set off throughout the Soviet Union.
AMERICAN DC-3
After obtaining a full set of DC-3 drawings, specifications, prototypes, parts and process specifications, the Soviet Union began to look for suitable factories in China. After careful selection, the People's Commissariat for Defense of the USSR entrusted the production of the DC-3 to the Moscow No. 84 Aircraft Factory.
After receiving the production task, the 84th Aircraft Factory was also a bit difficult. They had never seen such a complex design and advanced aircraft as the DC-3, and there were many American and technological Soviets who had never heard of it, so it was very difficult to master, time-consuming and laborious.
In the slow process of eating through American technology, Soviet designers learned and changed. To the extent they could, they made appropriate adjustments to the American drawings, the main change being to use as much raw materials and instruments as possible from the Soviet Union.
In addition, for the simple runways of most Soviet airports, Soviet designers also strengthened the airframe structure and landing gear. The Soviet imitation DC-3 chose to use large Soviet-made wheels and newly designed landing gear struts to withstand greater loads.
At that time, some of the lathes used in the 84th Aircraft Factory were purchased from the United States, and the other part was made by the Soviet Union itself; the soviet union never produced the airborne electronic equipment, so it had to be urgently copied according to American samples.
In short, with the industrial base of the Soviet Union at that time, many difficulties were overcome in the process of imitating the DC-3. Because many products cannot be as delicate as the original Americans, the weight of the localization -2 is 140 kg more than that of the prototype.
R-2
After more than three years of absorption and digestion, the first Soviet DC-3 finally stepped off the production line, and the Soviet Union finally gradually mastered the production process of the DC-3. This airliner was first known in the Soviet Union as the PS-84 or Douglas transport aircraft, and it was not until the autumn of 1942 that the Soviet authorities officially adopted the first syllable of the name of chief engineer Risenov, naming it the "Ri-2" transport aircraft.
As soon as the new aircraft came out, it was enthusiastically sought after in the Soviet Union. In 1939, the Soviet Air Force ordered 510 aircraft, which it hoped to increase to 815 in 1943; the Ussrese Civil Aviation Administration also offered to buy 100 in January 1940.
The Li-2 transport aircraft was a relatively advanced model at that time, and the Soviet Union relied heavily on it during the Great Patriotic War. A large number of The Li-2 were used as night bombers and military transport aircraft, became the backbone of air transport, and were affectionately called "transport carriages" by Soviet soldiers, and experienced the rigorous tests of the battlefield.
Even after the advent of new transport aircraft such as the Il-14 and Il-18, the elderly Li-2 continued to be active in the Soviet Union with the trust and reliability it had earned over the years. Until the first half of the 1970s, the Li-2 was still heavily used in civil aviation, and some of them even entered service until the early 1980s.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="38" > preparation</h1>
Immediately after the signing of the Sino-Soviet troop transport agreement, Beijing immediately sent a telegram to Wang Zhen, who was in Jiuquan, to take charge of forming an airlift unit.
Wang Zhen considered that if priority is given to air transport to the southern Xinjiang region centered on Kashgar, the logistical support there is easily constrained by the Gobi beach and it is difficult to keep up, and it is useless for people to send materials. Therefore, he decided to give priority to marching to northern Xinjiang, where the living conditions were relatively good.
Wang Zhen attached great importance to air transport, set up the air transport headquarters in the corps headquarters, and coordinated with the Xinjiang provincial government, which had already revolted, to set up accommodation points in Jiuquan, Hami, and Dihua to receive Soviet crews. To please the Soviet pilots, Wang Zhen specially seconded a Russian professor and two university students from Beijing as translators, and he also used his personal connections to bring new bedding, food, tableware and Western chefs from Shanghai.
Before the arrival of the large Soviet troops, the Chinese side also needed its own pilots to make preliminary preparations and auxiliary work. To this end, Wang Zhen requested the central government to send experienced pilots to come to support, so the Central Military Commission ordered Liu Shanben, an old pilot who defected to the Liberated Areas in 1946, to lead three US-made aircraft from Beijing to Jiuquan.
Liu Shanben
Liu Shanben studied piloting a B-24 bomber in the United States in 1943, and in 1946 he was plotted by our underground party in Nanjing, and he was flown to the Liberated Areas in an uprising, and his flying skills were the best in the People's Liberation Army at that time.
When Liu Shanben arrived in Jiuquan, he took the lead in piloting a flight from Jiuquan to Xinjiang and Hami, and found out the situation of the Air Situation, Meteorology and other aspects for the Soviets in advance.
Subsequently, Liu Shanben flew from Hami to Urumqi on a test basis, inspected the airports in these three places, and set up an air transport command post. At this point, the Chinese side was ready, just waiting for the arrival of the Soviet flying troops.
However, when the Soviet Flight Brigade came to Jiuquan, an unexpected new situation occurred.
On October 19, 1949, 40-19-2s arrived in Jiuquan. At that time, the cadres in charge of fuel supply of the First Corps did not understand airplanes and did not understand the difference between aviation gasoline and automobile gasoline, so they also counted automobile gasoline into fuel reserves. It was not until a week before the start of airlift that Soviet experts noticed that the reserve fuel was seriously insufficient, so airlifting had to be temporarily stopped.
Wang Zhen immediately ordered the dispatch of 100 of the best cars, each with two drivers, to deliver Soviet-supported aviation gasoline day and night. It wasn't until October 27 that all the airlift preparations were actually completed.
At that time, almost none of the PLA soldiers had ever flown on a plane, and even a very small number of people had seen the plane. The most common aircraft seen by the fighters was the enemy aircraft that came to bomb and strafe.
In order to properly carry out airlift tasks, all units have carried out special air-board training. Because grassroots cadres have not seen or flown on airplanes, they have also made a lot of jokes.
For example, a company commander told the soldiers that the plane was like a car with wings, and that it could not eat after getting on the plane, and there was no place to go to the toilet; another company commander told the soldiers not to stick their heads and hands out of the window when flying, so that it was easy to be hung by branches; and some troops used earthen walls to simulate the plane, training the soldiers to get on and off the cabin, and engaging in soil training.
These scenes, which seem somewhat comical today, precisely reflect the high combat enthusiasm of the troops entering Xinjiang and the importance they attach to this airlift.
In order to carry out scientific training, Wang Zhen asked the Soviet crew to draw up a plane seat map and a brief picture of the cabin, which were sent to the troops step by step, so that they could seriously train and study according to the map.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="54" > successfully completed</h1>
Under normal circumstances, the Li-2 can only carry 14 passengers, but in order to improve the efficiency of air transport, Wang Zhen and the command decided to sit opposite each platoon of fighters in each cabin, close to each other, which can increase the number of people transported each time to more than 20 people.
On November 4, 1949, large-scale airlift officially began. Wang Zhen and the members of the command first flew from Jiuquan to Dihua, and in order to ensure the absolute safety of the airlift, the first to land were heavily armed garrisons. As soon as the troops left the cabin, they quickly took control of all the important facilities around the airport.
Li-2 three views
Subsequently, the transportation of large troops officially began, and the direct subordinate organs of the 6th Army headquarters and the subordinate 17th Division (except artillery) took the lead in boarding. In the process of transportation, the officers and men always maintained a high fighting spirit, and also withstood another kind of "painful" test that was completely different from the marching war.
The Ri-2 uses a propeller engine, which is noisy and the air turbulence is very strong, which makes the soldiers who fly for the first time feel very uncomfortable. Many soldiers clutched the rings on their heads, clutched the firearms in their arms with their other hand, their bodies tense, and occasionally someone changed their posture or moved their toes, and they were severely stopped by the cadres - everyone was too nervous.
There are also many fighters who believe in the rumor that "you can't go to the toilet on the plane", so they have almost no food and drink before getting on the plane. A soldier who participated in the airlift recalled that when the higher-level cadres came to mobilize, they said that each person drank one less bowl of water and ate one less steamed bun, and one company could lose hundreds of pounds, so that the plane could fly faster.
It was under such a lack of understanding that almost all the boarding personnel of the People's Liberation Army did not eat, or only drank a small half bowl of thin porridge.
Flying long distances in a propeller plane is very physically demanding, the aircraft is constantly bumping in the airflow, the soldiers are highly nervous, and they also have to carry their own weapons and equipment, so the physical exertion is very large.
At that time, it took at least three hours to fly from Jiuquan to Dihua, and sometimes it was extended by another half hour due to air currents. After arriving in Dihua, there are many troops who need to fly to Hami immediately, often flying non-stop throughout the day.
Some troops only relied on half a bowl of porridge to support a full 8 hours; many comrades were motion sickness and vomiting. People who faint without eating have a chance to suffer more, and once a vomited warrior lands, he will feel extremely hungry because of the empty stomach.
After the troops arrived in Hami, the three days of grain reserves prepared by the barracks in advance were swept away that night.
The rib-2 on a two-cent note
From November 4, 1949 to January 15, 1950, Soviet aircraft transported a total of 12,446 officers and men, 125734 tons of weapons and equipment (of which 2,908 were airlifted from Jiuquan to Hami, and 9,538 were airlifted from Hami to Dihua) Data source: "Northwest Operation"
With the support of Soviet transport aircraft, the People's Liberation Army entered all parts of Xinjiang in only 6 months in the cold winter, took over the thousand-mile border defense line, quickly quelled some riots, and restored social order in Xinjiang.
Airlift won valuable time for the large troops entering Xinjiang on foot. By March 1950, all the troops who followed on foot into Xinjiang were also stationed, and a total of 70,000 PEOPLE's Liberation Army troops entered Xinjiang within half a year.
This airlift is unprecedented in the history of the Chinese military and the only time in the history of Sino-Soviet military relations.
This "Xinjiang Large-Scale Transport" fully reflected the advantages of strategic air transport, and also made cadres at all levels of the People's Liberation Army have a strong good feeling for the Li-2 transport aircraft.
The Li-2 used by Sino-Soviet civil aviation preserved by the Aviation Museum
On March 27, 1950, China and the Soviet Union took advantage of the hot iron and signed an agreement in Moscow to establish the Sino-Soviet Aviation Joint Stock Company, training the first generation of transport aircraft pilots for New China in the form of "passing on the help belt", and China imported 16 Li-2s from the Soviet Union through this joint venture company, forming the main group of civil aviation in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and then the Air Force also imported 50 Li-2s and performed many important tasks. (End of full text)
Source: "Flying for New China - Li 2 Transport Aircraft in China", "Northwest Operation"