In the early 1960s, the U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft on the opposite shore frequently entered the northwest of China for deep reconnaissance, and its flight altitude could reach more than 20,000 meters. At that time, the People's Liberation Army's anti-aircraft guns and fighters could not reach this height, and the few SAM-2 surface-to-air missiles were used to protect the safety of the capital, and they were relatively bulky and inconvenient to maneuver.
In order to crush the enemy's threat, Liu Yalou, then commander of the Air Force, asked the central authorities to draw some forces from near the capital and overcome many difficulties to ambush the missiles on the reconnaissance route of the enemy planes. On September 9, 1962, the enemy U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft was shot down for the first time.
However, the enemy's reconnaissance activities did not stop. Between March and September 1963, enemy aircraft arrived three times near the ambush area of the PLA surface-to-air missile unit, but they were always able to change course in time and escape the attack. After the analysis of the troops, the enemy found out the working frequency of our army through electronic reconnaissance, installed an electronic early warning system, and turned around and left after our army turned on the guided radar antenna for 20 seconds.
In view of the new enemy situation, the central authorities instructed that the enemy plane should be shot down by technical means, and to this end the relevant departments organized technical experts to begin to study a new combat plan. The first set of plans summed up is not to give the enemy time to react: First, the enemy aircraft is close enough to the ambush area to open the guided radar; second, the missile launch time is greatly reduced.
With this scheme, the PLA shot down two more U-2 aircraft on 29 October 1963 and 7 July 1964. However, after the successful explosion of China's first atomic bomb, enemy aircraft began to frantically reconnoiter the northwest region, and the three missiles launched by our army on November 26 did not hit the target.
The technical department once again summed up the lessons, speculating that the enemy had installed a new electronic jamming system and released false signals to deceive the radar. The magic is one foot high, and the technical experts have developed a new anti-deception system. Subsequently, our surface-to-air missile unit shot down the U-2 aircraft twice. Since then, U-2 aircraft have never dared to come to the mainland to reconnoiter.
Shoot down the U-2 aircraft
The person who led the "shooting down of the enemy plane by technical means" was none other than Wang Yi, a founding lieutenant general and then minister of the Fourth Ministry of Machinery Industry. He also has a little-known identity - a Whampoa 6th class student and a lieutenant operator in the Nationalist Army.
Why would a junior officer of the Nationalist army become a senior general in the People's Liberation Army? What kind of contribution did he make to the cause of the revolution?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="10" > more than catching Zhang Huizhan</h1>
Originally known as Wu Renjian, Wang was born in 1909 in Wujin, Jiangsu Province. His father worked as a small official for several years and also taught private schools, and under the influence of his father, Wang Yi received a good education from an early age and was very concerned about national affairs.
Later, Wang Yi transferred to Wuxi Luqu Middle School, and every day a steamship came back from the city to deliver newspapers to several shops in the town. In order to understand the current affairs, Wang Yi negotiated with the boatman that he would deliver the newspaper to the subscribers for free, and he just took the opportunity to read the news in the newspaper.
Wang Was very well informed and developed a keen interest in progressive things such as the Three People's Principles, the Whampoa Military Academy, and the overthrow of the great powers. He also gradually understood that at that time, China was bullied by the great powers outside and plagued by warlords on the inside, and only a new revolution could save the country.
After graduating from high school, Wang Yi was admitted to the Kuomintang Military Technical School in Nanjing and began to study radio communication technology. A few months later, the school was merged into the Central Military Academy, which belonged to the 6th Phase of Whampoa. At that time, the first Kuomintang-Communist cooperation broke down, and the old Chiang Kai-shek was mobilizing heavy troops to "encircle and suppress" the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army.
The front line needed communications technicians, and Wang left the school early in February 1929, was assigned to the 6th Division of the Nationalist Army, and was later transferred to the 18th Division as a telegrapher, and was promoted from the rank of second lieutenant to lieutenant.
Chairman Mao once filled in a poem, and the upper gap was: "The sky is red with frost, and the heavenly soldiers are angry." The fog was full of Longgang Qianling, and in unison, Zhang Huizhen was caught in front of him. ”
Zhang Huizhen in the word is the commander of the 18th Division of the Nationalist Army. It was December 1930, when Lao Jiang personally went to Nanchang and mobilized more than 100,000 troops to launch the first major "encirclement and suppression" of the Central Soviet Region. Zhang Huizhan served as the commander-in-chief of the right column front, and led the 18th And 50th Division as the main force of the "encirclement and suppression" to attack the Soviet area.
The Red Army adopted the strategy of "luring the enemy to go deeper" and led the enemy army around in circles in the Soviet area, and Zhang Huizhan went deep into the Longgang area alone to grab the head and entered the ambush circle of the Red Army.
On December 30, Zhang Huizhan's vanguard met the 7th Division of the Red 3rd Army led by Huang Gongluo, and the Battle of Longgang began. The Red Army then encircled the enemy, cutting off its retreat and reinforcement routes. When Zhang huizhan found that the situation was not good, he tried to break through and escape, but the Red Army soon caught up with his division headquarters.
In this battle, the Red Army completely annihilated the enemy's 18th Division and captured the division commander Zhang Huizhen. To Zhu De and Mao Zedong's surprise, they captured a radio station and captured the station's director, Li Sanmao, and several radio operators.
Wang Defamation
At first, the operators were so frightened that they didn't even dare to say their names. Zhu De and Mao Zedong sent Guo Huaruo, chief of the Red Army's General Staff, to talk to them one by one and publicize the party's policies, hoping that they would stay and serve the Red Army.
Of course, the Red Army also offered extremely generous treatment. According to the rank of the technical allowance, the lieutenant each received 50 silver dollars per month, and could also enjoy the treatment of horseback riding. Although this treatment is not as good as that of the National Army, it should be known that ordinary Red Army soldiers only have 3 copper plates per day.
Guo Huaruo finally added: "If you don't want to stay, we will also issue a route to let them go home in accordance with the Red Army prisoner policy." Several operators were impressed by the sincerity of the Red Army, and as soon as Guo Hua finished speaking, Wang Yi first raised his hand and expressed his willingness to stay. In the end, except for Taiwan commander Li Sanmao, they were all willing to join the Red Army.
Just four days after Wang Yi and others joined the Red Army, Mao Zedong and Zhu De personally received these telegraph operators in an auditorium in Xiaobu. Mao Zedong talked about the essential difference between the ranks of the Red Army and the White Army, encouraged them to serve the masses of workers and peasants, and said: "In the future, when the revolution is victorious, the radio stations of the whole country will be under your control." Zhu De said: "The White Army has it, we will have it in the future, and if not, the White Army will send it." ”
Although Wang Yi and others may not have been able to fully understand the speeches of the two leaders at that time, they were touched by the approachable and eager style of the Leaders of the Red Army, and unanimously expressed their determination to do a good job with all their might.
Why did the Red Army give such a high deal to a few operators? Because at that time the Red Army did not have radio stations, let alone technicians who understood radio. Poor communication has affected operational command. Just a few months ago, the Red First and Third Armies besieged Changsha, and due to poor communication, they missed the best fighter and ultimately failed to conquer it.
At that time, the Red Army had also captured the enemy's radio station when attacking The city of Wenjia in Liuyang, but the Red Army soldiers did not know what it was, and dismantled and destroyed it out of curiosity. Subsequently, the central authorities repeatedly ordered that attention should be paid to collecting enemy radio stations and not allowing damage.
However, the transmitter of the radio station captured in the Battle of Longgang was still destroyed, and Wang Yi found that only the receiver was left after inspecting it, saying that it could only be used temporarily to listen to news reports at home and abroad. Wang Yi and other newspaper clerks sent excerpts of important reports to the leaders for reference, and Guo Huaruo gave the data a name called "Reference News", which is the predecessor of "Reference News".
Fortunately, shortly after Zhu and Mao received Wang Yi and others, good news came from the front that the Red Army had captured a 15-watt radio station in the Battle of Dongshao. This radio station was preserved in its entirety, and from then on the Red Army had a half-radio station. The Red Army thus established a radio communications team, with Wang Yi as the captain.
Guo Huaruo
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="32" > contributed to our army's first radio communication</h1>
After a period of contact, Wang Yi found that the officers and men of the Red Army were equal, and the soldiers lived a hard and simple life, had high morale, and shared common beliefs. This is fundamentally different from the intrigue and struggle for power and profit in the White Army. These phenomena further changed Wang's thinking, and he took the initiative to write to the central government, asking for the abolition of the allowance.
In April 1931, not to be outdone, Chiang Kai-shek mobilized 200,000 troops to launch a second "encirclement and suppression" campaign against the Central Soviet Region. This time, the Red Army still adopted the strategy of "enticing the enemy to go deeper", and because the enemy did not know that the Red Army had a radio station, it actually used clear codes to communicate.
On May 12, Wang Overheard that the radio station of the enemy's 28th Division was in contact with the Ji'an Left Guard. The divisional radio station said: "We are now stationed in Tomita and will leave tomorrow morning." Ji'an Radio asked, "Where are you going?" The division headquarters radio replied: "Donggu." ”
Donggu was the headquarters of the Red Army at that time, Mao Zedong and Zhu De judged that the enemy army was going to attack Donggu, and through the information they had heard, they figured out their number and strength, decided to ambush the enemy in Donggu, and deployed troops overnight to occupy the terrain of Donggu.
In the early morning of the next day, the enemy did indeed enter Donggu. The Red Army caught it off guard by a surprise attack, which completely annihilated the enemy's 28th Division and most of a brigade of the 47th Division. Subsequently, the Red Army became more and more courageous in the war, and achieved a record of total victory in 5 battles, and The second "encirclement and suppression" of old Chiang was also crushed.
Chairman Mao happily filled in a heroic poem: "On the fifteenth day of driving seven hundred miles, the Ganshui River was vast and the Mountains were blue, and the thousand armies swept through like a sweep. ”
During the Battle of Donggu, the Red Army captured another 100-watt radio station, and by this time the Red Army already had two and a half radio stations. Wang Yi arranged the radio, with him and Wu Yunfu leading a 15-watt radio station to follow Zhu and Mao in the front line to command the battle, while some personnel with a 100-watt radio followed Ye Jianying to stay in the rear.
In this way, it is convenient to keep abreast of the situation of the battle on the front line, which is the first time in the history of our army that radio communications have been realized.
At the end of June, the radio station led by Wang Yi detected another important piece of information - the enemy army planned to launch an attack on the Southern Jiangsu Region while the main force of the Red Army was attacking eastern And western Fujian. This was the third major "encirclement and suppression" launched by Chiang Kai-shek, mobilizing 300,000 heavy troops and hiring military advisers from Britain, Japan, Germany, and other countries.
After Mao Zedong and Zhu De received the information, they immediately ordered the Red First and Third Armies to return to Gannan. Adopting the operational policy of "avoiding the enemy's main force and fighting its weakness," it annihilated more than 30,000 enemy personnel in 6 battles and 5 victories, and smashed the enemy's third "encirclement and suppression."
In this campaign, the Red Army captured 6 more radio stations, and the Radio Power of the Red Army was further enhanced. During the First National Congress of the Chinese Soviets held on November 7, Wang Used the captured 100-watt radio station to establish our army's first radio station, the predecessor of Xinhua News Agency.
Radio stations used by the Red Army
At the celebration of the "August 1st" Founding Day held in 1933, Wang Yi, Chen Yi, Luo Ruiqing, Zhang Yunyi and others were awarded the "Second Class Red Star Medal". In January 1934, the Communications and Liaison Bureau of the Central Military Commission was established (later renamed the Third Bureau), with Wang Yi as its director. Soon after, he was introduced by Wu Yunfu to the party.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="46" > played a key role in the Long March</h1>
During the Long March of the Red Army, the headquarters was equipped with two radio stations, which were called the first and sixth detachments. At that time, the Red Army often carried out long-distance transfers, and it was also bombed by enemy aircraft, and the radio could not continue to work, which affected the command of the battle to a certain extent. Wang Yi decided to alternate between the first and sixth detachments, so as to ensure that the radio could send and receive information 24 hours a day.
In 1960, the famous British marshal Montgomery visited China and was impressed by the three major battles he commanded when he met with Chairman Mao. But Chairman Mao said: "Crossing the red water four times is the most proud work of my life!" "The Red Army crossed the red water in four directions, and the enemy army was dizzy, and the radio station also played a big role.
In order to cooperate with the transfer of the large army, Wang Yi and others also used a single radio station disguised as a general station to send a report, so that the enemy misjudged the direction of the Red Army's shift, and the main force of the Red Army was able to jump out of the enemy's encirclement.
During the Long March, Zhang Guotao disagreed with the Red Army's proposition of going north in a vain attempt to split. The central government led the Red Army north to northern Shaanxi, but at this time the Red Second and Sixth Armies led by He Long, Ren Bishi and others were still in the Qiansu district of Xiang'echuan. Since the contact code was in the hands of Zhang Guotao, the general political commissar of the Red Army, the Central Committee lost contact with the Second and Sixth Armies.
After the central government arrived in northern Shaanxi, it was very concerned about the situation of the Second and Sixth Armies, and ordered Wang Yi to try to contact them. There was no password but to send a report in clear code, and Zhou Enlai personally drew up a telegram sent to Ren Bishi:
Brother Bi: We have gone to northern Shaanxi to security, and Haomi has stayed around... Brother Howe.
Brother Bi naturally refers to Ren Bishi, the old four refer to the Red Fourth Front, Howe is Zhou Enlai's code name, and the code name he uses when he leads the secret work in Shanghai is "Wu Hao". Originally, a radio station in Shanghai was linked to the Comintern, and later the Soviet district also captured the radio station. In order to facilitate contact with the Soviet area, Zhou Enlai personally compiled a set of passwords and asked Ren Bishi to secretly send them to the Soviet area. This set of passwords later became known as "Haomi".
It is reasonable to say that this telegram is not difficult to understand when it is written. However, at that time, the Second and Sixth Armies did not know about the situation of the Red Army going north and Zhang Guotao's splitting. Moreover, they are facing the "encirclement and suppression" of the enemy's heavy troops, and the radio station is the enemy in the enemy and the enemy in me.
Ren Bishi thought to himself, "Why doesn't the central authorities use secret electricity to contact me?" He did not dare to be careless, so he replied with a secret telegram, and the central authorities failed to receive a reply, but Zhang Guotao, who had a password, received it, and after that he commanded the operation of the Second and Sixth Armies in the name of the central authorities.
Wang Yi did not give up, leading the radio to continuously monitor the signals of the Second and Sixth Armies. Late one night, they overheard that the Red Second and Sixth Armies were sending a report to the Red Fourth Front, and Wang Yi immediately personally boarded the plane. Halfway through the telegram, the Red Fourth Front demanded a 10-minute pause. Wang Yi immediately turned on the phone and called in Ming language.
Long Zhenbiao, a telegraph operator of the Second and Sixth Armies who was sending a report, asked, "What are you?" ”
Wang Yi replied in Clear Language: "I am Wang Defamation of the Third Bureau, please ask Captain Yan Zhifei to board the plane and discuss important matters." Wang Yi had served as the principal of the Central Military Commission's Radio School, and most of the radio operators in the Red Army were his students and were familiar with him. When the operator learned that it was Wang, he immediately found the captain.
He Long
After contact, He Long and Ren Bishi learned about the situation in the central authorities and were also wary of Zhang Guotao. At this time, although the Central Radio Station established contact with the Second and Sixth Armies, in order to improve unity, Zhou Enlai ordered that the Second and Sixth Armies should still be contacted through the radio of the Red Fourth Front. When the Second and Sixth Armies and the Red Fourth Front met at Ganzi, Ren Bishi asked for the call sign and wavelength of the Central Radio in the name of contact with the central authorities, and normal contact between the two sides was restored.
Immediately afterwards, the Central Committee sent several important telegrams: One was the establishment of the Red Second Front, with He Long as the commander-in-chief and Ren Bishi as the political commissar. One was a telegram asking Ren Bishi to personally translate it, stating that it was necessary to fight against Zhang Guotao's mistakes and unite the four fronts to go north.
Why are these messages important? The establishment of the Red Second Front was parallel to the Red Fourth Front, avoiding the annexation of the Second and Sixth Armies by Zhang Guotao, making it an important force to supervise the Red Fourth Front to move north.
In the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the War of Liberation, and after liberation, Wang Yi also played a huge role in ensuring the smooth flow of command, and he also creatively carried out many work. For example, the establishment of a communication materials factory, the production of communication equipment by oneself; the establishment of the first radio station in the Liberated Areas; the foreseeable proposal to develop the semiconductor industry...
Chairman Mao once praised Wang Yi as "the founding father of our army's communications work." In 1955, Wang was awarded the rank of lieutenant general. He has successively served as the director of the Plaus Liberation Army Signal Corps Department, the president of the PLA Electronic Science Research Institute, and the secretary of the Party Committee of the Fourth Ministry of Machinery Industry.
In November 1977, Wang, who had become ill from overwork, was re-admitted to the hospital. Still not idle in the ward, he wrote a report of more than 5,000 words and reported it to the central government. Many of the recommendations and ideas presented in this report are still of great value to this day.
On August 13, 1978, Wang Yi died of illness.
In his later years, wang slandered
At first, some warriors could not figure out how to give a prisoner warrior a monthly allowance of 50 silver dollars. At that time, the Red Army could not even guarantee three meals a day. But if we know the results of the future, I believe that there is no one who does not admire Zhu and Mao's foresight and discernment. This 50 yuan allowance, in exchange for a victory, bought back a founding lieutenant general, is too worth it.
Wang did not disappoint the leaders, he chose the right path, and persevered in his efforts for his faith. From captive to founding lieutenant general, he made great contributions to the cause of the revolution and is undoubtedly a legendary story in military history.