In 1949, Luo Ronghuan, who was serving as the second secretary of the Central China Bureau, heard a message. It turned out that the 8,000-strong troops led by his sixth brother Luo Xiang were absorbed by the 137th Division of the 46th Army of the People's Liberation Army. The 137th Division wanted to appoint Luo Xiang as the deputy political commissar of the division, and the situation was reported to Luo Ronghuan, who immediately ordered: "First send Luo Xiang to study and reform ideas, and then talk about the distribution of work later." ”
Therefore, the position of deputy political commissar of Luo Xiangshi was in vain, and Luo Ronghuan's requirements for his own sixth brother were particularly strict. Luo Ronghuan had five brothers and two sisters, and he ranked fifth among boys, while Luo Xiang was three years younger than him and sixth among boys. Luo Ronghuan left home at a young age and began to study and devote himself to the revolutionary cause.
In June 1926, Luo Ronghuan graduated from Qingdao University and later went to Guangzhou. Luo Ronghuan originally wanted to apply for the Whampoa Military Academy, but because of his myopia, he had no choice but to give up. In Guangzhou, Luo Ronghuan felt the great revolution in full swing, and he hoped to bring his younger brother Luo Xiang, who remained in his hometown, to Guangzhou as well.
Immediately, Luo Ronghuan wrote a letter to Luo Xiang, inviting Luo Xiang and his classmates to come to Guangzhou and apply for the Whampoa Military Academy. While in Guangzhou, Luo Ronghuan was reading revolutionary books while waiting for his younger brother Luo Xiang. In October of the same year, Luo Xiang and more than a dozen classmates rushed from Hunan to Guangzhou. Luo Ronghuan handled the formalities for them to apply for the Whampoa Military Academy, and with the help of the fifth brother, Luo Xiang successfully applied for the examination.
Luo Xiang scored well in the entrance exam and was eventually admitted to the Whampoa Military Academy, while Luo Ronghuan returned to his hometown. At this time, the peasant movement in Hunan was booming, and Luo Ronghuan's hometown of Hengshan was a county where the peasant movement had developed well. The two brothers parted in Guangzhou, and when they met again, it was more than ten years later.
After that, Luo Ronghuan participated in the Autumn Harvest Uprising, joined the Red Army, and went up Jinggang Mountain. After graduating from the Whampoa Military Academy, Luo Xiang entered the Kuomintang army, and the two brothers became rivals. In 1929, Luo Ronghuan was leading an armed struggle in Longyan, Fujian Province, and heard about the situation of the sixth brother Luo Xiang, and Luo Ronghuan personally wrote to the sixth brother.
Luo Ronghuan saw through the essence of the Kuomintang reactionaries and persuaded the sixth brother, Luo Xiang, to leave the Kuomintang army early and even go home to farm. At that time, Luo Xiang did not follow the advice of the fifth brother and chose to stay in the Kuomintang army. In this way, Luo Xiang stayed in the Kuomintang army for more than ten years.
In 1946, Luo Xiang saw all kinds of corruption in the Kuomintang army, and as a hot-blooded and patriotic young man, he really did not like it. So he went to his superiors and offered to leave the Kuomintang army. Luo Xiang's superiors were very sorry, believing that Luo Xiang was a rare talent, and even if he left the army, he should have a good appointment.
In this way, under the arrangement of his superiors, Luo Xiang was appointed to the post of section chief of the Railway Bureau. Luo Xiang saw that in the Kuomintang, the various factions were falling on each other, harming the public and private interests, and the fish and meat of the people, and he was really unwilling to stay. In the end, after Luo Xiang's superiors talked to him many times, Luo Xiang made his attitude clear to his superiors.
Luo Xiang still did not accept the appointment, he resigned all official positions and returned to his hometown to work as a farmer. In his hometown of Hengshan, Luo Xiang saw peasants who were suffering and suffering, as well as bullying and gentry who did not do evil, wantonly oppressing the people. Only then did he understand that what the fifth brother did was the correct path and the bright path.
Three years later, Luo Ronghuan led the Northeast Field Army, which had already won the Liaoshen Campaign and the Pingjin Campaign. Luo Xiang thought that he should make some efforts to help the toiling masses of all of China to be liberated. Therefore, Luo Xiang began to pull up the team in his hometown, initially only a few dozen people, a few guns.
Luo Xiang named this team the "Xiangdong Detachment of the Chinese People's Liberation Army" and made himself commander. Luo Xiang's troops took the "People's Liberation Army" as the call, and the locals knew that Luo Xiang was Luo Ronghuan's younger brother, and they came to join the "Xiangdong Detachment". Under the leadership of Luo Xiang, he fought many battles with the Kuomintang reactionaries and defeated the invading enemy.
The troops also grew rapidly, from a few dozen to more than three hundred, and the captured light and heavy weapons could also meet the needs of the troops. As the "Xiangdong Detachment" won more and more battles and became more famous, young people with lofty ideals in nearby Chaling, Youxian and other places also came to join the army. In a few months, the "Xiangdong Detachment" quickly expanded to more than 8,000 people.
In August of the same year, Hunan was peacefully liberated, and the Fourth Field Army marched south through Hengshan, and Luo Xiang led his troops to warmly welcome it. Luo Xiang actively helped the troops of the Fourth Field Army, prepared grain and grass materials, and supported the cause of liberation. Soon after, the 137th Division of the 46th Army came to Hengshan and collected more than 8,000 people from the "Xiangdong Detachment".
Luo Xiang resolutely obeyed the order and accepted the incorporation, and the soldiers of the "Xiangdong Detachment" rejoiced. The commander of the 137th Division heard that Luo Xiang was Luo Ronghuan's younger brother, and made great contributions, preparing to appoint Luo Xiang as the deputy political commissar of the 137th Division. Soon, a telegram requesting Luo Xiang's appointment was sent to Luo Ronghuan.
Luo Ronghuan saw the telegram, frowned, and said to the messenger: "Luo Xiang is not even a party member, where can he be appointed as the deputy political commissar of the division?" Immediately after, he conveyed an order to the correspondent: "Luo Xiang must first study and reform his thinking before he can talk about work." Eventually, Luo Xiang entered the Central South Military and Political University to study, and later went to Henan to work.
This is Marshal Luo Ronghuan, who is particularly strict with himself and his relatives, and even a little unkind. In his eyes, the rules of the army were iron laws that no one, not even his own brother, could violate. Luo Xiang had already made great contributions and served as deputy political commissar, which was also completely appropriate, but it would not work here in Luo Ronghuan.