As the saying goes, "fight the tiger and brothers, fight the father and son soldiers", when the new China first conferred the title, there was a pair of brothers who were very conspicuous, the older brother was awarded the rank of general, the younger brother was awarded the rank of general, they were Wang Shusheng and Wang Hongkun. Admiral Wang Hongkun is the cousin of General Wang Shusheng and is 4 years younger than Wang Shusheng. During the revolutionary war years, he fought bravely and made great achievements. Marshal Xu Qianqian once praised Wang Hongkun: He was brave and strategic in battle, could fight wars, and even more could fight, and was a gun of the Four Fronts Army.
Founding General Wang Hongkun (January 1909 – August 20, 1993)
Wang Hongkun, formerly known as Wang Hongchun, was born on January 22, 1909 in Shigouchong Village, Chengmagang District, Macheng County, Hubei Province. Because of his family's poverty, he herded cattle and worked as a short-term worker. He joined the Red Army in February 1929 and became the commander of the Tenth Division of the Red Army at the age of 23. At the age of 24, Wang Hongkun was appointed as the first commander of the New Fourth Army, becoming the head of the Iron Army, who commanded three divisions and eight regiments and had more than 12,000 troops, making outstanding contributions to the creation of the Sichuan-Shaanxi Revolutionary Base Area.
The younger brother became the "captive" of the older brother.
Wang Shusheng and Wang Hongkun, a pair of cousins, embarked on the revolutionary road together, and an interesting incident occurred between them, that is, the younger brother twice "disguised" to find his brother, was arrested as a "small local tycoon who came to engage in reconnaissance", and made a joke.
After the failure of the jute uprising, Wang Shusheng led a part of the Eastern Hubei Army to fight a guerrilla war on the mountain, while Wang Hongkun, who participated in the volunteer brigade, invited more than 20 members of the volunteer team to go south to Wuhan to join the miscellaneous army of Bai Chongxi of the Gui clan. However, they did not work for a year, and the news came that Wang Shusheng and 72 other good men had erected the banner of the Red Army in Dabie Mountain, and Wang Hongkun could no longer stay in the Gui clan miscellaneous army. Therefore, he twice "disguised himself as a small rich man doing business" went to the party and his brother Wang Shusheng, but as a result, he was arrested by the Red Army soldiers led by Wang Shusheng as "small local tycoons who came to engage in reconnaissance." After the warriors "captured" Wang Hongkun, Wang Hongkun shouted and shouted, and his shouting attracted Wang Shusheng's attention, and he ran over to see that he had actually "captured" his cousin.
After the misunderstanding was lifted, Wang Hongkun finally got his wish and became a warrior under Wang Shusheng. Because he had received formal training in Bai Chongxi's troops, Wang Hongkun's combat quality was higher than that of many Red Army soldiers, so he repeatedly built up his achievements in battle and was valued by his superiors. Most of the Red Army soldiers under Wang Shusheng's leadership were peasants, and Wang Hongkun, who had been a soldier for a few days, became their military instructor, and soon he became a squad leader, and then a platoon leader.
On October 1, 1959, Admiral Wang Hongkun and his cousin General Wang Shusheng took a group photo at Tiananmen Square.
Presided over the only surrender ceremony in the history of the Red Army
Wang Hongkun commanded numerous battles during his Career in the Red Army, among which the Siege of Sujiabu in western Anhui in late March 1932 was one of his proud achievements. The commander-in-chief of the Sujiabu Campaign was Marshal Xu Qianqian, and the Tenth Division commanded by Wang Hongkun was the main offensive force encircling and annihilating Sujiabu. The Battle of Sujiabu captured the Kuomintang division commander Li Shiding and five major general brigade commanders, annihilating a total of more than 30,000 people in 12 regiments of Chiang Kai-shek's army, becoming the largest campaign to annihilate the enemy in the Soviet zone.
What is amazing is the surrender ceremony that took place after the Battle of Sujiabu. The Tenth Division escorted thousands of enemy weapons and equipment and more than 6,000 officers and men of the captured two brigades of the Kuomintang army to the small aircraft square in Beiguan, Sujiabu, and amid the cheers of the soldiers and the people, Master Wang Hongkun stood in the middle of the review platform and solemnly presided over the grand ceremony of surrender. Under the leadership of the two brigade commanders of the enemy army, the column placed five bundles of guns neatly on the ground, and then the enemy brigade commander, with officers at or above the regimental level, kicked the army and walked toward the surrendered commander Wang Hongkun, and collectively lined up to salute the commander of the Wang division, and the enemy brigade commander presented a roster with both hands to indicate surrender. Wang Hongkun condescended and loudly announced: "On behalf of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, I accept your surrender!" ”
This rare surrender ceremony was the only one in the history of the Red Army, and it greatly enhanced the morale of the military and people in the base areas to oppose "encirclement and suppression."
Twice I asked Chairman Mao to write a letter of introduction
In July 1937, Wang Hongkun's 4th Army of the Red Fourth Front was reorganized into the 385th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, Wang Hongkun was demoted from commander to brigade commander, and within a few days, the troops were ordered to go to the anti-Japanese front, and Wang Hongkun and some of them stayed in Longdong to be responsible for the defense of the southwest of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region. Many people heard that he was a "victorious general" and signed up to join the army, and soon increased by more than 1,000 people, and after the increase in personnel, the cost expenditure exceeded more than 200 yuan. At that time, more than 200 yuan was in the ocean, and 100 rifles could be exchanged, which was a huge number, and Xiao Jinguang, director of the Left Behind Department, and Ye Jizhuang, director of the Supply Department of the Central Military Commission, all shook their heads when they saw it. Therefore, Wang Hongkun went to Chairman Mao to report, and Chairman Mao signed the bill on the spot. Wang Hongkun still refused to leave, saying that he was born as a cattle herder and could not meet the needs of revolutionary work, and he was willing to become a "student" instead of a brigade commander and study at the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University. Chairman Mao felt that this comrade was self-motivated, and immediately wrote a letter of introduction to the person in charge of the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University, satisfying Wang Hongkun's desire to become a student.
Group photo in Yan'an after the end of the Long March in 1937. From left: Wang Hongkun, Zheng Weisan, Xu Haidong, Ni Zhiliang.
Knowing that the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University was a "crash course" with only one month of study time, Wang Hongkun felt that the knowledge he had learned was too little, and when he was about to end his studies, he once again went to Chairman Mao and asked him to go to the party school to continue his studies. Chairman Mao praised him: "You are a person who loves to learn, and I support you." So, he wrote a letter of introduction to Kang Sheng, who was the president of the Central Party School at the time. The central party school system was originally stipulated for one year, but the front line urgently needed talents, and the central government had to let the people studying in the party school announce the completion of a batch of graduates 4 months in advance, and Wang Hongkun ended his career as a "student".
The revolutionary war years were marked by great achievements
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Wang Hongkun served as the brigade commander of the 385th Brigade and the secretary of the Longdong Military and Political Committee, and led his troops to fight in Shanxi. In December 1938, Wang Hongkun was appointed deputy commander of the Ji'nan Military Region. In December 1942, he was appointed deputy commander of the Jiluyu Military Region. He participated in leading guerrilla warfare in the Southern Hebei Plain and upheld and developed the anti-Japanese base areas. He led his troops to participate in the "Hundred Regiments War", and in the Hundred Regiments War, he led his troops to participate in the Zhengtai and Pinghan Railway Breakers. In the Battle of Pinghan, under the unified command of Liu Bocheng, Wang Hongkun led his troops to ambush the entire Japanese puppet army. After that, he also commanded the battles of Nanle, Jubei, and Anyang, and made positive contributions to the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan.
In May 1937, Wang Hongkun was on the podium of the Red Fourth Army Games in Tunzi Town, Zhenyuan County, Gansu Province.
At the beginning of the Liberation War, Wang Hongkun served as the second deputy commander of the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Military Region and the commander of the Sixth Column. In October 1945, he participated in the unified command of the northern group troops in the Battle of Handan. In June 1946, Wang Hongkun led his troops under the command of Liu Deng to forcibly cross the Yellow River, leap into the Dabie Mountains, and return to Eyuwan. In September of the same year, he was appointed commander of the 10th Column of the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Field Army, and in December of the same year, he was also the commander of the Tongbai Military Region. After leading his troops to the Tongbai area on the border of Eyu, he commanded the troops to participate in the battles of Linping, Pinghan, Baijin, and Dengxian Counties, opened up and expanded the Tongbai Liberated Area, and cooperated with the anti-"siege" struggle in the Dabie Mountains.
In May 1948, Wang Hongkun led his troops to participate in the Battles of Wanxi and Wandong, and in July participated in the command of the Xiangfan Campaign. In the autumn of the same year, Liu Deng led the main force of the field army into the Battle of Huaihai, and Wang Hongkun stayed in the Central Plains with Wang Shusheng to consolidate the rear and plan for the decisive battle of Huaihai. In April 1949, the Battle of Crossing the River began, and Wang Hongkun led his troops to actively cooperate with the main force and support the large army to cross the river to the south. In May, Wang Hongkun was transferred to the first deputy secretary of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee and the first deputy commander of the Hubei Military Region, and in order to welcome the Fourth Field Army to the south of the central and southern regions, he commanded the post to defend Wuhan, consolidate the rear area, actively support the main force to go south, cooperate with the main force to fight, and suppress bandits.
He was appointed deputy commander of the Navy
In April 1950, Wang Hongkun, who was the first deputy secretary of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee, received orders to transfer him to deputy commander of the Navy. Wang Hongkun was in a daze: The navy is a new branch, a high-tech, modernly equipped unit, and the commander's level is high. He begged Li Xiannian to apply to Chairman Mao for demotion, and Li Xiannian advised him to still go to office, not to let the chairman worry about this little thing, to study and work while doing, and to be competent.
On February 24, 1953, Chairman Mao talked and laughed with Wang Hongkun, deputy commander of the Navy (first from the right), and Yuan Yilie, commander of the Navy of the East China Military Region (center) on board the Nanchang ship.
After Wang Hongkun went to Beijing to take office, he secretly asked people to propose to Chairman Mao that he could not be a deputy commander of the navy and could do anything at the grass-roots level. Chairman Mao made a point of saying at a meeting attended by Wang Hongkun: "Many comrades feel that they cannot meet the needs of the revolution and are unable to do their work, so I do not understand, don't these people still think of building their own country and army well, and let imperialism and Chiang Kai-shek laugh at our uselessness." While learning to do, do a good job, anyone is not omnipotent, they are all learned from work. After wang Hongkun listened to the chairman's words, he was very educated, and after that, he worked in the navy with peace of mind, studied in depth, and did a lot of useful work for the development and growth of the people's navy and for defending the territorial sovereignty of the motherland.
He was removed from office for making mistakes during the Cultural Revolution
In November 1965, the Navy Party Committee held the second meeting of the third session of the Navy Party Committee in Beijing. During this period, a meeting criticizing Luo Ruiqing took place in Shanghai, and the instructions written by Li Zuopeng, Wang Hongkun, and others in the navy added charges to Luo Ruiqing and exposed Luo Ruiqing's "secret letter" became a bombshell for Luo Ruiqing's approval at the Shanghai conference.
In March 1966, Wang Hongkun was appointed as the second political commissar of the Navy, and on June 18, the leading group of the enlarged meeting of the Navy Party Committee proposed that "the unity of the Standing Committee of the Navy Party Committee is a matter of major right and wrong of the two ideas of army building and two lines of army building." The meeting criticized Xiao Jinguang and Su Zhenhua. He proposed that "Xiao and Su cannot lead the meeting, but Wang Hongkun must lead it." Wang Hongkun proposed that Li Zuopeng, who had not attended the meeting due to illness, come back to lead the meeting.
In August, at the Eleventh Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Lin Biao became the number two person in the CPC Central Committee. On the 13th, Lin Biao made an evaluation of Li Zuopeng, Wang Hongkun, and Zhang Xiuchuan—"Li, Wang, and Zhang held high the red banner of Mao Zedong Thought and supported Chairman Mao," and so on, which was called "Lin Biao's 813 Instruction." Since then, there has been the title of "Li Wang Zhang" of the Navy. As soon as Lin Biao's instructions were announced, Wang Hongkun became a leading cadre of the "revolutionary left."
On January 11, 1967, the Central Military Commission decided to establish a new leading group for the cultural revolution of the whole army, with Wang Hongkun as a member of the leading group. In October 1968, Lin Biao announced the imposition of military control on the General Political Department and designated Wang Hongkun as the head of the military control group. In November, Wang Hongkun led the military control group into the general political organs. During the Cultural Revolution, hundreds of people in the General Political Organs and their directly subordinate units were censored, some of whom were maimed, some persecuted to death, and more than 96 percent of the cadres were expelled from the General Political Department.
In April 1969, Wang Hongkun was elected as a member of the Central Committee at the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and in June he was appointed third secretary of the Navy Party Committee.
After the 1971 "913 Incident", Li Zuopeng was suspended for review. Wang Hongkun reviewed his mistakes in exposing the criticism. He said: "For a long time, I blindly worshipped and superstitiously admired Lin Biao. Lin Biao's henchman Li Zuopeng used me in the Navy's criminal activities of seizing power, seizing power, and monopolizing power, which enabled me to play a role that Li Zuopeng could not play, and I made serious mistakes. ”
In October 1976, the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee smashed the counter-revolutionary clique in one fell swoop, and the whole party, the whole army, and the whole country quickly launched a campaign to expose and criticize the "Gang of Four". Subsequently, the denunciation of the "Gang of Four" was combined with the denunciation of the crimes of Lin Biao's counter-revolutionary clique. On January 27, 1977, the enlarged meeting of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of the Navy ended. The meeting analyzed the problem of the Navy's denunciation of the "Gang of Four", and then launched the first phase of the campaign to expose the "Gang of Four", and began to expose the mistakes of the "Gang of Four". On October 16, the Central Military Commission ordered the dismissal of Wang Hongkun from his post as the second political commissar of the Navy.
In April 1983, Wang Hongkun left his post to recuperate according to the treatment of the regular corps. He died in Beijing on August 20, 1993, at the age of 85.
This article is compiled by Li Lingjia of "Motherland" magazine according to relevant information, please indicate the source when reprinting.