"The party has not forgotten me, a veteran, and wants to do more work for the party and army building... It's too late! Deng Hua's words, which were already dying, were full of regret.
Recalling his life that was about to end, he followed Mao Zedong to Jinggangshan from his youth, then led the army to the four sides, grew into a famous general in the four fields during the Liberation War, and then commanded soldiers to liberate Hainan Island after the founding of the Country, and then won the god in the Korean battlefield with the Battle of Shangganling.
However, at the last moment of his life, it seemed that he still had many unfinished businesses...
According to the recollections of Deng Hua's children, two days before his death, Deng Hua suddenly opened his eyes and did not close them for a long time, and his children looked at the pain in their eyes.
Why did Deng Hua, who had made such outstanding achievements in the war years, feel so sorry and not leave before he died? What is the worry that makes it difficult for him to close his eyes?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="21" >, and the battle achievements are famous</h1>
Deng Hua joined the revolution very early, and in the tempering of the war, Deng Hua grew step by step into an excellent commander and fighter of our army, and in successive battles, he led the people's army to win one victory after another.
Shortly after the liberation of Guangzhou, Mao Zedong and other central leaders set their sights on Hainan Island on the other side of the Qiongzhou Strait.
(Pingjin Liberation)
On October 17, 1949, Mao Zedong, in the name of the Central Military Commission, called Lin Biao and decided to let Deng Hua's 15th Corps shoulder the heavy responsibility of liberating Hainan.
After receiving the order, Deng Hua immediately threw himself into the preparations for the Hainan Campaign, and he found many examples of landing operations at home and abroad to study carefully, and analyzed in detail the natural conditions in and around Hainan Island, as well as the deployment of Kuomintang troops on the island.
The Battle of Hainan Island was an important battle commanded by Deng Hua.
Ships are crucial for landing operations. A big problem facing Deng Hua was how to get hundreds of machine boats in a short period of time, and then Lin Biao had to ask the Guangdong Military Region for assistance.
(Officers and men of our army celebrate victory)
However, ship preparation eventually ran into problems. Chen Xin, who was ordered to buy ships in Hong Kong at that time, was taken into control by Kuomintang agents and immediately took control of the manufacturers who might be able to buy machinery and ships.
At the same time, the Huangpu Shipyard in Guangzhou could not build ships capable of carrying large troops across the sea for a while.
As a last resort, Deng Hua had to abandon the plan to buy and build a machine ship, and according to the current situation, he could only choose to cross the sea with a wooden sailboat. He ordered that the engines of the large trucks that had previously captured U.S. troops be removed and mounted on wooden sailing ships to be used as command ships, communication ships, etc.
(Our army command ship in the Battle of Hainan Island)
Using such tools, Deng Hua led his troops to liberate the entire territory of Hainan Island on May 1, 1950. However, Hainan Island had just been liberated for more than a month, and when the whole country was celebrating, the Korean War broke out.
At the request of Kim Chong-il, the Central Military Commission decided to set up the Northeast Border Defense Army, Chen Shi, Liao, and Kyrgyzstan provinces, in order to cope with the changes that may occur at any time. At this time, Deng Hua, who had just led the troops to liberate Hainan Island, received the order to command the 13th Corps from the north, and immediately left for Beijing to make preparations for entering the DPRK for war.
After entering the Korean Peninsula, Deng Hua assisted Peng Dehuai well. Mr. Peng, who has never been able to speak bluntly and praise his subordinates, could not help but marvel: "Deng Hua is brave in battle, careful, has a good idea, and is a good helper." ”。
(Northeast Frontier Defense Force)
In April 1952, Peng Dehuai was ordered to return to China for medical treatment and stayed in the central military commission in China, and in June Deng Hua was appointed commander of the volunteer army.
In October of the same year, the United Nations army gathered heavy troops to launch a crazy attack on our Shangganling position, the officers and men of the volunteer army launched a stubborn resistance, under the strategizing of Deng Hua, after more than 40 days of tug-of-war, the position was lost and regained many times, our army held the position and eliminated more than 15,000 enemy troops.
Deng Hua said excitedly: "This battle has made the enemy unable to but admire our army as the world's first-class army. ”
(Battle of Shangganling)
In a word, Dao exhausted Deng Hua's love for the army.
At that time, Deng Hua may not have imagined that in a few years, he would leave the army he loved because of the transfer of work.
In 1960, Deng Hua was transferred to Sichuan as vice governor in charge of agricultural machinery. Since then, Deng Hua and the troops have begun a 17-year long "separation".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="25" > second, return to the troops to exert residual heat</h1>
In August 1977, Deng Hua, who was far away in Sichuan, received a new letter of appointment, and he would return to the unit after a 17-year absence to serve as vice president of the Academy of Military Sciences of the people's liberation army in Chinese.
Although the relevant news had been obtained earlier, Deng Hua was still very excited when the official notice was in his hand. Although he was engaged in agricultural machinery work in Sichuan, he also served the people. But, after all, the military is his home for many years.
(Deng Hua's daughter Deng Ying)
"I'll treat you tonight!" Deng Hua's eyes were full of joy, and he smiled and said to his wife, "Get a few more dishes at night, I will ask Secretary Xie and Old Qin to come to dinner together!" "My wife remembers the last time he was so happy it was a long time ago.
At this time, the third daughter just came back from outside, and as soon as she entered the house, Deng Hua raised his hand at her, smiled and said, "Yingying, do you know?" I'm going back to the troops!" ”
As he spoke, he excitedly showed his daughter the appointment document, and at this time his speech was light, very different from the serious Deng Hua in his usual days.
(Deng Hua with his family in his later years)
After reading the document, Yingying made sure that his father did not deceive him, jumped up happily, took his father's hand and said playfully: "No wonder daddy is full of red light today, you see that he also deliberately cut his hair." ”
At dinner, everyone was genuinely happy for Deng Hua and frequently raised a glass of congratulations.
"I'm a veteran who's going to make a new pass!" Deng Hua took a sip of wine, "From today onwards, from now on, it has been decided to quit smoking as a decisive measure to return to the army!" ”
From this, we can see his determination, because people familiar with Deng Hua know that as an old smoker who has smoked for fifty years, in the war years, due to the urgency of the war, he often had to stay up late, sometimes discussing the war situation for several days to make decisions, and in order to alleviate his sleep, he could only use smoke to anesthetize himself.
(Deng Hua with his wife in his later years)
At that time, he was still young and did not think about quitting smoking, but after arriving in Sichuan, he suffered from severe emphysema, often coughing, and accompanied by asthma, and the doctor advised him to quit smoking, but he just promised to smoke less. Now, he felt that his body was not as good as before, and it was not okay to work well without a good body.
"Daddy still has to do a lot of work!" Everyone in the room laughed. Deng Hua did what he said, and since that day, he really hadn't smoked again.
The month he received the notice from the organization, Deng Hua returned to Beijing, where he had been absent for a long time, when the Central Military Commission asked for his opinion and asked him what else he wanted. Deng Hua immediately thought of his old partner Hong Xuezhi.
The two worked together for many years during the war years and formed a deep revolutionary friendship. During the time when Deng Hua was the commander of the Northern Liaoning Military Region, Hong Xuezhi served as the first deputy commander to assist him in his work. In the ensuing Battle of Siping and the Battle of Pingjin, the two men worked together and won one victory after another.
(Hong Xuezhi in his later years)
Later, Siye was ordered to go south, and Deng Hua's fifteenth corps was also among them, and Hong Xuezhi was still his first deputy commander at this time.
After the liberation of Hainan Island, the organization decided that Deng Hua and Huang Yongsheng would be transferred, and Deng Huabei would serve as the commander of the Thirteenth Corps and prepare to enter the DPRK for combat; out of operational needs, Deng Hua decided to reorganize the leading organs of the Thirteenth Corps, and he applied to the Central Military Commission to transfer his old partner Hong Xuezhi to be in charge of logistics.
On the battlefield, under the rain of bullets and bullets, the two formed a deep friendship.
(Statue of Huang Yongsheng)
The Central Military Commission agreed to his proposal, and that month Hong Xuezhi was elected a member of the Central Military Commission with Deng Hua at the Eleventh National Congress. After returning to Beijing, when he saw his old comrade-in-arms, who had not met for nearly twenty years, Deng Hua burst into tears and held Hong Xuezhi's hand tightly for a long time and refused to let go.
"I only made a suggestion yesterday, but I didn't expect you to go back to the army today!" Deng Hua said excitedly. Seeing his old partner, Hong Xuezhi was also very moved: "Let's have a good drink!" ”
The two men who had fought all their lives had not seen each other for many years, and when they met, they still talked about the war and the troops. Deng Hua felt that the most urgent task now was to make up his mind to seize the time to build an airplane.
Because both of them had personally witnessed the US military on the Korean battlefield, relying on its strong air strength, constantly bombed our army's positions, causing considerable losses to the volunteer army, because there was no air superiority, our army was very passive on the Korean battlefield, and the casualties were very large.
(U.S. warplanes on the Korean battlefield)
Seeing that Deng Hua, who was nearly seventy years old and had always been in poor health recently, was still "old Ji Fuzhi was determined to be in a thousand miles", Hong Xuezhi was busy comforting him and said: "Okay, well, you can rest assured that you can recuperate." When the illness is better, we will fight again. ”
Indeed, at this time, Deng Hua felt a deep sense of urgency. First, according to the international situation, the Chinese armed forces need to seize the time to realize the transformation into modernization; second, their own body is not as good as before, and they must take advantage of the current physical permission to contribute more to the modernization of the armed forces.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="23" > three, Lao Ji Fu Zhi is in a thousand miles</h1>
As soon as he arrived, Deng Hua began to frantically devote himself to his work day and night. In order to take back those lost time and contribute to the modernization of national defense in the new era.
(Deng Hua with THE CCP generals)
Once, he offered to go to a hill to check the terrain, but he suffered from severe emphysema, and he had to breathe for a long time to walk a few steps on weekdays, and he seemed a little overwhelmed in the face of such a high mountain.
When the secretary saw that he had just taken a few steps and began to gasp, he offered to let him wait at the bottom of the mountain, and they went up to check and report back to him.
But Deng Hua repeatedly insisted on going up in person, "Hearing is false, seeing is believing, and I still have to see for myself." If you don't investigate and study, you will kill people by blind commanding! ”
No matter how much others dissuaded him, Deng Hua insisted on going up personally, and in desperation, the guards and driver had to find a stool and let him sit on it, and the two of them worked together to carry him up the mountain. Halfway through, he encountered a rough path, and he couldn't carry him up at all, so he didn't let others carry it, insisting on walking up on his own.
(Deng Hua attended the meeting)
The driver who had followed him for many years and had a deep affection for him really couldn't bear it, so he offered to carry him up the mountain and come to the top of the mountain, and Deng Hua immediately spread out the map and carefully observed the surrounding terrain, just like when he was on the battlefield.
In order to understand the situation, he often kept summoning the officers and men of various units to talk, and sometimes he was so busy that he could not even take care of food.
At night, he would find the latest military works and military materials to read, often until late at night, and there were always stacks of various materials, documents, and books on his desk. However, under such a busy work, his emphysema became more and more serious, and he later suffered from glaucoma.
Doctors often advised him not to work so hard, and he always said disapprovingly: "I have been away from the army for 17 years, and the development of military science and technology in the world is changing with each passing day. ”
(Deng Hua's Former Residence)
Through a period of study, he quickly grasped the basic situation of the armies of the world, from the various types of fighters they developed to the various parameters of these fighters, from the latest tanks equipped by foreign forces to the armor thickness of these tanks.
The children were worried about his body and said, "You are so old, what are you doing with so much effort!" Deng Hua always replied: "Know thyself and know the other, and win every battle." ”
At the end of the year, Deng Hua attended the plenary meeting of the Central Military Commission, in fact, at this time his health was already very bad, during the meeting, Deng Hua, who felt unwell, has been gritting his teeth and insisting, until the last day of the meeting, he was admitted to the hospital.
In the summer of 1978, Deng Hua's health improved slightly, and he immediately decided to go to the various units for a walk, make a practical investigation, and discuss with the officers and men the issue of defense in the future anti-aggression war.
(Deng Huafu's approval documents)
The following summer, he fell ill again and had to be admitted to the hospital again, he knew in his heart that he had run out of time, so he especially cherished the time left now, and after the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, he wrote a thesis "On the Modernization of our Army's Equipment".
Soon, he threw himself into the writing of "Several Questions On the Future Anti-Aggression War and National Defense Construction".
In fact, at this time, his body could not support him to complete these heavy and laborious tasks, and he soon fell ill again and was admitted to the hospital.
(Guangzhou citizens celebrate liberation)
After three months, he was better off and planned to go to Guangzhou for recuperation, because the southern climate in winter was warmer and wetter than in Beijing, which could alleviate the pain caused by Deng Hua's emphysema. He was in a very good mood when he came here, because it was here that he led the troops to liberate.
When he commanded the campaign to liberate Hainan Island, his headquarters was located in Guangdong, and although he had commanded and participated in countless battles of all sizes since he joined the revolution, the Battle of Hainan Island was one of his proud works.
When Deng Hua arrived in Guangzhou, just as the local government was preparing for the 30th anniversary of the liberation of Hainan Island, Deng Hua was invited to write a special commemorative article for this purpose.
In fact, Deng Hua has always had the idea of summing up the combat experience of Hainan Island, so he also made a special trip to Qiongya to hang on the battlefield.
(Qiongya Column rendezvous with 15 Corps)
But in fact, I really want to write, but I find that because of the long time, many details have been blurred. Therefore, he convened a symposium to recall the scene of that year, and asked the archives department to help check the materials of that year.
After several months of hard work, he finally wrote two special articles, "Swinging South, Taking Hainan Directly" and "Xiongshi Flying Across the Heavenly Danger, Stepping Through the Boling Defense Line", and the original recuperation plan was in vain and became a remote office.
In May 1980, Deng Hua prepared to return to Beijing to continue to complete the vision of a future anti-aggression war, so he went all the way to various units, discussed with officers and soldiers at the grass-roots level, and wanted to complete his memoirs about fighting the Kuomintang army in the northeast during the Liberation War and fighting the American army in the Korean battlefield.
While passing through Shanghai, he contracted pneumonia and caused serious complications and had to be admitted to the hospital.
(Deng Hua's son Deng Sui)
In the hospital, he often fainted, and when he woke up, he always said with a weak breath: "In the future war, I still have my thoughts... I write something and study and discuss it with my comrades... The experience of bleeding is still useful..."
At the time of his critical illness, he still thought about his motherland and the work that had not yet been completed.
Later, he couldn't even speak, but his family saw that he had been frowning and pounding the hospital bed weakly, and they knew in their hearts that he was still anxious about his work.
At the time of his death, Deng Hua said to his son: "The party has not forgotten me, a veteran, and wants to do more work for the party and army building... It's too late! ”
In the last day or two of his life, Deng Hua, who had been in a coma for many days, suddenly opened his eyes and did not close for a long time, for this "old Ji" who was determined to go thousands of miles, he still had an unfinished business, and he was not willing to leave the country and people he loved.
epilogue:
Deng Hua, a teenager who joined the army, devoted his whole life to the building of the army. Even if he has worked in other positions, he has never forgotten to pay attention to the development of the army.
In his later years, Deng Hua devoted all his limited time to the army. Even though he was sick, there was not a moment of relaxation in his heart.
His only regret is that he can no longer continue to shine and continue to complete the vision in his heart. This is really a bow to death!