At three o'clock in the afternoon of October 1, 1949, Chairman Mao announced to the world in his thick Hunan accent on the tiananmen tower in Beijing: "The Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China was established today!" As soon as the words fell, the thunderous applause on Tiananmen Square resounded throughout the square, and everyone's faces were filled with festive joy. At this time, Chairman Mao, Premier Zhou, and other state leaders still had a stone hanging in their hearts, and it was still unknown whether this celebration could be successfully concluded. You know, for this celebration, the whole of Beijing and even the entire Liberated Areas is now at the highest alert level, and even behind Tiananmen Square, there are four anti-aircraft guns camouflaged with cars and wooden planks. There were also four fighter planes with live ammunition on board, which is unique in the history of military parades in the world. Is the situation really that grim? What is the hidden secret behind the 1949 military parade?
In fact, the founding ceremony was not the first military parade after the overthrow of the Chiang dynasty. In January 1949, with the revolt of more than 250,000 people led by General Fu Zuoyi, Peiping was peacefully liberated. Subsequently, the core leadership of the CCP entered Beiping, which meant that the Communist Party officially overthrew the Chiang dynasty, so someone proposed to the Party Central Committee whether it should hold a big celebration. Some people already have the idea of enjoying the fruits of victory at this time. In the face of this situation, in fact, Chairman Mao had already anticipated it; as early as the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Chairman Mao sounded the alarm bell to the whole party at the meeting: Do not be Li Zicheng!
You must know that Li Zicheng, the king of the invasion at that time, entered the Forbidden City with the momentum of destruction and decay. Unfortunately, Li Zicheng, who entered the Forbidden City, lost his original intention and began his life as an emperor who spent a lot of time and wine, and finally was driven out of the Forbidden City only 42 days later.
When the report on the proposal of the grand welcoming ceremony welcoming the Communist Party into the city was submitted to Chairman Mao's case, Chairman Mao looked at this thick report, and his face changed at that time, and he said to the staff with deep meaning: "It is better to make it simpler, do not work hard to mobilize so many people at the expense of the people and money, and wait until the whole country is liberated, and then it is not too late to celebrate." In the end, Chairman Mao rejected most of the proposals, leaving only the need for a military parade.
At 3:00 p.m. on March 25, 1949, as four signal flares lifted off at Xiyuan Airport, Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, and Ren Bishi slowly drove into Xiyuan Airport in captured American jeeps accompanied by Lin Biao, Nie Rongzhen, and Ye Jianying. Chairman Mao stood on an open-top American jeep and waved to the troops participating in the parade one by one; this was chairman Mao's first and only time he had taken a ride to inspect the troops as the head of the parade. After that, even at the founding ceremony, Chairman Mao only stood on the upper floor of Tiananmen Square to watch the military parade.
This military parade can also be said to be a preview of the founding ceremony.
In fact, the time of the founding of the Country planned by the Party Central Committee at that time, that is, the time of the founding ceremony, was not October 1, 1949. On June 21, 1949, the Central Committee secretly sent Liu Shaoqi, then secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, to lead a delegation to visit the Soviet Union for more than a month, and made in-depth exchanges with the Soviet Union on the current situation at that time at home and abroad, and also won Stalin's support in many aspects.
When Liu was about to lead the delegation back to China and Stalin was on his way, Stalin asked Liu Shaoqi when the CPC planned to declare the founding of the country. Liu Shaoqi answered Stalin truthfully: "Our current plan is to concentrate on solving the problems in the provinces of southern China, and the central government may not be until January 1 next year." Stalin frowned, looked at Liu Shaoqi and said: "Although it is necessary to be prudent and grasp the opportunity when solving major problems, it is more important not to miss the opportunity." If you establish the country on January 1 next year, China will be anarchy during this period, and you must be wary of international interference in the use of this so-called anarchy. This is an extremely poisonous move, and you have to guard against it. ”
Liu Shaoqi was keenly aware of the importance of Stalin's proposal. As soon as he returned to Beiping, he immediately made a report to the CPC Central Committee on his visit to the Soviet Union and separately reported Comrade Stalin's suggestions. Chairman Mao and other CCP leaders were also aware of the seriousness of this problem, and after carefully examining the domestic and international situation, the CPC Central Committee quickly made major adjustments and decided to establish the Central People's Government of New China on October 1, 1949. At the same time, a grand founding ceremony was held to announce the founding of New China to the whole world.
In July 1949, the Central Committee established the Preparatory Committee for the Founding Ceremony, headed by Vice Chairman Zhou Enlai. Under the leadership of Vice Chairman Zhou, the Preparatory Committee quickly determined the plan for the founding ceremony. The plan is divided into three aspects: the inauguration ceremony of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China, the parade of the people's liberation army Chinese, and the people's parade. The military parade was the top priority of the founding ceremony. Chairman Mao attached great importance to the military parade and instructed: "We have always advocated a cautious initial battle, and this military parade is also the first war, and it is the first time that the country was founded. ”
After repeated discussions and studies, the Preparatory Committee initially came up with two sets of military parade plans: one was to hold a military parade at Tiananmen Square, and the other was to hold a military parade at Xiyuan Airport. Vice Chairman Zhou Enlai, on the other hand, was partial to holding a military parade at Tiananmen Square, and when he reported the two plans, he also attached his own suggestions. Finally, after listening to Zhou Enlai's report, Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, and Chairman Mao made a decision to hold a military parade at Tiananmen Square after comprehensive consideration.
After the plan is finalized, it is necessary to decide on the issue of the branches and units in which the parade will participate. Although the parade was brought to a climax by an echelon of bomber fighters in the air at the time of the founding ceremony, the air force did not participate in the original parade plan. Neither Nie Rongzhen, commander of the North China Military Region, and Bo Yibo, political commissar, jointly submitted to the Central Committee of the Military Parade, nor in the plan for the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China in 1949 that followed, did not mention the requirement for the Air Force to participate in the parade. Mainly considering that our own air force had not yet been formed at that time, it was only proposed that there would be several transport aircraft distributing leaflets.
At a later preparatory meeting, Nie Rongzhen, who was already acting chief of the general staff, asked Chang Qiankun, then director of the Aviation Bureau of the Central Military Commission, and Fang Huai, director of the Combat Education Department, whether they could organize a formation of planes to participate in the sorted formation and fly over Tiananmen Square to accept the inspection of Chairman Mao, Premier Zhou, and other party and state leaders.
The Central Military Commission Aviation Corps had only just been formed in March 1949, and when Nie Rongzhen asked Chang if he could organize an aircraft formation to participate in the parade, the Aviation Bureau of the Central Military Commission had just formed the first flying squadron of our army at Nanyuan Airport. According to the actual situation of the flying squadron, Chang Qiankun answered in the affirmative answer of Nie General Staff Chief: "You can organize small aircraft groups to participate in the parade." Receiving Chang's answer, Nie Rongzhen was very happy that the Air Force participated, and the three armed forces of the sea, army, and air force at the founding ceremony parade were all there. After the meeting, Nie Rongzhen instructed the comrades of the Aviation Bureau of the Central Military Commission to go back and step up preparations, knowing that it was less than two months before the parade was held. Subsequently, Fang Huai drafted a plan for the reading overnight. After two days and nights of hard fighting, a 20-day training plan, reference personnel, and aircraft were determined. Until this time, the Party Central Committee had not finally decided whether the Air Force would participate in the parade.
In mid-September 1949, just a dozen days before the founding ceremony, the parade headquarters arranged a field rehearsal. After the rehearsal, it was already early in the morning. At this time, the Party Central Committee, under the presidency of Vice Chairman Zhou Enlai, continued to study and discuss the details of the military parade in the Tiananmen Tower. First, it reviewed the problems existing in the rehearsal and how to make up for and correct it, and then discussed whether the Air Force would participate in the parade.
At the discussion meeting, Peng Dehuai urged the Air Force to participate in the military parade: "This rehearsal flight team did not participate, you can study it, or participate in it, there can be fewer planes!" Prior to this, although the Air Force had been preparing to participate in the military parade many times, and the Aviation Bureau of the Central Military Commission had also made preparations for the selection of aircraft and pilots, because the situation of the struggle at that time was still very severe, the Defense Department of the North China Military Region had been doing its utmost to cancel the participation of the Air Force in the founding ceremony. However, at this meeting, it was believed that the participation of the Air Force, whether it is for the impact at home or abroad, as well as for the encouragement of the military and the people, has an extremely important role. Therefore, after General Manager Peng raised Zhang Air Force to participate in the military parade, he immediately received the approval of Deputy Commander Yang Chengwu. Finally, Vice Chairman Zhou Enlai made a decision for the Air Force to participate in the parade. At this point, the air force's participation in the founding ceremony parade was officially fixed, and the three armed forces of the navy, army and air force gathered!
However, at this time, there were only more than 200 hours left before the founding ceremony, and the Aviation Bureau of the Central Military Commission immediately mobilized 17 different types of aircraft after accepting the task and prepared to participate in the air parade. You Jiang, director of the Aviation Department of the North China Military Region, was responsible for organizing and planning the ground command in the air, and Fang Huai, director of the Combat Education Department of the Aviation Bureau of the Central Military Commission, was responsible for the organization and planning, and Liu Shanben was responsible for the pilot plan of the flight route.
Just when the flight team was training intensively, because the old aircraft broke down, Xu Zhaowen, the chief leader of the air parade, was forced to parachute and was injured when he landed. For Xu Zhaowen, such an accident occurred at this juncture, which will inevitably bring great psychological pressure, not only worrying about his own safety, but also bringing a huge psychological burden to participating in the flight of the founding ceremony. Obviously, at this time, Xu Zhaowen was no longer suitable to serve as the general leader of the air parade. Changing generals is a big taboo for soldiers, but the flying squadron has been forced to have no way to retreat, and in order to participate in the founding ceremony parade on time, it is necessary to change the leader and aircraft. The Aviation Bureau of the Central Military Commission urgently transferred Xing Haifan from the Northeast Old Aviation School as acting squadron leader and general leader.
Since New China did not have its own aircraft, most of the aircraft on review were captured Kuomintang aircraft, and there were not enough parts and components to ensure the quality of the aircraft, so the safety of aircraft flights at the founding ceremony became a problem that leaders at all levels were most worried about. To this end, the Party Central Committee specially invited experts from the Soviet Union to check the quality of the aircraft. Just the day before the parade flight, every pilot who participated in the inaugural parade solemnly made a vow on the life and death certificate: "I participate in the parade, and once the plane breaks down, I would rather give my life than let the plane fall in the city, in the square and on the nearby buildings." ”
Preparations for the founding ceremony were carried out intensely in secrecy, and the security work of hundreds of thousands of people became the most worrying issue for Nie Rongzhen, acting chief of the general staff, Vice Chairman Zhou, and other central leaders. Although Chiang Kai-shek's government fled to Taiwan, the treasure island of Taiwan at that time, there were still more than one million Kuomintang troops remaining in the Chinese mainland. Tibet, Guangdong, Guangxi and other places were still under the control of the Kuomintang army.
The activities of secret agents in various parts of the provinces that have been liberated are also very rampant, and Peiping is even more because it has just been liberated, and the secret agents in the city have not yet come and purged. If the Kuomintang air force here dispatched bombers, it would take three or four hours to reach Peiping and bomb the central leaders attending the founding ceremony, the military and the people who marched, and the masses watching the ceremony, the consequences would be unimaginable.
The precise bombing of Chairman Mao's residence in 1948 and the bombing of Nanyuan Airport in May 1949 have always reminded Nie Rongzhen and other central leaders that the Kuomintang army will never give up, and it is very likely that planes will be photographed on the day of the founding ceremony to bomb.
On March 21, 1948, Chairman Mao, Zhou Enlai, Ren Bishi and other central leaders left Yangjiagou and stayed in Chengnanzhuang, Fuping County, Hebei Province, headquartered by the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region. On May 18, three bombs fell from the sky and landed precisely on the bungalow where Chairman Mao lived. When the loud sound of the bomb explosion was heard, Chairman Mao and others had just arrived at the entrance of the air raid shelter. When they heard the staff report that the bomb had landed in Chairman Mao's bungalow, Nie Rongzhen, Ye Zilong, and others felt a moment of fear. Later, the investigation found that Liu Congwen, the director of the boy room of the military region headquarters, was a secret agent, and it was precisely because of his whistle-blowing that the thrilling bombing was triggered.
On May 4, 1949, with the roar of aircraft in the air, it was heard. Several U.S.-made Kuomintang bombers painted with blue sky and white sun insignia skimmed over the nanyuan airport tower in Beiping. A series of heavy bombshells poured down, and after a few loud noises, the entire Nanyuan Airport was instantly plunged into a sea of fire.
These two bombings reminded Nie Rongzhen and other central leaders that air defense will be the top priority in defending the founding ceremony. In order to maximize confidentiality, the specific time of the founding ceremony was announced at 10 o'clock on the day of the founding ceremony at 3 p.m.
You know, the international practice is that military parades are held in the morning, and China's 70th anniversary celebration parade also starts at 9 a.m., and why is the founding ceremony military parade three o'clock in the afternoon?
At that time, when the founding ceremony was held, the whole country had not yet been completely liberated. Although Chiang Kai-shek fled to the treasure island of Taiwan, large areas of Tibet, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Sichuan were still under the control of the Kuomintang army. There are still more than a million Kuomintang troops on the mainland. The Zhoushan Islands controlled by Chiang Kai-shek also had long-range bombers of the Kuomintang Air Force stationed at any time, ready to take off and bomb Beiping. The bombing of Nanyuan Airport on May 4 showed that Kuomintang Air Force bombers could easily bomb Peiping. At this time, the air defense force of our army was still very weak, the air force was still newly formed, and some of the only aircraft were captured from the Kuomintang army. Such an air defense force can imagine the difficulty of blocking the bombing of the Kuomintang Air Force.
How can we prevent the bombing of the Kuomintang Air Force? The aircraft used by the Nationalists for bombing at that time was the American B-24 bomber. The speed of this aircraft is 488 kilometers per hour, and the maximum range is 3380 kilometers. The Zhoushan Islands are 1230 kilometers away from Beijing. It takes about 3 hours from the Zhoushan Islands to Beijing, and if it takes off in the morning, it can be safely returned after the bombing. But the night flight capability of this kind of aircraft is quite poor, and if it takes off in the afternoon, it is impossible to return safely. Based on this, after the study of the central leadership, in order to avoid the bombing of the Kuomintang Air Force to the greatest extent, it was decided to set the founding ceremony at 3 p.m.
At that time, our air force had just been formed, and the gap between the number and quality of aircraft and the Kuomintang air force was still very large, and for the sake of air defense needs, Nanyuan Airport undertook the air interception task of the entire founding ceremony. Before the founding ceremony, the leaders of the Aviation Administration stared at the telephone in the duty room for a moment, and the telephones in the entire Liberated Area at that time went straight to the duty room of Nanyuan Airport, and whenever there was a disturbance, they could react as quickly as possible.
Originally, there were not enough aircraft intercepted in the air, and after some fighters were drawn to participate in the parade, the interceptor aircraft were even more stretched. To this end, the central leadership decided to let 4 of the fighters carry live ammunition to participate in the parade. The participation of fighters in the parade with live ammunition is unique in the history of military parades in the world, which was top secret at the time and the risk was very high.
After repeated studies and deliberations, the Aviation Bureau of the Central Military Commission still submitted a flight plan with bombs to Nie Rongzhen, commander-in-chief of the parade, on behalf of the chief of the general staff. After the plan was reported, it was approved by Chairman Mao, Zhu De, and Zhou Enlai. In order to ensure the foolproof nature of the parade, Nie Rongzhen personally went to Nanyuan Airport to select aircraft and pilots with bullets to fly, and all the pilots issued military orders.
The total number of aircraft participating in the parade was 17, but in fact, at the parade, we saw 26 planes flying through Tiananmen. Originally, the central leadership felt that 17 planes were still a little less, and Zhou Enlai came up with the idea of letting the fast 9 fighter planes fly in front, and after flying through Tiananmen For the first time, folding back in a place that could not be seen in the distance and then following the transport planes, flying again, which had a scene of 26 planes participating in the flight review. On the second flight, the P-51 fighter jet piloted by Tan Hanzhou had an accident. At the moment of crisis, Tan Hanzhou's calmness and loyalty to the people perfectly solved the accident and made the founding ceremony military parade a complete success.