On April 16, 1941, a major general of the Kuomintang secretly sent a telegram to the Southern Bureau of the Communist Party of China, the content of which was very concise, with only four words: lead the uprising. After receiving this telegram, the Central Committee soon received a personal reply from Chairman Mao and Commander-in-Chief Zhu De: agreeing to the uprising.
In August 1948, the major general was ordered to come to Xibaipo to report to the Central Military Commission on the situation of the Huaye artillery, and he finally met Chairman Mao. But before the meeting, Chairman Mao was talking with Ye Jianying, so Premier Zhou said to the general: "The chairman is too busy, and the meeting time should not exceed 5 minutes at most." ”
Later, when reporting to the chairman, he directly accelerated his speech speed and quickly finished speaking within 5 minutes. But Chairman Mao seemed to be unsatisfied, and expressed to him the hope that he could continue to talk about the front. Finally, the major general spoke for ten minutes before reluctantly saying goodbye to Chairman Mao, who personally sent him to the door.
At this meeting, Chairman Mao, in addition to inquiring about the situation on his front, also assigned him a very difficult task, and he also accomplished it brilliantly, so that the liberation of the whole of China was greatly advanced. What is this task? Why did Mao Zedong let the defective Kuomintang be completed in the future? After this major general surrendered, what kind of contributions and meritorious deeds did he make to the country?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="66" > from darkness to light</h1>
The defected Kuomintang major general, named Chen Ruiting, was born on November 10, 1906, to a poor peasant family in Panlongzhuang Village, AoshanWei Township, Jimo County, Shandong Province. One day when he was 8 years old, he heard the rumbling of enemy artillery not far from his home, and he felt curious, and he took five or six of his friends to the top of the mountain to watch.
Unexpectedly, the enemy saw them and opened fire directly at them, and a shell landed not far from them and exploded, almost injuring them. Chen Ruiting thought in his heart at that time: Why should Chinese be bullied by foreigners? How nice it would be if I had a cannon one day.
In 1924, Chen Ruiting was admitted to Jinan Private Zhengyi Middle School. A year later, he was promoted to Shandong Provincial First Normal School. This is a school with a glorious tradition of revolutionary struggle. After graduating in 1928, Chen Ruiting was assigned to Qingdao Cangkou Primary School as a teacher. And in this year, the "Jinan Massacre" occurred.
At that time, Chen Ruiting's residence was also heavily shelled, and a shell exploded 5 meters away from him, but fortunately only a corner of the house collapsed, and the whole person was not harmed. These two times Chen Ruiting almost died because of shells, as well as witnessing the tragic death of his compatriots, made Chen Ruiting have the idea of becoming an artilleryman. So he ignored the strong opposition of his family, resolutely gave up the preferential treatment of 28 yuan per month, and threw himself into the pen.
At that time, the Northern Expedition of the National Revolutionary Army achieved great victories and had a high prestige among the people. Chen Ruiting chose to go to Shanghai and wanted to join the National Revolutionary Army, but was not hired. Later, he went to Baoding, Hebei Province, and saw that the Kuomintang Shangzhen Department was neatly groomed and well-trained, and he had the idea of joining in.
In December of that year, Chen Ruiting was admitted to the Hebei Military and Political School (the 7th phase of the Whampoa Military Academy) and insisted that he be assigned to the artillery team. During this period, Shang Zhen was transferred to the chairmanship of the Shanxi provincial government, and the school was moved to Taiyuan and merged with Yan Xishan's military academy. After graduating in 1930, Chen Ruiting was assigned to the artillery regiment of Yan Xishan's department as a lieutenant deputy.
In 1931, Chen Ruiting followed Shang Zhen again, and successively became a company commander, a captain of the artillery team of the special service regiment, and a company commander of a heavy mortar battalion in the artillery battalion to which he belonged. After the "9/18" incident, Chen Ruiting was very angry at Chiang Kai-shek's policy of "taking care of the outside world before inside the country," and the idea of joining the Communist Party of China gradually developed in his heart.
In 1935, in order to further master the artillery technology, Chen Ruiting was admitted to the second phase of the Nanjing Artillery School. After graduation, Chen Ruiting once again served as the battalion commander of the Artillery Regiment of the Shang Earthquake Department. Wang Xinggang, an adjutant of the regiment's adjutant office, was an old classmate of his at the Hebei Military and Political School. In the period of time between the two, Wang Xinggang had a great influence on Chen Ruiting's ideological transformation.
Wang Xinggang was actually the head of the underground organization of the Communist Party of China in the Thirty-second Army, and he told Chen Ruiting some revolutionary principles, and at the same time gave him some progressive books and periodicals, which gave Chen Ruiting his first contact with Marxist-Leninist ideas and the ideas of the Communist Party. Under such guidance, Chen Ruiting's thinking soon underwent fundamental changes.
In March 1937, he secretly joined the Communist Party of China and joined the revolutionary ranks. Wang Xinggang was his single-line contact and twice took Chen Ruiting to the Nanchang office of the New Fourth Army that was later formed to report on his work.
In July 1937, the All-Out War of Resistance began. At that time, Chen Ruiting participated in the War of Resistance in Hebei, and his artillery battalion once blocked the enemy's attack. However, due to the poor coordination of the infantry and artillery of the Kuomintang troops, the power of the artillery was greatly reduced, and the troops were still defeated and retreated. Subsequently, Chen Ruiting participated in the Battle of Xuzhou.
In the course of the battle, a shell suddenly exploded next to him, Chen Ruiting was knocked to the ground on the spot, a piece of shrapnel more than 10 centimeters long also collapsed directly on the copper buckle of his belt, and another piece hit his left pocket near the waist, and the 300 yuan gold coupon that had just been issued inside was also cut in half, which allowed him to survive. Afterwards, his comrades-in-arms were all afraid of him, but Chen Ruiting smiled and said, "My life is great, and the enemies can't die!" ”
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he led his troops to fight many times, but the result was more defeat than victory. However, in the Autumn of 1938, at the Battle of Wanjialing in Northern Ganbei, when Chen Ruiting led his troops to attack the enemy, the shells were fired in hundreds of rounds at that time, and the Kuomintang infantry also took the opportunity to launch a charge, and finally completely annihilated a company of the enemy. Finally, when inspecting the battlefield, it was found that 80 or 90 percent were killed by artillery. Therefore, this battle was the most painful and enjoyable for Chen Ruiting.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="67" > led the uprising</h1>
After the "Anhui Incident" in 1941, more than 9,000 troops directly under the New Fourth Army headquarters, only more than 2,000 people scattered to break through, a few were captured, most of them died heroically, and most of the chiefs were killed. So Chiang Kai-shek wanted to annihilate the Fourth Division of the New Fourth Army in one fell swoop. Chen Ruiting, who was already the commander of the 425th Regiment of the Kuomintang Army at that time, was also forced to fight against the New Fourth Army.
It was at this time that Chen Ruiting decided to lead an uprising. He contacted Peng Xuefeng's ministry and asked the CENTRAL Committee of the Communist Party of China to lead an uprising. On the afternoon of 17 April, Mao Zedong and Zhu De called: After agreeing to Chen Ruiting's uprising, he immediately summoned officers at and above the battalion level and said: "The duty of soldiers is to defend their families and the country, and now that the great enemy is at present, they are asking us to attack the Communist Party, which has just fought the 'Hundred Regiments War' with the enemy army and achieved brilliant results. I hope that everyone will attach great importance to the great national righteousness, join hands with the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army, and become a truly patriotic soldier. ”
However, due to the fact that there was only one Communist Party member among the regimental leaders, Chen Ruiting was not enough to mobilize propaganda in peacetime, and in addition, the Kuomintang army was superior to the New Fourth Army in terms of strength, equipment, and treatment. Although several battalions agreed to the uprising, many people were shaken. So in the end, Chen Ruiting only brought out more than 1,000 people to participate in the uprising.
Mao Zedong was highly concerned about the uprising of Chen Ruiting's regiment, and he specially called Peng Xuefeng to this end, proposing three points: 1. Cover Chen Ruiting's regiment to a safe area; 2. Treat the peripheral troops; 3. Carry out extensive propaganda; 4. On behalf of the Party Central Committee and the Central Military Commission, he would extend condolences to Comrade Chen Ruiting and the officers and men of the whole regiment. Subsequently, specific instructions were given to the uprising himself.
After receiving Mao Zedong's instructions, Chen Ruiting led the 425th Regiment through Jinpu Road and rushed to meet with Peng Xuefeng's Fourth Division of the New Fourth Army. Along the way, he led his troops to defeat the attacks of many Nationalist troops along the way.
On April 23, Zhang Aiping held a welcome meeting on behalf of the New Fourth Army, announcing that the 425th Regiment would be reorganized into an independent brigade of the New Fourth Army, with Chen Ruiting as the brigade commander. After the meeting, Zhang Aiping specially instructed Chen Ruiting: "With the change of the situation, people who were originally considered reliable may become unreliable, and we must pay special attention to inspection to prevent accidents." ”
Sure enough, at midnight on April 30, Chen Ruiting, who had just been lying down, heard the chaotic sound of footsteps and gunshots outside, so he walked quickly towards the door, but two bayonets stabbed him in the face. Chen Ruiting subconsciously grabbed it with his hand, and as a result, another knife came from the front, and after hiding it, two bayonets stabbed into his body at the same time, and Chen Ruiting immediately fell to the ground.
Several people thought that Chen Ruiting was dead, so they quickly left, but they did not think that he would soon wake up, and immediately called someone to arrest these people. In order to save Chen Ruiting's dying life, the party organization sent the best doctors and nurses, even sneaked into the enemy-occupied areas at any cost to buy expensive Western medicine, and arranged for him to go to the Hongze Lake base area to recuperate from his wounds.
Liu Shaoqi, Deng Zihui, Chen Yi, and other chiefs of the New Fourth Army came to visit in person, regardless of their safety, and even Mao Zedong, Zhu De, and others sent telegrams of condolences: May you cherish yourself well, recover health as soon as possible, and continue to struggle for the party's cause.
Finally, after a period of recovery, Chen Ruiting almost recovered, so he immediately returned to the unit, and when the acting commander Chen Yi, who was inspecting the division, saw him, he gave him cordial condolences. When he learned that Chen Ruiting was an artilleryman in the chat, Chen Yi said enthusiastically: "Great, regular combat is not possible without artillery, at present we are mainly fighting guerrilla warfare, only some small artillery, but there will be better equipment in the future, and your artillery knowledge and experience will be useful." ”
In the New Fourth Army, Chen Ruiting said that he was an artillery commander, but because he had neither artillery nor soldiers, he was more like a "light rod commander". But Chen Ruiting is still very optimistic, he feels that with the development of war, weapons and equipment will be "sent" one after another. Sure enough, not long after, Chen Ruiting's words were indeed fulfilled.
In January 1947, after the Battle of Lunan, the East China Field Army captured many new weapons, and with these, the time was ripe to establish a special forces column. On March 18, the Special Forces Column was established, with many branches of the army, mainly artillery. A month later, the special column tried the cattle knife for the first time, and showed his skills in the battle to liberate Tai'an, and the captured cannons and cars were all awarded to Chen Ruiting's special column.
Subsequently, in the Battle of Menglianggu in May 1947, the army led by Chen Ruiting once again played a great role. In April 1948, in the campaign against Weixian County, Shandong, the 893 guns commanded by Chen Ruiting also made a very important contribution to the campaign. In the Battle of Huaihai, Chen Ruiting received orders from Chen Yi to pull all the artillery to support. Immediately, at the risk of being attacked by enemy aircraft, he took a cavalry squad in broad daylight and rode to Nakano Headquarters to receive the mission.
Soon after, Chen Ruiting received a notice to go to Xibaipo to report to the Central Military Commission on the situation of Huaye artillery. On August 21, 1948, Chen Ruiting arrived in Xibaipo. The next day, Chen Ruiting and Gao Cunxin came to Zhou Enlai's office. After Zhou Enlai saw them, he shook hands with them and said kindly:
"You've worked hard from the front!" Originally, the leaders of the Central Military Commission wanted to personally listen to your report and learn about the artillery situation. Unfortunately, the Central Work Conference was about to be held immediately, and the schedule was very tight, so I had to ask you to write a written report so that you could rest for a day before returning to the troops. Do you see it? ”
The two immediately replied, "Do as the chief instructs!" But as soon as he saw Chen Ruiting's happy face instantly darken, Zhou Enlai asked them with concern what questions and demands they had. At this time, Chen Ruiting earnestly said: "I rarely have the opportunity to come to the Central Committee, can I meet Chairman Mao this time?" ”
Zhou Enlai did not directly agree or refuse, but said that he would first go to the chairman for instructions, which made both of them excited again. After a while, Zhou Enlai came out and said, "Chairman Mao would very much like to meet the comrades from the front, he is talking to Chief of Staff Ye Jianying, you can go." Finally, he did not forget to instruct them not to take up more of Chairman Mao's time, preferably no more than five minutes, and the two immediately nodded their heads in agreement.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="68" was cordially received > Mao Zedong</h1>
Mao Zedong lived in a small farm yard in a quiet environment. After the two followed Zhou Enlai into the house, Ye Jianying walked out. After Zhou Enlai introduced them separately, Mao Zedong greeted them and shook hands with them one by one. Seeing such a kind and approachable chairman in front of them, the tension and restraint in the hearts of the two people were suddenly swept away.
Mao Zedong talked to them as he did, asking them where they were from, how old they were, where they had learned artillery, and so on, and both of them answered one by one. Then, Mao Zedong asked Chen Ruiting about the Battle of Eastern Henan, and after Chen Ruiting answered, Mao Zedong excitedly explained to them the current situation of the Liberation War.
Finally, Mao Zedong recounted the form before the decisive battle at that time, and a simple sentence and a description directly explained the current situation.
At this time, the conversation between the three had already passed for five minutes, but Mao Zedong had no intention of ending the conversation at all, but continued to say to them: "You have studied artillery at the Whampoa School, and now you are doing artillery, and artillery is very important!" Artillery must be done well, and in the future it will be greatly developed to build a strong artillery corps. This was a difficult task that Mao Zedong gave Chen Ruiting, although it seemed like small talk, but Chen Ruiting had always remembered it in his heart and had been working it ever since.
Chairman Mao's instructions greatly encouraged and spurred the two of them, at this time Chen Ruiting looked at the table below, the time has exceeded ten minutes, Ye Jianying is still waiting for the conversation, they feel that they should not take up more time of the chairman, so they got up and resigned.
Mao Zedong also got up and prepared to send them out of the room. The two repeatedly asked Chairman Mao to stay behind, but the chairman insisted on sending them out of the courtyard. It was not until the entrance of the courtyard that Mao Zedong shook hands with them to say goodbye.
For this meeting, Chen Ruiting has always remembered it in his heart and has become a memorable memory for a lifetime. In his eyes, Chairman Mao was not only a leader, but also an elder, a comrade, and an ordinary comrade. Chen Ruiting later recalled: "Corporal Mao Zedong Lixian, remarkable! ”
In the summer of 1948, Mao Seemed to perceive that history was about to enter a new stage, so he began to plan a new strategy, thinking about fighting a decisive battle. As the beginning of this decisive battle, Mao Zedong's first consideration was to prepare for the Battle of Jinan.
On September 16, 1948, the Battle of Jinan began. Chen Ruiting commanded 10 artillery regiments and more than 500 artillery pieces to participate in the Battle of Jinan and won the victory. Mao Zedong spoke highly of the Jinan Campaign: "This was a great victory and one of the worst blows inflicted on the enemy in the two-year Liberation War. Since then, the strategic prelude to the "three major battles" of the People's Liberation War has been opened.
In the subsequent battles, the artillery regiment led by Chen Ruiting also made many meritorious contributions and contributed great strength to the liberation of the whole country.
On the eve of the Battle of the River Crossing, suddenly a destroyer appeared on the river, and Chen Ruiting quickly discovered that this ship was the British "Purple Quartz". Ignoring doubts and strangeness, he immediately fired a warning, and as a result, the "Purple Quartz" not only did not withdraw, but also fired back fire. So Chen Ruiting could only command the artillery unit to engage in an artillery battle with the British warships again.
After a fierce battle, the "Purple Quartz" was crippled and severely damaged, and The deputy commander of the British Far East Fleet, Vice Admiral Madden, was also shaken, and his uniform was all torn by shrapnel, lying on the ground dying. The British fleet lost face, and even the Nationalist generals looked at the PLA with disdain.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="50" > centenarian founding general</h1>
After the founding of New China, Chen Ruiting successively served as the commander of the artillery of the East China Military Region, and in 1952, when he was also the chief of artillery staff of the Central Military Commission, he conscientiously organized and planned the regularization of the artillery training in accordance with the unified arrangements of the Central Military Commission, thus bringing the training of the artillery units into a new period.
In September 1955, Chen Ruiting was awarded the rank of major general and was awarded the Order of Independence and Freedom of the Second Class, the Liberation Medal of the First Class, and the Meritorious Service of the Red Star first class. In 1958, Chen Ruiting participated in the Kinmen Artillery Battle, participated in the organization and commanded the shelling of Kinmen on the Fujian front.
In 1959, he was appointed by the Central Military Commission as the deputy commander of the artillery of the Central Military Commission, in charge of the creation of the Second Artillery Corps, and he did a lot of fruitful work in the organization of this unit from scratch, from the introduction to imitation of equipment, and from "concurrent management" to "independence" in terms of organization, laying a solid foundation for the development and growth of our army's strategic missile units.
From March 1965 to November 1975, Chen Ruiting held the position of Deputy Minister of the Fifth Ministry of Machinery Industry. In the past few years, he has been responsible for the establishment of the China Institute of Conventional Weapons Science to organize the scientific research forces under the department, focus on scientific research in the production line, and enable China's conventional weapons industry to embark on a new stage of independent research and development of products.
Later, during that special period, Chen Ruiting, in the face of all kinds of interference and in the face of all kinds of chaotic situations, protected a number of veteran cadres and experts and professors, maintained the continuity of the organization and command of the production organization of the weapons industry, and minimized the losses on the front of the weapons industry.
General Chen Ruiting, who has entered his old age, is still tough and his life is also colorful. Singing and playing chess, practicing boxing, and practicing calligraphy are all his daily hobbies. And for the longevity secret of the hundred-year-old general, he has always been summarized in 16 words: self-seeking fun, not looking for troubles, moderate exercise, busy is better than idle.
He also took some time out of the year to visit troops and comrades-in-arms and mobilize them to write memoirs and war histories. Meeting old comrades-in-arms and looking back on those years of burning passion together is also the happiest thing for Chen Ruiting in his later years.
For all aspects of his salary and treatment after retirement, Chen Ruiting will never care and calculate. In 1992, a former classmate was surprised to hear that his monthly salary was only more than $100, saying: "Life is too hard, and it is not as much as when I was a regimental commander in the Kuomintang army." ”
But Chen Ruiting was very satisfied, he said: "My housing, special cars and staff are all publicly equipped, so the treatment given to me by the state is still very high." ”
According to Chinese folk tradition, the birthday is more than nine but ten. In 2005, Chen Ruiting was 99 years old, and on October 29, at the 100th birthday celebration of General Chen Ruiting, the veteran soldiers of the former Fourth Division of the New Fourth Army gathered in Beijing with the next generation. Old comrades-in-arms Zhang Zhen, Zhang Zhenxiu and others, as well as Zhang Aiping's wife Li Youlan, all came to congratulate each other.
Zhang Zhen also wrote him a hundred-year-old birthday poem: "The banner of righteousness flutters on the edge of Yu Anhui, and fights side by side as an enemy." Gallop east China Xiongwei Exhibition, dedicate himself to the history of the god cannon Qing. The loyal revolutionary is physically and mentally healthy, and the indifference is relaxed. This is the best portrayal of Chen Ruiting's legendary life. Chen Ruiting liked it very much and hung it in the center of the living room.
On June 13, 2010, the 105-year-old long-lived general died in Beijing due to ineffective medical treatment. In his living room, there are two mottos written by himself, one is: Live to be old, learn from the old, and transform to the old; the other is: The Communist Party of China is evergreen, signed by: Party member Chen Ruiting.
I can feel that he has maintained a firm belief in his heart all his life. Relying on this firm conviction, Chen Ruiting also selflessly dedicated his life's energy to the liberation cause of the Chinese people and the modernization of the national defense army, and to the construction and development of the people's artillery.
Strict requirements for family members and children and the staff around them, after leaving their jobs to recuperate, they are still full of enthusiasm and always concerned about the country's major affairs. The brilliant deeds of General Chen Ruiting will forever be recorded in the annals of history, and his revolutionary spirit, lofty moral character, and fine work style will always be worthy of our remembrance and study.