Among the ten marshals, Xu Xiangqian may be the most low-key one, Hong Xuezhi said that he "did not fight for merit, did not slander", and Li Desheng also said that he "never took credit for himself and highlighted the individual".
The Battle of Taiyuan was a masterpiece of Xu Xiangqian's military career and made the first contribution to the liberation of Taiyuan, but every time the Battle of Taiyuan was mentioned after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Xu Xiangqian would say: "Without the command of General Manager Peng, the Battle of Taiyuan would not have been victorious, so it is not my personal merit to liberate Taiyuan, and Mr. Peng also has merit." ”
It turned out that as early as the beginning of the Taiyuan Campaign, Xu Xiangqian's health was very bad, and he should have been hospitalized for recuperation, but in order not to delay the war, he insisted on being discharged early and returning to the front line to command the troops.
After 6 months of hard work, Xu Xiangqian's condition suddenly worsened, and it was difficult to persist any longer, at that time, Mr. Peng had just finished attending a meeting in Xibaipo and was ready to return to the northwest, so he stopped by to see Xu Xiangqian, and Xu Xiangqian made a request to Mr. Peng, hoping that Mr. Peng could stay and take the place of himself to command the battle of Taiyuan.
At that time, the Taiyuan Campaign was about to enter the final stage of the general offensive, and if there was no commander-in-chief, it would indeed be very difficult to fight well, and General Manager Peng naturally had an unshirkable duty, so he asked the central authorities for instructions together with Xu Xiangqian, and after obtaining the approval of the central authorities, General Manager Peng stayed at the front line and commanded the general offensive of this campaign.
Therefore, every time Xu Xiangqian later mentioned the Battle of Taiyuan, he had to remind everyone that he must not forget the merits of Mr. Peng.
Before the award of the title in 1955, when Xu Xiangqian learned that he had been rated as a marshal, he was very uneasy in his heart, and said to his wife: "The central government's evaluation of my rank as a marshal is really too high, and I am ashamed of it!" He also wrote to Chairman Mao: "Now that the revolution has succeeded, it doesn't matter whether I am a marshal or not. ”
In addition, Xu Xiangqian has also said on many occasions: "In the revolutionary war, many comrades have died, and if they are still alive, the marshals and generals should be theirs." ”
When Chairman Mao read the letter, he even claimed to praise Xu Xiangqian as a "good man and a good man" and said: "Comrade Xu Xiangqian has made very great contributions to the revolution for many years since he was born and died, and the award of the rank of marshal is well deserved and natural. ”
Once, Xu Xiangqian had a subordinate who had just finished getting married, and took the bride to visit Xu Xiangqian, and when he arrived at the door of Xu's house, Xu Xiangqian personally came out to open the door, and the bride saw that he was dressed very ordinary, thinking that he was just a janitor, so he did not greet him and went directly inside.
The groom pulled her aside and said, "Why are you so rude that you don't say hello when you see Mr. Xu?" ”
The bride was still wondering, looked around, and said, "Where is Xu Zong?" How come I didn't see it? ”
The groom pointed to Xu Xiangqian next to him and said, "This is Xu Zong!" ”
The bride was frightened and quickly apologized to Xu Xiangqian, saying that she had no eyes, but Xu Xiangqian did not care, smiled and said: "You have not seen me before, this is very normal." ”
On the way back, the bride still asked incomprehensibly: "How can an official of Xu Zong's size dress like an ordinary person?" ”
The groom said with emotion: "Mr. Xu is such a person, he has always regarded himself as an ordinary person, there is no special place." ”
Xu Xiangqian is even more unimportant about eating, usually it is coarse tea and light rice, even if his son Xu Xiaoyan takes his girlfriend home for the first time, Xu Xiangqian also prepared a table of green vegetables, and there is no piece of meat.
Afterwards, Xu Xiaoyan's girlfriend returned home, and her parents asked her, Xu Shuai's family must be very advanced, what mountain treasures and seafood do you want to eat?
As a result, the daughter smiled bitterly and said: "Where is the taste of mountains and treasures, that is, bowl after bowl of green vegetables, not even meat, better than our family to eat!" ”
Xu Xiaoyan's girlfriend is called Wang Yanyan, and her family is also worth mentioning, her father is called Wang Yinggao, who is a founding major general, her brother is called Wang Qianqian, the son-in-law of the founding general Yang Chengwu, and her sister is called Wang Yingying, who is the daughter-in-law of the founding lieutenant general Xu Liqing.
Of course, Xu Xiaoyan is not bad, graduated from the Department of Computer Science of Tsinghua University, also went to Canada for further study, obtained a master's degree in computer science, served as deputy commander of the Nanjing Military Region, director of the Communications Department of the General Staff, and other positions, and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general.
Near Xu Xiangqian's residence, there is a military compound that organizes everyone to watch movies every month. Xu Xiangqian would sometimes go to see it, but every time he entered the field, the warriors would stand up and applaud.
Xu Xiangqian understood the soldiers' feelings, but this move was really unnecessary, but it would affect everyone's viewing, so he said to everyone: "I am like everyone, I am an audience, in the future, everyone does not have to be so polite, if the comrades are still like this, next time I will not come." ”
Whenever the soldiers who were in charge of Xu Qianqian's guard work mentioned Xu Xiangqian, they would sincerely praise and say: "Xu Shuai treats us like a family, there is no shelf at all!" ”
On the day of Chinese New Year's Eve 1989, Xu Xiangqian instructed his family to cook more dishes and buy a few bottles of good wine, and his wife and children were a little puzzled, because Xu Xiangqian has always paid no attention to eating and drinking, which is the case every year during the Spring Festival, but why is this year's Spring Festival so generous? Xu Xiangqian explained: "The comrades in charge of the security work have been working hard for a year, and we must invite them over to have a meal and thank them well. ”
At noon that day, the soldiers sat down one after another, and Xu Xiangqian said: "Comrades, thank you, you have worked hard, I toast you with a glass of wine." After Xu Xiangqian finished speaking, he drank the wine in his hand and instructed the soldiers: "Everyone eats openly, don't have any restraints, just like in your own home." ”
When Xu Xiangqian was at home, as long as the work was not busy, he would do everything himself, because of this, the staff around him were very distressed, complaining: "As long as he is at home, the work we do, he basically does it all, and we can rarely help." ”
On September 21, 1990, Marshal Xu Qianqian passed away and left a will before his death: "After I die, I will not bid farewell to the body, will not hold a memorial service, and scatter three ashes in the Dabie Mountain, Daba Mountain, Taihang Mountain, and Hexi Corridor." "#那些为国家做出重大贡献的伟人 #
(References: "Xu Xiangqian Biography", "Xu Xiangqian Memoirs", "Party History Expo", "Literature and History Spring and Autumn")
——To learn more about the story of the founding generals, you can check out the column of the history inn, a total of 100 founding generals.