After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, China adopted the military rank system. After that, ten people received the title of marshal, and these ten people were all outstanding in battle and could recruit good warriors! Being praised by the people of the whole country as the "Ten Marshals" can be said to be extremely respected.
Figure 1 Chen Yi
However, Chen Yi, who was one of the Ten Marshals, actually had a record of six battles and five losses when he entered Shandong, why was this? Even at that time, in the midst of high opposition, the Central Military Commission considered letting Xu Xiangqian replace Chen Yi, and Chairman Mao vetoed this proposal after more than 20 days of deep thinking.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" > stationed in Shandong</h1>
In the early days of the Liberation War, Shandong and northern Jiangsu became key plots for Chiang Kai-shek. In order to counter the People's Liberation Army, Chiang Kai-shek arranged the most elite troops, including the 74th Army of the Iron Army of the War of Resistance, which had made great achievements in battle.
After careful consideration, the Central Military Commission planned to send Chen Yi to Shandong to direct the battle there. Chen Yi immediately objected, saying that he hoped to go to the northeast and was not willing to go to Shandong. However, at that time, there were already suitable candidates in the northeast, and now the situation in Shandong needed Chen Yi even more, and in the end Chairman Mao had to personally intervene to do ideological work.
It turned out that there was a reason why Chen Yi was reluctant to go to Shandong, and the situation in Shandong was very complicated at that time. There are a group of tough generals who can fight, Xu Shiyou and others there, but their personalities are very strong and difficult to command.
The most important reason is that Rao Shushi is working as a political commissar in the Shandong Military Region, and Chen Yi is afraid that the two will not be able to be a good partner. When I arrived there, I was not familiar with the land, the local troops were not well coordinated, and the generals were not good at taking them.
In this regard, Chairman Mao had no choice but to do ideological work and said that at present, only you are suitable for the Battlefield in Shandong, so that Chen Yi can attach importance to the overall situation. Chen Yi replied to this: "I'm afraid that if I go there, I won't have anything to do and won't be able to play a role." Chairman Mao told: "If you have nothing to do, you can play Go, and as long as you sit there, it will have an effect." ”
Obviously, there are many tough generals in the Shandong region, and what is really lacking is someone who can command the action in a unified way, that is, a real commander- The Central Military Commission, taking into account Chen Yi's excellent overall planning ability, is the best candidate for Shandong. In this way, Chen Yi had no choice but to go to Shandong.
Figure 2
After arriving in Shandong, of course, Chen Yi would not only play Go, although the local troops were not easy to bring, but the Kuomintang army was menacing, and the work that should be done still had to be done well. In view of the problem of strong personality and poor command with the general, Chen Yi was determined to solve it as soon as he arrived in Shandong.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="11" > consecutive defeats</h1>
If you want to coordinate people's hearts and minds, you must first establish prestige, and if you want to establish prestige, you must first win the battle. So Chen Yi decided to attack Si County, which was stationed with two regiments of the Kuomintang Gui clan. The so-called "Iron Army" means that it is tougher than the independent regiment that Ye Ting claims to be the "Iron Army", and in fact it is indeed an iron-blooded unit with extremely fierce combat effectiveness.
Therefore, as soon as Chen Yi made a decision, he was unanimously rejected by the generals of the local troops, and the generals did not want to fight with the "Gang Iron Army" such as the "Gui Clan". They still want to attack the weaker "Chiang Kai-shek" troops, believing that it is the right choice to fight the weak first and then the strong. At this time, Chairman Mao also sent a telegram: If you do not have the confidence to annihilate the enemy, you will wait until you have mastered the main local troops before fighting. Don't be too impatient, especially now that it's the rainy season.
Of course, Chen Yi understood this truth, but if he wanted to master the local troops, he had to build up his prestige by winning a hard battle. At the same time, he believed that the 22 regiments of our army, the enemy's two regiments, and the 10-to-1 gap in strength could win the war. Therefore, he insisted on fighting Si County.
Figure 3
That night, under chen Yi's orders, the troops began to attack Si County. Heavy rain suddenly fell on the halfway point, but the military order had been conveyed and could not be changed suddenly, and the PLA fighters still bravely launched an attack on Si County. The battle soon began, and the heavy rain caused many difficulties to the PLA soldiers, many gunpowder and grenades were invalidated due to wetness, and the toughness of the "Gui" troops was also unexpected.
Chen Yi described the "Gui" troops after the war, saying that unlike other Chiang Kai-shek troops, they would never surrender unless they died in battle. Even the husband will scold you before running away, and if he is caught, he will take the flat burden and fight with you. In addition to the bravery of the "Gui" troops, the delay in arriving at other local units is also an important reason for the defeat of Si County.
Chen Yi was nominally able to command 22 regiments to fight, but in fact only 6 regiments reached Si County, and some of the rest of the troops went to the encirclement point to help, or because it was raining and did not arrive. The shortcomings of the failure of the local troops to coordinate were exposed, resulting in the inability of the troops to concentrate their forces and ultimately to defeat the enemy.
At that time, according to the orders of the central government, the main force regiment must be maintained between 2000-2500 people, and the weapon firepower must first ensure the armed main force regiment. After several battles of attrition, the first column brought by Chen Yi could only be reduced to seven regiments, which showed the difficulty of the situation that Chen Yi was facing at that time.
Figure 4
Your big commander is not much bigger than my little commander, and I suggest that you should not be influenced by all sides, so you should concentrate the main forces in your hands to seek fighters to fight, otherwise the troops will be scattered and no battle will be fought.
After several consecutive defeats, after Chen Yi entered Shandong, his record became six wins and five losses. Questioned by the generals, someone openly questioned Chen Yi at the meeting: "Will you fight in the end?" ”
Several generals even sent secret telegrams to Chairman Mao expressing their dissatisfaction with General Chen Yi's command. In the face of the questioning of his subordinates, Chen Yi was speechless, and in the end, Chen Yi did not refute it, but self-criticism.
Summed up my two mistakes, and said, it is not that the troops did not play well, but mainly that I, the commander-in-chief, made two mistakes, and as commander-in-chief, I should bear everything and admit this mistake to the commander and the soldiers.
Before that, Ye Fei was very anxious for Chen Yi and suggested:
However, the situation was dangerous, Chen Yi was even more anxious, and if the Shandong Theater could not achieve results for a long time, he could not help but feel guilty in his heart.
Figure 5
After the loss of the two Huai, the Shandong Field Army jointly sent a telegram to the Central Military Commission, summarizing the four reasons for Chen Yi's failure. It can be roughly summarized as:
First, do not listen to the words of subordinates; second, do not listen to the orders of the Central Military Region; third, lack of adaptability; fourth, the loss of strategic points such as the Lianghuai region. In addition, the words "Chen Yi will not fight" can also spread.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="28" > change of coach</h1>
After the Central Military Commission learned of the war report, it considered changing the commander. After preliminary consideration by the Central Military Commission, it was decided to let Xu Xiangqian replace Chen Yi. He also informed Chen Yi of this matter, and when he learned that General Xu Qianqian was going to replace himself, Chen Yi also accepted it calmly.
This reflects the personality charm of General Chen Yi, who does not grab credit for everything, and takes the lead in taking responsibility once there is a defeat, which is also the reason why the Central Military Commission previously considered letting General Chen Yi serve as the commander of the Shandong Field Army.
Li Yu was in charge of military issues, Chen Yi was in charge of the overall work of the commander-in-chief, and the two cooperated as partners. It can take into account both fighting wars and stabilizing the morale of the army, so that all problems can be solved.
Figure 6
After many defeats, Chen Yi could not help but lose some confidence, and now he was intently waiting for Xu Xiangqian to take over him. However, after waiting for twenty days, xu xiangqian did not wait, but Su Yu of the Central China Field Army was waiting.
It turned out that Chairman Mao, after careful consideration, believed that changing commanders in the front had always been a taboo for soldiers, and that as far as the situation at that time was concerned, changing commanders was not realistic. Why?
First of all, the Central Military Commission sent Chen Yi to Shandong, focusing on Chen Yi's overall planning ability rather than military ability in fighting wars. Although Xu Xiangqian's military talent is famous, once the commander is changed, Chen Yi's previous overall planning work in Shandong has been done in vain, and it is easier to cause the military to float. Even if General Xu Qianqian arrives in Shandong, it will also increase the difficulty of unnecessary work, so changing the commander in front of the battle is not preferred by the wise.
The second reason is that Xu Shuai's physical health is not very good, his military ability is unparalleled, he has repeatedly fought strange battles, and he has been praised by posterity as the "God of War" of our army. Therefore, if Xu Shuai went to Shandong, it must be no problem to fight a war. But health will be a big hidden danger, and we have to worry about it. But if there is no change of commander, how should the problem of fighting in the Shandong Theater be solved?
Under hesitation, Chairman Mao has also been thinking. At this moment, the battle report of General Su Yu, who was in charge of the Central China Theater of Operations, came to the battlefield, and while the Central Committee was excited, Chairman Mao had a new idea, so that the Central China Field Army and the East China Field Army could be merged.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="38" > best partner</h1>
Soon, the CmC conveyed the order to Chen Yi for the change. Chen Yi's heart was extremely excited, and after merging with the Central China Field Army, the problems staked on General Chen Yi were all solved. Especially in terms of fighting, once General Li Yu is in charge, cooperating with Chen Yi can be described as a tiger adding wings.
At that time, Su Yu fought against the 150,000 troops of the Kuomintang army in the battlefield of central China, and with 30,000 people fighting with them, annihilated more than 53,000 Kuomintang troops, and threatened to shock the central Region of China.
Figure 7
Not to mention his heavy military achievements, posterity commented that his talent can be compared to General Xu Qianqian, which shows how impressive his battle record is. Therefore, Su Yu's partner with Chen Yi could not be more suitable, no wonder Chen Yi was so happy.
The two armies merged, with Chen Yi as political commissar and Su Yu as commander-in-chief. In order to solve the complaints and doubts of some comrades, in addition to doing a lot of ideological work, the two also decided to fight a big victory, and as long as they win the war, any ideological problem can be solved.
At that time, after the Kuomintang was defeated by Su Yu in central China, the focus of the attack was once again placed in the Shandong region. The 74th Army had just won a major victory under the leadership of Zhang Lingfu, so the Kuomintang troops decided to take advantage of the victory to pursue and make another great contribution. Therefore, 25 brigades and regiments were dispatched, and the large army was divided into four routes, starting from Dongtai, Huaiyin, Suqian and Yixian respectively, to launch a siege on the main force of the East China Field Army.
After consultation with Su Yu and Chen Yi and others, they found that the enemy troops on the Suqian road were isolated compared to the other three roads, and if they were to be annihilated, the enemy would certainly not be able to immediately support them. Therefore, it was decided to fight the enemy in Subei, but many of the generals below opposed it. Su Yu later said: "At that time, after the merger of the two armies, I came alone, and I was also unfamiliar with the comrades in the headquarters. ”
In this case, of course, it is not conducive to commanding operations. At this time, Chen Yi resolutely stood up, vigorously defied the public opinion, and vigorously supported General Li Yu. After all, Chen Yi's prestige was high, and his insistence strategy was set.
Figure 8
With the consent of the Central Military Commission, the Battle of Subei was fought, and it was the Kuomintang 69th And 11th Division that fought against our army. Considering that the 69th Division was the weakest, it took the lead in fighting it and blocked the support of the right-wing 11th Division.
According to Su Yu's later recollection, because he was not familiar with the situation in Shandong and other places, when commanding the Battle of Subei, it can be said that it was not too prudent to be cautious, and even Su Yu, who had experienced hundreds of battles, was nervous. In fact, this is all his concern about the hidden dangers of local troops' inability to coordinate operations well.
After several attempts to repulse several attacks by the 11th Division, the 69th Division was completely divided and encircled, and even the rear road to Suqian was cut off. At this point, it had completely become the meal on the plate of the East China and Central China Field Army, and the local troops still used people to urge coordination, and rushed forward one after another to wipe out the 69th Division.
Its division commander Dai Zhiqi committed suicide in defeat, deputy division commander Rao Shaowei was captured, and the 11th Division, seeing that the war was unfavorable, could only retreat to the south of the canal. The Plakmen Army annihilated more than 20,000 enemies in total, which was the largest victory since the Liberation War of our army and the first time that our army annihilated the entire division of the Kuomintang.
After this battle, the troops in East China swept away the haze and united the troops as never before. Chen Yi threw off the hat that he couldn't fight, and after the war, he said excitedly: "Who said that I am old and can't fight." After that, the east and central China field troops fought many victorious battles under the command of Chen Yi and Su Yu, swept through the northern troops of the Kuomintang, and under the command of Su Yu, millions of male divisions crossed the Yangtze River, thus smoothly liberating all of China.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="51" > postscript</h1>
Tianxingjian, a gentleman who is self-reliant, Chen Yi is a self-improvement person, he has the courage to take responsibility, is good at summarizing lessons learned, and is good at overall planning. It is precisely because of the unswerving revolutionary will of many ancestors like Chen Yi that they finally overcame many difficulties and cut through thorns along the way to make tremendous contributions to the construction of new China. His exploits will always be remembered by our descendants.