One day in September 1951, Premier Zhou Enlai and Commander-in-Chief Zhu De visited Su Yu, who had returned from a medical treatment in the Soviet Union, to rest in Beijing. In the previous years of military career, General Su Yu had been injured 6 times, with a lot of shrapnel and warheads left in his body, and after the end of the Liberation War, Su Yu often had headaches and dizziness, which had seriously affected his normal life. So in December 1950, Su Yu went to the Soviet Union to treat the disease, after nearly several months of comprehensive treatment, Su Yu's body basically recovered, this time back to Beijing also has the intention of waiting for the central government to arrange work.
Photo: General Su Yu (data map)
After a few words of greeting with Su Yu, Zhou Enlai told him a very important order: "The CPC Central Committee has decided to transfer you to the General Staff Headquarters (of the People's Liberation Army), and the Central Committee has asked us to talk to you, hoping that you can take office as soon as possible." ”
Su Yu was greatly surprised when he heard this news, so he hurriedly resigned: "No, my work level is limited, do you want to consider other comrades?" I am afraid that I will not be able to do the work at headquarters. But Zhou Enlai and Zhu De said to him: "You are working in the General Staff Headquarters, which is Chairman Mao's intention, and we think it is appropriate for you to work here, so you should still obey the decision of the organization!" In this way, on November 2, 1951, the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China officially appointed Su Yu as deputy chief of the general staff, and Chairman Mao attached great importance to Su Yu, and once said this sentence to Su Yu's transfer to the General Staff Headquarters: "Su Yu can see the problem relatively well." ”
Shortly after the founding of New China in 1949, Chairman Mao appointed Xu Xiangqian, who was recuperating in Qingdao, to the post of chief of the general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. But in fact, because Xu Xiangqian was not in good health, until 1954, the work of the General Staff was always taken over by Nie Rongzhen, the first deputy chief of the general staff, that is, the position of chief of the general staff was always vacated by Chairman Mao, because Chairman Mao was well aware of the importance of this position.
Pictured: Chairman Mao and Xu Xiangqian have a passionate conversation
In 1954, after Xu Qianqian was transferred to the post of vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, Chairman Mao, after much thought, decided to entrust this heavy responsibility to Su Yu. On October 31, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China officially issued a notice appointing Comrade Su Yu as the chief of the general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. In order to make Su Yu mentally prepared, Chairman Mao talked to Su Yu in advance, and when Su Yu learned of Chairman Mao's appointment, he was very surprised and hurriedly said to Chairman Mao: "Chairman, I am not competent!" Chairman Mao looked at the 47-year-old "young man" and replied in an affirmative tone: "According to what I know about you, you have no problem and can do this job!" Then he thought about it again: "But although the peony is good, it still needs green leaves to lining, so you can work hard!" ”
Therefore, while appointing Su Yu as chief of the general staff, the CPC Central Committee also appointed Zhang Zongxun, Deng Hua, Xu Shiyou, Yang Chengwu, Han Xianchu, Chen Geng, Li Kenong, and other elite military talents inside and outside the party as deputy chiefs of general staff to assist Su Yu in jointly building the national defense and military construction of the New China People's Liberation Army.
Pictured: Li Kenong, who was once deputy chief of the general staff
At this time, New China had just won the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and the People's Liberation Army had also begun to modernize and regularize the relevant construction. However, because Taiwan and some coastal islands have not yet been recovered, imperialist forces continue to build military bases around China and exert pressure on New China, and the risk of war still exists. According to the international situation at that time, after Su Yu assumed the post of chief of the general staff, he analyzed the situation of the new Chinese army and the national conditions and put forward the following three issues that urgently needed to be solved: First, what would be the pattern of future wars; second, how to establish the necessary defensive counterattack forces and defense-in-depth defense system; and third, how to formulate a long-term plan and operational plan for the construction of the People's Liberation Army.
In order to achieve these plans, Su Yu paid a lot of effort. Although there were as many as 10 deputy chiefs of general staff at this time, only Li Kenong and Zhang Aiping could really devote themselves to the work of the General Staff Headquarters, and several other deputy chiefs of general staff were also in other positions, and they were still working in their original units, and they could only consider some issues from the perspective of the General Staff Department.
After the founding of New China, because the New China Navy was not strong enough, there were still a large number of Kuomintang troops entrenched on the coastal islands located in East China, harassing the coast of New China from time to time. In order to solve the problem of the Kuomintang defenders entrenched on the east coast, from August 1954, Su Yu led the general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, made strategic arrangements for the liberation of islands along the east coast of china, and guided the liberation campaign of the Chinese People's Liberation Army on the east coast of China.
Pictured: PLA Air Force Aviation Corps at the Battle of Yijiangshan Island (oil painting)
On January 11, 1955, su Yu, on behalf of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, deployed the campaign command for the liberation of Yijiangshan Island and Dachen Island, and the first target Su Yu chose was Yijiangshan Island, 10 kilometers away from Dachen Island. Although the entire island area is only 16,000 square kilometers, it is garrisoned by more than 1,100 Kuomintang soldiers and has also built a large number of strong permanent fire points.
On January 18, under the command of General Su Yu, the Army, Navy and Air Force of the East China Theater launched a fierce attack on Yijiangshan Island, and after the successful landing of the troops, Su Yu immediately ordered: try to use the terrain to hold firm, quickly build fortifications, evacuate transport ships, and also transport the active bunkers captured in the past. Under the command of Su Yu, the Battle of Yijiangshan Island ended on January 19, which achieved a good record of annihilating more than 1,000 Kuomintang troops and accumulating initial experience in island landing operations.
Pictured: The People's Liberation Army is conducting island landing operations
With the victorious liberation of Yijiangshan Island, on February 12, 1955, the People's Liberation Army won successive victories, quickly conquered Dachen, Yushan, Phishan and other islands, and strengthened the blockade and encirclement of the Kuomintang troops on Nanjishan Island in Zhejiang. Under the strong deterrence of the People's Liberation Army, on February 25, the Kuomintang troops located near Nanjishan Island fled in a hurry, and all the islands off the coast of East China were liberated, and there was no more fighting ever since.
At this time, the main focus of the struggle against the enemy was concentrated in the Fujian region, which was across the river from Taiwan, and in order to strengthen the deployment of troops in the Fujian region, in March 1955, Su Yu summoned the General Staff Headquarters and the relevant leaders of the Air Force and the Navy to jointly discuss the complicated situation of the struggle against the enemy and made a series of strategic arrangements based on the analysis of the enemy's situation. On March 5, Su Yu reported the plan to the Central Military Commission, which was agreed.
Pictured: Peng Dehuai, He Long, Ye Jianying, and Su Yu inspecting the Air Force units
After the scramble moved south, the maritime and air missions in East China were so severe that on April 22, Su Yu requested the Central Military Commission to transfer some aircraft and troops from the Air Force to the Navy along the Fujian coast to cooperate with the operation. With the completion of a new military airport in the Fujian area at the end of June, on May 12, Su Yu again wrote a report to the Central Military Commission:
"At present, in order to cooperate with the diplomatic struggle, prevent the enemy's feudal attacks and air raids on Fujian's coastal cities, and create favorable conditions for the liberation of Kinmen, Matsu, and other islands, when the Fujian military airfield is completed, our army should quickly deploy air force units." After Chairman Mao received Su Yu's report, he approved it in the report on the 19th: "Withdraw He (Long) Su (Yu) and do as you please." ”
Pictured: Liu Yalou is listening to the situation report
After receiving Chairman Mao's reply, the General Staff department originally planned to transfer the plane after the preparations were completed at the end of June. Later, due to the continuous rain in the construction area, the timing of the Air Force's entry into Fujian needed to be postponed again. After Peng Dehuai arrived in Beijing on June 3, Su Yu immediately reported to Peng Dehuai, who said: "It is advisable to enter the Fujian Air Force around the summit of the four major powers in mid-July." ”
According to this news, Comrade Liu Yalou, who was then commander of the Air Force, prepared to go to Shanghai, Hangzhou, and other places to make necessary preparations and to make necessary coordination work on the qualifications of the pilots concerned and the operational organization after entering Fujian. At this time, Chairman Mao happened to be resting in Hangzhou, so on June 11, Liu Yalou went to Hangzhou to visit Chairman Mao, and Chairman Mao asked: "What are you doing in Hangzhou?" ”
Liu Yalou replied: "Preparations are being made to organize the air force's operation into Fujian. ”
Pictured: Liu Yalou is reporting the operational situation to Chairman Mao and Liu Shaoqi
Chairman Mao was a little angry after hearing this, so he asked him: "Why did the Central Committee implement such a big problem before you discussed it?" Who decides? ”
After Liu Yalou was criticized by Chairman Mao, Su Yu hurriedly made a written review to Chairman Mao: First, he reviewed his lack of understanding of the enemy situation; second, he did not understand the diplomatic struggle deeply enough; third, his style of work was "bureaucratic." On August 6, Chairman Mao approved Su Yu's review: "I approved your opinion on May 19, so you have no responsibility not to ask for instructions in advance, only the responsibility not to ask for instructions when you later decided on specific deployments." ”
Due to the complicated international situation at that time, the way of fighting the enemy along the Fujian coast took several changes. On July 19, Chairman Mao personally held a meeting and decided to carry out punitive shelling in the Kinmen and Matsu areas, and Su Yu immediately summoned the relevant personnel of the People's Liberation Army to plan the specific work of shelling Kinmen. After some intense preparations, on August 23, 1955, the "Battle of Kinmen Artillery" officially began, fully demonstrating the armed forces of the new Chinese people and their determination to defend the reunification of the motherland.
Beginning on September 8, 1955, Su Yu rushed to Tianjin and Hebei to inspect the terrain of Guan'ai near Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, accompanied by Beijing commander Yang Chengwu and others. On September 14, Su Yu and his party came to the Great Wall, located in the midst of lofty mountains, and reached the vicinity of Xifengkou. Due to the difficulty of walking on the mountain road, many of the accompanying personnel's clothes were torn by thorns and branches when they went up the mountain, but Su Yu was still full of interest and very happy.
Soon after, Su Yu came to Xifengkou, looking at the inside and outside of the Guanxi Pass, he had infinite feelings, he said to the others: "Xifengkou is a heroic pass, when fighting against Japan, there were immortal anti-Japanese deeds here. But the future war is different from the War of Resistance Against Japan; they are different from any war we have experienced before, and we must find a way to study its laws and grasp its characteristics well, so that we can stand in an invincible position. ”
Pictured: Xifengkou Anti-Japanese War Monument
As a natural defensive barrier for Beijing, the capital of New China, the Liaodong Peninsula and Jiaodong Peninsula are the outposts and gateways of Beijing and Tianjin, and their strategic location is very important. Beginning in mid-November 1955, Su Yu went to Lushun and Dalian to inspect the terrain, and then took the "Kaifeng" warship to investigate the nearby large and small islands, and finally reached Longkou near the Jiaodong Peninsula.
Pictured: Su Yu once came to Lushun to inspect and view the 180 mm shore gun
In order to prevent the imperialist countries from retaking the old road of capturing Beijing during the Period of the Eight-Power Alliance, Su Yu repeatedly stressed along the way that key defenses must be deployed in important areas. In addition, Su Yu also stressed the need to pay attention to the relationship between the local army and the militia, and ensured that "all the people are soldiers" in the anti-aggression war that may break out in the future.
During his outings, Su Yu imposed strict discipline on his entourage: he was not allowed to make requests to comrades in the local government outside of work, nor was he allowed to accept gifts, let alone accept so-called "special hospitality", and he was also allowed to pay the meal fee in full and on time when eating in the local canteen. He led by example, often paying for movies at his own expense, and the people in the cinema did not know that this skinny middle-aged man who paid for movie tickets himself was the famous general Su Yu.
In the early 1950s, most of the modernization of the Chinese army depended on the support of the Soviet Union in terms of technology, which was responsible for selling technical materials to China and sending many experts to help New China, which undoubtedly played an important role. However, the modernization of the People's Liberation Army fundamentally still requires "independence and self-reliance." Su Yu often reminds the comrades of the General Staff Headquarters: While mastering imported equipment and technology as soon as possible, we must not rely on foreign technical support for a long time, and we must establish our own military weapons production lines and weapon technology systems.
Pictured: In 1954, Mao Zedong met with Arkhipov, the head of the Soviet Advisory Group on China
In April 1955, Su Yu pointed out at the first military work conference on equipment and foreign aid: "Relying on foreign aid is not a long-term solution after all, we should gradually achieve self-reliance." Regarding the Soviet experts and consultants hired, Su Yu said: "We cannot rely on the talents of other countries, and we in New China must cultivate professional teachers and experts on our own." Regarding the fact that many troops and military academies proposed to send additional Soviet expert advisers, Su Yu was even more strict, reducing the original plan to hire 366 Soviet advisers to 139 people.
In this regard, an old leader of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army later sighed: "In the past, our department always felt that it was a great regret that we did not invite Soviet advisers, but now we have figured out that it is correct not to invite, we originally wanted to engage in a certain business, we wanted to get teaching materials from Soviet experts, but the chief of the general staff did not agree and gave us a strict control." ”
In addition to pointing out that he could not rely on Soviet aid for a long time, Su Yu, as chief of the general staff, was always able to adhere to his own principles and safeguard the national interests of the new China when handling relations with Soviet advisers. On August 4, 1954, the Central Military Commission issued a document setting forth strict rules on the materials to be given to Soviet advisers, and after the document was issued, some Soviet advisers had opinions: "Is there something new China that does not want us to know?" Did it limit the activities of Soviet advisers? ”
Pictured: Soviet expert advisers are discussing issues with Chinese personnel
So the Soviet advisory group reflected these doubts to the Chinese side, Su Yu did not back down, at the end of October and the beginning of November Su Yu met with the deputy general adviser of the Soviet advisory group twice, Su Yu solemnly pointed out: "The adviser needs to go through certain organizational procedures for information, can not cross levels and chaos, if it exceeds the scope, it needs to be reported to the general advisory group for handling." Moreover, there is nothing wrong with the CMC document, and we in China cannot understand these questions when you raise them, and they also damage the friendly relations between China and the Soviet Union. The General Advisory Council should explain these issues, and the remarks of certain advisers should not be taken as the opinion of the General Advisory Council of the USSR itself. Su Yu's well-founded accusations made the Deputy General Counsel of the Soviet Union clear up the "misunderstanding" and effectively safeguarded the dignity of the new China.
In the modernization drive of the New Chinese People's Liberation Army, some Soviet advisers, disregarding the actual situation in New China, always put forward some suggestions and invitations for "fake big voids" and always wanted to carry out large-scale and multi-project construction projects like the Soviet Union. Our present army is being built under limited economic conditions, and we must spend it where it is most useful, breaking a penny in half. ”
Pictured: Premier Zhou Enlai entertains Soviet advisers and their wives in China
In 1954, soviet advisers in the new Chinese navy proposed an ideal plan that should build a strong navy in a short period of time, but Su Yu knew very well in his heart that in the case of new China at that time, such a plan was difficult to achieve in a short period of time. So in 1955 Su Yu discussed this issue with the Acting General Adviser of the Soviet Union, and the Soviet side insisted on its own ideas, but Su Yu replied: "The current situation in New China is actually similar to the situation in the Soviet Union in 1922, and you always measure the level of development of our new China by the current situation of socialist construction in the Soviet Union, so we oppose this kind of construction opinion that does not conform to the actual situation." In the end, Su Yu persuaded the Acting General Counsel of the Soviet Union to abandon his original idea.
Another time, in the winter of 1954, when an important figure of the Soviet Ministry of National Defense visited China, the Central Military Commission decided to send He Long, Liu Bocheng, two vice chairmen, and Su Yu, chief of the general staff, to accompany the foreign guests to Shanghai for inspection and prepare to take the train in advance. However, an hour before the drive, the Soviet foreign guests suddenly changed the chairman's desire to take the plane, and the staff of the Chinese foreign affairs department felt very embarrassed about this, so they asked Su Yu, who immediately told the staff in no uncertain terms: "It is their freedom to know how they want to go, but in order to ensure the safety of our two vice presidents, we are still ready to take the train according to the original plan." However, what kind of transportation they like to take, we can consider arranging. ”
Pictured: Soviet advisers directing new China's military-industrial production
All in all, during the four years that Su Yu served as chief of the general staff of the new Chinese People's Liberation Army, he never failed to live up to Chairman Mao's deep hopes and made great contributions to the national defense construction and national security of New China. He adhered to principles, was not humble, and made meaningful explorations of many new problems in future wars. Although at some times, the spirit of his work could not be understood by his colleagues, he still took over the heavy burden entrusted to him by Chairman Mao with unremitting spirit, and made unparalleled contributions to the army building, operational thinking, and foreign policy in New China.