A "Great Armageddon" made the founding general Liu Yalou famous, and many viewers remembered the third person under the two marshals Lin Biao and Luo Ronghuan.
Some viewers who are not familiar with the history of China's revolutionary war may wonder: What is the origin of General Liu Yalou, who suddenly became the chief of staff of the Northeast Million Army? Why hasn't he heard of his achievements in the Eight-Year War of Resistance? In fact, Liu Yalou was also from an old revolutionary background; during the period of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, he participated in countless battles against "encirclement and suppression, large and small; during the Long March, he galloped across the country and was wise and courageous; he was quite favored by the Central Military Commission and Chairman Mao; he was promoted to political commissar of the division at a young age.
So, what ability did General Liu Yalou have to obtain Lin Biao's extraordinary weight and become the chief of staff of the Northeast Coalition Army at the beginning of the Liberation War? Please listen to what the author has to say for you.
Liu Yalou is a native of Wuping, Fujian Province, who attended primary and junior high schools in the local area and worked as a teacher at Hongxiang Primary School. In 1929, when the revolutionary movement was launched in western Fujian, Liu Yalou also participated in the revolution and joined the party with honor, changing his original name Liu Zhendong to Liu Yalou, determined to always follow the party and go to a higher level.
In December 1929, Liu Yalou, who was less than 20 years old, ended his military studies at the Red Fourth Army Military Academy with the battalion, first as a company commander, and then stationed in Luo Binghui's Red Twelfth Army as a battalion commander and political commissar. The vast majority of the Red Army were poor peasants without any cultural education, so the rejuvenation of cadres was a common phenomenon, and it was not surprising to become a battalion commander at the age of 19. However, Liu Yalou's command of the battle is indeed outstanding and remarkable.
After a joint military training, Lin Biao, then commander of the Red Fourth Army, saw that liu Yalou, who was young and vigorous, performed eye-catching in the exercise, and could not help but take a closer look, touch his head and say to Luo Binghui: Your 19-year-old battalion commander is a good grin, have a chance to give it to me. Liu Yalou also said to Lin Biao: Say that I am small, how old are you, but a 24- or 5-year-old small military commander. Lin Biao loves Cai and does not care about Liu Yalou's recoil.
In the first anti-"encirclement and suppression" battle of the Central Red Army, Liu Yalou was already the political commissar of the Thirty-fifth Regiment. In terms of tactical arrangement, the Thirty-fifth Regiment was entrusted with the heavy task of holding the nose of the main force of the enemy army zhang Huizhan on the western road and luring the enemy to go deep and annihilate in one fell swoop. As the Great War was approaching, Chairman Mao specially summoned Liu Yalou and regimental commander Bi Zhanyun to once again emphasize the importance of their tasks and tell them how to fight falsely, skillfully, and with falsehoods.
Although Liu Yalou has a quick temper, he is definitely not Zhang Fei's li kui, and the use of strategic tactics seems to him as if he was born. His troops perfectly played a piece of "fat meat" that made the enemy salivate, luring the enemy's vicious dog into the pre-prepared encirclement step by step. On December 30, 1930, the enemy division headquarters and two brigades were completely annihilated by the Red Army, and Zhang Huizhan was defeated and captured.
In this battle, Liu Yalou's troops contributed to the greatest achievements. Chairman Mao praised him by name at the post-war celebration meeting: Liu Yalou dared to lose and dare to win, and it will be rare! And rewarded Liu Yalou with the watch of Zhang Huizhan, the first major trophy of this battle.
In February 1932, Liu Yalou was promoted to political commissar of the Red Eleventh Division, when he was only 22 years old. It was precisely the several anti-"encirclement and suppression" wars under the command of Chairman Mao that gradually cultivated Liu Yalou, the son of a blacksmith, into a generation of famous generals who commanded thousands of troops and horses, so that his innate military ability could be unleashed.
The fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign failed, and the Red Army began a major strategic shift. At this time, Liu Yalou was the political commissar of the Second Red Division, and the commander of the division was Chen Guang, a famous general who died in 1954. As the vanguard of the whole army, the Red Second Division cut through thorns and thorns all the way, grabbed the pass and seized the village, and opened a bloody road for the whole army in the rain of bullets and bullets from the enemy.
Liu Yalou used his troops in a proper manner, commanded properly, lined up troops to boost morale, was proficient, dared to take the lead in the face of emergencies, braved the rain of arrows and bullets to command the battle at the forefront, fearlessly, and both his superiors and soldiers praised him.
Liu Yalou's heroic performance also made the central leaders look sideways. In terms of political stance, Liu Yalou also withstood the pressure of Zhang Guotao and resolutely followed Chairman Mao north. In Hadapu, Gansu, the Central Red Army was reorganized into the Shaanxi-Gansu Detachment of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, and Among the three columns under the detachment, Commander Peng Dehuai, Chairman Mao and Political Commissar, Liu Yalou was appointed deputy commander of the Second Column.
Thinking that many veteran leaders had to obey his own command, the young Liu Yalou was uneasy, and after the military meeting, he quietly approached Chairman Mao and expressed his concerns. Chairman Mao smiled and comforted him: You Liu Yalou dared to fight and rush all the way, everyone saw it in their eyes, and their battle achievements were outstanding. With the approval of Chairman Mao and the Central Military Commission, the young Liu Yalou was deeply encouraged, and his revolutionary enthusiasm grew stronger and stronger.
Liu Yalou and the second column crossed the Liupan Mountain, entered the town of Wuqi in northern Shaanxi in the north, faced the imposing cavalry unit of the Ningxia Erma, and cooperated with Lin Biao's first column to once again achieve a great victory, destroying more than 2,000 enemy soldiers and seizing countless ordnance horses. Liu Yalou happily rode on the captured Western Regions horse, and then selected a batch of good horses to give to the central leaders, indicating that he would let the revolution ride forward on horseback! The long march further laid the foundation for this young division-level commander and fighter's reputation for being able to fight well.
After settling down in Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia, Chairman Mao decided to establish the Chinese Minist Anti-Japanese Military and Political University to cultivate a group of outstanding military and political talents who can adapt to the times and act independently for future national revolutionary wars. Liu Yalou, who had made outstanding achievements in the Long March and at the same time had a certain cultural background, was left behind to be the head of education at Kang Da.
At first, Liu Yalou was a little upset, and wanted to go to the front line to participate in the battle, and Chairman Mao personally talked to him and did his ideological work, saying: You can fight wars, you understand politics, you have also studied in the provincial middle school, and you can't do anything about both literature and martial arts. Liu Yalou was a wise man, also reasonable, and able to take into account the overall situation; after Chairman Mao's enlightenment, he quickly straightened out his thinking, began to immerse himself in earnest teaching and auxiliary work, and achieved many gratifying achievements. Later, international friend Snow came to visit and asked about Liu Yalou's thoughts and feelings from the battlefield to the classroom.
In late May 1938, Liu Yalou left Kang Da and embarked on the road to study in a foreign country with a group of cadres. The following year, Liu Yalou officially entered the Frunze Military Academy in the Soviet Union. During this period, Lin Biao was also recuperating in the Soviet Union. Reunited with his old superiors in a foreign country, Liu Yalou was overjoyed. Liu Yalou was one of Lin Biao's supporters during the Red Army period, and when Lin Biao was the commander of the regiment, liu Yalou and Yang Chengwu, the two future generals, seemed to be two "bodyguards" who closely followed him.
The trip to the Soviet Union for further study led to a gap in Liu Yalou's merit book during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, which occasionally affected the award of ranks to the whole army in 1955, but the advantage was that Liu Yalou systematically learned advanced military theoretical knowledge, and his understanding and control of the operations of the large corps was beyond others, so that he was promoted to the chief of the general staff of the Northeast Democratic Coalition Army as soon as he returned to China.
In August 1945, Liu Yalou, under the pseudonym Wang Song, participated in the Soviet army's campaign to attack the Japanese Kwantung Army in the northeast. He then remained in Dalian after liberation as a liaison officer for the Chinese and Soviet armies.
Liu Yalou was very eager to return to our army and frequently contacted comrades in the Northeast Bureau. The turning point occurred in February of the following year, when Luo Ronghuan, then deputy secretary of the Northeast Bureau and deputy political commissar of the coalition forces, went to Dalian for recuperation due to illness, and Liu Yalou seized the opportunity to plead with Luo Shuai in person. Luo Ronghuan was very familiar with Liu Yalou's military talents, and considering that he had drunk "foreign ink" in the Soviet Union, it could be said that a thousand armies were easy to get and difficult to find. With Luo Shuai's appearance, the Northeast Bureau actively negotiated with the Soviet side and quickly asked Liu Yalou to return.
Liu Yalou, who returned to Harbin, rushed to Harbin to take up his post, but Lin Biao, who has always been reserved in treating people and things, broke the routine and personally "bent over" to greet him. Holding the hand of this old comrade-in-arms, Lin Biao's cold face actually burst into a smile, and he said a sentence of envy for others: You Liu Yalou came to be the chief of staff, a top.
At this time, the northeast was the focus of the central government's attention, the northeast bureau was full of elites, and there were many generals in the coalition army, and any one of them was a famous general with outstanding military achievements, but Liu Yalou was frustrated and was directly appointed by the Central Military Commission as the chief of staff of the northeast coalition army, and suddenly became the third person of the coalition army, which people called "born out of nowhere."
When Liu Yalou took office, the Democratic Coalition Army had just experienced a bloody battle and the Battle of Siping, with serious losses and morale falling to the bottom. Liu Yalou was originally full of economics and experience, and he also had rich practical combat experience, and the further study of the international military academies gave him theoretical wings, and Liu Yalou, who was full of ambition, could be described as full of ambition at this time, determined to break through a breakthrough point for the magnificent liberation war in the black waters of the white mountains in the northeast.
On weekdays, Liu Yalou set out to build a headquarters organ that can adapt to modernization and large-scale war, and to train the military capabilities of staff officers at all levels. During the war, he assisted Lin Biao in deploying and commanding battles such as "Three Lower Jiangnan" and "Four Bao Linjiang". It is no exaggeration to say that since the summer offensive of 1947, every victory of our army in the White Mountains and Black Waters has had a flash of Liu Yalou's wisdom.
After reviewing the Siping battle, Liu Yalou also summed up the tactics of "four groups and one team", which Lin Biao admired very much, and let him popularize it in Dongye's tactical teaching. The Kuomintang military circles also generally believed that the tactical level of the Northeast Communist Army was the highest. Higashino's transformation from weak to strong in the black land, and the more refined he fights, it is closely related to the popularization of these tactical principles. Liu Yalou is Lin Biao's most effective assistant in summarizing, revising, and promoting the "six tactical principles."
General Liu Zhen, former commander of the Second Column, recalled: Liu Yalou understood Lin Biao's intentions most profoundly, implemented them most resolutely, and handled problems most appropriately. Although the Liaoshen Campaign was the main battle personally conducted by Lin and Luo, the large amount of behind-the-scenes work completed by Liu Yalou was also an important guarantee for the victory of the battle.
If Liu Yalou was only the third person who led the battle during the Liaoshen Campaign, in the subsequent campaign against Tianjin, Liu Yalou took command of Jinmen and fought a wonderful battle he commanded alone.
As soon as the Liaoshen Campaign ended, in light of the repeated changes in the enemy situation in North China, the Central Military Commission ordered Dongye to stop the repairs, enter the pass in advance, and encircle the three enemy garrisons in Tangshan, Tanggu, and Tianjin. As a result, the "Lin Luo Liu" lightly armored and simple command organization entered the customs from Xifengkou and established the Pingjin Front Headquarters in Mengjialou, Jixian County, Hebei Province.
The general strategy of the Pingjin Campaign put forward by the Central Military Commission is to "strike at both ends first and then in the middle." From the perspective of macro strategy, the Central Military Commission believes that as long as Tanggu and Xinbao can be overcome, it is like choking the neck of the enemy and revitalizing the overall situation in Pingjin. However, no matter how wise and mighty the Central Military Commission is, its strategy is ultimately on paper, and it is impossible to keep up with the changes in the deployment of the enemy situation on the front line in time. Liu Yalou was not a mediocre general who blindly obeyed the orders of his superiors; he rushed to Tanggu overnight to conduct on-the-spot investigations and listen to the opinions of the commanders and fighters at the front, thus further strengthening his idea of being different from the Central Military Commission, that is, not to fight Tanggu and attack Tianjin.
At this time, we can see the difference between a wise general and a mediocre general. Some people have fought all their lives and do not know how to be clever. Some people can take advantage of the situation, have insight into the enemy's situation, and then use their troops like gods. Liu Yalou was already brilliant, and after the baptism of modern military education, he would never act in a rigid manner according to the instructions of his superiors; after all, this was a matter related to the overall situation of the campaign and the lives of millions of soldiers.
Liu Yalou's determination to bear a lot of pressure. Revising the CMC's plan before the war is likely to attract the suspicion of "not fighting because it is not easy to fight" and "not carrying out orders." However, Liu Yalou thought about it repeatedly and made up his mind, so he stated his opinion to Lin Biao. After receiving Lin Biao's approval, he drafted an emergency telegram overnight and sent it to the Central Military Commission, explaining the reasons for changing the plan.
Chairman Mao read Liu Yalou's telegram of suggestions, immediately changed the original plan, and made self-criticism: I did not know that the operational conditions in Tanggu would be so bad. Premier Zhou was also very touched and said: The front-line commanders are very clever and did not fight a reckless battle, otherwise the losses would have been even greater.
Affirmed by the Central Military Commission, Liu Yalou was full of ambition and concurrently served as the commander of the Tianjin Frontline Command as the chief of staff of the theater. Dongye's 340,000 troops gathered in front of Liu Yalou's tent to obey orders. Liu Yalou was well aware of the combat characteristics and command capabilities of each column and division, and it was simply most appropriate for him to arrange troops in a platoon.
Liu Yalou's plan to attack Jinjin has two highlights worth mentioning. First, two "tiger troops" were released at the same time in the primary main direction of attack, namely the first column and the second column. From a tactical point of view, dispersing the main target is easy to lose his own troops, but Liu Yalou has more specific considerations for practical problems. Through his observation, one column and two verticals are units that can stand alone and dare to gnaw hard bones, and the morale of the two units is high, if these two competitive "tigers" go hand in hand and let them compete with each other, they can form a good effect of 1 + 1 greater than 2, and the enemy defending the city is more difficult to stop.
Another bright spot was the use of more artillery and tanks in this operation than in any previous operation of our army, and the participation of engineers and special forces in the attack. This is the most abundant content of coordinated offensive operations between various branches of the armed forces in the history of the Platon Army. On the basis of careful investigation and research, Liu Yalou sent the "Coordinated Plan on the Battle of Tianjin" written by himself to the instructors above the company level. This plan occupies an important place in the history of the PLA's coordinated operations.
When Liu Yalou arranged the siege forces, he deliberately sold a loophole to the enemy defender Chen Changjie, so that the enemy misestimated the plausible attack deployment of the PLA, resulting in the original defensive deployment being hastily disrupted, but instead missing the core area of the PLA's key attack. Under the favorable circumstances of the time and place, the Tianjin Campaign led by Liu Yalou was successful. After the war, Chen Changjie was captured and sighed: I was deceived, I fell into Liu Yalou's trap!
Chen Changjie
The success of the Tianjin Campaign opened the door to the Peking Peace Talks and had a decisive impact on the subsequent situation of the Liberation War. This battle was a wonderful battle and a pinnacle of Liu Yalou's separation from Lin Biao and Luo Ronghuan to command alone. After that, Liu Yalou's battlefield went straight up to the sky.
In July 1949, Liu Yalou was ordered to form the Air Force of the People's Liberation Army. A strong sense of mission and the urgency of the task urged him to be like a tireless machine, desperately collecting information, studying and planning, exploring the best plan for establishing an air force, and going to the Soviet Union to negotiate the purchase of aircraft and request technical and personnel assistance from the Soviet side.
In less than a year, Liu Yalou submitted a plan to form China's first aviation force. Subsequently, in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the Air Force units "fought while building" and developed and grew in the test of life and death in actual combat with the Americans. Liu Yalou's expansion operation from scratch and bravely breaking the situation, while at the same time not losing the cautious and realistic combat policy, laid a solid foundation for the growth and take-off of the Chinese Air Force.
Under the influence and drive of Liu Yalou, the Air Force became the best service of the People's Liberation Army, so that in 1964 there was a boom of "the national people learning the People's Liberation Army, the People's Liberation Army learning the Air Force". The leading organ of the Air Force headed by Liu Yalou was set up by the Central Military Commission as a pacesetter. This glorious period since the founding of the Air Force is also known as the Liu Yalou period.
From the chief of staff of Higashino to the commander of the air force after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the APPOINTMENT OF LIU Yalou by the CPC Central Committee is a magic move. Liu Yalou is indeed worthy of this "great responsibility from heaven" and has handed in a perfect answer sheet that makes the world shoot the case with the most outstanding results. General Liu Yalou died young at the age of 55 due to overwork, which became a major loss for our party and our army. But the glorious image of General Liu will always remain in the hearts of every patriot.