Decades of golden iron horses, the storm clouds, through all kinds of difficulties and dangers; decades of pillows and waiting, heroic pride, never forget the original intention. In the New Fourth Army, he is undoubtedly one of the generals with the best combat effectiveness, not only made great achievements in battle, but also contributed great strength to the founding of New China, he is the founding general Tan Youlin.
But why was it that such a meritorious founding major general was rated low when he was awarded the title in 1955, so that his comrades-in-arms were upset with him? And why did he finally receive a personal apology from Marshal Luo Ronghuan?
In November 1916, Tan Youlin was born in an ordinary peasant family in Jiangling County, Hubei Province, and despite the family's extreme difficulties, Tan Youlin's father resolutely sent him to a private school to study. Father's expectation is very simple, in order to let him learn the truth of being a man, and to be a good and upright person in the future.
When Tan Youlin was nine years old, his father died of schistosomiasis, leaving his mother alone to support the family business. In desperation, Tan Youlin had to drop out of school and go home to farm. In 1927, a time of warlord chaos and chaos, the Nationalist government plundered the people's fat, and the shadow of cholera disease hung over this land of suffering.
Tan Youlin's uncle's family died in this misery. In addition to his anger, he also gradually recognized the ugly face of the National Government and developed dissatisfaction with the current situation of society. It so happened that in 1928, the CCP organization in the Honghu area held a small-scale land movement, and the Communists distributed the landlords' land to the peasants for farming, bringing tangible well-being to the people.
So at this time, Tan Youlin silently planted a seed of communism in his heart. Immediately after, Tan Youlin joined the Communist Children's League and the Youth League, and was successfully admitted to the Red Army School in 1930.
In July 1934, under the introduction of comrades Zhu Changqing and Gu Zhibiao, Tan Youlin became a true Communist Party member as he wished, and successively participated in the battles of Chenjiahe, Peach Creek, and Chestnut Garden, and won the victory of annihilating two enemy divisions. Tan Youlin fought a battle without regard for his own life and was not afraid of sacrifice, and formed a deep friendship with many Red Army generals.
In May 1936, the Red Army began its journey over snow-capped mountains, and in mid-July of the same year, the most difficult "crossing the meadow" began. Tan Youlin's right arm already had the old wounds of the past, and in the harsh natural environment, his injuries became more and more serious, and at one point they reached the point of being uncontrollable, and the warriors could only carry his stretcher to march.
With the help of He Long and others, Zhou Enlai learned of this matter, and he immediately arranged for Tan Youlin to undergo surgery. After four surgeries, Tan Youlin's injuries gradually healed. Before the injury was fully healed, Tan Youlin quickly threw himself into work.
After the July 7 Incident, General Peng Xuefeng came to the base area from the new Fourth Army garrison in Queshan County to hold a meeting. At the initiative of General Peng Xuefeng, Tan Youlin took the initiative to ask Zhou Enlai to go to the eastern Henan region to carry out guerrilla struggle behind enemy lines. Under his leadership, the size of the guerrillas continued to expand, and the main force reached as many as twelve thousand.
In 1939, Tan Youlin was appointed by General Peng Xuefeng to report to the then famous Commander Ye Ting. Tan Youlin recounted a series of work done by the guerrillas behind enemy lines, which was highly praised by Commander Ye Ting. At the same time, Commander Ye Ting also changed the name of the guerrilla group to the Sixth Detachment of the New Fourth Army.
In 1945, Tan Youlin was appointed as a commander of the Northeast People's Autonomous Army Sub-district and was given the task of suppressing bandits. The work of suppressing bandits involves many aspects of entanglement, and it is very difficult to complete. Tan Youlin and others analyzed the trajectory of the bandits' activities, formulated detailed combat deployments, and adopted guerrilla methods to attack the enemy.
It's snowy winter, and temperatures are extremely low in the northeast. There is an old saying: "The soldiers and horses have not moved, and the grain and grass have gone first." Tan Youlin's tactic was to destroy the bandits' food. Tan Youlin commanded the detachment to bring enough grain and searched day and night in the deep mountains and old forests where the bandits were hiding. As soon as they found any grain hidden in the tree hole, they took it all.
As a result, the bandits gradually fell into a desperate situation of hunger and cold, and people were scattered, and some people kept giving up resistance and choosing to turn themselves in. Under the situation of the gradual narrowing of the encirclement, the liquidation operation has also entered the countdown stage. With the assistance of the local masses, the four major groups of bandits were completely eliminated, and the battle against bandits was successfully concluded, which also made the situation in the entire rear area more stable.
After the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, Tan Youlin was appointed deputy commander of the 39th Army of the Volunteer Army, and followed the first batch of volunteer troops to fight in the DPRK to resist the United States. The headquarters of the Volunteer Army entrusted the important task of conquering the strategic area of Yunshan to the 39th Army led by Tan Youlin. At this time, the enemy of the 39th Army was the famous Ace Division of the US Army, the First Cavalry Division of the Army.
The Army's First Cavalry Division was a great achievement, not only making the commander of the "United Nations Army" MacArthur proud, but also a trump card in the hands of Walker, commander of the US Eighth Army. In the face of such a sophisticated team, Tan Youlin understood that he could only outsmart him. So under the cover of night, the volunteer army launched an attack on the American army.
After three consecutive days of fierce fighting, both sides suffered heavy losses. On November 5, the Volunteers finally concluded the Battle of Unsan in victory, destroying and capturing a large number of American weapons. At the Battle of Yunshan, the 39th Army won the first battle, which greatly boosted the morale of the Chinese army. Since then, the 39th Army has left a deep impression on the Korean military and civilians.
Soon after, Tan Youlin quickly participated in many battles to retake Pyongyang and Seoul, achieved impressive results, and was awarded the Order of Independence and Freedom of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Second Class after the victory in the Korean War.
In 1955, Tan Youlin was awarded the rank of major general. Shortly thereafter, Marshal Luo Ronghuan talked to him and apologetically stated that his rank had been lowered. After all, no matter whether it is by seniority or position, his comrades-in-arms at the same time were awarded the rank of lieutenant general. Luo Ronghuan admitted his mistake to him, saying that their preliminary work was not meticulous enough.
Tan Youlin believes that many of his comrades-in-arms who participated in the revolution at the same time as him have sacrificed their lives in birth and death for the revolution, but now that he has a family, a full house of children, and a general, what is there to be satisfied with? Later, many old comrades also jointly wrote letters to their superiors, asking for the rank of lieutenant general, but he also politely declined.
After his retirement, Tan Youlin has always been fascinated by calligraphy creation, and his calligraphy works are vigorous and full of wind and bones, which is a superior work. And this indifference immersed in poetry books is undoubtedly the best comfort for half of his life.
Tan Youlin's whole life has been working hard for the future and destiny of the country. From the ambition to serve the country when he was young, to his birth and death in the later war, despite all the difficulties, he never forgot his faith. "If a country lives and dies by profit, it is better to avoid it because of misfortune and happiness." Undoubtedly the best portrayal of his life.
Tan Youlin's life has never considered honor and disgrace and gain or loss. Although he was faced with the situation of being awarded a low title, he never complained, but compared himself with other comrades-in-arms. Taking into account the overall situation and indifferent to fame and fortune, such a person is undoubtedly a hero who has left a name in history.