On November 1, 1984, the Central Military Commission symposium was held in Beijing. At the meeting, Deng Xiaoping, then chairman of the Central Military Commission, made a surprising decision: On the basis of several reorganizations, the Chinese army will reduce its personnel by 1 million!
At that time, the United States and the Soviet Union were disarming in the open and expanding their armaments in the dark, and the Chinese government was disarming under the constant conflict between China and Vietnam, just like a flat mine.
After the order was issued, He Zhengwen became the "chief knife man" of millions of disarmaments. However, with regard to the major policy decision on disarmament, many leaders have openly opposed its implementation, and even more have reported to the General Staff one after another.
Deng Xiaoping military parade
In order to solve this matter, He Zhengwen was sad to sleep all night, and finally decided to ask Deng Xiaoping's opinion. After learning of these incidents, Deng Xiaoping resolutely said: "If the leadership does not make sense, it will change the leadership, and the disarmament order must be carried out!" ”
Why, then, did Deng Xiaoping have to cut off an army of 1 million in the face of constant artillery fire on the border? How did He Zhengwen respond to the leaders who blatantly opposed him?
In June 1981, the 77-year-old Deng Xiaoping became chairman of the Central Military Commission and in September of the same year watched a people's liberation army military exercise in northern China. This was the largest and most manned live-fire exercise since the founding of New China, representing the highest level of the Chinese army at that time.
During this 5-day exercise, the leaders present were very excited, and they were sincerely happy to see that the Chinese People's Liberation Army was getting stronger and stronger. But in the process, Deng Xiaoping was always steady and serious, and although he applauded when he reached the highlights, he did not show unusual enthusiasm.
Everyone did not understand why he was like this, and Deng Xiaoping could only sigh and say, "There are too many soldiers in China." ”
After the founding of new China, the total number of posts in the People's Liberation Army was planned to be reduced from 5.5 million to 4 million. However, due to the outbreak of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the number of personnel increased without decreasing, and the total number of people once reached an astonishing 6.11 million.
Although it was later reorganized again, in the 1960s, the two superpowers of the United States and the Soviet Union were staring at China, and in order to cope with the possible war, the PLA gradually expanded its size, and by the 1970s, it had increased to about 6.1 million, becoming the largest army in the world. Until the 1980s, there were 4 million people in the army.
After inspecting the army, Deng Xiaoping realized that the army was really too "bloated," and not only did the army have a large number of posts, but the structure was also unreasonable. Although there were already a large number of corps, the company was not full, and the bloated ones were all levels of organs, and even the official position of "battalion typewriter".
At that time, there were more than a dozen or twenty people in the leading body of each military region, and Deng Xiaoping once humorously said: "To play mahjong, you have to put together several tables." ”
Deng Xiaoping
According to statistics, the average Chinese officer at that time led two and a half soldiers per person, and 2 out of 7 people had 2 officers. At the same time, one officer in the Soviet Union could lead four and a half soldiers, the United States alone led six soldiers, and Germany, a military power, led ten soldiers by one person. Such a strong contrast is enough to see where the Chinese army is bloated.
The most critical point is that at that time, China's military expenditure was only 19.1 billion yuan, equivalent to 6 billion US dollars, accounting for about 2% of the US military expenditure in the same year, although it was less than a fraction of the Soviet Union, but the total number of Chinese troops was twice that of the US army, and the number of Soviet troops was almost the same.
A considerable part of the military expenditure is taken up by a large number of "head expenses", and a lot of money is spent on the dressing and eating of personnel. More importantly, once there are many leaders in the army, it is inconvenient to start a war.
Soviet Army
In order to build our army into a powerful modernized and regularized revolutionary army, we must make changes. However, at that time, the country's economy was in difficulty, and if it wanted to strengthen the army, it was necessary to take the elite route, and by streamlining the army, the "swelling" was implemented to save money for modern equipment.
During that period, Deng Xiaoping talked about "why should we reduce swelling" and talked about the significance of "reducing swelling" when he saw the leaders of the army. He said worriedly: "We rely on the command of the dexterity to fight wars, but the current institutions, when they really start a war, don't say anything about commanding the battle, even if it is not easy to evacuate." ”
In October of the same year, Deng Xiaoping held a special meeting. At this meeting, the top military and political chiefs of the major units of the large military regions, branches of the armed forces, and the three general departments almost all arrived, just waiting for Deng Xiaoping to say the final decision.
Deng Xiaoping is one from the right
Deng Xiaoping calmly looked around at the generals present and said in a witty and humorous tone, "Where to start?" Let's start with this military parade! The parade was good and the international response was good. After a pause, he said, "But there is a flaw, and having an 80-year-old man review the troops is a flaw in itself." ”
When the leaders present heard these words, their hearts immediately became tense. Because Deng Xiaoping's speech touched on the most sensitive issue for them, that is, the senior military leaders are seriously aging. The top leaders present, almost all of whom were over the age of 70, should have retired long ago, but they still struggled to get to work.
After saying this scorching question, Deng Xiaoping dropped another bombshell — he decided to disarm 1 million. He said in one sentence: "The current problem of the army cannot be solved by repairing and repairing, and it is necessary to carry out an institutional revolution." This is a thing that offends people, and let me come to something that offends people! The question cannot be left to the new Chairman of the Central Military Commission. ”
On June 4, 1985, Deng Xiaoping officially announced at an enlarged meeting of the Central Military Commission that the Chinese government had decided to reduce the number of posts in the People's Liberation Army by 1 million. Against the backdrop of years of international disarmament quarrels that have not yielded results, and the two superpowers are disarming themselves in the open and secretly expanding their armaments, the astonishing decision of the Chinese Government to take the initiative to disarm 1 million people is really unbelievable.
The important task of disarmament was entrusted to He Zhengwen. With a heavy responsibility, he led the departments in charge to devote themselves to this historic systematic project without hesitation, and China entered the "Year of Disarmament".
He Zhengwen is well aware of the correct relationship between army growth and reduction. Many famous generals and commanders know that raising soldiers should distinguish between time and space, but when dealing with specific problems, they often copy "General Han Xin, the more the merrier." This is also one of the reasons why disarmament is difficult, and the army has fallen into a vicious circle of "streamlining- reorganization- then streamlining and reintegration".
During that time, He Zhengwen was carrying a briefcase all day long, which was filled with disarmament decision-making plans, and everyone was respectful and afraid when they saw him. He is afraid that he can take on such a heavy responsibility, afraid that the next person to be dismissed will be himself.
Millions of disarmament "main knife man" He Zhengwen
At one meeting, the leaders of headquarters expressed their views on the question of the retention of troops, and finally the focus fell on the issue of the abolition of one of the troops. Everyone's opinion is clear, one side feels that it must stay, the other side feels that it must be revoked. The two sides argued, and the leader of the headquarters could not sit still: "Nonsense! Whose opinion is this. ”
This is a famous general, usually very respected by everyone, so what he said is very weighty. When he speaks of such a heavy burden, someone must resist this responsibility. But no matter how heavy it is, it must be carried, and once this time it is relaxed, all the work done in front of it will be destroyed.
At this time, He Zhengwen stiffened his shoulders and said: "The big idea is Chairman Deng's, and you have also expressed your attitude." The little idea was ours, and I thought it was necessary to withdraw more! He Zhengwen used a thick Sichuan tone to explain the reasons one by one, and finally the atmosphere eased up a lot.
He Zhengwen
The general was a little sad, he had been in the army all his life, and suddenly let him take off this uniform, he was naturally reluctant to do so, he said sadly: "I know that this is the decision of the central authorities, I do not want to abide by it, but it is also too sudden." We have all fought all our lives, and we already have feelings for the army, and the country must also be considerate of us. ”
How could He Zhengwen not understand his feelings, but these were all for the sake of the country's army to develop better. He forcibly suppressed the sour feeling on the tip of his nose and comforted: "We will discuss this matter again after we go back, and your troops will withdraw." ”
The Order of the Military Affairs Department of the General Staff Department to withdraw this unit aroused the different opinions of the principal leaders of the military region, who thought that this decision was unreasonable and reported it to the General Staff. After receiving the report, He Zhengwen read it carefully, but it was similar to the previous report, there was nothing new, and it was not considered for the time being.
Immediately afterward, the second and third reports reached his desk, the last in the name of the military district. Seeing that they were so persistent, He Zhengwen dialed the leader's phone and explained to him: "This disarmament is not aimed at anyone, you have been in the military region for decades, you should understand Chairman Deng's intentions." ”
General He Zhengwen
He talked on the phone about the pros and cons and talked for nearly half an hour. But the leader insisted on his own opinion, and he did not listen to He Zhengwen's words at all. There was no way, He Zhengwen could only ask Deng Xiaoping's opinion.
Nicknamed the "steel company," Mr. Deng was prepared for any possible resistance. He said in a strong tone: "The head is not allowed to change the head, and the one that should not be left is not left!" Disarmament orders must be implemented! ”
With Deng Xiaoping's words, He Zhengwen no longer hesitated, no matter how harsh the other side spoke, how indifferent the attitude, he was extremely patient to do the work, but the opinion of abolishing the army was resolutely not to change.
He Zhengwen made a special phone call to the leaders of each military region and said without question: "Chairman Deng's order has come down, and I hope that you will abide by the decision of the party organization." If your army is withdrawn, don't give me another report, just do as you are told. ”
Although some leaders were still unhappy, orders to revoke the army were issued to various military districts one after another, and hundreds of soldiers left their units every day.
It's not that the people who leave are incompetent, it's that their unit needs to change. Zhai Yaowa, then deputy commander of a division of the 1st Army, was one of them.
When he joined the army at the age of 14, he has always been the focus of the training object of the army, at that time, there were any major military exercises and competitions in the regiment, he was the leader of the troops first, and the charge was in the front. On Saturday, he had just won the first place in the cadre pistol competition, and was ready to write a summary on Sunday to participate in the commendation, but he did not expect that on Monday, the organization suddenly informed him of the change of profession.
The warriors did not let their teammates leave
When Zhai Yaowa left the military region, he only carried a quilt and a military uniform, and there was nothing else to take with him. Comrades-in-arms have come to see him off, these people have experienced war, deep feelings are very comparable to people, they are no longer relatives like relatives.
The comrades hugged each other, all crying and red-eyed. But when the time came, Zhai Yaowa still resolutely stepped out of the gate of the military region and waved goodbye to her comrades-in-arms with tears.
At that time, 600,000 cadres like Zhai Yaowa were to be laid off, and they all had to retire from active service within 3 years and be properly resettled at the local level. These people who are willing to dedicate their lives to the country, in the face of the unfamiliar living environment in the future, do not have the life and death on the battlefield, but leave the back of the silent forward.
The soldiers bid farewell to their comrades
After two years of subtraction, the reorganization task of the Chinese People's Liberation Army was basically completed, and after the reduction of one million troops, the total number of Chinese troops was 3 million.
All the remaining army units at the army level were reorganized into "synthetic group armies," and all of the armored troops, most of the artillery corps, and some of the field engineer units were assigned to the group army structure, and at the same time, the communications, anti-chemical warfare, and transportation units were enriched and expanded, and some electronic countermeasures units were also added.
China's Modern Army "Peacekeeping Force"
Compared with the army of the former army, the group army's firepower, assault power, and mobility have all been strengthened, and the combined training and combat capabilities under modern conditions have been improved. The formation of a synthetic group army is "in a sense no less than opening up a base area in the war years." In this direction, our army has moved from history to the future!