Author: Mo Guyan
On March 2, 1938, the direct subordinate unit of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army passed through Qiankezhuang in Shanxi County, and the division commander Lin Biao rode a high-headed horse, wearing a captured Japanese yellow tweed coat, and a Japanese command knife collapsed around his waist. No one expected that it was this rather grand outfit that made Lin Biao take a shot and almost die.
Lin Biao (front) riding a horse
The shooter was a sentry in Yan Xishan's troops, he saw the "Japanese army" coming and fired, coupled with good marksmanship, Lin Biao had bad luck, and suffered the biggest blood and light disaster in his life, although it was difficult not to die, but it also left lifelong wounds.
This accident changed the course of history to a large extent. The three armies could not be without a commander for a day, and when the Yan'an side learned that Lin Biao had been seriously wounded, they were shocked and regretted, and had to immediately consider the replacement of the commander of the 115th Division. The 115th Division, formerly known as the Red Army, has the largest number of the three divisions of the Eighth Route Army, the strongest combat effectiveness, and the most concerned by all walks of life, so the position of division commander is not insignificant, and we must carefully consider comprehensive factors such as morality, talent, qualification, and merit.
According to normal logic, if the division commander could not perform his duties, he should be commanded by the political commissar, but Nie Rongzhen, deputy commander of the 115th Division (equivalent to the political commissar), had already been ordered to go to Jinchaji to open up a base area during this period, so the acting division commander could only choose from the division leaders of the 115th Division and the heads of the brigades under his command. There are not many candidates who can act as commander of the 115th Division, but only Zhou Kun, chief of staff of the division, Luo Ronghuan, director of the Political Department, Chen Guang, commander of the 343rd Brigade, and Xu Haidong, commander of the 344th Brigade.
Zhou Kun participated in the Autumn Harvest Uprising, went to Jinggangshan, was the commander of the Red 8Th Army at the beginning of the Long March, and later became the chief of staff of the Red Army, and was a senior general in the Red Army. What is incredible is that Zhou Kun actually withheld the 30,000 yuan of military salaries issued to the Eighth Route Army during this period and absconded, and since then his whereabouts have been unknown, which has become a major mystery in military history.
At that time, the 344th Brigade did not act with the division headquarters, but was under the direct command of the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, and besides, the brigade commander Xu Haidong was not a member of the former Red Army, and it was not appropriate for him to be the commander of the division.
In this way, the only candidates for the acting division commander are Luo Ronghuan and Chen Guang, and the Yan'an side must choose one of the two. At this time, there was an extremely rare scene in history: because the headquarters of Yan'an and the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army were not together, the situation was urgent and too late to discuss, so the 115th Division received two different orders.
Eighth Route Army information photo
One afternoon, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army ordered Chen Guang to act as the division commander, and the vacancy in the position of brigade commander left after his promotion was replaced by Li Tianyou, and then Yang Yong, deputy commander of the 686 Regiment, acted as the commander of the regiment. However, at about midnight that night, Yan'an sent a report to Luo Ronghuan, which was concise and concise: "Lin's post is temporarily replaced by you. "
Why is there a phenomenon of making long heads? The main reason was that the command level of the Eighth Route Army in the early days of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was not very perfect, and coupled with the backward means of communication and contact, this abnormal situation occurred. However, it can be seen from the order that the order of the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army is very detailed, and not only does it clarify Chen Guang's acting division commander, but also the acting personnel of the brigade commander and the regimental commander after Chen Guang's promotion is also clear, which is obviously considered in the long run. The chairman's telegram was relatively simple, only clarifying that Luo Ronghuan temporarily acted as Lin Biao, which was obviously only a temporary measure, just temporarily.
The leaders of the 115th Division took a group photo in Shandong. From left: Chen Shiyu, Chen Guang, Peng Weisan, Luo Ronghuan
The 115th Division finally carried out the orders of the Headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, with Chen Guang as the acting commander of the 115th Division, and Luo Ronghuan subsequently serving as the political commissar. Such a job match was the best choice under the historical conditions at that time.
Whether it is personality or expertise, Chen Guang is completely different from Luo Ronghuan. Luo Ronghuan, who was literate and well-versed, had been engaged in political work since he joined the Red Army, and basically did not command operations independently; on the contrary, Chen Guang, who had a violent personality, was a famous and fierce general in the Red Army, who had always served as a military commander, made many military achievements, and had never been a political work cadre. From the perspective of leading the team to fight, of course, Chen Guang's contemporary division commander was more suitable than Luo Ronghuan.
Chen Guang
However, after all, Chen Guang had previously served as a brigade commander and did not work in the division headquarters, so his vision may be limited, and besides, the task of the Eighth Route Army is not just to fight wars, but to open up base areas and mobilize the masses is even more important in a special period, and these tasks are not Chen Guangzhi's strengths. In this way, it is logical that Luo Ronghuan, who has an excellent overall view of the overall situation, will be responsible for the overall work of the 115th Division. In the end, Chen Guang served as the acting division commander and Luo Ronghuan as the political commissar, which was the real strength of employing people.
Luo Ronghuan, political commissar of the 115th Division
Chen Guang's military prowess had been proven in the era of the Red Army, and his glorious name was engraved on the monument to the victory of the Long March. In 1944, when the organization summed up and evaluated him, he said: "Chen Guang made a great contribution to the Red Army's crossing out of danger in the north. After the Red Army arrived in northern Shaanxi, Chen Guang was the head of the first section of the Red Army University, and his political commissar was Luo Ronghuan, and the two had already partnered. After the xi'an incident broke out, the situation suddenly became tense, and Chen Guang was immediately transferred back to the combat unit and appointed as the acting commander of the Red 1st Army (the political commissar was Nie Rongzhen), which showed the importance of his military talents by his superiors.
Because of this, after Chen Guang replaced Lin Biao, the 115th Division had no objections, because Chen Guang had this talent and qualifications.
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