As one of the ten founding marshals of our country, Chen Yi made great contributions to the development and expansion of the Communist Party of China and the reunification of the motherland. And this founder and leader of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, once modestly said that he would not fight in those years of war, and this humble remark actually made some latecomers really believe that his victories and achievements were all achieved by his deputy Su Yu. It is undeniable that Su Yu is indeed a good hand in fighting wars, and his command ability is very outstanding, but if just because Of Su Yu's excellent command ability, chen Yi's ability has been worn out, it would be too one-sided.
General Chen Yi's judgment of the campaign and his precise strategic vision can be compared with few people. You know, during the War of Liberation, the various armies facing East China were very complicated, and if Chen Yi hadn't been in charge at that time, he might not have been able to find a second person who could fix east China; he had a long-term vision of things and a very large pattern, and these were all constantly proven in a long war. Let's judge ourselves from the story.
It is said that when Chen Yi led the first and second detachments of the New Fourth Army into southern Jiangsu, all the soldiers did not add up to 4,000 people, and the equipment was very limited, but everyone should know that in the southern Jiangsu region of that meeting, there were almost a hundred guerrilla armed forces in the counties near Maoshan alone, and the number of each armed contingent ranged from tens to hundreds of people. The quality of these ranks is also uneven, the personnel are mixed, and the leaders are gangsters, the staff of some previous institutions and units, intellectuals, gentlemen and scholars, and even more, the People's Liberation Army, which we have lost contact with. It was such a complicated situation in southern Jiangsu that chen Yi did not overwhelm Chen Yi; he mediated in many ways in so many ranks, used wisdom and strategy to develop a united front, and had a flexible brain.
To tell you the story of Chen Yi in Maoshan, we have to mention one person, that is, Ji Zhengang, the team he led was the largest in the Maoshan area at that time, Ji Zhengang's parents were ordinary peasants, he used to follow Sun Yat-sen when he was young, participated in the Three People's Principles Revolution, and later opened a company called "Maolu Agriculture and Forestry", he is also a local capable person, the business is getting better and better under his efforts, the company is getting bigger and bigger, and slowly he has become the number one person with a head and a face in the local area. In 1937, after the defeat of the Nationalist army on the battlefield of Songhu, Ji Zhengang used his own funds and strength to take in more than 300 soldiers and establish a guerrilla armed group.
Such a battle and strength cannot be underestimated by anyone, so the first thing Chen Yi did when he came to southern Jiangsu was to meet with Ji Zhengang, and the first time they met, Chen Yi directly stated his stand and attitude and expressed to him the propositions of our party and our army for the War of Resistance. However, Ji Zhengang at that time did not take the person in front of him seriously, and although he did not like the incompetence of the government at that time, he did not believe that with the ability of China at that time, he could beat Japan. Therefore, when he returned to chen yi, he sat in an eight-wheeled sedan and brought more than 10 sturdy escorts, and when they saw the worn-out and outdated equipment of our New Fourth Army, they were very contemptuous and contemptuous of us. In the face of such an infamous general of the People's Liberation Army, Ji Zhengang bluntly told Chen Yi that in fact, he engaged in armed forces not to fight with Japan, he firmly believed that in China now, no team can defeat Japan, and his team is only for self-protection and protection of the interests of his "Maolu Agriculture and Forestry" company from infringement, this company is his more than 20 years of growing bigger and stronger little by little, if anyone dares to affect the development of his company, then he will never spare his subordinates.
Ji Zhengang's coming and going and these words caused the displeasure of many cadres of the New Fourth Army, and even if this businessman did not resist Japan, he also exported the Platon Army, which threatened to fight for the sons and daughters of the vast number of Chinese people, which really blinded his fine weapons.
Although there are many such voices, Chen Yi is not in favor of it, and can even be said to be strongly opposed, he feels that people who think like this are not far-sighted enough, and only see the small profit in front of them. Chen Yi analyzed that Ji Zhengang is a very influential person in southern Jiangsu, if our army uses force to solve him by force, then the remaining hundreds of mixed teams will immediately regard us as flood beasts and enemies with us, then the relatives and friends of these hundreds of teams will inevitably resist the PLA, and finally what awaits us is to break away from the masses, make many enemies, and really go to which step, even if we grab some weapons, what can we do, get rid of the masses, lose the support of everyone, and make enemies with the whole world. At that time, even the safety of the lives of the People's Liberation Army cannot be guaranteed, how can we implement Chairman Mao's thinking on the united front, and how can we realize the form of the all-people war of resistance?
Under these circumstances, Chen Yi suggested that as long as we do our ideological work well, we will not be able to win this force as long as we do our ideological work, but if we are arbitrary, simple and rude, it is very likely that we will directly push him into the enemy's camp. Chen Yi did a good job of strategic analysis, analyzed this person clearly, the strategy will naturally come to hand, since then, he went to Ji Zhengang's door day after day, chatted with him, talked with him, did his work, not only that, but also through his relatives and friends to exert influence on him, while Chen Yi did ideological work, the New Fourth Army also won several battles in succession, the prestige among the common people is increasing day by day, under the influence of many aspects, Ji Zhengang was finally able to wear colored glasses and seriously examine this PLA contingent. His stereotype of the New Fourth Army has also changed little by little, and he not only believes that the New Fourth Army is really actively resisting Japan, but also believes that the New Fourth Army can really win the war against Japan.
After Ji Zhengang had these positive understandings of the New Fourth Army, he gradually changed his attitude toward the New Fourth Army, and seeing that the New Fourth Army was tight and resources were short, he sent money, clothing, and medicine to the New Fourth Army many times. After the Japanese army found out, it threatened Ji Zhengang not to be nosy and let him work in the traitor organization, otherwise he would copy his "Maolu Agriculture and Forestry" company, but Ji Zhengang was not moved by such threats, and finally in order to save his life, under the communication and consultation with the New Fourth Army, he finally decided to hand over all his soldiers and guns to the New Fourth Army, and he only took a sum of money to evacuate the southern Jiangsu region and go to a house in Shanghai to take shelter.
Ji Zhengang's affirmation of our New Fourth Army has also had a positive impact on the armed contingent and the masses of the people in southern Jiangsu. These troops have eliminated their concerns about our army, and the masses have also moved closer to our army and supported the battle of the New Fourth Army. It can be said that Chen Yi's long-term vision and control of the overall situation have enabled the New Fourth Army to successfully take root and develop in southern Jiangsu.
In the process of the New Fourth Army's subsequent march from southern Jiangsu to northern Jiangsu, Chen Yi once again carried out ideological work on the local powerful faction and tried to win over all those who could be won, of which Chen Yi's two united front targets were Han Jun and Zhu Luxian, who were well-known local intellectuals at that time.
Han Hanjun, who was in his 80s at the time, was once the governor of Jiangsu Province, and many officials and intellectuals in Jiangsu were his students and had great influence. At that time, Han Jun admired Chen Yi's erudition and humility, and offered to contribute to the success of the People's Liberation Army against Japan.
At that time, Han Jun came forward to gather people with heads and faces from all walks of life in northern Jiangsu to call on everyone not to boycott the New Fourth Army again, so that they could focus all their energy on fighting against the Wokou, and after hearing this appeal from Han Jun, the chairman of Jiangsu at that time asked him to relay to Chen Yi that the New Fourth Army must be allowed to withdraw from Jiangyan, which was hugely taxed at that time, and then talk about the beginning of peace talks. He reminded Chen Yi not to agree to such an unreasonable request, but Chen Yi, out of consideration for the overall situation, in order to unite the front against the Wokou and win over neutral personnel, waved a big hand, agreed to Han Deloitte's condition, and led the New Fourth Army to withdraw from Jiangyan. Seeing that the New Fourth Army had actually made concessions and won everyone's reputation, Han Deloitte could not make a plan to advance inches, and once again made a request that the New Fourth Army must return to Jiangnan before starting peace talks.
It was precisely under the command and overall situation of Chen Yi that our New Fourth Army defeated the enemy's 30,000 troops with a mere force of 7,000 troops, laying the foundation for our army's victory in the anti-Japanese struggle.