After the founding of New China, 12 senior military generals served under Premier Zhou. Later generations called them "generals and ambassadors".
Geng Biao is one of them. His death caused a great sensation at home and abroad, all related to his contribution.
The legendary road of life
Where there is oppression, there will be resistance.
Geng Biao was born in a poor family. He followed his parents to mine for a living since he was a child. The mines were dark and dark, and Geng Biao suffered from the oppression and exploitation of the landlords and capitalists.
However, the difficult life also tempered his firm will.
The Hunan District of the Communist Party of China sent Jiang Xianyun, Xie Huaide and others to Shuikou Mountain to spread the workers' movement. The young Geng Biao gradually understood the principles of Marxism and began to devote himself to the road of saving the country and the people.
Shortly after joining the Communist Youth League, Geng Biao caught up with the vigorous rural revolution. He was entrusted by the party organization to return to his hometown to carry out the movement. He used his identity as a road construction worker as a cover to actively promote Marxism and mobilize the masses to organize peasant associations. .
By the time the Red Army began its strategic shift, Geng Biao was already the commander of the fourth regiment of the second division of the first red army.
At that time, many soldiers were confused and did not know where the road ahead was. One soldier asked Geng Biao: "Commander Geng, where are we going to fight?"
Geng Biao also opened his mouth and replied: " Fight the enemy! "
At that moment, the soldiers heard the resounding words of their regiment leader, and they were immediately inspired and bravely embarked on the journey.
As for Geng Biao, as the vanguard commander of the First Red Army Corps in major battles such as the bloody battle on the Xiangjiang River, the crossing of Chishui , the forced crossing of the Dadu River, and the flying capture of the Luding Bridge, his performance in the battle was even more dazzling.
His battles helped the Central Red Army get out of dangerous situations.
After the Red Army came to northern Shaanxi, he participated in the Battle of Zhiluo Town and the Battle of the Eastern Expedition. He was seriously injured in the neck when attacking Ganquan .
During the Anti-Japanese War, Geng Biao was the chief of staff of the 385th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and made great achievements in defending the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he was quickly transferred to the Peking Military Mediation Executive Department Executive CCP Delegation as deputy chief of staff, and came to Ye Jianying's command.
After the outbreak of the Liberation War, he became the well-known chief of staff of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Field Army. He was present in both the Qingcang Battle and the Baobei Battle. During the major stages of the strategic offensive, he commanded The famous Battle of Qingfengdian, Battle of Shijiazhuang, etc. made great contributions to the victory of the national liberation war.
Back then, there were many generals capable of fighting in the country, but Geng Biao was able to play a positive role in many fields.
In early 1950, Geng Biao, the deputy commander of the 19th Corps of the First Field Army, suddenly received a transfer order from the central government. Unexpectedly, this paper transfer order gave Geng Biao a different life.
At that time, the 19th Corps was the "Yang Luogeng Corps" that was particularly famous in the entire army. The commander was Yang Dezhi, the political commissar was Luo Ruiqing, and the deputy commander and chief of staff was Geng Biao. This Corps always made great achievements on the battlefield, but On the way to the northwest , Geng Biao was called back.
It turns out that he was the general selected by Premier Zhou personally, and Premier Zhou wanted him to develop towards the diplomatic front.
In addition to his experience of making great achievements in the Northern and Southern War, Premier Zhou fell in love with him because he had experience in foreign affairs.
In September 1944, a US military observation team went to the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Anti-Japanese Base Area of for actual inspection. They would be anti-fascist allies, and safety must be ensured. The
organization also decided to put Geng Biao in charge of this matter.
Geng Biao was also very considerate when escorting these American observation groups. This was about honor.
When they traveled to near the Yellow River , they suddenly encountered a Japanese air raid.
These things are no longer strange to Geng Biao. The troops have been well-trained for a long time. As long as the commanders give orders, everyone can quickly find the hiding place.
But these members of the American observation team had never seen such a battle at all. When they heard the air raid, they quickly became panicked and looked at a loss what to do.
They threw their clothes and luggage everywhere and were completely confused.
's behavior also frightened Geng Biao. If he had to reorganize his team every time he encountered an air raid, it would take a long time to break through the blockade.
Due to face, Geng Biao didn't say anything at that time and was still sulking.
At this time, a small leader of the American observation team came forward and was about to ask questions. When he said "Your Excellency, General", Geng Biao suddenly became angry and said: "Your Excellency, General, stop shouting! "
's momentum shocked the Americans.
had become aggressive anyway, so Geng Biao took the opportunity to start rectifying the team and clarified to them the requirement of "not panic in case of trouble".
Along the way, this group of members of the American observation team fully followed Geng Biao's orders and successfully broke through the Japanese blockade.
Premier Zhou was aware of this incident, and his impression of Geng Biao became deeper and deeper.
On the way to Beijing, Geng Biao didn't know anything about it, and he didn't know what happened.
Premier Zhou met Geng Biao and first affirmed his past achievements, and then simply asked him to engage in diplomatic work.
Geng Biao had been active on the battlefield before, and suddenly went to another front. He was a little confused. More importantly, it was because many jobs were too unfamiliar to him.
Prime Minister still did some ideological work, Geng Biao gradually chose to give it a try and obey the organization's decision, but deep down, he was still resistant.
What Geng Biao didn't expect was that not long after, he met Chairman Mao.
Chairman Mao asked kindly: "Little fellow, why can't you figure it out and are you afraid?"
Geng Biao replied: "Chairman, I don't know how to deal with foreigners."
Chairman Mao also smiled and said to him: "You are not afraid of heaven and earth. What do foreigners have to fear? Who stipulates that we cannot be ambassadors, diplomats, or enter the United Nations ? We are not going to fight gun battles, but to fight verbal wars, make friends, and seek peace. This is an important task in building a new China. You don’t have the guts? Then I misjudged the person." After saying this, Geng Biao immediately stood up and said to the chairman: "Promise to complete the task!"
I guess at that time. Geng Biao never expected that he would start his 20-year diplomatic career next.
During this period, he successively served as the minister of Denmark, Finland , Norway , and the Chinese ambassador to Pakistan , Myanmar , Albania . He is one of the few in China who can serve as 6 A diplomat who is an ambassador or minister of a country.
During his tenure, Geng Biao also encountered many interesting things, which he had never expected before.
Once, a Swedish general asked: "I heard that you were a general in the past. I wonder how many soldiers you led in the past?"
Geng Biao answered casually: "In the past, the 19th Corps of the People's Liberation Army , there are three armies below, which add up to about hundreds of thousands of people."
When the Swedish general heard this, he quickly stood up and said to Geng Biao:
"Your Excellency, the soldiers you have led are greater than the soldiers in all of Sweden. There are many.”
Geng Biao was also very modest during his time in Sweden.
He saw Sweden's advanced industries, as well as the rapid development of shipbuilding, automobile and other industries that could promote international trade . He quickly wrote these reports into reports for reference by relevant economic departments.
He believes that when he came abroad, he wanted to learn some advanced experience, and his country was also on the road of construction.
When many major international events happened, Geng Biao was a witness and witness.
For example, before the Geneva Conference was held in 1954, Geng Biao visited Denmark, Sweden and Finland respectively and asked them to convey the opinions of the Chinese government. These also attracted the attention of the United States.
In 1956, he and Ambassador Han Nianlong were exchanged. After listening to his report, Premier Zhou sighed: "The work in Northern Europe during the six years has been very solid, laying the foundation for the relationship between our country and Northern Europe."
This time the exchange, He also wanted Geng Biao to establish good relations with Pakistan.
Chairman Mao specially called him and said to him: "Pakistan is friendly to our country, but after you go, you have to demarcate the national border between us and Pakistan. The southwest gate is a very important strategic location. You are a soldier, so you don't have to." More to say."
When he met with Pakistani President , President Mirza was particularly interested in Geng Biao's history during the Long March and kept asking questions.
The two of them always get along very harmoniously, and the friendship between China and Pakistan is getting closer and closer.
On this basis, the China-Pakistan route was opened in 1964; in 1978, the Chinese and Pakistani governments also held the opening ceremony of the Karakoram International Highway , and the relationship between the two countries became closer.
Later, Geng Biao "go wherever there is need", and related work is getting better and better.
At that time, Albania was "the beacon of socialism in Europe", and China provided them with a lot of assistance.
However, Albania did not cherish the materials aided by China at all. When the Chinese people were encountering difficulties, Albania continued to "reach out" and even made money from the Chinese, and a lot of equipment was wasted by them.
Hoxha also said unabashedly: "What you have, we must also have, just like a younger brother asking for help from his elder brother."
Geng Biao was very angry about this situation. Under tremendous pressure, he wrote to the central government issued a report calling for changes in policy towards Albania.
When Chairman Mao saw this, he immediately said: "Geng Biao dares to tell the truth and reflect the real situation. He is a good ambassador."
It is difficult to imagine that the ambassador of a country has to do many things by himself. This is the case with Geng Biao. , Save when you can. Before, I drove myself to work abroad in order to save money.
In 1970, while cleaning the embassy and repairing curtains, Geng Biao accidentally fell from a height due to injuries sustained during the war, directly causing a fracture in his left leg.
Premier Zhou was very concerned about his health problems and quickly asked Chairman Mao for instructions, hoping to transfer him back to work in the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
Chairman Mao said: "Geng Biao is a good comrade and can work in the International Department of the CPC Central Committee."
In 1978, Geng Biao was appointed Vice Premier of the State Council.
" Unranked General "
It stands to reason that Geng Biao has been fighting in the army for a long time and has made great military achievements, so his military rank should not be low.
However, Geng Biao "missed out" on his military rank several times, which was also related to his transfer to the diplomatic front.
1955 was the first conferment ceremony of our army. Geng Biao retained his military status at that time. According to his position and historical achievements at the time, it was not difficult to be awarded the rank of general.
In the history of New China, more than a dozen defense ministers all had military ranks, except for Geng Biao.
The first four defense ministers were all founding marshals, and those who followed were all generals.
While he was in office, he made great contributions to the modernization of New China's national defense and army.
In May 1980, Geng Biao, who has many years of diplomatic experience, led a military delegation to visit the United States. This time he also walked into the Pentagon of the United States.
Geng Biao's daughter Geng Ying also recalled this period of history. She said: "During the two years before and after he served as the Secretary of Defense, his father worried about the construction of the military. When he visited the United States, the Pentagon's The staff ignored the ban and poked their heads out of the windows one after another. No one expected that the Americans would hold a welcoming ceremony for the Chinese military leaders. "
During this visit, Geng Biao also boarded the "Kitty Hawk" aircraft carrier. It is also the first time that the People's Liberation Army has set foot on an aircraft carrier.
The aircraft carrier represents the most advanced naval equipment in the world.
At that time, Geng Biao was very excited. He was eager to change the current situation in China.
In 1988, Geng Biao was awarded the first-class Red Star Medal of Merit of the People's Liberation Army. After
retired in his later years, he has been paying attention to national affairs and wrote to the Military Commission many times to put forward some suggestions.
In 1991, when Geng Biao returned to the old revolutionary base of Qingyang, the night was very lively. Many people came to see him, and some people came to complain to him.
This situation made him very heavy. He told everyone a story from the past:
"When our brigade was stationed here, a soldier made a serious mistake. According to discipline, he should be shot. , but on the playground, many ordinary people came. They cried and begged us to spare this soldier and let him serve his crime. Even the parents of the victim came, kneeling and hoping that we would be lenient. In the end, we agreed with tears. After he finished speaking, he looked around and said to everyone: "Now, I want to ask some people, if you do something wrong, will the people intercede for you?" At that moment, everyone was shocked.
Geng Biao was almost never idle in his later years. He was always busy with various affairs of the country and made the contribution he could.
On June 23, 2000, Geng Biao died of illness at the age of 91.
On the morning of June 29, 2000, Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery was solemn and solemn.
The words "deeply mourning Comrade Geng Biao" with white characters on a black background were hung above the main hall, and the bright red party flag covered Geng Biao's body.
Many old comrades who had fought with Geng Biao slowly came to Geng Biao and bowed three times to the old comrade.
Many important leaders, including Zhang Aiping, expressed their condolences for the death of this old revolutionary warrior.
Geng Biao's youngest daughter Geng Yan always remembers that when Geng Biao passed away, the governor of Fujian Province and Geng Biao's son Geng Zhiyuan picked up Geng Biao's ashes and put them into an urn. The entire funeral scene was comparable to State funeral.
Geng Biao has been a soldier for decades and has a deep affection for the people's army. What remains unchanged is his love for the people.
Reference
Geng Biao: Mao Zedong praised the good ambassador who dared to tell the truth Chen Hui Party History Extensive Collection (Part 1)
Legend Geng Biao Xia Yuansheng Xinxiang Commentary
