When the old general Li Zaishan was still alive, he kept two photos in his home. In both photos, Zhou Enlai gave up the "C position" to General Li Zaishan. So, what’s the touching story behind these two photos?
General Li Zaishan
"You have worked hard and you have come to stand here."
When the old general Li Zaishan was still alive, he had two old photos from more than 50 years ago in his home. These two photos have aroused the curiosity of many people, and the old general also told people the exciting stories contained in the photos.
The reason why these two photos aroused people's attention and curiosity is that according to convention, Zhou Enlai, as the Premier of the State Council, should stand in the middle position when taking pictures. But in both photos, he did not stand in the middle. Instead, Li Zaishan, who was the political commissar of the missile test base at the time, stood in the middle.
This is a very rare scene when central leaders meet with military and local leading cadres.
General Li Zaishan told people about the origin of these two precious photos during his lifetime:
The first photo was a photo taken with the leaders of the base when Premier Zhou and Vice Premier Chen Yi inspected the missile test base in June 1965. .
The original arrangement was for Premier Zhou and Chen Yi to stand in the middle, with the base leaders on both sides.
But before the photo was taken, Premier Zhou just pulled political commissar Li Zaishan between him and Chen Yi, and said: "You have worked hard and you have come to stand here."
Chen Yi also said seriously: "You are the treasures of the country. You should stand in the middle."
The two tightly sandwiched Commissar Li Zaishan in the middle, leaving behind this precious photo (see the picture below).
The second photo records the scene when Premier Zhou and Acting Chief of General Staff Yang Chengwu inspected the missile test base in July 1966.
It turned out that when arranging for Premier Zhou to take a bus to review the troops and staff, Premier Zhou was asked to stand in the middle, with Yang Chengwu and Li on both sides of the mountain branch station.
But just before boarding the convertible, Premier Zhou took Li Zaishan's hand and said: "Come with me to review the troops and visit the comrades. You are the master and you should stand in the middle."
Seeing Li Zaishan's refusal , Premier Zhou added: "It's easier for me to visit the people on the side."
Li Zaishan couldn't refuse in every possible way, so he had to obey, so a photo of him standing in the middle appeared again (see the picture below).
Premier Zhou's affable face and approachable style left a deep impression on the cadres and soldiers at the base.
These two photos not only reflect Premier Zhou’s attention and support for the work of the missile test base, but also reflect Premier Zhou’s full affirmation and praise for the missile test work.
Seeing these two photos, people who know the situation can't help but recall the arduous journey China has gone through in its missile, nuclear weapons, and artificial satellite undertakings, as well as Premier Zhou and many party and state leaders. Great support and care for my country’s cutting-edge national defense science and technology undertakings.
Of course, General Li Zaishan can stand in the "C position" not only because of Premier Zhou's high integrity, but also because of the outstanding contributions made by the veteran general to my country's missile industry and national defense industry construction!
Premier Zhou
"Died in the Gobi Desert and buried at the top of a green hill"
In the early 1960s, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made a major strategic decision to independently develop ", two bombs and one satellite ".
Prior to this, the construction and development of the missile test base had always received great attention from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the State Council, and the Central Military Commission, and received strong support from all military headquarters, all services, and departments across the country.
Chairman Mao, Premier Zhou, and Deng Xiaoping personally approved the site selection plan for the test base (shooting range), and selected the best cadres from across the country and the entire army to work at the base. Nine founding generals were selected for this regiment-level unit. Come and lead.
In early 1958, General Li Zaishan was transferred to the northwest desert of the motherland to serve as the political commissar of the Comprehensive Taiwan Missile Test Base. He worked there for 13 years and served successively as deputy secretary of the Party Committee of the 20th Corps, political commissar of the test base, and the Fifth Research Institute of the Ministry of National Defense (Seventh Machinery Department). Formerly) deputy political commissar and political commissar of the comprehensive missile test base.
Li Zaishan and base commander Sun Jixian resolutely implemented the strategic decisions of the Party Central Committee, the State Council, and the Central Military Commission, and shouldered the important historical responsibilities entrusted by the party and the people without hesitation.
As the first political commissar of the base, faced with the extremely difficult working and living environment and the technological blockade from foreign countries, Li Zaishan and the party committee paid close attention to the ideological and political construction of , and promptly proposed "taking the field as home, taking hardship as our home". With the battle slogans of "To be proud" and "To die in the Gobi Desert and to be buried on the top of a green hill", the commanders and soldiers united and led the commanders and soldiers to brave the high temperature of more than 40 degrees in summer and the biting cold wind of minus 30 degrees in winter to take root in the Gobi, remain anonymous, and drink No matter how hard it is, we can eat dry food, start a business with hard work, and tackle key problems collectively.
In just over two years, they built my country's first large-scale comprehensive missile test base, becoming a cradle for the development of my country's missile and aerospace industry and one of the birthplaces of the "two bombs and one satellite" spirit.
Sun Jixian
During the three-year natural disaster, the supply of materials across the country was difficult, and life at the base became even more difficult. The people around the base had no enough food to eat and no clothing to wear, and their lives reached an unsustainable level.
In early 1962, after Commander Sun Jixian was transferred, Li Zaishan led a group of people from the base party committee and called on all officers and soldiers to save one tael of food per day to support the local people. Food to satisfy hunger.
Due to malnutrition, many cadres suffer from severe hair loss , night blindness or edema.
After listening to Li Zaishan's report with tears in his eyes, Premier Zhou arranged for the State Council to urgently allocate food support bases from across the country.
In order to overcome the difficulties and reduce the economic pressure on the country, the base party committee decided to launch a large-scale production movement, carry out production self-rescue, and ask for food and vegetables from the Gobi Desert.
They built reservoirs, dug canals, reclaimed wasteland to grow food, planted trees, renovated and greened areas.
With the joint efforts of all commanders and fighters, the base not only solved the difficulties in life, but also became an oasis in the northwest desert. A brand-new missile test base stands proudly on the vast Gobi Desert.
In October 1964, after overcoming three years of difficulties caused by natural disasters, my country's first atomic bomb successfully exploded at the Lop Nur nuclear weapons test base in Xinjiang.
China's first atomic bomb exploded successfully
Previously, the missile test base also achieved continuous success in ground-to-ground and ground-to-air missile launch tests, with increasingly higher accuracy and stability, making preparations for the use of atomic bombs in advance. Prepared and provided delivery vehicles.
These achievements cannot be achieved without the care and support of the central leaders. Since the missile test base was established in 1958, Premier Zhou, Deng Xiaoping, Ye Jianying, Chen Yi, Nie Rongzhen, Li Fuchun, Bo Yibo and other leaders have visited the missile satellite launch test base and given many important instructions.
In order to ensure the smooth progress of the base construction, the Central Military Commission and the General Staff have convened joint meetings of various headquarters and services and arms on many occasions to listen to reports from Sun Jixian and Li Zaishan on the construction progress and difficulties encountered, and to study and solve specific problems. .
Nie Rongzhen personally visited the test base many times to guide the construction of the base and the launch test work, and directly participated in the command of the launch test many times, and devoted a lot of effort to this.
In 1963, when Chen Yi, Vice Premier of the State Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs, accompanied by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Han Nianlong, inspected the base, he placed great hopes on the development of the base. He said: "Hurry up and get and out. I am When the Minister of Foreign Affairs becomes the Minister of Foreign Affairs, he will be hard-pressed. "
In September 1964, Ye Jianying, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, visited the base and highly praised the achievements of the base in missile testing. He said meaningfully: "Your work is very meaningful. It is related to the safety of our country and world peace... If you launch two bombs, in other people's eyes, our country's industrial level will rise and our national defense strength will be strengthened." , then our country's international status will be improved, our motherland will not be easily violated, and world peace will be more guaranteed."
Premier Zhou, Chen Yi and others inspected the base
Premier Zhou was the one who conducted the combined test of the "two bombs". Commander-in-Chief
In March 1966, the central government decided to conduct a combined test of missiles and atomic bombs, and determined the missile test base as the first launch area. Premier Zhou was personally responsible for the deployment of this major mission. Nie Rongzhen and the National Defense Science and Technology Commission were under the unified leadership. The organization and command of the first launch area were handled by Li Zaishan and Li Fuze.
In just over a year from June 1965 to July 1966, Premier Zhou visited the base five times to inspect and guide the work, and worked on-site, solving many specific problems for the base's "two bombs" combined launch test .
It is no exaggeration to say that Zhou Enlai was the commander-in-chief of the "two bombs" combined test.
On October 27, 1966, the "two bombs" combined test officially began. At about 9 o'clock in the morning, there was an order. The missile took off into the sky and flew according to the predetermined trajectory. At 9:09:14, the nuclear warhead exploded accurately at a predetermined height above the bullseye, making the test a complete success.
The success of this test marks that China has missile nuclear weapons that can be used in actual combat.
In February 1970, the central government issued a mission to launch the "Dongfanghong-1" satellite. The National Defense Science and Technology Commission determined that Li Zaishan and Li Fuze would be the unified commanders of this launch test.
Whenever the experiment enters a new stage, Li Zaishan and Li Fuze report to Premier Zhou and the Central Military Commission in a timely manner.
At 21:35 on April 24, 1970, the carrier rocket was ignited and launched, holding the "Dongfanghong-1" artificial satellite soaring upward and flying into space along the predetermined orbit.
Ten minutes later, the stars and arrows separated, the satellite entered the predetermined orbit, and the music "The East Is Red" resounded through the sky and shocked the world.
The successful launch of the "Dongfanghong-1" satellite has made our country one of the few countries in the world that can launch satellites independently, and is a milestone in our country's space history.
Under the suggestion and arrangement of Premier Zhou, on the International Labor Day in 1970, Li Zaishan, Li Fuze, Wang Shengyuan, Bao Houguo and others, as representatives of the satellite launch, were greeted by Chairman Mao and other party and state leaders on the Tiananmen Gate Tower. cordial reception.
When Premier Zhou introduced Li Zaishan, Li Fuze and others to Chairman Mao, he specifically talked about their hard-working spirit in the northwest Gobi Desert, and once again said that they were the heroes of the "two bombs and one satellite" test.
In fact, it was precisely because of Premier Zhou’s personal deployment and command and the multi-party guarantees from various departments of the State Council that the “two bombs and one satellite” test was a complete success.
However, Premier Zhou attributed this credit to those commanders and fighters fighting on the front line. Two old photos are the best proof.
Premier Zhou in his later years
Whenever people see these two old photos, people will be deeply moved by Premier Zhou's humble and simple style, lofty ideological quality and great revolutionary mind!
