February 5, 1994 was the tenth anniversary of Su Yu's death. On this day, Zhang Zhen took his wife to visit Su Yu's widow Chu Qing, just like in previous years.
Zhang Zhen told Chu Qing that the Party Central Committee decided to solve the problem of unjust cases, and the method was in the form of writing an article.
Chu Qing nodded after hearing this. She could not tell that she was excited or happy. She said lightly: " Su Yu is gone now. In fact, he doesn't know how to write the article. But people always have feelings. Yes, I always hope that the party can say a fair word to comfort his spirit in heaven. This is the only wish I have in my life."
After hearing this, Zhang Zhen was speechless. It is best to publish on the anniversary, but it is too late now. We need to consider the timing of publication. "
On December 25, 1994, "People's Daily" and "People's Liberation Army Daily" published two vice-chairmen of the Central Military Commission, Liu Huaqing and Zhang Zhen. Co-signed article "In Memory of Comrade Su Yu".
In this article, there is this passage: " In 1958, Comrade Su Yu was wrongly criticized at the enlarged meeting of the Military Commission, and was treated unfairly for a long time. This was a mistake in history. This view , is also the opinion of the Central Military Commission. "
It was with this sentence that Su Yu was officially rehabilitated. At this time, 36 years had passed since Su Yu's unjust case.
Why was Su Yu wronged? What is the relationship between Zhang Zhen and Su Yu?
In 1954, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China appointed Su Yu as Chief of General Staff. After receiving the appointment, Su Yu was a little frightened and wanted to resign, but Chairman Mao did not agree. As a result, Su Yu became the third person to serve after Xu Xiangqian and Nie Rongzhen after the founding of New China. chief of staff.
Su Yu stayed in this position for a total of four years. In 1958, Su Yu was criticized and left the General Staff.
When Su Yu was criticized in 1958, it was mainly because of three things about "exerting power".
The first thing is to prepare your own arrangements to attack the Matsu Islands .
On June 20, 1955, Peng Dehuai, who presided over the daily work of the Central Military Commission, received a message from Pi Dingjun, deputy commander of the Fujian Military Region.
Pi Dingjun said that on June 18, Su Yu, who served as Chief of General Staff, requested a full-scale attack during a meeting to quickly liberate the Matsu Islands, but due to many reasons, it could not be implemented.
Peng Dehuai was very surprised when he received the telegram, because as the vice chairman of the Military Commission, he had no idea about the attack on the Matsu Islands.
For this reason, Peng Dehuai specifically found Chen Geng, the deputy chief of staff, to understand the situation. As soon as Chen Geng arrived, Peng Dehuai criticized: "As early as 1954, Chairman Mao clearly stipulated that only select the smallest and weakest enemy each time. If you attack the island, you will win if you win. "
Peng Dehuai believes that the leaders of the General Staff and Nanjing Military Region and Fujian Military Region did not understand Chairman Mao's meaning.
Immediately, Peng Dehuai reported the matter to Chairman Mao. Chairman Mao told Peng Dehuai that before this, Su Yu had reported sending the air force to Fujian to protect the coastal areas. He agreed. Later, when Liu Yalou transferred the air force to Fujian, he considered it. Indonesia The Bandung Conference ordered Liu Yalou to temporarily stop transferring the air force to Fujian.
After hearing this, Peng Dehuai immediately suggested convening a military meeting to explain the situation in detail, and Chairman Mao agreed.
Subsequently, Nanjing Military Region Commander Xu Shiyou, Fujian's top leader Ye Fei and others came to Beijing. At this meeting, Su Yu made it clear that when the meeting was held on June 18, he only ordered Pi Dingjun to make full preparations, and did not Orders were given to attack three islands simultaneously.
However, the minutes of the meeting later recorded: Pi Ding did not make any communication errors, and Su Yu was responsible for the matter.
Later, the content of this meeting was sent to Chairman Mao. Chairman Mao criticized the General Staff and said: "It was very wrong to discuss such a big issue on June 18 without the approval of the central government."
This was the first mistake Su Yu made. a "mistake".
The second thing is to ignore foreign affairs discipline.
In 1957, Chairman Mao led a delegation to the Soviet Union to participate in commemorations of the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution. In addition to the Chinese delegation led by Chairman Mao, Peng Dehuai also led a military delegation, of which Su Yu was a member.
During this period, Su Yu once met with Marshal Sokolovsky, Chief of the Soviet General Staff, and asked the other party a question. He wanted to know the specific division of labor between the Ministry of National Defense and the General Staff.
Regarding this matter, Marshal Sokolovsky immediately said: "There is no division of labor between the General Staff and the Ministry of National Defense. The General Staff is subordinate to the Ministry of National Defense."
Su Yu: "I know this, but I would like to ask you to give me a "
Marshal Sokolovsky immediately refused."
Su Yu did make a mistake in this matter.
First of all, between countries, if one party asks the other party to provide financial, material, and documentary materials, the top leader of the country should decide whether the other party provides money, materials, or documents.
The Ministry of National Defense is under the control of the State Council. In other words, if Su Yu wants materials, at least Zhou Enlai should propose it to the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (equivalent to the Prime Minister), and the matter must be nodded by Chairman Mao before Zhou Enlai can propose it.
This is not the first time for Su Yu to go abroad. Regarding the foreign affairs etiquette of going abroad, according to theory, there should be no mistakes. However, regarding this matter, Su Yu did not do it appropriately. Perhaps from another aspect, Su Yu is really The third thing Su Yu did was to send troops back from North Korea without authorization.
In December 1951, Chairman Mao instructed: " Relevant national defense deployment adjustment plans and plans, as well as the deployment of troops above infantry divisions and special forces regiments in key national defense areas, must be approved in the name of the Central Military Commission and submitted to Chairman Mao Zedong for review before being issued."
In 1957, the Korean War was over, but there were still many volunteer troops in North Korea. In November, Chairman Mao discussed with Zhou Enlai and others and decided to make preparations to welcome the volunteers.
In 1958, Su Yu issued the mobilization order for the first batch of returning troops (21st Army, 5th Artillery Division, 5th and 6th Tank Regiments, 7th Automobile Regiment, etc.) to return home on March 8 in the name of the General Staff.
Chairman Mao and Peng Dehuai were very surprised when they learned about it because they did not know about it.
Later, when he was criticized, Su Yu examined the matter: "Many things were done without asking for instructions in advance and without reporting afterward. They exceeded their authority. For such a big event as mobilizing volunteers to return home, a telegram was sent in the name of the General Staff."
In 1958, Su Yu was criticized, and the main crime was "individualism." The main reasons for his criticism were these three things.
For more than 20 years after that, Su Yu was still unsuccessful.
In 1979, Su Yu made a request to Marshal Ye Jianying, who admired him, hoping to rehabilitate him. Ye Jianying also supported it, but later, for unknown reasons, the matter continued to be unresolved.
When Su Yu passed away in 1984, this matter was still his "heartache"
Zhang Zhen was very sad about Su Yu's "injustice". Speaking of which, his relationship with Su Yu was very close.
During the Agrarian Revolution, Zhang Zhen served in Peng Dehuai's Red Army and was a member of the main force of the Red Army. However, Su Yu had not yet shown full military talent at the time, so he did not serve in the Red Army during the entire Agrarian Revolution. main team.
However, compared to the level of the two, Su Yu is much higher, and he once served as the chief of staff of the Seventh Red Army.
During the Anti-Japanese War, Su Yu served in the New Fourth Army, and although Zhang Zhen was also in the New Fourth Army, due to the scattered forces of the New Fourth Army, even though the two belonged to the same rank, the chance of them meeting was extremely slim.
However, although Zhang Zhen did not meet Su Yu, he already admired Su Yu. The reason is that during this period, Su Yu commanded the Battle of Huangqiao, the Battle of Cheqiao, and the Battle of Tianmu Mountain.
These three battles were all self-defense counterattacks. Each time, our army defeated the greater number with less.
It was precisely because of these three wars that Zhang Zhen admired Su Yu. The real opportunity for them to cooperate was during the War of Liberation.
In 1946, Su Yu served as the commander of the Central China Field Army. At this time, Zhang Zhen served as the commander of the ninth column. At this time, Zhang Zhen came under Su Yu's command.
Soon after, the Central China Field Army merged with the Shandong Field Army and was called the " East China Field Army ". Zhang Zhen became the deputy commander of the column, and he was still under Su Yu's command.
During the War of Liberation, Su Yu's military command talents were fully unleashed.
Seven Battles and Seven Victories in Suzhong , Battle of Laiwu , Battle of Menglianggu , Zhang Zhen participated in many large and small battles commanded by Su Yu. It was precisely because he really got along with Su Yu and fought under his command that Zhang Zhen was I personally experienced Su Yu's superb military command ability.
In fact, Zhang Zhen’s talent is that of a consultant.
In 1948, Chairman Mao decided to Huaye three columns to cross the Yangtze River and establish the Southeast Field Army First Corps. Su Yu commanded him to fight in the south of the Yangtze River. After the Southeast Field Army's First Corps was established, at Su Yu's suggestion, Zhang Zhen served as Chief of Staff of the Corps.
Immediately, Su Yu conducted a comprehensive analysis of the troops' crossing the river . Later, when he was studying this step of military action, he conflicted with Chairman Mao's plan.
Su Yu believed that the best situation at that time was for the troops not to cross the river. Fighting in the Central Plains could also give the enemy a major blow.
Subsequently, with the help of Zhang Zhen, Su Yu finally sent a telegram to Chairman Mao of the Party Central Committee, requesting a change in the battle plan.
Chairman Mao was a little surprised when he received the telegram, and ordered Su Yu to come to Xibaipo to report in person.
Later, after Su Yu’s analysis, Chairman Mao and the Party Central Committee agreed to his request and no longer sent troops to fight across the river for the time being. However, the Party Central Committee also gave him a task, which was to make the Central Committee see that the troops stayed in the Central Plains within a short period of time. Good.
It was this order that Su Yu commanded the Battle of East Henan .
Chairman Mao spoke highly of the Battle of East Henan. Chairman Mao said: " The War of Liberation is like climbing a mountain. Now we have passed the valley of the mountain, and the most strenuous stage of climbing has passed."
After that, Su Yu continued Commanded the Battle of Huaihai, the Battle of Crossing the River, the Battle of Shanghai, etc.
In these large and small battles, Zhang Zhen went deep into them. He has always been Su Yu's right-hand man. During the war, he and Su Yu also forged a deep personal friendship.
During this period, Zhang Zhen served successively as deputy chief of staff of Huaye and chief of staff of Sanye.
If Su Yu is one of the best military generals of our army, we can say without exaggeration that Zhang Zhen is also one of the best chiefs of staff of our army.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhang Zhen worked in the General Staff and later went to the Korean battlefield. As a result, although he and Su Yu were no longer superiors and subordinates, their friendship did not change because of the distance.
When Su Yu was criticized in 1958, Zhang Zhen was puzzled. This matter also became a "heart problem" for Zhang Zhen.
During this special period, Zhang Zhen was criticized, and the first person he thought of was Su Yu.
Later, Zhang Zhen's second son came to Beijing overnight with blood clothes on his face to seek help from Su Yu. After Su Yu learned about it, he immediately reported the matter to Premier Zhou Enlai.
The Prime Minister personally called Xu Shiyou and asked Xu Shiyou to send soldiers from the Nanjing Military Region to protect Zhang Zhen, and Zhang Zhen escaped. After
, Zhang Zhen also became the deputy commander of the Wuhan Military Region .
In 1975, Su Yu approached Zhang Zhen: "The Military Commission is considering asking you to be the deputy minister of the Logistics Department."
Zhang Zhen was a little surprised: "I have never done logistics work before, and I am afraid that I will not do well."
Su Yu: "What will your job be like this time?" Come on, it’s Comrade Xiaoping who ordered me.”
After hearing this, Zhang Zhen said nothing.
After the end of the special period, Zhang Zhen served as director of the General Logistics Department, deputy chief of general staff and other positions. At this time, Su Yu was a member of the Standing Committee of the Military Commission. After they worked together again after many years, Su Yu gave Zhang Zhen great support.
In 1984, Su Yu died of illness. It was Su Yu's regret that he could not live an ordinary life.
Zhang Zhen also knew about this matter very well, but at that time, he could not do anything. Later, every February 5th, the anniversary of Su Yu's death, Zhang Zhen would always take his wife to Su's house to visit and express condolences to Su Yu. Wife Chu Qing.
In 1992, Zhang Zhen was about to retire, but under Deng Xiaoping's advice, he served as vice chairman of the Military Commission for another term.
In 1993, several retired veteran cadres from the Nanjing Military Region jointly wrote a letter to the General Secretary, requesting the redress of Su Yu. After Zhang Zhen learned about it, he took the matter very seriously.
Later, with the efforts of Zhang Zhen and Su Yu's other old subordinates, the relevant central departments made a decision on the matter and vindicated Su Yu by writing articles.
On December 25, 1994, when the article " Remembering Comrade Su Yu" appeared in "People's Daily" and "Liberation Army Daily", many people understood that the question of Su Yu's 36-year injustice finally had an answer.
Zhang Zhen also breathed a sigh of relief after the problem of Su Yu's injustice was resolved.
In 1998, Zhang Zhen left his leadership position. Although he no longer held specific positions, Zhang Zhen was still concerned about the cause of the party and the country.
In 2015, Zhang Zhen completed his legendary life at the age of 101. He was the last to pass away among the 177 founding lieutenant generals.
It is worth mentioning that after the military rank system was restored in 1988, Zhang Zhen was re-awarded the rank of general. His son Zhang Haiyang later also became a general. "Both father and son are generals" is very rare in our army. .
