On April 30, 1970, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee issued an important notice - Comrade Li Desheng was officially appointed as the director of the General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army, and this news caused great trouble at the time.
Because, the "People's Liberation Army General Political Department" is the supreme commander responsible for managing the party's work and organizing the entire army to carry out political work. The core leaders such as Chairman Mao, Liu Shaoqi, and Ren Bishi who served as directors of the political department at that time were Chairman Mao, Liu Shaoqi, and Ren Bishi. His status is not unimportant.
Moreover, Li Desheng was the only person at that time who served as the director of the political department as a founding major general. To be honest, he had set a precedent in history. There is no doubt that this appointment shocked too many people.
Therefore, in 1969, at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee before Li Desheng entered Beijing, when Chairman Mao made this suggestion, someone stood up and firmly opposed this appointment. But Chairman Mao always insisted and even directly responded and questioned: "Li Desheng is not suitable, are you suitable?"
So the question is, what is the origin of this founding major general who set a precedent in history and even asked Chairman Mao to fight back in public for him?
1. From the cowherd to the founding major general
Li Desheng was born in the hinterland of Dabie Mountains . He was originally a "cowherd kid" who did things for the landlords. In 1930, he officially participated in the Red Army . Although he was only 14 years old at that time, he was rarely excited. Before that, he was the leader of the village children's regiment and often delivered letters and led the way to the village Red Army.
Originally, because of his young age, the organization did not intend to let him join the Red Army. But he couldn't stand his stubbornness, and later the leader gave him a chance, that is, let him compete with the correspondents to run, and if he outperformed, he would be allowed to join the Red Army.
Li Desheng was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately pulled the communicator to compete, and finally got the opportunity to join the army.
—As a child of a poor peasant, he devoted himself to the cause of the party, starting from a small correspondent (messenger). Later, he participated in various battles along the way, and rushed on the battlefield several times. The three relatives at home devoted themselves to the revolution. During
, he had experienced several ups and downs, but even after suffering hardships, he refused to hesitate and followed the pace of the Long March of , crossing the grassland three times. With a firm heart, he worked as a commander in the relevant units of the battalion headquarters, regiment headquarters, and division headquarters, and finally became an indomitable "veteran" of the Red Army.
Later during the War of Resistance Against Japan, Li Desheng had participated in some tough and bad battles many times, but by flexibly commanding the war, he developed a lot of skills in the war. He gradually stood out from the 129th Division, which was full of powerful generals. Whether it was annihilation war or a defending war, he had classic "works".
For example, in the Xiangtangpu ambush , Li Desheng fought a beautiful ambush . At that time, no one in his company was injured or killed, but he helped the entire regiment to eliminate most of the forces of the two enemy squadrons. Later, in the Guanjiadong War, he led his troops to fight with the enemy with bayonets in the late night, fighting to the last moment on the position that was not dangerous to defend, and successfully completed the task.
. Even though he became a senior cadre of (the leader of the regiment), Li Desheng still remained passionate and passionate back then. He even turned into a "vegetable farmer" to bravely break into the enemy camp, and defeated the enemy with the help of the inside and outside.
Since 1937, Li Desheng has served as platoon leader, company commander, battalion commander, and regiment commander.
- Judging from his early positions, he started from the grassroots level step by step, almost serving as the chief officer of each level of establishment unit. Although this allowed him to accumulate rich combat and command experience, it has to be said that the promotion was still relatively slow. After that, in the War of Liberation, his performance on the battlefield became more and more outstanding, and he used surprise weapons many times to achieve great victory.
The most typical one is: leading the troops to march for 9 consecutive days, as the main attacker, cooperated with other troops to form an encirclement of the Huang Wei Corps, fought fiercely for two days and one night, and captured the core enemy position on the east side of Shuangduiji, laying the foundation for the complete annihilation of the Huang Wei Corps.
Because of his great achievements in the War of Liberation, he also changed from the original regiment commander to the later brigade commander and division commander. He was one of the most outstanding generals under the command of the Liu and Deng Zhongyuan Field Army.
Of course, this is not his highlight moment. Li Desheng’s most glorious thing was to participate in the Shangganling Battle in in Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea . In this fierce and protracted battle, Li Desheng, as the deputy commander of the 12th Army, was Wang Jinshan’s assistant.
He actively coordinated and solved five major problems including transportation, meals, field fortifications, communications and firepower allocation. He led the 12th Army to repel hundreds of crazy attacks from the enemy and defended Shangganling . Not only did he achieve the goal of "eliminating the enemy at the forefront and not allowing him to move forward", but also turned passive into initiative, laying the tone for the final victory of the Shangganling Battle.
The early Li Desheng was definitely an extremely pure soldier. Relying on his outstanding military achievements, he was awarded the rank of founding major general in 1955. Judging from these achievements, Li Desheng's military life is indeed worthy of admiration.
2. Observed by Chairman Mao
But objectively speaking, compared with the position of "Director of the General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army" he obtained, the founding major general's qualifications are slightly insufficient, and Li Desheng's competitiveness is obviously not enough among the others. So why did he get the support of Chairman Mao? In fact, this is related to his performance in Anhui.
After returning from the Korean battlefield, Li Desheng served as the commander of the 12th Army.
During the peace period, he was not idle either. In order to prevent it, he actively focused on consolidating the combat effectiveness of the troops, promoted the comprehensive construction of the troops, and vigorously developed agricultural and sideline production, helped the northern Jiangsu region develop production and changed the backward appearance. Chairman Mao saw these.
In 1967, Zhou Enlai wanted to choose one person to go to Anhui to perform military control missions. Li Desheng, who was carrying out the " three armies and two armies" mission in northern Jiangsu, fell into his eyes. After entering Anhui, Li Desheng went deep into the masses to do ideological work, seeking truth from facts to solve difficult and complicated problems for the people, and soon managed Anhui's social order in an orderly manner. After
After Li Desheng began to vigorously focus on economic construction, overcome all difficulties, and promote the development of large enterprises such as Hefei Iron Plant and Ma'anshan Iron Plant. Thanks to this, Anhui's economy has been rising year by year, and even created a good situation of an annual growth rate of 10%.
Due to his achievements in Anhui and his performance was extremely excellent, Li Desheng attended the meeting as the head of Anhui Province at the 12th Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held in October 1968. It was also this meeting that Li Desheng really spoke face to Chairman Mao for the first time, but all this started out as an "accident".
At that time, Zhou Enlai was announcing the group list, but when he read Li Desheng's name, Chairman Mao immediately became interested. He interrupted Zhou Enlai and asked, "Which is called Li Desheng?" It turned out that Chairman Mao once gave a pseudonym, called "Li Desheng". The names of the two have homophonic words. Chairman Mao was very familiar with him and felt very friendly when he heard it.
Hearing Chairman Mao’s inquiry, Zhou Enlai carefully introduced Li Desheng’s resume: Comrade Li Desheng is the commander of the 12th Army and is currently the director of the Anhui Provincial Revolutionary Committee. After hearing this, Chairman Mao glanced at the audience, then waved to Li Desheng and said, "Comrade Desheng, please stand up." Li Desheng quickly stood up and saluted Chairman Mao.
This is the first close dialogue between the two. He had only met Chairman Mao from a distance at a meeting held by the Central Committee.
But Chairman Mao smiled and said, "I don't know you, you comrade." However, the two then began a meticulous exchange, in which Chairman Mao also asked Li Desheng about his hometown and age.
Chairman Mao: "Where are you from?"
"Report to Chairman, I am from Xinxian, Henan." Li Desheng replied.
After hearing this, Zhou Enlai also intertwined and asked, "Is it the same county as Xu Shiyou?" Xu Shiyou, who was sitting in front of Li Desheng, also took the speech and replied, "Comrade Desheng is from the same county as me."
Many people believe that Chairman Mao's inquiry about Li Desheng's personal situation is very meaningful, because he was very satisfied with Li Desheng's achievements in Anhui. Moreover, he has been considering the "old, middle-aged and young" combination of leading cadres, and the 52-year-old Li Desheng undoubtedly attracted his attention.
Moreover, Chairman Mao is not a person who listens and believes in the person. If he wants to appreciate and reuse, he will inquire and investigate from multiple sources, and will use time to truly understand the ability and character of this person. Sex, I don’t believe the words of one family. After
, Chairman Mao also asked some questions about how to govern Anhui, and Li Desheng’s answer also made him admire him. It is obvious that during the first interview between the two, Li Desheng left a deep impression on Chairman Mao, which also laid the groundwork for Li Desheng’s subsequent promotion.
As expected, in April 1969, the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held, and Li Desheng participated again Meeting. But what he didn't expect was that he was elected as a member of the Central Committee at the conference.
and even more unexpected. On the eve of the First Plenary Session of the Ninth Central Committee, the conference secretary sent a list of members and alternate members of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, and Li Desheng was also on the list of alternate members of the Political Bureau.
This scared Li Desheng because he felt that his current qualifications were far from enough, so he hurriedly I found Xu Shiyou and Chen Xilian, hoping that the two old leaders would go to talk to Chairman Mao and persuade him not to elect him.
But the two old leaders believed that this was the established arrangement between Chairman Mao and the Central Committee and could not be changed, so they undoubtedly refused this request.
After the subsequent voting of the First Plenary Session of the Ninth Central Committee, when Zhou Enlai announced the election results and read Li Desheng's name, Chairman Mao once again called out: "Let me see Comrade Li Desheng again. "Immediately, Li Desheng took off his military cap, stood attentively, and asked Chairman Mao to take a closer look.
Chairman Mao squinted his eyes at this time and asked while looking, "How old are you? "Li Desheng replied: "Aged 53. "Two questions about age within two years, which shows Li Desheng's status in Chairman Mao's heart. After the meeting, Li Desheng officially became an alternate member of the Politburo.
This position also set a new record at that time , because he was the only person who was elected as an alternate member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee as the commander of the People's Liberation Army, and he and Wang Dongxing also created a historical precedent for the founding major general to serve as a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee.
But in fact, this is only three times in Li Desheng's life. The first time of legendary jumping, he will usher in greater achievements next.
3. Chairman Mao vigorously promoted
After the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Li Desheng once again received a notice from Zhou Enlai: the central government decided to transfer him to Beijing to work. After hearing the instructions on the phone, he felt very sudden and a little panic.
So he told Zhou Enlai: "Prime Minister, I just lead troops to fight. I have worked in the army for a long time, and my experience and level are not high. Where can I go to Beijing? Or is it more suitable for me below? Please consider it again? "
But the central government made such a decision after careful consideration. After all, in order to reuse him, Chairman Mao even ruled out controversy and doubts for him, which is the scene mentioned at the beginning of our article.
At that time, when discussing the candidate for the director of the General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army, Chairman Mao and the central government were determined to arrange for him to take over. However, there were also doubts about this decision. For example, someone said at the meeting: Li Desheng is a person who leads troops to fight, not a political work, and is not suitable for political work.
But Chairman Mao saw all the achievements of Li Desheng in Anhui, so after hearing this, he was a little unhappy and criticized on the spot: "Li Desheng is not suitable, are you suitable? ”
These words were loud and loud, allowing everyone to see Chairman Mao’s determination. Finally, with Chairman Mao’s support, Li Desheng became the only candidate for the director of the General Political Department of the People’s Liberation Army.
On July 28, 1969, Li Desheng arrived in Beijing on a special plane, and Zhou Enlai met him at Huairen Hall in Zhongnanhai.
In a conversation with Li Desheng, Zhou Enlai said earnestly: "Comrade Desheng, Chairman Mao and the Party Central Committee decided that you will come to work in the Central Committee. From now on, you will participate in the activities of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee. In addition to the work of the Party, there are also the work of the army and the government."
But Li Desheng considered that he was a soldier and he was still catching the Anhui economy at that time (it was just starting out), so he did not want to leave for the time being. So he once again said: He was a soldier and had been in the army for a long time. He was not suitable for being in the central government and just wanted to work in the local area.
After meeting Chairman Mao at Zhongnanhai , he still requested: "I have taken into account too many positions, and I have the title of alternate member of the Politburo and deputy commander of the Nanjing Military Region . He also served as the director of the Anhui Provincial Revolutionary Committee. He was worried that he could not handle the conflict between the central and local governments."
But both Chairman Mao and Zhou Enlai firmly believed that he could hold multiple positions and do all his work well.
Therefore, Chairman Mao not only did not agree to remove him from his position, but also told him: You must study while working, spend 1/3 of your time in Beijing, 1/3 of your time studying, and 1/3 of your time to conduct investigations and research below.
This passage gave Li Desheng a shot of heart-boosting agent, which enhanced his confidence in being competent for important positions. So he cheered up and accepted the appointment of the Central Committee calmly. But facts have proved that Chairman Mao’s insistence is very reasonable.
Li Desheng did not adapt to the new position. He did all the work he was in charge and achieved more than expected results.
and Chairman Mao has relied more on him since then. In this way, he created the second jump in his life and became the first legend to serve as the director of the of the General Political Department of as a founding major general.
Time came in 1973, the Tenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held, and the Politburo held a meeting to discuss the candidates for the Party’s chairman and vice chairman.
The candidate for the chairman of this meeting is naturally Chairman Mao, which is the consensus of all members of the Politburo. However, after choosing the chairman, you have to choose the vice chairman. So how does the vice chairman decide?
Zhou Enlai reported in detail about the situation of the Politburo meeting. After hearing this, Chairman Mao pondered for a while and said, "I see that among the current candidates, there are old and young, but not yet! Don't we pay attention to the combination of old, middle and young? We should also combine three!"
According to the "middle-aged" at that time, there were not many optional people who met this range. At this time, Chairman Mao believed that "middle-aged" should be selected from the army, which is actually equivalent to having already selected 57-year-old Li Desheng as a candidate.
Zhou Enlai also understood it at this time, and then spoke: Agree with the Chairman's opinion and suggest that Comrade Li Desheng be one of the candidates, he belongs to the army, and he is fifty-seven years old! "
Chairman Mao and Zhou Enlai's "singing and reconciling" speech made Li Desheng, who was not mentally prepared, confused on the spot. He never thought that he could become the vice chairman. Therefore, he was very nervous and quickly stood up and refused: "I am not suitable, my qualifications and level are not enough. ”
After saying this, he felt even more embarrassed when he saw Chairman Mao staring at him, so he quickly changed the topic and said: “From our party, Comrade Li Xiannian can be the candidate for the vice chairman of the party . ”
. Li Xiannian happened to be next to Li Desheng at that time. He hurriedly grabbed Li Desheng and whispered to him: "The Chairman agrees with you, so don't say more. "So on August 30, at the First Plenary Session of the 10th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Li Desheng was elected as Vice Chairman of the CPC Central Committee.
It is worth mentioning that Li Desheng was elected as Vice Chairman and also created a record of the founding general holding this position. Before that, only two founding marshals, Zhu De and Ye Jianying, were vice chairman.
This was the third jump in his life, and he once again created a miracle. And this was also the peak moment of his political career, and he was elected as a member, member of the Standing Committee and Vice Chairman of the Central Political Bureau. In 1985, due to age issues, he withdrew from the Central Committee and the Central Political Bureau.
However, in 1988, he once again ushered in his moment of glory. Li Desheng, who was the political commissar of National Defense University, was awarded the rank of general, and the veteran general finally ushered in the highest honor of his military career.
In 2011, Li Desheng died of illness at the age of 96. Looking back on his life, his life is undoubtedly full of legendary colors, with three jumps in promotions, setting multiple records. Although he is in a high position and is not arrogant, he is in chaos but always stays awake.
fight on the battlefield and save the crisis politically. Although I have encountered difficulties, I have never forgotten my original intention and am still a true hero when I return. Although the old general's life has passed, all this will be imprinted in history and will be remembered and remembered by our future generations.
