Xu Xiangqian is from Wutai, Shanxi Province. He was born in 1901. His father was a scholar in the late Qing Dynasty and made a living as a private school teacher. After graduating from elementary school, his family was in trouble and he could not afford to study at the same time. In desperation, Xu Xiangqian had to drop out of school and enter a grocery store in Fuping and became an apprentice. Two years later, my brother who was studying in Taiyuan wrote a letter saying that Shanxi Provincial National Normal School began to recruit students and that as long as you pass the exam, you can get free of food and accommodation. Xu Xiangqian was very happy after hearing this. After resigning from the shopkeeper Xiang, he rushed to Taiyuan to apply for the exam.
Xu Xiangqian successfully passed the exam and became a student in the first crash course of Shanxi National Normal University. Two years later, Xu Xiangqian graduated and became an elementary school teacher. Soon after, he was expelled from the principal appointed by Yan Xishan because of spreading progressive ideas in the school. This incident changed Xu Xiangqian's fate. He abandoned his literature and followed the military, went south to Guangzhou, and was admitted to the Whampoa Military Academy . After the failure of the Great Revolution, Chiang Kai-shek raised his butcher knife and persecuted the revolutionary masses and progressive people. Xu Xiangqian ignored the danger and resolutely joined our party, showing extraordinary courage.
In June 1929, Xu Xiangqian was sent to Northeast Hubei to serve as the deputy commander of the Red 31st Division. At that time, the division commander of the division had already died. The total number of the division was only more than 300 people, and many of them were still new soldiers with no combat experience. When Xu Xiangqian was commanding troops for the first time, the enemy's machine gun swept over, and the inexperienced soldiers lay on the ground and did not dare to look up. Xu Xiangqian set an example, charged forward, and rushed wherever the battle was fierce. Seeing that the deputy division commander was so brave, the soldiers were infected one after another, rushed towards the enemy with weapons, killing the enemy and fleeing in a panic.
Under Xu Xiangqian's words and deeds, the combat effectiveness of the Red 31st Division made a qualitative leap and soon became one of the main forces in Hubei, Henan and Anhui. A year later, the Red Fourth Front Army was established, and Xu Xiangqian became the commander-in-chief where he wanted to be. He was only 30 years old at that time, thus becoming the youngest commander-in-chief of the Front Army in the history of the Red Army. Afterwards, Xu Xiangqian led the Fourth Front Army to fight against the enemy in the Hubei-Henan-Anhui base areas and the Sichuan-Shaanxi Soviet Area, and achieved a series of victories. The troops grew to more than 80,000 people and entered their heyday.
After the three main forces of the Red Army met with , Xu Xiangqian was ordered to lead West Route Army to cross Yellow River and Majiajun to fight. Due to various reasons, the Western Route Army failed after a hard battle, and Xu Xiangqian begged all the way back to Yan'an. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the Red Army negotiated with Chiang Kai-shek and discussed the adaptation matters. At that time, Yan'an proposed to reorganize the main force of the northern Shaanxi Red Army into four armies, and Xu Xiangqian was one of the commanders. In order to limit the development of the Eighth Route Army, Chiang Kai-shek finally gave only three divisions. Xu Xiangqian served as deputy commander of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, assisting the division commander Liu Bocheng to command the battle.
At the end of March 1938, investigators sent information that the Japanese army recently frequently transported troops and supplies along the road from Licheng to Shexian . At that time, Liu Bocheng went to the Eighth Route Army headquarters for a meeting. Xu Xiangqian was responsible for commanding the troops. After careful study, he decided to ambush the enemy at Xiangtangpu. On the morning of the 31st, a huge Japanese transport convoy entered the ambush circle of the Eighth Route Army without any reservation. With the order from Xu Xiangqian, the light and heavy weapons in the hands of the soldiers opened fire together, instantly knocking down a large number of enemies.
After several hours of fierce fighting, the Eighth Route Army destroyed more than 400 Japanese troops at the cost of 317 casualties, blew up 181 cars, and seized a large number of combat supplies. Not long after, Xu Xiangqian began to stand alone and was sent to southern Hebei and Shandong to command the battle, and performed very well. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Xu Xiangqian came to Shanxi and led the North China First Corps, dominated by local troops, to eliminate Yan Xishan's elite troops one by one, making important contributions to the liberation of Shanxi. After the founding of New China, Xu Xiangqian held important positions many times and was awarded the rank of marshal in 1955.
1990 On September 21, 1990, Marshal Xu Xiangqian, who made great contributions to the Chinese revolution, unfortunately passed away. Before his death, he left three wills for his family: one will not say goodbye to the body; two will not hold a memorial service; three will scatter the ashes in Dabie Mountains , Daba Mountains, Taihang Mountains and Hexi Corridor , and accompany his comrades who died there. After Xu Shuai passed away, his family reported his three wills to the Central Committee, and the Central Committee only agreed to the last one. A grand memorial service was held for Xu Shuai in Babaoshan to commemorate his great achievements.
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