On April 21, 1955, founding lieutenant general Wu Ruilin died in Beijing at the age of 80. At the Babaoshan Funeral Home, Wu Ruilin's children and grandchildren found a small metal ball from the cremated ashes with tears in their eyes. It was made of shrapnel that had been remaining in his body for decades.
General Wu Ruilin was injured countless times throughout his life. For him, this scar was the most shining medal in his legendary life.
Wu Ruilin
915, Wu Ruilin was born in Bazhong County, Sichuan Province. After participating in , Red Army , he served as the political commissar of the International Pioneer Regiment of the Red Fourth Front Army at the age of 18. In February 1933, Sichuan warlord Tian Songyao gathered more than 60,000 people to launch a three-way siege on the Red Fourth Front Army. Wu Ruilin led his troops to participate in the famous Kongshanba battle. During the battle, he was bombed by enemy planes, his brain was severely shocked, and he was unconscious for more than 20 days.
After rescue, Wu Ruilin finally woke up. Xu Xiangqian came to visit him in person and asked cordially: "Xiao Wu, who else is there in your family?"
Wu Ruilin replied: "And there is also a mother."
Xu Xiangqian put a jade bracelet seized by beating the local tyrants in Wu Ruilin's hand and said to him, "Take this as travel expenses and go home to recuperate!"
After Wu Ruilin returned home, he lived for only two or three days and resolutely returned to the army, and mobilized thousands of poor farmers to join the Red Army with him.
935, Wu Ruilin was following the Long March of the Red Fourth Front Army, and was hit by the enemy's cold gun in his leg. At that time, the army was short of medical treatment and medicine, so the military doctor had to find the opium to relieve the pain, and then used the burned razor to dig out the bullets, scrape off the lead poison, and finally sprinkle salt water on the wound to disinfect. He held on without saying a word. After that, Wu Ruilin dragged his injured leg, crossed the snow-capped mountains twice, and crossed the grassland three times before he walked to northern Shaanxi.
Red Army crossed the snow-capped mountains
The most serious injury was in the fall of 1939. At that time, he served as the captain of the 1st Brigade of the 4th Detachment of the Shandong Column of the Eighth Route Army, and led the troops to the Nanshimiaozi area of Laiwu County, Shandong Province to protect the people's autumn harvest. On September 27, due to the traitor's informant, Wu Ruilin's troops were suddenly attacked by Japanese and puppet troops. He immediately led the troops to a cellar to command the counterattack.
In the battle, Wu Ruilin relied on the cellar and held two box guns in his hand to shoot at the enemy. He killed more than 20 enemies in a row. Under his command, the troops killed and injured more than 60 enemies. But at this time, the Japanese army actually emitted poison gas, and Wu Ruilin fainted from poisoning. Under the enemy's machine gun , his abdomen and legs were seriously injured. He was carried off by the guards and sent to the rear for rescue.
After more than ten days of treatment, Wu Ruilin's abdominal wound basically healed, but the shrapnel hit on his leg could not be removed. He could only walk on crutches . Although he threw away the crutches later, he still limped while walking and suffered a lifelong disability.
After a long time, Wu Ruilin got the nickname "Wu Crook". Whenever the Japanese and puppet troops heard "Wu Crook" coming, they were frightened. The soldiers under Wu Ruilin all said proudly: "We are Wu Crook's soldiers!"
Wu Ruilin uses crutches
Of course, Wu Ruilin suffered more than these three injuries in the war years, so I won't say anything else.
1946, Wu Ruilin, then chief of staff of the Southeast Manchu Military Region and commander of the Andong Column of the Northeast Democratic Alliance, came to the brigade to visit Marshal Malinovsky of the Soviet Union with telegrams from Mao Zedong and Zhu De. After meeting, the two had a good conversation. Malinovsky took the initiative to ask Wu Ruilin if he had been injured in the battle. Wu Ruilin then unbuttoned his shirt and showed him the scars on his body.
Malinovsky was very surprised after seeing it. He gave a thumbs up and praised Wu Ruilin and said, "You are a hero who has been through the battlefield!" "Mao Zedong's Shaoeratua! (Russian, meaning long live Mao Zedong's soldiers)"
Then Malinovsky introduced Wu Ruilin to another marshal of the Soviet Union, Mekovsky. After hearing about Wu Ruilin's deeds, he was also very impressed. He immediately gave Wu Ruilin 13 trains and arms from the Japanese seizure, including more than 1,000 various cannons, more than 2,000 light and heavy machine guns, tens of thousands of rifles, millions of artillery shells, and millions of bullets. These weapons have become important equipment for our army to liberate the Northeast.
1949, Wu Ruilin was promoted to commander of the 42nd Army of , and led his troops from the Central Plains to the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, liberating large areas of northeastern Sichuan. After the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, Wu Ruilin's 42nd Army became one of the six armies of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army to enter North Korea to fight, and crossed the Yalu River with great enthusiasm.
The predecessor of the 42nd Army was the 5th Column of the Northeast Field Army. It was established in March 1948 and is a young force. Compared with the main forces such as the 38th Army and 39th Army, there is a certain gap in strength. Before the 42nd Army entered North Korea, the Soviet consultant asked Xiao Jianfei, deputy commander of the 124th Division of the 42nd Army: "How many planes are you going to send to North Korea to fight?"
Xiao Jianfei replied: "No."
Soviet consultant asked again: "How many artillery soldiers have you dispatched, tanks cooperated with infantry to hold their positions?"
"There is no tank, there is a little artillery."
"What is the point? How many large-caliber artillery are there in ? "
" There are about a dozen 100mm cannons in a division, but because of crossing the river, many cannons are still not transported from behind."
After asking these three questions, the Soviet adviser believed that the Chinese army's equipment was poor and it was impossible to confront the powerful US army. But Xiao Jianfei is very confident. This is not only full of confidence in the power of justice in our army, but more because his commander is Wu Ruilin. After the Volunteer Army entered North Korea, according to Peng Dehuai's deployment, the 38th, 39th and 40th armies were responsible for the combat missions on the Western Front. The 124th and 126th armies of the 42nd Army controlled the enemy troops on the Eastern Front in Huangcaoling and Yuzhanling areas. The 125th armies were assigned to the 38th armies to annihilate the enemies on the Western Front. At that time, the " United Nations Army " deployed 130,000 people on the Western Front battlefield, and 90,000 people on the Eastern Front battlefield. The burden on the Eastern Front battlefield was on Wu Ruilin's two divisions.
Eastern Front Battlefield Situation Chart
At around 10 am on October 25, the South Korean Capital Division rushed towards Huangcaoling. They thought the enemy in front of them was the Korean People's Army. After being hit by the 42nd Army head-on, they launched continuous attacks, but were all repelled. The two sides fought for 6 days, and the South Korean Capital Division and the 3rd Division suffered heavy casualties and had to retreat. Only then did they realize that the "hard bone" on the opposite side was the Chinese soldiers - China has sent troops to participate in the war!
November 1, , the 1st Marine Division of the US Army, known as the "Sword of America", began to attack the defense line of the 42nd Army. The enemy went out more than 400 aircraft and bombed our positions. Then, under the cover of tanks and armored vehicle , the enemy rushed towards our position. Our defenders always stood firm and repelled the enemy's attacks again and again.
1 On the afternoon of November 22, the enemy sent more troops and launched an attack on our Yantai Peak position. The officers and soldiers of the two companies of the 371st Regiment of the 124th Division who were guarding here fought with the enemy six times in a row. One company was beaten to only 19 people. In the end, the enemy broke through the position due to excessive casualties.
Wu Ruilin made a quick decision after receiving the war report: "It is not appropriate to fight back, improve our position, and inform the troops of three words: stability, fierceness and ruthlessness."
Then, according to Wu Ruilin's deployment, the 124th Division adopted the "sharp knife tactic" and "heart-to-heart tactic" to fight fiercely with the enemy in two parts, two battalions attacked the enemy from Yantai Peak from the left wing, and two battalions attacked the enemy from Longshui Cave on the southeast of Yantai Peak, and one regiment detoured to Wu Laoli to attack the rear of the US army. After a fierce battle, it annihilated more than 2,700 American Marine Division 1 in one fell swoop, completely reversing the war The situation on the field. The Huangcaoling blocking battle lasted for 13 days and nights. Wu Ruilin led his troops to annihilate nearly 3,000 enemies, blocked the US Marine Division under Huangcaoling, and ensured the main force of the Western Front Volunteer Army annihilates the enemy, making important contributions to the victory of the first battle. Peng Dehuai was very satisfied with the performance of the 42nd Army. He specially generated power to commend Wu Ruilin.
6 years later, Li Qiwei, who served as the commander-in-chief of the "United Nations Army", wrote in his memoir:
This elite Chinese army (referring to the 42nd Army)... They arrived at some point and ambushed in the deserted mountains and ridges of the eastern plateau of (North Korea), causing the United Nations army to fight in great difficulty and suffer losses.
Not long after, Wu Ruilin led the 42nd Army to participate in the second battle. At that time, winter had arrived and heavy snow was flying. When the troops crossed the Xuehan Ridge at an altitude of 2,000 meters, it was difficult to climb up the mountain. With the help of the guards, Wu Ruilin insisted on limping up the mountain. When going down the mountain, the guards wanted to carry Wu Ruilin down, but he smiled and said, "I have experience climbing the snow mountain twice during the Long March. Let's ride on the ice sled down the mountain. ”
After Wu Ruilin finished speaking, he tugged his plaster raincoat around his waist, covered his butt, sat on the ice slope, kicked his legs hard, and slid down the mountain like flying. He rolled several times on the way, but he ignored it. The officers and soldiers of the army were all shocked after seeing it, so they all followed his appearance and slid down the mountain one after another.
Wu Ruilin
After that, Wu Ruilin participated in the third and fourth battles, leading the 42nd Army to fight countless victories.
At the end of May 1951, after the fourth battle, Deng Hua, deputy commander of the Volunteer Army, led Wu Ruilin and other four commanders who entered North Korea to return to China to report the situation on the Korean battlefield to Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong met Wu Ruilin alone. After meeting, he held Wu Ruilin's hand tightly and said, "You are too thin! I heard you were so tired on the battlefield that you vomited blood. What's going on? ”
Wu Ruilin replied: “That was an internal injury, the wound in the past ruptured and bleeding. After treatment, it is now very good. ”
Mao Zedong asked again: “Can you persevere? ”
Wu Ruilin replied: “I sit on a stretcher and insist on commanding the battle. "
Mao Zedong couldn't help but sigh and said, "This is why your army can persist in the most difficult situations. If you comrades insist on commanding the battle, we will be afraid of nothing! "
Then Mao Zedong and Wu Ruilin talked a lot about the 42nd Army's battle in North Korea. Mao Zedong asked: "I saw from the telecommunications that you exploded stones on the road, blowing up or injured more than 10 enemy tanks. Tell me, what's going on? ”
Mao Zedong
Wu Ruilin replied: “I saw the Japanese devils building roads and bombing stones. When I was in Huangcaoling, I used this method to let the engineers stuff a small bag of explosives into the cracks of the stone wall next to the road, expand the hole, and then load 200 kilograms of explosives, use electricity to fire, and use a telephone to detonate. When the enemy's tank passed by, it suddenly exploded, destroying 5 enemy tanks with stones and injuring 8 enemy tanks, causing the enemy's ground troops to not dare to act for five or six days. ”
Mao Zedong said happily after hearing this: “American imperialism has the advantages of aircraft, cannons, and tanks. We have mountains and stones! "He pointed at Wu Ruilin's head again and said, "There are still these minds of thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and hundreds of thousands. This is our powerful advantage! ”
Mao Zedong and Wu Ruilin had a talk for more than 3 hours on this day, which is rare among the commanders of the entire field army .Afterwards, Mao Zedong recalled: "I talked with Wu Ruilin for more than three hours. His speech was realistic, concrete and vivid, which was in line with our army's traditional policy of 'It is better to cut off one finger than to hurt his ten fingers'."
After Wu Ruilin returned to China, Zhou Enlai considered that his wound had not healed, so he arranged for him to be hospitalized in China for one month of rest. But at this time the second phase of the fifth battle was in full swing, and Peng Dehuai soon sent a telegram from North Korea: the enemy launched a new attack. After receiving the telegram, Wu Ruilin rushed back to the front line without saying a word.
Peng Dehuai heard that Wu Ruilin had returned, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief after not closing his eyes for several days and nights. He said to the staff around him: "The 42nd Army is coming, I'm relieved. If you have any questions, go and find Chief of Staff of Jiefang!"
Peng Dehuai
On the Korean battlefield, Wu Ruilin also won the respect of Americans because of his outstanding record. In the 1990s, a young officer from our army was studying at West Point Military Academy in the United States. One day he was called to talk to him by an old general-level instructor. The old instructor asked him, "Do you know that there is a General Wu Ruilin in your country?"
The young officer replied embarrassedly and said, "Wu Ruilin is an amazing general, I admire him very much! After you return to China, you must learn from him in terms of strategy and tactics."
It turned out that this old instructor was captured by Wu Ruilin's 42nd Army on the Korean battlefield and received good preferential treatment. After the young officer learned about Wu Ruilin's deeds, he came to visit him after returning to China.
953, Wu Ruilin led his troops back to China successfully. In 1955, he was awarded the rank of founding lieutenant general. Not long after, Wu Ruilin was transferred from the army to the navy and served as deputy commander of the Guangzhou Military Region and commander of the South China Sea Fleet.
1965 At 17:45 on August 5, 11965, the South China Sea Fleet stationed in Shantou police district received an enemy situation report: At 5 a.m., the flagship of the Kuomintang Navy patrols the Second Fleet, the large submarine hunting "Jianmen" and the small submarine hunting "Zhangjiang" carried an armed spy, and sailed secretly from the Zuoying of Taiwan, attempting to attack in the Sujianjiao and Guleitou areas in southern Fujian.
At 18 o'clock this day, after receiving this information, Wu Ruilin immediately issued a special-level preparation instructions to the water police district stationed in Shantou. He ordered our warship to surround the enemy ships first, then divide the two ships, and first hit the "Zhangjiang".
html In the early morning of August 6, under Wu Ruilin's personal command, our warship sank all the "Jianmen" and "Zhangjiang" in one fell swoop, killing more than 170 officers and soldiers below Hu Jiaheng, commander of the Kuomintang Navy Patrol Second Fleet, and capturing 33 officers and soldiers including Wang Yunshan, the captain of the "Jianmen", and achieving a major victory in the "August 6 Naval Battle".
KMT officers and soldiers captured by our army in the "August 6 Naval Battle"
1968, Wu Ruilin was appointed as the executive deputy commander of the Navy. On October 1st, when Wu Ruilin was attending the ceremony at the Tiananmen Gate Tower, Mao Zedong specially invited him to the VIP lounge. Mao Zedong said to him: "You are a survivor of the war. You did a good job in South China Sea , so you were transferred to the navy."
General Wu Ruilin has been fighting for the country and the people throughout his life. He is worthy of being an iron-blooded tiger general, and he will always deserve our respect and remembrance!
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