"In the midst of a half-life's life, the cavalry and horsemen were still slapped. The explosion roared like a drum, and the guns and bullets roared like a piano. The battlefield was galloping everywhere, and annihilated a total of hundreds of millions of enemies. There is no need to sigh at the mirror, but the white hair can still wave the whip again."
1964, General Su Yu, who was "unemployed" in the Academy of Military Sciences, wrote this poem, just like his passionate and magnificent first half of his life.
Speaking of the most powerful battles in our army, Lin Biao and Su Yu, in the entire Liberation War, most of the main forces of the Kuomintang were reimbursed by the army commanded by the two of them.
Picture | General Su Yu (old photo)
, especially the East China Field Army commanded by Su Yu, killed more than 640,000 national troops in the three major battles of eastern Henan, Jinan and Huaihai in 1948, giving our army's total posts a great advantage over the enemy and completely taking the initiative on the battlefield.
As the "Temini general" in the War of Liberation, Lin Biao's evaluation was undoubtedly very strong. He said this: "Su Yu will fight all the gods."
"Su Yu is both precise and accurate in fighting, and I dare not make up my mind when he fights."
Chairman Mao, who never speaks loudly, once praised Su Yu so exaggeratedly as "the person who leads troops to fight"!
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the People's Liberation Army was preparing to cross the strait to liberate Taiwan, and Su Yu was the commander-in-chief of the battlefield.
Picture | Northeast Frontier Defense Forces look at the war in North Korea on the other side (old photo)
Unexpected The Korean War suddenly broke out, and our army's focus shifted to the Northeast. The Northeast Frontier Defense Forces were established, and Su Yu was the commander-in-chief and political commissar.
If it weren't for his major physical problem at that time, then Commander-in-Chief Peng Dehuai should have been his position, and the war to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea might have been more exciting.
958 Su Yu involved some "false" problems, and was hidden in the Academy of Military Sciences, like a thousand-mile horse hidden in the courtyard.
It was not until early 1965 that after the approval of the senior military leaders such as Lin Biao and Ye Jianying, they returned to the army and became an important general in dealing with the Soviet Union, and had a clear understanding of the entire People's Liberation Army.
pic | General Su Yu (old photo)
If the war breaks out, Su Yu will definitely be the most hated and respected person of the enemy at this time.
However, in self-defense counterattack against Vietnam in 1979, no trace of Su Yu was seen. General Xu Shiyou was the one who presided over the war on the Eastern Front, and General Yang Dezhi was the one who presided over the war on the Western Front.
Although the two generals are also excellent, they are still a little different from Su Yu. has such a good general, why hasn't they been used in such a war?
Age is not a problem
Maybe some people will think that Su Yu is already 72 years old this year and his physical condition cannot support this major war, so he chose others. In fact, this is not the case. At that time, General Xu Shiyou from the east and west lines were selected. General Yang Dezhi from the east line, Yunnan direction, was 68 years old at the time, and Su Yu was a figure of the same period as Su Yu.
Picture | General Xu Shiyou and General Yang Dezhi (old photo)
In other words, Su Yu has no problem with the concept of age.
At the same time, General Su Yu's body has been recovering and raising up over the past few decades. This fashion is pretty good, and it has not been greatly affected in the ten years of chaos. It is enough to complete the command of the Vietnam War.
Later, Su Yu and Xu Shiyou's death was only one year apart, which also indirectly illustrates this problem.
Su Yu was not idle before the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam
Su Yu served as the commander-in-chief of the liberation of Taiwan and the military and political chief of the Northeast Frontier Defense Force at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, but failed to make achievements due to various circumstances.
After returning from treatment from the Soviet Union, he went to work in the General Staff Department in accordance with the instructions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and served as the second deputy chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, and chief of staff, and participated in the formulation of many strategic plans in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea.
pic | General Su Yu (old photo)
After the victory of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, he has worked hard for several years to realize the synthesis and modernization of the people's army.
In 1958, he left the front-line military post and went to work at the Academy of Military Sciences to engage in modern military research. For Su Yu, the "unparalleled warrior", it is no different from "unemployed".
But he did not have the will to decline, but devoted himself to it with great enthusiasm and followed the instructions of the central government and worked wholeheartedly.
After Su Yu left the front line, the top leaders of the Party and the army have never ignored him. To a certain extent, they even wanted to hide him as a stabilizing needle after a large-scale war broke out in the future. This possibility came soon, and the relationship between China and the Soviet Union deteriorated greatly, from a brotherly country to a hostile rival today.
Photo | Lin Biao inspected the troops (old photo)
1965, Lin Biao, then Minister of Defense and Vice Chairman of the Military Commission , once went to Shanghai to work in business, and specifically visited Su Yu who was recuperating here. He said with deep concern:
" You are not in good health now, mainly resting. When you get better, you can go to the army more often to see the situation of the army, find any problems, or have any opinions, you can directly report the interview, make a phone call or write a letter. "
After Lin Biao left, Su Yu felt that there was no big problem in his health, and the giant in the north might have bullied him at any time with the force of Mount Tai.
As a soldier who has made a lot of contribution to the country and the people, Su Yu feels that he cannot sit idly by and at least he has to go back and have a clear idea.
Picture | Marshal Ye Jianying is working (old photo)
Su Yu After some consideration, he asked Marshal Ye Jianying (at the time he was also the president of the Academy of Military Sciences) that he could take shifts with senior cadres of the Academy of Military Sciences, such as Song Shilun and Zhong Qiguang. When he was not on duty, he wanted to go to various troops.
After hearing this, Marshal Ye thought for a moment and said with a far-sighted view: "Don't change to small classes anymore. Military departments will let Song Shilun and Zhong Qiguang do it. We must prepare to take over the big class."
"You are a general, you must prepare for war."
was Marshal Ye's words, which made Su Yu walk out of his "unemployment" state and return to the world that should belong to him, and be busy for war.
After entering the 1960s, the Soviet Union began to deploy heavy troops on the Three Norths borders, and this situation has become more and more serious since 1967.
Picture | PLA negotiated with the Soviet army to prevent the Soviet army from invading (old photo)
After a whole year of fermentation in 1968, the Zhenbao Island Incident inevitably happened. In accordance with the instructions of Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou, the Chinese People's Liberation Army successfully safeguarded the country's territory and sovereignty, which also further deteriorated the situation.
The second "national war" since the founding of the People's Republic of China is hard to say that it will come one day.
The first battle to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea was the first battle. The battlefield was placed abroad, which was actually a blessing for China, but now it is very different.
Once the Soviet Union launches war, it will be a comprehensive invasion like a flood and beast. The situation China will face at that time will be unprecedentedly harsh.
In order to prevent the bad luck from coming, China was not prepared enough, Premier Zhou personally supported Su Yu to inspect our three northern border defenses, conducted a comprehensive investigation, and after finding out the problems, the central government responded to it and improved the border defense matters as soon as possible.
Picture | Premier Zhou (old photo)
After receiving the order, Su Yu surveyed the defense lines of five provinces in Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia and Hebei for two months, with a journey of 7,000 kilometers.
From the perspective of defense operations, it focused on inspecting Hexi Corridor , Juyanhai , Helan Mountain , Langshan, Daqin Mountain, the grasslands and Gobi in the northern border of Inner Mongolia, Zhangjiakou in Hebei to Beijing, etc.
Su Yu conducted a practical and accurate investigation into the garrisons, border defense deployment, combat readiness and other situations in various places.
In order to achieve the four words "real and accurate", Su Yu rarely takes comfortable trains and fast planes during his itinerary. He basically rides bumpy jeeps and drives on the border areas in the north of the motherland.
Picture | Su Yu checks the maintenance of weapons (old photo)
only because of this, he can stop anytime, survey the terrain, understand the situation, or visit the garrison.
Anyone with a little bit of combat readiness, even if it is a small underground air raid shelter, must go and inspect it in person, talk to relevant parties, arrange rectification immediately when it finds problems, and affirm it with good performance.
Once, Su Yu even patrolled the border high ground of the Sino-Soviet confrontation, which was within the range of the Soviet machine gun .
At that time, Pi Dingjun, who was the commander of Lanzhou Military Region, was accompanied by his heart, and he kept persuading him to avoid taking risks as soon as possible, but Su Yu was not moved at all and went to the high ground to have a cordial conversation with the border guards stationed here.
Picture | Pi Dingjun (old photo)
Most of the officers and soldiers here have young faces. For Su Yu, the "God of War", they used to only hear from the words of the leaders, the military history of various departments of the People's Liberation Army, and the oral stories of their parents.
Now this "god"-like big man is right in front of them, which makes them very moved and excited. Some soldiers couldn't help but sigh: "We have never had such a big leader in our border area."
I didn't know if I didn't look at it, and I was shocked when I saw it.
After field investigation, Su Yu discovered some major problems:
was used to address the reality that there were many plains and no dangers to defend in the northern border of our country, and the Soviet Union's armored force was famous all over the world, so he began a series of "artificial orogenic" defense projects.
Picture | "Architecture" project (data photo)
Su Yu inspected many "artificial orogenic" places and found that the effect of this kind of enemy-blocking fortification was not as effective as expected.
is either far away from the rear, or it is not adapted to local conditions during construction, or it is not placed from a tactical and strategic perspective... Once
is really fought, the effect of blocking the enemy's armored forces may not be good, but their own casualties must be terrible.
Su Yu reported these situations to Premier Zhou and other leaders of the Central Military Commission, and attracted great attention. He found very professional personnel to guide rectification in response to the various inappropriate aspects, and must meet the needs of the war.
975 At the first session of the Fourth National People's Congress, Su Yu was appointed as a member of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China.
Picture | General Su Yu's speech (old photo)
This is the first time since he stepped down as a front-line military post in 1958, and he is also a crucial member of the Military Commission, which shows the great importance attached to it by the Party and the state.
976, with the concerted efforts of Marshal Ye, Comrade Xiaoping and others to overcome difficulties, the ten years of chaos finally ended, and there were many problems in the entire military system.
Nie Rongzhen, Su Yu, Chen Xilian, Huang Kecheng, Luo Ruiqing and many other founding generals who have been tested have come out to overcome the difficulties together, stabilized the army, and restored the normal training and preparation for the three armies. Although Su Yu is not famous among them, it is not that he has little effect, but his focus is on the enemy in the north.
Picture | General Su Yu (old photo)
The other party did not withdraw troops from my three northern borders for a day, and Su Yu's " Taishan Stone Dandang " will always stand there!
The special nature of the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam
As Comrade Xiaoping, who was then the Chief of Staff of the People's Liberation Army, said, is necessary to fight this battle "with more attacks, and with a bull's knife to kill the chicken."
China dispatched important army forces of the Guangzhou Military Region and Kunming Military Region at that time, as well as some air force, navy, anti-aircraft artillery and missile forces across the entire army, which suppressed the Vietnamese army.
The People's Liberation Army has made every effort to narrow the war to a certain range and strive to end it in a short period of time.
People's Liberation Army in the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam (old photo)
is why Vietnam is not worth worrying about, and the real danger is still in the north.
Vietnam has had a very stalemate with China since the early 1960s, gathering heavy troops on the border, but because of the United States, the Soviet Union has never dared to move lightly.
Until the Le Duan authorities in Vietnam unified Vietnam, they wanted it to take action from the southern border of China, and the Soviet Union launched an attack from the north and implemented a plan of attacking the north and south, achieving major results in a short period of time.
created a pre-determined momentum when the United States had no time to react.
Therefore, the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam was obviously a fight against the "Southern Sky Little Overlord", but in fact it was a shock to the "Northern Big Mac". This was a war that was quite unequal happened.
Photo |PLA soldiers are launching attacks on the Vietnamese army (old photo)
China has used a total of more than 200,000 ground troops. Under the cover of the navy, air force, missile and anti-aircraft artillery troops, with a rush of sea, has defeated Vietnam, known as the "third military power in the world", in less than a month.
But at this time the Soviet Union was not determined to take action!
Comrade Xiaoping, Marshal Ye and others know that if they want to win Vietnam War , it is important to make the enemy in the north dare not move lightly.
Therefore, at that time, more than 2 million troops were gathered on our three northern borders, and they all entered a first-level combat readiness. Many towns in North China and Northwest were evacuating people, strengthening relevant emergency training, and preparing for a big battle at any time.
The Soviet Union did not dare to take action in the end, which made the Vietnamese Le Duan authorities suffer a huge loss.
Photo | Li Duan Inspection Army (Old Photo)
It is precisely because of the "light south and heavy north" that when punishing Vietnam in the southern border, a heavyweight figure must be in charge of the northern border, and this figure must be familiar with the situation in the northern border, and at the same time, the three armies must be convinced and the central government can rest assured.
Undoubtedly, Su Yu is the most suitable person.
Before fighting against Vietnam, Su Yu regarded the Soviet Union as a potential enemy.
is more accurate and detailed than Ding Wei's graduation thesis in " Bright Sword ". Combined with his years of investigation and various preparations made by our side, he wrote an article "A Discussion on Several Issues on the Early Period of the Anti-Aggression War", which was circulated and discussed carefully by our senior management and relevant personnel.
In the article, Su Yu put forward the following arguments and explained them:
Picture | General Su Yu (old photo)
first, you can't force it after the fight starts, you must be prepared for a protracted war.
The Soviet army must greatly surpass our army in the construction of the ground, air and sea armies, and our three-faced defense capabilities are likely to be unable to withstand the Soviet army's attack.
Once too many forces are deployed at the forefront and trying to fight it will only cause large-scale casualties.
Only in this way can we avoid the enemy's edge and do not try to engage in a so-called head-on decisive battle at the beginning of the war.
should preserve the vitality as much as possible, retain the main force and important equipment in the rear, engage in long-term entanglement with the enemy, and wait for the fighter jets to arrive before counterattacking.
Second, change the previous tactics and worry about the gains and losses of a city and a place.
Picture | Soviet tanks (old photo)
The Soviet army relied on mechanized equipment, and our many strong towns and fortresses were obviously difficult for them to break through in a short period of time. We must use this to greatly restrain the enemy and make up for the shortcomings in equipment with many geographical advantages.
" (For these strong towns and fortresses) some stick to them and give up when they are certain, some have to defend for a long time, and some cities not only need to defend, but also use cities to fight street battles, fighting into Stalingrad defense battle, and treat cities as a battlefield for large-scale consumption and elimination of the enemy."
Third, play the essence of our army's guerrilla tactics and accumulate small victories into big victories.
In the context of large-scale passive defense, if there are small fighter jets, they must not be left out, such as dispatching small groups of guerrillas to destroy the enemy's logistics transport team.
Picture | PLA Artillery (old photo)
Strike or assault rashly, or flank empty, or exhausted enemy troops, using such "residual food tactics" to deal with the Soviet Union, the "Northern Big Mac".
Finally, by exchanging space for time in the early stage of the war, in exchange for certain initiative, and strive to give the enemy some more trauma. I believe that foreign aid will come soon, and at the worst, it will support our many advantageous equipment.
Through these, our army will be able to temporarily gain an overwhelming advantage on the local battlefield, and then annihilate one or two established division-level troops of the enemy every time. As long as it continues, the invaders will eventually escape in a panic.
After this article by Su Yu was born, it clarified the original vague combat policy against the Soviet Union. The subsequent self-defense counterattack against Vietnam was just a step in the defensive combat against the Soviet Union.
Picture | Su Yu and Wang Zhen, Luo Ruiqing and Xu Xiangqian inspect positions (old photo)
are complementary. If the war in the southern border can be resolved in a short time, the enemy in the northern border will not dare to move lightly.
If you want to quickly resolve the war in the southern border, you must ensure that the enemy in the northern border remains unmoved as much as possible and avoid unfavorable situations in fighting on both sides. In other words, the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam is just a small-scale war, while the war against the Soviet Union is a national war related to the destiny of the country.
As the best candidate to take charge of the overall situation in the north, Su Yu naturally could not leave the northern line and go to the southern border. This is the most important reason why Su Yu did not appear directly in the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam.
Two generals, Xu Shiyou and Yang Dezhi, are more than enough to deal with the Vietnamese army.
Our country is very familiar with Vietnam. From the 1920s to around 1975, the relationship between the two sides was very close. During the revolutionary process of the Communist Party of China, many outstanding Vietnamese people participated.
Photo | Chairman Mao and Vietnamese Chairman Ho Chi Minh (old photo)
. In the process of Vietnam's independence and unification, China has helped it at all costs. This is the case with brotherly countries.
However, China and the Soviet Union were once brotherly countries, but they almost started to do so due to various disputes.
Since China and the United States gradually broke the ice and got along, Vietnam, a country that was deeply hurt by the Americans, believed that China had betrayed them.
Le Duan The authorities deliberately expanded and distorted this situation, thus seemingly launching an aggressive action against China.
After repeated attempts, China decided to launch a punitive counterattack. The Central Military Commission believed that it was enough to send two generals, and it was best to be the commander of the military region , who had been leading the army.
Picture | Xu Shiyou and Yang Dezhi (old photo)
Commander of the Guangzhou Military Region on the eastern line was Comrade Xiaoping personally appointed the general, and the old general was as fierce as ever, exposing the great military power of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
The Western Front was temporarily activated by the former commander of the Wuhan Military Region . Yang Dezhi, and Yang Dezhi's performance in the battle on the Western Front can be said to be quite organized and takes the initiative everywhere. The best evaluation is "Those who are good at fighting have no great achievements."
has another very important reason for choosing two people: During the Vietnam War against the United States, they both went to Vietnam.
Both of them followed our military delegation to aid Vietnam to help the Vietnamese army command the war. They knew very well how much the Vietnamese army was.
Picture | Yang Dezhi (second from right) inspected the battlefield on the Sino-Vietnam border (old photo)
"Know yourself and your enemy and never slack off in a hundred battles". As a former teacher, when dealing with students like the Vietnamese army, they naturally have to fight.
Su Yu is an important participant in the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam
The front line of the counterattack against Vietnam. Su Yu did not appear there, but together with Comrade Xiaoping, Marshal Xu Xiangqian and others, he sat in the rear to formulate strategies and tactics, and participated in this war from a higher level.After the
counterattack began, Su Yu went to the underground command center of the Military Commission every day to pay attention to the latest battlefield trends, and together with other senior management, he gave the most reasonable solutions to the relevant issues.
Picture | The militia in the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam were transporting wounded (old photo)
For example, in the early stage of the counterattack, some of our troops interspersed too quickly and the logistics could not keep up. Su Yu suggested to Comrade Xiaoping that the logistics problems could be solved on the spot, which was contrary to our army's policy of not taking the masses one by one.
However, the war against Vietnam is a punitive battle and does not require any obstruction. Comrade Xiaoping recognized this proposal, and the front-line troops followed the orders and solved this problem well.
After Xu Shiyou took over the eastern front of the charge, his army went south to Hanoi and became flat. The Hanoi authorities were chasing the capital and abandoning the situation was extremely critical, which meant that our side had achieved the combat goal.
However, the Soviet side did not even handle the war mobilization at this time. It seemed that we could do a little more, so Su Yu instructed Xu Shiyou to let the troops break forward for more than ten kilometers to further deter the Vietnamese authorities.
picture | PLA soldiers launched a charge against the enemy (old photo)
After Xu Shiyou arranged it, the Li Duan authorities were indeed panicked and issued a national mobilization, but the Soviet Union still did not send troops. Naturally, the boats of allies were overturned secretly.
Here, Comrade Xiaoping ordered the withdrawal of troops, and our combat troops on the east and west sides slowly evacuated, and on the way he punished the enemy again.
The ancients said: "Since ancient times, famous generals are like beauties, and they are not allowed to see white hair in the world."
Founding generals such as Su Yu, Ye Jianying, Xu Shiyou, and Yang Dezhi broke this shackle.
Picture | Marshal Ye Jianying and General Su Yu (old photo)
They dedicated their lives to the People's Liberation Army of China, to China's 9.6 million square kilometers of land, and to the countless people living on it. What makes them so persistent?
It must be that this beautiful river and mountains are so beautiful, that the people of this land are so simple and kind, fighting for protection, even if they are old, they are still full of strength and will be the pillar of the Republic.
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