1946, Chiang Kai-shek launched a full-scale civil war and launched a large-scale attack on the liberated areas.
Hu Zongnan , far northwest, also mobilized his most elite reorganized first army to cross the Yellow River on July 4, trying to attack our Taiyue troops with Yan Xishan .
pic | Chen Geng and Zhou Xihan
Under the leadership of Chen Geng, our Taiyue troops have repeatedly succeeded in southern Shanxi, making Yan Xishan frustrated. Hu Zongnan cannot ignore this old classmate.
It should be said that the Kuomintang army is coming fiercely this time. The reorganized First Army is the elite of Hu Zongnan. It has three reorganized divisions under its jurisdiction, namely the reorganized First Division, the reorganized 38th Division, and the reorganized 90th Division. The entire army has 70,000 troops, all of which are the direct descendants of Chiang Army. It is particularly worth mentioning that the reorganized First Division after the reorganized First Army was reorganized by Chiang Kai-shek. This unit was established during the Northern Expedition and has always been relied on by Chiang Kai-shek and Hu Zongnan. The reorganized First Brigade under its jurisdiction was adapted from the of the first division of the first army of . It is known as the "No. 1 Brigade in the World" and the brigade commander Huang Zhengcheng.
Huang Zhengcheng's eyes are above the top and does not take our army seriously at all. Since he arrived in southern Jin, he has been rushing around. However, Chen Geng prefers to chew tough problems, which means he wants to defeat the enemy's elite troops, so as to destroy the enemy's arrogance.
Chen Geng sent three brigades under his command to pounce on the interrupted section of Linfu Highway and ordered the 13th Brigade to attack Fushan. Of course, he did not care about the 29th Division of the Kuomintang Army stationed in Fushan. His target was to keep a close eye on Huang Zhengcheng's reorganized First Brigade.
As expected, after the battle of Linfu Highway started, the 29th Division keenly realized that this time, Chen Geng’s main force rushed forward and hurriedly asked for help. After receiving the news, Hu Zongnan immediately ordered the commander of the reorganized First Army, Dong Zhao , and quickly sent people to support him. After receiving the order, Dong Zhao sent out the most proud ace in his hands - the reorganized First Brigade.
Huang Zhengcheng looked down on our army at all and sent the 2nd Regiment to fight the vanguard, but Li Chengfang led the 11th Brigade to be firmly restrained. Realizing that the situation was not good, Huang Zhengcheng decided to lead the 1st Regiment to be dispatched in person, but since this, it has been exactly what Chen Geng wants.
Figure | Linfu Battle Schematic
Chen Geng called the 10th Brigade with one call, and the brigade commander Zhou Xihan received the call.
"Huang Zhengcheng led a group to go out. The goal of your brigade is to eliminate it before tomorrow dusk."
Zhou Xihan smiled at the other end of the phone opposite:
"No problem, I'm afraid he won't come."
Chen Geng knew the strength of the reorganized First Brigade. He was worried that Zhou Xihan would not be able to eat it in one bite, so he told him on the phone:
"Your opponent Huang Zhengcheng is not simple. He has studied at Hitler, and he also has a military strategy! Our martial arts The equipment is far less than the other party. "
Zhou Xihan laughed:
"Hi, old leader, didn't you teach me that you should eat the heart of the vegetables, and you should make the iron hard? Isn't the set of 'international practices' that Hitler harming others and oneself? Huang Zhengcheng, nothing great! "
"I won't underestimate the enemy."
An unprecedented battle began.
Although Zhou Xihan spoke easily in his words, he also knew that this reorganized First Brigade was not easy to deal with, so he invested considerable forces from the beginning. He deployed 30th regiments to catch the enemy head-on, the 29th regiment was flanking, and the 28th regiment was ambushed in Chenyan, waiting for orders to support at any time.
Let’s talk about it again. Although Huang Zhengcheng took over a brigade’s troops this time, he did not know his opponent, nor did he know what kind of person Zhou Xihan was. He was destined to suffer from the beginning. Perhaps because of his carelessness, Huang Zhengcheng’s telephone line was monitored by our army before the war. Huang Zhengcheng said on the other end of the phone, “Mr. Jiang” was safe and sound, which made Chen Geng feel in love. So he called Zhou Xihan in particular, and it was necessary to capture this “Mr. Jiang”.
Li Chengfang's 11th Brigade took the lead in starting the war, and it ended the earliest. Chen Geng deliberately called Zhou Xihan to ask if he wanted to send someone to support you. Zhou Xihan seemed to have a needle pricked in his heart, and immediately promised on the other end of the phone:
"Let them go back and rest, we have no problems here."
In fact, Chen Geng did not have much effort to fight this reorganized first brigade. Huang Zhengcheng was still muttering that he was not convinced and asked to see Chen Geng. Zhou Xihan saw him arrogantly and replied coldly:
"How can you use a knives to kill a chicken? It is enough to deal with you and me, Zhou Xihan. "
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fights the first brigade of reorganization, and it is also Zhou Xihan's first strong enemy since the outbreak of the War of Liberation.
To be honest, under Chen Geng's command, Zhou Xihan can be said to be the general he attaches most importance to. This can almost be said to be an undisclosed secret. Many people say:
. "In Zhou Xihan, you can see the shadow of Chen Geng. "
As early as during the War of Resistance Against Japan, Chen Geng deliberately cultivated Zhou Xihan's ability to be the only one.
Gradually, even Liu Shuai found something wrong.
Although most of the time, Chen Geng would personally lead the war, in many cases, Chen Geng always mentioned Zhou Xihan's name to the old leader intentionally or unintentionally, and said that he was smart and decisive and good at fighting. In short, it was just one sentence:
"This battle was right for Zhou Xihan, and it didn't matter if I, Chen Geng, lying in the brigade headquarters to sleep. "
Whenever there is a little chance, Chen Geng would call Zhou Xihan, and he always makes excuses every time, such as "My leg is inflamed".
Picture | Zhou Xihan
Zhou Xihan also knows Chen Geng's temper. Of course, for him, this is indeed a valuable training opportunity. So every time Zhou Xihan doesn't point him out, but leads his troops to fight on his own. He can fight very well every time. It's strange. Every time he finishes the battle, Chen Geng's legs are "good", and he still stands at the gate to greet:
" Zhou Xihan, this battle is beautiful, and he wants to fight like this. "
After many years, Zhou Xihan talked about the old leader Chen Geng and said with great emotion:
"I know that the old leader is 'lazy', and I dare not be negligent in this battle, because if I defeated, the old leader would shave my nose! Therefore, you can only win, not lose. "
But it is strange to say that during the War of Resistance Against Japan, Zhou Xihan served as the chief of staff of the 386th Brigade and the chief of staff of the Taiyue Military Region. During the War of Liberation, he served as the brigade commander of the 10th Brigade of the Fourth Column of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region. However, this brigade commander Zhou Xihan worked until February 1949 before he was promoted to the commander of the 13th Army of the Fourth Corps.
was directly promoted from brigade commander to commander, and Zhou Xihan was also the only one in the entire army.
In fact, on July 23, 1947, when Chairman Mao instructed Liu and Deng's army to advance into the Dabie Mountains, he specifically instructed Chen Geng's Fourth Column, the 9th Column of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army and the 38th Army of the Northwest Democratic Alliance Army, and established the Front Committee under the instructions of the Central Committee. Chen Geng was appointed secretary. According to the situation at that time, with Zhou Xihan's ability, he should have been mentioned above, even if it was only half level. However, Zhou Xihan still only served as the brigade commander of the 10th Brigade of the Fourth Column.
1948, Zhou Xihan Leading the 10th Brigade to participate in the Huaihai Battle until the entire Huang Baitao Army was wiped out, the central field attacked on the whole line, and the 4th Column was responsible for implementing the strategy of luring the enemy into depth, and gradually luring the Huang Wei Corps into Shuangduiji.
Considering the strength of the Huang Wei Corps, the central field decided that Chen Geng would agree to command the 4th Column, 9th Column, 11th Column and the Independent Brigade of Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu. Chen Geng once again exerted the instinct of "sacking the lead". Although he also served as the commander of the fourth column, he handed over all the 4th Column and four brigades to Zhou Xi during the Shuangduiji Battle . Han came to command.
When the plan was reported, Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping also agreed.
Picture|Shuangdui Ji encirclement and annihilation battle
You should know that at that time, the seven columns in the middle and field were at that time. Because they had experienced advancing into Dabie Mountains , the main column had almost more than 10,000 people. Only Chen Geng's column had strong troops, with a total strength of more than 30,000. It is undoubtedly a recognition of his ability to hand over so many troops to Zhou Xihan for command.
Afterwards, even Xie Fuzhi, the political commissar of the 4th Column, admitted:
"In a life-and-death battle like the Huaihai War, only 'Chen Crack' dared to give up this burden, 'Zhou Shouzi' (nickname of Zhou Xihan) dared to accept it, 'Liu Blind' dared to agree, these 'three sons' are really braver than the other one." What is even more amazing is that when the Shuangduiji battle was finally fought, Zhou Xihan still had 3,000 new forces in his hands, and when he attacked Yang Wenxuezhuang, the last stronghold of Huang Wei , he played the role of a surprise soldier.
Although he failed to capture Huang Wei alive, Zhou Xihan killed the commander of the 14th Army of the Kuomintang Army Xiong Shouchun . When talking about the Huaihai Battle in his later years, Zhou Xihan was still content with it:
"Although this old boy Huang Wei was not captured by our brigade, he was also defeated by me."
For such a general with outstanding military achievements, he was not promoted to commander until 1949, and Deng Xiaoping had an explanation for this.
"Zhou Xihan, your appointment to you has been deliberately suppressing you over the past ten years. You should have been the commander of the army. Don't you know why you are promoted now?"
Zhou Xihan knew his problem very well, so he said without hesitation: "Is it because I am too arrogant?"
Picture|On August 20, 1940, Zhou Xihan mobilized
before the battle in Hongwa Village, Yangtouya, Shouyang, Shanxi Province
Deng Xiaoping nodded:
"By the way, it's for this. We just want to kill you with a pride. Pride is sometimes an excellent commander The most dangerous enemy. We do this to be responsible for you and for the revolution. "
" It is easy to change the country and nature is hard to change. "Zhou Xihan admitted: "When I was in the Sichuan-Shaanxi Revolutionary Base, Commander-in-Chief Xu Xiangqian criticized me. I knew my weakness, but unfortunately I couldn't change it."
" If you can't change it, you have to change it!" Deng Xiaoping had no intention of accommodating:
" The leader can understand you, and comrades can understand you. But if there is a problem, the revolutionary cause cannot forgive you, do you understand?"
, Zhou Xihan always kept this in mind about the old leader and never dared to forget it for a moment.
2
In March 1952, Zhou Xihan, who had worked on land for a lifetime, was transferred to the Navy to serve as Chief of Staff, and soon served as Deputy Commander of the Navy and Chief of Staff.
The reason why Zhou Xihan worked in the Navy was not only related to his own wishes, but also related to Chen Geng's recommendation.
After the founding of New China, the navy and the air force were both pioneering and urgently needed the support of cadres and talents from all walks of life. At that time, Zhou Xihan's wife Zhou Xuan hoped that her husband would go to the air force, but Zhou Xihan himself would rather go to the navy. He could not forget the situation when he defeated the main force of Bai Chongxi's Third Corps and fled from the sea on the warship . If Zhou Xihan could have a warship at that time, Bai Chongxi's would definitely not be able to escape.
can be willing to go, and whether it can be done is another aspect.
pic | Zhou Xihan and Chen Geng on Yushe City
Unlike the army, the navy and air force should be considered a technical branch, not only relying on aircraft, ships, and other technical equipment, but also on human technical capabilities.
There is no doubt that Zhou Xihan knew nothing about the work of the navy. I remember that when he first took over the navy, General Luo Shunchu had instructed him:
"Whether it is Red Fourth Front Army , 386th Brigade or 13th Army, most of the set you are familiar with in the past are no longer useful. There is too much new knowledge you are facing now, and it requires diligence and hard study."
Zhou Xihan calmed down and began to study naval knowledge. After several years of experience, he finally systematically mastered the naval knowledge. He was not only familiar with the ships he equipped with, but also the several ships mainly equipped by the Soviet army, including the tasks performed by each ship during wartime, tonnage, parameters and other detailed data.
In April 1954, Premier Zhou Enlai of the State Council convened Peng Dehuai, Li Fuchun, Deng Xiaoping, Liu Bocheng, Chen Yi, He Long, Xiao Jinguang , Zhou Xihan and others to convene a meeting on the five-year plan of the Navy.
Because Zhou Xihan is the chief of staff of the Navy and is mainly responsible for this plan, he introduced it to the people in the venue. Zhou Xihan did not make any politeness and stood up directly. He introduced it to everyone present on the situation of the ships that the Navy needs to be equipped, various parameters, feasibility plans, and how much funds are needed.
Zhou Xihan's meticulous speech was unanimously praised by the participants, and even Liu Shuai, who had always been strict with him, nodded frequently.
pic | Zhou Enlai
You should know that at the beginning of the founding of New China, the planning expenditure for the navy was always very tense. First of all, it was because of the relationship between Resisting U.S. aggressing Korea . At that time, the construction of the air force was more important than the construction of the navy. Later, although Korean War ended, most of the country's budget had to be invested in industrial construction, and very few could be invested in the navy.
During the period when formulating the five-year plan for naval construction, the Navy Party Committee held meetings every three days in order to save as much money as possible. However, the final plan was still a thousand miles away from the funds pre-allocated by the state.
At the meeting, Zhou Xihan comprehensively sorted out all aspects of the needs and came up with a number. The total number of ship equipment necessary for the construction of a modern navy is 12.6 trillion yuan (old coins).
The people present were very moved, and Deng Xiaoping even quipped:
"You are very good at bargaining prices!"
Although Zhou Xihan repeatedly emphasized the necessity of these expenses, national construction was the top priority at the beginning of the founding of New China, so the plan submitted by Zhou Xihan was not approved.
However, it was this meeting that allowed everyone to see Zhou Xihan's ability.
Just after the meeting, everyone walked out of the West Flower Hall one after another. Zhou Enlai suddenly called Zhou Xihan:
"You have become a naval expert. I remember, you are the navy that came to 1952. Have you been to the Soviet Union?"
Premier Zhou meant that he asked Zhou Xihan if he had ever been to the Soviet Union to study.
Picture | Zhou Xihan's family photo
was suddenly intercepted by Premier Zhou. Zhou Xihan felt a little embarrassed. Xiao Jinguang next to him came forward and said to him:
"He has never been to the Soviet Union, but he is our chief executive. He is very hard-working and hardworking, and is good at using his brain."
"It would be even more rare if you haven't studied it specifically." Premier Zhou nodded with a smile: "However, you must also pay attention to the combination of work and rest. After so many years in the city, why haven't you seen you get fatter?"
Zhou Xihan is famous for being "thin". Not only in the army, but also in the central government. Premier Zhou admires Zhou Xihan's habit of using his brains very much, and introduced him to others several times in public that Zhou Xihan is a naval expert, even in front of a great scientist like Qian Xuesen .
In September 1955, Zhou Xihan was awarded the rank of lieutenant general.
3
Zhou Xihan worked hard all his life for the construction of the Chinese Navy, but he still couldn't let go of his work until his old age.
Due to long-term fatigue, Zhou Xihan was diagnosed with gastric cancer in the early 1970s and had to give up his work and treatment. After hearing the news, Premier Zhou personally arranged for experts from major hospitals to perform surgery on him and visited him in person.
As soon as we met, Premier Zhou was very serious and "criticized":
"We should not criticize you at this time, but it is not okay to not criticize you for a few words. The body is the capital of the revolution. Our body belongs to the party and the people. You shouldn't have your body destroyed at this age!"
Figure|On March 3, 1957, Chairman Mao met Zhou Xihan and the two of them said this, and Premier Zhou also instructed Zhou Xuan standing aside:
"It is not easy for us to survive the war era. Now it is not that we have to live more, but that the revolutionary cause needs us to do more memorial work..."
But even with Premier Zhou's instructions, Zhou Xihan was still uneasy.
1973, Zhou Xihan interrupted the treatment and devoted himself to the research and development of important projects such as the Navy's nuclear submarine, , and a certain type of missile destroyer, and even ended up being so tired that he vomited blood. In that case, Zhou Xihan still did not forget to tease himself:
"I eat the ingredients of donkey , and I do the work of mule ."
1975, Zhou Xihan became ill due to overwork and had to "repair". Retired in 1987.
Zhou Xihan's later life finally enjoyed a rare dullness, but he was still worried about national affairs.
1979, the 13th Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army of Zhou Xihan also entered the battlefield. Later, he heard that the Vietnamese army would retreat without fighting as long as it encountered the 13th Army. The old general said happily:
"How can there be an apprentice who beats the master."
pic | Zhou Xihan's later years
it turned out that General Zhou Xihan went to Vietnam to receive training and equip everyone with the Vietnamese People's Army in the early 1950s. Because of the general's strict requirements, the military literacy of the Vietnamese army has been greatly improved. The Vietnamese army trained by Zhou Xihan also became the main force in the Vietnamese people's struggle against France.
Although Zhou Xihan's life is brilliant, he always insists on telling it without mentioning it in his later years.
General frankly said:
"Soldiers are soldiers, generals are generals, and commanders are commanders. Commanders alone cannot fight, and a group of soldiers cannot fight. Soldiers cannot talk about being generals, and generals cannot talk about being commanders. How much credit does it depend on oneself? Just one battle, the commander wrote an article saying that it was commandered by the commander, the political commissar said that it was commandered by the political commissar, and the deputy commander said that it was fought by the deputy commander. One battle turned into three battles. How ridiculous! History is not written."
On November 7, 1988, Zhou Xihan died of illness at the age of 75.
