The seven founding generals gathered here, they are: General Xu Shiyou, Lieutenant General Nie Fengzhi, Lieutenant General Zhang Fan, Major General Wang Xiao, Major General Wu Huaduo, Major General Gao Houliang, and Major General Cai Yong.

Preface

On the evening of January 13, 1964 (some say January 16), the Nanjing Military Region Soldiers Club on Zhongshan East Road in Nanjing was bustling with people.

The seven founding generals gathered here. They are: General Xu Shiyou, Lieutenant General Nie Fengzhi, Lieutenant General Zhang Fan, Major General Wang Xiao, Major General Wu Huaduo, Major General Gao Houliang, and Major General Cai Yong.

The old generals were all neatly dressed, all in high spirits and with high morale, saying they were going to do a "big thing".

As the whistle blew, fierce cheers broke out in the stadium, and the crowd in the stadium was very emotional.

So, what "big event" is it that can actually make seven generals put down their work and gather in the military club?

In fact, this "big event" is an ordinary basketball game. Since

is a competition, you have to find an evenly matched opponent.

However, the opponents of the "Veterans Team" were actually not military region leaders, let alone party comrades. The eleven opponents were all from the Danyang Rural Production Team.

So, are there any unknown inside stories behind this unique basketball game?

Picture | Basketball game live

1. General Xu Shiyou, who loved to fight Japanese soldiers and play ball.

One day in the late autumn of 1922, Shaoshi Mountain to the west of Songshan Mountain in Dengfeng City, Henan Province, was surrounded by mountains.

At three quarters in the afternoon, an old Zen master came from the foot of Shaoshi Mountain. He was over seventy years old, wearing a gray monk's robe, and kept chanting - Amitabha...

Behind the old Zen master was a young man of fifteen or sixteen years old. The young man has a heroic look on his face, his hands and feet are very nimble, and he has large and small bags on his body.

Apparently, the old man and the young man had just returned from alms at the foot of the mountain. The old Zen master is called "Master Suying" and he is a rare eminent monk in the Shaolin Temple.

The young disciple following him is named Xu Shiyou. He is from Xinxian County, Henan Province. There are four brothers and sisters in his family. He is the second son.

Due to successive years of drought, Xu Shiyou came to Shaolin Temple when he was 8 years old and worked as a Buddhist handyman.

As winter passes and autumn comes, Xu Shiyou has stayed in Shaolin Temple for 8 years and is now 16 years old.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival of this year, Xu Shiyou said goodbye to Master Suying and prepared to go home to visit his parents, relatives and friends.

After returning home, Xu Shiyou discovered that due to the wars raging everywhere in the mountains in the past few years, warlords and landlords and gentry were exploiting the peasants, causing everyone to complain.

Because of a conflict with the landlord, Xu Shiyou punched the landlord's son to death. After

was killed, Xu Shiyou went to join the army of the direct warlords controlled by Wu Peifu and became a big soldier.

In September 1926, Xu Shiyou was introduced by an underground party member to join the China Communist Youth League; he joined the Communist Party of China in 1927.

In 1928, Xu Shiyou served as the platoon leader of the 31st Division of the 11th Army of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. In 1931, Xu Shiyou, who had repeatedly made military exploits, was already the commander of the 34th Regiment of the 12th Division of the Fourth Army of the Fourth Red Army.

Because of his fiery personality, whenever the two armies fought, General Xu often led 1 to 2 companies of troops to fight head-on with the two battalions of the Kuomintang Central Army and Local Army .

When the battle was at its peak, Xu Shiyou flicked his gun, pulled out a twenty-pound sword from his back, and rushed forward to chop the enemy, calling him father and mother.

As a result, people often give General Xu the nickname "Xu Daxia", and it is widely spread.

Time flies to 1937, when the Anti-Japanese War breaks out. Xu Shiyou is personally appointed by Chairman Mao to study at Yan'an Anti-Japanese University.

Picture | Xu Shiyou chatting cordially with the people

After graduation, he took orders to go to the Luyu base area to support the Anti-Japanese War.

At the end of March 1941, Xu Shiyou led his troops to Bu Xitou Village, Mouping County.

By the end of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945, General Xu Shiyou spent a lot of time in Buxitou Village and Houchuiliu Village for more than four years, leading and commanding the Jiaodong Anti-Japanese War and forging deep feelings with the local people.

Many legendary stories about General Xu are still widely circulated in the local area.

According to insiders' memories, Xu Shiyou lived in a villager's house when he first came to Buxitou Village.When there was no combat mission, he would stand on the village dam with two guards and shoot arrows wherever he pointed, with extremely high accuracy.

Not only loves archery, Xu Shiyou also likes horseback riding. His mount is a tall red foreign horse, which can run as fast as flying.

General Xu often hit moving targets with his pistol while riding a horse, with perfect accuracy.

In addition to dancing with guns and sticks, General Xu was approachable. He built a simple basketball court in the village where he was stationed, and often played basketball with the village militia.

General Xu plays ball like a young man and runs very fast. In addition, he is physically strong and can make one accurate three-step layup.

As long as General Xu played with the village militia, the whole village, young and old, went to watch the game, and the scene was very lively.

Since then, legendary stories such as General Xu Shiyou's love for fighting Japanese, playing ball, and riding horses have been widely circulated in the Jiaodong area.

But there is one thing. When Xu Shiyou lived in the villagers' homes, he tried not to disturb the villagers' daily life.

He asked the guards not to close the street gate at night.

It turns out that Xu Shiyou either goes out to have meetings to inspect the troops every night, or he studies tactics and enemy situation in the war room. When

came back to bed, it was already very late. He got up early in the morning. Every time he came in and out, there was a sound when opening and closing the door. Especially in the dead of night, the noise was louder.

General Xu was afraid of affecting the rest of the people around him, so he ordered the guards not to close the door at night.

Although this is a small matter, it shows in the hearts of the people that General Xu always has everyone in mind.

In daily life, Xu Shiyou is extremely simple. He does not pay attention to food or clothing, and often goes to the fields to do farm work.

In fact, the story of General Xu’s life would take three days and three nights to tell.

2. The fierce general Nie Fengzhi was not only Xu Shiyou's favorite general, but also a tacit basketball teammate.

In 1955, Xu Shiyou was awarded the rank of general, and one of his favorite generals, Nie Fengzhi, was awarded the rank of lieutenant general .

As an old comrade and senior superior who also participated in the " Jute Uprising ", Nie Fengzhi, a fierce general who is good at using strategies to win, is deeply loved by Xu Shiyou.

During the Long March, Nie Fengzhi and Xu Shiyou unequivocally supported the correct decision of the Party Central Committee and Chairman Mao, and worked together to destroy Zhang Guotao's evil plan to split the Red Army.

After the outbreak of the all-out Anti-Japanese War, Nie Fengzhi entered the Chinese People's Anti-Japanese Military and Political University and systematically studied military and political theory.

Picture | General Xu Shiyou

After graduation, Nie Fengzhi was transferred to the head of the 13th Regiment of the Jiaodong Military Region and fought several fierce battles with the Japanese army and the Kuomintang reactionaries.

During the War of Liberation, Nie Fengzhi led his troops in a bloody battle with the Kuomintang troops for more than three months, killing more than 12,000 enemy troops and taking control of the eastern section of the Jiaoji Railway.

At the beginning of 1947, Chiang Kai-shek mobilized 19 reorganized divisions and 49 brigades, totaling 300,000 troops, to form two northern and southern groups to attack the main force of the People's Liberation Army in Linyi, the capital of the Shandong Liberated Area.

Nie Fengzhi served as the column's chief of staff and commander of the 25th Division at this time. He assisted the ninth column commander Xu Shiyou in commanding the People's Liberation Army to annihilate the 77th Division of the Kuomintang Army and win the Laiwu Battle.

In August 1947, Nie Fengzhi was promoted to commander of the ninth column of the East China Field Army. As Xu Shiyou's proud general, the two of them worked together in a tacit understanding and dealt a heavy blow to the Kuomintang reactionaries.

After the outbreak of the Korean War, Nie Fengzhi served as the acting commander of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army Air Force.

Over North Korea, Nie Fengzhi commanded the fledgling Chinese Air Force to engage in a desperate struggle with the US military and achieved impressive results. After the end of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Nie Fengzhi served as the commander of the Air Force of the Nanjing Military Region, working with his old superior Xu Shiyou again.

During the battle to liberate Yijiangshan Island, Nie Fengzhi commanded the air force to suppress the Kuomintang troops on the island with firepower, effectively cooperating with the landing force's attack.

After the Battle of Jiangshan Island, there was no major war in the country. General Nie Fengzhi and General Xu Shiyou often went out for walks or organized basketball games in their spare time.

It is said that General Xu Shiyou serves as a shooting guard on the court because of his strong martial arts and excellent physical fitness; General Nie Fengzhi is good at winning by surprise and has a more delicate view of the overall situation. He serves as a point guard and is responsible for on-court dispatching.

The two of them cooperated tacitly, and they were almost invincible in the basketball games organized in the military system.

3. A unique basketball game: Generals vs. Peasants

In the mid-1960s, the living conditions of the people across the country have undergone earth-shaking changes compared to the early days of the founding of new China.

Although China during this period could not be called "horses are released in Nanshan and swords and guns are stored in warehouses", all walks of life were steadily advancing development. The whole country has worked together and achieved rapid development in industry, agriculture and other aspects.

Generals Xu Shiyou and Nie Fengzhi had no battle to fight. In addition to handling the daily work of the military region, they would organize basketball games whenever they had time.

But the opponents are all acquaintances in the military system, and they are very familiar with each other. There is no "freshness" in the fights.

At the end of 1963, Xu Shiyou suggested: How about we hold a basketball game with a private organization?

To put it bluntly, General Xu Shiyou wanted to use sports competitions to bring closer the distance between military leaders and ordinary people.

This can not only cultivate sentiments, but also set a positive example and always keep in mind the party's policy of going deep into the masses.

General Xu’s proposal immediately received responses from senior leaders of the Nanjing Military Region, including Nie Fengzhi and Wang Pingping.

picture | Nie Fengzhi

The plan has been decided, and the next step is to choose a suitable opponent.

After searching around, General Xu and others found a basketball team composed of Danyang farmer masters from eleven different production teams.

The founder of this basketball team is Zhang Zhongliang. In the early 1950s, Zhang Zhongliang participated in the "Red Hat" student basketball team formed by Danyang Lucheng Middle School.

After graduating from middle school, Zhang Zhongliang led a group of basketball-loving golfers to form the first basketball team in the history of Danyang Lucheng - Xiaohe Ge.

Zhang Zhongliang also serves as captain, team leader and coach. During

, he took advantage of the opportunity of playing basketball to meet a staff member of Jiangsu Provincial Sports Bureau.

Through this relationship, Zhang Zhongliang actively formed the Danyang Farmers Basketball Team, which traveled throughout Jiangsu and played many games with provincial and municipal agencies, schools and other units, and achieved good results.

After General Xu Shiyou learned the details, he immediately decided to have a competition (basketball game) with the "New Farmers Team" organized by Zhang Zhongliang.

When the Nanjing Military Region informed Zhang Zhongliang of this situation through the relevant leaders of the Provincial Sports Bureau, he could not believe his ears at first.

Zhang Zhongliang never imagined that , a basketball team composed of peasant masters, would one day compete with the founding generals such as Xu Shiyou and Nie Fengzhi.

After repeated confirmation with the leaders of the Provincial Sports Bureau, Zhang Zhongliang and General Xu Shiyou finalized the game time, which was the evening of January 13, 1964, and the game location was the gymnasium on Zhongshan East Road in Nanjing.

When Zhang Zhongliang told the other 10 players in the team, they were very happy.

After all, not everyone can have such an opportunity to play basketball with the founding general.

But everyone knows that General Xu Shiyou has always acted vigorously and resolutely, and never cheated. Since he wants to compete with the peasant basketball team, Zhang Zhongliang must be very energetic and lead the players to do their best.

Thinking of this, the team members immediately cheered up and used their rest time to get together to study tactics. Practice your shooting and layup skills repeatedly. The "veteran warrior team" at

also did not dare to neglect. General Xu also hired a professional basketball player to serve as "off-court tutoring".

This professional basketball player believes that General Xu's strengths are his excellent physical fitness, not afraid of physical contact with the opponent, and a high success rate for layups, but his shooting accuracy is poor.

In the remaining month, Xu Shiyou frequently practiced shooting to improve his scoring rate.

Several other members of the "Veteran Warriors Team" also seized every moment to hone their basketball skills.

Picture | Zhang Zhongliang

One thing is that in order to save money, the "Veteran Warriors Team" did not buy a jersey and wore the jersey shared by the military district club.

If you can’t find something that fits you after searching and choosing, everyone will just make do with it.

The two generals, Xu Shiyou and Nie Fengzhi, have obviously gained weight, and their jerseys appear to be smaller, covering up their bulging bulging bellies.

For this reason, General Xu also joked to General Nie Fengzhi: : Your belly is so big, so you definitely don’t exercise much.

Nie Fengzhi replied : "Chief, your belly is not small, so don't talk about me."

The conditions of the peasant basketball team are also not good. During training, they wear a vest over a fleece jacket to serve as a jersey.

Time flies to January 13, 1964. On the eve of the game, the leaders and players of the two teams had a brief conversation in the conference room.

General Xu Shiyou spoke quickly. He told the peasant basketball team not to be merciful and to use all their abilities.

html At 7:30 in the evening on the 213th, the captains of both teams held the team flag and led the athletes into the stadium one by one.

The indoor gymnasium of the Military Club was brightly lit, and the stands of more than 2,000 people were packed.

Watching the battle on the stage were not only comrades from the military region, but also many local leaders and people.

also includes special reporters from many newspapers such as " Xinhua Daily ", "Liberation Daily", " China Sports News ", etc.

" Cheerleading Team " is led by Xiao Wangdong and Zhang Zhen.

Before the game, the players of the two teams lined up on the field and waved to the audience.

The five members of the "Old Warriors Team" were all wearing ill-fitting jerseys, and their bellies looked very bulging.

The "New Farmers Team" on the other side are rough-and-tumble young adults.

Many spectators were overjoyed when they looked at these two players on the field who had a special image and formed a strong contrast.

This made General Xu Shiyou feel strange: "The game hasn't started yet, why are they so happy?"

Nie Fengzhi joked : "It's not that we are all old men with big bellies and few hairs. We have a bad image."

With a whistle, the game officially started, and Nie Fengzhi took the lead in attacking with the ball.

After being double-teamed by two opposing players, he immediately passed the ball to Xu Shiyou.

Xu Shiyou dribbled the ball a few steps, shot with both hands, and hit the ball directly. There was a long period of applause and cheers on the court. After the

"Old Warriors Team" opened the scoring, the atmosphere in the stadium became tense. The "New Farmers Team" led by Zhang Zhongliang fought back with all their strength, and the two sides took the lead alternately.

When the game was getting intense, General Xu Shiyou couldn't tell the difference between friend and foe, and actually defended with one of his own players in his arms, which aroused laughter from everyone present.

When he saw that the "New Peasants Team" was leading the score, Lieutenant General Xiao Wangdong, the political commissar of the Nanjing Military Region, shouted : "Attack quickly and we must win the opponent."

At this moment, the veteran generals seemed to have returned to the battlefield where artillery fire was pouring. More than 6 minutes after the start of the game, General Wang Ping, political commissar of the Military Academy who served as the instructor of the "Veterans Team", requested a timeout. He asked that Xu Shiyou be replaced.

Picture | The generals who are about to take the field

General Xu refused to come off : "I have already scored two goals, why do I still come down?"

Wang Ping said : "Come down and rest for a while, wait a moment Go ahead."

Xu Shiyou counterattacked : "I am the captain, I have the final say if I can't do it."

"You are the captain, but I am the leader. According to the rules, you should listen to me now." As soon as Wang Ping said this, Xu Shiyou had to obey.

In short, the whole game was full of climaxes, and in the end the "Old Warriors" won 64:54.

The next day, the leading cadres of Jiangsu Province also played a basketball game with the "New Farmers Team".

4. The news spread across the country, and the friendship between the military and the people lasts forever

The news of " generals and peasants playing basketball" spread quickly, and Nanjing citizens regretted not being able to see it at the scene.

Especially young students, they even complained about why the organizers of the event did not notify the news earlier.

In fact, this game was a secret operation to a certain extent. The security personnel were on tenterhooks during the game, for fear that something might go wrong.

(With so many senior generals and local leaders of Jiangsu Province gathered in one gymnasium, the security pressure is very severe!)

News about the match between generals and farmers was released by Xinhua News Agency on the 15th, and Central News Film Studio shot the scene live. Later, a foreign embassy staff in China went to "China" magazine to request relevant materials.

After the game, the team leaders and team members of both sides had a cordial conversation. General Xu Shiyou said to the farmer brothers: "I hope we can interact with each other more often in the future."

Zhang Zhongliang said excitedly : "We can play with the generals. I never dreamed that we would need more food to support the country when we go back."

Yes, this basketball game is extraordinary.

According to the old concept, generals and farmers are unrelated and have no intersection at all.

In the new society, founding generals such as Xu Shiyou and Wang Ping actually played basketball happily with ordinary farmers.

According to the thoughts of generals such as Xu Shiyou: "In our country, generals and farmers are revolutionary comrades. The so-called generals, decades back, were farmers who dug in the fields and did various farm work.

Wearing military uniforms is the leader of the military region. Taking off the military uniform, everyone is a farmer, and there is no distinction between high and low."

Military region leaders headed by General Xu Shiyou and other leading comrades of party and government agencies thought so, and they did so.

Most of the older generation of generals are proletarian revolutionaries. They do not pay any attention to food and clothing, live a very simple life, and contribute wholeheartedly to the party and the people.

Back to the game itself, when this basketball friendly match was played, Xu Shiyou, Nie Fengzhi, and Zhang Fan were all over fifty.

The peasant basketball team led by Zhang Zhongliang adheres to the sports spirit of "friendship first, competition second", but still puts some water in it.

Under the premise of ensuring that the veteran generals are not injured, losing this game has nothing to do with any tricks, let alone any class thinking.

Because this is an "unequal" game in itself, the physical fitness of young people in their 20s must far exceed that of veteran generals who are over fifty.

Picture | Xu Shiyou attended the military region meeting

Conclusion

In July 1995, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Nanjing Military Region leaders and Danyang farmers basketball game that Commander Xu Shiyou participated in, a friendly basketball match called "Huachang Cup" started at Nanjing Wutaishan Gym.

The two warring parties are representatives of the leaders of the Nanjing Military Region and farmer masters from all over Jiangsu. The result of the

game is no longer important. This friendly basketball match is another demonstration of the friendship between the military and civilians, and is also a glorious tradition of the Nanjing Military Region.

The generals represented by Xu Shiyou and Nie Fengzhi have set an example, and people in the future will definitely follow suit and pass it on from generation to generation. How can there be such a team in

, how can there be such warmth?

30 years have passed, and the " mud-legged " people from back then met again, and they were as cordial as relatives reunited after a long absence.