Tanks, known as the "king of land warfare". On October 1, 1999, at the military parade marking the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China held in Tiananmen Square, the audience was still immersed in the neat rowing of the various walking formations that had just ended.
1. At the time of the magnificent lineup and sonorous pace, a new type of tank with a completely different shape from the three medium tanks with hemispherical turrets of the domestically produced tanks known at that time, the Type 59, Type 69, and Type 79, drove majestically and unstoppably through Tiananmen Square for review. This tank is the prototype of the Type 99 main battle tank, the third-generation main battle tank independently developed by China. Its appearance shocked the world.
Chinese and foreign military experts are boiling, "one of the most advanced main battle tanks in the world!."The descendants of Yan and Huang at home and abroad were excited, "We have our own modern tanks!"At this time, in the face of this situation, an elderly man on the guest seat had already burst into tears, he was Zhu Yusheng, the chief designer of the third-generation tank independently developed by China.
Zhu Yusheng, a native of Chongqing (1918-2014), winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award for the Development of Science and Technology in the Ordnance Industry, chief designer of China's third-generation tank, former director of the East China Military and Political University, director of the Training Department of the General Senior Infantry School of the People's Liberation Army, deputy director of the Department of Military Artillery Engineering (Second Department) of Kazakhstan, director of education and vice president of the Artillery Engineering College (the predecessor of Nanjing University of Science and Technology), vice president of the Scientific Research Institute of the Fifth Ministry of Machinery Industry, deputy director and secretary general of the Science and Technology Committee of the Ministry of Ordnance Industry, etc.
He has written a moving life legend with his extraordinary experience, which has become an indelible glorious chapter in the history of the development of China's ordnance industry, and is also a figure engraved in the hearts of generations of workers and forever remembered by the history of Nan Polytechnic University.
Zhu Yusheng's life can be called a history of struggle in China's ordnance industry. During the Anti-Japanese War, he was praised as a "military genius" by our officers and soldiers, and his research and development of stone mines, flat-fire mortars and other outstanding achievements have been repeatedAfter the founding of the People's Republic of China, he traveled to many ordnance colleges and scientific research institutions, and participated in the development of a variety of army equipment.
Zhu Yusheng's life has written a legendary story. In order to eliminate the fault of the shell, he stepped forward, lost his right arm and still stuck to the front line of the military scientific research cause, and was later respected as the "one-armed chief division";In order to build a key weapon of the country, he was ordered to successfully complete the development of China's new main battle tank after more than ten years, and realize the historic leap of China's main battle tank from imitation research to independent research and development. In 2005, Zhu Yusheng was awarded the honorary title of "Lifetime Achievement Award for the Development of Science and Technology in the Ordnance Industry". In 2019, he won the title of "The Most Beautiful Striver".
Soldier's Heart Bright Sword · Dedication to the country
Zhu Yusheng was born in Ba County, Chongqing in November 1918. In 1937, in the face of the poverty and weakness of old China and the frequent wars, he was admitted to the Whampoa Military Academy with the lofty ambition of saving the country with a military heart. In order to achieve the real goal of resisting Japan and saving the country, Zhu Yusheng joined the Communist Party of China in 1938 and participated in more than 30 battles in the War of Resistance against Japan.
In 1946, Zhu Yusheng was transferred to East China Military and Political University as the deputy director of the Military Education Department, responsible for military education and training grassroots cadres. One day in 1948, the East China Military and Political University began the third phase of military training, to carry out the live-fire test of the flat-fire gun he designed and transformed. However, he still laughed at life and studied hard, not only exercising his left hand with tenacious perseverance to achieve self-care in life, but also interpreting the tenacity and greatness of human beings with the spirit of revolutionary optimism.
Due to the high level of Chinese, he paid extraordinary sweat and hardship, devoted himself to studying military technology, combined technology with actual combat needs, and created and improved more than 20 kinds of ** and combat equipment during the 12-year war years from 1938 to 1949, greatly enhancing the combat effectiveness of our army, such as anti-tank gun grenades that can penetrate three-centimeter steel plates, trigger grenades for blocking combat vehicles, and so on. In 1947, Zhu Yusheng was awarded a first-class meritorious service.
Bonding Gunner · Pay close attention to teaching
Zhu Yusheng has a deep relationship with Nanjing University of Science and Technology and plays an important role in the development history of Nanjing University of Science and Technology.
At the beginning of 1959, Zhu Yusheng served as the deputy director of the Artillery Engineering Department of the Military Engineering College. In 1960, the Kazakh military industry began to be separated, and the artillery engineering department was relocated. In 1962, Zhu Yusheng was appointed vice president and head of the training department of the Artillery Engineering Academy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. In the summer of the same year, after the construction of the school in Xi'an was stopped, the college was still scattered in the three places for teaching and training, and the conditions for running the school were very difficult. Dean Kong Congzhou called on everyone to brainstorm and contribute to the development of the college. Zhu Yusheng put forward the idea of relocating the school site with the Nanjing Anti-aircraft Artillery School, and was the first to propose the construction of a new school site in Xiaolingwei, Nanjing, which played an important role in the final settlement of Nanjing University of Science and Technology at the foot of the Purple Mountain.
In terms of teaching in the Artillery Engineering College, Zhu Yusheng, as one of the leaders in charge of teaching work, put forward the idea of setting up the school's majors with great vision at the beginning of the school's construction from Kazakhstan's military industry, and built a basic platform for education and teachingAttaching importance to the construction of the teaching team, paying close attention to the teaching of basic courses, and organizing the teaching of basic courses with high standards and strict requirements, the school has formed a good teaching style and tradition of emphasizing the foundation.
Climb the Peak · Scientific research attention
In 1964, Zhu Yusheng proposed the development of advanced anti-tank artillery, personally made a tactical and technical demonstration report and issued a design task, and through two years of repeated research and testing, the armor-piercing power finally met the design requirements. So far, the two achievements of the final equipment unit that the workers of Nanli are very proud of - the Ke-82 recoilless gun and the building block mortar, are both from Zhu Yusheng's creativity.
Zhu Yusheng paid attention to the research of anti-tank as early as the revolutionary war, and after serving as the vice president and in charge of teaching and scientific research, he was even more concerned about the development of this field, and took the development of anti-tank with excellent performance as one of the key research directions of himself and the college.
After the start of the school year in the fall of 1964, Zhu Yusheng consulted the most advanced tank materials abroad and formally proposed the development of advanced anti-tank artillery to meet the needs of future anti-tank warfare. He organized experts from relevant majors of the college to conduct discussions, and put forward the overall design ideas and technical indicators of the 82mm recoilless gun and ammunition system.
Since there was no state project at that time, at the insistence of Zhu Yusheng, the academy temporarily set up a special scientific research group, and he organized and mobilized a group of experts involved in almost most majors of the academy, and he believed that the academy is the only institution of higher learning in China that carries out scientific research on artillery equipment and personnel training, and should boldly open up and bravely walk in the front. He went to the relevant tactical teaching and research departments of the army and the relevant military academies in Nanjing to conduct research and search for novelty, demonstrated the tactical and technical indicators of the 82-mm recoilless gun, and put forward a very strict and brand-new design idea for the recoilless gun at that time.
By 1966, the exploratory development of the 82-mm recoilless gun and ammunition system of the academy had achieved remarkable phased results. Zhu Yusheng first put forward the concept of the first-class system and the preliminary tactical and technical indicators, and personally presided over the preliminary research and development work, basically solved the problems of flight stability and range extension, and formed a preliminary overall design plan. He was the founder of the development of the 82mm recoilless gun and ammunition system that was later installed in the army.
The development and exploration of 82mm recoilless guns and ammunition systems is the mission and responsibility of the school to inherit the spirit of Kazakhstan's military industry, and to actively serve the vision and courage of army construction, which has laid the foundation for the further research of 82mm recoilless guns and ammunition systems. In March 1978, the National Science Conference was held, the college as an important unit of national defense weapons scientific research, was invited to participate in the conference, the representatives of the 82 scientific research detachment of the college attended the meeting, the 82 scientific research detachment mainly participated in the completion of the "battalion 82 mm recoilless gun and rocket extended range armor-piercing projectile", "spinning medicine cover and its research on the power compensation effect of low-speed rotating armor-piercing projectile" two research and development achievements in the conference awarded.
Year of the Sixtieth · Bloom again
China is a large country with a vast territory, with as many as 14 countries bordering China on land, and the security of its border territories is facing many problems. In the 80s of the 20 th century, the army urgently needed to be equipped with new main battle tanks, and China's ordnance industry did not forget Zhu Yusheng, a veteran of the ordnance industry who was "an old man with ambitions for thousands of miles." In 1984, the third-generation main battle tank development project was officially established, and Zou Jiahua, then deputy director of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, invited Zhu Yusheng, who had retired, to serve as the chief designer of the project. Under the strong call of duty of "strengthening the army and serving the country", the 66-year-old Zhu Lao devoted himself to scientific research and experiments without distraction, and raced against time with perseverance beyond ordinary people. Zhu Yusheng often had to carry a heavy bag to various test sites, and because he had no right arm, it was difficult to control his balance when walking, and he often wrestled. In 1990, 72-year-old Zhu Yusheng broke three ribs on the way to the technical coordination meeting, and he endured severe pain until the end of the meeting. None of these hardships broke him, and he and his team members continued to overcome many difficulties. In the process of developing the third-generation tank project, the workers of Nanli also gave full play to the advantages of the discipline and participated in the research and development of many sub-projects.
After several years of wind and rain to sharpen a sword, the veteran of the military industry is sharp. When the clock of history was fixed on October 1, 1999, at the scene of the 50th anniversary of the National Day military parade, the phalanx composed of the ZTZ99 type three generations of main battle tanks, which appeared in public for the first time, rumbled past in front of Tiananmen Square. In 2001, the third-generation main battle tank project won the first prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award.
Indifferent to fame and fortune · The soul of the army is forever forged
As the chief designer of the third generation of main battle tanks, Zhu Yusheng has received the care of leaders at all levels such as the party, the state and the Military Commission, and has also won many national honors. In the face of the ensuing honors, he always silently retreated out of the spotlight, low-key and humble, did not take credit or seek profit, and devoted himself to completing the important tasks entrusted by the state. He often said: "The three generations of tanks are the crystallization of collective wisdom and the work that everyone does together." ”
On October 23, 2014, Zhu Yusheng, the "father of three generations of tanks", passed away peacefully at the age of 96. Including "People**", "Guangming**", "China Youth Daily", "Economy**", and many others have made relevant reports and remembrances of Zhu Yusheng. The people are gone, but the spirit lives on. Zhu Yusheng vividly interpreted his fierce loyalty to the motherland and his solemn promise of "dedicating everything to the party" with the glorious practice of his life. He is the pride of Southern Institute of Technology, and he is also a bright star in the history of the development of New China's weapons industry.
The author is the deputy director of the University History Research Center of Nanjing University of Science and Technology. ）
Author: Li Mengyao **China Social Science Network.