In his later years, Su Yu clearly and frankly told people that I commanded the Huaihai Campaign
Su Yu has always been a modest and low-key person, never fighting for merit, however, in his later years, he once made it clear to people: "The Huaihai Battle was personally commanded by me." ”
Back on July 27, 1978, Mr. Shi Zheng, the film and television director of Nanjing Film Studio, was about to start writing a book about "The Battle of Huaihai", so he went to interview Su Yu, hoping to learn more about the Battle of Huaihai from Su Yu.
At that time, Su Yu's physical condition was not ideal, and the doctor told him to rest more and not talk excessively, so the interview time was set at only 20 minutes.
Shi Zhengxian knew the urgency of time, made preparations in advance, and made an outline, ready to ask Su Yu to share some insights.
However, unexpectedly, Su Yu ignored the doctor's advice at all, and said directly to Shi Zhengxian: "The original time limit is canceled, I will give you 4 hours, and lunch will be eaten here at my place." ”
Then, Su Yu told Shi Zhengxian and the others without any delay: "I personally commanded the Huaihai Campaign. ”
At that time, Su Yu's secretary was also present, and after hearing this, he hurriedly pulled his clothes and motioned for him to stop speaking. However, Su Yu pushed the secretary's hand away and insisted on continuing to speak.
Afterwards, Shi Zhengxian recalled: "This sentence really surprised me, because *** also said something similar. ”
When the Huaihai Campaign broke out, the General Front Committee of the Huaihai Campaign came into being, consisting of five leaders, Su Yu and ***. In this team, ** and ** are standing committee members, and *** also serves as the secretary of the General Front Committee and is the supreme leader of the Huaihai Campaign.
Therefore, it is not unreasonable to say that "the Huaihai Campaign was commanded by me", after all, he was the supreme commander of this campaign.
So, why did Su Yu also say that "I commanded the Huaihai Campaign"?
In fact, Su Yu's statement is not intended to take credit, but has a reasonable basis.
First of all, the strategic idea of the Huaihai Campaign was put forward by Su Yu. From the initial "Little Huaihai" to the later "Great Huaihai", these plans were all made by Su Yu and were highly recognized by the ** Military Commission.
Secondly, after the outbreak of the Huaihai Campaign, Su Yu also made great achievements for this.
The strength of the East China Field Army was far superior to that of the Central Plains Field Army. Therefore, the main force of the Huaihai Campaign was the East China Field Army, which mobilized a total of 16 columns and 4 brigades, with a total strength of more than 400,000 troopsThe Central Plains Field Army, on the other hand, had only 7 columns and 3 brigades, with a total strength of less than 200,000 troops. Obviously, the strength of the East China Field Army was twice that of the Central Plains Field Army.
In addition, in terms of equipment, the East China Field Army is also far superior to the Central Plains Field Army. Taking the number of artillery shells of one artillery regiment as an example, it exceeded the total number of shells of all units of the Central Plains Field Army, so the East China Field Army also shouldered most of the tasks of attacking fortified positions.
Judging from the results, this has also been confirmed. The East China Field Army annihilated a total of four Kuomintang corps, including Huang Baitao's corps, Qiu Qingquan's corps, Li Mi's corps, and Sun Yuanliang's corps. The Central Plains Field Army only annihilated one corps, the Huang Wei Corps, and it was completed with the assistance of the East China Field Army.
In terms of the specific number of enemies destroyed, the East China Field Army destroyed a total of 440,000 enemies, while the Central Plains Field Army only destroyed 110,000 enemies, which was only a quarter of that of the East China Field Army.
Therefore, no matter from which point of view, the contribution of the East China Field Army in the Huaihai Campaign was beyond the reach of the Central Plains Field Army. The commander of the East China Field Army was Su Yu, so his contribution in this campaign was also the most prominent.
Even *** himself has said many times: "In the Huaihai Campaign, Su Yu made the first contribution!."”
In addition, there is another fact that needs to be clarified, although the Huaihai campaign established a "general front committee", this is not the same as the "general front committee" of other campaigns. The five members did not discuss and command the two major field armies together, but were at the headquarters of the Central Plains Field Army, and Su Yu and ** were at the headquarters of the East China Field Army. The five leaders did not meet for the first time until later in the campaign and left a famous group photo.
In other words, during the Huaihai Campaign, it was not the General Front Committee that commanded the whole army, but the two major field armies that commanded independently.
Therefore, both ** and Su Yu claim that "the Huaihai Battle was commanded by me" actually makes sense, but the angle is different.
From the point of view of the campaign as a whole, ** is the supreme leader of the campaign, so he naturally has the right to claim that the campaign was commanded by him;
Judging from the role and contribution of the Huaihai Campaign, Su Yu undoubtedly paid the most and contributed the most, so it is conclusive to say that this campaign was commanded by him.
In general, the Huaihai Campaign was a campaign jointly launched by the two major field armies under the leadership of the Emperor, and it was a common achievement of all commanders working together and heroically killing the enemy. For the subsequent evaluation, it is not necessary to distinguish who lives in the high, after all, this is a collective honor.