In 1957, at a meeting held by the ** Military Commission, everyone watched helplessly as Wang Hongkun and Zhang Aiping quarreled irreconcilably. Wang Hongkun was so angry that the green tendons on his head bulged, and he pointed at Zhang Aiping and scolded angrily: "Who are you backstage, you dare to speak so tough!."”。Why did the two founding generals quarrel openly at the meeting?
It turned out that the two men were at odds over the direction of the Chinese navy's development, and both experienced generals tried to convince each other with their own views, but neither side would throw in the towel, leading to this public dispute. One or two experienced generals. Wang Hongkun and Zhang Aiping are both revolutionaries of the older generation, with rich combat experience and outstanding achievements.
Zhang Aiping began her revolutionary career in 1925 and joined the Communist Party in 1928, where she fought for the interests of the proletarian people. After joining the military, Zhang Aiping held a number of senior civilian positions. Since Wang Hongkun joined the Communist Party of China in 1929, he has been making unremitting efforts for the revolutionary cause of our party and actively cooperating with the instructions of the Communist Party of China.
During the agrarian revolution, Wang Hongkun, as a platoon commander of the First Army of the Red Army, bravely performed in battle and made outstanding achievements. ** Highly regarded for his work ability, he was transferred to the Red Fourth Army to hold a number of important positions. Wang Hongkun actively participated in the four anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaigns after the establishment of the Jinggangshan Revolutionary Base Area, and after the defeat of the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign, he completed the Long March with the Red Fourth Front Army.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Wang Hongkun was appointed as the commander of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region, leading the military and civilians in North China to resist the Japanese invaders, and finally won the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan. During the War of Liberation, Wang Hongkun led the army to participate in major battles such as the Huaihai Campaign and the Battle of Crossing the River, making great achievements for the liberation of the whole country and witnessing the birth of the People's Republic of China.
In 1955, Wang Hongkun was awarded the rank of admiral and appointed as deputy commander-in-chief of the Chinese Navy. The two experienced admirals disagreed over the direction of the Chinese navy, and both tried to convince each other with their arguments, but neither side refused to admit defeat, leading to an open altercation.
Zhang Aiping is a brave revolutionary pioneer, she resolutely picked up the ** during the four crossings of Chishui, led the soldiers to move forward bravely, and broke through the defense line of the Kuomintang many times. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, she actively organized military and civilian anti-Japanese guerrilla warfare in the southern Yangtze River Delta region, called on all sectors of society to actively participate in anti-Japanese rescue activities, and made significant contributions to the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan.
During the Liberation War, Zhang Aiping went to the Soviet Union to recuperate due to injury, and returned to China in 1948, at the dawn of the victory of the Liberation War. She went all out to promote the construction of the new Chinese navy and built a powerful people's navy in only two years. In 1955, Zhang Aiping was awarded the rank of general, which was not only a full affirmation of her work, but also a high praise for her ability.
However, a 1957 discussion at the Military Council divided the two generals. The theme of the meeting was the priority of the development of the navy, land and air force, as well as the proportion of investment. Admiral Wang Hongkun believed that the navy should be given priority over the air force, and proposed the order of development of "land, air and sea";Admiral Zhang Aiping, on the other hand, held the opposite view, believing that the air force was more important and advocated the order of "land, air and sea".
The reason why Admiral Wang Hongkun insisted on giving priority to the navy is because the lessons of history tell us that colonial aggression by foreign forces often relies on strong naval strength. He cited Britain's global hegemony as a naval force and the U.S. naval strength in the Pacific during World War II, emphasizing the security of China's long coastline and saying that naval construction is of paramount importance. Admiral Zhang Aiping's insistence on giving priority to the development of the air force also has his reasons.
He believes that the Air Force is a versatile branch of the military that can support not only army operations, but also naval operations. At a time when all countries in the world are stepping up the development of air power, if China does not invest in construction, it will be tantamount to announcing to other countries that China's air defense capability is almost zero, and they can wantonly bomb China.
In contrast, the navy can only function after the enemy has landed, while the air force can be quickly put into battle, so the air force appears more important. In addition, the construction of the Navy will take not only a long time, but also a huge investment. Considering the economic strength of the economy at that time and the urgency of the international situation, it was obviously unrealistic to wait for a long time, so the rapidly building up air force once again showed its superiority.
The two admirals could not convince each other, so they quarreled. Admiral Zhang Aiping angrily rebuked: "You are short-sighted and ignore the overall situation!."Admiral Wang Hongkun's anger was not inferior, and he responded angrily: "Are you the only one who takes care of the overall situation?"What kind of backing do you have!"Eventually, the question of who should prioritize development has been answered. In fact, before the meeting, ** was already biased.
Judging from the comparison between the two, the development of a strong navy is inevitably inseparable from important hardware equipment such as submarines and aircraft carriers. However, at that time, the functions of the various ships were very detailed, so it took immeasurable money and time to build a complete navy. In contrast, as Admiral Zhang Aiping said, building the air force is relatively simple and quick.
Moreover, the development of the air force can allow our army to achieve a major breakthrough at the tactical and strategic level, and improve not only firepower, but also the chance of victory. In addition, the Air Force has higher compatibility and maneuverability compared to the Navy. In the Atlantic and Pacific theaters of World War II, there were many examples of air force attacks and sinking of sea boats, while the Navy shot down planes very rarely.
The aircraft's high maneuverability makes it easier to hit targets and evade enemy fire. In fact, Admiral Zhang Aiping explained the priority of "land, air and sea" to ** before the meeting, and was recognized by **. After all, China has a vast territory, and the importance of combat power on land is much higher than that at sea. After careful consideration, ** finally preferred to choose Zhang Aiping.
In general, despite their heated arguments, both admirals actually agreed with each other. At that time, China's strength could not support the construction of both the air force and the navy, so the two men had a disagreement, in fact, because they were worried about China's growing defense capabilities.
Now that our air force and navy are quite strong and are being strengthened in an orderly manner, I believe that the two admirals would be very pleased to know that our national strength is now so strong.