General Su Yu was famous, from an ordinary soldier in the agrarian revolution to a great general in New China, his superb command ability won the respect of his opponents and the praise of the whole army.
** He was once highly praised as "the best at leading troops to fight". However, due to his low-key personality and restrained personality, for a long time, people were unaware of ***'s appreciation for him.
It wasn't until the nineties that Li Yinqiao, the chief of the guard, made public his evaluation of Su Yu for the first time in an interview. Speaking of this, Li Yinqiao sighed, "If you don't mention it, no one will know about it anymore."
The relationship between Su Yu and *** and ***'s evaluation of Su Yu has always attracted much attention. On August 10, 1907, the sky above Fulong Township, Huaihua City, Hunan County, was pierced by a loud cry, which was Su Yu's birth.
Although Su Yu's parents are hardworking and capable, and the family also has a certain amount of savings, he did not like to read when he was a child, but liked to dance with guns and sticks. It wasn't until he was 6 years old that he was sent to a private school to start reading and writing, and his natural intelligence made it easy for him to learn.
As a young man, he was eager to learn, first at the county's model elementary school, and then exposed to many progressive ideas in the new school founded by his uncle. When he was 15 years old, his parents decided to marry him in order to keep him, but he was resistant to his parents' decision and had the idea of running away from home for the first time.
In 1924, Hunan No. 2 Normal School enrolled students in Huaihua, and he immediately signed up for the examination and successfully enrolled with excellent results. After saying goodbye to his mother, he went to the Hunan Second Division alone without telling his father, when he was only 17 years old.
During his studies at the Hunan Second Division, he actively participated in patriotism and brought progressive ideas to the Changde area.
Because of the violation of official interests, Su Yu and other progressive students were forced to leave their original schools and go to Wuchang instead. There, they joined the revolutionary army led by Ye Ting and began a new fighting life.
Over the next few years, Su Yu grew through the army, not only becoming a member of the Chinese Communist Party, but also participating in the Nanchang Uprising, fighting alongside Ye Ting.
After 1928, due to the failure of the Shonan Uprising, Su Yu followed the revolutionary army to Jinggangshan. At that time, the Red Fourth Army had just been formed"Three disciplines and six points of attention"It has become a code of conduct that everyone in the army must abide by.
This made Su Yu very important, because before that, he had worked briefly in the Chinese Nationalist army, and although the Kuomintang army also emphasized military discipline, they adopted a hierarchical model of army management.
In the Red Army, both generals and soldiers were equal. Therefore, Su Yu deeply admired the "three disciplines and six attentions". Soon after, the two of them had the opportunity to get up close.
Through the study of military theory, Su Yu gradually emerged. In 1929, ** was unwell and took Jiang Hua and others to Tianzidong in Fujian to recuperate. And it was Su Yu who served as the *** guard, and he was only the commander of the third company at that time.
Moreover, he neither has made meritorious contributions on the battlefield, nor does he have an academic degree from a famous school such as the Whampoa Military Academy. It stands to reason that ** shouldn't have much intersection with him. However, just a week after living in Tianzi Cave, ** noticed Su Yu.
Although Su Yu is introverted and silent, he is meticulous in his work. He carefully organized his more than 100 guards and divided them into two teams, one team followed him to stand by *** at all times, and the other team went to the surrounding area to keep a close eye on the situation.
At that time, ** had been active near Tianzi Cave, but under Su Yu's careful arrangement, ** had never encountered danger, and his work talent was also recognized.
Su Yu is calm, never overstepping, and during the protection period, he did not talk to *** too much. However, ** has a unique eye, and he is keenly aware that Su Yu will do great things in the future.
Therefore, after returning to Jinggangshan in 1930, Su Yu was successively promoted to battalion commander and regiment commander, and was often received by ***.
**, Mr. Zhu talked about the deployment of troops, and Su Yu, who was listening, was thoughtful and witty, and quickly absorbed military knowledge. As the years passed, he respected *** as a "teacher", which was inseparable from the learning experience during that time.
There is no doubt that Su Yu was a military genius, and under the careful teaching of two "mentors", he showed outstanding command skills. In the first anti-"encirclement and suppression" battle in 1930, he moved forward bravely, successfully won a great victory in Longgang, and captured the enemy division commander Zhang Huizan.
While communicating with ***, he is sharpening on the front line, as long as he continues to experience in the army, he will definitely be able to take charge in the future.
In the new historical context, due to the change of ***'s work, Su Yu lost contact with him. For the next 8 years, ** and the Red Army went through the test of the Long March, while Su Yu stayed in the southern base area.
However, a new historical opportunity is coming. In 1937, when the full-scale War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression broke out, ** in Yan'an, he remembered his former comrades-in-arms, especially the young genius, and his name echoed in his mind for the first time.
The name "Su Yu" is like a spiritual symbol, inspiring *** to sacrifice his life for the country and save the nation from peril. However, when the news came, ** was shocked because he heard that Su Yu had been sacrificed.
But *** was calm, and he said in a flat tone, "If you have to struggle, there will be sacrifices, and dead people often happen." ”。
Although *** showed that he was at ease, it was difficult to hide the deep grief on his face. It was not until 1938 that he learned about Su Yu from Zhou Zikun, deputy chief of staff of the New Fourth Army.
After hearing that he did not die, but was only resting in the rear for a few years because of a serious injury, ** smiled and said three in a row"Okay"Word. It turned out that Su Yu served as the captain of the anti-Japanese guerrilla corps on the Zhejiang-Fujian border, and after the outbreak of the all-out anti-Japanese war, he carried out tasks in southern Anhui and southern Jiangsu, and risked destroying a large number of Japanese railways, which greatly slowed down the marching speed of the Japanese army.
Beginning in January 1939, Su Yu commanded a series of famous battles, such as the ambush of Shuiyang Town, the Battle of Hengshan, and the surprise attack on Guanqiumen, killing more than 400 enemies in total.
The Battle of Huangqiao was filled with gunsmoke and flames of war. The New Fourth Army and the Kuomintang Han Deqin Department launched an earth-shattering decisive battle. General Su Yu, wise and brave, commanded Ruoding, with 7,000 soldiers of the New Fourth Army, against 1The 50,000 Kuomintang troops staged a bloody battle that shocked the world and wept ghosts and gods.
In the end, Han Deqin's troops were defeated, and the New Fourth Army annihilated a total of 1 enemy troopsMore than 10,000 people were captured, and 3,800 enemies were captured, completely reversing the situation of the War of Resistance in Central China. After the battle, ** personally sent a telegram and praised General Su Yu, believing that he was a rare military wizard who would surely shine on the battlefield in the future.
This is the first time in decades that a general has been so highly praised, which is enough to see General Su Yu's outstanding performance in the Battle of Huangqiao.
In the early days of the Liberation War, Su Yu served as the commander of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Military Regions, and the burden on his shoulders was very heavy. Although he and *** often exchanged letters, due to various reasons, they were unable to meet again.
Despite this, the attention to Su Yu has not diminished. In June 1946, Su Yu proposed to the ** Military Commission to change the plan of the three armies of Shandong, Taihang, and Central China to attack at the same time, and change the Central China Field Army to fight a war of annihilation in the Soviet-Central region first.
**Agree to this, and then follow the trajectory set by Su Yu. This decision allowed the PLA to avoid massive losses in the initial battles, laying the foundation for later victories.
In July 1946, Chiang Kai-shek gathered the most elite 500,000 troops of the Kuomintang and prepared to launch an attack on Central China.
However, in the face of a formidable enemy, Su Yu did not have the slightest fear, and he showed excellent command skills and the ability to fight large regiments in battle. After 45 days of fierce fighting, the Kuomintang army in central China was defeated by our army and suffered heavy losses, and Su Yu also won the reputation of "victorious general".
In the following year, Su Yu continued to win victories in famous battles such as the Laiwu Campaign, the Menglianggu Campaign, and the Eastern Henan Campaign, relying on excellent strategic deployment and tactical execution, and inflicted heavy blows on the Kuomintang army.
Especially in the Battle of Jinan in September 1948, Su Yu brought heavy losses to Wang Yaowu's troops, annihilated more than 100,000 enemies, and captured 23 senior generals, including Wang Yaowu.
This greatly encouraged, ** coincided with the Huaihai Battle was brewing, so Su Yu was invited to come to discuss, and the pair of old friends who had been separated for 17 years finally met again.
In the army, there was a habit that he never personally greeted visiting guests. In his long military career, only two people have made him an exception, one of them is **, and the other is Su Yu.
When he met Su Yu, ** not only came to the door to greet him immediately, but also prepared a table of chili feasts for him, considering that Su Yu was from Hunan, he should be able to eat spicy.
However, contrary to ***'s expectations, although Su Yu is from Hunan, he can't eat spicy. Despite this, the meeting was very pleasant, and the two ate happily and sweated, as if they had returned to the passionate years in Jinggangshan.
They did not covet fame and fortune and resigned from the rank of marshal. At this meeting, ** and Su Yu basically determined the operational deployment of the Huaihai Campaign. Later, Su Yu did not disappoint ***, he fought against the **800,000 army with 600,000 troops, but he was not defeated at all.
After 66 days of fierce fighting, the PLA annihilated more than 170,000 enemies and captured 320,000 prisoners.
Therefore, ** praised: "In the Huaihai Campaign, Su Yu made the first contribution. He spoke highly of Su Yu's military talents. Even decades later, when British Field Marshal Montgomery visited China, he mentioned the outstanding military generals around him, and he first mentioned Su Yu in the Huaihai Campaign.
Therefore, when the People's Liberation Army awarded the title in 1955, ** insisted on awarding the rank of Marshal Su Yu, although according to military merits, Su Yu deserved the title, but he resolutely refused.
Su Yu was the founding general of the People's Republic of China, and he twice resigned from the appointment of commander of the East China Military Region during the War of Liberation, fully demonstrating his character of not admiring fame and fortune.
** He was very appreciative of his noble qualities, so when determining the list of awards, Su Yu's status as a general was particularly emphasized, and he was even called "the first general".
Although Su Yu fought valiantly during the war years, his body deteriorated due to six pieces of shrapnel remaining in his head. Therefore, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, he gradually faded out of the front line.
However, his exploits are always remembered and his name is particularly fond of him. According to Li Yinqiao's recollection, ** once in a conversation with ***'s guards, he joked that his name included two of China's great military strategists, Han Xin and Su Yu, and he was happier than both of them.
In general, Su Yu was a brave, fearless, humble and low-key soldier, and his deeds deserve to be remembered and respected forever.
Everyone laughed out loud, although this sentence came from the mouth of ***, but it fully illustrated Su Yu's important position in ***'s heart. In his later years, ** in conversations with Mr. Zhu and **, he often mentioned the matter of awarding titles.
He said: "* In terms of history, talent, and morality, Su Yu is qualified to be a marshal, he is an important figure in the War of Liberation, and no one knows Su Yu in East China. Of course, because General Su Yu is humble and low-key, neither taking the initiative to ask for credit, nor being proud, therefore, **'s praise for him is only circulated among a few people.
Therefore, in Li Yinqiao's later years, he couldn't help but mention ***'s evaluation of Su Yu. General Su Yu's whole life was to fight for the people, and although he gave up fame and fortune, he never gave up his responsibilities.
His life was full of a career as a horseman, with six injuries and three resignations, and his spirit is worth learning from each of us. This uncrowned marshal will always be worth learning and remembering.