"Zhang Tingfa is preparing to be knocked down for the second time. ”
1.Before Zhang Tingfa took over the work of the Air Force, China's planes could not fly over it. Problems such as technology, capital, and routes put him under pressure. After returning from North Korea in 1953, Zhang Tingfa, as the first deputy chief of staff of the Air Force, has been thinking about how to build the Air Force.
In 1955, it was decided to open the route from Beijing to Lhasa, and Zhang Tingfa was entrusted with the important task of solving a series of problems within 9 months. He needed to find a route that could pass through the majestic mountains of Tanggula, Bayankala and Nianqing Tanggula, and build an airfield on a plateau with an average altitude of more than 4,000 meters.
A series of difficult problems, such as flight command, communication and navigation, and meteorological support, are waiting for him to solve. However, Zhang Tingfa was not intimidated by the difficulties, and he moved forward bravely like the ancient flying generals, holding a bow and arrows.
Zhang Tingfa's fingers gently loosened, and the string sound disappeared into the air. ** The three departments of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff agreed with his plan, and his operation to open the sky officially set sail.
In the cold wind in the early morning of March 19, the Du-4 aircraft flew cautiously in the mountains. Commander Yao Changchuan piloted the plane, explored the terrain of the route again and again, and accurately corrected the elevation.
After 4 repeated flights, a complex and tortuous route was finally determined. When Yao Changchuan flew over the Nianqing Tanggula Pass and landed in Lhasa, China's air force successfully sent an aircraft to Lhasa for the first time, opening up a new route from the mainland to Lhasa.
On 22 April, Yao Changchuan led Zhang Guoxiang's crew to fly the Du-4 plane over Lhasa, and the plane drew beautiful arcs in the air. In the cheers of the people, colorful congratulatory leaflets fluttered in the air, symbolizing the arrival of the "heavenly soldiers", making this plateau mountain city full of joy.
Zhang Tingfa's arrow successfully crossed the mountains.
* told Zhang Tingfa that the ** delegation was going to return to Beijing by air force plane, and he stressed the importance of *** to ** and the importance of the new air route opened by the air force.
Zhang Tingfa felt a heavy responsibility, and flew directly to Xining on the same day, listened to the opinions of the air force of the Lanzhou Military Region, and made detailed preparations for the aircraft and support work to ensure that nothing went wrong.
On May 31, 1956, an IL-12 plane took off from Lhasa, and Marshal ** laughed on the plane. After hard work, in January 1957, the route from Beijing to Baotou to Xining to Yushu to Lhasa was finally opened.
In 1958, Zhang Tingfa's responsibilities were even greater, and the post of chief of staff no longer had a subordinate. Although the day-to-day work is still the same, the job is the job, and with that position comes that responsibility.
For Zhang Tingfa, the only thing he can do is to do his duty wholeheartedly.
In October 1975, Zhang Tingfa was appointed political commissar of the Air Force and first secretary of the Party Committee of the Air Force, and he took over the important task of leading a country's air force. At that time, Deng Gong found him and asked him about his plans for a job in the Air Force.
Zhang Tingfa, as always, reported to his old boss the existing problems and solutions of the Air Force. After hearing this, Deng Gong smiled and nodded, then looked at Zhang Tingfa seriously and said: "Your task is to protect the party's leadership of the Air Force from being taken away by careerists, and to ensure that the leadership of each air force unit is not influenced by careerists. ”
Zhang Tingfa nodded deeply. After leaving Duke Deng, the ** marshal also found him and sincerely instructed him: "Things are always twists and turns, but I believe that you can overcome difficulties and live up to the trust of the country." ”
Wang Shoujiang found Zhang Tingfa, who was sick, at the Air Force General Hospital. He conveyed Ye Shuai's words to Zhang Tingfa: "The illness needs to be **, and the army also needs to be managed." ”
After hearing this, Zhang Tingfa ignored his illness, came out of the hospital on the same day, and sat in the air force combat duty room, as long as he was there, the air force would remain stable and there would be no chaos.
On October 7, 1976, the Military Commission held a meeting in Xishan and announced that ** had taken decisive measures against the Gang of Four. This news made Zhang Tingfa, who had been nervous for several days, finally breathe a sigh of relief, but the excessive excitement made him sick again and fainted at the venue.
After being rushed to the hospital, he survived the premature death of a heart attack. At the dinner party after the ** Military Commission meeting in December of the following year, Deng Gong's wine glass appeared in Zhang Tingfa's position.
He glanced at the comrades who were staring at him, raised his wine glass, praised his old subordinates loudly, and said in one sentence the hardships of Zhang Tingfa's hard years. Although Zhang Tingfa was happy that the country was back on track, he was still troubled by the problems of the air force.
After investigating the chaos in the troops, his brow furrowed higher. "There must be a complete overhaul! ”
On July 27, 1977, Zhang Tingfa reported to Deng Gong on the situation of the Air Force, and he angrily denounced the poor quality of equipment, frequent flight accidents, and the sacrifice of pilots.
He even bluntly said that "politics can impact training" was nonsense, and hundreds of planes could not leave the factory because of quality problems, and even if they left the factory, there were many quality problems, such as falling rivets and failing to pass the engine wheel blades.
**There was even an accident of the rotor falling during the flight. Faced with these problems, Deng Gong was also very angry and instructed Zhang Tingfa to conduct an inspection in two directions.
While these things are in the past, we need to learn from history to ensure that future training and development is more stable and safe.
Deng Gong solemnly pointed out at the Central Military Commission's forum that after Zhang Tingfa received the first instruction, he carried out a comprehensive rectification in the Air Force. He set up a special working group to go deep into troops, academies, equipment warehouses, and factories to conduct a comprehensive inspection of aircraft equipment and flight technology.
As soon as a problem is identified, it is resolved immediately. Passed"Top 10 rectifications"、"A batch of three grasps"、"Three checks and three rectifications"A series of special campaigns have been carried out to comprehensively renew the once-sluggish air force, and the rate of flight accidents has hit a new low since the founding of the army.
Two years later, Deng Gong took this as an example and directly proposed the navy for reform.
Zhang Tingfa's contribution to the Air Force cannot be erased, but what he is most proud of is the body of the escort. When Zhang Tingfa first met ***, he had not yet become a generation of flying generals.
In the summer of 1955, the chairman and the marshal held a meeting in Hangzhou. After discussing matters such as the Air Force's entry into Fujian, the chairman instructed Air Force Commander Liu Yalou to return to Beijing to report to Premier ***.
However, due to his busy military affairs, Liu Yalou handed over the matter to Zhang Tingfa, then deputy chief of staff of the Air Force. Zhang Tingfa is a national general, but at that time, almost all the affairs of the country fell on *** person, and even he needed to report when he took a bath and went to the toilet, so it was difficult to find time to meet Zhang Tingfa.
Zhang Tingfa hit a nail when he first contacted the prime minister, and the secretary of ** rejected his application for a meeting in **, asking him to elaborate on the matter in **, and then he would go and report to the prime minister.
However, "No, Commander Liu Yalou sent me back and asked me to report to the prime minister in person." When the secretary conveyed the matter to ***, the prime minister directly agreed to his request, but the secretary still instructed Zhang Ting: "The prime minister has dinner, you report." ”
This is not that the secretary deliberately made things difficult for Zhang Tingfa, but that he knew how tired the prime minister was on weekdays.
The next day, Zhang Tingfa met with the prime minister. In the West Flower Hall, ** listen while eating, and ask some key questions from time to time. After Zhang Tingfa's report, the prime minister became interested in the general's past.
Where he came from, when he joined the Red Army, and in which unit he worked ......These questions seem ordinary, but they are full of the prime minister's concern for him, which makes Zhang Tingfa feel very excited and unforgettable for many years.
Later, Zhang Tingfa was awarded the rank of major general of the Air Force and was responsible for leading the special aircraft affairs of the troops. Liu Yalou once pointed out the arduousness of this position, every time someone used a special plane, Zhang Tingfa had to deal with it personally, from preparing the plane, inspecting the plane to test the flight, he needed to be present to supervise every link.
However, despite his tremendous efforts, he has also been criticized by the prime minister for this position.
Under the regulations at that time, **, foreign affairs planes, and air forces were required to submit written inspection reports, which were signed by Liu Yalou, Wu Faxian, and Zhang Tingfa and reported to the premier.
However, ** stipulates that the names of Liu Yalou and Wu Faxian can be printed and sealed, but Zhang Tingfa's name must be handwritten and sealed, because Zhang Tingfa is in charge of the special plane affairs.
In the first few years, Zhang Tingfa had been acting in accordance with this rule, but later, he felt very familiar with ***, and once because of his busy business, he only printed his name and stamped it after checking the plane.
He thinks it's just a trifle because he hasn't slacked off in the security check. However, **of** immediately called. "Did you take part in the inspection of the aircraft? ”
Zhang Tingfa knew that he was in trouble, but he had to answer truthfully. Very angry about this and told him that he needed to resign and submit the report. This was the first time Zhang Tingfa saw the prime minister angry, and he realized the importance of the matter since then, and decided not to let go of any small things in the future.
On January 8, 1976, Zhang Tingfa, who had not seen him for a long time, met his mentor, but this mentor could no longer open his eyes to look at him. At that time, Zhang Tingfa was already the commander of the Air Force, and looking at the prime minister's closed eyes, he was silent, only mourning.
However, Wang Dongxing, who was on the sidelines, interrupted his grief and gave him an important task - according to the premier's last wishes, his ashes would be scattered on the land of China, a task that could only be completed by the air force.
The prime minister's voice and smile echoed in Zhang Tingfa's mind repeatedly, and in the end, he could only guarantee to complete the task. In order to complete the task, Zhang Tingfa prepared two crews, one is a domestic aircraft, which is parked at Tongxian Airport; The other is an imported aircraft, which is parked at Nanyuan Airport and is on standby.
Zhang Tingfa decided to use a domestic plane to send the prime minister on his last journey, and he believes that the prime minister will make the same choice when he is there. At the command post of the Suixing Air Force Transport Regiment, he personally arranged a special plane for the leaders, and at this moment, he once again went to the staff and solemnly conveyed the premier's last wish: to use a domestic aircraft to scatter the ashes on the rivers, lakes, seas, and land of the motherland.
According to Deng Yingchao's requirements, Zhang Tingfa carefully planned the flight route: take off from Tongxian Airport, pass through the Capital Airport, then fly over Miyun Reservoir, Tianjin, Shandongbei Town (the mouth of the Yellow River), and finally return to Tongxian Airport.
At 8:15 p.m. on January 15, the domestic Y-5 carrying the ashes of the prime minister flew out of Tongxian County, and then slowly moved forward at an altitude of 2,000 meters, and the low speed of 180 kilometers was enough for the prime minister to slowly appreciate the magnificent mountains and rivers of the motherland.
In the Miyun Reservoir, the Prime Minister's ashes were sprinkled to the earth for the first time; In Tianjin, the place where the prime minister once studied and worked, also accepted the prime minister's last wishes; In the land of the Yellow River, which gave birth to the Chinese nation, it turned into spring mud and did its last strength for China.
When the Y-5 numbered 7225 returned to Tongxian, it was 0:45 the next day, and Zhang Tingfa sent off the prime minister's last journey with mixed feelings.
Five minutes later, the world was broadcast from China: 34 years later, 92-year-old Zhang Tingfa also passed away in the footsteps of the premier, but the spirit and contributions they left behind will always be remembered.