In the War of Liberation, our army was reorganized in order to better cope with the war, and a column was formed. This establishment is equivalent to the current establishment of an army, that is, the commander of the column should be a commander-level commander, which is equivalent to the current major general.
On the battlefield of liberation, those who were able to serve as column commanders were all cadres who had already held battalion and regimental positions during the Red Army period, and they were veteran revolutionaries and battle-hardened veterans who had experienced the rain of bullets and bullets, and they were extremely valuable to the army.
However, the war of liberation was very cruel, and our army also sacrificed many officers and soldiers. So, did the commander of the column, who was the senior commander, sacrifice? The answer is yes, and today I would like to introduce the senior commander of our army who died on the battlefield of liberation, and he is Xie Xiangjun, commander of the 10th Column of the Central China Field Army.
Xie Xiangjun, a senior commander of the People's Liberation Army who died in the defense of Lianshui, is still praised for his heroic deeds. Although the reorganized 74th Division, the Kuomintang ace army, was eventually annihilated by our army and its division commander Zhang Lingfu was also killed, the sacrifice of Commander Xie Xiangjun was not fully reported at the time.
In the famous TV series "Red Sun", there is no mention of the news of Xie Xiangjun's sacrifice, which makes people question. But this series of questions may be answered from the situation at the time.
On October 19, 1946, the Kuomintang dispatched the 74th Division to reorganize and pounce on Lianshui in three directions, in an attempt to divide the liberated areas of central China. In the face of the crisis, the Central China Field Army immediately launched deployments, and decided that the 10th Column would be the main force, with the Second Army sub-divisions cooperating, relying on the favorable terrain on both sides of the Yellow River to launch a battle to defend Lianshui.
Although Xie Xiangjun died heroically in battle, his heroic deeds and selfless dedication will forever be recorded in history and remembered by future generations.
In the Battle of Lianshui, the 10th Column had just completed the task of seven victories in seven battles between the Soviet Union and China, and immediately accepted a new challenge. After a brief mobilization with the party committee of the column, Xie Xiangjun led the troops to set off.
The fiercest battle took place on October 25. Although the reorganized 74th Division was well-equipped and well-trained, the 10th Column was significantly inferior in equipment. Under the bombardment of the enemy's 300 cannons, Xu Ji, the abandoned embankment of the Yellow River where Xie Xiangjun's command post was located, was torn open.
At this critical moment, Xie Xiangjun personally led his troops to fight with the enemy with bayonets, and finally repelled the enemy. Despite this, Xie Xiangjun still felt uneasy, so he went to the command post of the 84th Regiment and used a telescope to observe the enemy's movements on the other side of the Yellow River.
However, when he checked the situation and was about to explain the relevant matters to the staff officers around him, he suddenly fell to the ground with an "ah". Xie Xiangjun's face turned pale, he covered his stomach with his hands, and the people around him hurriedly helped him up.
At this time, everyone realized that Commander Xie had exposed his position while observing the enemy's situation, and was finally hit by the enemy's snipers.
During an inspection, Commander Xie was wounded, and because his injuries were too severe, he finally died a heroic death. In order to keep it secret and stabilize the morale of the army, the news of Xie Xiangjun's sacrifice was not made public, and his body was quickly buried behind the ancestral ancestral hall of Sun Xian, surnamed Banhu Ji.
This work was done in such secrecy that many troops did not know that the column commander had died until the end of the Battle of Lianshui. It was not until 1959 that the Funing Lupu Anti-Japanese Memorial Tower was rebuilt, and the Military Commission decided to move the body of Commander Xie Xiangjun from Banhu to the Lupu Martyrs Cemetery, erected a tombstone, and made up a grand memorial meeting.