On August 8, 1958, ** visited the Jinan Military Region, and a short but energetic leader in front of him caught his attention. He asked kindly, "Little Lizi, why haven't you grown yet?" ”
The named "Little Plum" saluted the chairman, and the chairman was also very pleased to see the man in front of him, who was not tall but full of vitality. He patted "Little Plum" on the shoulder and praised him for his low height, but he was in good spirits.
So, who is this "little plum"? And what did he do to impress the chairman? Read on to find out.
"Little Lizi" is called Li Shuiqing, formerly known as Li Shuiqing, born in Jishui, Jiangxi Province in November 1918. His family was poor and lived in extremely difficult conditions.
In order to make a living, his parents sent him to work in the home of a local landowner. However, the landlord treated him very cruelly, and if he was not careful, he would be beaten with sticks. The parents realized that if he continued to work in the landlord's home, his life could be in danger.
After much deliberation, they decided to let him live with his grandfather, who was a member of the Communist Party. Under the influence of his grandfather, he not only learned new knowledge, but also strengthened his determination to help the poor people change their fate.
He has always dreamed of joining the Chinese Communist Party.
Li Shuiqing's childhood was full of longing for the Red Army. At the age of twelve, he finally got his wish and joined the Red Army unit of his dreams. He took the initiative to sign up for the army, however, due to his young age and insufficient height at the time, the army leadership did not assign him a gun due to various factors.
However, Li Shuiqing was not discouraged, he showed outstanding talent in the recruit company, so he was promoted to the commander of the 2nd Regiment of the 5th Red Division and a youth officer and a propagandist of the Political Department.
Subsequently, he embarked on the road of the Long March with the Red Army, during which time he accumulated a wealth of combat experience. It is worth mentioning that after joining the Red Army, he also witnessed the scene of "capturing Zhang Huizan alive".
In the first anti-"encirclement and suppression" battle, the strength of a division led by Zhang Huizan was successfully defeated by our army, and he himself was captured by our army.
When the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression broke out, the Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army, and Li Shuiqing was appointed as an instructor of the 343rd Battalion of the 115th Division and participated in many battles. Among them, the battle of Pingxingguan made him remember it vividly.
In the battle, he and the regiment commander Yang Chengwu led the soldiers to complete the task of their superiors - sniping the Japanese troops in the valley, that is, the "waist station" sniper battle. On September 25, Li Shuiqing led the soldiers to rush to the "waist station" area on time, and at about 7 o'clock, the enemy army appeared.
In the face of the enemy's gradual entry into our army's ambush circle, Li Shuiqing immediately made a decision and commanded the officers and men of the 115th Division to be brave and brave, and the intertwined firepower of machine guns and grenades made the enemy confused.
However, the well-trained Japanese army quickly reacted and launched a counterattack against our army with the help of its advanced equipment, and many brave soldiers of our army died in this fierce battle.
Fortunately, our army had already anticipated the counterattack of the Japanese army, even if the enemy's firepower was fierce, our officers and men still rushed to the front line one after another, and picked up the machine gun was a wild sweep, and it was under the suppression of our firepower that the Japanese army lost its momentum for a while.
Li Shuiqing seized this opportunity, took advantage of the victory to pursue, led the soldiers to rush to the enemy, and after seven hours of fierce fighting with the enemy, the Battle of Pingxingguan finally ended in the victory of our army.
After the war, Li Shuiqing was appointed as the political commissar of the Second Vertical and Fifth Brigade of the North China Military Region by virtue of his outstanding performance in the Anti-Japanese War, and soon after he was promoted to the deputy commander of the 67th Army and the commander of the 199th Division.
The Taiyuan Liberation Campaign officially kicked off in October 1948, and Li Shuiqing led the 199th Division of the 67th Army to play an important role in this battle. Yan Xishan ruled in Shanxi for 38 years, and in order to prevent our army from capturing Taiyuan, he set up a series of protective measures in the core defensive area of Wohu Mountain.
This small hill is guarded by more than 5,000 troops, armed with more than 170 mortars and more than 160 light and heavy machine guns. The terrain of Wohu Mountain is treacherous, and Yan Xishan has also strengthened protective measures.
In order to reduce **, our army held several meetings to discuss the strategy of capturing Wohu Mountain.
Li Shuiqing's ingenuity was fully demonstrated, and on April 21 he successfully sent a reconnaissance team, and when they reached Wohu Mountain, they found that the enemy army had no fighting spirit, so they easily occupied a pillbox.
This news made Li Shuiqing overjoyed, he originally thought that the enemy army would send elite soldiers, but what he didn't expect was a group of people with no combat effectiveness to guard here. In his opinion, if a small detachment can successfully capture a pillbox, then there is absolutely no problem with a battalion of our army.
Therefore, he immediately decided to send two regiments of troops from the pillboxes occupied by our troops to attack Crouching Tiger Mountain, and sent a report to his superiors. His old superior, Yang Chengwu, expressed his appreciation for this and specially sent 200 divisions to cooperate with Li Shuiqing's operation to ensure the success of his operation.
Under the wise command of Li Shuiqing, the officers and men of our army displayed incomparable heroic combat effectiveness in this campaign. In the face of the treacherous terrain and difficult to defend and difficult to attack, our army's artillery fire was as fierce as thunder, and it was quickly overcome.
This victory laid a solid foundation for the liberation of Taiyuan and greatly boosted the morale of our troops. Taking advantage of the victory, the officers and men of our army attacked Taiyuan City in one go, accelerating the liberation process of Taiyuan.
After learning of the victory in this battle, the ** marshal expressed his high praise for him in front of Li Shuiqing many times.
On the day of the founding of the People's Republic of China, when the five-star red flag was raised for the first time, Li Shuiqing, commander of the 199th Division, led the troops to be reviewed. Just two years later, when the Korean War broke out, Li Shuiqing accepted the task again and led the 199th Division into Korea to fight against the American army.
In the face of the advanced equipment of the US army, Li Shuiqing was not afraid, and used his wisdom and calmness to skillfully arrange the position and enhance the firepower of our army. Under his command, our soldiers used anti-tank ** to carry out a fierce attack on the American tanks, and countless armor-piercing shells and rockets flew towards the enemy tanks.
Under the resolute attack of our troops, the American tanks lost their former prestige, and one after another stopped firing. In the end, the battle ended in a crushing defeat for the American ** team, and they could not withstand the fierce attack of our machine guns and artillery after losing their tanks.
In this fierce battle, Li Shuiqing led the whole battalion of soldiers to defeat more than 17,000 enemies in three days, setting a record for the highest daily enemy annihilation since the outbreak of the Korean War.
It is worth mentioning that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), upon learning of his heroic performance, specially awarded him the Order of the National Flag of the Second Class and the Order of Freedom and Independence of the Second Class.
After the victory of the war, in order to deal with the frontal attack of our army, the US ** team actually adopted despicable means and used biochemical ** to attack our soldiers.
In the process of inspecting the US military ordnance, Li Xiang, commander of the 67th Army, unfortunately contracted an illness and died, becoming the highest-ranking general of our army to die on the Korean battlefield. When he learned of this bad news, Deputy Army Commander Li Shuiqing's eyes were red, but he knew that the front-line battle was urgent, and as the deputy army commander, he couldn't fall into grief for too long.
So, he carried the entire 67th Army and led the troops to launch a summer counterattack. Before the counterattack began, Li Shuiqing specially arranged for scouts to go and explore the terrain of the US military position so that he could make the next deployment.
After fully understanding the distribution of the enemy's positions, Li Shuiqing quickly formulated a counterattack plan and took the lead in launching a fierce attack on the enemy's positions on 13 July. The concentrated fire of more than 1,000 artillery pieces and rocket artillery caught the enemy by surprise.
Perhaps because of the strong grief and indignation caused by Li Xiang's death, the firepower of our officers and men showed extreme ferocity. Soon, our army's attack completely disintegrated the enemy's defense system, and after the enemy lost its defensive ability, it was unable to resist the fierce fire suppression of our army, and finally lost on July 14.
Under the leadership of Li Shuiqing, the 199th Division successfully planted the five-star red flag on Jiaoyan Mountain, announcing the victory of our army. At the same time, the campaign also helped North Korea regain 238 square kilometers of territory.
After Li Xiang's death, the post of commander of the 67th Army became vacant, and because of Li Shuiqing's outstanding performance in battle, the chief intended to promote him to the new commander of the 67th Army. However, Li Shuiqing said that he did not have enough education and was not suitable for the post of army commander, and hoped to go to Nanjing Military Academy led by *** to study.
The chief gladly agreed to his request. At the Nanjing Military Academy, Li Shuiqing studied diligently, which not only improved his cultural level, but also enhanced his combat ability.
In the end, he successfully graduated from Nanjing Military Academy with excellent grades. After graduation, the chief again found Li Shuiqing and appointed him as the new commander of the 67th Army.
This time, Li Shuiqing gladly accepted the position and became the new commander of the 67th Army. In 1955, his outstanding performance in the battle led him to the honor of founding major general at the award conference of our army.
In 1957, Li Shuiqing was fortunate to meet *** in Qingdao and learned of the arrival of ***, he was very excited, and immediately went to the hotel where *** stayed to stand guard and make every effort to ensure his personal safety.
**It was a very pleasant stay in Qingdao, and I decided to stay here for a few more days and held a **working meeting in Qingdao. After the meeting, leaders of ** and other countries went to Qingdao one after another.
In the face of such a strong lineup, Li Shuiqing did not dare to slack off in the slightest, immediately mobilized a group of officers, and in order not to arouse suspicion, he also specially asked them to change into civilian clothes to secretly protect the safety of the leaders.
During his stay in Qingdao, Li Shuiqing's actions made *** unforgettable. One afternoon, ** took a leisurely stroll in the small garden of the hotel, but at this moment, because the hotel wall was low, it was discovered by sharp-eyed children.
The child excitedly shouted the name of ***, and this scene quickly attracted the attention of the surrounding crowd, who wanted to see the demeanor of this great leader. However, in this exciting scene, Li Shuiqing was keenly aware of the potential safety hazards of the hotel.
He knew that the safety of the country's leaders was of paramount importance, and immediately asked the higher authorities for instructions and asked to change the residence for ***. After receiving Li Shuiqing's instructions, the relevant departments immediately took action and arranged a new residence for *** to eliminate potential safety hazards.
Li Shuiqing's action fully demonstrated his deep respect for the country's leaders and his high vigilance for security issues as a loyal staff member.
His decisive decision-making and quick action not only ensure the personal safety of the company, but also reflect his professionalism and sense of responsibility for his work.
Li Shuiqing's carefulness and intimacy left a deep impression on ***, and even affectionately called him "Little Lizi", which is a nickname that no one has used for Li Shuiqing except ***.
After the separation in Qingdao, the two never saw each other again, and it was not until August 8, 1958, when ** went to Jinan to inspect, that they were able to meet again. **As soon as I entered the venue of the Jinan Military Region, I saw Li Shuiqing standing in the front row of the team, and my eyes immediately lit up, and I said to him with a smile: "Little Lizi, I haven't seen you for so long, why haven't you grown yet?" ”
Hearing this, Li Shuiqing hurriedly stepped forward to salute with a serious expression. Seeing Li Shuiqing's serious expression, ** couldn't help laughing: "I haven't grown tall, but the spirit of 'Little Lizi' has increased a lot!" ”
This once again shows that **'s love for Li Shuiqing has never changed, even though Li Shuiqing is now the founding major general, but in ***'s heart, he will always be the red ghost.
In 1975, although Li Shuiqing left the army for many years, he still had the dream of serving the country in his heart. It wasn't until *** came back that he saw hope of returning to the army.
He immediately expressed his desire to return to the army to ***, and was recognized by ***. In the end, Li Shuiqing was arranged to serve as the first deputy commander in Nanjing, becoming one of the core figures of the Nanjing Military Region, and realizing his desire to serve the country.
In 1993, Li Shuiqing, who was in his late teens, suddenly missed his mother who was far away from home, and since he joined the military when he was young, he has rarely seen his parents.
This sudden longing made Li Shuiqing decide to go back to his hometown to visit his mother immediately, but what he didn't expect was that when he returned to his hometown, he heard the news that his mother had passed away not long ago.
This news was like a thunderbolt from the sky, which made Li Shuiqing unbearable and immediately fell ill. On August 31, 2007, Li Shuiqing's physical condition deteriorated, and he was finally tortured by the disease and died in Beijing at the age of 89.
He has dedicated his life to the country, from the original red imp to the later founding major general, Li Shuiqing has always struggled in the front line of the war, created countless heroic deeds, and his patriotic spirit is worthy of our study and respect.