In the 60s of the last century, Sino-Soviet relations entered a freezing point, and the United States took this opportunity to throw an olive branch to China. Since Nixon**'s visit to China in 1972, relations between China and the United States have gradually eased.
By the end of the 70s, ** personally presided over negotiations with the American side, and the exchanges between the two countries increased day by day, and they often sent delegations to each other for visits.
In 1980, the Chinese delegation landed on the American continent again, this time accompanied by a 64-year-old rear admiral, who called *** Americans, and this time he was very generous, allowing the delegation to visit their sea boats.
But after all, this involves some military secrets, and the US side has also made demands:"It can only be **, not touched by hand, and all visits must be carried out in the company of the US Navy
When he learned that the US ships on this visit included the "Kitty Hawk" aircraft carrier, he was very excited. It was the first time he had been on this sea giant.
**After boarding the ship, he very much obeyed the regulations of the American side, put his hands tightly behind his back, and carefully observed every corner of the "Kitty Hawk".
At that time, the reporter captured a shot, ** because his height is not high, he can't see it in many places, he stood on tiptoe and stretched his neck, just to see more clearly. The American sailors next to him looked at him with disdain and talked about it.
Figure: **Stand on tiptoe to see a U.S. aircraft carrier.
With a total length of 323 meters and a width of 40 meters, the whole battleship is like a city floating on the sea. There are all kinds of carrier-based aircraft lined up on the deck, which are very powerful, and Liu Qinghua looks very small when he stands on it.
"If only we had such a warship! ”With a long sigh, the Chinese Navy at that time was nothing more than a couple of destroyers and missile boats.
The largest of them is only the Type 051 Jinan missile destroyer, with a full load displacement of only 3,670 tons, which is like a flat boat in front of the "Kitty Hawk".
This trip hit *** very hard, and after returning home, he said a sentence:"If China doesn't build aircraft carriers, I won't be able to turn a blind eye. ”
On October 1, 1916, a baby fell to the ground in Liujiayuan Village, Huang'an County, Hubei Province, and his parents named him *** Although the family used to be a scholar, but at that time, the Qing Dynasty had already been overthrown, and the domestic situation was unstable.
In troubled times, only with guns and cannons in hand can you have the right to speak, and it was really not easy for my parents to read that little book in that era. Therefore, the Liu family has always been relatively poor, no different from ordinary farmers at that time.
My father was not a pedantic reader, so he left his books behind and began to work hard to earn money to support the family. He worked as a tailor and a potter, but no matter what he did, he was diligent and not afraid of hardship.
My father firmly believes that reading can still change his fate, so even if he is living in poverty, he also found a way to send *** to a private school. ** He did not live up to his father's expectations, and he worked very hard in his studies, and it took only 3 years to complete the books such as "Analects", "University", and "Mencius".
When he was 10 years old, there was a gradual agricultural movement in Hubei, and a new-style school was opened near his hometown, among which there was a teacher named Xu Yuebo. He was a member of the Communist Party, and in addition to teaching students Chinese, mathematics, geography and other courses, he also often taught Marxist ideas to students, and since then, the seeds of revolution have been planted in his heart.
Figure **General.
Later, due to various reasons, the number of students in the school gradually decreased, and finally only *** was left. In his later years, when he recalled the past, he would humorously say: ".One student with one teacher, I am paid more than the current graduate students. ”
On November 13, 1927, more than 30,000 peasant self-defense troops and volunteers began to attack Huang'an County under the leadership of the Communist Party of China in Huang'an and Macheng, Hubei Province, and then formed the Eastern Hubei Army of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. This is known as the "Jute Uprising".
At that time, he was still a child, and under the influence of his teacher Xu Yuebo, he began to devote himself to the proletarian revolution. Due to his young age, he was not allowed to join the army for the time being, so he became a traffic officer, mainly responsible for transmitting information to the Red Army, and because of his repeated excellent missions, he became the commander of the local children's regiment.
In 1931, he became a glorious Red Army soldier, and due to his high cultural literacy, he served as the chief of the General Headquarters of the Eastern Hubei Guerrillas. He often participated in our party's propaganda work and engraved the "Warrior Daily" and other publications.
As the scale of the red armed forces in the Soviet area continued to grow, Chiang Kai-shek began to fidget, and repeatedly mobilized heavy troops to carry out "encirclement and suppression" in the Soviet area, and participated in every anti-"encirclement and suppression" without exception.
Due to the mistakes in the tactical command of the Red Army, in 1934, ** began the Long March with the Red 25th Army. The Kuomintang army set up a multi-layered encirclement, and our army was in a very difficult situation.
In order to join the ** Red Army as soon as possible, the Red 25th Army fought bloodily with the enemy and broke through many lines of defense of the enemy. In November, the Red 25th Army encountered the enemy in Dushu Town, and during the battle, *** was hit in the ankle by the enemy, and because the conditions at that time were too simple, the wound was purulent and infected.
Concerned about his safety, the organization wanted him to dress up as a civilian and stay in the area to recuperate from his injuries. But it was rejected by ***, claiming: ".It is better to climb than to follow the organization. ”
In order not to drag down his comrades, ** pulled the tail of a horse and limped to follow the troops on the march. Finally, he finally dragged a stump leg to northern Shaanxi.
In northern Shaanxi, the army continues to shine in propaganda work, and our army's famous "Three Disciplines and Eight Points of Attention" was changed and is still being sung today
Picture: Lyrics and sheet music of "Three Disciplines and Eight Attentions".
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, ** served as the captain and political commissar of the cadre brigade of the 386 Brigade of the 129th Division, and became a partner with ***, and followed the 129th Division to participate in many battles such as Qiqian Village, Changshengkou, and Shentouling.
In January 1938, ** was organized and arranged an important task to escort a comrade who was not too tall to the 129th Division. ** Wittily led the team to avoid the blockade of the Japanese puppet army, and safely sent people to the headquarters of the 129th Division.
This person is the official composition of the *** Liu Deng army. Since then, **has formed an indissoluble bond with ***, and ** has left a deep impression on him.
During the War of Liberation, ** followed the Shanxi, Hebei, Yulu Field Army to leap thousands of miles into Dabie Mountain, reversing the situation in North China in one fell swoop.
In the Huaihai Campaign, he led his troops to contain the Huang Wei Corps and Zhang Gan's Corps, and cooperated with other main forces to fight. Later, he was ordered to block Chen Yannian's corps, and completed the task brilliantly many times, making great contributions to the victory of the Huaihai Campaign.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he successively served as Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of the Political Department of the Military and Political University of the Southwest Military Region, Director of the Political Department of the Second Senior Infantry School, and Deputy Political Commissar of the 10th Army.
In 1952, ** suddenly received an order from Navy Commander Xiao Jinguang to immediately go to Beijing to discuss relevant matters. After arriving in Beijing, Xiao Jinguang only held ***'s hands as soon as they met.
Picture: Xiao Jinguang.
The two talked happily about the situation of the Chinese Navy, but in the end, Xiao Jinguang said to ***: ".The organization decided to send you to the Dalian Naval Academy as a deputy political commissar, would you like to?
Hearing this, ** was immediately stunned, Navy? I have fought for half my life, but all of them are land battles, climbing snowy mountains, walking through grasslands, and stepping on deserts, but I have never gone to the sea, and now I don't know anything about the navy. As the saying goes, "10 years of the army, 100 years of the navy", the development of the navy is not so simple.
Even the task was arduous, but I still agreed to it:"I resolutely obey orders and do whatever the organization tells me to do
"You don't have too much pressure, now that our navy is under construction, no matter who you let go, you have to start learning from 'one plus one equals two', you have studied at the Military and Political University, and you still have a certain advantage compared with others! ”Xiao Jinguang also saw ***'s sad face, so he began to encourage him.
China is a country where the self-sufficient smallholder economy has always maintained internal stability. Since ancient times, various dynasties have not paid much attention to the development of the navy, coupled with the policy of "closing the country to the outside world" in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, which made China miss the Age of Discovery and the Industrial Revolution.
In modern times, with the backwardness of industry and the neglect of the world, China's sea power has always been in a dispensable state. In modern times, all threats to China have come from the sea, and the most difficult issue of Taiwan, for example, has not been resolved because it does not have a strong navy.
**I came to Dalian Naval School with apprehension. He was extremely excited by the magnificent sea, but when he boarded the ship with the trainees for training, he was beaten hard by reality.
Figure: **Inspection of the Navy.
The first time I went to sea, I caught the wind at sea, and the ship was swaying from side to side by the waves. The *** from the army has never seen this formation, and before the official training subjects have been carried out, he has already vomited on the deck.
Not only him, but most of the cadets were also on board for the first time, and the deck was littered with vomit and a mess. In desperation, the cadets had to temporarily return to the sea, but this also made *** understand that the Chinese Navy still has a long way to go.
Later, *** increased the frequency of going to sea with the cadets, and even lived on a ship with the cadets. Soon he adapted to the wind and waves at sea, and gradually he also developed a strong sense of belonging to the navy.
However, the development of the modern navy is not like the era of sail warships, which can be completed by continuous practice and exploration. The modern navy is a complex discipline that must be supported by a sound knowledge system.
Fortunately, China and the Soviet Union were still in the honeymoon period at that time, and the military appointed ***, who had reached the age of 38, to study at the Voroshilov Naval Academy of the Soviet Union. It is indeed too old to go abroad for further study at this age, and when you come to an unfamiliar environment, you may not have the ability to adapt like young people.
But *** Marshal said to ***: ".The development of the Chinese Navy cannot be done behind closed doors, we need knowledge. After thinking about the current situation of the motherland's navy, I still firmly chose to go to the Soviet Union for further study.
To go to the Soviet Union for further study, the first thing you have to do is to overcome the language barrier, but fortunately, his wife is engaged in translation work and is relatively proficient in Russian, so the relationship between husband and wife was transformed into a teacher-student relationship by him. By the time he left for the Soviet Union, he was able to use Russian for everyday communication.
But after arriving in the Soviet Union, the professional courses were obscure, and my language skills were not enough at all. So the teacher was so big on the podium that he wrote down everything the teacher said, and when he returned to the dormitory, he studied it repeatedly.
In 1955, he was awarded the rank of rear admiral, and the marshal personally went to the USSR to confer the title on him. In 1958, he graduated from the Voroshilov Naval Academy with 10 honors and 3 honors.
After returning to China after completing his studies, he briefly served as the deputy commander of the Lushun base and the commander of the North Sea Fleet. But soon he was transferred to the Research Institute of the Ministry of National Defense and began to promote the development of Chinese warships.
In terms of the design of warships, China was a blank at that time, and most of the ships in service in the navy at that time were old ships from the Second World War era, or some small boats of several hundred tons, which could only protect China's coastal waters and could not withstand strong winds and waves, and the Chinese had to build their own large warships.
Thanks to the efforts of the people, China has its own missile destroyers and nuclear submarines. In particular, the research and development of nuclear submarines has allowed the Chinese Navy to take a big step forward, and China has become the fifth country capable of independently building nuclear submarines.
Figure: China's first guided missile destroyer, the Jinan.
But *** is not carried away by what has been achieved so far. As early as World War II, the Americans had proved to the world that aircraft carriers were the hegemon of modern naval warfare, and that a navy without aircraft carriers would be an outdated navy after all.
In 1970, the first discussion on aircraft carriers was organized, and in May the "Preliminary Opinions on the Construction of Aircraft Carriers" were completed. This is the first time that China has proposed to build aircraft carriers.
However, due to the special period at that time, the aircraft carrier plan was finally stranded, but the aircraft carrier dream of *** was never shattered. Five years later, in the "Report on the Problem of Naval Equipment", he again proposed:"Start the development of an aircraft carrier as soon as possible. ”
In 1980, when he served as the deputy chief of the general staff of the People's Liberation Army, he was invited to visit the United States this year. On the last day of the visit, the Americans asked the delegation to visit the lead ships of the US Navy.
Among them are the USS Fox missile cruiser, the USS Tarawa amphibious assault ship, the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier. Although the welcome ceremony was very grand, the US Navy has always been wary of the Chinese.
** and others were not allowed to touch any part of the American battleship, but even so, he was very much looking forward to the visit. Especially the visit to the "Kitty Hawk", because he always had a dream of an aircraft carrier in his heart.
Figure of the aircraft carrier "Kitty Hawk" after decommissioning.
The "Kitty Hawk" aircraft carrier is like a floating city, especially the ship island, which is as tall as a dozen stories high. At that time, *** was 64 years old, and when he visited the "Kitty Hawk", his footsteps never stopped.
The U.S. military narrator explained to him the history of the battleship and the role of each part. **Carefully observe any piece of instrument, any nut on the ship.
When he landed on the top floor of the ship island with difficulty, the entire "Kitty Hawk" aircraft carrier was completely presented in front of his eyes. The wide runway, the slender hull, and the carrier-based aircraft on the ship are neatly arranged. There was envy in his eyes.
"Officially, because of the emergence of aircraft carriers, the mode of naval warfare has been pushed from the plane to the three-dimensional, and the real over-the-horizon combat has been realized. ”After leaving the "Kitty Hawk" aircraft carrier, ** is still unsatisfied, when will we also have our own aircraft carrier.
Later, he also said a sentence: ".If China does not build aircraft carriers, I will not turn a blind eye.
In 1982, after attending a meeting, he was stopped by ***:"You better go back to work in the navy, the navy has too many problems now, and you need to rectify it. ”
At that time, *** was 66 years old, but *** still trusted him very much, and in the eyes of ***, ** was still the aspiring young man 44 years ago. After that, ** served as the commander of the Navy.
When *** went to Lushun Military Port for inspection, he felt extremely disappointed. The harbor was congested, the captains neglected their duties, and the military discipline of the soldiers was lax.
"Look at the ground beneath your feet! During the Sino-Japanese War, how much blood did the Chinese leave in these areas. The bloody lesson is in front of you, have you all forgotten? ”After that, he carried out drastic reforms, personally formulated more than 70 disciplines for the Chinese Navy, and supervised the development of naval equipment.
Figure Port Arthur.
Under the leadership of the Chinese Navy, the spirit of the Chinese Navy has taken on a new look and has made achievements that have attracted worldwide attention. China has successfully mastered the technology of launching launch vehicles under water, and has also established the Nansha Fiery Cross Reef Marine Observatory.
However, China was affected by technology and never built its own aircraft carriers. In the very year he became commander of the Navy, a piece of news came from the southern hemisphere. The British defeated Argentina in the Battle of the Falklands.
In this battle, the British Royal Navy used aircraft carriers to travel long distances and won the war on Argentine doorstep. This makes *** even more convinced that the Chinese Navy needs aircraft carriers.
In 1987, he presided over the establishment of the Captain Flying Course, the main purpose of which was to train relevant talents in aircraft carriers. Later, he was transferred to the Military Commission, but he was still worried about China's aircraft carriers.
In 1988, the Battle of Nansha broke out between China and Vietnam, in which our army won a complete victory, sinking two Vietnamese ships and severely damaging one. More than 400 Vietnamese troops were captured, and only one of our troops was wounded. The Battle of Nansha made it clear to the world that China's sea power is sacrosanct.
In March 1998, China's Chuanglu Group bought the hull of the Varyag aircraft carrier from Ukraine for $20 million, and at that time, in order to prevent Western countries from being overly vigilant, Chuanglu Group claimed that it would turn it into a water park.
Even so, the Varyag was made difficult by the Turks when it crossed the Black Sea. On March 4, 2002, the Varyag finally arrived at the port of Dalian thanks to the efforts of many parties.
In 2005, China's aircraft carrier project was officially established, and it has been waiting for this day for more than 30 years. After learning the news, he said excitedly three times:"Wow! "Wow! "Wow! ”On this day, the 88-year-old *** was happy like a child.
China's scientific researchers have carried out a five-year transformation of the Varyag, and finally delivered a satisfactory answer to the Chinese people in 2010, and China's first aircraft carrier is about to go on trial.
The first captain of China's first aircraft carrier was named Li Xiaoyan, who was once one of the ten cadets of the flying captain class founded by ***. On TV, he saw that the ** he brought out with his own hands walked into the command room of the aircraft carrier, and he smiled with satisfaction.
Pictured Li Xiaoyan, the first captain of the "Liaoning".
In 2012, China's first aircraft carrier was launched, and just as China's first aircraft carrier was riding the wind and waves in China's territorial waters, General ** failed to see this scene. On January 14, 2011, ** died of illness at the age of 95. Fortunately, on his deathbed he learned that China was about to have its own aircraft carrier.
In 2012, China's first aircraft carrier was officially handed over to the Chinese Navy and was named "Liaoning". The development of the Chinese Navy has risen to a new level.
On April 26, 2017, at the Dalian Shipyard, China's first domestically produced aircraft carrier was launched, and then it was named "Shandong", and China has entered the era of "dual aircraft carriers".
In addition to aircraft carriers, Type 052D destroyers, Type 055 destroyers, and Type 075 amphibious assault ships are in service with the Chinese Navy like dumplings.
In particular, the Type 055 destroyer is firmly in the first place of the Blue Star destroyer in terms of performance。China's navy is going to the deep blue, and the Chinese civilian hands have proved China's strength to the world.
Figure Type 055 destroyer.
However, the Chinese Navy is still catching up with the world's most advanced level, and on June 17, 2022, China's third aircraft carrier was officially launched, after which it was named "Fujian".
The "Fujian" has solved the world-class problem of electromagnetic ejection and has the ability to take off and land early warning aircraft, which has enabled the Chinese naval aviation to further develop towards digitalization and informatization in its operations.
The electromagnetic ejection technology on the "Fujian" is even more efficient and reliable than that of the most advanced "Ford" aircraft carrier in the United States.
However, the founder of China's aircraft carriers, General ***, has been gone for 11 years. Today, the Chinese Navy has three aircraft carriers, second only to the U.S. Navy in terms of total naval tonnage.
I don't know how the *** general will feel when he sees this scene, he no longer needs to stand on tiptoe and observe other people's aircraft carriers with envy.
The predecessors planted trees, and the descendants enjoyed the shade", the development of the Chinese Navy is inseparable from the efforts of our predecessors. In that era of poverty and whiteness, the Chinese navy represented by *** opened up a new world for the motherland's navy with their own hands.
While we are cheering for the strength of the motherland's navy, we must not forget the silent dedication of our ancestors for the cause of the navy.