On September 13, 1971, a Trident aircraft with the number 256 took off from Shanhaiguan Airport and eventually crashed near Öndörkhan in Mongolia. This incident is the famous "913 Incident" in history.
After this incident, the air force sector was dealt a serious blow, and many generals, including Commander Wu Faxian, were put under scrutiny. Today we are going to talk about another general who served as the deputy chief of staff of the Air Force - He Zhenya.
He was censored and removed from office shortly after the 913 incident. So, what are the little-known stories of He Zhenya? What kind of life did he go through?
Let's step into his world and explore its mysteries.
He Zhenya, a native of Shaanxi Province born in 1913, has been full of love for reading since he was a child, and is gifted with excellent academic performance. At the age of 17, he was successfully admitted to the 17th Route Army Officer Training Class of Yang Hucheng's Department.
After graduating, he successively served as a platoon commander and deputy company commander. However, the Kuomintang troops were very different from the troops he hoped for the country and the people, and he was very depressed by lax military discipline and frequent beatings and scolding of soldiers.
Soon after, He Zhenya began to come into contact with Marxism-Leninism and gradually became influenced by the progressive ideas of our party. In 1935, he led more than 100 of his subordinates to revolt, announced the establishment of the Southern Shaanxi Guerrilla Army, followed the example of the Red Army, robbed the rich and helped the poor, punished bullies in Ningxi, and was welcomed by the local people.
In 1936, his unit was incorporated into the Red XV Corps, and he himself served as the head of the Guards Regiment. After that, under the leadership of the party, he participated in the battle to consolidate the base areas in northern Shaanxi.
After the full-scale outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, he was assigned to the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, mainly engaged in relevant security work in the border area. In 1944, he was ordered to advance to the anti-Japanese front in Henan, and participated in the anti-"sweeping" battle under the command of Wang Shusheng, witnessing the victory of the Anti-Japanese War.
During the Liberation War, He Zhenya was ordered to go to the Northeast and contributed to the establishment of the Northeast Base Area. After the Northeast Field Army was reorganized into the Fourth Field Army, he served as the chief of staff of the 40th Army, participated in the Pingjin Campaign with the Siye Field, and marched into Zhongnan and participated in the Shonan Campaign.
In the process of Siye's march into central and southern China, Liu Yalou was appointed commander of the Air Force of New China, and He Zhenya was also transferred to the Air Force and served as the chief of staff of the Air Force Joint Command.
After the outbreak of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Air Force of the Volunteer Army, leading the troops to participate in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, demonstrating his military talent and outstanding contributions.
During the period of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea, our air force was still in its infancy, and the US air force did not take the volunteer air force seriously when it entered the Korean battlefield, and even swaggered to our army's position.
However, under the leadership of He Zhenya and others, the Volunteer Air Force was not afraid of difficulties, dared to challenge, and fought bravely, so that the US Air Force began to fear them. As the battle progressed, the U.S. military not only feared the Volunteer Air Force during the day, but also remained vigilant at night.
It was under the leadership of He Zhenya and others that the Air Force of the Chinese People's Volunteers was able to defend the dignity of the country and make great contributions to the victory of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
After the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement, He Zhenya returned to China and entered the Northeast Military Region, where he became chief of staff of the region's air force. In 1957, he was appointed deputy commander of the Air Force of the Shenyang Military Region, and since then he has been committed to the construction and development of the air force system, and has made outstanding contributions to the strength of the air force of our army.
As a result of his outstanding performance, in 1968 he was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff and Chief of Logistics of the Air Force. During this time, he was still in the process of experiencing the 913 incident.
In October 1971, He Zhenya was dismissed from his post and has since faded out of the public eye. In his later years, he spent most of his life in Beijing, where he died of illness in 1978 at the age of 65.