In 1949, the defeat of the Kuomintang was decided, and ** paced back and forth in the Shuangqing Villa in Xiangshan. The situation is clear, the fall of the Kuomintang is only a matter of time, and the war is coming to an end, so it is necessary to take precautions and plan in advance for post-war affairs.
Liu Yalou is well aware that after China's decline since the Qing Dynasty, it has lagged far behind the West in all aspects of development, especially its national defense strength needs to be strengthened urgently. However, the main force of the PLA at that time was the army, while the enemy forces in the War of Resistance against Japan and the War of Liberation had well-developed military forces, including the air force and navy.
Therefore, it is imperative to build the PLA's own air force and navy. One day in 1949, Liu Yalou was preparing to lead his troops to participate in the battle to liberate the central and southern regions, when he suddenly called, asking him to immediately go to Xiangshan to accept a new task and put down the military affairs at hand.
Liu Yalou received the task and immediately rode his horse to Beijing. ** Received him cordially under the guidance of the guards. Seeing his panting appearance, ** handed him a cigarette and said directly: "Yalou, I know that you are both civil and military, and you have studied in the Soviet Union, and your military and political level is very high.
I invite you here today to take on a brand new mission. Liu Yalou joined the revolution at the age of 19 and has experienced countless life-and-death battles, knowing that the trust of the organization is the greatest honor.
Therefore, he replied without hesitation: "Rest assured, Chairman, that I promise to complete the task." However, when *** told him that he was going to march into the sky from the land and form an air force, Liu Yalou suddenly fell into a predicament.
Originally, he hoped to kill the enemy bravely on the battlefield and fight to the death with the Kuomintang army. And now, he was suddenly asked to be in charge of forming the Air Force, and he felt very embarrassed in his heart.
In addition, he was born in the army, so he knew nothing about aviation, and he didn't know how to take on such a heavy responsibility.
During an emergency, he said to ***, "Please consider other candidates." * understood his thoughts, and interrupted without waiting for him to finish: "I have already decided, if you have any questions, you can ask Vice Chairman Zhou." ”
Although Liu Yalou knew nothing about aviation, he accepted the challenge without hesitation. This was not only due to his own ability, but also because of the circumstances at the time.
The PLA is mainly composed of army generals, and most of them come from poor families and have very few well-educated people. The Air Force and Navy can only be selected from among the more educated generals.
In addition to the Air Force, the commander of the Navy is also Xiao Jinguang, commander of the Hunan Military Region. What's even more helpless is that Liu Yalou, as the commander of the Air Force, is seasick, and Xiao Jin, as the commander of the Navy, is seasick.
Despite knowing nothing about the Air Force, Liu Yalou bravely accepted the organization's arrangement. After accepting the task, he worked with the political commissar, chief of staff and other comrades to study and finally put forward several key issues.
Liu Yalou and *** jointly decided on the plan to form the Air Force, and received the support of the ** Military Commission. In order to purchase the aircraft and obtain expert support, the visiting team conducted efficient negotiations with the Soviet Union, and only Liu Yalou personally went to the Soviet Union to finalize the agreement.
Before Liu Yalou set off, he and three other comrades were received in Zhongnanhai. ** They were first received and asked about the progress of the formation of the aviation.
* I was relieved to hear it and chatted with them for a while. Soon, Liu Yalou and others, accompanied by Ye Zilong, were led to ***'s office. ** Amicably sat them down, and Liu Yalou introduced the other three people who went to the Soviet Union for negotiations.
The story of Liu Yalou and his two partners. In the 30s, Liu Yalou was an engineer of aviation machinery in the Soviet Union, while Lu Liping was a Red Army cadre sent to Xinjiang to learn to fly in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War.
In their team, there is also a special member, that is, Liu Yalou's wife Zhai Yunying. * Appreciating their combination, he said: "A few of you, one is a ground commander, one is an air pilot, and one is an aircraft engineer, a rare trinity. ”
In August 1947, Liu Yalou and his entourage set off from Beijing, passed through Harbin and Manchuria, arrived in the Soviet Union, and then transferred to a transport plane and flew to Moscow.
However, due to the hot and humid weather and unstable airflow, the plane was very turbulent, except for Lu Liping, who was a pilot, everyone else was very sick and dizzy. Lu Liping helped Liu Yalou, who had vomited, to the bed to rest, and couldn't help but joke: "You are the future commander of the Chinese Air Force, and you take the lead in vomiting, so there will be more times to vomit in the future." ”
Liu Yalou was also very helpless, with a wry smile on his face.
On 13 August, Liu Yalou, **, and Wang Jiaxiang visited Marshal Vasilevsky for the first meeting on the formation of China's air force. Marshal Vasilevsky agreed with Marshal Vasilevsky and suggested a more specific discussion with Air Marshal Versinin.
After several detailed talks, the Soviet Union finally decided to send China **434 aircraft, send more than 800 specialists and advisers, and help build 6 aviation schools.
Liu Yalou also visited the Soviet Air Force, deeply admired their momentum and capabilities, and decided to develop China's Air Force with this as his goal. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Liu Yalou was officially appointed commander of the Air Force.
In the Korean War, the Chinese Air Force made its debut. Soon after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Soviet experts arrived in Beijing smoothly, and Liu Yalou organized two reconnaissance teams to survey the site of the bomber aviation school with the experts, and finally determined the addresses of Harbin, Changchun, Jinzhou, Shenyang, Jinan, and Beijing Nanyuan as the first to sixth aviation schools of the Chinese Air Force.
After selection, Liu Yalou selected more than 1,000 cadets with combat experience and high physical fitness to support Changchun. At the same time, all the aircraft and related equipment imported by the Soviet Union have been put in place.
In just one year, Liu Yalou led the aviation school to carry out three large-scale enrollment expansions, greatly enhancing the air force and training a number of outstanding command cadres. However, just as Liu Yalou was preparing for the Air Force, the Korean War broke out.
Less than a week after the establishment of the 4th Air Division, the first aviation unit of New China, it embarked on the journey to resist US aggression and aid Korea. The United States relied on its air superiority to carry out a frenzied bombing of the Volunteer Army, and the Military Commission decided to organize the Volunteer Air Force to participate in the war, which brought great challenges to Liu Yalou.
After receiving the order, Liu Yalou immediately began to prepare for combat deployment. Before formally entering the war, Liu Yalou first organized small units to take turns to conduct air combat exercises under the guidance of Soviet friendly forces, so as to make full preparations for actual combat.
At that time, the United States had 2 fighter wings, 3 fighter-bomber wings, and 14 other wings, with a total of more than 1,000 combat aircraft, most of which had participated in World War II and had rich combat experience.
Our army, on the other hand, barely managed to gather 2 destroyer divisions, 1 bomber regiment and 1 attack aircraft regiment, with a total of just over 200 aircraft, and the disparity in strength was huge. Under such circumstances, Liu Yalou is under tremendous pressure.
A month after the 4th Air Division of the Chinese Air Force went to North Korea to provide support, the United States also increased its troops. The U.S. Tactical Air Force's 5th Air Force sent state-of-the-art F-86A Sabre destroyers into the fight, increasing the number of combat aircraft to more than 1,000 and continuing to inflict damage on the volunteers.
After the commander of the 4th Air Division, Fang Ziyi, arrived in North Korea, he immediately built a wooden shed of less than 15 square meters in Andong, which was the first field command post of the new Chinese Air Force.
In January 1951, the 4th Air Division ushered in its first air battle. Li Han, captain of the 28th Brigade of the 4th Air Division, piloted a plane and shot down a US plane with three artillery pieces at an altitude of less than 3,000 meters.
Over the next 10 days, the 28th Brigade fought two more battles and shot down 3 enemy planes. The successive victories made the other regiments of the 4th Air Division more confident and wanted to make meritorious contributions. However, most pilots are novices who have just graduated from aviation school, so there are constant crashes and fatalities.
Liu Yalou was very distressed when he learned about it.
In the summer of 1951, armistice negotiations began, and the U.S. military attempted to pass"Strangulation warfare"Suppress the transportation lines of the Volunteer Army. The Chinese Air Force, led by 20 planes of the 4th Regiment of the 12th Air Division, engaged in fierce battles with dozens of enemy planes in Xin'anzhou.
In order to intercept the US plane, the Chinese air force and the DPRK air force worked closely together to form an impenetrable defense line at an altitude of 500 to 13,000 meters. After several days of heavy fighting, the US military was forced to stop fighting in the area"Strangulation plan"Declared a failure.
After the end of the Korean War in 1953, the Chinese Air Force accumulated valuable combat experience and mastered the true meaning of war through two years and eight months of actual combat baptism. During this period, the Chinese Air Force grew rapidly, with 10 destroyer aviation divisions, 21 regiments, 2 bomber aviation divisions, and 3 brigades, with a total of more than 700 pilots.
The inexperience and incomplete system of the Chinese Air Force in the Korean War led to significant losses, but the battle also made people realize the importance of the Chinese Air Force.
Therefore, ** would like to personally examine the development of the Air Force. However, in order to protect ***'s safety, ** regulations prohibit him from flying. Every time he went out to inspect, he took the train.
However, the stubborn *** was unwilling to give in to the rules, and he traveled by plane in 1956 and almost had a big accident. **Personally called Liu Yalou**, saying that he was going to Guangzhou and asked Liu Yalou to prepare a plane for him.
Liu Yalou knew about this regulation, but he still tried to change his decision on the grounds that the driver's skills were not clever and that he could not explain to the people of the whole country in case of an accident.
As we all know, ** has a resolute personality and determination, he insisted on taking a plane to Guangzhou, but this was opposed by Liu Yalou under various pretexts. Liu Yalou knew the temper of *** very well, and knew that he was definitely not ***'s opponent when he reasoned, so he turned to *** for help, because the two of them were comrades-in-arms in their early years, and they had cultivated a tacit understanding over the years.
**After learning about it, he laughed and said that he would personally arrange ***'s flight to let Liu Yalou feel at ease. With the help of ***, Liu Yalou agreed to let *** take a plane to Guangzhou, and selected the best model and the best pilot, and all aspects were strictly reviewed to ensure the safety of the flight.
At that time, the Chinese Air Force only had Il-14 and Li-2 transport planes, and Liu Yalou arranged for these planes to be on standby at Beijing Airport in consideration of the relatively strong stability of the Li-2 transport planes.
After that, Liu Yalou selected a pilot named Hu Ping among several pilots to command all the crew. Hu Ping's skills are stable, and he has escorted the ** chief many times, and Liu Yalou can also trust him.
Hu Ping and the crew only learned about the simple itinerary the night before departure, that is, the plane will take off from Beijing, pass through Wuhan, and finally land at Baiyun Airport in Guangzhou.
Although they did not know the true identity of the passengers, the mystery was revealed the next day. Liu Yalou came to the airport, and he said to the crew with excitement: "This time we are going to carry ***, so we must do our best to complete this mission." ”
With that, he stepped into the plane. The crew looked at each other, their eyes full of excitement and excitement. Soon, ** really appeared. He smiled and shook hands with the crew, and happily got on the plane.
**Sitting in front of the window, looking at the scenery outside the window from time to time, and asking Liu Yalou about the latest new progress of the Air Force from time to time. The whole flight was fairly smooth, with only some small air currents that made the plane a little bumpy.
Liu Yalou suggested that *** go to bed to rest for a while, but *** waved his hand and said, "What's there to be afraid of?" Don't you feel like a rocking chair for a child? The humorous words of * lightened the atmosphere in the cabin.
Mao Liu encountered a thunderstorm on the way back to Beijing after receiving the chairman, Liu Yalou Beijing Tower sat in command and dispatch, and the commander Cai Yanwei was anxious to call. An hour later, a response finally came, confirming that it was safe, and Liu Yalou and Cai Yanwei's nervous mood was relieved.
It turned out that Liu Yalou encountered lightning interference when the special plane entered the sky over Duhebei, and the plane's radio communication completely failed, causing the tower to lose contact with the special plane.
This made everyone very nervous, and Liu Yalou was even more worried. However, in the end, the special plane landed on time in the afternoon, and Liu Yalou greeted the chairman at the door of the plane, saying that he was safe and sound, which made the chairman laugh.
Cai Yanwei was also frightened by this experience, and he expressed his gratitude to the crew of the special plane because they saved his life. The crew was also amused when they heard Cai Yanwei's vivid memories.
In order to avoid the occurrence of the Liu Yalou incident, the Politburo further strengthened the "prohibition of taking airplanes". However, just as Liu Yalou was going all out for the development of the Air Force, the disease quietly came.
In 1964, Liu Yalou felt unwell during a visit to Pakistan, and after examination, it was found that he had cancer. Even though he was already in the terminal stage of cancer, he continued to work, but the cancer cells spread faster and faster.
On May 7, 1965, Liu Yalou died of illness in Shanghai at the age of 55.