Among the more than 1,000 generals who were awarded the title for the first time in 1955, there was one founding lieutenant general known as "resourceful and brave tiger general" - Pi Dingjun. He was praised as an excellent general who was both wise and brave, and he also left a deep impression in his heart.
Pi Dingjun was born in 1914 into a poor peasant family in Daijialing, Jinzhai County, Anhui Province. From the age of 13, he actively devoted himself to the revolutionary cause, working as a correspondent, delivering documents, and working very hard.
In 1929, Pidingjun joined the Red Army and joined the party in the winter of the following year. In the following decades, whether it was the anti-"encirclement and suppression" operation in the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Region, or the establishment of base areas in Sichuan and Shaanxi;
Whether it is the 25,000-mile Long March, or the resistance against Japan in northern and western Henan;
Whether it is the Central Plains Breakout, the Huaihai Campaign, or the United States to aid Korea; Whether it was the expansion of the revolutionary contingent during the war, or the army building and border defense construction during the period of socialist construction, he accomplished all tasks brilliantly, which is admirable.
Pi Dingjun's life fully demonstrates his wisdom, courage and excellence, and his deeds will forever be recorded in history and admired by the world.
In his half-century-long war career, Pi Dingjun fought bravely and skillfully, and repeatedly made outstanding military achievements, becoming an outstanding general in his own right. His military strategy was known for its surprise victories.
In 1939, in the anti-Japanese "clean-up" operation in northern Henan, he led a special mission to Linghou Village in the northwest of Shexian County. At that time, because of the heavy rain for several days, the water level of the Zhanghe River was **, and more than 300 Japanese troops were isolated in Henandian on the west bank of the Zhanghe River, and they lost contact with the main force of the Japanese army on the east bank.
Pi Dingjun seized the opportunity and decisively decided to lead the 1st Battalion of the Special Service Group in the middle of the night, and succeeded in encircling and annihilating these enemies at dawn the next day.
This victory dealt a heavy blow to the enemy army, greatly boosted the morale of the anti-Japanese army and people, and led to the rapid development of anti-Japanese guerrilla warfare in Shexian and Wu'an.
By 1943, the rural regime in northern Henan had been generally established, and the enemy was confined to a few county towns, and did not dare to come out easily to harm the people. However, the puppet army in Linxian County is still arrogant, and from time to time they come out to rob the people.
Pi Dingjun decided to solve this problem and teach a lesson to those stubborn and abusive enemies. After studying the enemy's situation in depth, he decided to use a suspicious strategy to lure the snake out of the hole and break through the city to destroy the enemy.
At that time, there were three regiments of the enemy stationed in the city of Linxian County, as well as strong fortifications, and it was obviously not wise to attack hard.
After our army secretly assembled near Linxian, Pi Dingjun organized reconnaissance personnel to pretend to decorate and build fortifications on the hills around the city, and mobilized the masses to create a ** that our army was about to attack the city.
At the same time, the enemy's two-sided regime personnel were used to spread the news that Lincheng had been surrounded by our army.
The enemy really hit the plan and organized two regiments to break through. At this time, Pi Dingjun commanded our army to seize the opportunity and successfully attack the city, completely annihilating a regiment of the enemy defenders. Most of the enemy who broke out of the city was also annihilated by the anti-Japanese forces that I had laid ambushes in various places in advance.
After the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Pidingjun Brigade successfully commanded the main force of our army to break through to the west on the line from ** to Huangchuan, showing his wisdom of winning with strangeness.
At that time, the enemy judged that the main force of our Central Plains was breaking through to the east, so they deployed the strength of four armies on the line, built a blockade area of 30 miles, and launched an attack on our army's position on June 26, 1946.
Pidingjun retreated to the west at night and marched east during the day, creating the illusion that the main force of our army was gathering eastward.
When the enemy launched an attack on our forward position, Pi Ding calmly responded to the enemy ten times his own size, led his troops to fight bloodily, and dragged the enemy for three days and three nights, so that our main force could take advantage of the gap to advance westward and successfully break through the enemy's western defense line.
After the main force of our army crossed the Pinghan Railway and marched westward, Pi Dingjun again tricked his troops to retreat westward, leading the enemy out of the preset position, and then suddenly ordered the troops to hide, so that the enemy could not figure out the whereabouts of our army.
After avoiding the enemy's edge, he quickly swung eastward, broke through the enemy's first blockade line with a miracle, successfully crossed the Mahuang Highway, and advanced to the depths of Dabie Mountain.
After Pi Dingjun led his troops to break through to the east, in order to join forces with the troops in Central China, he encouraged the commanders and fighters, saying: "Although our troops are far inferior to the enemy in numbers, our sophisticated equipment and outstanding actual combat capabilities give us a unique advantage in terms of military nobility and speed.
That's where we come in. Our army will definitely be able to pass through the heart of the enemy. ”
Under his command, the troops raced non-stop against the enemy, sometimes going around in circles with the enemy, looking for empty holes to kill back the carbines, making the enemy dizzy, and a large number of pursuers had to be out of reach.
In the Battle of Menglianggu, when he found that the enemy's 74th Division showed signs of breaking through, he decisively gave up the opportunity to encircle and annihilate another enemy, and unexpectedly captured the enemy's heavy ammunition storage place - Tangbu, cut off Zhang Lingfu's rearguard, and successfully realized the encirclement of the enemy's 74th Division.
Pi Dingjun showed extraordinary command ability and tactical wisdom in the battle, and was good at seizing the fighter and making use of his strengths and avoiding weaknesses, showing his strategic vision and keen insight.
When attacking the enemy in Nanshan, according to the reality of the enemy's fierce artillery fire, he ordered the troops to leave behind part of the enemy's first-line firepower points, and to attack in multiple ways, and plunge directly into the enemy's depth, so that the enemy could not distinguish between our army and his own artillery, and our army took advantage of the gap to fight bravely and annihilated most of the capital division of Li Puppet's army.
Pi Dingjun's organization and command are often unexpected, but when you study it carefully, it is all reasonable, so he is known as a general who is "particularly good at fighting" and is deeply appreciated by the chairman.
In 1955, when the generals of our army were evaluated, Pi Dingjun himself reported the rank of major general, but after seeing the audit report of the military rank evaluation, the chairman personally made instructions: "Pi has merit, and he is promoted to the middle school." ”
This fully illustrates Pidingjun's outstanding contribution and extraordinary ability.