The veteran general Zhan Danan left us in 2020, a weather-beaten veteran of the revolution who witnessed the rise and prosperity of New China. His life is full of meaning, whether it is facing the challenges of surgery or gathering with friends on his 100th birthday, he has always maintained an optimistic spirit.
In the battle of the bombardment of Kinmen, General Zhan Danan, with his heroic and resolute leadership, shouted three powerful words in succession. Recalling these past events, he explained: "I can only obey the orders of my superiors. ”
This fully demonstrates the bravery and heroism of General Zhan Danan, and makes people deeply feel that his life is full of love for the country and the nation.
Zhan Danan joined the revolution as early as the Red Army passed through the area, and he did not hesitate to join the Red Army and served as a soldier in the special service company.
During the Long March, Zhan Danan always followed Xu Haidong closely. Unfortunately, in a battle with cold guns from the enemy, Zhan Danan was shot in the right foot. Xu Haidong immediately found a horse for Zhan Danan to ride, so that he could survive.
Later, after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Zhan Danan, with his personality of daring to fight and fighting, obeyed the orders of his superiors, led the troops of the military region to continue to struggle for 5 days and nights, and finally liberated Zhangjiakou, an important town in North China, and became the first commander of the garrison.
Zhan Danan continued to be active in the Jirecha region and served as the ** commander of the Jirecha Military Region. He succeeded in striking at the enemy on the Pingsui line, so that the enemy's forces were divided into two places and could not form a joint encirclement.
Such tactics caught the enemy off guard, and also demonstrated Zhan Danan's excellent military command ability. Afterwards, Fu Zuoyi commented that Zhan Danan was a person who was very good at fighting, and he very much wanted to meet this person and see his true face of Lushan.
Zhan Danan, a brave and warlike general, once confronted the US "Polar Bear Regiment", even in the face of severe cold and enemy bombing, he was still not afraid, withstood the pressure and commanded the army, and finally succeeded in besieging the "Polar Bear Regiment" in the vicinity of Xinxingli and Surabaya, and killed the commanders of the regiment, Colonel McLean and Colonel Feith, making this once elite unit of the US Army completely disappear.
In Zhan Danan's career, he has experienced baptism of war again and again, and his whole body is almost covered with wounds. Even on his deathbed, his lower abdomen and thighs still bear the marks of bullets from those years.
However, he looks at the pain with a sense of humor, smiling and saying, "This is my gain." ”
In 1958, Beijing ordered the "shelling of Kinmen", and the 28th Army always stuck to the front of the East China Sea of the motherland. Despite the fact that the Fujian region had sufficient reserves of artillery shells, the preparation time was relatively hasty due to the short time for receiving orders.
However, the heavens were not beautiful, which brought many difficulties to this battle.
The Fujian region was hit by heavy rains frequently in late July, which posed great challenges to the combat mission. However, for the Kuomintang, what they never expected was that the PLA would choose to bombard Kinmen in such weather.
Under these circumstances, the Fuzhou Military Region set up a front-line command post and issued a specific operational order on July 21. The Xiamen side was responsible for attacking Xiaojinmen and the areas around Dadan and Erdan, while the Lianhe side was responsible for the 28th Army, which mainly attacked Dajinmen.
In order to ensure the smooth progress of the mission, the artillery needed to be fully in position by the night of the 24th. However, the reconnaissance unit soon brought back information showing that Zhan Danan was very anxious about the military orders of his superiors.
He made a military order, promising that the whole army would enter the predetermined area on time, and if he could not complete the mission, he was willing to accept the punishment of shooting.
The military order has been established, but the task of ensuring that the whole army arrives at its destination on time is arduous. Zhan Danan quickly attacked, ordering the 1st Division to go to Quanzhou Ferry to ferry artillery, and the Military Engineer Corps to repair the bridge.
In order to ensure the smooth passage of troops, Zhan Danan and other leaders of the main military regions personally went to the bridge to supervise the work, but only when they arrived at the scene did they realize that the problem was serious.
In the process of ferrying from the shore, an artillery battalion of the 28th Army had spent several hours, but the vanguard still failed to pass the ferry, and the artillery regiments behind were still queuing, which made the progress slow.
The ferry ahead was in chaos, and in order not to delay the task, everyone asked to ferry themselves out first. Seeing this endless quarrel and chaos, Zhan Danan felt very angry, and he loudly scolded all the officers and soldiers, asking them to line up for the ferry in order.
Despite this, the problem of ferries has not been completely resolved.
The gun carriage was too big, and the current was so strong that it was difficult for the ferry to cross it. We have to find ways to do it faster and more efficiently. The military order that had been made before could not be fulfilled because of the lack of ships.
We need to act now, and the death order of ** cannot be delayed. Mobilize more large ships that you can use now. "
When he received the task, the deputy division commander immediately took action and quickly left the scene. Faced with the immediate predicament, Zhan Danan quickly gathered his team and rushed to the washed out bridge, and the sappers were also busy repairing the work.
Zhan Danan found the commander of the engineer regiment and gave a serious order, and the three "shots" instantly calmed down the hustle and bustle of the scene. In the heavy rain, everyone concentrated on completing their tasks, no one argued about trivial matters anymore, only the sound of rain and engines echoed in their ears.
A "shot" order brought everyone together and the construction progressed quickly. Soon after, after the commander of the 39th regiment reported the situation, Zhan Danan decided to try to challenge. Liang Shusen found the soldier with the best driving skills in the regiment, drove the first car through with difficulty, and dragged a gun carriage, everyone was nervous, but fortunately ......
Liang Shusen found a feasible method, and he immediately called the best soldiers in the regiment and asked them to drive the car to drag the artillery cart across the river, which greatly increased the speed.
These artillery wagons, which crossed the river by pontoons, also reached the predetermined positions as quickly as possible. In the afternoon of the same day, the engineering regiment completed the repair work of the bridge, at least to ensure the smooth crossing of the artillery trucks.
By the night of the 24th, all of Zhan Danan's artillery units had arrived at the predetermined position.
Shelling of Kinmen"The campaign not only significantly enhanced China's international standing and led many Western countries to recognize China's international status after the event, but also had a significant impact on the strategic deployment of the United States.
After the PLA's artillery bombardment, the US ** team, which was carrying out aggression in the Middle East, had to mobilize its troops back to Asia, thus reducing the pressure on the Middle East region. It can be said that"Shelling of Kinmen"The battle was not only a civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, but also involved the issue of the bipolar struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union, and the significance behind it was far-reaching.
Zhan Danan successfully completed the mission, after which he successively held the posts of commander of the Gansu Provincial Military Region and then deputy commander of the Nanjing Military Region.
Although Zhan Danan retired from the post of deputy commander of the Nanjing Military Region in 1983, he was still strict with himself and his concern for the masses of the people was always the same. Although many people think that he was a violent temper in the "shelling of Kinmen" incident, in fact, when he returned to his hometown to visit his fellow villagers, reminisced with them hand in hand, and even used the 100,000 yuan he saved to build a Hope Primary School, we can see his gentle side.
This Hope Primary School was established by Zhan Danan with his own savings, expressing his love and concern for education.
Every year, General Zhan Danan had a state-funded recuperation opportunity in accordance with the regulations of his duties, but whenever the organization asked for his opinion, he always disagreed. Among the students he sponsored, there were even outstanding talents who were admitted to Peking University, and they often talked with the old general Zhan Danan, but few people knew that this amiable old man also had a mighty and serious side.
In his later years, someone interviewed him and asked him about his past at the Quanzhou Bridge. What people are most concerned about is whether the old general Zhan Danan will really shoot these soldiers if the engineer commander at that time could not repair the bridge and the deputy division commander could not think of a solution.