One day in July 1975, ** was listening to *** and *** reports, when he suddenly asked: "That Tan Zheng ** went?" "At this moment, why did you suddenly think of Tan Zheng? And Tan Zheng is the founding general, why don't you even know that he went?
As the saying goes, "the poor family wants a good wife, and the country is in trouble and thinks of a good general", in July 1975, the enlarged meeting of the Central Military Commission presided over by the first and second people, the central topic was the ideological style and organizational construction of the army.
When reporting on the political work of the army, he suddenly remembered the founding general who had followed him for half a century and made outstanding contributions in the field of political work.
** and Tan Zheng are fellow villagers in Hunan, Tan Zheng was born in 1906 in Xiangxiang County, a scholarly family, his parents hoped that he could inherit the family business glorious lintel, named him Tan Shiming, and educated him with "orthodox" culture.
Although Tan Shiming studied orthodox culture, he still had some "wildness" in his bones, and he was not very interested in "Zhihu" when he was studying in private school, and gradually "deviant" as he grew older, and later under the influence of his wife and brother Chen Geng, he simply left home to join Rong, embarked on the road of revolution, and changed his name to Tan Zheng.
When Tan Zheng embarked on the revolutionary road, his fellow townsman *** had already become famous in the land of Sanxiang, and Tan Zheng admired this fellow villager who had never met him very much.
During the Autumn Harvest Uprising, in Wenjia City, Liuyang, Tan Zhengcai met the former secretary of the Party Committee for the first time on the playground of Liren School, Tan Zheng listened to the passionate speech of Fang Xuan, and the passionate impression had already penetrated into Tan Zheng's heart.
One day in the summer of 1928, Tan Zheng returned to Ninggang from Suichuan Caolinwei and received a notice from the organization to let him become the secretary of the former committee of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, and the two had their first intersection.
Early the next morning, Tan Zheng came to ***'s residence with excitement, and after knocking lightly on the door, ** came out and smiled heartily: "It's Comrade Tan Zheng, right?" You've come back from the Grass Forest? I asked about you yesterday, and I came here early this morning, and you're welcome! ”
This unexpected enthusiasm surprised Tan Zheng a little, and he hurriedly replied: "Yes, I just came back yesterday, and the organization informed me to report to you today." ”
**nodded, pulled a bamboo chair to Tan Zheng, asked him to sit down, and then asked, "Is your father-in-law, Mr. Chen Shaochun, okay?" ”
Tan Zheng was stunned, his father-in-law, that is, Chen Geng's father, although he is famous far and wide, he should not have said anything about this relationship, how could he possibly know?
Seeing Tan Zheng's puzzled face, he explained to him with a smile: "This time I want to transfer people to work in the front committee, I saw from your volunteer book for joining the party that you are Tan Shiming, and you are Mr. Chen's fast son-in-law, so I want you to come!" ”
** lit a cigarette, took a deep breath and said: "Your old father-in-law is not simple, he is a person who has contributed to society and the revolution, his three sons have embarked on the road of revolution, and now even his son-in-law has contributed!" ”
After hearing this, Tan Zheng asked with some puzzlement: "How do you know these things?" ”
** said with a little recollection: "That was last year's thing, after the Spring Festival last year, I went back to my hometown to investigate the situation of the agricultural **, also went to Xiangxiang, met Mr. Chen Shaochun, we chatted very speculatively, he said that this world is chaotic, but only the people can be determined, distinguish the good from the bad, he also told me about your situation, Comrade Tan Zheng, do you say I can not be clear?" ”
Maybe I saw my fellow countrymen, ** talk was very interesting, he said: "After leaving Xiangxiang, I will pay attention to inquire about your news, this is still your old father-in-law's care, I found no one named Tan Shiming from the list of Wuchang Guard Corps, only one is called Tan Zheng, not long ago, I asked Comrade Wan Xixian to recommend a secretary to the front committee, he recommended you, I asked him to bring your party volunteer book, only then did I know that you changed your name." ”
Tan Zheng saw that it was almost noon, and hurriedly asked, "I came to report to the front committee, where is the front committee?" ”
**When I heard it, I said with a smile: "The former committee is here, what, you don't look like it?" ”
Here? And what about the other comrades? ”
** Pointed at himself and Tan Zheng, and said humorously: "It's all here, a secretary, a secretary, come to Qi!" ”
Tan Zheng realized that he was actually a secretary to *** when he went to the front to become a secretary, ** pointed to a wooden bed in the outhouse and said: "It's all ready, you sleep here, I'm in the back room." ”
Tan Zheng made the bed very neatly, and asked *** about the next work, ** pointed to the thick stack of manuscripts on the table in the back room and said: "Look, come to work with me, but it will be hard." ”
From then on, Tan Zheng began his secretarial career for more than a year.
At that time, while commanding the war, he seized the time to write a report to the CCP, and after writing a part, he asked Tan Zhenggong to copy it clearly in a neat font.
**I often discuss and study with Tan Zheng, and Tan Zheng often asks for advice if he has any questions he doesn't understand*** The content of their conversations is very extensive, including about the future of the revolution, about the political work of the Red Army, and about the grassroots education of Red Army officers and soldiers.
During the conversation, Tan Zheng's unique and profound insights made Tan Zheng deafening and refreshing, and he learned a lot of knowledge that is difficult to learn from books.
One of Tan Zheng's most memorable conversations also took place during this period.
Once, *** asked him: "Comrade Tan Zheng, why do you think we should establish revolutionary base areas in the countryside and carry out armed struggle?" ”
Tan Zheng thought for a long time and didn't have a definite answer, so he could only shake his head.
** pondered for a moment and said: "This is derived from the lesson of blood, the Nanchang Uprising, the Autumn Harvest Uprising, and the Guangzhou Uprising led by our party all wanted to occupy big cities, but the enemy did not allow it. ”
Speaking of which, ** looked at the vast mountains and forests outside, and then continued for a long time: "I have done a rural survey, how good the Chinese peasants are, they want revolution, they want to turn over, they are the closest friends of the proletariat, but some people in our party just can't see this clearly, always staring at the big cities, after more than a year of struggle, we have gradually understood that the establishment of rural revolutionary base areas, agrarian revolution and armed struggle is the only correct way for the Chinese revolution, it is not easy!" ”
This passage made Tan Zheng unforgettable, and also made him the first person to accept the theory of China's revolutionary road.
Many years later, when Tan Zheng talked about this past again, he still said affectionately: "Comrade *'s knowledge is very profound, and I can get a great harvest from being with him, and I still learned a lot of my knowledge from him when I was in Jinggangshan!" ”
In December 1928, the Kuomintang army came to encircle and suppress, in order to mobilize the enemy and launch guerrilla warfare with the enemy in a wider area, the main force of the Red Fourth Army decided to march to southern Jiangxi and western Fujian, and drafted the "Proclamation of the Headquarters of the Fourth Army of the Red Army" overnight, and handed it to Tan Zheng for him to print and distribute.
Tan Zheng was immediately attracted when he saw the poster, and saw that it was full of four words, which were easy to understand, concise and to the point, and admired ***'s thoughts and literary brilliance very much.
This proclamation was not only a battle declaration of the Red Army, but also a poem, and Tan Zheng couldn't put it down and read it many times in a row.
Late that night, Tan Zheng, who looked at the red-eyed Tan Zheng, said that this combat mission was very heavy, and in order to strengthen the combat strength of the troops, the former committee decided to send him to the 31st Regiment to serve as the secretary of the party committee and do ideological and political work. In the end, ** also made a joke with Tan Zheng: "Tan Zheng, Tan Zheng, worthy of the name." ”
No one expected that a joke in ** would really make Tan Zheng worthy of his name, and the political work of the people's army became the goal that Tan Zheng fought for all his life.
Before leaving, ** asked Tan Zheng, the Red Army has suffered so many defeats, can it continue to develop, the struggle in Jinggangshan is so hard, many people even raised the question of "how long does the red flag last", and now the Red Army's military spirit is still not scattered, what does it rely on?
Tan Zheng remembered the report on the struggle in Jinggangshan that he had written not long ago, and replied loudly: "It depends on the political work of the Red Army. ”
** smiled happily and said: "You remember well, we just finished writing a report to **, political work is our lifeline, this one, we must not forget at any time." ”
In the first half of 1929, there were serious differences of opinion within the Red Fourth Army, and he was forced to leave the main leadership post of the Red Fourth Army and go to western Fujian to recuperate and guide local work.
At this time, Tan Zheng, who served as the secretary of the Military Commission of the Red Fourth Army, was very anxious, when he saw that after leaving the Red Fourth Army, the troops lost one after another, and the problems exposed by the troops became more and more serious
Tan Zheng told the comrades around him many times that if there was no correct leadership, there would be no Red Fourth Army and rural revolutionary base areas, but some people said that he was alarmist, which made Tan Zheng unacceptable, and he fought with others many times.
In late October 1929, the former secretary of the former committee of the Red Fourth Army who returned from Shanghai brought good news, supported the correct line of the Red Fourth Army, and instructed him to invite back the secretary of the former committee of the Red Fourth Army.
When *** returned to the Red Fourth Army, because he had been away from the army for nearly half a year and urgently needed to understand the situation of the troops, Tan Zheng stood up, and he divided the news he summarized into six aspects and reported it to ***
During the reporting process, ** while recording and thinking, the seriousness and complexity of the problem has exceeded his expectations, when Tan Zheng reported, ** held his hand and said: "Your report is very detailed, these problems must be solved by a conference, before that, I would like to ask you to organize a few symposiums for me, and the time and place will be arranged by you." ”
Later, he told Tan Zheng: "To hold a forum, we can't call people here, we will go down to the troops, and the people attending the meeting must be extensive, so that all kinds of opinions can be heard, and you will have to go with me when the time comes." ”
Under Tan Zheng's arrangement, he participated in more than 10 symposiums in a row, and after each symposium, Tan Zheng compiled these opinions into a summary of materials, and was very satisfied with his work and guided Tan Zheng a lot of work.
** is very attentive to Tan Zheng's teaching, in Tan Zheng's own words, he grew up under the direct cultivation and education of ***, but ***'s thoughts about Tan Zheng are not because of this "teacher-student or fellow villager" relationship, but more importantly, because of Tan Zheng's achievements in the political work of the army.
During the period of the Red Army, Tan Zheng successively served as the director of the Political Department of the Red Twelfth Army and the Red Twenty-second Army, and later served as the political commissar of the Red First Division.
Tan Zheng was very talented in political work, and he took advantage of the interval between battles to organize troops to carry out political education and cultural study, and also personally gave party lessons and told stories to the soldiers, and used heroic and exemplary deeds to educate the commanders and fighters and boost their morale.
Tan Zheng grasped the discipline of the masses very tightly, and created a system of "smashing receipts" in the Red Army troops, which made the masses more supportive of the Red Army, and it can be said that one system is worth thousands of troops!
In addition, he attaches great importance to carrying out political offensives in front of enemy lines in order to break the enemy's military morale, and in order to pass on his work experience, he has to write a summary report every month, and some of the experiences mentioned in the report are consistent with the three major principles of political work that are consistent with the unity of officers and soldiers, unity between the army and the people, and disintegration of the enemy's army.
I have to say that Tan Zheng, a student, learned the essence of "teacher".
After the Red Army arrived in northern Shaanxi, Tan Zheng wrote a report in March 1936 entitled "Opinions on the New Political Work in the Red Army" in accordance with the anti-Japanese situation in the whole country and the tasks to be undertaken by the Red Army under the new situation, systematically summing up the political work experience of the Red Army's establishment, development, and growth, and putting forward constructive suggestions for the Red Army's subsequent political work.
After handing this report to the Central Military Commission, he praised it greatly, saying that this article played an important role in the transformation of our army's political work from the agrarian revolutionary war to the War of Resistance Against Japan.
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the Military Commission established the General Political Department, and concurrently served as the director of the General Political Department, and the deputy director was Tan Zheng, and he also served as the director of the rear political department of the Eighth Route Army, and participated in the leadership of the political work of the whole army.
In February 1938, Tan Zheng went to Wuhan to participate in the political work conference of the whole army held by the people, during which he wrote a lot of articles on the construction of the army's political work.
In 1944, Tan Zheng wrote the "Report on the Political Work of the Army," which was printed and distributed in large quantities and became a teaching material for cadres at and above the company level in all units.
Because this report plays an important role in developing the political work of the people's army, in 1978, at the all-army political work conference, it was called "another historical document of our army's political work after the Gutian Conference."
During the War of Liberation, Tan Zheng successively served as director of the Political Department of the Northeast Democratic Alliance Army, director of the Political Department of the Northeast Field Army, and deputy political commissar and director of the Political Department of the Fourth Field Army.
In the process of establishing and consolidating the northeastern base areas, Tan Zheng went deep into the front line to carry out political mobilization, he attached importance to the building of party committees and branches and policy education on land reform, and vigorously organized and carried out political education with complaining about grievances and rectifying ideas as the main content.
Later, he participated in and led the Liaoshen, Pingjin, and other campaigns and the march into South China, and in view of the characteristics of the large corps operations and the opening up of newly liberated areas, he promptly put forward new requirements on such issues as strengthening the unity of the troops, strengthening organizational discipline, and implementing urban policies.
He called on the troops to be the No. 3 unit that "fights well, unites well, and has good policy and discipline," and also promulgated the "Eight Chapters of the Covenant" for entering the city, and put forward the slogan of "no offense in the autumn and no matter what is intact."
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Tan Zheng successively served as the first deputy director of the General Political Department, director, vice minister of national defense, secretary of the Communist Party of China, etc., in 1955 he was awarded the rank of general, ranking after Chen Geng, ranking fifth among the top ten generals.
During the period when he was in charge of the political work of the whole army, he devoted all his energy to the revolutionization, modernization, and regularization of the PLA, and promptly proposed measures to solve the problems in the army and the new contradictions that had arisen in the new historical period.
In order to enhance the combat effectiveness of the troops, he regarded the popularization of culture and education throughout the army as a strategic measure for the building of the troops, and he made it mandatory for officers from workers and peasants to have attained a high school education level or above.
Tan Zheng not only demanded that leading cadres master cultural knowledge, but also study political theories well, and analyze and resolve various contradictions that constantly arise in the army with the spirit of seeking truth from facts.
Senior General Tan Zheng has long served as the leader of the army's political work, and has made tremendous contributions to the army's political work from theory to practice. On Tan Zheng's 80th birthday in 1986, Marshal ** praised him in a congratulatory letter: "Your achievements in the political work of the people's army and your achievements in the revolution will never be erased. ”
Because of ***'s affairs, ** held a grudge against *** and *** had a good relationship with Tan Zheng, so Tan Zheng was inevitably affected.
In October 1960, Tan Zheng was dismissed from all positions and became the vice governor of Fujian Province, but the good times did not last long, and after 1966, Tan Zheng was imprisoned for nine years.
In 1975, when he reported on the political work of the whole army, he thought of the political work general who had followed him, so he had the question at the beginning of the article.
In August of the same year, under the care of *** and ***, Tan Zheng finally walked out of prison, and he served as an adviser to the ** Military Commission.
However, at this time, Tan Zheng was already sick and lost his ability to work, and he was admitted to the hospital soon after he came out.
On November 6, 1988, General Tan Zheng passed away in Beijing 301 Hospital
devoted his life to political work, conscientious and conscientious, leading by example, and making immortal achievements in the three armed forces;
Lifelong follow, the party is open, open, upright, and noble demeanor to enlighten future generations.
General Tan Zheng has kept in mind the teachings of *** all his life, since he has become a member of the Communist Party, his faith in this life can only be red!