In 1955, China implemented a major initiative to award titles to comrades who had made outstanding military exploits during the revolutionary war years, which was not only an affirmation of their heroic deeds, but also an important milestone in the history of the development of New China.
General Xu Guangda made great contributions to China's revolutionary cause, and it was decided to confer on him the rank of general. However, Xu Guangda, who learned the news, showed anxiety.
He took the initiative to request a demote, believing that he stayed in the Soviet Union to recuperate at the most critical stage of the Chinese revolution, and the rank of general was well deserved. ** Seeing Xu Guangda's application for demotion, he said with emotion: "Xu Guangda is a native of Hunan, a fellow villager with me, and his parents are simple farmers.
In order to make their son have a good job, they did everything they could to get him to school. With the support of his uncle, Xu Guangda studied in Changsha County Jiayuan Primary School, and he was smart and studious, and he cherished this hard-won learning opportunity and was meticulous in his studies. ”
Despite his busy life, Xu Guangda studied hard at school during the day and helped the family with the farm at night, but his grades have always been at the top of his class. This led to his admission to Changsha Normal School.
In the process of studying, he embraced advanced revolutionary ideas and became a member of the Communist Party of China. In 1926, the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to send a group of young Communist Party members to the Whampoa Military Academy to study military affairs, and Xu Guangda was selected.
Guangzhou was the place he longed for, because it was the place where the revolutionary forces gathered, and he had heard that ***, the famous Chinese Communist, was the head of the political department here.
In January 1926, Xu Guangda was sent by the party organization to come to Guangzhou and was successfully admitted to the Second Regiment of the Whampoa Military Academy. After three months of arduous training, he became an artillery cadet of the fifth phase of the Whampoa Military Academy.
In the revolutionary years of the Whampoa Military Academy, Communist Party members such as Yun Daiying, Yun Daiying, and *** held important leadership and teaching work, and made great contributions to the revolutionary cause.
Among them, Xu Guangda listened to the wonderful report of "Armed Forces and the People" shortly after entering the school. ** Expounding revolutionary theories in simple terms on the stage made Xu Guangda deeply understand the importance of the revolutionary armed forces and laid a solid ideological foundation for him to devote himself to the revolutionary war.
However, in April 1927, although the Northern Expeditionary Army won successive battles on the battlefield, Chiang Kai-shek turned his guns on the Chinese Communists and the workers and peasants. In the face of the enemy's big **, he resolutely launched an armed uprising in Nanchang City on August 1, firing the first shot of armed resistance to the rule of the Kuomintang reactionaries.
This is not only the adherence to and protection of the Chinese communists and the masses of workers and peasants, but also the firm belief and unremitting pursuit of the revolutionary cause.
Xu Guangda traveled a long distance to Nanchang and joined the Nanchang uprising team led by ***. Although the rebel army had withdrawn from Nanchang, Xu Guangda persevered, and finally caught up with the rebel team in Ningdu City, and was appointed company commander of the 75th Regiment of the 25th Division.
On August 19, the rebel army successfully conquered Ruijin and held a grand ceremony to enter the city, **Ye Ting, ** and other leaders walked in the front of the ranks, and people welcomed the arrival of the rebel army with joy.
Subsequently, ** and others organized the rebel army to hold an oath-taking meeting for new and old party members, and Xu Guangda also participated in this important ceremony. In his speech, he expressed his firm confidence in the rebel army and his boundless enthusiasm for the revolutionary cause, and encouraged everyone to continue to struggle and make greater contributions to the cause of national independence and people's liberation.
During the years of the revolutionary war, Xu Guangda had a firm belief in his heart, that is, he would fight the enemy to the end at all costs for the belief in communism and the party's call.
While participating in the battle of Sanheba, Xu Guangda, who was unfortunately injured, lost contact with the team, but he did not give up and has been actively looking for the party organization. He went through hardships and traveled to Guangdong, Shanghai, Anhui, Hubei and other places, inquiring about news while working, until he found the party organization in Wuhu, Anhui Province in 1929.
Subsequently, he was sent to the Honghu Soviet District, where he participated in the opening up of the Western Hunan and Hubei Soviet Districts, and participated in the struggle against "encirclement and suppression" many times, making significant contributions to the agrarian revolution. However, during a battle in 1932, Xu Guangda was seriously wounded when he was attacked by the enemy suddenly.
Due to the relatively backward medical conditions of the Red Army at that time, it was impossible to perform surgery to remove the shrapnel from his body, so he had to be sent to Shanghai**.
When the soldiers were fighting fiercely with the enemy and urgently needed surgery, Xu Guangda's hospital was unfortunately betrayed by traitors. Fortunately, the party organization quickly transferred him, sending him to the USSR for recuperation and study.
Upon arrival in Moscow, Xu Guangda immediately underwent surgery to successfully remove the bullet from his body. After a period of recuperation, his body gradually recovered, and then he entered the Lenin International Institute to study, mastering the skills of automobiles, tanks, etc.
In 1937, when the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression broke out, Xu Guangda was full of ambition to serve the motherland and submitted an application to the party organization to return to China to serve. At the end of that year, under the arrangement of Wang Jiaxiang and others, he left the Soviet Union.
As a graduate of the Whampoa Military Academy, he studied in the Soviet Union for four years, which was a very precious military resource in Yan'an at that time. After learning of this, ** personally met with Xu Guangda.
One day in 1938, in the cave of the guest house of the Military Commission, a group of cadres who had returned from the Soviet Union were received. Among them, Xu Guangda was very excited, he had heard of the name of *** when he was studying in Changsha, and now he could meet this leader who was also a fellow Hunan villager.
**Shake hands with these cadres who came back from the Soviet Union one by one, and when *** looked at this square-faced and big-eared fellow, his face was full of smiles. ** asked Xu Guangda in detail about his living conditions, Xu Guangda answered them one by one, ** encouraged them to continue the revolution and actively participate in the War of Resistance Against Japan.
** Placing high hopes on Xu Guangda, Xu Guangda secretly made up his mind that he must remember the teachings of *** and contribute his own strength to China's revolutionary cause.
During the Yan'an period, in order to resist Japan, he actively promoted education and cultivated batches of strong and brave revolutionary fighters. In 1941, when the battlefield situation changed abruptly, Xu Guangda served as the commander of transportation and air defense in Yan'an, shouldering the heavy responsibility of defending Yan'an.
In the early days of the Liberation War, Xu Guangda served as the commander of the third column of the Jinsui Army, led the army to cross the Yellow River westward, and participated in the Battle of Shajiadian, laying a solid foundation for the Liberation War.
Subsequently, he served as the commander of the Third Army of the First Field Army and the commander of the Second Corps, and successfully cut off the main force of Hu Zongnan's troops in the Battle of Fumei, which played a decisive role in the victory of the battle.
After that, he marched westward to liberate Lanzhou and made a significant contribution to the founding of New China. On October 1, 1949, a 28-gun salute sounded in Tiananmen Square, marking that the Chinese people had stood up since then, and the salute resounded throughout the world and shook everyone's heart.
In the early days after the founding of the People's Republic of China, US imperialism carried out an all-round blockade of New China in an attempt to stifle its survival. ** Knowing that only by building a strong national defense force can we safeguard the security of the country.
Armored forces are an indispensable part of New China's national defense forces. The choice of who will be the leader of the armored corps is crucial. At this time, Xu Guangda, commander of the Second Corps of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, celebrated the founding of the People's Republic of China in Lanzhou, and then accompanied *** from the northwest to the capital Beijing.
Xu Guangda's visit to Beijing this time is mainly to assist in drafting the work report of the people. Xu Guangda wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to visit Beijing with his wife and children in this world-famous ancient capital, and then return to the northwest to continue working for the party and the people.
However, no one could have foreseen that this trip to Beijing would become the starting point of the rest of his life. Xu Guangda and his wife lived in Zhongnanhai and attracted the attention of ***.
At that time, the People's Republic of China was not long ago, and a large number of talents were needed in various industries. As the prime minister and the chief minister, due to the complexity of diplomatic work, he urgently needs a right-hand man to help him.
The first thing he thought of was Xu Guangda.
In a discussion of the national development plan, leading comrades discussed the issue and took the initiative to propose that Xu Guangda be transferred to work.
He believes that Xu Guangda has studied in the Soviet Union, knows Russian, has a high level of education, has an in-depth understanding of the Soviet Union and other countries, and has experience in mediating disputes in Xinjiang, so he is very suitable for foreign affairs work.
However, they disagreed, believing that it was more important to strengthen national defense construction. ** Asked Xu Guangda's opinion, he finally decided to stay in the army and devote himself to the modernization and regularization of the army.
General Xu Guangda made great contributions to the construction of the army, but he was suspicious of diplomatic work and politely declined the invitation. However, after learning what happened, he believed that Xu Guangda's role in the army was more important.
So, he asked kindly: "Xu Guangda, would you rather engage in the Air Force or the Navy?" Although Xu Guangda lacked relevant experience, he still insisted that he was better suited to continue in the army.
Eventually, the decision was made.
** It was decided to let Xu Guangda stay in the team, and appointed him to prepare for the establishment of a new technical arm armored corps in the history of our army and serve as the chief commander of the armored corps. On September 1, 1950, the armored forces of the People's Liberation Army were formally established, and Xu Guangda immediately reorganized the existing tank units and established a tank school to train army cadres.
In October 1950, when the Chinese People's Volunteers went to fight in Korea, Xu Guangda accelerated the construction of armored troops and often worked late at night. In the early days of its founding, Xu Guangda built a tank division, an independent tank regiment, and a tank school from scratch under difficult conditions, and in just four months, the armored unit began to take shape.
Xu Guangda, the founder of China's armored forces. In January 1951, Xu Guangda formed a tank unit in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, showing his wisdom and bravery with outstanding performance.
He knew that in order for the armored corps to succeed, it was necessary to research and produce better tanks on its own. As a result, he repeatedly reported to the acting chief of the General Staff, expressing his determination to establish a tank factory.
Xu Guangda's proposal was highly valued by the Military Commission, so he was able to actively set up a research institute, and finally, after the withdrawal of Soviet experts, he successfully produced China's first domestically produced tank by his own strength, laying a solid foundation for the development of China's armored forces.
At the military parade in 59 years, Xu Guangda personally grasped the production of medium tanks, and at the same time carried out a series of cultural and technical lectures within the army, actively teaching soldiers tank driving skills.
Under his leadership, an upsurge of learning culture and technology quickly set off within the organs and troops. Despite the difficulties faced by New China at that time, Xu Guangda still led the soldiers to start from scratch, broke through one difficulty after another, and made great contributions to the construction of the New China Armored Corps, so he was known as the "Father of the Chinese Armored Corps".
In 1955, it was decided to award the rank of general to comrades who had made meritorious contributions during the revolutionary war years, and according to the significant contributions made by Xu Guangda, the Military Commission decided to award him the rank of general.
After learning the news, Xu Guangda was very anxious, and he said to his family
Senior General Xu Guangda took the initiative to propose a demote, because he always cared about his late comrades-in-arms and the revolutionary cause. He believed that he had rich experience during the revolutionary war, but had made outstanding contributions to the construction of armored forces in New China, and should be awarded the rank of general.
Although the marshal did not support his request, Xu Guangda wrote directly to *** to express his thoughts. In his letter, he specifically mentioned that he had stayed in the Soviet Union for five years, from 1932 to 1937, during a critical period of the Chinese revolution, to recuperate, and therefore wanted to reduce his military rank.
** expressed his understanding, and convened *** and other leading comrades to discuss the matter, and finally unanimously agreed to confer the rank of general Xu Guangda, and he became one of the top ten generals.
General Xu Guangda, as an outstanding general awarded the title of "Communists", has always adhered to the lofty belief of the Communists. During the three years of natural disasters, many people were forced to join relatives in the army.
However, General Xu Guangda, after learning about the situation, insisted on letting them return to their hometown, which showed his iron-faced selflessness and firm conviction, even if it touched the interests of some people.
In 1969, General Xu Guangda passed away in Beijing, which received deep attention from *** and ***. After his ashes were buried in Babaoshan, people felt more deeply his bright and upright life, and he dedicated everything to the party and the people, which is worthy of learning and respect from each of us.