In October 1950, under the cover of night, the Chinese People's Volunteers embarked on the journey to resist US aggression and aid Korea. Under the faint firelight on both sides of the trestle, in addition to the echo of military songs, there was also a tense atmosphere before the war.
At this time, Fu Zuoyi, who was far away from the Beijing Water Conservancy Bureau, could no longer sit still, he frowned and paced back and forth. The War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea is a battle that must be fought, and Fu Zuoyi, who is full of patriotic feelings in his heart, hopes to lead the army to compete with the United ** and protect the motherland's homeland!
So, can the former Fu be able to participate in the Korean War?
The answer is yes. In November, the North China Military Region issued an order announcing that the "Guisui Uprising Force" would be renamed the 23rd Corps of the Chinese People's Volunteers, and that preparations for fighting in Korea had begun.
Hearing this news, Fu Zuoyi was excited and excited, because the commander of the 23rd Corps was his right-hand man Dong Qiwu! Fu Zuoyi couldn't help but express his sincere admiration for the ** Military Commission's appointing people according to their aptitude.
However, after receiving the order, Dong Qiwu was surprised and rejected the appointment. At the operational meeting, he frankly stated that he had no self-confidence and felt that he was not up to the job.
So, who is this former ** general Dong Qiwu? Why does the Military Commission trust him so much? Why is he not confident in himself? In the end, did Dong Qiwu still go to fight in North Korea?
Let's unravel these mysteries together.
Let's learn about Dong Qiwu's extraordinary experience and the performance of the 23rd Corps he led in the "Korean War". Soon after the outbreak of the first campaign to resist US aggression and aid Korea, the Military Commission found out the strength of the joint army.
Considering the situation of our army, there may be a tug-of-war, so the best way is to have the troops of the various military districts take turns to enter the DPRK to fight. Therefore, the most important thing is to organize reserve troops as soon as possible and conduct special training before they enter the DPRK.
In November, the Military Commission and the North China Military Region held an important meeting, the main topic of the meeting was the establishment of a reserve force to resist US aggression and aid Korea. The meeting was presided over by ***, and Dong Qiwu also attended the meeting.
At the meeting, ** first inquired about the reorganization of the "Guisui Rebel Army" after liberation, including the ideological construction and combat capability of the troops. Dong Qiwu truthfully reported that when he mentioned that the ideological work was progressing well and that the troops still had combat capability, he nodded frequently, and decided to change the name of the "Guisui Rebel Army" to the 23rd Corps of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, go to Hebei for training, and be ready to fight in Korea at any time.
After receiving the order, Dong Qiwu immediately got up and stood up. He knew exactly what it meant to involve his troops in the Korean war. In that year, he led the army to revolt with Fu Zuoyi, precisely to protect the people of Hebei from the suffering of war.
Now, the Americans are invading China, and this is absolutely unacceptable to him. However, he hesitated for a moment and confessed that he might not be able to lead the team to North Korea because he felt too confident and unsure.
**After hearing this, he was a little puzzled, so he asked Dong Qiwu why he was not confident. Dong Qiwu bluntly replied that he was only an uprising general and might not be qualified for the post of commander.
At the same time, he believed that this unit might still have the hidden danger of being hostile, which made him dare not lead his army to North Korea to complete the mission.
**After thinking calmly, he patted Dong Qiwu on the shoulder firmly, and affirmed: "It's only a matter of time to clean up the bandits, I believe in the consciousness of the combatants and commanders and fighters of the troops!" ”
Then, he emphasized: "Don't be afraid of difficulties, the more difficult you are, the more you have to do it." The people need you, and the 23 Corps will also complete the glorious mission under your leadership. The sincere words of * made Dong Qiwu feel turbulent and ashamed.
Hearing this, he immediately stood up straight and promised loudly: "Please rest assured that the 23 Corps will definitely strengthen its training, be ready to fight in Korea at any time, and live up to the expectations of the party and the people!" ”
The meeting was closed, followed by the reorganization of the troops, which was of great importance in the early stage. As the saying goes, everything is difficult at the beginning, and Dong Qiwu and his troops are going through their first test.
After Dong Qiwu returned to the unit, he conveyed the orders of the Central Military Commission and the North China Military Region, and organized nine divisions, including the 36th Division, the 37th Division, and the Fourth Cavalry Division, into the 23rd Corps of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, which was directly led by the North China Military Region, with Dong Qiwu as the commander.
Soon, the 23rd Corps began to be stationed in Hengshui, Hebei Province, for rectification and training. In accordance with the instructions of his superiors, Dong Qiwu quickly launched the whole training activities. First of all, he compressed the original 9 divisions to 6 divisions; secondly, he focused on ideological education for his subordinates and carried out a series of rectification campaigns; For the recruits, he conducted rigorous training, and for the commanders and fighters at and above the company level, he demanded that they be ideologically loyal to the party and patriotic.
As the person in charge of the corps, Dong Qiwu had not yet joined the party at that time, but the whole army obeyed his orders, and he himself set an example and always maintained ideological study.
On September 1, 1951, after inspecting the training of the 23rd Corps, the ** Military Commission decided that they would immediately enter the Korean War. At this time, the 23 Corps was ready to go, with a total of 70,000 men.
Dong Qiwu led his troops from Jing County, Hebei Province, and rushed to the Korean battlefield by train! After the 23rd Corps entered Korea, it was highly valued by the commander-in-chief. However, Peng Shuai did not immediately send the 23rd Corps to the front line, but issued an order to Dong Qiwu: the 23rd Corps should complete the construction of three airfields within two months to ensure the air strike force of the front line of the Volunteers.
After receiving the task, Dong Qiwu immediately issued an order to all units of the corps, and he told the soldiers that it was equally important to ensure logistics and supplies. The US military's "mourning god" bombers have put tremendous pressure on the volunteers, and if we do not build airfields, there will be no air supremacy on the front line, and more comrades will die.
Therefore, even if we are in the rear, without the smoke and rain of bullets, our task is no less difficult, if not more important. We must face the difficulties of building the airfield as we do with the enemy, so that we can live up to the expectations of the people.
When the fighters heard these words, their morale was lifted and their passion was high.
Under the leadership of Dong Qiwu, the construction of the airport was in full swing. However, there were many difficulties in the construction process: the soldiers were slow to progress on a daily basis due to long journeys, fatigue, and unaccustomed water and soil.
In addition, the lack of advanced construction tools hampered the progress of the construction of the airport and caused delays. Dong Qiwu did not sit idly by, he personally led everyone and took a series of measures to solve these problems.
There was no cement mixer, so they mixed the cement by hand; If there is not enough explosives, they will blow up all the "living eyes" and risk falling rocks; There were not enough transport vehicles, so they used a relay to transport the stones.
In order to complete the construction of the airfield as soon as possible, the 23 Corps worked around the clock, and in some places there was even a shortage of manpower, and the soldiers volunteered to work day and night until they were exhausted and could not move another stone.
The atmosphere at the construction site was very hot, and the soldiers went all out to overcome difficulties and strive to complete the task of building the airfield at an early date.
Before the Liberation War, most of the people here made a living by looting people's fat and ointment, but in order for the people to live a happier life, they bravely risked their lives to build the airport.
Looking at the scene in front of him, Dong Qiwu was both excited and moved, and he said excitedly: "This army has really changed, it is simply reborn!" However, just two weeks later, while the three airfields were under construction, the Yuannan airfield was attacked by nine B-29 bombers, and the relentless bombs leveled half of the airfields in an instant, and the newly repaired concrete runway was also blown beyond recognition.
In the face of the enemy's attack, Dong Qiwu shouted to the soldiers: "You blow yours, I will repair mine, the enemy has steel, we have stones!" That's right, as *** said: "You throw your atomic bomb, I throw my grenade!" ”
Although the airport was bombed, the fighting spirit of our volunteers will never fall, we will definitely be able to rebuild the airport, and we are fearless for the happy life of the people!
The U.S. military was extremely cunning, not only dropping a large number of time-lapse bombs, but also deliberately leaving a lot behind. Just when the fighters thought that the bombing was over and were ready to continue construction, these hidden bombs suddenly ** led to serious human **.
In the absence of advanced bomb disposal tools, many soldiers of the 23rd Corps heroically eliminated these dangers with their flesh and blood, and even many soldiers died heroically in the process of defusing bombs.
As a result, the slogan of "avenging the martyrs and defusing the bombs" resounded throughout the army and aroused the soldiers' will to fight. In the end, under the leadership of General Dong Qiwu, the construction of the three airports was completed as scheduled!
Isn't that a victory?
When Dong Qiwu's troops completed the "results" of the 23 Corps and reported to the ** Military Commission, the North China Military Region Headquarters, and the Volunteer Army Headquarters, these departments highly praised their performance.
Among them, **In the telegram order of the Military Commission, it was particularly praised: "The 23rd Corps still completed the construction task beyond plan under the continuous bombardment of enemy aircraft, and this performance is amazing!" ”
Amazing", fully expressing ***'s heartfelt appreciation for them.
Dispelling the gloom of unconfidence, Dong Qiwu received a commendation order, and the 23rd Corps led by him won this honor with its iron discipline and tenacious will. The data shows that after entering the DPRK, the 23rd Corps built taxiways, connecting roads, aircraft shelters and other important facilities, creating a miracle in the history of war engineering.
Their efforts not only ensured that the planes aided by the Soviet Union arrived at the front line on time, but also broke the monopoly of the US military on air supremacy. The volunteer soldiers on the front line were happy and relieved from the bottom of their hearts when they saw the enemy's positions being attacked by our army from the air.
Dong Qiwu was awarded the rank of general of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and the Order of Liberation of the First Class in 1955, an honor that surprised but also surprised. He said sincerely: "I was only a lieutenant general before the uprising, and after the uprising, I was able to maintain my original position, and I was already very grateful to the party and the party, and there was no reason to promote me to the rank again." ”
For Dong Qiwu's sincere attitude, he spoke highly of him and praised him for "understanding the overall situation and being sympathetic to the people". After the peaceful liberation of Beiping, Dong Qiwu chose to abandon the darkness and turn to the light at the critical moment, and peacefully liberated and returned to Sui.
In the Korean War, he trained soldiers and horses, defended the country and its people, and created one miracle after another. Dong Qiwu not only has extraordinary courage and strength, but also is definitely worthy of the rank of general.
Dong Qiwu was restored in Hejin County in 1981"Kowloon Temple"With a few years of his salary, he took the lead in donating, and his noble qualities caused a local upsurge in the protection of places of interest, and finally with the support of all parties, the Kowloon Temple was preserved.
In order to always remember the noble sentiments of Dong Lao, the people of Hejin City and the people set up a monument for him, so that his deeds will be passed down through the ages. Dong Qiwu died on March 3, 1989, at the age of 90.
General Dong Qiwu's life was full of ups and downs and magnificent pictures, just as the CPC ** and the Central Military Commission appraised, he was a great patriot, a loyal soldier of the Communist Party of China, and a senior general of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
The deeds of heroes are worth remembering, the spirit of heroes is worth learning, let us pay tribute to General Dong Qiwu!