In 1973, three years before the chairman's death, in the face of a general's questioning of the military region's transfer order, the chairman abruptly changed the subject and asked the other party's opinion on a trivial matter on his body.
What is the meaning behind the Chairman's move? What was the historical background at that time? What is the aftermath of this event?
Han Xianchu, the famous "whirlwind commander", won the praise of the world for his bloody battles in the northeast during the Anti-Japanese War, as well as his heroic performance in the liberation of Hainan Island and the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
In 1955, he was awarded the rank of general, becoming one of the 55 generals. Although the military order is like a mountain, why is such a meritorious general who cares about the country and the people show dissatisfaction with the transfer order, is it a personal problem, or is this military order really inappropriate?
Han Xianchu, a former poor cattle herder, participated in the revolution through a peasant uprising and eventually became a highly respected commander. He has a unique personality and has bravely disobeyed ***'s orders in military decisions.
In 1936, ** led the Red First Army and the Red 15th Army to the west, while Han Xianchu led the Red 78th Division to act independently on the North Road. When he arrived at Dingbian, he took the initiative to report to his superiors, hoping that he would assess whether to attack this small county town located below Yulin in Shaanxi, because there were Kuomintang troops there, and if they attacked, it was very likely that they would destroy the enemy.
His bold decision-making and accurate judgment of the military situation have fully demonstrated his outstanding leadership skills and military strategic vision.
** Hesitating, fearing that a rash attack might adversely affect the overall situation, it was decided to let Han Xianchu suspend his actions and move on. However, Han Xianchu still insisted on attacking and fixing the edge, and he believed that if he did not fight, he might miss a good opportunity and pay a greater price in the future.
Although this operation defied military orders, it also explained why Han Xianchu showed strong dissatisfaction in the transfer of the military region.
At the meeting of the Military Commission on December 18, 1973, the idea of the transfer of military regions was officially proposed. The idea was first proposed to Marshal ***, who approved of it.
This view is also supported. Therefore, the marshal proposed this idea to the commanders of the military districts at the meeting. ** once said: It seems that the transfer of the military region is a good thing, so why is Han Xianchu dissatisfied?
He served as the commander of the Fuzhou Military Region for 16 years from 1957, but this time he was transferred to the Lanzhou Military Region in the northwest of the country.
On the afternoon of 21 July, he met with the comrades of the Central Military Commission who were about to be transferred in his study in Zhongnanhai, listened to their ideas, and exchanged views with them.
Among them is Han Xianchu. The chairman comforted them and shared his dental problems and asked Han Xianchu for advice.
Bold and careful. This is where Han Xianchu's unique personality charm lies.
Han Xianchu, the "whirlwind commander" of the Northeast, was deeply impressed by the defeat of Du Yuming, the commander of the Northeast Security Command of the Kuomintang army in the Northeast in 1947.
After Chen Cheng, chief of staff of the Kuomintang army, became the director of the Northeast Battalion, he also profoundly realized the combat effectiveness of Han Xianchu and his "whirlwind troops" and left a deep impression on Han Xianchu.
Han Xianchu's combat style was known for being quick and fierce, and he was not good at delaying, and he also showed this spirit in the battle to liberate Hainan Island. In the crossing, a small hidden danger could delay the war for a year, so it was necessary to cross the strait smoothly by April 20.
The equipment used by the PLA is a sailboat, and in order to successfully cross the sea, it must use the help of the monsoon before the valley rains. Therefore, Han Xianchu quickly made arrangements, demanded that the preparations be completed by April, and resolutely rejected the original plan for landing operations in June.
Two months after the victorious liberation of Hainan Island, Han Xianchu went to the Korean battlefield and led the 38th Army to charge into battle. In the third campaign, he commanded three armies to break through the enemy's 38th parallel blockade and successfully reach Seoul, making a significant contribution to the victory of the war.
Although his left arm was injured after returning to China, and his combat strength was greatly reduced, he still made great efforts for the construction of our first team, and during his tenure as commander in Lanzhou and Fuzhou, he went deep into the large and small islands along the southeast coast and the plateau slopes in the northwest region to strengthen military construction, and can be called a loyal guardian of the country.
This was a historic military reshuffle, in which the commanders of the eight major military regions were collectively reshuffled, and the veterans bravely took up their posts and crossed thousands of rivers and mountains to their new posts. This change is seen as their "new recruit and old general" journey.
In addition to Han Xianchu's transfer from Fuzhou to Lanzhou, Li Desheng, Xu Shiyou, Ding Sheng, Yang Dezhi, Zeng Siyu and Pi Dingjun also carried out work transfers.
Li Desheng became commander of the Beijing Military Region in 1971 and held a position for nearly three years. In this transfer, he was sent to the Shenyang Military Region. On the 22nd, he completed the handover of work and accompanied the new commander *** to participate in the cadre conference of the Beijing Military Region.
Four days later, he traveled with a security staff officer and a secretary in disguise, thinking about how to strengthen Shenyang's military defense system. After arriving, while inspecting the local terrain and military situation, he began to formulate a new military plan, hoping to improve the combat effectiveness and defense of the local army.
After talking with the chairman, Han Xianchu decided to take the whole family to Lanzhou. Although the environment here is very different from Fujian, the conditions are harsh, there are deserts everywhere, and the climate conditions are harsh.
But Han Xianchu was not discouraged by this, but faced it positively. When he was in Fujian, he always tried to deal with typhoons, but now that he has changed to "black wind", he is still concerned about the natural climate.
The whirlwind commander and the beams of the wind are thus concluded. After overcoming the constraints of the environment, Han Xianchu began to focus on military work. Soon after taking office, he conducted an in-depth investigation of Lanzhou's local border defense and quickly revised the local defense and operation plan.
Pi Dingjun was transferred to another post with Han Xianchu, and he was very familiar with the Fuzhou Military Region, and served as the deputy commander of the Fuzhou Military Region. He acted vigorously and resolutely, managed the Fuzhou Military Region in an orderly manner, and successfully completed its tasks.
However, this transfer planted a time bomb in his career. In 1976, he died in a plane crash while directing coastal military exercises.
The purpose of this military readjustment is to ensure the party's complete leadership and centralization of the armed forces, and at the same time to provide a standardized model for the exchange of high-ranking military cadres in the future.
Just as mentioned in the lyrics of the song "Three Major Disciplines and Eight Points of Attention" sung by the chairman and the crowd later, this military region readjustment also has a certain background. Since the 60s of the 20th century, the border territorial disputes between our country and the Soviet Union have continued, and even the Soviet Union has sent troops to watch our country.
In 1969, the Treasure Island incident happened again. In this context, the chairman stressed the need to be prepared for war, so the PLA units entered a state of emergency and were ready to fight at any time.
Fighting a war is not a trivial matter, and it requires comprehensive and thorough preparation. At that time, the PLA was faced with the difficult problem that many generals had worked in a military region for more than 10 years, and most of them were familiar with them.
Staying in one position for a long time tends to lack innovation in decision-making, and the rotation of generals is an effective method of reform. However, when things happen suddenly, generals will inevitably have emotions.
The chairman comforted the relevant comrades at that time:
Yang Dezhi used to be a responsible **, and before he left Wuhan to take up his post in Jinan, he wrote a letter to express his ideas. He held that he could not take gifts from foreign guests to the commander of the Wuhan Military Region, because this belonged to the commander.
After arriving in Jinan, he devoted himself to the construction of the island and the reorganization and training of the troops. After 10 years of work, he took the initiative to resign from his post and give the opportunity to young talents, setting an example for breaking the lifelong system of leading cadres.
The transfer of the military region involves many people involved, and the situation is urgent and of great significance. We have witnessed the loyalty and dedication of the leaders to the army, and they have won our admiration and touching with their determination and action to go to their new posts in the face of difficulties.
During the interview on the 21st, the chairman had an in-depth conversation with the generals and asked Han Xianchu whether he needed a tooth filling. Han Xianchu's answer is yes, he believes that it is good for his health.
Hearing this, the chairman shared his retirement plan, and he hopes to sell rice cakes after retirement, just like Liu Bei, Zhang Fei and Zhao Zilong. He made a special mention of Fujian, where the climate is relatively suitable, and even in winter it is not too cold.
Han Xianchu said that Fujian is indeed hotter, but it will be better in winter, so he suggested that the chairman might as well go to Fujian to have a look.
The chairman once chatted with Xu Shiyou and asked him if he had read "Dream of the Red Chamber". The Chair stressed that the book should not be read only once, but five times to truly understand its connotation and artistic value.
The Chairman was fond of ancient literature and thought that many excellent literary languages had been created in it. Xu Shiyou is a military general, and the chairman believes that a military general cannot but study literature, and cannot only use force without cultural literacy, otherwise he may make mistakes.
The chairman also recommended the Han Dynasty's "Biography of Lu Jia", believing that the book was also worth reading. After Xu Shiyou was transferred to Guangzhou, he attached great importance to army building, and at the same time, according to the chairman's suggestion, carefully read the recommended books and encouraged the people around him to study together.
He said to the people around him: "We must listen carefully to the words of the chairman, not only to make achievements in army building, but also to improve our own cultural quality. ”
There is also a little story about the chairman's teeth. The chairman had a habit of smoking, and in the early days of liberation, his teeth were darker and looked black. At that time, the task of the retoucher was to trim off those black parts to present a better image.
Some have objected to this method of retouching as a violation of authenticity. But some people also think that the chairman is busy with work, and it is obviously impossible for him to often go to clean his teeth and whiten his teeth, so it is understandable to use technical means to simply repair it.
In 1965, the chairman returned to Jinggangshan to take a photo, and the teeth in it were as white as jade, which made the chairman's smile brighter. He was busy with the revolutionary cause all his life, and sacrificed his oral health for it.
In 73, he and Han Xianchu talked about the problem of filling teeth, his purpose was to make his physical condition better, so that he could devote himself to socialist construction.