Wake up（209）

 

Chapter 39 Tyranny

 

209

 

When Zhou Jianguo, Pan Guangfu, and Chai Jianmin continued to chat about those things and people in the army during the Cultural Revolution, they had to talk about Xu Shiyou.

On February 28, 1906, six years before the founding of the Republic of China, Xu Shiyou was born in Chengmagang Town, Macheng, Hubei Province, now in Xujiawa, Hepu Village, Tianpu Township, Xinxian County, Xinyang City, Henan Province. His baby name was Sanyazi.

Xu Shiyou was born in a poor rural area. When he was young, his family was poor. After he was 8 years old, he went to Shaolin Temple in Songshan, Henan to work as a handyman and learn martial arts. One day, I learned from my master that my father and brother were being bullied at home, so I decided to go home to visit. After leaving Shaolin Temple, he changed his name to "Shiyou", implying that although he does not live in Buddhism, he should also be a friend of Buddhism; later he changed his name to Shiyou.

In 1920, Xu Shiyou took refuge in Wu Peifu's Ministry of Beiyang warlord. In 1925, he served as the platoon leader of the First Independent Division of the Hubei Provincial Defense Army. The following year, the department was reorganized into the First Division of the Hubei Provincial Defense Army of the National Revolutionary Army, and Xu Shiyou served as the commander of the fourth company of the first regiment. In 1926, Wu Peifu's tribe was destroyed during the Northern Expedition, and Xu Shiyou was sent back to his hometown. He became the captain of the farmers' volunteer team and the artillery team leader of Chengmagang Liuxiang.

In November 1927, Xu Shiyou participated in the Jute Uprising and joined the Communist Party of China. In 1928, he was incorporated into the Red Army with the local armed forces. He successively served as squad leader, platoon leader, company commander, and battalion commander of the special task force of the 31st Division Headquarters.

In November 1931, he served as the head of the 34th Regiment of the 12th Division of the Fourth Front Army of the Red Army. He led his troops to participate in the Battle of Huang'an, the Battle of Shanghuang, and the Battle of Huangguang, all of which won victories. He commanded two regiments to block the three brigades of the National Revolutionary Army at Liulin River, and successfully covered the main force of the Fourth Front Army of the Red Army to break through. In 1932, the Fourth Front Army of the Red Army was encircled by the troops of Yang Hucheng, Hu Zongnan, and Feng Qinzai in the Battle of Manchuanguan. Xu Xiangqian ordered Xu Shiyou to lead his troops to open the gap. Then the Red Army successfully broke through and entered southern Shaanxi.

In October 1933, Xu Shiyou served as the deputy commander of the Red Ninth Army of the Fourth Front Army and the commander of the 25th Division. He led his troops into Sichuan to attack and block the Sichuan Army led by Tian Songyao and Liu Xiang, and established the Sichuan-Shanxi Border Base. After that, he was promoted to the commander of the Fourth Army of the Red Fourth Front Army, and then led his troops to participate in the Battle of Jialing River, and the Red Fourth Front Army was transferred again.

In June 1935, when the First Red Army and the Fourth Red Army joined forces, Xu Shiyou replaced Wang Shusheng as the commander of the Fourth Red Army of the Right Route Army. . In August 1935, Chen Zaidao was promoted to commander of the Fourth Red Army. After that, following Zhang Guotao's order, he returned south again and spent three times on the grassland.

In 1936, Xu Shiyou was transferred to the commander of the cavalry division directly under the headquarters of the Red Fourth Front Army as the avant-garde, with more than 400 people in the division. In October 1936, after Huining joined forces, Xu Shiyou entered the Red Army University to study.

In April 1937, after the Long March arrived in northern Shaanxi, more than a dozen senior cadres including Xu Shiyou and Wang Jianan planned to leave the Red Army because the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China intended to fight against Zhang Guotao. Wang Jianan, a political commissar of the Fourth Red Army, reported the incident and was arrested. His wife Lei Mingzhen divorced him. Xu Shiyou later knelt down to Mao Zedong to admit his mistakes, seriously reflected on his mistakes, and was finally released under Mao Zedong's guarantee. Since then, Xu has become Mao Zedong's right-hand man.

After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War in China, Xu Shiyou served as the deputy director of the School Affairs Department of the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University. In the spring of 1938, he was appointed as the deputy brigade commander of the 386th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and accompanied Zhu De to the Taihang Mountains. In December of the same year, marched into southern Hebei with Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping, and participated in commanding the Xiangchenggu ambush to ambush the Japanese army. In the autumn of 1939, he entered the Party School of the Northern Bureau of the Communist Party of China to study.

In September 1940, Xu Shiyou was transferred to the third brigade of the Shandong column in the Qinghe area to replace the deceased Ma Yaonan as brigade commander. Soon after taking office, he led his troops to attack the Japanese and puppet troops in the Jiaodong area, allowing the Eighth Route Army to occupy the entire Jiaodong area. In 1942, Xu Shiyou served as the chief of staff of the Shandong Column and the commander of the Jiaodong Military Region, and immediately led his troops to deal with the Japanese raids. In 1944, he led the main force of the Jiaodong Military Region in a decisive battle against Zhao Baoyuan's troops who surrendered to the Japanese invaders, that is, the campaign against Zhao Baoyuan's troops. In 1945, he entered the Party School of the Shandong Military Region to study.

After the surrender of the Japanese army, the main force of the Shandong Military Region entered Northeast China. Xu Shiyou returned to the Jiaodong Military Region and continued to lead the troops to fight on the inside. He successively captured the puppet troops and occupied Weihai, Mouping, Yantai, Laiyang, Penglai, Yexian, and Longkou Gold Mine, and then concentrated his forces to attack Pingdu. On one side, Wang Tiexiang, the general of the puppet army, was captured alive. After the Battle of Pingdu, Wu Kehua led the main force of the Jiaodong Military Region into the Northeast, while Xu Shiyou re-recruited 40,000 troops within two months, and trained troops from the end of that year to the beginning of 1946. In June 1946, the troops of the Jiaodong Military Region attacked Zhao Baoyuan's troops who had surrendered to the Japanese army. Xu Shiyou directly attacked Jiao County, where the main force of the opponent was located, and killed Zhao Baoyuan; Except for Qingdao, the Jiaodong Military Region occupies the entire Jiaodong.

In 1946, the Second Civil War between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party broke out. Bai Chongxi, Gu Zhutong, and Wang Yaowu held a meeting in Qingdao. The national army occupied Jiaoxian, Gaomi, Jimo and other places. After several battles, Xu Shiyou led his troops to withdraw from the Jiaoji Railway and instead attacked the 54th Army and the 8th Army of the National Army. Vitality.

In January 1947, the troops of the Jiaodong Military Region were reorganized and trained as the ninth column of the East China Field Army, with the 25th, 26th, and 26th divisions under it, and Xu Shiyou served as the commander of the column. In February, the East China Field Army organized the Laiwu Campaign and encircled the Lixianzhou Department. Xu Shiyou led the Nine Columns to participate in the battle and was responsible for encircling the 77th Division of the 73rd Army of the National Army, and captured Han Jun, the commander of the 73rd Army. In 1947, Xu Shiyou sent his troops to the north again, blocking the 11th Division of the National Army at Baimaguan, and assisting other troops to capture Tai'an. In May of the same year, the East China Field Army carried out mobile operations in the Yimeng Mountains, which caused Zhang Lingfu's elite 74th Division of the National Army to rush in, and Huaye decided to encircle and wipe out this department. Su Yu ordered Xu Shiyou to lead his troops to stop and contain Zhang Lingfu's troops, so that other troops in Huaye could complete the encirclement on time. Two days later, the encirclement was completed, and Zhang Lingfu's troops were confined to the Menglianggu area. Huaye immediately launched a general offensive, the Battle of Menglianggu. Among them, five columns were responsible for the main attack, and four columns blocked the reinforcements; Xu Shiyou's nine columns mainly attacked from the northeast, and Chen Yi said that he would supplement as many casualties as possible. On May 16, the 73rd Regiment of the 25th Division of the Ninth Column took the lead in attacking the main peak of Menglianggu, Zhang Lingfu was killed, and the Battle of Menglianggu ended.

In August 1947, Chen Yi and Su Yu led eight columns of the East China Field Army to attack Henan, Anhui, and Jiangsu; the remaining second, seventh, ninth, and thirteenth columns, 4th column, 10th division, and 1st independent division were commanded by Tan Zhenlin and Xu Shiyou. For the Eastern Front Corps. Tan Zhenlin led the second and seventh verticals to go north from Zhucheng, and together with Xu Shiyou led his troops to attack Fan Hanjie's Jiaodong Corps, which governed the 8th, 9th, 25th, 45th, 54th, and 64th divisions and the 74th division and 57th brigade. Tan Zhenlin was unwilling to lead his troops into Jiaodong. On September 13, 1947, Zong and East China jumped out of the siege of the Kuomintang army and launched the Battle of Jiaohe, which severely damaged the 64th Division and the 45th Division and wiped out 20,000 enemy regular troops. The central government congratulated " Since you turned to the counter-offensive, our army has turned to the counter-offensive in an all-round way without exception." Xu and Tan finally led two columns and moved separately. Afterwards, successive blocking battles were launched, and Gaomi, Haiyang, Pingdu and other places were once again occupied. The Eastern Front Corps went north to besiege and occupy Laiyang.

In March 1948, Xu Shiyou served as the commander of the Huaye Shandong Corps. The Corps attacked Kezhou Village, Zhangdian and other places in the west, breaking the defense deployment of the national army on the western line of the Jiaoji Railway. Then the Corps suddenly retreated and returned to conquer Weixian County, making the three liberated areas of Jiaodong, Bohai, and South Shandong into one. Subsequently, the Corps began to advance into the Jinpu Railway. In May, it captured Tai'an and the military strongholds of various countries along the Jinpu Railway, approaching Yanzhou. In July, Xu Shiyou launched the Yanzhou Campaign. After the Battle of Eastern Henan started, Xu Tan ordered to stop attacking Yanzhou, leaving only the local troops of the Luzhong Military Region to monitor the Yanzhou defenders and concentrate their forces to prepare for reinforcements. Mao Zedong ordered Xu Shiyou to contain Huang Baitao's corps. Chiang Kai-shek sent a telegram to order Huang Baitao, who had arrived in Tengzhou from Haizhou, to get on the train to help the district birthday. Yanzhou was conquered on July 13, Li Yutang, commander of the 10th appeasement area, escaped in disguise, and Huo Shouyi, commander of the 12th Army of the National Army, was captured. In addition, the Nine Columns were dispatched to stop the Wuhua Ministry of Culture who came to aid from Jinan. After that, Xu Shiyou arrived at the rear to recuperate.

In August 1948, the West Front Corps of the East China Field Army arrived in Shandong and returned to the Shandong Corps, deciding to attack Jinan. Xu Shiyou and Tan Zhenlin led 140,000 troops to form a siege corps, and the remaining 180,000 troops were under the command of Su Yu to block the reinforcements. On September 16, the siege began. Nie Fengzhi, the commander of the Eastern Front Group who was originally in charge of assisting the attack, arbitrarily changed the order to "main attack", which made it impossible for Wang Yaowu to judge the direction of the PLA's main attack. On the 24th, the People's Liberation Army occupied Jinan City, and all 110,000 defenders of the national army were killed or surrendered. Wang Yaowu was captured in Weixian County on the way to escape.

In February 1949, Xu Shiyou served as the deputy commander of the Shandong Military Region and continued to fight in Shandong. In May 1949, Qingdao, Jimo, Changshan Islands and other places were captured one after another. So far, the national army has withdrawn from all strongholds in Shandong.

Zhou Jianguo chatted with Pan Guangfu and Chai Jianmin about Xu Shiyou's experience during the Anti-Japanese War and the Civil War between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. There is no doubt that Xu Shiyou was born in a poor rural area, but his outstanding performance in the war is beyond reproach.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Xu Shiyou became the commander of the Shandong Military Region in January 1950. In 1953, Xu Shiyou led the Third Corps to participate in the Korean War and participated in the summer counterattack that year. In February 1954, he returned to China and was transferred to the second deputy commander of the East China Military Region. In October, he also served as the deputy chief of the general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. In the following year, he participated in organizing the Yijiangshan Island Campaign and occupied Yijiangshan Island. In the same year, he was awarded the rank of General of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, the first-level August 1st Medal, the first-level Independent Freedom Medal, and the first-level Liberation Medal.

In March 1955, Xu Shiyou was appointed as the commander of the Nanjing Military Region. In September 1959, he also served as the Deputy Minister of National Defense of the People's Republic of China, in charge of coastal defense outposts and national defense affairs in the southeastern coastal areas. In February 1961, he served as Secretary of the Secretariat of the East China Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

But the unprecedented Cultural Revolution changed Xu Shiyou's life. The evaluation of Xu Shiyou has been controversial. So, what exactly did Xu Shiyou do during the Cultural Revolution? As time went on, the truth gradually came to light.