Chapter 33 8. General Fo Guang - Lieutenant General Zhang Guohua

After the founding of New China, most of the generals of the 2nd Field Army devoted themselves to the peace construction of the motherland, but only a few generals bid farewell to the land of fish and rice and entered the snowy land, led by Zhang Guohua. In contemporary Chinese history, especially in the history of ethnic relations in China, Zhang Guohua is a person worthy of praise.He stood at the forefront in several major events after the founding of the People's Republic of China. His talent was appreciated by Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and other leaders. When he died young in his prime, Mao Zedong shed tears.

In August 1949, on the eve of the founding of the People's Republic of China, a small number of pro-imperialists in the Kashag, the local government of Tibet, represented by the regent force Daza, secretly colluded with the British and Indian Consul General Richardson in Lhasa to take advantage of the People's Liberation Army. Before arriving in Tibet, Tibet was "independently divided" out. Due to the intervention of international reactionary forces, the Tibet issue was complicated and imminent from the very beginning.Mao Zedong, who is talented and broad-minded, is naturally keen to see this problem. The torrent of steel from the People's Liberation Army is unstoppable, and the mere Tibetan separatist forces are vulnerable. At the end of 1949, during his visit to the Soviet Union, Mao Zedong issued such instructions: "In order to liberate Tibet without losing the opportunity, combat imperialist aggression and expansion ambitions, and promote Tibet's inward transformation, it is better to enter Tibet sooner rather than later. The sooner the better, otherwise , long nights and many dreams."

At the Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Party, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China divided the major field armies of the entire army into theaters. The 1st Field Army was in charge of Qinghai, Xinjiang, Shaanxi, Gansu and other provinces; the 2nd Field Army was in charge of Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Xikang and other provinces. After October, the national war situation changed, and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China adjusted the theater. The theater of the Second Field Army changed to Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Xikang, Tibet and other provinces and regions.Later, after several adjustments, the task of marching to liberate Tibet was finally handed over to the 2nd Field Army.

After Liu Bocheng, commander of the 2nd Field Army, received Mao Zedong's telegram, he and political commissar Deng Xiaoping circulated the telegram twice. There was nothing to say about the execution, but Liu Bocheng hesitated for a while on who to send to carry out this task. There are indeed many troops in the 2nd field, with 3 corps and 9 armies.But at that time, it was not the old army of the 2nd Army that occupied Ya'an, the capital of Xikang Province, which was the closest to Tibet, but the 62nd Army under the command of He Long.Although the 62nd Army was most suitable to enter Tibet in terms of geographical location, economy, and time, Liu Bocheng quickly rejected this arrangement.Liu Bocheng thought, I can't let He Dahuzi point at my spine and scold me, saying that I am selfish, that I don't send so many troops under my command, and let the 62nd Army go instead.

The toughest tasks should be undertaken by one's own troops.Liu Bocheng arranged and compared all the units of his several corps one by one, and felt that the 10th Army was the most effective unit in his 2nd Field, and the 10th Army was fully capable of liberating Tibet.It's just that Du Yide, the commander of the army, was born and died. He has been fighting for many years, and his physical condition is very poor recently, which is not good for completing the task. If Du Yide doesn't go, who will he send?Liu Bocheng turned his dozens of generals one by one in his mind for a few times, and felt that there was one person who could replace Du Yide and lead the 10th Army to liberate Tibet.But is your opinion accurate?He wanted to hear Deng Xiaoping's opinion first.

Liu Bocheng said: "I want Du Yide to go, but he is not in good health. Who do you think is suitable?" Deng Xiaoping said without hesitation: "Let the 'landlords' go!" This "landlord" was Zhang Guohua, who was the commander of the 18th Army at the time. Deng Xiaoping's considerations coincided with Liu Bocheng's.Liu Bocheng said happily: "Okay, okay, let the 'landlord' go!" Zhang Guohua, commander of the 18th Army, how could he have the nickname "Landlord"? This starts with the cadre team of the 18th Army.This army has a considerable number of old Red Army and anti-Japanese warriors, many cadres who have done local work, and some intellectuals.After Nanjing was liberated, a group of cadres were needed to take over, but most of the troops were still fighting, and there was no one to spare.Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping decided that the military schools would take over Nanjing.At the deployment meeting, when Lin Liang, political commissar of the 18th Army, said that the school has more than 4,500 personnel, the audience was in an uproar.Because this number has exceeded the sum of the number of other military schools.Someone whispered: "Mr. Zhang is so rich, he is really a 'landlord'!"

The name "Landlord" spread like this. Later, when Deng Xiaoping talked about the issue of cadres, he also jokingly said: "The cadres of the 18th Army don't have to think about it. Zhang Guohua is a 'landlord'!" But by the end of 1949, the "landlords" under Zhang Guohua had almost returned to their localities! The 18th Army entered southern Sichuan, and a large number of cadres were sent to various parts of southern Sichuan to serve as county and city leaders. Even Tan Guansan, the political commissar of the army, was also transferred to Zigong City as the secretary of the municipal party committee, and he had already drunk the 18th Army's farewell wine.

Even Zhang Guohua himself has taken up the post of director of the Southern Sichuan Administration. On January 8, 1950, the 18th Army received a telegram from Chief Liu Deng: Stand by on the spot; Zhang Guohua and the main leading cadres of each division came to Chongqing as soon as possible. Zhang Guohua was taken aback when he received the telegram. He immediately realized that the mission had changed, and drove to Chongqing immediately. Along the way, Zhang Guohua was thinking: Where will the troops go?Yunnan?That's the territory of the 4th Corps; Xikang? The 18th Corps has already entered; hit Taiwan?There are 3 main players; it seems that nine out of ten are going to Tibet, because there is only an open space there.

Zhang Guohua's estimation was not wrong.As soon as he arrived at Zengjiayan, Liu Deng told him about Mao Zedong's plan to march into Tibet. Liu Deng said to Zhang Guohua: Let the 10th Army troops go to Tibet under the leadership of Zhang Guohua, the twists and turns may not turn around. Zhang Guohua can arbitrarily choose 3 main divisions from all the troops of the 2nd Army to form an army of 30,000 people. After Zhang Guohua clarified the mission, he was speechless for a while.He was very clear in his heart that the combat effectiveness of an army randomly selected would definitely not be a problem, but going to Tibet was not just about fighting, it was more about political struggles, and the relations of all aspects of a temporary new army had not been straightened out, facing such a difficult task task, I'm afraid it will delay work.

After thinking for a while, Zhang Guohua said to Liu Deng: "I still want to lead the 18th Army to undertake the mission of entering Tibet." Liu Bocheng consulted Deng Xiaoping with his eyes.Deng Xiaoping turned to Zhang Guohua: "Do you think you are sure?" "It's not a big problem." Deng Xiaoping looked at Liu Bocheng, but Liu Bocheng smiled and did not answer.Knowing that he also agreed, Deng Xiaoping said to Zhang Guohua: "That's it. We'll report to the Central Committee immediately. Do you have any difficulties?" "I haven't thought of it yet."

Liu Bocheng told him: "Speak up when you have difficulties. The whole army will support you." After Zhang Guohua left, Liu Deng immediately sent a report to Mao Zedong on the implementation.Mao Zedong quickly replied: Fully agree with Liu Deng's plan to march into Tibet.He said that as long as he stepped up to supervise Zhang Guohua and the 18th Army and other departments, there would be time. On January 11, 1950, Liu Bocheng met with the main leaders of the 18th Army. "Comrade Xiaoping has an important meeting, let me greet the comrades first!" Liu Bocheng spoke Sichuan dialect, and shook hands with several chief officers of the 18th Army in turn.Liu Bocheng did not give the task right away, but smiled and looked at the chief officers of the 18th Army one by one. He adjusted his glasses, and first asked Zhang Guohua: "You don't have to be 40 years old, do you?" Zhang Guohua puffed up his chest and took it away, and replied: "36!" Liu Bocheng patted Zhang Guohua on the shoulder with satisfaction: "Well, very young! 36 years old is a rabbit. Rabbits are flexible and good at running and jumping, especially mountain climbing." Zhang Guohua smiled: "It has already started to go down the mountain road." "Going down the mountain? It's still early!" Liu Bocheng shook Tan Guansan's hand again and said, "Except for you and me, they are all young people in their thirties, full of vigor, flexible hands and feet, and they are all Red Army During this period, I am going to ask you to carry heavy burdens." "Commander, please give an order!" The army leaders said in unison. Liu Bocheng suppressed his smile: "This time, you are entrusted with a very important, arduous, and glorious task. The Party Central Committee and Chairman Mao decided that the 18th Army will be responsible for the task of liberating Tibet." Zhang, Tan and others expressed their determination to complete the task. Liu Bocheng nodded: "Okay, very good! Communist Party members must have this kind of energy, which is called party spirit." Zhang Guohua and the military leaders bravely accepted the arduous task of entering Tibet. The party spirit of the middle and senior cadres is still strong, but some problems have appeared at the grassroots level.After the news of going to Tibet spread, some officers and soldiers at the grassroots level couldn’t keep up with their thoughts, and some troops even deserted. In severe cases, only the squad leader and deputy squad were left in one squad a day. Take turns holding the door.The battalion leaders asked every night about the number of deserters that day.For the senior generals who accepted the mission unconditionally, it was even more difficult to say: no matter how cruel the environment was, this glorious army that fought against Japan and Chiang Kai-shek never deserted.Seemingly overnight, this team changed! The predecessor of the 18th Army was formed by the 20th Brigade of the 1st Column of the former Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region and the Independent Brigade of the Henan-Wansu Military Region. In the battle of crossing the Yangtze River and marching into the Southwest, they went through untold hardships. In April 1949, the People's Liberation Army crossed the Yangtze River. The 18th Army crossed the river from Anhui to Jiangxi, then went through Hubei to Hunan and Guizhou, and then entered Sichuan, fighting for thousands of miles. After the victory of the Battle of Chengdu on December 27, 1949, the 18th Army was ordered to station in southern Sichuan. The military headquarters was stationed in Luzhou, which is famous for its rich wine. The 52nd Division is stationed in Yibin, which is known as the first city on the Yangtze River.The garrison of the entire 18th Army has the best conditions in the garrison area of ​​the 5th Corps of the 2nd Field Army, and the officers and soldiers of the whole army are beaming. At that time, the soldiers said happily: "Our 18th Army has suffered the most. The head of the field army knows that this time he took special care of us." Once the task of marching into Tibet was made public, for many people in the 18th Army, the turnaround was too hasty. Seeing that some problems could be resolved, such as cadres' family and marriage problems, they could not take care of them once they entered Tibet.Not to mention anything else, it is not easy to send a letter home.Although there were no big battles to fight when marching into Tibet, they were all drudgery, and the task of ideological work was really arduous. There is such a thing that vividly illustrates the difficulties brought about by the "mutation" at that time: The head of a regiment mobilized his subordinates when the troops left Anhui and crossed Jiangxi to Hubei, saying: Now that the whole country is liberated, we will settle down in Hubei, and we must make preparations to support local construction. Those who should start a family can start a family. up. Two days after the words were spoken, the 18th Army continued to move south and entered Hunan.When the troops arrived in Changsha, the head of the regiment said to his subordinates: This is all right, please rest assured, this time I must settle down in Changsha, and those who should marry wives can marry this time. But within a few days, the troops continued to go south to Guizhou.At this time, the head of the group said: This time, I must settle in Guizhou. Although Guizhou is poor now, it has a good climate and rich products. It must be a good place to develop in the future. It is ideal to settle here. But a week later the troops moved forward again and entered Sichuan.After the Battle of Chengdu, the 18th Army was ordered to station in southern Sichuan. Zhang Guohua was also the director of the Southern Sichuan Administrative Office, and Tan Guansan was the secretary of the Zigong Municipal Party Committee.The head of the regiment saw that the whole country except Taiwan, Tibet, and Hainan Island had been liberated, and Chiang Kai-shek's last main force on the mainland, Hu Zongnan, had also been wiped out. The fight is over, the settlement of the southern Sichuan family is a foregone conclusion, so this time he patted his chest and assured his subordinates: You should find a partner, and you can make preparations if you want to get married. This time I dare It is a foregone conclusion to ensure that South Sichuan settles down.We rest in the Land of Abundance for the rest of our lives. This is bitterness before sweetness. If you want to leave this time, you will call me a bastard! Just a few days after he swore, the task of the 18th Army to march into Tibet was issued.The head of the regiment beat his head and said, "Fuck me, I won't mobilize from now on!" At that time, some companies could be said to have lost control, and the number of "sick patients" increased day by day, and no one came to eat when it was time to eat.The company commander and the instructor were in a hurry, and ordered the chief secretary to prepare the food. The standard of the food was improved, and the pork was served in pots and pots, but no one looked at it.The company commander can't call the platoon leader, the platoon leader can't call the squad leader, and the squad leader can't call the soldiers.The company commander of a company, in order to do a good job in ideological work, wanted to kill pigs to improve food, so he sent four tolerances from the platoon to kill pigs. The tolerances refused to come from morning to afternoon. The company commander called the platoon leader and said: " How did you become a platoon leader? You were asked to send a few errands, but none of them came." The platoon leader said, "I can't call." The company commander said: "When you are a platoon leader, you can't even call a soldier. What kind of platoon leader are you? Don't let me be a platoon leader." The platoon leader said: "I'm just thinking about it. If you have the ability, you can call it." The company commander said: "Call me, if you call me, give me three days of confinement!" So the company commander himself went to the platoon to call out the tolerance.Several soldiers covered their heads with quilts and ignored them.The company commander became anxious and said that I would shoot you all.The soldiers turned over and sat up, shouting in unison: Who are you shooting?The company commander was stunned when he saw the situation.Said: Well, well, you sleep, you sleep. Later, the company commander personally killed pigs for the soldiers to eat, cursing as he killed them: "It's the wrong way! Let me kill the pigs!" It doesn't matter if the situation is overwhelming, the most terrible thing is to escape, because there are no soldiers to rely on to fight.The number of deserters increased day by day, the leaders of the 18th Army were anxious, and the commander Zhang Guohua was even more anxious. He stomped his feet in anger, patted the table and said, "Go, catch them all!" The following cadres are waiting for the commander's words.So as soon as the order was issued, the "catch soldiers" attacked in all directions, and a bunch of deserters were brought back after a while.Some of the company cadres who were full of anger pulled out their belts and slapped the deserters' buttocks fiercely. What distressed Zhang Guohua the most was that there were also deserters among the cadres.Liu Jieting, the former political commissar of the Artillery Battalion of the 18th Army he was familiar with, and later promoted to the deputy political commissar of the 154th Regiment of the 52nd Division (this person became a man of the day during the "Cultural Revolution"), was the first to propose to political commissars Zhang Guohua and Tan Guansan that he was in poor health and did not want to into Tibet. Zhang Guohua was so angry that his hands were shaking. He appreciated Liu Jieting's intelligence and ability, and was ready to promote Liu Jieting as political commissar.At this time, Liu Jieting was the first to jump out and say that he would not enter Tibet. Zhang Guohua said angrily, "This Liu Jieting is too bad. I never thought he was so bad! Why is he so bad? I don't want to see him again in my life!" Tan Guansan was so angry that he slapped the table and cursed: "He won't go? Is he so cheap? Tie him up for me! Won't you go? I'll tie him up to Tibet! Wherever I go, I'll ask the horse to take him away." Where to drag it!" Liu Jieting insisted on being tied back. But Zhang Guohua thought about it again and again, and felt that it was an honorable thing to enter Tibet, and these people should not be allowed to tarnish the reputation of the 18th Army, so he stipulated that all deserters were not allowed to go to Tibet, and turned back on the spot.The history of the new republic and the army cast the word "honor" very vividly, and most people still regard honor as more important than life.In addition, localities also pay special attention to history, and "people with problematic thinking" are not welcome.Therefore, those who have deserted are anxious, for fear of being eliminated and leaving an indelible stain on themselves or future generations.When they were really not allowed to enter Tibet and cleared out of the team, these people became anxious again, crying bitterly, and writing blood letters to express their determination. As long as they could maintain their "innocence", they would dare to fight. In order to ensure the march into Tibet, the Party Committee of the 18th Army held an emergency meeting. Zhang Guohua asked departments at all levels to do in-depth and meticulous ideological work, and asked all cadres to use their brains to find good solutions to ideological problems. Lead to the main channel of marching into Tibet. The 18th Army also held a mobilization meeting in each division. The leaders of the army participated in the mobilization meeting of each division, and Zhang Guohua participated in the mobilization meeting of the 52nd Division. As soon as the mobilization meeting started, Zhang Guohua stood up and said, "I am Zhang Guohua!" When the audience saw the army commander coming to the division in person, they immediately applauded. Zhang Guohua said: "The predecessor of your division is the 20th Brigade of Su Yang Column, which is well-known in the whole army. Do you know that?" The officers and soldiers in the audience answered loudly: "Know!" Zhang Guohua asked again: "Have you ever been afraid of fighting Japan?" "No!" "Have you ever retreated from beating Lao Jiang?" "No!" "No one is afraid of death when they fight against Japan or Chiang Kai-shek, but now that they are going to march into Tibet, some people are afraid of suffering!" The audience fell silent. Zhang Guohua continued: "Some people say that so many troops from the 2nd Army were not sent to Tibet, but we were sent. Why do you say we were sent? This is the trust of Chief Liu Deng in our 18th Army. This is our pride and pride! In the past, we cooperated Brotherly troops liberated a provincial capital and wiped out tens of thousands of enemies. They were elated and thought it was great. But now the 18th Army is the main force in marching into Tibet. It is not just a provincial capital, but the whole of Tibet, and the imperialist forces are driven out of Tibet. Complete the great cause of reunification of the motherland. Isn't this something we should be proud of?" Zhang Guohua said again: "You regard Tibet as a barren land, but Emperor Wenism never thinks it is desolate, and has been desperately drilling there for a long time. Are we not as enthusiastic about our own land as the imperialists? If we lose our province, we will lose everything. If Tibet is really divided by imperialism and our southwestern frontier retreats to the Jinsha River, I am afraid we will not be able to sit securely in Sichuan!" There was some mild commotion in the audience, who can say that this reasoning is wrong?But most people are more worried about their personal family and marriage.The commander of the army changed the subject and struck people's hearts with great intensity: "There is an old saying about the solution of the personal wives problem, which is called 'beauties love heroes since ancient times'. We are going to complete the great historical task of liberating Tibet. It can be said that everyone is Hero. As long as we study hard, work hard, and go to Tibet happily, finding a wife is not a problem. Girls from rural or urban areas will love you. Someone asked whether it is possible to marry a Tibetan girl? Everyone knows that in In the Tang Dynasty more than 1,000 years ago, Princess Wencheng and Princess Jincheng married the Tibetan King Songtsan Gampo and Chidezuzan successively. Now that we are in Tibet, we can also marry Tibetan girls, and Tibetan girls are very hardworking and kind. It is also very beautiful. Marriage conditions, due to the restrictions of the war environment in the past, should be stricter; after one or two years, our country implements the salary system, and the conditions will be relaxed, allowing cadres to bring their families; the marriage of soldiers, with the compulsory military service system , it will be solved very well.” I don't know if it was Zhunqi's head, but the audience applauded, and the applause became more and more enthusiastic.Many tense faces stretched out.Zhang Guohua suppressed the applause with gestures, his face became serious again, and said: "It must be noted that our march into Tibet this time is different from the Red Army's long march. Bombing. This time, with the support of the people of the whole country, as well as the support and help of the Soviet people, the conditions are hundreds of times better than those during the Long March; it is also superior to the War of Resistance Against Japan and the War of Liberation. Our equipment and supplies will be unprecedented since the founding of the army. No. I know that there are still some older comrades who don’t want to go, thinking that they already have two or three honorary medals on their chests, and they just want to sleep on the honor and don’t want to move forward. This is wrong. Cadres To take the lead, all people must be open-minded, and go to Tibet happily!" Zhang Guohua's report was printed and distributed to the entire 18th Army for implementation. The enthusiasm of the officers and soldiers of the entire army was mobilized, and almost everyone wrote a letter of determination. Zhang Guohua not only educates his subordinates earnestly, but also sets an example for others.Just when he was mobilizing the army, the secretary called and said, "It's hard to be sick and have a high fever. Would you like to come back and have a look?" Difficult is Zhang Guohua's first child.Zhang Guohua married Fan Jinzhen in 1946. Fan Jinzhen accepted the dispatch of the organization after suffering from a difficult pregnancy, and went to Kaifeng to perform the task of breaking into the Kuomintang bank.Disguised as a peasant woman, she was surrounded by the enemy when she passed a village, and happened to be in labor, so she had to hide in a villager's cattle fence to give birth.The lights were dark, the wind was blowing, and there were no relatives. On the one hand, the donkey brayed, and on the other hand, Fan Jinzhen moaned in pain. Not long after the child was born, the enemy entered the village.Fan Jinzhen wrapped the child in a quilt and put it on the bed.The enemy who came in thought that something good was wrapped in the quilt, so he stretched out his bayonet and stabbed him.Fan Jin was so anxious that his heart jumped into his mouth, and it was difficult to yell.The landlady was also anxious and knelt down and cried, "It's my grandson inside!" The enemy left, and the two hurriedly opened the quilt. Fortunately, the bayonet only pierced the old quilt and did not hurt the child.For this reason, Zhang Guohua and Fan Jinzhen nicknamed the child "Nan Nan".It is to let children remember the difficulties of growing up and those difficult years that the Communists spent. When Zhang Guohua heard that the child was ill, he was taken aback for a moment and asked, "What illness?" The secretary reported: "It may be pneumonia, coughing and wheezing." Because the work was very stressful at the time, Zhang Guohua didn't think deeply about it, and said, "I can't get out, so you can help me take care of it." While the meeting was in progress, Zhang Guohua's guards ran over in a panic again, saying that the situation was not good, and Zhang Guohua was asked to go and have a look. Zhang Guohua became angry: "More than 30,000 people are going to enter Tibet, and Pepsi must have a spectrum. Can I, the army commander, leave at this time?" The guard was criticized, pouted, and hurried to the hospital again.In the evening, Zhang Guohua had a little free time and immediately drove to the hospital to see the child.He wanted to tell the child that he was going to Tibet to see the Flaming Mountains and find Monkey King.But as soon as he walked into the gate of the hospital, he found that the atmosphere was not right, and some familiar doctors also avoided him.He walked quickly into the ward.When standing in front of the hospital bed, he seemed to be struck by five thunderbolts, and he was stunned—it was hard that he had closed his eyes forever. His wife, Fan Jinzhen, was sitting by the side, already weeping uncontrollably.Zhang Guohua suppressed his grief and swallowed bitter tears.What can he say, he has to take this as the first sacrifice for entering Tibet. As the commander of the army, he has made such a sacrifice, and he believes that his subordinates will cheer up. Zhang Guohua's wife was already working as the chief of the business section at West Sichuan Bank at that time, and she was pregnant. She didn't want to go to Tibet at first.Zhang Guohua mobilized her: "Let's go together. Give birth to the child in Tibet, we are all together!" Fan Jinzhen went to Tibet with her husband, and the child was born on the way to Tibet. On February 15, 1950, the Southwest Bureau, the Southwest Military Region, and the Second Field Army issued a political mobilization order to march into Tibet. On March 7th, the 18th Army held an swearing-in meeting for marching into Tibet in Leshan. Zhang Guohua and Tan Guansan made speeches at the meeting, calling on all officers and soldiers of the army to resolutely implement the orders of the central government, carry forward the glorious tradition and revolutionary heroism of the PLA, march into Tibet, and liberate Tibet .Later, Zhang Guohua led the main force of the 18th Army to set off and embarked on the difficult and dangerous journey into Tibet.