Chapter 137 3. Mao Zedong invited Zhao Chengjin to lunch

Zhao Chengjin, commander of the 4th Army Division of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region, No. 3, Manchu. Born in April 1901.A native of Niuzhuang Town, Haicheng City, Liaoning Province. He joined the Northeast Army in 1917 and served successively as battalion commander and deputy regimental commander. In 1931, he graduated from the Northeast Lecture Hall. In February 1937, under the influence of Lu Zhengcao, he accepted the anti-Japanese proposition of the Communist Party of China, joined the Jizhong People's Self-Defense Force led by the Communist Party of China in October of the same year, and joined the Communist Party of China in December.Served as head of the First Regiment of the Jizhong People's Self-Defense Army, Commander of the 1st Army Division of the Eighth Route Army Jizhong Military Region, Commander of the 4th Army Division of the Hebei-Luyu Military Region and Commander of the Southward Detachment, and the First Brigade of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia-Shanxi-Sui Joint Defense Army Deputy Brigadier etc.Participated in the battles of Weidong, Jizhong Military Region anti-"sweeping", Hundred Regiments Battle, Weinan, etc., and made contributions to the establishment of Jizhong Anti-Japanese Base Area.

After the Battle of Weinan, in January 1944, the Central Military Commission sent a telegram to the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region, ordering Commander Yang Dezhi to lead a part of the troops to Yan'an.In the telegram, the Military Commission also approved Zhao Chengjin to go to Yan'an together.The troops transferred to the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region by the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region this time are: 6 regiments including the 11th Regiment, 16th Regiment, 19th Regiment, 32nd Regiment and the Muslim Detachment.The troops passed through Taihang District and Taiyue District, and after more than two months of continuous marching, they arrived in Yan'an in early April.

According to the deployment of the Military Commission, the troops from the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region were organized into the 1st Brigade of the Joint Defense Army, with Yang Dezhi as the brigade commander and Zhao Chengjin as the deputy brigade commander.After reorganization, the troops moved into Qingquangou area of ​​Ganquan County to garrison.The soldiers cut wood, burned lime, and dug caves by themselves, and the troops quickly settled down, and then a boom in training and production quickly set off.Qingquangou used to be a virgin forest. After the arrival of the troops, the once desolate and lonely valley immediately became full of vitality.During the day, the singing of soldiers, the sound of labor chants, and the sound of soldiers training and killing echoed in the valley;

After participating in the revolution, Zhao Chengjin had two wishes in his heart: one was to meet Mao Zedong, and the other was to want to systematically study some Marxist ideas at the Central Party School.When he first arrived in the border region, he was busy leading the troops to build the camp from morning to night, and didn't care about these things. After the troops settled down, these two wishes of Zhao Chengjin popped up again.When talking with brigade commander Yang Dezhi once, Zhao Chengjin expressed his wish.Brigadier Yang said with a smile: "This is a good thing, I will report it to my superiors!"

On August 24, Zhao Chengjin was having a meeting at the brigade headquarters when he suddenly received a call from Comrade Zhang Jingwu, Chief of Staff of the United Defense Forces.Chief of Staff Zhang said loudly on the phone: "Old Zhao, I have good news for you: Chairman Mao is going to meet you on the 26th! Boss He has already arranged a car and will pick you up the morning after tomorrow." When he heard that the wish he had kept in his heart for a long time was about to come true, Zhao Chengjin couldn't believe his ears, and was stunned for a while. It wasn't until Chief of Staff Zhang repeated that Zhao Chengjin dared to believe that all this was true. real.It turned out that Comrade Yang Dezhi told Comrade Zhang Jingwu and Comrade Peng Zhen, vice president of the Central Party School, about Zhao Chengjin's wishes.They reported to Mao Zedong again, and Mao Zedong immediately agreed to see Zhao Chengjin.

On the morning of August 26, just as the sun was rising in the east, the car sent by Boss He arrived at the door of Zhao Chengjin's house.The whole family and many old comrades-in-arms came to see Zhao Chengjin off, and asked Zhao Chengjin to say hello to Chairman Mao on their behalf.Zhao Chengjin's second daughter, Nian'er, heard that her father was going to see Mao Zedong, and she jumped and screamed to go too.Afraid of wasting time, Zhao Chengjin took her into the car together. Qingquangou is nearly 200 miles away from Yan'an, and cars are speeding on the mountain road.In the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region at that time, cars were the most modern means of transportation, but Zhao Chengjin thought the cars were running too slowly, and wished he could fly to Chairman Mao's side all at once, and he didn't care to enjoy the beautiful scenery on the roadside at all.But when I remembered that I was about to meet Chairman Mao, what should I say?Zhao Chengjin couldn't help feeling a little nervous again.

The car drove to Mao Zedong's residence in Zaoyuan. The staff who had been waiting in front of the door saw Zhao Chengjin coming, and immediately turned back and went in to report to Mao Zedong.As soon as Zhao Chengjin got off the car, Mao Zedong walked out of the cave, stretched out his hand to Zhao Chengjin with a smile on his face, and asked, "Are you Comrade Zhao Chengjin?" Mao Zedong took Nian'er's hand to let Zhao Chengjin and his party into the cave.As soon as he sat down, the guard poured Zhao Chengjin a cup of hot tea, and then brought Nian'er a plate of snacks.Mao Zedong took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and asked Zhao Chengjin to smoke it. Zhao Chengjin replied that he would not do it. Mao Zedong lit one himself, and then asked Zhao Chengjin where he was from, how old was he, and how many children did he have?

After Zhao Chengjin answered Mao Zedong's question, he reported to Mao Zedong about the uprising of the 691 regiment of the Northeast Army in September 1937.Mao Zedong listened very carefully, and he said: "You come out of the old army and stand on the side of the revolution. The party welcomes you, and the people also welcome you." Mao Zedong also asked about the situation of Lu Zhengcao and some other comrades in detail, and Zhao Chengjin answered them one by one. Then, Zhao Chengjin reported to Mao Zedong the situation of the troops after the uprising. When it was mentioned that the 1 battalion led by Zhao Chengjin during the uprising had now developed into 9 regiments, Mao Zedong said happily: "Our army has grown from small to large. It developed from weak to strong. I heard about your situation behind enemy lines, and you fought well."

Zhao Chengjin replied: "Our achievements are the result of the party's training and education. The party is very concerned about our uprising army, and has successively sent Tan Guansan, Kuang Fuzhao, He Shanyuan, Zhang Guohua and other comrades as political commissars. These comrades They have all helped me a lot. But I am not making fast progress, and I feel very ashamed.” Mao Zedong comforted Zhao Chengjin and said: "A person's ideological remolding is not an easy task. We must hurry up and not rush." ​​Taking this opportunity, Zhao Chengjin expressed his idea of ​​wanting to study at the Central Party School.Mao Zedong explained: "Now our work is very tense, and it is impossible to select more cadres to live and study in the school. You have led this army for many years, and it is better to stay there to work. You can study while working! Yes. Find some Marxist books and read them yourself. Reading more documents and newspapers is also a kind of learning.” Mao Zedong also said that in addition to studying politics and establishing a proletarian outlook on life, you must also learn proletarian tactical thinking.Now the enemy is still very powerful, strategically we must win the many with the few, and tactically we must win the few with the many.Then, Mao Zedong explained to Zhao Chengjin the sixteen-character formula "When the enemy advances, we retreat, when the enemy is stationed, we harass, when the enemy is tired, we attack, and when the enemy retreats, we pursue", with some battle examples interspersed in the middle. It was so vivid that Zhao Chengjin was fascinated by it.

Unconsciously, it was noon, and Zhao Chengjin stood up to bid farewell to Mao Zedong.Mao Zedong said: "Don't go, you must have lunch here." Cho Seung-jin said, "That's too much trouble for the chairman." Mao Zedong said: "I planted some vegetables myself, and you can try it too." After a while, the cook brought up 6 plates of stir-fried vegetables, including leeks, green peppers, tomatoes... After lunch, Mao Zedong continued to talk with Zhao Chengjin regardless of rest, and asked Zhao Chengjin how the cadres were thinking after the reorganization. , to lighten the burden on the people.

After Zhao Chengjin returned to the army, he introduced the scene of meeting Mao Zedong at the military meeting and conveyed Mao Zedong's instructions. The cadres and soldiers of the whole brigade were greatly encouraged.