The seven divisions of the New Fourth Army, the commander of each division, are not simple, except for Peng Xuefeng, who died of illness, and Luo Binghui, who died of illness, who later all were deputy state leaders. However, only one of them had commanded two divisions at the same time.
He was Su Yu, commander of the 1st Division.
When did Su Yu show his military prowess?
A recognized point in time began with the War of Resistance.
In other words, Su Yu's fame began in the War of Resistance.
Su Yu's first national fame in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was the Weigang Ambush.
The battle was minor and took place on June 17, 1938. Su Yu led a unit of the New Fourth Army to ambush the Japanese army at Weigang, killing more than a dozen enemy and wounding dozens of enemy -- although the battle was not large and the results were not great, this battle was the first anti-Japanese battle fought by the Chinese army in Jiangnan after the new fourth army collapsed in hundreds of thousands of Kuomintang troops.
And this battle is of great significance: it is a powerful proof that the Japanese army is not terrible, and the New Fourth Army can completely win the battle behind enemy lines. In this regard, the New Fourth Army proposed to Su Yu to "praise the whole army and call on the whole army to study." Chiang Kai-shek also sent a commendation telegram to the New Fourth Army:
"Commander Ye:
Belonging to the Subu, he attacked Weigang and gained a lot, and he was very good at Jiashang. ”
In this battle, Su Yu was named after Chiang Kai-shek.
Two years later, Su Yu shook Chiang Kai-shek in another battle.
This was the Battle of the Yellow Bridge in October 1940.
In this battle, Su Yu commanded 9 regiments of the 3 columns, a total of more than 7,000 people (including only more than 5,000 combatants), to meet the elite main force of Han Deqin, chairman of the Kuomintang Jiangsu Provincial Government and deputy commander-in-chief of the Lusu Theater, with a total of more than 30,000 people. As a result, Su Yuquan annihilated 12 regiments of Han Deloitte and annihilated more than 11,000 enemy troops, causing Han Deloitte to lose the ability to attack the New Fourth Army alone.
In this battle, Su Yu defeated the enemy with 5,000 troops and 30,000 troops, defeated the strong with the weak, solved the problem of northern Jiangsu in one fell swoop, and opened up the situation of the War of Resistance in Central China -- a very powerful counterattack against Chiang Kai-shek -- Chiang Kai-shek did not expect it, and afterwards asked in a loud voice: "Who commanded the communist army?" ”
Gu Zhutong replied, "Su Yu." As a result, Chiang Kai-shek did not speak.
Some people say that the Battle of Huangqiao was the beginning of Su Yu's future command of a large army.
In February 1941, the New Fourth Army rebuilt 7 divisions after the Anhui Incident, and Su Yu became the commander of the 1st Division - in fact, before that, Su Yu was not in a higher position than others among the seven masters, and actually became the first division commander in one fell swoop.
Why?
It is because he can fight, fight a lot, and have achieved great success. He led his troops to carry out guerrilla warfare and created the Soviet-Central Anti-Japanese Base Area, which became the CCP's "basic base area in central China" and "the source of development to the west and south", and the Soviet-Chinese anti-Japanese base area was likened to "Guanzhong like Han Gaozu".
Regarding Su Yu, Liu Shaoqi said: "The 1st Division has achieved the greatest achievements in its work in the past few years and has established the greatest merits in the War of Resistance. In our whole army, the 1st Division has fought the most battles and achieved the greatest results, and in countless anti-'mopping- battles, it has generally achieved the greatest results and victories. ”
This is not a lie.
In October 1943, the 1st Division of the New Fourth Army announced its achievements in the six years of participating in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression:
1. 5386 large and small battles were fought - an average of nearly 900 battles a year, and an average of nearly 3 battles a day.
2. Captured 44,300 rifles, 1,236 light and heavy machine guns, 52 grenade launchers, 2 anti-aircraft machine guns, 26 mortars, 45 small guns, 141 flower machine guns, 595 short guns, and 1.33 million rounds of ammunition - the first to be captured in the Central China Theater.
3. Killed and wounded 13,541 Officers and Men of the Japanese Army, 18,180 puppet troops, and 20,910 Kuomintang recalcitrant troops. 96 Japanese troops, 11,855 puppet troops, and 36,742 Kuomintang recalcitrant troops were captured, and 102324 japanese pseudo-recalcitrant communists were killed, wounded, and captured in total--this number is staggering.
In March 1942, the Central Military Commission issued a telegram: Su Yu unified command of the 1st and 6th Divisions of the New Fourth Army—thus making Su Yu the only division commander of the New Fourth Army to command two divisions at the same time. Later, the 6th Division was simply incorporated into the 1st Division.
In March 1944, Su Yu led his troops to launch the Cheqiao Campaign, which opened the prelude to the strategic counteroffensive between the Soviet Union and China. The Battle of Cheqiao was the offensive operation that shook the Japanese army the most in the history of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Central China, and created an example of the annihilation war during the Sino-Chinese War of Resistance. Japanese Lieutenant Ichizo Yamamoto, who was captured at the Battle of Cheqiao, said:
"Your Yurai (remarkable)!
Xinhua praised the 1st Division of the New Fourth Army for "fighting a "great war of annihilation" with its "strong troop strength." In this year, Su Yu commanded the local troops of the main force of the 1st Division to fight with the Japanese puppet army 825 times, annihilating the Japanese puppet army 1. 60,000 people. Chairman Mao said happily:
"Comrade Su Yu will be able to command an army of four or five hundred thousand in the future."