Among the founding generals of new China, there were not many people who could make Xu Shiyou extend his thumb to admire, and his old chief Chen Geng was one of them.
Speaking of Xu Shiyou and Chen Geng, they worked together twice during the Red Army period and the War of Resistance Against Japan, and Xu Shiyou was deeply impressed by Chen Geng's art of military command.
In September 1931, Chen Geng was ordered to arrive from Shanghai in the Eyu-Anhui Soviet District to lead the armed struggle and served as the commander of the 38th Regiment of the Red 4th Army.
A few months later, the Red Fourth Front was established, with three divisions under its jurisdiction, namely Ni Zhiliang, commander of the 10th Division, Wang Shusheng, commander of the 11th Division, Chen Geng, commander of the 12th Division, and Xu Shiyou was promoted to the commander of the 25th Regiment of the 12th Division.
Under the command of Chen Geng, he participated in the Battle of Huang'an, with the 12th Division as the main attacking force, and the 34th Regiment commanded by Xu Shiyou was a sharp knife, which was the main force when capturing Huang'an City. The Battle of Huang'an lasted 42 days and annihilated more than 15,000 enemy troops.
After the victory at the Battle of Huang'an, Chiang Kai-shek mobilized heavy troops to encircle and suppress the Soviet zone. The Four Fronts planned to first take Tang Enbo's 2nd Division and then eat Chen Yuehan's 58th Division.
Under the command of Chen Geng, the 12th Division directly pounded Jiangjiaji and Tofu Shops where Tang Enbo was occupying. When the enemy retreated to the mall, the enemy sent 19 regiments to reinforce the mall. The Fourth Front made Chen Geng's 12th Division a frontal enemy. The enemy army, with its disparity in local strength, can only rely on favorable terrain and concentrate its forces to make a fierce assault in the movement, annihilate one part of the enemy, and destroy most of it.
Chen Geng organized cadres of various regiments to survey the terrain and study specific operational plans. In the end, Xu Shiyou's 34th Regiment was on the left side of the highway, Xu Haidong's 36th Regiment was on the right side of the highway, and another regiment was used as a reserve team to construct fortifications in the tofu shop.
In the first stage, the fight was very hard, but the enemy was defeated. Unexpectedly, the enemy once attacked the 12th Division's position with 6 regiments, and when the two armies were intertwined, they launched a white-knife fight. Faced with an enemy three times larger than itself, the 12th Division, which served as a frontal footprint, suffered heavy casualties and became more and more difficult to fight, and the position was broken through many times, and Chen Geng personally inspected the three regiments. When xu Shiyou's 34th regiment arrived, he said to Chen Geng: Rest assured, commander, the people are in the position.
At the most difficult time of the 12th Division, the 10th and 11th Divisions on both wings rushed to reinforcements and launched a fierce attack on the enemy from both wings, and the enemy's 4 divisions became caged birds. When the enemy army was confused and retreated one after another, Chen Geng commanded the 12th Division to launch a frontal counterattack. Several large armies made the enemy lose their armor and immediately annihilated more than 4,000 enemy troops.
The Battle of tofu Shop is not too famous in the history of the Red Army, but in the development of the Red Fourth Front, it is definitely the most exciting battle.
Xu Shiyou was very impressed with Chen Geng's command in the tofu shop battle, and when he mentioned the battlefield battle many years later, Xu Shiyou commented that Chen Geng's military command was "art".
In 1932, Chen Geng was promoted to chief of staff of the Red Fourth Front, and after being wounded in battle, he left Eyuwan and also left the Red Fourth Front to shanghai for medical treatment.
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Chen Geng once again commanded the reorganized troops of the Red Fourth Front, and Xu Shiyou served as a deputy brigade commander under Chen Geng and was convinced. A year later, Xu Shiyou went to Shandong to resist japan.
In Xu Shiyou's heart, Chen Geng has always been his old chief, and many aspects are worth learning from himself.