In the autumn of 1955, our army held the first major award in history. At that time, the generals of the zhengjun rank were generally major generals, some were still lieutenant generals, and Dong Qiwu and Chen Mingren also became generals. However, Zhang Lixiong, the political commissar of the 13th Army, was only awarded the rank of colonel, and regrettably lost his hand with the general, and today we will tell his story. Born in 1913, Zhang Lixiong, a native of Shanghang, Fujian Province, joined the revolution at the age of 16 and joined the Red Army at the age of 19.
During the agrarian revolutionary war, Zhang Lixiong participated in the fourth and fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaigns, and successively served as the political commissar of the 100th Regiment of the Red 12th Army and the 45th Regiment of the Red 5th Army by virtue of his military achievements. In September 1934, on the eve of the Red Army's Long March, Zhang Lixiong received an order from the regimental commander Dong Zhentang to lead more than 800 people to block the enemy's pursuit at Panbaiyun Mountain, the old camp of Xingguo. At that time, the enemy army had more than 10,000 people, more than ten times that of the Red Army, but Zhang Lixiong was not afraid of danger, and used the favorable terrain to fight with the enemy for three days and two nights, which won valuable time for the main force of the Red 5Th Army to assemble and transfer.
During the Long March, the 45th Regiment, as the rear guard of the whole army, fought several bloody battles with the superior enemy, and crossed the snowy mountains and meadows three times, paying a great price of attrition. After the three main forces of the Red Army met the division, Zhang Lixiong followed the commander Dong Zhentang across the Yellow River and fought with the Majia Army. On January 12, 1937, the Ma family army dispatched more than 20,000 people to besiege Gaotai, when the Red 5th Army only had more than 2,000 people left after a series of bloody battles. In the face of a strong enemy, Dong Zhentang led his troops and the enemy to fight bloodily for 9 days and nights, and finally died because they were outnumbered.
Zhang Lixiong was also seriously injured in the bloody battle of Gaotai, and a fellow villager hid him in the wall of his home in spite of the danger, which escaped the search of Ma Jiajun. After recovering from his injury, Zhang Lixiong tossed and turned all the way, experienced various tribulations, and finally returned to Yan'an. Soon after the Outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Zhang Lixiong became the director of the Political Department of the Seventh Military Subdistrict of the Taihang Military Region, and the commander of the military sub-district at that time was the famous tiger general Pi Dingjun. Soon after the fall of northern Henan, the Japanese and the hypocrites burned and plundered in this area, doing no evil, and the local people were deeply affected. Both Zhang Lixiong and Pi Ding were ordered to lead their troops into northern Henan to strike at the enemy and create new anti-Japanese base areas.
After the Eighth Route Army advanced into northern Henan, it repeatedly ambushed the Japanese puppet army in the form of guerrilla warfare and ambush warfare, and engaged in more than 300 large and small battles with the enemy in more than a year, which made the enemy frightened. Both Zhang Lixiong and Pi Ding decided to take advantage of the victory to pursue and liberate Lin County. At that time, LinXian stationed a squadron of Japanese troops and 3 puppet troops of reinforced regiments, and dug trenches 9 feet deep and 8 meters wide outside the city. The Eighth Route Army only had a few mortars in its hands, and there was a shortage of shells, so if it attacked LinXian, it was bound to pay a great price.
Zhang Lixiong and Pi Dingjun
After some research, zhang lixiong and Pi Ding both decided to outwit. On the one hand, they organized the troops to carry out siege training with great fanfare, and on the other hand, they sent scouts to sneak into the city and capture Li Dayong, chief of staff of the puppet army, alive. After that, Zhang Lixiong used Jiang Gan's strategy of stealing books, causing Li Dayong to mistakenly believe that the Eighth Route Army was going to dispatch 20 regiments to attack the county seat of Linxian County, and deliberately let him escape back to Linxian county overnight to deliver news. After listening to Li Dayong's report, the Japanese Kou in the city were uneasy and ran away at dawn, leaving the puppet army to defend the city.
At dusk that day, Zhang Lixiong and Pi Dingjun led the main force to surround Lin County on three sides, deliberately leaving an opening for the puppet army in the west. The combat effectiveness of the puppet army was not strong, and as soon as the Japanese army ran, they had no intention of fighting. Soon after the battle began, the puppet army abandoned the city from the west gate and fled, only to crash into the ambush circle arranged by Zhang Lixiong in advance. Under the front and rear attacks of the Eighth Route Army, the puppet army was killed and wounded, and the rest quickly raised their hands and surrendered. Soon after the liberation of LinXian County, Zhang Lixiong and Pi Dingjun led their troops to take advantage of the victory to pursue, and then pulled out many Japanese puppet army strongholds, and successfully opened up the anti-Japanese base area in northern Henan.
After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Zhang Lixiong and Pi Dingjun entered the First Column of the Central Plains Military Region together, when Pi Dingjun served as the brigade commander of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Column, and Zhang Lixiong served as the political commissar of the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Column. On the eve of the breakthrough in the Central Plains, Pi Dingjun's 1st Brigade undertook the heavy responsibility of covering the breakthrough of the main force. Zhang Lixiong was well aware of the danger of this mission, and before parting, he and his old partner Pi Dingjun, who had fought side by side for many years, hugged each other tightly, encouraged each other to stand out, and left a message in each other's notebooks: "Those who are alive must send wreaths and hold memorial services for the sacrifices." ”
In the end, the leather brigade overcame all kinds of difficulties and successfully completed the task of covering the main force's breakthrough. The 3rd Brigade led by Zhang Lixiong first fought a bloody battle with the enemy on the Pinghan Railway, and then forcibly crossed the Xiang River, and finally broke out of the enemy's encirclement and entered the Wudang Mountains. After the Battle of Huaihai broke out, Pi Dingjun and Zhang Lixiong reunited on the battlefield and contributed to the victory of this great armageddon. After the founding of New China, Zhang Lixiong served as the political commissar of the 13th Army.
General Zhang Lixiong, 108 years old
When he was awarded the rank in 1955, Pi Dingjun was awarded the rank of lieutenant general, and Zhang Lixiong, who had been with him for many years, was only awarded the rank of colonel as a regular army rank. Some old comrades-in-arms did not understand this, so they advised Zhang Lixiong to reflect it to his superiors. But Zhang Lixiong looked very open, he frankly said: "I obey the arrangement of my superiors, and the superiors awarded me a colonel, which is also an affirmation of me, and there are many old comrades-in-arms who cannot be awarded military ranks because of sacrifice or change of profession, compared with them, I am already very lucky!" Six years later, Zhang Lixiong was promoted to major general. Now that the old general is 108 years old, his body is still tough, and he sincerely wishes the old man a long and healthy life.