"I'm Mr. Mao, I can't stay, I'm not afraid of attrition, move forward quickly!"
In July 1949, the national army was defeated and fled southward, Commander Chen Geng led two corps to liberate Guangzhou, and Li Chengfang, as the commander of the 14th Army, commanded the enemy to encircle, pursue and intercept.
Li Chengfang's code name is "Mr. Mao", and there is a telephone transmitter in his command post, as long as it is connected, the other party can hear his hoarse and excited voice, because he has not slept well for several days, his throat is hoarse, and his eyes are red and swollen.
The national army wanted to cross the sea and escape to Hainan Island, they had cars, ships and trains, but our army only had two legs of soldiers, and if they wanted to stop them, they had to be fast.
After analysis, Li Chengfang asked the headquarters to prepare a large number of ships, and in order to speed up, the soldiers helped the boatowners to row in turns, regardless of the artillery fire of the enemy troops on both sides, captured Sanshui City and Southwest Town, and controlled the traffic choke point west of Guangzhou.
Chen Geng said happily: "Advancing more than 140 miles in one night and capturing Sanshui, this is Li Chengfang's masterpiece!" ”
In April 1914, Li Chengfang was born in a rural family in Macheng, Hubei Province, and was exposed to the suffering of the peasants since he was a child, and the peasants had to face the exploitation and bullying of the landlords, as well as the oppression of the government.
In March 1929, 15-year-old Li Chengfang was working in the fields as usual, and when he saw the guerrillas passing by, he volunteered to join the army.
After Li Chengfang joined the army, the Jianggui War broke out, and he participated in the war under the leadership of Wang Shusheng, the commander of the Red 91st Regiment, and performed very bravely.
In October 1932, the Red Fourth Front Army was encircled and suppressed by the Kuomintang and could only be forced to turn westward, but after the Red Army withdrew, the common people were brutalized and bullied.
Li Chengfang's parents were persecuted by the Kuomintang and died, and his sister could only leave his hometown to beg.
Although Li Chengfang is a farmer's son, he can bear hardships and stand hard work, as well as the quality of courage and fearlessness, after accumulating experience in killing the enemy on the battlefield, his position has been continuously improved, and at the age of 19, he served as the instructor of the 8th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 29th Regiment of the 10th Division, and was later promoted to the political commissar of the 3rd Battalion of the 29th Regiment.
When Li Chengfang was just in his early 20s, he was appointed political commissar of the Red 271st Regiment, which was the main force of the Red Fourth Front Army.
Li Chengfang's ability to become a political commissar requires that he must not only understand the ideological education of the troops, but also be able to command operations.
In March 1935, the Red Fourth Front Army launched the Jialing River Campaign to Sichuan and Gansu, and Li Chengfang led his troops as the first echelon to attack the Kuomintang army, sweeping away the obstacles to crossing the river, and two months later occupied Maoxian, Weizhou and other areas.
After the Red Fourth Front Army and the Red Front Army met in Maogong, Sichuan, Li Chengfang became seriously ill due to overwork from several battles and stayed in the General Hospital of the Red Fourth Front Army for three months.
After being discharged from the hospital, the organization considered that Li Chengfang's health was still very weak, so he was admitted to the Red Army University to study, and later the Red Army University was incorporated into the Chinese People's Anti-Japanese Red Army University, which is also known as "Kang Da".
After the reorganization of the school, the learning content was richer, and Chairman Mao and other central leaders also personally went to the "Kang Da" to give speeches or lectures, and this period of study made his progress very fast, and he truly understood the principles of revolution and military tactics.
After graduating from Kang University, Li Chengfang entered the first column of the Shanxi Youth Anti-Enemy Death Squad in southeast Shanxi Province, and served as a guerrilla instructor in the training class for military and political cadres.
After the 1st Column of the Anti-Enemy Decisive Squad continued to grow and develop, the 3rd Brigade was formed, and Li Chengfang led this team to gallop on the battlefield of resistance against Japan in Shanxi and launched a fierce battle with the Japanese army.
When Li Chengfang led the troops, he often rested during the day and marched at night, making the Japanese army dizzy, and then ambushing, and won many battles.
Chongqing's "Xinhua Daily" commented: "With a calm and brave attitude, the determination of the commanders, and the tenacity of the soldiers, the name of the death squad is deeply imprinted on the hearts of the people. ”
The troops led by Li Chengfang performed very well during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and during the War of Liberation, they were even more invincible and made great achievements.
In September 1945, after the Japanese army announced its surrender, Lao Chiang ordered Yan Xishan's troops to invade the liberated area in the southeast of Shanxi, and our army launched the Shangdang Campaign, Li Chengfang served as the commander of the first brigade of the Taiyue Column to the death, and together with his brother troops, he captured 5 cities on the periphery of Changzhi and annihilated more than 7,000 enemy troops.
After the 1st Brigade led by Li Chengfang and other troops besieged Changzhi City in the rain for 3 days, they quickly annihilated the defenders of Beiguan and besieged Changzhi City, and Shi Zebo, the commander of the 19th Army of the General of the National Army defending the city, hurriedly sent a telegram for help.
Yan Xishan saw that Changzhi City was trapped, and ordered Peng Yubin, deputy commander-in-chief of the 7th Group Army, to go to support, due to the rainy days and rugged mountain roads, the daily march was only more than 10 miles, in order to hurry, it was decided to cross Lao Ye Ling and Mopan Ridge.
Peng Yubin's troops had a total of 8 divisions and 2 artillery regiments, totaling more than 20,000 people, and brought a lot of advanced artillery shells and machine guns, while the weapons of the Eighth Route Army were much backward and the number was much smaller, and they suffered heavy losses after besieging Laoyeling on three sides.
Our army quickly decided that the Taiyue Column led by Li Chengfang, who was originally besieging Changzhi, decided to kill the First Brigade, and the Southern Hebei Column, totaling more than 6,000 people, to besiege Lao Yeling.
Under the leadership of the local villagers, our army cut off the connection between the enemy's Lao Yeling and Mopanling, and Peng Yubin's troops continued to shrink their positions, which became the key to the victory or defeat of the entire campaign.
After several days of fierce fighting between the two sides, Peng Yubin's troops ran out of food, and could only dig raw potatoes and corn in the ground to satisfy their hunger, and sometimes the soldiers of the national army fought for some food, and our army quickly controlled the only water source on the hillside, so that the enemy army fell into the dilemma of cutting off water and food.
Peng Yubin had no choice but to break through, but several counteroffences failed, and the soldiers of the national army were facing a collapse situation.
On October 4, Chen Geng, commander of the Taiyue Column, ordered Li Chengfang to set off to Yuting Town to cut off the retreat of reinforcements.
With the cooperation of brother troops, the 38th Regiment had a fierce exchange of fire with the Nationalist Army, capturing more than 600 enemies, and the 25th Regiment captured more than 1,000 enemies by the Tuluo Village River and captured Hu Sanyu, the commander of the artillery.
On October 8, Shi Zebo saw that the reinforcements had not arrived for a long time, and decided to abandon the city and break through to the southwest, Li Chengfang was responsible for leading the troops to the east and west, the two places were more than 200 kilometers apart, and the troops traveled day and night, and on the 12th, Shi Zebo's troops were surrounded in the Jiangjunling and Taochuan areas.
On the afternoon of October 12, Li Chengfang and other troops launched a general offensive, and after three hours of fierce fighting, a total of more than 10,000 enemy troops were annihilated, Shi Zebo and two enemy division commanders were captured, and the victory of the Shangdang Battle was achieved.
Chen Geng praised Li Chengfang: "The first brigade to the death is really amazing!" ”
In February 1949, Li Chengfang served as the first commander of the 14th Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and after the battle of crossing the river, the Kuomintang retreated one after another, and after analyzing the battle situation, Li Chengfang commanded the troops to divide into three routes for parallel pursuit, covering a daily journey of about 75 kilometers.
After launching the general attack, Li Chengfang ordered the troops to divide the enemy into small pieces, the soldiers of the national army were besieged and fled in a hurry, and some were squeezed into the sea and drowned when they rushed to board the ship, and in the battle of Liangyang, our army killed or captured more than 80,000 people of the national army, and achieved a brilliant victory.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Li Chengfang entered the Campaign Department of the Nanjing Military Academy to study, and later served as the second political commissar of the Kunming Military Region.
In January 1965, Li Chengfang served as a member of the Third National Defense Committee, responsible for the party's and government building in the army.
During the special period in 1966, Li Chengfang was misunderstood and sent to the farm for labor reform, which lasted for 6 years.
Life in the countryside is no stranger to Li Chengfang, who was born as a farmer, and decades later, he picked up a hoe to work in the fields, which made him feel a lot of emotion.
Li Chengfang is usually not in good health, and when he was studying at the Nanjing Military Academy, he once fainted in class due to injuries, which was also a great test for his body and mind, but Li Chengfang still persevered, believing that there will be a day when the truth will come out.
One day in 1974, Li Chengfang was working on the farm as usual, he was wearing simple clothes, completely dressed as a peasant, and he couldn't tell that he was the general who had once dominated the battlefield.
Suddenly, Li Chengfang heard the sentry shouting at him: "Someone is looking for you outside!" Li Chengfang dropped the farm tools in his hand, and was very puzzled in his heart, few people have come to look for him in the past few years, and he is almost a bird.
It turned out that a department leader came to the door to inform him that he was about to come back, and that there were important tasks in the organization handed over to him, and Li Chengfang was very excited after hearing it.
Li Chengfang was responsible for the production of artillery shells and flying mines, has rich experience in weapons, and is also good at using people to recognize people, Li Chengfang once made an exception to use Nie Peizhang, and the newly invented flying thunder came in handy in the Huaihai Campaign.
In January 1971, Li Chengfang served as the Minister of the Fifth Machinery Industry and Secretary of the Party Leadership Group.
Ordnance production factories and bases are distributed throughout the country, and Li Chengfang often goes to the grassroots level to go down to the workshops to publicize the importance of the quality of ordnance to the national defense cause and the combat effectiveness of the troops.
In the years since, Li Chengfang has devoted himself to work, but his health has become worse and worse.
In October 1982, the Party Central Committee took into account Li Chengfang's physical condition and let him officially retire from his post, Li Chengfang happily accepted the decision of his superiors, and in January 1984, Li Chengfang died of illness in Beijing at the age of 70.
During the war years, Li Chengfang was good at looking for opportunities in the ever-changing war situation, and his military skills in chasing and attacking the enemy were even more first-class. ”
In the era of peace, Li Chengfang was good at ideological education in the army and had the art of leadership without sticking to one pattern; his life was full of ups and downs, and he struggled and dedicated his whole life to the cause of army building.
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