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preface
During the Red Army period, the commissar had the final say to ensure unity of command and strict discipline. Huang Kecheng went deep into the army and found the drawbacks caused by the lack of political commissars, and successfully proposed to restore the political commissar system. In 1942, in a battle in the Eighth Division of Jizhong, political commissar Wang Yuanyin used the final decision power due to lack of military experience, resulting in heavy losses, and the political commissar's final decision power was cancelled thereafter. So, should the restoration of the final decision of the commissar be revisited? Let's take a little history to learn about it.
Huang Kecheng was born in October 1902 in a poor peasant family in Yongxing County, Hunan Province. Despite the family's extremely limited financial situation, thanks to the help and support of relatives, Huang Kecheng had the opportunity to receive education from the age of nine. In the social context at that time, it was a rare opportunity for a peasant child to be able to study.
After several years of basic education, Huang Kecheng was successfully admitted to a higher primary school, which laid a solid foundation for his later education path. Two years later, he was further admitted to the prestigious Hunan Provincial No. 3 Normal School, where a number of progressive societies were active, and the Communist Youth League was set up to provide students with a platform to contact and participate in revolutionary activities. It was in such an environment that Huang Kecheng came into contact with the ideas of Marxism and gradually developed a deep identification with it.
In Huang Kecheng's school year, Chairman Mao happened to come to Hengyang to carry out revolutionary propaganda. Chairman Mao, with his profound knowledge and profound insights into revolutionary thought, exerted a wide influence among students. Huang Kecheng had the privilege of listening to Chairman Mao's speech, which had a decisive impact on his later life choices and revolutionary path.
In his speech, Chairman Mao discussed the class structure of Chinese society and the oppression of the peasantry, which deeply touched Huang Kecheng and made him think deeply about the future of the country and the nation. Inspired by these ideas, Huang Kecheng actively participated in the study and discussion of revolutionary theories during his time at the university, and constantly deepened his understanding of Marxism.
In 1925, Huang Kecheng officially joined the Communist Party of China and became a party member. In October 1931, Huang Kecheng was promoted to the division political commissar of the 1st Division of the Red Third Army Corps, and began to assume more important responsibilities, and at the end of September 1933, Chiang Kai-shek gathered up to 1 million troops to launch an all-out attack on the central Soviet area.
At that time, the command of the Red Army was in the hands of Li De, who abandoned the guerrilla tactics and ambush warfare that the Red Army had always excelled at, and instead chose to engage in frontal positional combat with the Kuomintang army. The Red Army was far behind the Kuomintang in terms of strength and equipment, both in quantity and quality, and the tactical result of direct engagement was tragic.
After a year of hard fighting, the Red Army not only failed to stop the enemy's attack, but also suffered heavy casualties, and was forced to withdraw from the base area and began the arduous Long March. During the Long March, Li De handled the strategic transfer as similar to a large-scale relocation, bringing with him a large number of household items and bulky equipment, which greatly slowed down the army's march.
This treatment gave Chiang Kai-shek time to adjust and deploy, leaving the Red Army under siege while on the Xiang River. At this critical moment, Huang Kecheng, as the political commissar of the Red Fourth Division, commanded the troops together with Zhang Zongxun, and their task was to build a defensive line on the south bank of the Xiangjiang River to ensure the safe crossing of the main force of the Red Army and the columns directly under the central government.
Soon after the defensive line was arranged, the Gui troops launched a fierce attack. Huang Kecheng and Zhang Zongxun led their troops to stubbornly resist, but in the face of the enemy's superiority in strength and firepower, the battle situation was fierce. In the continuous battle, Shen Shuqing, the commander of the 10th Regiment of the Red Fourth Division, died heroically and was succeeded by Du Zhongmei, chief of staff of the division, and soon he also died heroically.
At the moment of crisis, Huang Kecheng and Zhang Zongxun went to the front line in person to stabilize the war situation. After two consecutive days and two nights of fierce fighting, the Red Fourth Division completed the task of blocking the attack despite paying huge casualties, ensuring that the main force of the Red Army and the columns directly under the Central Committee successfully crossed the river. Huang Kecheng saw that the task was completed and immediately suggested retreating.
However, Zhang Zongxun insisted that he must wait for the retreat order from his superiors. Huang Kecheng expressed strong dissatisfaction with this, and he wrote in his memoirs: "Although Comrade Zhang Zongxun carried out the order resolutely, he lacked the ability to respond to the situation, and insisted on waiting for the orders of his superiors.
Huang Kecheng finally took advantage of the political commissar's final decision and decided to retreat, saying to Zhang Zongxun: "Command the troops to evacuate quickly and chase the main force, and the responsibility is borne by me alone." Under Huang Kecheng's resolute decision, the Red Fourth Division was able to evacuate, and soon after, the Gui troops poured into their original positions, showing the urgency of retreat. After that, in the second confrontation with the Gui army at the mouth of the two rivers in Resource County, the Red Fourth Division once again demonstrated outstanding combat effectiveness.
The Red Fourth Division made a stubborn resistance on a hilltop to cover the retreat of the main forces. In the face of the enemy's fierce offensive, the soldiers of the Red Fourth Division showed a very high will to fight and a spirit of sacrifice. Before Zhang Zongxun insisted on holding on until the order of his superiors arrived, Huang Kecheng once again used his decision-making power to order the troops to retreat, avoiding the possible annihilation of the entire army.
At the beginning of 1938, the Japanese invaders launched the "Nine-Way Siege" in a vain attempt to destroy the anti-Japanese base areas and seize the Yellow River crossing. The 344th Brigade led by Huang Kecheng and Xu Haidong bravely responded to the battle and launched a campaign against the "Nine-Way Siege". At the end of June, in order to support the Kuomintang troops in Houma, Huang Kecheng led the 344th Brigade into the village of Machidian. Located between Jinseong and Houma, an important highway runs through the village, and Japanese military vehicles often pass through the village. After careful observation and analysis, Huang Kecheng decided to set up an ambush here and carefully arranged an ambush battle.
On July 6, the ambush at Machiden officially began. After careful planning and stubborn fighting, our army wiped out more than 800 Japanese troops and destroyed more than 20 military vehicles in one fell swoop. This battle not only effectively delayed the Japanese army's movement in Houma, but also greatly enhanced the combat capability of the Kuomintang army on the frontal battlefield.
With the deepening of the war, the important towns of Taiyuan, Zhengzhou and Jinan in North China fell one after another, and the vast area between the four major railways of Pinghan, Jinpu, Longhai and Shide became a vacuum zone. The Central Committee ordered Henan, Hebei, Shandong, and other localities to organize forces and establish anti-Japanese base areas to fill this strategic gap.
In April 1940, Huang Kecheng led the main force of the second column from the Taihang Mountains to the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Border Region, and merged with the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Detachment to establish the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region, and Huang Kecheng concurrently served as the commander of the Military Region. Under his leadership, by December 1941, the Hebei-Shandong-Henan anti-Japanese base areas in southern Hebei, northern Henan, and southwestern Shandong had been initially formed, laying a solid foundation for the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
The continuous growth of the Eighth Route Army's anti-Japanese base area made the Kuomintang extremely frightened. In 1940, the Kuomintang diehards launched an attack on anti-Japanese base areas such as Taihang and southern Hebei, and Zhu Huaibing's division of the 97th Army attacked Wu'an in the south and attacked the advance detachment of the 129th Division.
Our party adheres to the principle of "if people do not offend me, I will not offend others, and if people offend me, I will offend others", and the 129th Division organized counterattacks in Cixian, Wu'an, Shexian, and Linxian areas. Huang Kecheng also led the 344th Brigade to respond and wiped out more than 10,000 recalcitrant troops, effectively dealing a blow to the arrogance of the Kuomintang reactionaries.
Our party has always been good at strategic overall planning. The expansion of the Eighth Route Army in North China and the progress of the New Fourth Army in East China made the necessity of communication between the North and the South increasingly prominent. At this time, the Soviet Union and Central China were facing the advance of the Kuomintang Han Deqin troops. Huang Kecheng was keenly aware of this situation, so he asked the central government to lead the team south to support. The Central Committee approved his request.
On September 14, 1945, Huang Kecheng made a proposal to the Central Committee: "If we can send troops to the northeast, we should send as many troops as possible, at least 50,000, and preferably 100,000, so as to establish an important strategic base area." This proposal reflects his deep insight into the situation and his vision for the future.
By the end of September, Huang Kecheng personally led more than 30,000 soldiers of the Third Division of the New Fourth Army to embark on a journey to the northeast without hesitation. They overcame all kinds of difficulties along the way and finally set up camp in the northeast. Subsequently, Luo Ronghuan also led more than 90,000 troops of the Shandong Military Region to rush to the northeast to support, further enhancing the strength of our army.
Huang Kecheng also put forward an important strategic proposal, that is, for the time being, we should not carry out operations in large cities and major communication arteries in the northeast, but should occupy small and medium-sized cities with a part of the main force and establish rural base areas. In his opinion, this would avoid a head-on confrontation with the enemy and at the same time strengthen the foothold of our army in the northeast. This strategy has been highly recognized by the central authorities and has achieved remarkable results in actual operations.
In the battle in the northeast, our army deployed in strict accordance with Huang Kecheng's strategic principles, occupied a number of small and medium-sized cities, and quickly established a solid base area. Huang Kecheng also personally went to various base areas to learn about the local situation and guide the combat strategy. He went deep into every unit, ate and lived with the soldiers, and greatly boosted morale.
These strategic decisions made by Huang Kecheng ensured our army's firm foothold in the northeast and laid a solid foundation for a comprehensive victory in the future. His farsightedness and resolute action were highly appreciated by the whole army, and with the continuous growth and consolidation of our army in the northeast, Huang Kecheng's strategic policy was proved to be extremely correct, laying a solid foundation for the victory of the war of liberation.
In July 1952, the Central Military Commission decided to establish the General Logistics Department, and Chairman Mao needed to choose a capable person to lead this key department, and he thought of Huang Kecheng again. Chairman Mao was well aware of Huang Kecheng's ability and loyalty, and decided to appoint him as the head of the General Logistics Department and concurrently serve as the deputy chief of staff of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
After the appointment was issued, Huang Kecheng immediately called Chairman Mao. "Chairman, I'm not sure if I'm up to the logistics department, I feel like I'm better suited to work at the local level," he said modestly. Chairman Mao responded with a smile: "Kecheng, don't worry, I and the Party Central Committee will fully support you, you just have to do it boldly with confidence!" Hearing that the chairman trusted and respected him so much, Huang Kecheng strengthened his determination to accept the instructions of the central government.
During his tenure as head of the General Logistics Department, Huang Kecheng quickly established the rules and regulations and work guidelines of the Logistics Department, and in only a short period of time put the work of the Logistics Department on the right track, winning Chairman Mao's praise again. In the work of the General Logistics Department, Huang Kecheng also actively solved practical problems in logistics support.
At one meeting, he analysed in detail the logistical needs of the troops and proposed concrete measures for improvement. In order to ensure the supply of materials, he personally led a team to inspect warehouses in various places to ensure that the logistics materials were sufficient and operated smoothly. His efforts have enabled the General Logistics Department to achieve efficient operation in a short period of time, markedly improve the level of logistical support of the troops, and greatly enhance the combat effectiveness of the troops.
In 1955, Huang Kecheng was awarded the rank of general, which was fully affirmed by the Party Central Committee and the Central Military Commission for his outstanding work and great contributions. After the award, Huang Kecheng did not become complacent because of this, and still worked diligently and continued to contribute his strength to the army's logistics support cause. He often personally went to the grassroots level to understand the situation and listen to the opinions and suggestions of the troops so that he could continuously improve the logistics work.
In his later years, Huang Kecheng began to organize his memoirs, when Chairman Mao had been dead for several years. Huang Kecheng admired Chairman Mao all his life, and in his later years, he often missed this great leader. He mentioned Chairman Mao many times in his memoirs, fondly recalling Chairman Mao's trust and support for him. He wrote: "Chairman Mao is our leader, but also my mentor and friend, and I am grateful for his teaching and help all my life.