Lin Biao’s best partner: marshal’s military exploits, general position, and general rank!

Core tip: The person Lin Biao respects most is probably Liu Yalou. Lu Yong, an associate professor at the National Defense University, said: He has the military exploits of a marshal, the position of a general, and the rank of a general.

During the Red Army period, Liu Yalou was Lin Biao's old subordinate. During the Long March, Lin Biao was the commander of the First Red Army Corps, and Liu Yalou was the political commissar of the Second Red Division of the First Red Army Corps, and participated in many battles of the Second Red Division. During the Long March, many of the fierce battles were fought by the Second Red Division, the most famous of which was the flying capture of the Huding Bridge.

It can be said that during the Red Army period, Liu Yalou was a division-level cadre. This was one of the hard indicators for evaluating a general.

However, during the Anti-Japanese War, it was difficult to hear Liu Yalou's name. Why?

Because Liu Yalou went to the Soviet Union.

In 1939, Liu Yalou went to the Frunze Military Academy of the Soviet Union to study, and also participated in the Soviet Patriotic War. At the same time, Lin Biao came to the Soviet Union to recuperate because he was injured after the Pingxingguan victory, and the two met again.

The two often discussed the Soviet-German battlefield together. At that time, the two accurately analyzed Germany's plan to attack the Soviet Union from Belarus, which attracted the attention of the Soviet side. It is said that Stalin also wanted Liu Yalou to become a Soviet citizen. Liu Yalou refused.

Liu Yalou provided very interesting information, that is, Stalin was willing to trade three divisions for Lin Biao.

After the end of the Anti-Japanese War, Lin Biao returned to China and then went to Northeast China. Liu Yalou also returned to China. He stayed in the First Army of the Soviet Union for eight years. It can be said that he missed the entire Anti-Japanese War, but at the same time he also gained something.

After being introduced by Luo Ronghuan, he went to the Northeast to serve as the chief of staff of the Northeast Allied Forces. Lin Biao went out to greet him personally and said that when you come, you will come to visit my three chiefs of staff.

This is not an exaggeration, because the position of staff officer was not taken seriously in the early *** army. At the beginning, everyone was engaged in mobile warfare and guerrilla warfare. There were not many participants and the combat situation was not complicated. The military commander alone has the final say. By the time of the Liberation War, there were hundreds of thousands or even millions of combatants, and no staff could help with the battle plan.

Liu Yalou, who had studied and worked in the Soviet Union for eight years, was very good at the staff work of the large corps. As soon as he came, he made up for the biggest shortcoming of the Northeastern Allied Forces.

At that time, Lin Biao was in charge of the big strategy, Luo Ronghuan was in charge of the political work, and Liu Yalou was in charge of the specific implementation. The three of them were collectively called "Lin Luo Liu".

The first two are both marshals. It is okay to partner with a marshal and judge a general. So this is one of the reasons why people have always believed that Liu Yalou can evaluate generals.

In the Northeast, Liu Yalou provided good advice in four draws and four games in Jinzhou. During the liberation of Tianjin, Liu Yalou stood alone and served as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy. He ended the war in one day and wiped out more than 100,000 enemies. It can be said that it fully demonstrated its military talents.

Next, it was time to go south, but at this moment, Chairman Mao transferred Liu Yalou and made Liu Yalou the commander of the Air Force.

Why did Chairman Mao transfer Liu Yalou to be the commander of the Air Force? The main reason is that Liu Yalou spent eight years in the Soviet Union and knew Russian. The construction of the Air Force mainly relied on the help of the Soviet Union. In addition, Liu Yalou served as the principal of Northeast Aviation School in Northeast China and had work experience, so Chairman Mao felt that Liu Yalou was a suitable candidate.

Liu Yalou himself was unwilling. He also wanted to go to the south to fight with Lin Biao. Lin Biao also hinted to him and sent a telegram: He hoped not to accept the post of Air Force Commander.

Liu Yalou told Chairman Mao, I am airsick, how can I be the commander of the Air Force?

Chairman Mao smiled, OK, the commander of the air force is airsick, and the commander of the navy is seasick.

It turned out that the newly appointed naval commander Xiao Jinguang was a landlubber and was also seasick

However, Chairman Mao still appointed his general and made him the navy commander. One of the reasons was that Xiao Jinguang also Sue was retained.

There was also General Xu Guangda, who also stayed in Su and served as the first commander of the armored forces.

As a result, Liu Yalou had to become the commander of the Air Force and lost Liu Yalou as a senior adviser. Lin Biao seemed to have been careless. In the contest with Bai Chongxi, he suffered a big loss in Qingshuping. At that time, Zhong Wei A division was eaten by Bai Chongxi. This was one of the reasons why Zhong Wei later was not rated as lieutenant general, but only as major general.

Liu Yalou became the commander of the Air Force, which gave him added weight in his evaluation of generals. After all, the commanders at the time, Xiao Jinguang and Xu Guangda, were both generals.

When it came time to evaluate military ranks, Lin Biao wrote a letter specifically asking whether generals should give more consideration to generals from Jinggangshan. The meaning is that it is possible to comment on General Liu Yalou.

This is rare, because Lin Biao never likes to speak for others. For example, General Zhong Wei was a little dissatisfied because he criticized the major general. Lin Biao was called by Chairman Mao to criticize him.

In the end, Liu Yalou still commented on the general. In fact, among the generals, only Su Yu is particularly outstanding. It is not completely impossible for other generals to be rated as generals. For example, Xiao Ke was the commander of the regiment during the Red Army. He was at the same level as He Long and could be squeezed into the marshal position based on his seniority. All of them were only rated as generals.

In 1965, Liu Yalou was diagnosed with cancer. He died in this year at the age of fifty. It can be said that he died young, just like another general Chen Geng. If you live longer, you can definitely make a greater contribution.

Before Liu Yalou died, Lin Biao, who never visited patients, made an exception and came to Liu Yalou's ward, sat by the bed, and sighed deeply.

After his death, Liu Yalou’s funeral was held according to the standards of a state funeral. It was held at Zhongshan Hall in Zhongshan Park, which is where party and state leaders hold funerals. After his death, 100,000 people went there Condolences, which are rare. Third, all leaders in Beijing, except Chairman Mao, attended and signed in. Zhou Enlai, ***, ***, He Long, etc. were all present. This sign-in book also set a record as the sign-in book with the most complete signatures from leaders. Lin Biao himself served as the director of the funeral committee. Luo Ruiqing delivered a eulogy, and the hearse was escorted by ***. This should be the one with the highest funeral ceremony among all generals.

Then why was his funeral so grand?

This may be a special compensation from the central government to him. Lu Yong, associate professor at the National Defense University, said: He has the military exploits of a marshal, the position of a general, and the rank of a general.

This is not an exaggeration, because the position of staff officer was not taken seriously in the early *** army. At the beginning, everyone was engaged in mobile warfare and guerrilla warfare. There were not many participants and the combat situation was not complicated. The military commander alone has the final say. When it came to the War of Liberation, there were hundreds of thousands or even millions of combatants, and no staff department could help with the battle plan.