Zhong Wei, a native of Pingjiang, Hunan, was born in 1915. He joined the regiment at the age of 14 and joined the army and the party at the age of 15. He served as company instructor, regimental political commissar, and division political officer in Peng Dehuai's Red Third Army Corps and Xu Haidong's Red 15th Army Corps. Director of the Department, participated in the Long March. He said he could compete with Patton because he could fight and win battles. If you ask Zhong Wei, which battle was the most enjoyable? That was of course the spring of 1947, during the third trip to the south of the Yangtze River, when we attacked the 88th Division of the 71st Army of the Kuomintang in the backcountry of Jilin. Not only did this battle scare the enemy out of their wits, but the highlight was that the battle itself was also thrilling.
At that time, Zhong Wei was the commander of the 5th Division of the 2nd Column of the Northeast Field Army. On March 8, under the order of Lin Biao, he led his troops to cross the Songhua River south, preparing to march eastward to Dehui via the backing camp to cooperate with the 1st and 6th Columns of Dongye in Dafang. He surrounded and annihilated the first unit of the New First Army of the Kuomintang Army. When the troops arrived at Kaoshantun, they found that a large number of enemy troops were retreating towards Dehui. Zhong Wei gave an order, and the 5th Division surrounded 1,337 officers and soldiers of the 264th Regiment of the 88th Division of the 71st Army in the village.
To fight or not? Zhong Wei and the political commissar had serious differences. The political commissar believed: The eastward advance is the overall situation, and the orders from superiors are iron discipline. We cannot covet immediate interests, which has shaken the determination of the headquarters. Even if we win this battle, we are still wrong. Zhong Wei firmly advocated fighting. He believed that it was wrong to disobey orders from superiors, but it was even more wrong to delay the opportunity to fight and affect the overall situation.
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From 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. on March 10, Zhong Wei received three telegrams from Lin Biao about his immediate eastward march. He was unmoved because he saw the change in the battle situation and surrounded him. There is one regiment of the 88th Division, and the enemy 87th Division is rushing over for reinforcements. While organizing the battle, he reported the situation to Lin Biao. The telegram had only one subject: I cannot execute your order for the time being because there is a big battle in front of me.
Lin Biao, who had always been persistent, was finally moved by Zhong Wei's persistence and changed his determination.
In the end, the 5th Division wiped out an entire regiment of the 88th Division, and in turn held back the 87th Division that came for reinforcements. Lin Biao once again led the 1st and 6th Columns to advance westward and wipe out the entire country in Guojiatun. The 87th Division of the Army achieved complete victory in three campaigns south of the Yangtze River. Zhong Wei mobilized Lin Biao against orders, but Lin Biao did not treat him badly. Zhong Wei was the only one in the entire four-field system who was directly promoted from division commander to column commander (corps commander).
It is said that Zhong Wei is no worse than Button because he, like Button, has a very distinctive personality.
In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, he served as the political commissar of the Hubei-Henan advance detachment. Due to a disagreement with the detachment leader, he ran away in anger with his wife, newborn child and the guard squad. After all the hardships, they found their way to northern Jiangsu. Old unit - the Third Division of the New Fourth Army. Huang Kecheng took him in and made him the commander of the 28th Regiment of the 10th Brigade.
Zhong Wei's troops can "rob". Before the war, the soldiers' pockets were filled with "Seized by the Fifth Division" notes. After the battle, the whole city was covered with "Seized by the Fifth Division". Once, a note was attached to two passing ammunition trucks from Dongye Headquarters. During the dispute between the two parties, Zhong Wei came to help, "What's yours and mine! They are all the Eighth Route Army, and they are all fighting the Kuomintang." With this sentence, the 5th Division's The man unloaded the car.
Zhong Wei himself loved to play. When he was in Northern Manchuria, as soon as the battle was over, Zhong Wei handed over the troops to the political commissar and deputy division commander, and went back to Harbin to dance. When the cadres and soldiers see the division commander coming back, it means that a war is about to begin. Zhong Wei was more wild than Patton. At most, Patton dared to kick the butts of soldiers who were frightened by the flames of war, but he never dared to threaten his superiors with a gun. Zhong Wei dares. After crossing the river in 1949, Zhong Wei's 49th Army was ambushed by Bai Chongxi in Hunan. The deputy commander of the Corps, Chen Bojun, who commanded the operation, ordered to withdraw. Zhong Wei disagreed and insisted on waiting for reinforcements, otherwise it would be all over. Chen said he was the deputy commander and he had the final say. Zhong Wei pulled out a pistol and put it to Chen's forehead and shouted: If you try to withdraw again, I will kill you!
If a movie about "Major General Zhong Wei" is made, I think its box office effect in China will not be worse than "General Patton". But Zhong Wei was not as lucky as Button. In August 1959, the Central Military Commission held an unprecedented enlarged meeting. In addition to the leaders of the major military regions who were on duty at home, the chief and deputy officers of each army and branch, the political commissar of each field army commander, and a full-time cadre of each division, 1,569 people attended the meeting and criticized Peng Dehuai. At the meeting, the leader of the General Political Department dropped a bombshell, saying that Peng Dehuai owed a blood debt to the First Red Army Corps on the Long March, and it was Peng who personally ordered the shooting of a company commander of the First Army Corps.
Lin Biao also followed suit and told lies without conscience, saying that Peng wished to kill all the members of the First Army Corps, because the First Army Corps was created and led by Chairman Mao himself. Now Zhong Wei spoke. He was attending the meeting as the chief of staff of the Beijing Army.
"Nonsense," Zhong Wei scolded and stood up, "This is completely fabricated. Were you there at the time? I was there, and I did it! Mr. Peng was not there, and he didn't know about this. Thing! Let me make it clear now that that man deserves to be killed! It was when the 1st and 3rd Army Corps stormed Loushanguan, and the enemy counterattacked. He escaped and turned a few soldiers against him, and was caught by our follow-up troops. Enforcing battlefield discipline is nothing to make a fuss about. If you don't kill him, he will turn around and kill us. If it were you, Mr. Lin, you would also order him to be shot. I think someone has ulterior motives to stir up historical disputes, create trouble, and stir up trouble. The relationship between the first and third legions harmed President Peng." At this point, Zhong Wei's blood surged up, his face flushed, and he pointed at the stage, almost shouting: "You are not forcing President Peng to account for the members of the military club. Well, count me in and shoot me too!" Lin Biao was choked and speechless. Xiao Hua ordered Zhong Wei to be handcuffed out of the venue and sent to a military court.
People have not forgotten Zhong Wei. A few years later, Mao Zedong accidentally asked about Zhong Wei's situation, but this inevitably led to the solution of Zhong Wei's case, but he never returned to the army. , he was transferred to Anhui and became the deputy director of the Department of Agriculture.
More than ten years later, Peng Dehuai was on his deathbed. According to the records of the caretakers, Zhong Wei's name was among Peng's last murmurs. Source: "Records of Ancient and Modern Events"