He *** is a high-profile military leader among the top ten marshals, and the two have extensive experience in military staff officers. Although he enjoys the reputation of "Ye Shenzuo", in terms of staff work, **'s qualifications are longer than him. ** has served as Chief of the General Staff several times, while *** can only hold the position of deputy when he was Chief of the General Staff. ** was impressed by ***'s talent, and before the Nanchang Uprising, he was appointed chief of staff of the General Staff Corps. Although the Nanchang uprising was successful, it was then defeated, and he immediately went to the Soviet Union for further studies, and after returning to China, he was appointed chief of the General Staff of the Red Army with the rank of marshal. And the deputy of the Chief of the General Staff is also a marshal, and *** is the first person to hold this post.
** Successively served as Chief of the General Staff and Chief of Staff of the Eighth Route Army, equivalent to the Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army, and played an important role in military victories, which was highly praised by ***. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he took on heavy responsibilities and led military struggles, no longer served as chief of staff and other positions, but became a professional chief of general staff. In the 1955 Great Awards, ** ranked fourth, while *** ranked last. Another marshal, Zhang Yunyi, had rich revolutionary experience, participated in the Huanghuagang Uprising in Guangzhou, and launched the famous Baise Uprising with ***. Zhang Yunyi led the Red Seventh Army to trek thousands of miles north, and finally joined the ** Soviet area, and its troops were merged into the Red Third Army.
Li Tianyou, who was promoted to the commander of the Red Seventh Army at the age of 20, became an outstanding general of the army, and was deeply trusted and valued. At the same time, Zhang Yunyi was transferred to the post of deputy chief of general staff, assisting *** and later assisting *** and Zhang Yunyi are both from Guangdong, from Meixian and Wenchang respectively. Although Wenchang has now been assigned to Hainan Island, at that time, Wenchang still belonged to Guangdong, so Zhang Yunyi and *** belonged to the same hometown. Both of them served in the Cantonese Army and followed Mr. Sun Yat-sen in the revolution together, so it can be said that they have a deep common background, and I believe that their cooperation will be very tacit. Zhang Yunyi, who had both military and political identities, made great contributions to the establishment of the New Fourth Army, and served as the deputy commander of the army.
In 1955, Zhang Yunyi was awarded the rank of general, and the chief of the General Staff was a marshal, which shows the importance of the General Staff and the noble configuration of the leaders. (Source**: Zhang Yunyi's Annals).