As everyone knows, in 1955, our army conferred titles on all military cadres for the first time, and a total of more than 600,000 people received the rank of second lieutenant or above. It stands to reason that the regiment commander during the Red Army period was at least a battalion commander or deputy battalion commander when the Eighth Route Army was reorganized in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, a regiment commander in the middle of the Anti-Japanese War, and a deputy division commander - division commander in the early stage of the Liberation War. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, at least cadres at or above the rank of full division or quasi-military officer were awarded, and most of them were major generals or above, and some were colonels. However, after the list of titles was announced, many people were surprised to find that there were two regiment commanders in the Red Army who were only colonels, which meant that in 1952, when the whole army was graded, they were only cadres at the deputy division level, not to mention their comrades-in-arms at the same level, and even many of their subordinates were higher than them. Why is that?
First of all, let's talk about the first veteran colonel - Chi Yibiao. Chi Yibiao was born in June 1909 in a poor peasant family in Changting County, Fujian Province. Due to his poor family, Chi Yibiao had to work as a worker in a paper factory at the age of 11. At the age of 17, after the Red Fourth Army went down to Jinggangshan, it moved to western Fujian and conquered Changting, and the oppressed Chi Yibiao participated in the revolution with his workers and friends, joined the Young Pioneers, and was transferred to the Changting County Independent Regiment of the Red Army in January 1931. In the first half of 1932, the Changting County Independent Regiment was incorporated into the 12th Regiment of the 34th Red Division, and Chi Yibiao served as the squad leader. Due to his outstanding performance in the army, Chi Yibiao was sent to the Red Army Academy to study Xi and served as the cadet squad leader. After graduation, he became a cadre, and successively served as the leader of the guerrilla unit in the Xinqiao District of the Fujian-Jiangxi Military Region, the platoon commander of the independent battalion in Taining County, and the company commander and battalion commander of the 18th Regiment of the Fujian-Jiangxi Military Region. 
In October 1934, the main force of the Red Army's Long March, the 18th Regiment of the Fujian-Jiangxi Military Region was ordered to form a formation and stay in the Soviet area to persist in guerrilla warfare. In September 1935, when the troops were dispersed when they were transferred to the mountainous areas of western Fujian, Chi Yibiao led the remnants of his troops south to join the Yanlianning Guerrilla Detachment in Western Fujian, which was reorganized by the Red Ninth Regiment, and served as the deputy detachment leader and captain of the second brigade. There is also an episode in the middle, in the autumn of 1936, ** four divisions brutally swept the guerrilla areas in Longyan, Liancheng and Ninghua, Chi Yibiao's second brigade suffered heavy losses, leaving only 7 people to escape into the mountains, these seven people rely on drinking spring water, eating bamboo shoots, and hunting wild boars to make a living, once Chi Yibiao took the initiative to lead people to attack, beat a local tyrant, seized 120 catties of rice, and 7 people ate for more than a month. After holding out for 5 months, in February 1937, the main force withdrew, and Chi Yibiao took the other 6 people down the mountain to join the main force of the Red Army in western Fujian. Chi Yibiao was transferred to the head of the guerrilla detachment, which was equivalent to the head of the regiment. 
These seven people formed a deep friendship in the future, and one of them was Zhong Guochu, director of the political department of the detachment and the future founding major general of the country. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the guerrillas in the eight southern provinces were reorganized into the New Fourth Army, of which Chi Yibiao's department was reorganized into the fourth regiment and one battalion of the second detachment of the New Fourth Army, and Chi Yibiao was demoted from regiment commander to battalion commander. Due to his bravery, by January 1940, he was already the deputy commander of the 6th Regiment of the 2nd Column of the New Fourth Army. In the famous decisive battle of Huangqiao, Chi Yibiao bravely killed the enemy, led his troops to conquer Dongtai and Hai'an, and directly became the commander of the Sixth Regiment after the war. After the Southern Anhui Incident, the military headquarters of the New Fourth Army was rebuilt, and Chi Yibiao served as the commander of the Fifth Regiment of the Second Brigade of the First Division of the New Fourth Army. For his bravery and good fighting, he has been awarded and praised many times. 
In April 1943, it was decided to let all units select a group of cadres to Xi to the University of Resistance and participate in the Seventh National Congress, Chi Yibiao was selected as the representative of the First Division of the New Fourth Army, and went to the Xi of the Fourth Department of the Yan'an Party School as a representative of the Seventh National Congress. From April to June 1945, he attended the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China as a member of the Central China delegation. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, our party made a decision to develop the northeast, and Chi Yibiao was ordered to work in the northeast, and successively served as the commander of the Fourth Regiment of the Independent Division of the Liaoning South Military Division, the head of the Second Guard Regiment of the First Independent Division of the Liaoning Military Region, the deputy minister of the Health Department of the Andong Military Region, the director of the Health Department of the Guard Division of the Northeast Military Region, and the political commissar of the rear service department of the First ** Division of the Northeast Military Region. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served as the political commissar of the Technical Department of the Armored Forces of the Northeast Military Region, and was designated as a deputy division in 1952 and awarded the rank of colonel in 1955. 
Why did Chi Yibiao only mention one level in the 10 years after the Liberation War to the founding of the People's Republic of China?The reason is that there are too many talents in the Northeast, and Chi Yibiao was the commander of the New Fourth Army before he arrived in Yan'an, and in the early days of the Liberation War, he was also assigned work according to his original rank, and at the beginning of the local military region, he lacked the opportunity to make meritorious contributions on the battlefield, so his promotion was slow. It can be expected that if Chi Yibiao continues to stay in the New Fourth Army, he will at least be the commander of the Huaye First Column. The second one is more famous, that is, Yang Shangkun, the pioneer of the Long March. As we all know, in the Long March of the Red Army, whenever there was an urgent, difficult and dangerous combat mission, the superiors gave priority to the Red Fourth Regiment of the Second Division of the First Red Army Corps, and the Fourth Regiment was also known as the pioneer regiment. Among them, the vanguard company of the Red Fourth Regiment was the first battalion and the second company, also known as the red second company, and the company commander was Yang Shangkun. Yang Shangkun was born in 1914 in a poor peasant family in Xingguo County, Jiangxi Province, and joined the Children's League in 1930. Because he was smart and alert, he was quickly selected by Yang Chengwu, the commander of the Fourth Regiment of the Second Red Division, and named him as a correspondent of the regiment headquarters. After that, he performed well in the anti-encirclement and suppression, and was quickly promoted in the Red Fourth Regiment, which had quite strong combat effectiveness, and was already the commander of the second company of the Red Fourth Regiment by the time of the fifth anti-encirclement and suppression. 
In the Long March, Yang Shangkun is best known for the two battles of forcibly crossing the Wujiang River and capturing Lazikou: at dawn on January 2, 1935, Yang Shangkun took the initiative to ask for help, led 16 soldiers to cross the Wujiang River in a small wooden boat and braved the enemy's artillery fire, climbed the cliff after boarding the north bank, took the initiative to attack, and defeated 3 regiments of the Guizhou Army. In September 1935, the Red Army was blocked at Lazikou, and the higher authorities limited the Red Fourth Regiment to take Lazikou within three days. At that time, Lazikou was guarded by Lu Dachang's new 14th Division. Through reconnaissance, it was found that there was a pillbox on the cliff next to Lazikou, but due to the enemy's arrogance, the pillbox was not capped. The Red 4th Regiment decided to attack head-on, climb the cliff and throw grenades back above the pillbox, and Yun Guichuan, a small Miao soldier who made great contributions in this battle, was from the second company under the command of Yang Shangkun. After arriving in northern Shaanxi, Yang Shangkun entered the Red Army University to study Xi, and after graduation, he was promoted to the commander of the first division and one regiment of the First Red Army. At the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the 1st Red Division was reorganized into the Independent Regiment of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and Yang Shangkun was the commander of any battalion. 
Beginning in 1938, the Yang Shangkun Independent Regiment was ordered to advance into the junction of Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei provinces to carry out guerrilla warfare, and after the bloody battles of Yang Chengwu and others, by the end of 1938, the Jin-Cha-Ji No. 1 Sub-district centered on Yixian and Mancheng began to take shape. In March 1939, Yang Shangkun was transferred to the chief of staff of the 1st Division and 1st Regiment of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, participated in the battle of Loess Ridge, and made great contributions in the battle. After the war, Yang Chengwu reorganized the troops of the Jinchaji No. 1 Division, added a new detachment level, and promoted Yang Shangkun, chief of staff of the first regiment, to be the chief of staff of the detachment (equivalent to the chief of staff of the brigade). However, Yang Chengwu did not understand Yang Shangkun's painstaking efforts: At that time, the status of the chief of staff was not very high among the military cadres of the army. Although Yang Shangkun was directly promoted from the deputy regiment level to the deputy brigade level, which can be regarded as a leapfrog promotion, Yang Shangkun had always wanted to be the commander of the first division and the first regiment reorganized from the first battalion of the independent regiment and become a veritable commander of the first regiment. After receiving the letter of appointment from the chief of staff of a detachment, he was disappointed. 
Subsequently, his dissatisfaction was exploited by Yuan Biao, chief of the reconnaissance section of the 1st Division, who had ulterior motives. Under his encouragement, Yang Shangkun took a reconnaissance company commander and three other people and more than 20 people led by Yuan Biao to leave with weapons, planning to go to Xushui, Hebei Province to expand the troops, and then return to the team after making a roll call. Seven days later, Yang Shangkun realized his mistake and took the initiative to return to the first division to admit his mistake. The organization took into account that Yang Shangkun had made contributions to the revolution and was able to correct his mistakes when he knew his mistakes, so he was given lenient treatment. Five months later, the organization believed that Yang Shangkun had deeply realized his mistake and his thinking had changed greatly, and decided to let him go to Kang University for further study. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Yang Shangkun received an order to transfer to the Northeast, and the organization also lifted his punishment and restored his party membership, which made him very happy. 
In Northeast China, Yang Shangkun successively served as a member of the Dunhua County Working Committee, head of the Huadian County Security Corps, deputy commander of the Jilin Garrison, and head of the Jilin Military Region Garrison Corps. After Siye went south, Yang Shangkun was incorporated into the southbound cadre brigade and was ordered to take over Jiangxi, successively serving as deputy chief of staff of the former headquarters of the Nanchang branch and deputy commander of the Ganzhou Military Division, and was a deputy division-level cadre in 1955, so it was appropriate to be a colonel when awarding the title.