After the founding of the People's Republic of China, General Chen Zaidao served as commander of the Wuhan Military Region for 12 years. In 1969, he transferred to work on a farm in Jiangxi, along with Li Zhimin, Jin Zhongfan and others.
Chen Zaidao and Kim Zhongfan were assigned to the same company, while Li Zhimin was in another company.
General Chen Zaidao hoped that the soldiers would affectionately call him "Old Chen". On the farm, in addition to daily training and labor, there are various activities in the evenings, such as movie screenings.
When watching the movie, the generals would sit on small ponies with the soldiers. Although the soldiers knew their names, they didn't know much about their ranks, identities, and the stories behind them.
Some of the fighters did not even know the ranks of their three generals, some said that they were two generals, one major general, and some said that they were all generals. However, the generals did not mind this designation, and they wanted to establish a closer relationship with the soldiers.
The legends about Chen Zaidao made it impossible for him to come one by one. Some people say that he is one of the 17 warriors of the Dadu River, because of his outstanding merits, he has"Gold Medal for Avoiding Death"。The narrator spoke with a smile of joy and amazement from the audience.
Many young fighters looked at Chen Zaidao with wide eyes, which made Chen Zaidao feel both amused and moved.
At the life-and-death juncture during the Long March, Yang Dezhi, commander of the 1st Regiment, 1st Division, and 1st Battalion of the Red Army, Sun Jixian, commander of the 1st Battalion, joined forces to carry out the thrilling battle of forcibly crossing the Dadu River.
In this battle, Sun Jixian selected 17 warriors to form a river-crossing assault team, and under the cover of the mortar of gunner Zhao Zhangcheng, they marched forward bravely, successfully controlled the crossing, stabilized the crossing point, and paved the way for the Red Army troops to cross the river smoothly.
It is worth mentioning that Chen Zaidao, the commander of the Red Fourth Front Army at that time, was not in the ** Red Army, he served as a division commander in the Red Fourth Front Army. Although he explained the matter many times, the soldiers still did not believe it, thinking that he was too modest, and in the end this misunderstanding was widely spread, and Chen Zaidao could not "refute the rumors", so he had to let it go.
After working on the farm, he was sent to Fuzhou for recuperation. Later, in 1972, he was appointed deputy commander of the Fuzhou Military Region, and then in 1975 he became an adviser to the Military Commission.
In 1977 he returned to the front line and served as the commander of the railway corps, until 1982, when he retired to the second line.