In February 1949, the 12th Column of the East China Field Army was reorganized into the 30th Army of the Third Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army according to the order of the ** Military Commission of the Communist Party of China. After the establishment of the 30th Army, Xie Zhenhua served as the first commander, and Rao Shoukun was appointed as the deputy commander.
Today, let's learn about the story of Rao Shoukun, who served as the deputy commander of the 30th Army.
Rao Shoukun, born in Dexing County, Jiangxi Province in 1915, was born in a poor peasant family and lived an extremely difficult life. His father worked long hours and his mother worked as a domestic servant, working hard every day, but life was still very poor.
In order to help his parents reduce the burden, Rao Shoukun began herding cattle when he was nine years old. Such a growing environment made him have a desire to change his fate since he was a child.
In 1930, the Red Army troops led by Fang Zhimin came to Rao Shoukun's hometown. Because he came from a poor family, Rao Shoukun deeply felt that the Red Army was a force for the welfare of the people.
So, he began to follow Fang Zhimin's team to participate in revolutionary activities, and in 1931 he joined the Communist Youth League. A year later, Rao Shoukun honorably joined the Red Army.
After that, Rao Shoukun became a member of the Red Tenth Army, starting from an ordinary soldier, constantly promoted, successively served as a squad leader, platoon commander and battalion commander, and led the troops to participate in the anti-"encirclement and suppression" battle in Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Soviet regions.
In October 1934, when the main force of the Red Army participated in the Long March, Rao Shoukun unfortunately lost contact with the large army. However, he did not give up, but remained in the Soviet zone, where he persisted in guerrilla warfare for three years.
During this time, he continued to grow and eventually became an outstanding general.
In 1937, the anti-Japanese flames burned all over the land of China, and the guerrilla forces in the eight southern provinces accepted the reorganization and established the New Fourth Army. As one of them, Rao Shoukun joined the third detachment of the New Fourth Army and served as the commander of the fifth regiment.
Subsequently, he led the troops to devote themselves to the anti-Japanese struggle in southern Anhui, worked hard, established an anti-Japanese base area, and made significant contributions to the victory of the Anti-Japanese War.
During the Liberation War, Rao Shoukun still fought bravely in East China. In February 1949, he honorably joined the newly established 30th Army and served as the deputy commander of the 30th Army, continuing to fight for the cause of the liberation of the Chinese.
During his tenure as deputy commander of the 30th Army, Rao Shoukun actively participated in and commanded many important battles of the 30th Army, including the decisive battle of crossing the river and the liberation of Shanghai.
After the liberation of Shanghai, Rao Shoukun continued to display his talents in the military field and served as the commander of the 7th Fleet of the East China Military Region. When the title was conferred in 1955, Rao Shoukun, who was only 40 years old, was awarded the rank of lieutenant general for his outstanding performance and became the founding lieutenant general, which was also a high recognition of his military career.
Rao Shoukun is a senior admiral who served as deputy commander of the Navy's East China Sea Fleet. However, the arrival of the ten-year special period brought him great difficulties, and he was greatly devastated physically and mentally, and he was forced to suspend his work and be sent to work in the diesel engine factory in Luoyang.
However, his fortunes took a turn for the worse in 1971, when he re-entered the Navy and led research on naval submarines. In 1975, Rao Shoukun was appointed commander of the North Sea Fleet, a position he held for five years.
In 1980, Rao Shoukun stepped down from his post, and his naval career also came to a successful end.
Also in 1980, 65-year-old Rao Shoukun was transferred to the Jinan Military Region and served as the commander. After that, Rao Shoukun served as the commander of the Jinan Military Region for another five years, leaving office in 1985.
The Jinan Military Region is one of the major military regions of our army, and its strategic position is very important, which also shows the importance that the higher authorities attach to Rao Shoukun. After retiring, Rao Shoukun entered the Central Advisory Committee and served as a member of the Central Advisory Committee, but because he had retired, he was not awarded a military rank when the People's Liberation Army implemented a new military rank in 1988, but was awarded the first-class Red Star Meritorious Service Medal.
Rao Shoukun lived mainly in Jinan in his later years, and died of illness in 2006 at the age of 91.