"Second Artillery" refers to the Second Artillery Corps of the People's Liberation Army, which was founded in 1966 and was approved by the People's Liberation Army and named by the People's Liberation Army himself. This unit is known as the "sharp weapon of a great power" and is under the direct command of the Central Military Commission and is the core force of China's strategic deterrence. The hero of the story we are going to tell today has a close connection with the "Second Artillery", he served as the deputy commander of the "Second Artillery", and he is Zhang Xiang.
So, what exactly is his story? Zhang Xiang was born in 1943 and is a native of Dazhou, Sichuan. Because his parents were busy during the Anti-Japanese War, he was sent to his grandmother's house in Zhejiang to spend his childhood. Grandma's family is a well-known wealthy family in the local area, and they live a prosperous life, but the only regret is that Zhang Xiang has never been able to see his father. It wasn't until he was six years old that he saw his father for the first time, and he was then taken to Beijing for an education.
After graduating from high school, he was sent to Harbin Military Engineering Institute to study, specializing in nuclear design and manufacturing. While at school, he was also imprisoned for a year because his father was implicated. After his release, he returned to school to undergo "re-education through labor" and successfully graduated. But due to the implication, he was assigned to work on a farm in Anda County, Heilongjiang.
As a southerner, Zhang Xiang had difficulty adapting to the cold climate of the north, and after working there for a while, he returned to Beijing due to illness. In 1974, with his father's comeback, Zhang Xiang also officially enlisted in the army and entered the "Second Artillery Electronic Equipment Office" to engage in scientific research projects. He is mainly responsible for the information construction of the armed forces, which plays a vital role in modern warfare.
Under Zhang Xiang's leadership, the "Second Artillery" made great progress in information technology, especially in the field of computers, and it was almost Zhang Xiang who personally built the entire "Chinese language" system, which laid a solid foundation for the "Second Artillery" information construction, so he was praised as "the pioneer in promoting the information construction of our army."
In 2001, 58-year-old Zhang Xiang was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and promoted to deputy commander of the "Second Artillery", becoming one of the main commanders of this strategic force. In the same year, he was awarded the rank of lieutenant general. In 2006, he ended his decades-long career as deputy commander of the Second Artillery Corps, and after his retirement, he also served as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Today, he has lived a quiet and indifferent retirement.
It is worth mentioning that Zhang Xiang was born in a revolutionary family, his father Zhang Aiping was a famous general of the New Fourth Army, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, he was awarded the rank of general, became the founding general, and later successively served as the vice premier and minister of national defense, and was an outstanding military leader cultivated by New China.
Zhang Xiang's mother, Li Youlan, was also a revolutionary, she was born into a wealthy family, but after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, she resolutely gave up her privileged life and joined the New Fourth Army in the south. Li Youlan is beautiful and beautiful, she is a famous beauty in the New Fourth Army, and is known as "a flower in the New Fourth Army". After the Southern Anhui Incident, Li Youlan married Zhang Aiping, and they had their eldest son, Zhang Xiang.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Li Youlan served as the director of the Office of the General Office of the Military Commission, retired with the rank of deputy military, and died of illness in 2012 at the age of 93.