Among the top ten generals of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chen Geng's military exploits, qualifications and time to join the organization are among the forefront, and his contributions and experience are unparalleled. However, despite this, he fell behind Huang Kecheng in the ranking of generals.
This is because Su Yu's military achievements are higher, Zhang Yunyi's qualifications are older, and Xiao Jinguang's joining the organization is earlier, and their status is unshakable.
Su Yu and Xu Haidong both had outstanding military exploits and historical status during their respective war periods. Although Su Yu's qualifications and exploits during the Red Army and the Anti-Japanese War were not as good as Chen Geng's, he rose to prominence in the War of Liberation, serving as the deputy commander and acting commander of Huaye (Sanye), commanding most of the battles of the military region.
Xu Haidong was known for his ferocious fighting style during the Red Army period, and was rewarded by the Jiang family for ** comparable to Zhu Mao and *** He also led the Red 25th Army to successfully reach northern Shaanxi, and together with Liu Zhidan's Northern Shaanxi Red Army, stabilized the foothold of the Red Army.
When Chen Geng was the division commander, Xu Haidong was the regiment commander under his command, but he did not think that he was wronged after Xu Haidong. On the contrary, it was Huang Kecheng, although he was on par with Chen Geng during the war years, but he was ranked above Chen Geng when he was awarded the title, which made many people puzzled.
However, Huang Kecheng also has some advantages over Chen Geng.
Although Chen Geng and Huang Kecheng are both from Hunan, in terms of qualifications, Chen Geng is ahead of Huang Kecheng. Chen Geng was born behind a Hunan army general in Xiangxiang, while Huang Kecheng was born in a poor peasant family in Yongxing.
Chen Geng ran away from home to join the Hunan Army at the age of 13 in order to escape marriage, and Huang Kecheng joined the army 12 years later than Chen Geng. Chen Geng studied at the first phase of the Whampoa Military Academy, and Huang Kecheng studied at the Provincial Third Normal School.
In terms of the time to join the organization, Chen Geng also joined the organization earlier than Huang Kecheng. Chen Geng joined the organization in December 1922, when he was only 19 years old; Wong joined the organization in October 1928, when he was 26 years old.
During the Revolution, the two had very different work resumes. Chen Geng was a battalion commander during the Northern Expedition, and later studied security work in the Soviet Union, and worked in Shanghai Special Branch for 4 years after the Nanchang Uprising, and his military promotion was delayed.
And Huang Kecheng was still a regiment instructor during the Great Revolution, and his position was higher than Chen Geng's. After the defeat of the Great Revolution, Huang Kecheng returned to his hometown to engage in the peasant movement, and led his troops back to southern Hunan after joining forces in Jinggangshan, but was separated on the way.
During the Agrarian Revolution, Chen Geng and Huang Kecheng held equal positions. Although Chen Geng's work experience was intermittent, he served as a regiment commander and division commander, while Huang Kecheng had been the political commissar of the Red 3rd Army, and the highest position was the political commissar of the Red 4th Division.
Although Huang Kecheng has been demoted several times for his outspokenness, and even demoted to the rank of ordinary fighter, his loyalty and courage have always been praised. During the Long March, the positions of the two men were basically the same.
Chen Geng served as the head of the cadre regiment, and Huang Kecheng served as the political commissar of the Red 10th regiment. Their bravery and wisdom led the army to overcome many difficulties and finally reach northern Shaanxi. During the all-out War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Chen Geng and Huang Kecheng's military positions and military exploits were comparable.
Chen Geng served as the commander of the 386th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, created one of the brigades with the best record of the Eighth Route Army, and created the Taiyue Base Area. He also participated in the "Battle of the Hundred Regiments" and the Siege of Qinyuan.
At the "Seventh National Congress" of the Communist Party of China, Chen Geng was elected as an alternate. Huang Kecheng was the political commissar of the 344th Brigade of the 115th Division, the commander and political commissar of the 5th Column, who led the 3rd Division, the most powerful division of the New Fourth Army, and created the base area in northern Jiangsu.
At the "Seventh National Congress" of the Communist Party of China, Huang Kecheng, Su Yu and Tan Zheng were also selected as alternates. Together, they made great contributions to China's independence and liberation.
Chen Geng and Huang Kecheng's performance during the war years is indistinguishable. In the early days of the war, Chen Geng commanded the Taiyue Column to win successive battles in the southern Jinnan area, and was separately congratulated by Yan'an's "Liberation **" and praised by the chairman.
After Liu Deng's army broke through, he commanded more than 80,000 people from the 4th Column, the 9th Column and Kong Congzhou's 38th Army to cross the Yellow River. In the later part of the war, he cooperated with the Huaye Chen Tang Corps to liberate Luoyang, and won three victories in Wanxi, Wandong, and Jianghan, and was once again named and praised by Yan'an.
In the second phase of the Huaihai Campaign, he participated in the battle to encircle and annihilate Huang Wei. After crossing the river, he led Chen Geng's corps under the command of General Lin to Liangguang and liberated Yunnan in one fell swoop.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Huang Kecheng suggested to Yan'an to send 100,000 troops to seize the northeast. After Yan'an approved, he personally led the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army 350,000 people also marched north and became the first new force under the command of General Lin, the commander-in-chief of the Northeast Democratic Alliance Army.
After entering the Northeast, he successively served as the commander of the West Manchurian Military Region, the deputy commander of the coalition forces, the political commissar of the Jichareliao Military Region, and the political commissar of the Dongye 2nd Corps, and participated in the Liaoshen Campaign. Judging from the entire war years, Chen Geng and Huang Kecheng's combat exploits were basically equal, and each had brilliant achievements.
Chen Geng and Huang Kecheng were both important cadres in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Chen Geng served as deputy commander of the Southwest Military Region, chairman of Yunnan Province, and served as commander and political commissar of the 3rd Corps of the Volunteer Army and deputy commander of the Volunteer Army during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
After the Pingjin Campaign, Huang Kecheng served as the director of the Tianjin Municipal Military Management Commission, and was later transferred to the Hunan secretary, commander and political commissar of the Hunan Military Region. In November 1952, Huang Kecheng also served as the deputy general chief, the head of the General Logistics Department, and the political commissar.
During the war years, it was difficult to distinguish between Huang Kecheng and Chen Geng's military exploits. In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chen Geng and Huang Kecheng were not much different. But when the title was awarded, Huang Kecheng was ahead of Chen Geng.
There are three main reasons for this. First of all, before the award, Chen Geng was slightly inferior to Huang Kecheng. Chen Geng served as deputy chief of the army, while Huang Kecheng served as secretary general and deputy defense minister of the Central Military Commission.
Huang Kecheng served as vice president about two years earlier than Chen Geng. Secondly, Huang Kecheng has made a number of special contributions in military history, such as suggesting the restoration of the political commissar system in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, suggesting sending troops to seize the northeast after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, and making outstanding contributions to the Northeast West Manchurian Military Region and logistics work.
Finally, the political commissar system of our army makes Huang Kecheng, who mainly serves as a political worker, have an innate advantage in the ranking of generals. In fact, among the top ten generals of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Huang Kecheng, Tan Zheng and *** are all outstanding political cadres.