The self-defense counterattack war against India in 62 was one of the few wars fought by our army after the founding of the People's Republic of China. Similar to the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea and the Counterattack against Vietnam, they were both wars that were forced to start for the purpose of defending the homeland and defending the country when the country's territory and security were threatened.
However, during the period of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea, more than 2 million troops were dispatched in our country, and there were countless famous generals who participated in the battle, such as Peng Zong, Deng Hua, Han Xianchu, Yang Yong and other generals and commanders who participated in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea and were important commanders; During the counterattack war in 79, Xu Shiyou and Yang Dezhi were also the founding generals who were awarded the title of 55 years, serving as the commander-in-chief of the two fronts respectively, leading hundreds of thousands of troops to fight; Only in the 62 counterattack against India, the main commander of the front line was Ding Sheng, the commander of the 54th Army, who was only a major general in 1955, and was somewhat unknown in 62, why let him participate in the command of this important foreign operation?
First of all, although the nature of the war is a counterattack war, compared with the war against Vietnam and the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the total number of troops and the scale of the war used by our army are extremely limited. In the war against India, the PLA troops dispatched a total of about 40,000 troops. Due to special topographical reasons and a difficult combat and supply environment, our troops on the southern Tibetan border could only be composed of nearby troops, while Ding Sheng's 54th Army was stationed in Sichuan, and it was reasonable for him to fight for the country. At that time, it was in the early 60s, less than 10 years after the end of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and there were many famous generals in our country who could conquer and fight habitually, but after the decision was made, Ding Sheng was close to the front line, and the 54th Army itself was not bad, and he commanded the key battle of Warong in the war against India.
The second reason is that although Ding Sheng was not well-known to the outside world back then, ordinary people were more familiar with marshals, armies, and generals, but in fact, Ding Sheng was a veritable tiger general in the army, and he was very important. Although Ding Sheng was a major general in 1955, it was because he was relatively young and had not yet fully displayed his military talents. By the time of the counterattack against India, General Ding Sheng's command ideas and talents had fully matured, and his 54th Army was also one of the main forces of our army.
As early as the late stage of the Liberation War, Ding Sheng had already made the chief happy. In the 49 years of the southward operation of Siye, the 135th Division of the main force of Bai Chongxi Gui was fought with one enemy and four battles, and the division commander at that time was Ding Sheng. Ding Sheng's bold command created a fighter plane for the large army, which made Lin Zong determined to completely annihilate Bai Chongxi's main force in the Battle of Hengbao. Liu Shuai, known as the god of our army, praised Ding Sheng's extraordinary courage, and praised his action as "cutting the Seventh Army" (that is, the main force of the Gui Department Steel Seventh Army), Ding Sheng's strength can be seen, 3 years later, Ding Sheng led the 54th Army into the DPRK as a military commander, and beat the United ** in the battle of Jincheng and other battles.
Therefore, in 62 years of war against India, don't look at General Ding Sheng's military rank at that time, but the real command level was not inferior to that of the founding generals, and the later development experience also proved this, he successively served as the commander of the Guangzhou Military Region and the Nanjing Military Region, and crossed two large military regions, which was usually a position at the level of the founding general at that time.
Finally, let's explain the command form of the 62-year war: Ding Sheng has the highest military achievements, but he is actually only a front-line commander, and many people mention the counterattack against India, thinking that Ding Sheng is the supreme commander of our army, but this is not the case. The top commander of the front line was Lieutenant General Zhang Guohua, in which Ding Sheng undertook important command tasks; At that time, Liu Shuai was the head of the strategic group and put forward the overall strategy for the operation against India.
In addition to him, the members of the strategic group also have Xu Shuai, Commander Su and other "God of War" level generals, who are responsible for overall planning and decision-making (one is said to be Lin Shuai, vice chairman of the Military Commission, but Lin Shuai is recuperating in 62 years, so it should have little to do with it). Strictly speaking, Major General Ding Sheng was not the supreme commander of this battle, and above him was Zhang Guohua, commander of the ** Military Region, and the command center in Beijing under the leadership of the Military Commission.
Judging from the actual results of the war against India, our army defeated three entire brigades of the other side at the cost of more than 1,000 people, and annihilated nearly 9,000 Indian troops, including more than 3,900 prisoners. In particular, the Battle of Warong commanded by General Ding Sheng can be called a classic, and it was recognized as the most "cost-effective" foreign operation after the founding of the People's Republic of China; although the scale was far less than that of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea and the War against Vietnam, the combat capability and deterrence capability of our army against unscrupulous neighbors have deeply impressed the international community. Generals such as Ding Sheng and Zhang Guohua were highly praised, and the Indian army was particularly afraid of the "54" number, which was regarded as an imaginary enemy for military training and exercises, and for a long time did not get out of the shadow caused by Ding Sheng's department.