Between 1985 and 1987, the PLA underwent a large-scale force reshuffle, reducing a total of 1 million troops, an event known as the "Million Disarmament."
In the course of this disarmament, the number of large military regions in the country was reduced to seven, namely the Beijing, Shenyang, Lanzhou, Nanjing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, and Jinan Military Regions. Surprisingly, six of the people who served as commanders of these seven military regions were later awarded the rank of general, and the only person who did not become a general was Zhao Xianshun.
So, what is the story of Zhao Xianshun?
Zhao Xianshun was born in 1924 in Shunhe Township, Yongcheng City, Henan Province. When he was young, he witnessed the full-scale outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the various crimes committed by the Japanese invaders in his hometown.
In this environment, Zhao Xianshun had a firm heart and longed for the day when he could personally defeat the Japanese invaders, join the Communist Party, become a full party member, and follow the New Fourth Army to devote himself to the great cause of resisting Japan and saving the country.
In 1939, 15-year-old Zhao Xianshun got his wish and joined the New Fourth Army, starting his magnificent revolutionary career.
In 1941, the Kuomintang launched a military encirclement of the New Fourth Army headquarters in southern Anhui, creating the Southern Anhui Incident that shocked China and the rest of the world. After this incident, the military headquarters of the New Fourth Army was rebuilt, and Zhao Xianshun's unit was also incorporated into the Third Division of the New Fourth Army, and continued to participate in the War of Resistance against Japan under the leadership of Huang Kecheng.
In continuous efforts and battles, Zhao Xianshun was gradually promoted from an ordinary soldier to a deputy squad leader and squad leader, until the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he had become a deputy company commander of the Third Division.
After the end of the Anti-Japanese War, Huang Kecheng had foresight and put forward a plan to the organization to establish a base area in the northeast, which received a positive response from the organization, and the third division of the New Fourth Army went to the northeast under the leadership of Huang Kecheng.
As a member of the 3rd Division, Zhao Xianshun also accompanied him to the northeast. After arriving in the Northeast, Zhao Xianshun's troops were gradually reorganized into the Northeast Democratic Alliance Army and the Northeast Field Army, and Zhao Xianshun also actively participated in major battles such as the Siping Campaign and the Liaoshen Campaign, and made great contributions to the liberation of the Northeast.
With the reorganization of the Northeast Field Army into the Fourth Field Army, Zhao Xianshun has been promoted to a deputy regiment-level cadre.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhao Xianshun followed Siye to the south and participated in the battles of Zhongnan and other battles. In the 1955 award, he was awarded the rank of lieutenant colonel. In order to further train him, his superiors sent him to the Nanjing Military Academy and let him receive a systematic military education.
After graduating from the Military Academy, Zhao Xianshun served as deputy division commander, division commander, deputy army commander and other positions. In 1975, he was appointed commander of the Heilongjiang Provincial Military Region.
Zhao Xianshun worked in the Heilongjiang Provincial Military Region for seven years and was promoted to deputy commander of the Shenyang Military Region in 1982, which is the superior unit of the Heilongjiang Provincial Military Region.
A year later, he was appointed commander of the Lanzhou Military Region, which was also an important appointment during the period of the million-dollar disarmament. It is worth mentioning that in 1985, the whole army was downsized, forming a pattern of seven major military regions.
At this time, the commander of the Beijing Military Region was Qin Jiwei, the commander of the Shenyang Military Region was Liu Jingsong, the commander of the Nanjing Military Region was Xiang Shouzhi, the commander of the Guangzhou Military Region was You Taizhong, the commander of the Chengdu Military Region was Fu Quanyou, and the commander of the Jinan Military Region was Li Jiulong.
In 1988, the Chinese People's Liberation Army restored the military rank system, and some of the commanders of the seven major military regions were promoted to lieutenant generals, such as Zhao Xianshun, Liu Jingsong, and Li Jiulong, while others were promoted to generals, such as Qin Jiwei, You Taizhong, and Xiang Shouzhi.
In the following 1994, Liu Jingsong, Li Jiulong and others continued to be promoted to generals, but Zhao Xianshun's military rank stayed at lieutenant general.
Zhao Xianshun failed to be promoted to general for a very simple reason, that is, his age. At the time of his ordination in 1994, he had reached the age of 70 and had retired from the army, so he was not eligible for promotion.
At the same time, he also became the only one among the commanders of the seven military regions who was not promoted to general. However, when Lau Ching-chung and Lee Kowloon were conferred their titles in 1994, they were only 61 and 65 years old respectively and were still serving at that time, so they were promoted to generals.
In 2002, Zhao Xianshun died of illness in Beijing at the age of 78.