In 1937, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression broke out, and the Kuomintang and the Communist Party abandoned their previous suspicions and formed an anti-Japanese national united front. On August 25, after many negotiations, the main force of the Red Army decided to reorganize into the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army, under the jurisdiction of the 115th, 120th, 129th Divisions and the General Special Service Regiment, a total of six brigades.
The first military and political commanders of these six brigades were ** and Chen Geng. After the founding of the state, they differed in rank and position.
Among them, the general with the highest military rank in 1955 was ***
Chen Guang, a native of Hunan, born in 1905, began to engage in agricultural activities in 1926, joined the Communist Party of China the following year, participated in the South Hunan Uprising in 1928, and followed ** to Jinggangshan in the same year and began his revolutionary career.
In 1937, the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army was the first.
1. The main force of the 15th Army Corps and the 74th Division of the Red Army in southern Shaanxi were combined to form the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army.
In various battles such as the Pingxingguan victory and the Guangyang victory, we can see Chen Guang's figure, which is enough to show that he is extraordinary. In the breakthrough of Lufang, Chen Guang's excellent command ability and tactical quality were vividly reflected.
In March 1938, the commander of the 115th Division was unfortunately injured in a morning exercise, and Chen Guang was ordered to serve as the commander of the 115th Division and the political commissar.
The 115th Division, under the leadership of *** and Chen Guang, penetrated deep into Luxi and threatened the Japanese entrenchment in Shandong. In order to find and eliminate the 115th Division, in late May of the following year, the Japanese army sent the supreme commander Otaka Kamezo to personally command more than 5,000 Japanese puppet troops, with advanced **, to conduct a carpet search.
It happened that *** went to the Dongwen detachment to inspect the work, and he was not in the army, and the heavy responsibility of command fell on the shoulders of Chen Guang alone. Faced with the encirclement of the enemy's overwhelming forces, Chen Guang ordered all troops to occupy positions and wait for an opportunity to break out of the encirclement.
Although the Japanese launched a fierce offensive, the whistling of planes, gunfire, artillery and grenades came one after another, and the smoke of gunpowder filled the air, and the guns and artillery bombed into a purgatory on earth, Chen Guang still resolutely ordered all troops to hold their positions and wait for a breakthrough at night.
At dusk, the enemy forces temporarily ceased fire and planned to attack again the next morning. Chen Guang seized this opportunity and urgently discussed with his subordinates the route, timing, and specific arrangements for breaking through the siege.
After 10 o'clock that night, Chen Guang led his troops to break out of the encirclement in two ways and successfully escaped safely.
In this battle, Chen Guang preserved the backbone in order to preserve the Taixi base area and create a new situation in the Shandong War of Resistance. He has experienced many such battles in his life, and has always followed the Communist Party of China, fought in the south and the north, and was born and died, and was a great communist fighter.
Sadly, he died in 1954 without attaining the rank, but his contributions and heroic deeds will be remembered forever. Another brigade of the 115th Division was the 344th Brigade, and the brigade commander was Xu Haidong.
Xu Haidong was born poor, worked as a cellar worker for 11 years, joined the Communist Party of China at the age of 25, and then fought everywhere, running around the battlefield day and night all year round, and his body fell ill.
In 1932, in order to organize the separated troops, he worked for 23 days without ** sleep, and finally had time to rest, as soon as he arrived at the destination, he fell asleep, and slept for 30 hours, when he woke up and turned over and sat up, a mouthful of blood gushed out.
Later, when he was fighting in North China, he experienced high-intensity warfare, and his illness was like a mountain, and he was unable to support it, so he had to return to Yan'an to recuperate. Only a few months later, he asked for war again, went to Central China, and fought hard in northern Anhui, but he was once again crushed by illness and returned to the rear to recuperate with regret.
At that time, the medical and health conditions were not good, and for many years of illness, Xu Haidong had been relying on Chinese herbal medicine to maintain his life. It wasn't until 1947 that he was sent to Dalian for the first X-ray fluoroscopy, only to find that most of the functions of his lungs had long been lost, and even the military doctor who examined him couldn't help but sigh that he was able to survive tenaciously, which was a medical miracle.
On September 27, 1955, Xu Haidong was awarded the rank of general of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
Xu Haidong, why is his military rank so high? Because *** gave high praise to his contributions. Xu Haidong once helped *** and ** leaders through the dark period when the Red Army was in its most difficult time.
The 25th Army led by him broke through all the way in the Long March and became the only unit to increase its strength and create a base area, providing tremendous support to the ** Red Army. These are just some of his many contributions, and he deservedly received the rank of General and the title of Founding General.
Zhang Zongxun, the commander of the 358 Brigade, performed bravely in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and made great achievements. He calmly analyzed the enemy situation and terrain, led the troops to successfully prevent the Japanese army from attacking Taiyuan, and completely annihilated the Japanese army in the talc ambush battle, and captured a large number of ** equipment.
In addition, he successfully aided the Japanese army who occupied seven county seats. Zhang Zongxun's heroic deeds have been praised by many troop ministers, and he is known as the "King of Capture".
Later, Zhang Zongxun served as the first deputy commander of the Northwest Field Army and assisted in liberating the northwest. His outstanding leadership and bravery led him to the rank of general.
In addition to Zhang Zongxun, Chen Bojun is also a member of the 358 Brigade, he has a deep relationship with ***, and he met when he joined the Nanchang Uprising at the age of 17.
Chen Bojun used to be the deputy captain of the teaching team of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, but he killed his comrade-in-arms Lu Chi because of a misfire. Although there was no intention to kill people, when the organization discussed the punishment, some people believed that it should be severely punished.
However, ** Considering the lack of cadres in the Red Army and the deep relationship between the two, he defended Chen Bojun by saying that the Red Army urgently needed talent and could not afford to lose him again. In the end, Chen Bojun was sentenced to stay in the party for observation and 40 boards.
But his heroism did not diminish as a result. In the Red Army's Long March, he led the 5th Division of the 13th Army Corps, responsible for covering the ** column, repelled the enemy's pursuit many times, and was known as the "iron ass".
** Personally wrote a letter to Chen Bojun, calling him a "Red Army talent" and affirming his merits. Chen Bojun was awarded the rank of general, and he insisted on the habit of keeping a diary, leaving us a precious historical material.
His life was full of courage and perseverance, and he was a true Red Army cadre.
The 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army was established during the Red Army, with *** as the division commander and ** as the deputy division commander. The division has the 385th Brigade, the 386th Brigade, the Teaching Corps, Special Agents, Engineers and other units.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the 129th Division achieved brilliant results in thousands of ambushes and guerrilla warfare, eliminating more than 420,000 Japanese puppet troops. Its combat effectiveness is so strong that it is known as the most capable division of the Eighth Route Army, and its popularity is the highest among the three divisions.
The brigade commander of the 385th Brigade is Wang Hongkun, his original name is Wang Hongchun, born in Hubei, and is the cousin of the founding general Wang Shusheng. Under the influence of his cousins Wang Shusheng and Wang Youan, Wang Hongkun embarked on the road of revolution.
During the period of the Agrarian Revolution, Wang Shusheng and Wang Hongkun showed extraordinary military talents, successively serving as platoon commander, company commander, battalion commander and other positions in the Red Army, and were promoted all the way to army commander and army political commissar.
He participated in several anti-suppression struggles and the Long March in the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Region, participated in and commanded dozens of campaigns and battles, and made important contributions to the victory of the Red Army's Long March. In 1937, the Red Army was reorganized, and Wang Hongkun was demoted from army commander to brigade commander.
However, he did not sink because of this, but chose to stay in Longdong with some people to protect the southwest of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo border area. His bravery and resourcefulness earned him the respect of the people, and many people who heard of him as a victorious general signed up for the army, and the number of troops soon increased by more than 1,000 people.
However, Wang Hongkun was a person who was born as a cowherd, and he knew that his cultural level could not meet the needs of revolutionary work, so he repeatedly applied to study in Yan'an.
He knew that only through continuous study and self-improvement could he better accomplish the revolutionary task. His spirit of self-reflection and pursuit of excellence is worthy of our learning and reference.
Wang Hongkun was a self-motivated person, and his spirit touched ***, so he wrote a letter of introduction to the head of the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University, thus transforming him from a brigade commander to a student.
During the War of Liberation, Wang Hongkun served as deputy commander of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region and commander of the Sixth Column, commander of the 10th Column of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army and commander of the Tongbai Military Region, and other important positions, leading the troops to participate in various battles.
His outstanding performance led him to be awarded the rank of general in 1955. And the commander of the 386th Brigade, everyone should know that he is General Chen Geng. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Japanese army always regarded the 386th Brigade as a thorn in the side and a thorn in the flesh, and even pasted the words "Fight the 386th Brigade" and "Fight Chen Geng" on the car, chasing them everywhere, wanting to fight a decisive battle.
The occurrence of these great and exciting events was all due to General Chen Geng's flexible and changeable tactical command. He was unruly and good at exchanging the smallest losses for the greatest victory, and he repeatedly commanded his subordinates to carry out surprise attacks on the Japanese army, which made the opponent angry.
In the middle of the night, the 386th Brigade led by Chen Geng successfully approached the Japanese army under the cover of night, disguised as ordinary people. Probably because of the light enemy of the Japanese army, they did not become vigilant against the 386 brigade.
However, when the 386th Brigade launched an attack, the Japanese army was shocked to realize that they had been plotted, but it was too late, and the Eighth Route Army, which had already slipped away, was nowhere to be found, and they could only watch the Eighth Route Army leave.
This was one of the highlights of the Xi'an Incident.
They fought two fierce battles in Pingding County, Shanxi, and won brilliant victories, successfully killing more than 400 Japanese soldiers, capturing more than 400 mules and horses and a large number of military supplies, and only 50 of their own.
In the pursuit of the 386th Brigade, the Japanese army again underestimated the enemy, but was led into a trap laid by our army by the design of the cavalry company, and the whole army was annihilated and suffered heavy losses. This series of battles made the names of Chen Geng and the 386th Brigade widely known, which greatly boosted the morale of our army, and their heroic images were forever engraved in people's hearts and are still inspiring today.
Chen Geng's outstanding achievements are not limited to this, he also made great contributions to the victory of the Red Army's Long March and the War of Liberation, and was loyal to the Communist Party of China all his life, devoting himself to the liberation of the people and the prosperity of the country.
In 1955, he was awarded the rank of Grand General.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Eighth Route Army had six heroic brigade commanders, each of whom received the corresponding military rank for their outstanding performance on the battlefield. However, looking back on history, it is no longer meaningful to compare who has the highest military rank and who has the most military achievements.
Because in that difficult years, together with their comrades-in-arms, they faced internal and external troubles, fought tenaciously, fought in the forefront of the anti-Japanese war countless times, some even risked their lives to fight a decisive battle with the Japanese army, and some used flexible tactics to make the enemy unknowingly in the dead place.
After eight years of hard struggle, they finally repelled the enemy forces and protected the peace of the motherland. In the face of their great achievements, any evaluation for comparison and entertainment seems to be weak.
They are loyal fighters of the party and great heroes of the Chinese nation, and their contributions and spirit deserve to be remembered, respected, and learned from forever. They are our pride and witnesses to our history.