In the 1955 awards, five of the founding generals were generally considered qualified to confer the rank of general. These five high-ranking generals include Zhang Zongxun of the First Field, Song Renqiang of the Second Field, Xiao Ke of the Fourth Field, ** of the First Field, and Zhou Chunquan of the Fourth Field.
They were all believed to have been on the list of 15 generals to be conferred, but due to the limited number of places, they were not able to achieve the rank of general. So, what is the reason why these five candidates cannot shake the status of the top ten generals?
Combat exploits are the primary factor in evaluating the ability of the founding generals, among which the exploits of General Song Renqiang, General Xiao Jinguang and General Chen Geng are the most prominent. Although Su Yu's position was on par with others during the Red Army and the Anti-Japanese War, he served as the commander of the Red Army division, the chief of staff of the Red Seventh Army Corps and the Red Tenth Army Corps, which was still slightly lacking in military achievements.
Zhang Zongxun once served as the chief of staff of the Red 4th Army and the commander of the 358th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army; Song Renqiang once served as the commander of the Red 28th Army and the commander of the Southern Hebei Military Region; Xiao Ke once served as the commander of the Red Sixth Army, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Red Second Front Army, and the deputy commander of the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army; **Former political commissar of the Red Sixth Army and commander of the 359th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army; Zhou Chunquan was the director of the Political Department of the Red Fourth Front Army and the president of the first branch of Kang University.
However, during the War of Liberation, especially after the merger of the Shandong Field Army and the Central China Field Army, Su Yu's ability to command the large corps to fight was brought into full play, even surpassing that of Peng, Lin, and Liu.
It is no accident that Huang Kecheng can rank third among the generals before Chen Geng. He served as a division political commissar during the Red Army, a brigade political commissar, a column commander, and a division commander of the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army during the Anti-Japanese War.
Chen Geng's military ability is second only to Su Yu, he served as a division commander during the Red Army, a brigade commander and commander of the Taiyue Military Region during the Anti-Japanese War, and led 80,000 people during the liberation period, and was used by the chairman as a strategic group for a long time.
In addition, he also participated in the battles to resist France and aid Vietnam and resist US aggression and aid Korea, and established outstanding military achievements.
Xu Haidong, the super god of war during the Red Army, was once rewarded by the enemy, and his status was equivalent to that of Zhu Mao and **. His bravery and good fighting terrified the enemies in the Hubei-Henan-Anhui base area.
When the Xi'an Incident broke out, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng asked Xu Haidong's troops to defend Xi'an. In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, Xu Haidong and the 344 Brigade won many battles. However, his physical condition did not allow him to continue fighting.
Although he has been recuperating in Jiangsu, Shandong, Liaoning and other places since August 1940, his contribution cannot be ignored. He led the Red 25th Army's Long March to northern Shaanxi, and gave 5,000 yuan of the 7,000 silver dollars of the 7,000 fallen divisions of the Red Army that spent the winter, sending them warmth.
Zhang Yunyi, the ceiling among the generals, participated in the Xinhai Revolution, led the Baise Uprising, and served as the commander of the Red 7th Army and the deputy commander of the New Fourth Army. He participated in the Seventh National Congress and was elected to the Central Committee, which was the only one of the ten founding generals of the later country.
His votes even surpassed some other founding marshals, such as **, Zhou Gong, **Deng Gong, **Teng Daiyuan, Zhang Dingcheng, ** and other famous generals.
During the liberation period, he was the deputy commander of the East China Military Region, and his treatment was also carried out according to the standards of the marshal. Zhang Zongxun's contributions and personal qualifications cannot be ignored. His historical place is as important as his contributions.
Xiao Ke's third influence comes from the emphasis on military and political affairs, and the evaluation of military ranks is not only based on military merits, but also includes the performance of political cadres. Among the top ten generals, several are political cadres, such as Huang Kecheng and Tan Zheng in Siye, and *** in the North China Military Region
If the number of places does not increase, it will be very difficult to replace any of Huang Kecheng, Tan Zheng, and **, because their ability and influence cannot be ignored. Huang Kecheng and Tan Zheng were well-known political cadres who participated in many important revolutionary activities and were personally trained by the chairman.
He was engaged in security work during the Red Army and the Anti-Japanese War, and served as the political commissar of the famous "Yang Luogeng Corps" during the War of Liberation, and became the Minister of Public Security after the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Therefore, political cadres Song Renqiang and Zhou Chunquan cannot surpass Huang Kecheng and Tan Zhenghe
In the exchange of leadership, the meeting between Xiao Jinguang (middle), Xiao Hua (left) and Zeng Zesheng (right) was particularly eye-catching. Similar to them, Zhang Zongxun, Xiao Ke and ** are also difficult to replace Xiao Jinguang, Wang Shusheng and Xu Guangda's important roles on the historical stage.
Xiao Jinguang is the representative of the Lieutenant General of the 6th Division of the 2nd Army of the Northern Expeditionary Army, young and promising; The experience of studying military affairs in the Soviet Union for the second time gave him a unique vision and experience. During the Red Army, he served as chief of staff and commander of the army, and experienced many battles; During the Anti-Japanese War, he became the commander of the left-behind corps of the Eighth Route Army; During the liberation period, he served as the commander of the first corps in Dongye; After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served as the commander of the Navy and accumulated a wealth of leadership experience and military knowledge.
Wang Shusheng was one of the leaders of the Jute Uprising, and successively served as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Red Fourth Army, the deputy commander of the Taihang Military Region, and the commander of the Hubei Military Region. Although his qualifications are similar to those of Xiao Ke, both of which are high and low, he is older and more experienced.
In contrast, Xu Guangda has the least qualifications, having served as the commander of the Red Army, the commander of the 120th Brigade of the 2nd Division, the commander of the 3rd Army of the First Field Army, and the commander of the armored corps after the founding of the People's Republic of China.
As the commander of the emerging arms, Xu Guangda has a unique advantage in leading the new arms, and it is more appropriate to award the rank of general. In general, although Zhang Zongxun, Xiao Ke and ** have advantages in some aspects, their qualifications, experience and leadership are not as good as Xiao Jinguang, Wang Shusheng and Xu Guangda.
Therefore, in the long river of history, it is difficult for them to replace the important roles of Xiao Jinguang, Wang Shusheng and Xu Guangda.
Zhang Zongxun and **, these generals with outstanding achievements, failed to be awarded the rank of general due to various reasons in the famous battles in the early days of the Liberation War.
Some believe that this is mainly due to the fact that they have made some mistakes. For example, in the Battle of Jining in Datong, Zhang Zongxun hesitated between storming Jining and reinforcing Fu Zuoyi's 101st Division, which led to defeat.
However, judging from Zhang Zongxun's military experience and his performance in the war, this is not a reason for him to miss out on the qualification of a general. On the contrary, **, as the political commissar of Zhang Zongxun, also performed well in the campaign, but was awarded the rank of general.
This shows that when the chairman confers the qualification of a general, he attaches more importance to a person's overall quality and ability, rather than the victory or defeat of a game. Therefore, Zhang Zongxun, ** and other generals, although they were not awarded the rank of general, they still played an important role in the War of Liberation and made important contributions to the victory of the Chinese revolution.
General Zhou Chunquan was a staunch supporter of the Zhang family, and when crossing the meadows, he insisted on going south to Chengdu to eat rice. However, his views were not supported by everyone.
Mr. He and Ren Bishi of the Red Second Army resolutely opposed going south, and Xiao Ke, the commander of the Red Sixth Army, also listened to Zhang's words. Fortunately, Mr. Zhu and *** and others clarified the facts in time, and Xiao Ke did not make a big mistake.
In his memoirs, Shaw acknowledged that he was not awarded the rank of general in 1955 because he was on the wrong side that year. Some others were also on the wrong side during that period, but the chairman did not punish them for this, but continued to use them with confidence.
Luo Binghui, He Changgong, Li Zhuoran, Shao Shiping, Xiao Ke, Deng Hua, Song Shilun and other outstanding generals, although they made important contributions in different historical periods, due to various reasons, they were not awarded the rank of general.
However, their military talents and political literacy were fully recognized, and they were awarded the title of Founding General, which is a full and appropriate recognition of their historical contributions.