Reading guide:When it comes to the 1955 award, many people are upset with Zhong Wei, thinking that he was the commander of the Siye Column and the commander of the 49th Army, and his military achievements are outstanding enough to be awarded to lieutenant general.
In fact, putting aside personal emotions and analyzing from an objective point of view, with Zhong Wei's qualifications and position, it is more appropriate to confer the rank of lieutenant general, and it is normal to confer the title of major general.
During the Red Army, he served as the director of the division's political department, the highest in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression as the deputy commander of the 10th Brigade of the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army, and the commander of the 49th Army in Siye during the War of Liberation, all of which were enough to meet the standards of a lieutenant general.
But in 1952, when the cadres were rated, Zhong Wei was at the rank of a regular army. When the title was conferred in 1955, 96 cadres at the regular army level were awarded lieutenant generals and 107 were awarded major generals, so Zhong Wei was not unjustly awarded major general. After all, there are also quasi-corps-level Xie Fang and Duan Suquan, who were only awarded the rank of major general.
Xie Fang used to be the chief of staff of the Volunteer Army, and was the right-hand man of General Peng, and when the title was conferred, several deputy commanders of the Volunteer Army, Deng Hua, Han Xianchu, and Chen Geng, were either generals or generals, and even Du Ping, director of the Political Department, was a lieutenant general. It is said that even Mr. Peng, who has always been iron-faced and selfless, once stood up to fight for the solution.
The reason why Xie Fang was only awarded a major general was directly related to the fact that he was a general of the Northeast Army uprising, joined the party late, and did not join the Red Army. However, among the founding major generals, Xie Fang ranked first, which can be regarded as an affirmation of his merits in the organization.
Although Xie Fang is the first major general, he is not the highest-ranking major general, and the highest-ranking person among the major generals is the deputy corps level. What is the concept of the deputy corps level? At the time of the 1955 award, there were 42 deputy corps-level generals, 19 generals, and 22 lieutenant generals. Only one person was awarded the rank of Major General, and he was General He Jinnian.
Being able to be rated as a deputy corps-level general shows that He Jinnian's revolutionary qualifications and positions are on par with the 19 founding generals, and this is indeed the case.
He Jinnian was one of the founders of the Red Army in northern Shaanxi and a veteran-level figure. In his early years, he participated in and led revolutionary activities in Shaanxi and Gansu, and served as a brigade commander, commander-in-chief of guerrillas, and division commander.
* After the Red Army arrived in northern Shaanxi, the original Red Army and local units in northern Shaanxi were reorganized, and the Red 27th Army was established in January 1937, with He Jinnian as the commander.
At the time of the awarding of the title, the standard for generals was cadres at or above the division level during the Red Army period, and He Jinnian, who had served as a military commander, fully met this requirement. (There are many generals who only served as division commanders during the Red Army period, and they were awarded the rank of general when they were conferred the title, such as *** Han Xianchu, etc.).
During the Red Army period, the military-level cadres were basically the rank of general when they were conferred the ranks. For example, Wang Ping, the political commissar of the Red 27th Army, who was partnered with He Jinnian at that time, and Li Zhimin, director of the Political Department, both had the rank of general.
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, He Jinnian served as the commander of the 1st Regiment of the Eighth Route Army, the commander of the 3rd Garrison Brigade of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningjin-Sui Joint Defense Army, and the commander of the Trilateral Army Division. During the Liberation War, He Jinnian was ordered to go to the northeast and successively served as the commander of the 11th Column of Siye and the deputy commander of the 15th Corps.
In terms of qualifications and positions, He Jinnian is enough to be awarded the rank of general, and the minimum should be a lieutenant general.
* Lao, during the Anti-Japanese War, he led the troops to stay in the rear and successfully defended the safety of Yan'an and the leaders. In difficult times, he also led the troops to actively open up wasteland and farm, develop production, and support a large number of materials in Yan'an. In the War of Liberation, as one of the early column commanders of Siye, He Jinnian participated in almost all the major battles of Siye, and his performance was remarkable.
The main reason why He Jinnian, who met the standards of lieutenant general and even general in all aspects, was only awarded the rank of major general was that after the founding of the People's Republic of China, when he was deputy commander and chief of staff of the Northeast Military Region, he was implicated in the Gao Rao incident.
Originally, He Jinnian was the best candidate for the representative of the Red Army in northern Shaanxi, but unfortunately in 1955, he regretted missing it. In view of the special position of the Red Army in northern Shaanxi in the history of our army, organizationally we can only temporarily transfer Yan Hongyan, who has already been transferred to work in a local area and serve as governor of Sichuan Province, to temporarily transfer back to the army to serve as deputy political commissar of the Chengdu Military Region, and to be awarded the rank of general as a representative of the Red Army in northern Shaanxi.
Closing Remarks:
After learning that he was only awarded the rank of major general, He Jinnian did not make a big fuss like Zhong Wei and others, as an old party member and an old revolutionary, he obeyed the organization's arrangements and still worked hard at his post to serve the people.
If you don't say it, it doesn't mean that you don't have ideas in your heart, in fact, He Jinnian is still a little dissatisfied with the rank of major general, and he expressed his dissatisfaction in a silent form. After the award ceremony, he locked the major general's uniform in the closet and never took it out and wore it again until his death in 2003.