Reading guide:At the time of the award of the title in 1955, several generals were not able to obtain the rank for some special reasons. To this end, in 1956 and 1958, two organizational re-conferral of military ranks were carried out. Among them, in 1956, he was awarded the rank of general Wang Jian'an and the rank of lieutenant general Nie Heting; In 1958, he was awarded the rank of General Li Jukui and the rank of Lieutenant General He Cheng.
Among these four people, Wang Jian'an, Nie Heting, and Li Jukui have all led troops to fight since the Red Army period, and in the past 20 years, they have fought hundreds of battles and rarely lost them. Only He Cheng, who was awarded the rank of lieutenant general, only led his troops to fight one battle, and he was defeated.
As we all know, at the time of the grand awarding of titles, the competition for the founding lieutenant generals was very fierce, and there were even generals at the deputy corps level and quasi-corps level who were only awarded the rank of major general. There are also some regular army-level generals who have made great achievements in war, and they have also been awarded the rank of major general, such as Zhong Wei of Siye.
As the commander of the main column of the four fields, he was known for his courage in battle, and made countless meritorious contributions in the Liaoshen Campaign, the Pingjin Campaign, and the River Crossing Campaign.
According to statistics, at the time of the award, a total of 107 regular-level generals like Zhong Wei were awarded the rank of major general. Why was He Cheng, who had only fought one battle in his life, able to beat many army commanders and was awarded the rank of lieutenant general?
In 1901, He Cheng was born in Shehong County, Sichuan Province, into a family of traditional Chinese medicine. The He family, who has practiced medicine for generations, also had a slight income, but unfortunately when it came to He Cheng's father's generation, due to the warlord chaos and the people's lack of livelihood, the practice of medicine was blocked, resulting in the family being in the middle of the road. After He Cheng was born, his father pinned his hopes for reviving the family on him, smashing pots and selling iron for him to study, only hoping that one day he could get ahead and get a half-official position, and no longer be oppressed by others.
In 1922, He Cheng lived up to expectations and was admitted to Beijing Medical University. While studying in Beijing, He Cheng came into contact with revolutionary ideas, and as a young and vigorous man, he gave up the preferential treatment and comfortable life in the hospital, threw all his blood into the revolutionary movement, and joined the Communist Party in 1925. Later, as the leader of ***, He Cheng was wanted by reactionary warlords, and in order to protect his safety, the organization decided to send him to Guangzhou to participate in the Northern Expedition.
After arriving in Guangzhou, as a top student who graduated from a medical university, He Cheng was appointed as the director of the Military Medical Department of the Fourth Army, and after the outbreak of the Guangzhou Uprising in 1927, He Cheng immediately led the Military Medical Department to participate in the uprising, regardless of the danger. At the scene of the uprising, He Cheng took over all the medical teams and health teams, and was responsible for the rescue of the wounded in the whole army.
Due to the hasty preparation and outnumbered enemies, the Guangzhou Uprising finally failed, and He Cheng and others traveled to Guangdong, Hong Kong and other places, and finally came to Shanghai with organizational help. Under the personal arrangement of the premier, He Cheng opened a hospital in Shanghai and continued to engage in revolutionary activities.
In 1931, due to the betrayal of the traitor, He Cheng's identity was exposed, and for his safety, the prime minister arranged for him to go to the **Soviet district and was appointed chief of the General Military Medical Department. Due to the enemy's blockade of the Soviet area, the medical conditions of the Red Army at that time were very limited, there was a lack of medical treatment, and many wounded were disabled or even lost their lives.
As a doctor, He Cheng was heartbroken and decided to change the backward medical landscape of the **Soviet Union. He asked his superiors for instructions to set up a Red Army sanitary materials factory to produce gauze, cotton swabs, alcohol and other medical materials on its own, and at the same time to establish a military medical school to train health personnel in the army.
In 1932, according to He Cheng's suggestion, the Red Army successively established the first sanitary material factory and the first military medical school, of which He Cheng served as the principal of the military medical school.
The establishment of the sanitary materials factory and the military medical school changed to a certain extent the situation of the Red Army's lack of medical treatment and medicine, and reduced the Red Army's attrition due to injuries and illnesses, which was of great significance.
From 1932 onwards, He Cheng served as the head of the General Health Department of the Red Army, and led all the comrades of hospitals, health schools, and medicinal herb factories, as well as more than 3,000 "special troops" of women, children, the elderly, the weak, and the wounded and sick of ** organs to participate in the Long March.
In 1936, the organization arranged for Wang Jiaxiang to go to the Soviet Union for treatment, in order to ensure the accuracy of the first, specially appointed He Cheng to accompany him, but he did not expect to go, He Cheng stayed in the Soviet Union for nearly ten years, until the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945 and returned to the Northeast.
During the Liberation War, He Cheng served as the Minister of General Health and Political Commissar of the Northeast Field Army, and after the establishment of the Northeast Military Region, he served as Deputy Minister of Logistics and Minister of Health. Due to his outstanding performance in the northeast region, after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, he was transferred to Beijing to serve as Minister of Health, First Vice Minister of the Logistics Department of the Military Commission and Minister of Health. It is an extremely rare situation for one person to be the Minister of Health of ** and the Military Commission, and it also shows the organization's trust in He Cheng.
From 1927 to 1949, although He Cheng participated in the revolution for more than 20 years, as a military doctor, he had always been in charge of the health department, and had never led troops to fight or commanded battles, so when the title was conferred in 1955, some people felt that He Cheng should not be awarded the military rank.
In fact, it is not entirely correct to say that He Cheng did not lead troops to fight, because during the Red Army, he also commanded two regiments to participate in battles. It was the summer of 1931, and the main force of the Red Army was assembling in Xingguo, Jiangxi, when the leader suddenly asked He Cheng to command the guard regiment and artillery regiment to attack Laicun and Dongtang.
At first, He Cheng thought that he had heard it wrong, so he found the leader to inquire about the situation, and he said: "I am a military doctor, I can treat the sick and save people, but I am not good at leading troops to fight, please send the generals of the organization to go." ”
But the leader did not agree with He Cheng's opinion, as a soldier, he could only obey the order and lead two regiments to attack Laicun and Dongtang. He Cheng knew very well that he would rather be punished himself than joke with the lives of his soldiers. So when he arrived at the battlefield, he just let the artillery run out of shells, and the guard regiment symbolically launched two charges, and then led his troops back.
The leader was furious and wanted to punish He Cheng, and it was at this time that the chairman heard about it. He came to the front line and seriously reprimanded the leader, and the chairman said: "He Cheng's task is to direct the injection, not to fight." I think He Cheng is right, the responsibility is yours! ”
Fortunately, with the chairman, He Cheng avoided being punished. And this is the only time he commanded a war, and it was a defeat.
However, when the preliminary list of major titles was announced, people found that Fu Lianzhang, who was also a military doctor, was impressively listed, and he was also among the ranks of lieutenant generals. Fu Lianzhang is only the deputy minister of health of the Military Commission, and he has the rank of lieutenant general, so He Cheng, as the minister, must at least be a lieutenant general.
As a result, when the title was officially conferred in 1955, He Cheng was not awarded any military rank. This happened because in 1953, Ho Cheng was unfairly reported and temporarily removed from his ministerial position. When the title was conferred in 1955, the investigation had not yet been completed, so He Cheng did not receive the military rank.
In 1958, the matter came to light, proving that He Cheng was wronged, so the organization awarded him the rank of lieutenant general.