Before the first title of New China was awarded in 1955, Peng Dehuai, Zhu De, and He Long met together to come to Mao Zedong's office.
The main purpose of their coming this time was for the sake of a person's rank, and all three of them all agreed that there was a low degree of evaluation of this person's rank, so they wanted to find Chairman Mao to evaluate it together.
After meeting Chairman Mao, he explained the ins and outs of the matter and the contribution of this person to the revolution. Chairman Mao expressed a high degree of affirmation for his contribution after hearing this, but after learning that this person had been rated as a colonel, he shook his head one after another and said: "This rank is too low, according to his contribution, he can be rated as a major general, and at the lowest he must also be rated as a major general."
Finally, under the personal instructions of the chairman, the rank of this man was finally promoted from colonel to major general.
In the end, who can have such a great ability to let the three marshals go to the chairman to evaluate, and finally let the chairman make a decision to promote the rank of general? He was the "Boss He" who made great achievements for the founding of New China- General He Jinnian.
He Jinnian was not born in the south like most founding generals, but in Shaanxi in 1910. When he was born, the Qing Dynasty had not yet perished, so He Jinnian experienced two of the darkest periods in Chinese history. He Jinnian's childhood time was spent in the feudal era and warlord melee, and it was precisely because of his childhood experience that the young He Jinnian exercised perseverance and resistance spirit that his peers did not have.
At the age of fourteen, He Jin was admitted to the local Wayao Fort High School with his own efforts, and in the school, He Jin began to be influenced by the revolutionary movement at that time and planted the seeds of revolution in his heart. After being admitted to the Shaanxi Fourth Normal School in 1927, He Jinnian secretly joined the Communist Party of China at the school.
After graduating from the normal school, He Jinnian worked in the Kuomintang government, successively responsible for the military movement of warlords in Shaanxi and Gansu. In life, He Jinnian is also very famous in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia region, he is proud and righteous, often helps the poor, and is affectionately called "He Boss" by the locals.
When he was in charge of the military movement, he took the initiative to win over some soldiers with revolutionary consciousness. In the Shuimen Military Riot launched in Lanzhou, He Jinnian found the opportunity to lead more than twenty soldiers with revolutionary ideals to join the Red Army in northern Shaanxi, which was founded not long ago.
After joining the Red Army in northern Shaanxi, He Jinnian established a number of Red Army guerrilla units behind enemy lines under the command of Xie Zichang, and He Jinnian also became a "thorn in the eye" of the local warlords.
After Xie Zichang's sacrifice, He Jinnian followed Liu Zhidan to many places. It was also at this time that the scale of the Red Army in northern Shaanxi was constantly expanding, and He Jinnian also established a solid revolutionary base area in northern Shaanxi, and relied on the base area to repel the Kuomintang's three large-scale encirclement and suppression campaigns.
After the victory of the three anti-encirclement and suppression wars, the revolutionary base areas in northern Shaanxi became an indelible heart disease embedded in the local warlords.
However, in the third counter-encirclement and suppression, He Jinnian was surrounded by several times the enemy in a battle, and finally although he desperately broke through, he was still captured by the enemy. However, at that time, the enemy did not know that it was He Jinnian who was captured, and only tied him up and locked him up in a small black room, and He Jinnian finally escaped from the hands of the enemy with amazing perseverance while he was full of wounds.
He Jinnian also became one of the main military leaders of the Red Army in northern Shaanxi because of his excellent command skills and political awareness.
In addition to leading the soldiers is a good hand, in terms of regional governance, He Jinnian is also very good at it. When Anding was the secretary of the prefectural party committee, He Jinnian took the lead in propagating the party's policies and improving the living conditions of the common people as much as possible, so that the locals were very supportive and caring for the Red Army ranks.
In 1934, he also served as the chief of staff of the Red Army guerrilla group in northern Shaanxi during this period, and subsequently became the commander of the main Red Regiment in northern Shaanxi.
During his tenure as the leader of the Red Regiment, He Jinnian led the Red Regiment to fight and kill all the way, which caused headaches for the Kuomintang army.
It was also the main force of the Kuomintang army that repeatedly inflicted heavy losses, and was called "the red regiment of young heroes" by Liu Zhidan.
In 1935, He Jinnian was promoted to the commander of the 80th Division, the main force of the Red Army in northern Shaanxi, and participated in many fierce battles such as the Battle of Laoshan and the Battle of Zhiluo Town.
After cooperating with the Western Expedition, He Jinnian was arranged to go to the Red Army University in Yan'an to conduct systematic command study, and in the Red Army University, He Jinnian overcame various difficulties in learning and understood and applied the knowledge taught by the teacher as much as possible.
It was precisely the knowledge learned at the University of the Red Army that laid a solid foundation for He Jinnian's command of operations.
Because of He Jinnian's excellent learning performance, he has become the object of organizational focus training. After graduating from the University of the Red Army, Chairman Mao personally wrote a letter of appointment for him: He Jinnian was appointed as the commander of the Red Twenty-seventh Army.
At that time, the military ability to become the Red Army was naturally very outstanding, take the first award of the title, when the rank of general was awarded to the division-level cadres of the Red Army period.
It is conceivable that the Appointment of He Jinnian as the Commander of the Twenty-seventh Army by the Party Central Committee at that time was an affirmation of his revolutionary work and military ability.
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, because of the needs of the form of troops, He Jinnian's troops were reorganized, and He Jinnian was appointed as the brigade commander of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Jinsui Joint Defense Army, responsible for stationing near the Yellow River to prevent japanese troops from attacking.
At the same time, the organization also asked He Jinnian to be responsible for the work of suppressing bandits in the Sanjiang area, and since then He Jinnian has had an indissoluble relationship with the bandits.
However, He Jinnian only handled the suppression of bandits as an extra task to "handily", and the biggest difficulty facing He Jinnian at that time was not bandits, but the supply of the base areas.
Because of the continuous strengthening of the Japanese army's invasion of China, the living security of the people in the base areas has been seriously threatened, and even some localities have already experienced a situation of "grain shortage." In order to ensure the normal operation of the base areas, the central authorities have launched a vigorous large-scale production movement in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia base areas.
Although He Jinnian had also worked in regional production before, the situation he was facing now was not optimistic. He needed to guard against the Japanese attack while also fighting against the harassment of bandits in the base areas and then resuming and developing production, so at that time, He Jinnian was facing an extremely difficult task.
However, this did not make He Jinnian think of retreating, and he first mobilized the masses to resume production while laying out a tight defensive line around the Yellow River.
Through He Jinnian's precise deployment, the defense of the troops and the large-scale production movement have achieved very brilliant results, and He Jinnian has also become a "model worker hero" in the Eighth Route Army, and Chairman Mao personally wrote for him an award for "arduous struggle and indomitable perseverance."
After the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan, He Jinnian was sent to the northeast, and when he arrived in the northeast, He Jinnian saw the rampant bandits and prepared to attack them first. In a very short period of time, He Jinnian led his troops to wipe out all the four famous "stubborn bandits" in the northeast, including Xie Wendong, who had been entrenched for many years.
In the icy and snowy northeast forest, He Jinnian chased the bandits by means of guerrilla warfare, and the bandits chased He Jinnian all the way behind him, and during the suppression of the bandits, he Jinnian's crotch was tired of two horses, and even when he was seriously ill, He Jinnian lay on a stretcher and had to go to the front line to command the battle. It was this style of fighting and not killing people that made the bandits in the northeast all look at the wind when they heard He Jinnian's name.
Some time ago, the popular "Lin Hai Snow Field" on TV stations was created on the basis of He Jinnian's banditry, and the protagonist of the play, Yang Zirong, was the reconnaissance platoon leader under He Jinnian, and the mountain sculpture was Zhang Leshan, who was captured alive by He Jinnian. Since then, in addition to being called a "model worker hero", He Jinnian has added a nickname of "bandit suppression expert".
After the liquidation of the bandits, He Jinnian participated in the battle against the Kuomintang army with Dongye.
He Jinnian participated in the fierce battles that broke out in the northeast battlefield, such as the Battle of Siping and the Battle of Jinzhou. At the beginning of the Liaoshen Campaign, the eleventh column led by He Jinnian held its position in the face of the attack of the enemy's three divisions, and successfully completed the task of ensuring the main force to attack Jinzhou.
Moreover, when fighting in Jiangxi, his troops set a brilliant record of a rapid liberation of twenty-two counties and towns, with a loss of less than a thousand people and more than 20,000 enemies.
He Jinnian was also constantly promoted in battle, from the commander of the eleventh column to the deputy commander of the fifteenth corps, and became one of the tiger generals of the four wilds at that time with his own strength.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, He Jinnian was transferred to the Northeast Military Region as deputy commander and commander of the armored forces, during which time He Jinnian created the first cavalry column of our army, and was also responsible for the research and development and production of China's first tank.
After the outbreak of the Korean War, the Northeast Military Region, which was at the forefront of the war, He Jinnian remained vigilant at all times. It not only maintained the production and delivery of supplies for the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, but also organized air defense units on the Sino-DPRK border to deal with the unbridled bombing of the US military. It was precisely under the intense protection of He Jinnian and his comrades-in-arms that the volunteer army to resist US aggression and aid Korea had no worries.
After the end of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the title that had been delayed was once again put on the agenda by the party Central Committee. The Party Central Committee has also made very adequate preparations for this ceremony of great significance.
According to the requirements of the central authorities, there are roughly three important criteria for the evaluation of titles, the first is revolutionary qualifications; second, military merit; and finally whether it has left the army. In addition to these three points, consider the general's daily moral code.
Although the Party Central Committee has clear requirements for this title, in the actual awarding of titles, due to the huge workload and some historical situations are not clearly described, there has been a low award of different military ranks for the same position. According to He Jinnian's military experience and contribution to the country, there is no problem in awarding major generals.
For example, Wang Ping, the political commissar who was with him in the Red Twenty-Seventh Army, was awarded the rank of major general when he was awarded the title, several years later than himself, and his younger brother He Jixiang, who was only a division commander in 1952, was also awarded the rank of major general. However, when the result of the award was preliminarily decided, He Jinnian was only awarded the rank of colonel.
Moreover, at that time, only Yan Hongyan was awarded the rank of general when the entire Northern Shaanxi Red Army was awarded the title, and other Northern Shaanxi Red Army generals such as Xu Haidong, the representative of the Shaanxi Red Army, were only the rank of generals. At the time of the awarding of the title, Yan Hongyan, as the vice governor of Sichuan Province, was not in the army, and according to the requirements, he could not participate in the awarding of the title. However, in the end, because he was a Red Army in northern Shaanxi, he was urgently transferred back to the army and awarded the rank of general as the second political commissar of the Chengdu Military Region.
If it is said that the Shaanxi Red Army as a whole was under-awarded, it was because of the huge sacrifices made during the revolutionary period, resulting in many leaders of the Shaanxi Red Army having already died after the founding of the People's Republic of China. He Jinnian was also awarded the rank of colonel for various reasons.
This made He Long, who had worked with He Jinnian for many years in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, look down on it, and after he first found Mr. Peng to explain the origin of the matter, Mr. Peng also thought it was inappropriate, but because he was not responsible for the work of awarding titles and evaluations. So he found Zhu De again, hoping to raise He Jinnian's rank again. After Zhu De saw He Jinnian's situation, his brows tightened, and finally the three marshals decided to go to Chairman Mao to discuss countermeasures.
So there was the scene at the beginning of the article, and Mao Zedong immediately made a decision: "The seniority is comparable to that of a major general, and I must be awarded a major general." ”
In the end, He Jinnian was awarded the rank of major general, and the number of generals originally reserved for the Red Army in northern Shaanxi was finally awarded to Yan Hongyan, who was urgently transferred back to the army. In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, deputy commanders in the same position as He Jinnian were basically awarded the rank of general.
However, He Jinnian's son He Yi was awarded the rank of major general when he was awarded the title in 1989, and since then there has been a good story of "one door and two generals".
After graduating from the Military Academy in 1957, He Jinnian was appointed deputy commander of the Armored Corps. In this position, due to the social form of the time, He Jinnian did not develop much, and he worked in the post of deputy commander for more than twenty years before retiring.
At the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, He Jinnian also began to enjoy the treatment of the rank of general in his later years.
In his later years, He Jinnian has been immersed in the creation of memoirs, and after his retirement, he wrote a book based on his own personal experience, "The Record of Bandits in the Deep Mountains", which introduced He Jinnian's experience of bandits in the northeast and also had a very objective account of the difficult conditions of struggle at that time.
After completing his memoirs, He Jinnian, who was already in his seventies, raised his brush to cultivate his interest in drawing ink painting. Among the many paintings, He Jinnian painted bamboo is the best, and the bamboo he paints seems to be a portrayal of He Jinnian's life, towering and upright with an indomitable artistic conception. Because of this, the bamboo painted by He Jinnian is also affectionately known as "General Bamboo".
However, these hobbies did not affect He Jinnian's concern for the country at all times, he used his savings of more than 100,000 yuan to create an education fund for poor students in Yan'an, and was also hired by the China Ordnance Engineering Society as the general adviser to put forward his most pertinent suggestions for the development of the country.
On May 11, 2003, He Jinnian died in Beijing at the age of ninety-three. After his death, CCTV issued a rare obituary. According to the previous management, among the many late founding major generals, except for Deng Zhaoxiang, who served as vice chairman of the CPPCC and major general who served as a national leader, there were no obituarys. Only veteran generals above the founding lieutenant general will publish obituaries on news broadcasts after their deaths.
In the obituary released by the news network, He Jinnian made an extremely important evaluation of his life.
The specifications of he Jinnian's memorial service have also been raised, which is also the central government's affirmation of He Jinnian's lifelong revolution.
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