On September 27, 1955, our army carried out the first big award, this time the title, age is a matter of concern to many people, among the 57 founding generals, Xiao Hua is the youngest, only 39 years old, among the ten marshals, Lin Biao is the youngest, 48 years old.
Looking at the magnificent revolutionary cause of our army, it is not difficult for us to find such a characteristic, and at many crucial historical moments, it was those young people who changed the course of history.
In 1921, the Communist Party of China was founded, and of the 13 deputies, their average age was only 28 years old, and Chairman Mao's year was their average age, 28 years old. In addition, during the agrarian revolution, there were a group of young people who created the history of our army, such as Lin Biao, who became the commander of the Red Fourth Army at the age of 23, and Xun Huaizhou, who became the commander of the Red Army at the age of 21.
We don't just have to sigh now, at that time, it was really the world of young people.
Chen Haisong joined the army at the age of 16, and at the age of 20, he became the commander of the Red Ninth Army, which can be described as an outstanding talent of the Red Fourth Front, in addition to him, the Red Fourth Front, there is also a young commander, his name is Cheng Shicai.
Cheng Shicai hubei Dawu people, born in 1912, when he was a teenager, due to his family poverty, Cheng Shicai suffered a lot, in 1930, Eyu Anhui Soviet District reorganized the Red First Army, 18-year-old Cheng Shicai, this year joined the Red First Army.
In 1931, Cheng Shicai was already a platoon leader because of his bravery in fighting, and after the establishment of the Red Fourth Front, Cheng Shicai dared to fight and fight, successively serving as a company political instructor, the secretary of the division party branch, and the political commissar of the Red 33 Regiment.
In 1932, due to the failure of the fourth anti-encirclement and suppression battle, the Red Fourth Front had to withdraw from the Eyu-Anhui Soviet Area and carry out a strategic transfer, and when it advanced westward, the enemy surrounded and suppressed our army in the Xinji area of Zaoyang, and the Red 11th Division was ordered to break through.
After the sacrifice of the 33rd regiment, Cheng Shicai concurrently served as the regimental commander, in the fierce battle with the enemy, he broke the enemy's encirclement circle with tenacity and perseverance, and he was already seriously wounded at this time, in the war, there was no time to rest, the Red Fourth Front broke the enemy's encirclement in Xinji.
In 1933, the enemy gathered more than 60,000 people to attack our army, and Cheng Shicai boldly suggested that the headquarters of the Red Fourth Front Army be sent to penetrate behind the enemy and annihilate 13 regiments of the enemy.
Commander-in-Chief Xu Xiangqian praised Cheng Shicai's bravery, saying: "Cheng Shicai, it is powerful, a regiment commander actually wants to eat the enemy's 13 regiments. ”
Xu Xiangqian adopted Cheng Shicai's suggestion and sent Cheng Shicai to lead 33 regiments to cut off the enemy's flank, and finally, after a fierce battle, all 13 regiments of the enemy were annihilated by our army.
In 1933, the Red 33rd Regiment was expanded into the Red 30th Army, with commander Yu Tianyun and political commissar Li Xiannian.
In the Red 30 Army, Cheng Shicai successively served as the commander of the 88th Division, the deputy commander of the 30th Army, and other positions, and in 1935, Cheng Shicai was already the acting commander of the Red 30th Army, and this year, he was only 23 years old.
In June, when the Central Red Army and the Red Fourth Front were meeting in Maogong, Sichuan, Chairman Mao paid special attention to Cheng Shicai, and he said to Cheng Shicai: "Your commander is very young. ”
In October 1936, the three main forces of the Red Army met in northern Shaanxi, and soon after, the Central Military Commission formed the Western Route Army, and Cheng Shicai was still the commander of the Red 30th Army, and his partner was Li Xiannian.
When Cheng Shicai was a platoon leader, Li Xiannian was the political commissar of the regiment, and he was very impressed with Cheng Shicai, and he once spoke highly of Cheng Shicai: At that time, he was a platoon leader, only 19 years old, with a clear mind, a bold temperament, brave combat, and tigers and tigers.
Nowadays, Cheng Shicai has served as his partner, and Li Xiannian has not hesitated to praise Cheng Shicai: Shicai is not afraid in the face of a strong enemy and danger, and he is not afraid, and he will fight wherever his superior command goes, leading the troops to repeatedly fight with the superior enemy and fight bloody battles........ He was full of confidence in the revolutionary cause and powerfully infected the comrades.
Cheng Shicai had superb military command skills, but because the West Route Army had no supplies, no base area, and several times its own enemies, the West Route Army eventually suffered a crushing defeat in the Hexi Corridor, and in April 1937, Cheng Shicai and Li Xiannian returned to the party organization with a small number of people to break through the siege.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Cheng Shicai successively served as chief of staff and commander of the 12th detachment of the Jirecha Advancing Army, and deputy director of the fourth department of the Yan'an Central Party School.
After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in September 1945, the Central Committee made the strategic principle of "developing to the north and defending to the south", and immediately, the Central Committee mobilized many cadres to work in the northeast, including Cheng Shicai, who served as deputy commander of the Liaoning Southern Military Region during the Liberation War, commander of the 3rd Column of the Northeast Military Region, and commander of the South Manchuria Military Region.
He led his troops to participate in the Siping Defense War, the Xinkailing Campaign and other battles, the Xinkailing Campaign, Cheng Shicai commanded 3 columns, 4 columns completely annihilated the enemy a whole division, at that time as the deputy commander of the four columns, it was the later famous "whirlwind commander" Han Xianchu.
In August 1948, Cheng Shicai was appointed commander of the Andong Military District.
After the outbreak of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the central authorities decided to resist US aggression and aid Korea, and Cheng Shicai had hoped to participate in the battle, but the central authorities had other considerations, and Cheng Shicai also had a new post and was appointed as the first deputy commander of the public security army.
During his term of office, Cheng Shicai worked diligently and made great contributions to the construction and development of China's public security army.
In 1952, Li Mi, commander of the Kuomintang 8th Army, returned to Yunnan to establish a puppet regime, and Cheng Shicai personally sat on the front line to command, and three months later, Li Mibu fled Yunnan and went abroad.
In 1955, Cheng Shicai was awarded the rank of lieutenant general and three first-class medals, and this award may indeed be a low award for Cheng Shicai, who was the commander of the army during the Red Army period.
In this regard, Cheng Shicai had no complaints.
After that, he successively served as deputy commander of the Shenyang Military Region, deputy commander of the armored corps, and other positions, and worked in the armored corps for 23 years, until 1982, when he retired honorably.
In 1990, Cheng Shicai completed his legendary life at the age of 78.
It is worth mentioning that Li Xiannian, Cheng Shicai's partner when he was a military commander during the Red Army, was elected as a member of the Politburo Standing Committee in 1982, and in 1983, he was elected president of the republic and became a zhengguo.