Before the first big award, about which general will be awarded what kind of rank, various versions and news have long been overwhelming, most generals already know in their hearts what rank they will be awarded, this process is like you waiting for the college entrance examination results, the result will definitely be a few joys and a few sorrows!
General He Jinnian's military uniform
But there was a person who chose silence after knowing his rank, he did not openly think that his rank was low like other generals, and he was also very aggrieved in his heart, but he also gladly accepted, in his eyes this bit of fame and fortune has long been very open, this person is He Jinnian, one of the founders of the Red Army in northern Shaanxi, and also served as the first deputy commander of the Northeast Field Army!
The ceremony of officially conferring the title had not yet been held, and some old comrades-in-arms had come to tell He Jinnian that his military rank was colonel, and this news did surprise He Jinnian at first, but he thought about it and felt that it was not so difficult to accept, He Jinnian thought in his heart: "The colonel is the colonel!" Where is it not work? ”
The news that He Jinnian had been rated as a colonel soon spread throughout the army, and most people were shocked, and Liu Yalou, who had worked with He Jinnian for many years, said directly to the people around him: "If I can be rated as a general, then He Jinnian should also be a general, he is my old chief!" ”
Liu Yalou's words were not wrong at all; when Liu Yalou was the chief of staff of the Northeast Field Army, He Jinnian was already the deputy commander of the Northeast Field Army, and he was also the first deputy commander.
Leaving aside Liu Yalou's generals, because Liu Yalou's position as chief of staff of the field army is indeed not low! As a famous general, Many of the generals who had been under He Jinnian in Shino were much higher in the rank of his colonel in this rank.
For example, Han Xianchu, who served as the commander of the column, was awarded the rank of general, Wang Ping, the political commissar of the column, was also a general, and Zhong Wei, who became the commander of the column at the latest in time, was at least awarded the major general; of course, the vast majority of people thought that Zhong Wei's rank was also low, and it was most appropriate to give Zhong Wei a lieutenant general, and Chairman Mao also knew this at that time, so he later let Zhong Wei serve as the chief of staff of the Beijing Military Region, which is a typical low-ranking high-ranking post, which is a big compensation for Zhong Wei.
He Jinnian saw that his old subordinates were all higher than himself, and it was certainly difficult for him to accept such a result in his heart, but as far as his character was concerned, he knew the serious relationship between them, so he couldn't bear it, and when He Jinnian's military rank was designated as a colonel, Chairman Mao did not know it!
Photographs of General He Jinnian in his later years
So why did the Central Military Commission give He Jinnian the rank of colonel? It's all about one person, and that's Gao Gang, and there's a series of stories in it.
People who are familiar with history know that Gao Gang was elected vice president of the state after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and along the way, Chairman Mao trusted him very much, and without Chairman Mao's vigorous training, he would not have made later achievements, but Gao Gang betrayed Chairman Mao's trust.
Anyway, He Jinnian had been partnered with Gao Gang for many years, the two had a good relationship, and He Jinnian was able to serve as the first deputy commander of Siye, which was also recommended by Gao Gang that year, this time He Jinnian was only rated as a colonel because he was implicated in his affairs, but later according to the results of the party Central Committee's investigation, He Jinnian was innocent.
Many people have mentioned that He Jinnian's military achievements and qualifications can really be rated as a general? On this issue, we can briefly sort out, first look at the criteria for the appointment of the admiral in 1955!
In January 1955, the Central Military Commission issued a document called the "Instruction on the Work of Assessing Military Ranks", which stipulates that "cadres' current positions are measured by virtue and ability", with reference to the establishment of military ranks, and the military rank of cadres is mainly based on the assessment of military ranks. The ranks of generals in this document can be summarized as follows: 1. Generals who led their troops to participate in important armed uprisings, such as the Nanchang Uprising, the Pingjiang Uprising, the Jute Uprising, and so on. 2. Generals who have created major armies and revolutionary base areas in their revolutionary careers, such as Lü Zhengchao's founding of the Jizhong Anti-Japanese Base Area, Xu Haidong's creation of the Legion, and so on. 3. During the Red Army period, he served as a division commander or a divisional political commissar or above, for example, Xu Shiyou served as a division commander during the Red Army period, and later achieved the position of corps commander. 4. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, generals who held the position of regimental commander or above, such as Chen Xilian, first served as the regimental commander of the 129th Division, and later promoted to the position of brigade commander of the 385th Brigade, and Yang Dezhi, Yang Chengwu, and Yang Yong all served as regimental commanders in the 115th Division. 5. A general who served as the main person in charge of military or political work in the units above the column level during the Liberation War, that is to say, during this period, your position is at least that of the column commander or political commissar, and you have the basic qualifications for general. 6. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, generals who still held important posts in major military regions in the army are a hard standard, that is to say, if you are no longer in the army before the appraisal, no matter how much merit you have done before, you will not participate in this appraisal, there are many people who failed to evaluate the title under this criterion, such as: Geng Biao, who was already working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at that time, and Li Jukui, who worked at the local level, but Li Jukui was transferred back to the army in 1958, and Chairman Mao specially awarded him the rank of general.
These six criteria are absolutely hard rules, you can open the resumes of 55 founding generals, compare any of them, they all meet, then compare He Jinnian's resume, let's see if he is eligible to be awarded as a general.
Group photo of He Jinnian (left) and his comrades-in-arms
The first criterion, He Jinnian led the Watergate Rebellion in 1933, it is obvious that this criterion He Jinnian is fully compliant, and before He Jinnian participated in the military movement work for many years, many of the participants in the major uprisings were recruited by He Jinnian.
In 1934, Liu Zhidan, Yan Hongyan, He Jinnian and others founded the General Headquarters of the Northern Shaanxi Guerrilla Army, Liu Zhidan was the main leader, he Jinnian served as the chief of staff of this unit, and later after the heroic sacrifice of General Liu Zhidan, Yan Hongyan and He Jinnian became the only remaining representative figures of the Red Army in northern Shaanxi, and this unit was also the predecessor of the later Red 27 Army.
Of course, there is also a theory that Xu Haidong is also a representative of the Red Army in northern Shaanxi, which is indeed true, but General Xu Haidong, as one of Chairman Mao's most trusted people, served as a military commander in the Red Army in northern Shaanxi (he served as the commander of the Red 25th Army) and also served as a deputy commander of the Red Fourth Front, and the commander-in-chief at that time was Xu Xiangqian, so Xu Haidong could be both a representative of the Red Fourth Front and a representative of the Red Army in northern Shaanxi.
According to the third criterion, He Jinnian served as the commander of the 81st Division of the Red 15th Army as early as 1935, and successively participated in the Battle of Zhiluo Town and the Battle of the Eastern Crusade, and in 1936, He Jinnian was also promoted to the position of commander of the Red 27 Army of the old unit, which is very similar to Xu Shiyou.
Fourth criterion, after the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, He Jinnian served as the commander of the first regiment of the Left Guard Corps, and in 1939 he was transferred to the Third Frontier Army Sub-Military Region as a commander, which was equivalent to the position of brigade commander in the three main divisions of the Eighth Route Army.
In addition, to briefly explain the remaining garrison corps, this unit was a unit left in Yan'an during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and the commander was xiao Jinguang, the first commander of the navy, who was stationed on the front line in Yan'an, mainly to prevent the Japanese army from crossing the Yellow River, and the most direct task was to protect the safety of Chairman Mao's Party Central Committee.
Fifth criterion, during the Liberation War, He Jinnian's resume was very rich, he successively served as the commander of the column, the commander of the Forty-eighth Army, and the deputy commander of the Northeast Field Army, and at the same time he led his troops to participate in the command of the Liaoshen Campaign and the Pingjin Campaign, and his merits were also great.
According to the sixth criterion, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, He Jinnian still held the post of deputy commander of the Northeast Field Army in the early days, and soon after he also concurrently served as the commander of the armored corps of the Northeast Military Region and the commander of the air force, such a resume is enough to prove that He Jinnian still held an important position in the main post of the great military region after the founding of the Country.
Judging from the comparison of the whole standard, He Jinnian was absolutely qualified to be rated as a general, and therefore his appointment as a colonel attracted the attention of three marshals, the first to "fight uneven" for He Jinnian was Marshal He Long, Marshal He Long and He Jinnian worked together for many years, and even his ability and conduct, so Marshal He Long openly believed that He Jinnian should not be given such a low military rank.
Photograph of Marshal He Long
Soon after, He Long went to visit Marshal Peng Dehuai, and the two marshals discussed together about He Jinnian being only rated as a colonel, and Peng Dehuai, who had always been upright, also thought that this matter was unfair, and it was said that he also scolded his mother in front of He Long.
Peng Dehuai was very clever, and he felt that he and He Long were not enough to make the Central Military Commission change anything, so he suggested that this matter be told to Commander-in-Chief Zhu De, Zhu De and He Jinnian knew each other earlier, Zhu De often ran in Shanxi and Yan'an when he was the commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army, and He Jinnian often reported to Zhu De when he was the commander of the first regiment of the Left Behind Army in Yan'an, so Zhu De knew him very well.
When Zhu De heard about this, he felt the need to let Chairman Mao know in advance of this decision of the Central Military Commission; Zhu De knew Chairman Mao very well, and he was sure that Chairman Mao certainly did not know that He Jinnian had only been rated as a colonel.
The situation was indeed as Commander-in-Chief Zhu De had expected, and when he, He Long, and Peng Dehuai reported the matter to Chairman Mao, Chairman Mao was also shocked, and he was silent for a while and said: "Lai Chuanzhu what happened to them?" How could He Jinnian's military rank be so low? ”
The reason why Chairman Mao said this is that Lai Chuanzhu was mainly responsible for the evaluation of titles by the Central Military Commission at that time. Then Chairman Mao and the three marshals said, "I see that He Jinnian, whether he is at fault or not, how can he become a general?" Award him Major General! ”
When the three marshals heard this, they all looked at each other and finally praised Chairman Mao's very wise approach, under the circumstances at that time, He Jinnian was implicated by Gao Gang, and if he was also awarded the title of general, it would inevitably cause many other generals to be dissatisfied, but it was really impossible to just award He Jinnian such a meritorious general and colonel, so under Chairman Mao's special care, He Jinnian was finally awarded the rank of major general.
A group photo of Zhu De, He Long and Chairman Mao
Soon after, He Jinnian knew that his military rank had been changed from colonel to major general, and after inquiring about the ins and outs of this matter, he felt a thousand emotions in his heart, and with tears in his eyes, he said to the people around him: "I am really ashamed that the three old chiefs love me so much!" My personal matter this time made Chairman Mao embarrassed! Chairman Mao still trusted me so much, and I was satisfied! ”
Here I have to say that Chairman Mao's work is really extremely fair, his old man is super first-class in terms of character and vision, and this time his approach has been recognized by everyone in the military, and everyone believes that Chairman Mao's handling method is absolutely fair and just.
The good names of Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, and He Long, who loved their subordinates, also quickly spread, and although many of He Jinnian's old subordinates eventually had higher military ranks than him, people like Han Xianchu, Hong Xuezhi, and Wang Ping showed absolute respect for him when they saw He Jinnian or the following subordinates, which showed that He Jinnian's character and ability were recognized by everyone.