In 1955, the central government decided to hold a ceremony to honor those who had made meritorious contributions. It is reasonable to say that it should be easy to evaluate the rank according to the size of the military merit, but there is one person who makes Luo Ronghuan, who is carrying out the evaluation work, and does not know what rank should be awarded to him. This person was Liu Ziqi, who had become a division commander in his second year of joining the Red Army, and had been transferred everywhere for 20 years, but he had not been promoted to a higher level.
Liu Ziqi
However, during the period of the agrarian revolution, the period of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and the period of the War of Liberation, Liu Ziqi, whether it was marching to fight, political work, or regional guarding, all the work he did was extremely outstanding, and he made great contributions to new China. So the question is, why is Liu Ziqi's promotion so slow? Why is Luo Ronghuan so entangled in his evaluation?
Liu Ziqi was born in 1900 in Liaojiawan Village, Gugang District, Liuyang County, Hunan Province. His family was poor and was an authentic farmer. Liu Ziqi has been sensible and considerate of his parents since he was a child, and he lost his father at an early age, and he left home at the age of 8 to become an apprentice to reduce the burden on the family. As he grew older, he felt that there was no future and no end to his apprenticeship, so at the age of 15 he went to work as a weaving worker, learning advanced techniques in order to seek a place in society in the future.
In 1926, the Northern Expeditionary Army was stationed in Liuyang County, and by the way, it expanded its strength. The 26-year-old Liu Ziqi followed the pace of the Northern Expeditionary Army and joined the peasant movement they organized. In this movement, Liu Ziqi, who was a young man, found the direction of his life and saw a glimmer of light under the dim and lightless sky. He knew very well that the fate of the whole country fell on the young generation, and only by throwing himself into the revolution could he save the people, change the people's poor life, and find a way out. Believing that he was duty-bound to make his own contribution to this great cause, he chose to join the Communist Party of China in 1927 and began his career as a horseman.
After the Departure of the Northern Expeditionary Army, Liu Ziqi joined the Liuyang guerrillas. In the guerrillas began to show their skills and participate in guerrilla battles. Liu Ziqi is extremely talented in conducting and has made many meritorious achievements. In April 1928, he became the leader of the guerrilla group and the secretary of the branch. The following year, he was promoted to the fourth commander of the Liuyang Peasant Self-Defense Army, which was enough to show that his military command ability was very good.
In 1930, the unit he commanded was reorganized into the Second Liuyang Division of the Hunan Self-Defense Army, and because of Liu Ziqi's outstanding work ability, coupled with the fact that he had been leading this unit, the situation in all aspects was very familiar, so he served as the commander of the Second Division. It has to be said that in the first few years of his participation in the revolution, his road to promotion was very fast, and the starting point was very high.
In July 1930, the Red Third Army attacked Changsha, liu ziqi also led the liuyang second division to participate in the battle, played an important role, and then Liu ziqi led the troops to follow the red army. Liu Ziqi witnessed the process of the Changsha Campaign and worked with the Red Army, he saw the command ability and military quality of other generals, and deeply realized his own shortcomings. So he took the initiative to resign from the division commander and asked to enter the Red Army Camp School to study, make up for his shortcomings, and also exercise his ability.
After graduating from the camp school, he first served as the regimental commander and political commissar of the Thirteenth Regiment of the Jiangxi Independent Fifth Division, and then as the commander of the Second Military Subdistrict in the Xianggan region. After studying, he has improved his abilities in all aspects. In 1933, he became the commander of the Third Division of the Xianggan Military Region. However, the following year, he was transferred to the 53rd Regiment of the Eighteenth Division of the Xianggan Military Region as a regimental commander.
From the division commander to the regimental commander, it may be difficult to accept a change of person. However, Liu Ziqi himself did not care about the level of his position, he only hoped to learn more knowledge, be able to win more battles in the revolutionary cause and military career, and better fulfill the ideals in his heart. Otherwise, he would not have resigned from the position of teacher before and wanted to further his studies in school. Liu Ziqi is a persistent person, and what he wants is to improve his ability and better help the great cause to be completed. This is also something missing in contemporary society, calm down to precipitate yourself, and what you ask for will take the initiative to find.
University of the Red Army
Later, Liu Ziqi led the Fifty Regiments to participate in the second and third anti-"encirclement and suppression" struggles in the Soviet areas of the CPC. In the anti-"encirclement and suppression" battles, he performed well and made many military achievements. In April 1935, he became chief of staff and acting commander of the 18th Division of the Red Sixth Army, and in October of the same year he was transferred to the deputy chief of staff of the 16th Division. He then led his troops to establish the Xiang'echuanqian revolutionary base area, worked in the area and participated in the arduous 25,000-mile long march to Gansu to complete the meeting. After the end of the Long March, Liu Ziqi led his troops to Yan'an, and he once again chose to enter the Then Red Army University for further study and further study, and continued to strengthen his ability.
We can see that Liu Ziqi changed frequently in his work in the short period of six years from graduating from school to before the War of Resistance Against Japan, but he resolutely obeyed the party's orders and arrangements, went wherever he needed it, had no opinion, and devoted himself to the party and the people, dedicated his green years to the revolution, and had no complaints or regrets.
Lugou Bridge Incident
Time flies and history rolls forward. On July 7, 1937, the Lugou Bridge Incident broke out in an all-round way, and the anti-Japanese united front of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party was immediately established. In that year, the Red Army changed its name to the "Eighth Route Army", all ranks were downgraded to one level, and all units were integrated. In August of the same year, Liu Ziqi served as chief of staff of the 359th Brigade of the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army.
In 1938, Lü Zhengcao, who had broken away from the Kuomintang, led his subordinates to unite with the guerrillas in Hebei to form the Eighth Route Army and the Jizhong Military Region, and Liu Ziqi was arranged to serve as the deputy commander of the Fourth Military Subdistrict of the Jizhong Military Region. He led the military and civilians in Hebei to successfully repel the five major "sweeps" of the Japanese army. In 1940, he successively served as the deputy commander of the Fourth Military Subdistrict and the Ninth Military Subdistrict of the Jizhong Military Region, and in the same year led the troops to participate in the Battle of the Hundred Regiments, achieving outstanding combat achievements and receiving commendations from his superiors.
In 1942, Liu Ziqi chose to continue his studies and entered the first department of the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. At the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, in April 1945, he was elected as a deputy to the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and in June he was sent to the Second Military Subdistrict of the Jinsui Military Region as commander.
When the time came to the period of the Liberation War, the organization realized the importance of the northeast region, so immediately after the victory of the War of Resistance, Liu Ziqi was arranged to lead the troops and rush to the northeast region to be stationed. During the entire period of the Liberation War, Liu Ziqi did not go to the battlefield head-on, and has always presided over the work of suppressing bandits in the northeast region.
After the end of the Liberation War, Liu Ziqi went to the 165th Division of the Fourth Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army as a division commander. Up to this point, there have been more than 20 years in the middle, Liu Ziqi has been running around non-stop, he was already a division commander when he joined the Red Army, and he was still a division commander until the end of the revolution, and his position has not changed much.
Part of the reason is also liu ziqi himself, he always feels that he is not good enough, as soon as he has the opportunity to resign to study, strengthen his ability in all aspects. He has always been uncompelled and devoted to enriching himself, but he has also missed many opportunities. During the War of Resistance, he did not make the most of his abilities. He once briefly showed himself, which made people see a lot of shining points, but compared with other people's outstanding battle achievements, it was still a little worse. Compared with other people's resumes, Liu Ziqi is not particularly outstanding, not because of his personal ability, but because he does not have the opportunity to show and show his talents.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, he went to the Chenzhou Military Subdistrict of the Hunan Military Region as a commander in November. In 1951, the organization arranged for him to serve as chief of staff of the Hunan Military Region. In July 1952, he was appointed deputy commander of the Guangdong Military Region, which did not change until his retirement.
At this time, we can understand why Luo Ronghuan is embarrassed when awarding Liu Ziqi a title. We can see that although Liu Ziqi had a lot of seniority during the Red Army period, he did not perform very well during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and was already one step behind. Even during the Liberation War, Liu Ziqi did every job very well, but others still directly threw him away, and the rising stars in the major battles sprung up like mushrooms, and everyone was brilliant in battle.
Luo Ronghuan
Luo Ronghuan would be embarrassed because, according to Liu Ziqi's seniority, it was not too much to be awarded the rank of lieutenant general. However, according to the military merits, Liu Ziqi has made a lot of military achievements, but there are no very famous military achievements, and compared with those generals who have repeatedly made extraordinary achievements, it is indeed a little insufficient, and the position he held at this time is not enough to award the rank of lieutenant general. So Luo Ronghuan and the organization decided to award him the rank of major general, but Luo Ronghuan was a little embarrassed. Most of Liu Ziqi's old subordinates were major generals or lieutenant generals or even admirals, and Luo Ronghuan felt that conferring the rank of major general on Liu Ziqi was somewhat unreasonable, and would it make the old comrades have opinions in their hearts?
Fortunately, at that time, Luo Ronghuan and Liu Ziqi had studied together, and the relationship between the two was relatively good. Luo Ronghuan went to talk to Liu Ziqi about this matter, hoping not to leave a knot in Liu Ziqi's heart. And Liu Ziqi himself is not a person who covets fame and fortune, otherwise he would not have been transferred everywhere and stayed in the position of division commander for more than 20 years.
Liu Ziqi told Luo Ronghuan that no matter what kind of military rank he was awarded, he would accept it, and everything was easy to say. Liu Ziqi became the founding major general of the People's Republic of China, but at the same time he also received three first-class medals: the August 1st Medal, the First Class Independence Freedom Medal, and the First Class Liberation Medal. It is rare for people to receive three medals at the same time, which is also an affirmation of Liu Ziqi's contributions and sacrifices in the revolutionary cause.
What is outside the body does not represent a person's merits, nor does it prove a person's ability. Those things that really exist and are experienced are not something that can be replaced by one thing. Liu Ziqi used his adherence to ideals and his lacklustre of fame and fortune to let us see the efforts of the ancestors who were willing to sacrifice for the revolutionary cause in those bloody years, and it was the efforts of the predecessors that established such a brand-new China and had such a beautiful life today. Although the military rank is not high, liu Ziqi's credit is obvious to everyone!