During the Liberation War, the People's Army had a total of 19 corps commanders, of which Dong Qiwu, Chen Mingren, and Tao Zhiyue were rebel generals. Although these three were originally generals of the Nationalist Army, they also made certain contributions to the cause of liberation, so in 1955 they were also awarded the rank of general. However, among the 19 corps commanders, three other corps commanders with outstanding military achievements were awarded the rank of general. They were Xu Guangda, commander of the Second Corps, Chen Geng, commander of the Fourth Corps, and Xiao Jinguang, commander of the 12th Corps.
Perhaps everyone is familiar with these three generals, Xu Guangda was a famous general of the First Field Army during the Liberation War, and made outstanding contributions to the liberation of the Great Northwest Region. At the same time, he is also the commander of China's armored forces, and in the field of armored forces, General Xu Guangda has set a precedent for our army. Needless to say, General Chen Geng is famous all over the world, and he has made great contributions to the cause of liberation. At the same time, after the founding of New China, he founded the Kazakh military industry and made great contributions to cultivating scientific and technological military talents and building national defense. General Xiao Jinguang was also a general capable of both military and political affairs, and played an important role in the northeast battlefield during the Liberation War years. At the same time, he is also the commander of the Navy and has made indelible contributions to the development of the cause of our Navy.
Xiao Jinguang
General Xu Guangda has made outstanding contributions to the cause of armored forces, General Chen Geng has made tremendous contributions to the construction of national defense science and technology, and General Xiao Jinguang has made outstanding contributions to the cause of the Navy. It can be seen that the three generals were all meritorious generals during the liberation war years, and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the three generals made indelible contributions to the construction of national defense.
Among the 19 corps commanders, in addition to these three corps commanders who are ranked as generals, there is actually a corps commander who can also be awarded the rank of general in terms of seniority and combat merit.
He was the Commander of the First Field Army, General Wang Zhen. Why is it that General Wang Zhen can also be awarded the rank of Great General? Let's first look at the positions he held in three different periods during the war years, and you can see clearly.
General Wang Zhen
During the Red Army period, General Wang Zhen was the political commissar of the Red Sixth Army, and one of the most important generals of the Red Second Front, belonging to the generals at the regimental level. It should be known that Chen Geng and Xiao Jinguang, who were awarded the rank of general among the 19 corps commanders, held positions similar to those of General Wang Zhen during the Red Army period, while Xu Guangda belonged to the division level of generals and lacked the experience of the Long March.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, General Wang Zhen belonged to the rank of brigade commander and served as deputy brigade commander and brigade commander of the 359th Brigade of the 120th Division. Chen Geng, who was awarded the rank of grand general, was also a general at the brigade commander level (brigade commander of the 386th Brigade), and Xu Guangda was the commander of the Independent 2nd Brigade of the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and also a general at the level of brigade commander. Xiao Jinguang was initially the commander of the Eighth Route Army's Left Behind Corps, and later served as the deputy commander of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia-Jinsui Joint Defense Army. Judging from the positions of the four generals, they were all similar during the War of Resistance.
During the Liberation War, General Wang Zhen was the commander of the 2nd Column of the Northwest Field Army and the commander of the First Corps. General Xu Guang was the commander of the Third Column of the Northwest Field Army and the commander of the Second Corps. General Chen Geng was the commander of the Fourth Column of the Central Plains Field Army and the commander of the Fourth Corps. Xiao Jinguang is the deputy commander of the Northeast Democratic United Army, the commander of the First Corps of the Northeast Field Army, and the commander of the 12th Corps of the Fourth Field Army. It is not difficult to see that during the liberation war, the positions of the four generals were not different.
Chen Geng,
Judging from the positions held by General Wang Zhen, he and Xu Guangda, Chen Geng and Xiao Jinguang, who were awarded the rank of great general, were indistinguishable from high or low, and their positions were similar. These three can be awarded the rank of great general, so Wang Zhen also met the criteria for awarding the rank of great general.
Looking at the battle achievements, Xiao Jinguang and Chen Geng were the main generals of the Fourth Field Army and the Second Field Army, respectively. Wang Zhen was also the main general of the First Army, and he made great achievements in the liberation of the Great Northwest, the annihilation of the Ma family army, and the heavy damage to Hu Zongnan's military group. At the same time, General Wang Zhen was also the first general to liberate Xinjiang.
If there is no quota for the rank of great general, General Wang Zhen will certainly be able to be awarded the rank of great general, after all, his seniority and military merit have reached the standard of awarding the rank of great general. Although he was not a major general, in his achievements after the founding of the People's Republic of China, General Wang Zhen surpassed the rank of general of individual major generals, and in his later years, he was promoted to the rank of deputy state.