Li Yunlong, Ding Wei and Kong Jie, the "Iron Triangle" in the northwest of Jin, are good brothers in the TV series "Bright Sword", and they are also fierce generals who can fight in battle. There is an interesting detail at the end of the TV series: after receiving military education at the Nanjing Military Academy, three famous generals received the rank of founding major general. For ordinary generals, this is a special honor, but the three people in the play seem to be very dissatisfied, believing that their merits and seniority exceed the standards of major generals, should be awarded to lieutenant generals, and even feel very depressed, making trouble in the military academy and being criticized by Liu Shuai. Regarding the ranks, are the three of them really wronged?
Friends who do not know military history may think that the battlefield performance of the three of them is indeed very strong (of course, they are all virtual characters), and if they are evaluated, it will be reasonable. But in fact, in 1955, the most important evaluation criterion is not specific combat achievements, but to combine the seniority and performance of the entire military career, there are some hardware conditions are still very card. One of the most important ones is the result of the cadre grading in 1952. That is to say, the cadres who are assigned the rank three years before the official award have a great impact on the rank, and for most people, the result of the appraisal is basically locked in 1952. The three people in "Bright Sword" were all regular military cadres when they were graded in 1952.
At that time, the general cadre management department of the People's Liberation Army was in charge of the appraisal work, Luo Shuai was also the minister, and there were lai chuanzhu and Xu Liqing and other subordinates. In the course of the development of the people's army, these three men were all highly qualified cadres who were familiar with the overall situation of the troops and generals. After sorting out and screening complex and strict data, the General Cadre Management Department has a very clear basis for the screening and evaluation of generals at all levels, and there are few omissions.
In 1952, those who were ranked as regular soldiers could be awarded either major generals or lieutenant generals according to the 55-year appraisal rules, but major generals should account for the majority. Therefore, as a military-level cadre in 1952, the Iron Triangle of the Northwest Jin Dynasty was rated as a major general, which is theoretically a high-probability event, and from this point of view, the three of them are not wronged. The reason for the blatant disturbance is because of personal emotions and patterns. After Liu Shuai's harsh criticism and education, they also accepted the rank of major general and no longer made trouble.
But from a practical point of view, the three of them seem more reasonable to be rated as lieutenant generals. Why? Although most of the cadres at the regular military level were awarded major generals when they were evaluated that year, this "majority" was not obvious in the actual evaluation process: 107 cadres at the regular military level were rated as major generals and 96 were rated as lieutenant generals, that is to say, basically half to half. In this case, when evaluating lieutenant generals, it is more necessary to consider military cadres, and the iron triangle should have an advantage. For example, Commissar Zhao Gang, who only joined the party in 1937 and joined the army late, is also a military-level cadre, and it is reasonable to be rated as a major general, because his initial qualifications are limited and he does not have a resume in the Red Army.
Li Yunlong and others are different, he participated in the Nanma Rebellion and the Red Army when he was the regimental commander, and Ding Wei was even the commander of the column during the Northeast Field Army period, if you want to judge by half and half, even if Li Yunlong is rated as a lieutenant general, no one can pick out the faults, which may be the main reason why the three people are dissatisfied with the results of the appraisal. Just as Li Yunlong said: "Cheng Blind" who is not as senior as him has been rated as a lieutenant general, so why can't he be old Li?
Of course, there is another detail in this, although Commander Cheng enlisted later than Li Yunlong, he was the commander of the 772nd Regiment and the regular main force of the Eighth Route Army during the War of Resistance, while the Independent Regiment was later expanded and started as a local armed force. In terms of status and real strength, it was inferior to the 772 regiment. The gold content of his regimental commander is actually not higher than that of Cheng Regimental Commander, and it was also reflected in the 55-year appraisal.