A soldier who did not want to be a general was not a good soldier — Napoleon
In times of war, perhaps the initial goal of everyone who joins the army is not to become a general. They have a purer ideal – to defend their homeland. When the aggressor's artillery fire stained him with raging fire as far as he could see, and when the aggressor's deafening steps sounded in his ears, he thought in his heart that he had to do something for the motherland in which he lived.
Joining the army is the "shortcut" for him to achieve his ideals. After many wars, he understood that the contribution of just being an ordinary soldier was very limited, but the correct command of a commander could sometimes turn the tide of the war. He had seen too much on the battlefield and experienced too much, so he understood the importance of being a general, and he wanted to be this general.
Countless famous generals emerged in the War of Resistance Against Japan, because at that time there were countless battles of all sizes, one small battle in three days, and one battle in seven days. In war, merit is rewarded, and the more battles there are, the more opportunities everyone has to make meritorious contributions, and the ranks will naturally rise quickly.
Generally speaking, a person who can become a famous general has extraordinary abilities himself, and as long as there are no accidents and individuals do not make mistakes of principle, then his rank will certainly continue to rise.
But this is only a theory, but the reality is that there are always so many accidents. Among the "four wildernesses" of the People's Liberation Army was a famous general named Zeng Kelin, who was a commander when he first left the customs, but was later demoted several times. The others sighed, but he himself did not have any unwillingness, but on the contrary, he had a smile on his face and was very optimistic.
At first, it was the pinnacle
In 1913, Zeng Kelin was born in Qixin Village, Dongcun Township, Xingguo County, Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province. You know, the red cultural atmosphere in Jiangxi is quite strong. Nanchang, Ruijin, Jinggangshan, these well-known red cities are all in Jiangxi.
Zeng Kelin, who was born and raised in Jiangxi, was quite well informed of the news of the "revolution" because of the turmoil in the social situation. Because the family often could not afford to eat, Zeng Kelin heard that he had food to eat when he joined the Red Army, and he became a member of the red one with great excitement. At this point, he began his life of fighting horses.
After joining the Red Army, Zengklin was very active in all aspects. Work, study, talk, etc. are particularly active, so everyone has the impression of him as a lively and studious sixteen-year-old child.
It is this characteristic of Zeng Kelin that makes his popularity particularly good. Soon after, his performance attracted the attention of his superiors, and after a period of observation, the superiors approved of him and listed him as a key training object.
The advantage of being a key training object is that you can enter the University of the Red Army. This opportunity is very rare, and for Zeng Kelin it is an opportunity to be reborn. Originally diligent and studious, he was eager to absorb all kinds of knowledge in this school. As a result, before graduating, he was admitted to the Central Military Commission.
Although Zeng Kelin is not a carp leaping dragon gate, it is not much different.
Later, Zeng klin followed the Red Army through the Long March, during which time he served as the regimental chief of staff. Not long after the end of the Long March, the Japanese invaders shouted "three months to destroy China" and set foot on China's territory with great momentum. Because of the urgency of the war, there are often personnel changes in various units. Zeng Kelin was transferred to the Jidong Military Sub-district as a regimental commander because of the needs of combat.
However, because Zeng Kelin had studied at the Red Army University, his command ability was still much higher than that of ordinary people. After leading his troops to several major victories, his merits led him to the rank of chief of staff of the Eastern Military Subdistrict.
He was demoted one after another
For some time after this promotion, the troops led by Zeng Kelin developed better and better. Because it was a system of rewarding merit at that time, Zeng Kelin was unsurprisingly became the commander of the 3rd Column.
During this period, Zeng Kelin's power in the northeast was the most powerful, and basically the situation in the northeast depended on him to stabilize. A heavy burden weighed on him, and as the commander of the region, he had a lot to consider, and a heavy burden weighed on him.
In this way, as the days passed, although Zeng Kelin's performance as commander was not particularly outstanding, almost every mission was able to be completed stably.
In 1946, Zeng Kelin ushered in the first demotion in his life. Originally, his position was commander of the military sub-district, commander of the Shenyang Garrison Command, and then he was demoted to deputy commander of the military region.
However, although this time Zeng Klin was demoted, it did not have much impact on him. Because he was still in the original area, the prestige and contacts he had accumulated were still there, but the position was downgraded by a small level.
As long as he performed well in the following time, he still had a good chance of being transferred back to his original post. But to his surprise, or what no one expected, was that this demotion was only the first step in his future "demotion career".
Successive demotions are particularly rare in the military. The first person who can be demoted one after another must have had a high position, otherwise it would not be enough to be demoted. Secondly, this person will continue to make "small mistakes" so that he will not be dismissed, but will be demoted. Although Zeng Kelin was demoted, his experience made many people want to ask him for advice.
Served in the Air Force
Everyone knows that "the art industry has a specialty". If a chef is very proficient in Sichuan cuisine, but he can't cook a single Cantonese dish, would we say that he is an unqualified chef? No, we will only call him "Sichuan cuisine big cow". This principle is also applicable in the army, and the difference between the three branches of the army, sea, land and air is very large, even if it is between the same service.
After his demotion, Zeng Kelin spent time in the three branches of the army, sea, land and air. Commander of the Chariot Division of the Northeast Field Army, Brigade Commander of the Mixed Brigade of the Air Force, and Commander of naval aviation are all positions he has held.
During his tenure in the Air Force, Zeng klin became the oldest of the more than 400 people who participated in the training during the same period. But Zeng klin never cared about these external things, he only thought about whether he could learn things here.
Later, at the age of 38, he successfully graduated from the First Aviation School of the Air Force, and he not only learned to fly an airplane, but was also the only one of the people who had joined the Red Army to fly into the sky. This is because the Chinese Air Force was established relatively late, and almost all the people selected were young people who joined the army later.
In 1955, Zengklin was awarded the rank of Major General in the Air Force.
Possible reasons for demotion
So much time has passed, and it is difficult to say clearly why Zeng Kelin was demoted, and there is no exact written record. The only more reliable reason is that Zeng Kelin is not as capable as Han Xianchu in commanding operations.
When he was commander of the 3rd Column, the performance of the troops in the Battle of Anton was not satisfactory. In the later Battle of Xinkailing, he felt that he could not fight and prepared to retreat, and finally it was his deputy Han Xianchu and Hu Qicai of the 4th Column who fought to defeat Xinkailing.
When Sibao was near the river, he and Han Xianchu had a dispute over whether to fight the 20th Division or the 89th Division first. As a result, his superiors supported Han Xianchu in winning this battle. Several subsequent demotions felt that his command ability in large battles was insufficient. However, Zeng Kelin's ability in training troops is indeed not questioned, and it can only be said that his outstanding ability is not on the battlefield!
However, this is also everyone's speculation, and there may be some unknown reasons behind it.
brief summary:
Although Zeng Kelin was demoted many times, his figure penetrated the entire Chinese army. From the Red Army to the People's Liberation Army, from the Army to the Navy, he has made tremendous contributions to the construction of various units, which can never be erased.