In 1949, the superiors unified the columns under the former Northwest Field Army into two corps (three corps each). The columns under the central plains field army were unified into three corps (three corps per corps). The East China Field Army had a little more columns, and it was unified into four corps (each corps had four corps under its jurisdiction). The Northeast Field Army had 12 columns, so it was unified into four corps (each with three corps under its command). The field troops of the North China Military Region were uniformly reorganized into three corps (each corps had three corps under its jurisdiction). The number of these five field armies totaled 16 corps, as well as the nationalist army of the Later Changsha Uprising, which was reorganized into the 21st Corps, the Nationalist Army of the Xinjiang Uprising, which was reorganized into the 22nd Corps, and the 100,000 Nationalist Army of the Suiyuan Uprising, which was reorganized into the 23rd Corps.
As a result, the KPA has a total of 19 corps. Each corps has the positions of corps commander, corps political commissar, corps chief of staff, etc. Logically, a turnip and a pit, every position in the corps headquarters, is held by a general who specializes in this aspect. For example, if you are a military general, you can be qualified for the position of commander of the corps, and if you are a good political work general, you can be qualified for the position of political commissar.
It can be seen from this that most of the 19 corps during the Liberation War were one turnip and one pit. Then, among the 19 corps commanders, of which five corps and five corps commanders belonged to the corps commanders who held both positions, serving as both corps commanders and at the same time serving as the political commissar of the corps. The commanders of the corps who can do both are certainly civilian and military generals, the first will fight, and the second will do political and ideological work. So, let's take a look at which five corps commanders held two positions during the Liberation War.
The first was General Wang Zhen, commander of the First Corps. Presumably, everyone knows General Wang Zhen relatively well, he is a general in the history of our army who is both military and political. During the Red Army period, General Wang Zhen was the political commissar of the Red Sixth Army, and served as a military commander during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the Liberation War. From this point of view, General Wang Zhen has both rich experience in political work and combat experience. It is precisely because of these two factors that when the First Corps was established, the superiors were not appointed, and another general served as the political commissar of the First Corps, and General Wang Zhen was concurrently appointed. (Note that the political commissar of the First Corps was later served by Xu Liqing.)
The second was General Chen Geng, commander of the Fourth Corps. He is also a well-known founding general in the history of our army. It can be said that General Chen Geng's popularity is no less than that of a marshal in the history of our army. In his early years, when he studied at the Whampoa Military Academy, he became one of the three masters of Whampoa because of his excellent results in various subjects. As a student who graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy, General Chen Geng was naturally also a general with both ability and political integrity, and a general with both culture and martial arts. Thus, after the establishment of the Fourth Corps, General Chen Geng was the only corps commander and political commissar of the Corps of the Three Corps Commanders of the Second Field Army who had both.
The third was General Xiao Jinguang, commander of the 12th Corps. This experience is more similar to That of General Wang Zhen, in the early years of the Red Army, General Xiao Jinguang was also an excellent political worker general, who once served as the political commissar of the Red Fifth Army and the Red Seventh Army. Not only that, in the subsequent military career, General Xiao Jinguang held two positions for a long time, not only as a military chief and responsible for political work, but also as a real military and political founding general. Therefore, after the establishment of the 12th Corps, the superiors did not appoint another general to the post of political commissar of the 12th Corps.
The fourth was General Cheng Zihua, commander of the 13th Corps. During his military career, he served as the commander of the Red 25 Army, the political commissar of the Red 25 Army, and the political commissar of the Red 15 Army. It can be seen that General Cheng Zihua is also a famous founding general who is both military and political. In this way, after the establishment of the 13th Corps, the political commissar position was originally held by General Xiao Hua, who was once the political commissar of the First Corps of the Northeast Field Army and was a partner with General Xiao Jinguang. However, after the reorganization of the troops, Xiao Hua served as the commander of the special forces column. In this way, there was no political commissar in the 13th Corps, and General Cheng Zihua was also appointed as the political commissar. Later, after the 14th Corps was abolished, Mo Wenhua, the political commissar of the Corps, was transferred to the 13th Corps as the political commissar.
The fifth was General Zhou Shidi, commander of the 18th Corps, who was also a general of both culture and martial arts, graduated from the first phase of the Whampoa Military Academy, and was a classmate of Chen Geng and Xu Shuai. Moreover, General Zhou Shidi was the commander of the rebel army during the Nanchang Uprising. Judging from this qualification, Zhou Shidi was an excellent veteran party member and had been exposed to good military education. During the Liberation War, Zhou Shidi and his classmate Xu Shuai (one of the Ten Marshals) commanded the First Corps of North China to liberate Shanxi and destroy the Yan Xishan military group, making great contributions to the liberation of Shanxi. Therefore, after the First Corps of North China was reorganized into the 18th Corps, Xu Shuai could not be competent due to illness, so General Zhou Shidi served as the commander of the corps and concurrently served as the political commissar.