In 1955, when Ye Jianying presided over the award ceremony in Guangzhou, he suddenly found that there were two identical names on the appointment certificate, both called Fang Guonan, and both were major general ranks. Ye Jianying subconsciously thought that the staff was careless and mistaken, but soon Ye Jianying found that the two identical names corresponded to different positions, one was the second political commissar of the Guangxi Military Region, and the other was the political commissar of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Sports School. So Ye Jianying called the staff, and the staff confirmed that these were indeed two people, and it happened that their names were the same, and the rank was the same.
Later, in order to facilitate the distinction, the organization changed the name of the older Fang Guonan to Fang Guoan. What is more interesting is that Fang Guoan and Fang Guonan not only have the same name, but also were born in the same town, and they joined the Red Army in the same year, and after leaving retirement, they lived in the same dry rest house, which can be said to be very lucky.
However, although they joined the Red Army in the same year, the age difference between the two was still two years, but they did not become adults when they joined the army, one was 17 years old, the other was 15 years old, and they were all child soldiers.
After joining the army, the experiences of the two were also very similar, both of them were regimental political commissars before and after the Long March, and by the time of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, both of them had become directors of the political department. However, the location of the two people is not the same, one is in Shanxi, the other is in the Jizhong Military Region. After the founding of the Country, both of them left in the position of political commissar.
The two respective experiences are also very legendary, Fang Guoan was in the Red Third Army during the Red Army, starting from a soldier in the first company of the guard battalion, because of the bravery of the battle, he soon became a platoon leader. By the time of the attack on Loushan Pass, Fang Guoan was already a company instructor, and during the charge he was injured in his right eye and almost permanently blind.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Fang Guoan's first battle was the Pingxing Guandajie, and later he participated in the Fenli Highway Ambush. Soon his position was promoted to the position of regimental political commissar, and he participated in the jiluyu anti-sweeping and other battles. During the Liberation War, Fang Guoan participated in many large-scale battles, of which there were more than 100 battles. Because of his repeated injuries, Fang Guoan's body was left with shrapnel and was classified as an eighth-degree war disability. However, Fang Guoan is very long-lived, living to the age of 98.
Fang Guonan's life was even more tragic when he was a child, because his mother died when he was 3 years old, and he had to follow his father up the mountain to cut firewood at the age of five, until he joined the Red Army at the age of 15, and he finally did not have to be bullied anymore.
Although Fang Guonan is more engaged in political work in the army, he is also a good hand in commanding wars, so he is known as "a good director who can command wars." Because Fang Guonan's reputation among the masses and subordinates was very high, in his later years, there were often old subordinates who went down to visit him, and everyone said that they liked to report their thoughts to Director Fang the most. In 1997, Fang Guonan died of illness at the age of 82.