In 2015, on the occasion of commemorating the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War, the Russian newspaper published an article entitled "Remembering History, Creating the Future", in which he praised Tang Duo, the founding major general of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, who participated in the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union: "Chinese pilot Tang Duo, as the deputy commander of the Soviet Air Shooting Regiment, struck long air and made many achievements in air battles with fascist troops. ”
He was the founding major general of our army, but he did not have a Single Chinese Medal; he had been inspected and received by Soviet Commander Stalin, but he had returned to China to participate in the creation of the Kazakh military industry; he was dressed in the Platon 55 General's Dress, but his chest was covered with Soviet medals; he personally flew planes to fight in the sky, serving as both the Soviet Air Force and the Chinese Air Force. He is Major General Tang Duo, and his life is so legendary!
Tang Duo was born in 1904 in Yiyang County, Hunan Province. In his early years, he studied at the Affiliated Primary School of Hunan First Normal School, participated in the May Fourth Movement, studied in France, and entered the Military Flight School of the National Revolutionary Army in Guangzhou after returning to China. In 1925, Tang Duo was sent to the Soviet Union to learn military flight, and from then on began a legendary combat career in the Soviet Air Force.
Tang Duo first entered the Second Flight School of the Soviet Air Force, and after graduation, he received the rank of lieutenant in the Air Force. He studied at the Third Flight School, the Air Reconnaissance School and the Moscow Air Force Communications School, and was assigned to the 18th Aviation Flight Group of the 6th Brigade of the Usstroika of the USSR as a pilot, in the process with the rank of captain. Tang Duo continued to study and progress, and through hard work, he was admitted to the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering College, the highest academic institution of the Soviet Air Force, and later transferred to an undergraduate. It was this period of studying in a foreign country that made him the general of our army who studied the most in the Soviet Union, surpassing Liu Bocheng, Xu Guangda, Zuo Quan, Liu Yalou, Li Tianyou and other generals.
On November 7, 1933, Moscow held a military parade celebrating the 16th anniversary of the October Revolution, and Tang Duo served as the pilot of the pilot aircraft, leading more than 100 fighters of the Air Force over Red Square and accepting the review of Supreme Commander Stalin and other leaders. In this way, Tang Duo became the only Chinese in history to fly a fighter jet over Red Square. After the parade, Stalin received a group of top officers and men, including Tang Duo. Since then, Tang Duo has been a prominent figure in the Soviet Air Force.
When the Great Patriotic War broke out in 1941, Tang Duo, who was still studying at the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering College, and his classmates were full of enthusiasm and submitted an impassioned petition to their superiors. But Stalin gave instructions that the war would not end immediately, and that cadets would not be able to go to war until they had finished their studies. Tang continued his studies, graduating in 1942 with the title of mechanical engineer.
After leaving school, Tang Duo was ordered to report to the Lipetsk Air Force Advanced Flight Technical School of the Red Army (now the Tactical Training Center of the Russian Air Force) and serve as a major instructor in the Air Shooting Teaching and Research Department. During his work at this military academy, Tang Duo trained a large number of divisional and regimental commanders who were transferred from front-line troops for training. It should be said that as a foreigner serving in the Soviet army, Tang Duo has made great contributions to the Soviet Union, and even if he stays in the rear as a teacher, he will surely reap meritorious achievements after the war. But Tang Duo was a good soldier, he longed for the battlefield, and repeatedly asked to go to the front to fight the fascists directly.
The opportunity finally came. In June 1944, Tang Duo, as the deputy commander of the 74th Regiment of the 1st Strike Aviation Corps of the Third Belorussian Front, rushed to the front and began the battle to liberate Eastern Europe. He piloted the Il-2 strike aircraft known as the "Black Death", covered the ground troops many times, fought bravely, and made many achievements.
In the battle to liberate Minsk, the capital of Belarus, on July 3, 1944, Tang Duo commanded 24 Il-2 strong strike aircraft of 3 brigades of the 74th Regiment to carry out ground attack missions, soaring at ultra-low altitudes, destroying dozens of German tanks and shooting down two German fighters, effectively supporting the ground troops to advance towards Minsk. After this battle, the 74th Regiment of the Strong Strike Aviation Corps was awarded the title of Guards Unit, and Tang Duo himself became a member of the glorious Guards. Tang Duo continued to lead his troops to the west, and participated in the liberation of Belarus and east Prussia, supporting the infantry to successfully conquer Kant's hometown of Kant in Kant's hometown of Kant, Königsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia) until the end of the Great Patriotic War.
In the Great Patriotic War, Tang Duo's outstanding military achievements were greatly recognized by the Soviet army, and he successively won the Medal for Meritorious Service in Conquering Königsberg, the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of the Red Star, the Great Patriotic War Medal, the Medal for the Victory over Germany, and the Medal for the Commemorative Medal for the 30th Anniversary of the Founding of the Soviet Army. It is worth mentioning that Tang Duo was awarded a Lenin Medal, the highest medal of honor in the Soviet Union before World War II, and cannot be obtained unless he has established a special merit. At that time, many Chinese served in the Soviet Army and participated in the Great Patriotic War, and most of them made military achievements, but only Tang Duo was awarded the Order of Lenin. This Lenin Medal is now in the collection of the Heihe Brigade Russian Overseas Chinese Memorial Hall in Heilongjiang Province, and has become the treasure of the museum.
After the founding of New China, Tang Duo returned to the motherland after a 28-year absence, participated in the creation of the Harbin Military Engineering College, and served as the director of the Air Force Engineering Department for 11 years. Under his leadership, the Air Force Engineering Department grew and developed, and rotational training was conducted for the air force division and regimental cadres of the whole army. Tang Duo, who has lived in the Soviet army for many years, is very aware of the development of the modern air force, is full of enthusiasm for catching up and surpassing, and has made great contributions to the regularization and modernization of the Chinese air force. Tang Duo's experience in fighting from Eastern Europe to China and his spirit of internationalism made him a witness and witness of a legendary era, and also a legendary figure in the history of Sino-Soviet friendship.
In 1955, the People's Liberation Army implemented a rank system, but Tang Duo's rank became a problem. In the various internal and external wars in which the PLA was founded more than 20 years ago, Tang Duo did not participate in it. After discussion and decision by senior military leaders, Tang Duo participated in the world anti-fascist war and made military merits, which should be awarded. As a result, Tang Duo was awarded the rank of major general in the Air Force.
Of course, due to the relationship of historical qualifications, Tang Duo was not awarded the well-known Type 55 Bayi Medal, the Independence Freedom Medal and the Liberation Medal. In a photo of the award of the title left that year, Tang Duo was dressed in a 55-type general's dress with vigor, but 9 Soviet medals (awards) symbolizing his fighting youth were hung obliquely on his chest, which became the epitome of his lifelong legend.