In the history of the development of our army, there have been two grand ceremonies for conferring titles, one in 1955 and the other in 1988. In contrast, the 1988 conferment ceremony, both in rank and scale, was lower than in 1955, for example, the highest rank was only set to general, and only 17 people received this award.
In addition, when the military rank was restored in 1988, the national military region was also demoted from the thirteen major military regions to the seven major military regions, in addition to the Inner Mongolia Military Region and the Tibet Military Region to the provincial military region, the four major military regions were abolished in 1985. The heads of the remaining seven military regions basically participated in the 1988 award ceremony. But what is surprising is that the Beijing Military Region and the Chengdu Military Region are very special, the commanders of these two military regions have become lieutenant generals, but the political commissar has a higher status and has been awarded the rank of general. Let's move on.
Zhou Yibing, commander of the Beijing Military Region
Founded in 1955, the Beijing Military Region was formerly known as the North China Military Region, and its importance is self-evident because it is responsible for defending the capital. In 1988, he was reinstated to the rank of commander, and the commander at the time was Zhou Yibing.
Zhou Yibing was born in 1922, a native of Chao County, Anhui Province, he joined the revolution at the age of 16, experienced the War of Resistance Against Japan and the War of Liberation, because he had not served in the Red Army, his seniority was relatively shallow, so his position during the period was not very high, and he successively served as a company instructor and deputy chief of staff of a military sub-district. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhou Yibing gradually grew from brigade chief of staff to division chief of staff, from division chief of staff to army chief of staff and deputy commander, and gradually grew into a senior general of our army.
In 1985, the Fuzhou Military Region, Wuhan Military Region, Kunming Military Region and Urumqi Military Region were abolished one after another, and many generals' posts were also adjusted, and Zhou Yibing was no exception, and he was promoted to deputy commander of the Beijing Military Region. In 1987, Zhou Yibing succeeded Qin Jiwei as commander of the Beijing Military Region.
In the following year, a ceremony was held to confer the title, and it was reasonable to say that the main post of the Grand Military Region should have been awarded as a general, but because Zhou Yibing's 55 years of conferring ranks was not high and his seniority was relatively shallow, he was only awarded lieutenant general. It is worth mentioning that at that time, six of the commanders of the seven major military regions were lieutenant generals, and only Xiang Shouzhi of the Nanjing Military Region was awarded the rank of general because he was a founding major general and had seniority.
Liu Zhenhua, political commissar of the Beijing Military Region
Liu Zhenhua was born in 1921, a native of Tai'an, Shandong, and although he was only one year older than Zhou Yibing, his position in his early years was much higher. Liu Zhenhua joined the revolution in his hometown at the age of 17, during which he fought bravely, successively serving as a battalion instructor and regimental political commissar, and after the victory of the War of Resistance, he also followed the troops into the northeast.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Liu Zhenhua participated in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and when he was awarded the title in 1955, he was still a division commander and did not have a title, but in 1964, he was promoted from the status of military political commissar to major general, and he was also one of the thousands of founding major generals. Since then, Liu Zhenhua has done diplomatic work and served as deputy political commissar and political commissar of the Shenyang Military Region. In 1987, together with Zhou Yibing, he was transferred to the Beijing Military Region, one as a political commissar and the other as a commander.
In 1988, liu Zhenhua was awarded the rank of general because of his seniority, high military achievements, and founding major general. In fact, the 17 generals at that time were basically founding generals, and even if a few school officials won this honor, it was also due to outstanding merits and high positions.
Fu Quanyou, commander of the Chengdu Military Region
The Chengdu Military Region was founded in 1955 and was originally subordinate to the Southwest Military Region, and its first commander was General He Bingyan. When the Chengdu Military Region was disarmed in 1985, it was not abolished, but the commander Wang Chenghan was transferred from his post and replaced by Fu Quanyou.
Fu Quanyou was born in 1930, a native of Yuanping, Shanxi, and because of his relatively young age, he did not experience the agrarian revolutionary war, and only joined the army in October 1946. After that, Fu Quan had one step at a time, and became a deputy regimental post after the founding of the People's Republic of China, although his rank was not very high, but he was only in his twenties, and he made great achievements in the future.
In 1985, Fu Quanyou was promoted from military commander to commander of the Chengdu Military Region, and three years later, at the conferment ceremony, he was also awarded the rank of lieutenant general because of his slightly shallow seniority. It is worth mentioning that Fu Quanyou was later promoted to chief of the general staff and promoted to general in 1993.
Wan Haifeng, political commissar of the Chengdu Military Region
Wan Haifeng was born in 1920, a native of Guangshan County, Henan Province, and his seniority can be said to be the oldest compared to the above three. During the revolutionary years, Wan Haifeng joined the army at the age of 13 and experienced three years of guerrilla warfare in the Eyu-Anhui Soviet Region, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the War of Liberation, and the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. It is worth mentioning that in his early years, Wan Haifeng was also a guard of Gao Jingting, commander of the New Fourth Army detachment, and was deeply appreciated by him.
When he was awarded the rank in 1955, Wan Haifeng served as the commander of the division and was awarded the rank of colonel. Since then, Wan Haifeng has successively served as deputy commander and deputy political commissar of the Beijing Military Region, and it is worth mentioning that during this period, he also took the initiative to ask for help and participated in the rescue of the Tangshan earthquake. In 1982, Wan Haifeng was appointed political commissar of the Chengdu Military Region, and at the award ceremony six years later, Wan Haifeng was awarded the rank of general because of his seniority and great merit. Now the old general Wan Haifeng is a hundred years old, but his body is still healthy, which is really a blessing for the country.