The Northeast Anti-Japanese Coalition Army is a heroic unit under the leadership of our Party, which is composed of the remnants of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army, the Northeast Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Army, the Northeast People's Revolutionary Army and other anti-Japanese units. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Anti-Japanese Coalition waged a 14-year-long arduous struggle against the Japanese puppet army in the Northeast Of the White Mountains and Black Waters, fighting more than 100,000 battles and annihilating 180,000 enemy personnel, making important contributions to the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan. In the struggle against the Japanese puppet army, many anti-coalition fighters spilled blood on the battlefield, of which more than 40 cadres at and above the military level sacrificed, and even more cadres at and above the division level sacrificed, more than 120 people.
In 1955, a total of 7 of the generals from the Northeast Anti-Japanese League were awarded the rank of major general, namely Major General Wang Minggui, Major General Wang Xiaoming, Major General Zhu Guang, Major General Sun San, Major General Li Jingpu, Major General Li Zhongqi and Major General Gao Tiqian. Zhou Baozhong, as the banner figure of the Northeast Anti-Japanese League, although he received three first-class medals, he was not awarded a title. What is the reason for this? Today we will talk about this story.
Zhou Baozhong, a native of Dali, Yunnan, joined the army at the age of 15, served in the Yunnan Army, the Guangdong Army and the Northwest Army, participated in the Patriotic War and the Northern Expedition, and served as the deputy commander of the 18th Division of the Sixth Army of the National Revolutionary Army. In 1928, he was sent organizationally to the Soviet Union to study, and after the outbreak of the "918 Incident", Zhou Baozhong returned from the Soviet Union and went to the northeast to participate in the leadership of the Anti-Japanese League, serving as the secretary of the Military Commission of the Manchurian Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China. After that, he successively served as the commander of the 5th Army of the Anti-Japanese League and the commander-in-chief of the Second Route Army of the Anti-Japanese League.
Although he was in a high position, every time he fought against the Japanese puppet army, Zhou Baozhong took the lead and charged forward, and was wounded many times as a result. On October 17, 1932, during the attack on Ning'an, Zhou Baozhong's left leg was hit by a bullet from the Japanese Kou, and his comrades dug out the bullet with a knife without anesthesia; two years later, in the battle to attack the town of Ping'an, Zhou Baozhong was wounded again, his intestines were all punched out, and after emergency bandaging, he lay on a stretcher and continued to command the battle, and finally won the battle.
Zhou Baozhong was brave and strategic, led his troops to fight against the Japanese puppet army on many occasions, dealt a heavy blow to the enemy, and became a banner figure with the same name as Zhao Shangzhi and Yang Jingyu in the Anti-Japanese League. The Japanese had a great headache for Zhou Baozhong, and in order to get rid of him, they spared no expense, claiming that one or two pieces of meat in Zhou Baozhong could be exchanged for one or two gold, but no one could ever catch him. After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Zhou Baozhong took part in the War of Liberation and successively served as commander-in-chief of the Northeast People's Self-Defense Army and deputy commander-in-chief of The Four Fields, making important contributions to the victory of the War of Liberation.
After the founding of New China, Zhou Baozhong returned to his hometown of Yunnan as vice chairman, and the chairman of Yunnan at that time was the general Chen Geng. When the title was awarded in 1955, judging by Zhou Baozhong's seniority, it was very likely that he would be awarded the title. Although he was no longer serving in the army at that time, if General Yan Hongyan was used as a reference, Zhou Baozhong, as the only remaining banner figure of the Northeast Anti-Japanese League, should also be awarded a military rank. However, Zhou Baozhong was too low-key and looked down on this very lightly, so he missed the title. Although he was not awarded the title, he received three extremely valuable medals of the first class, which is also a full affirmation of his revolutionary merits.
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