Among the thousands of founding major generals, Tang Duo may be the most special one, because he did not join the Red Army, nor did he participate in the Eighth Route Army, nor did he fight in the War of Liberation, and his experience in China was almost zero, which was unique among all the founding generals.
So why would such a person still be awarded the founding major general? Let's take a look.
A native of Yiyang, Hunan Province, Tang Duo participated in the May Fourth Movement and was later admitted to the military flight school founded by Sun Yat-sen and became one of the first pilots in China. In 1925, Tang Duo was selected to fly in the Soviet Union for his excellent grades.
After tang duo arrived in the Soviet Union, he was deeply influenced by communist ideas, and soon joined our party through the European branch and began the life of a Soviet pilot.
In the Soviet Union, Tang Duo created two uniques. The first, and the only Chinese, flew over Moscow's Red Square for a military parade.
In 1933, moscow's Red Square organized a commemorative military parade of the October Revolution, and the Soviet Air Force began to select pilots and conduct rigorous examinations. As a result, Tang Duo, who was a lieutenant in the Soviet Army at the time, was at the top of the rankings in various assessments, which made the Soviet Air Force difficult.
Use him, right? He's not Soviet, don't you need him? His flight performance was so good that the Soviet Air Force finally decided to approve Tang Duo's participation in the parade.
On the day of the parade, Tang Duo flew the plane and flew over Moscow's Red Square perfectly, not only completing the task brilliantly, but also setting an unprecedented record.
In fact, in those years, Tang Duo always asked to return to China, but the Soviet Union, in view of his excellent pilot, obstructed him and did not allow him to return to China, and Tang Duo could only continue to serve in the Soviet Army.
The second, the only Chinese to fight the Germans in the air, and the only Chinese to receive the Order of Lenin, the highest order of the Soviet Union.
In 1944, when the Second World War was in full swing, Tang Duo, then deputy commander of the Soviet Guards Flight Regiment, submitted a letter of request to the Soviet Air Force, and successively fought with the Luftofist Air Force in the Soviet Union, Poland and other places, shooting down and wounding dozens of enemy aircraft, leaving his heroic figure in the Battle of Minsk and the capture of Königsberg.
In recognition of Tang Duo's outstanding contributions, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR awarded him four medals, including the "Order of Lenin", which represents the highest honor of the USSR.
Tang Duo made great achievements for the Soviet Union in World War II, but he always had a wish, that is, to return to his homeland to serve, but because the Soviet Union did not release people, this wish has not been realized.
Until 1953, after the coordination of the prime minister, Liu Yalou and others, the Soviet Union was forced to accept Tang Duo's return to China under pressure, and after 28 years of waiting, Tang Duo finally returned to the motherland that he had in mind.
After returning to China, Tang Duo was entrusted with a heavy responsibility as the head of the Kazakh Military Industry Air Force Department, and worked for 10 years.
Here, Tang Duo did a lot of pioneering work, aviation engineering, airport construction engineering and other 6 majors quickly established and began to teach, for the construction of our army's air force to cultivate a large number of talents, the air force department also quickly became the largest department of Kazakhstan's military industry.
It is worth mentioning that the missile department and atomic engineering department of Kazakhstan's military industry later evolved from the missile and nuclear protection specialties founded by Tang Duo, so it can be seen that Tang Duo also made important contributions to China's missile cause.
In 1955, our army began to award titles for the first time, and the award of titles mainly depended on the contributions made during the period of the agrarian revolution, the war of resistance, and the war of liberation, and Tang Duo missed all these periods in the Soviet Union, that is to say, his contribution to these three periods of our army was zero, and it is reasonable to say that he should not participate in the awarding of titles.
After a long period of discussion, the superiors finally held that: First, Tang Duo participated in World War II when he was in the Soviet Union, which was also an important part of the world anti-fascist war; second, after Tang Duo returned to China, he played an important role in the construction of our army's air force, so he could participate in the awarding of titles.
In the end, Tang Duo was awarded the rank of major general, becoming the most special of the founding major generals.
After that, Tang Duo was engaged in education for a long time, and died of illness in 1983 at the age of 80.
History Inn Author: Desert Sand