On September 27, 1955, our army carried out the first all-army award, in which a total of 10 marshals, 10 generals, 55 generals, 175 lieutenant generals, and 798 major generals were born.
As we all know, the ranks awarded are not entirely based on military merit, but also integrate various factors, including seniority, deputies, hills, etc. Due to the limitations of many reasons, some people's awards are obviously low.
Among the 798 major generals, there were four cadres at the corps level, and according to the regulations at that time, most of them could be rated as generals at the level of the main corps; most of them at the rank of deputy corps and quasi-corps could be rated as lieutenant generals.
Then, why were these four corps-level cadres awarded major generals? In fact, there are different reasons.
Among these four people, there were three quasi-corps ranks, they were Xie Fang, Duan Suquan, and Chen Yi.
The highest post of the Xie side during the war years was that of the chief of staff of the Volunteer Army during the Period of The War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
Xie Fang is a native of Dongfeng, Jilin Province, born in 1908, in 1928, Xie Fang was escorted by the Northeast Army to study at the Japanese Army Non-Commissioned Officer School, and in 1930, Xie Fang returned to China and successively served as the captain of the Tianjin Municipal Security Corps, Zhang Xueliang's deputy, and so on.
On November 8, 1931, under the command of Kenji Toihara, the Japanese army planned a riot in Tianjin, the whole city was boiling, at the critical moment, Xie Fang was ordered to lead people to defend the provincial and municipal governments, and then, with his efforts, the Japanese conspiracy was swept away, and afterwards, Xie Fang was awarded the Qingtian White Sun Medal.
In 1936, Xie Fang secretly joined the Communist Party of China, and during the All-out War of Resistance, Xie Fang successively served as a member of the upper working committee of the Northeast Army of the COMMUNIST Party of China, the secretary of the 51st Military Work Committee of the Communist Party of China, and other positions, and has been engaged in the party's secret work for a long time.
After returning to Yan'an in 1940, Xie Fang was received by Chairman Mao, who renamed him "Xie Fang", and since then, Xie Fang has successively served as the director of the Third Bureau of the Intelligence Department of the Central Military Commission and the chief of staff of the 358th Brigade.
During the Liberation War, Xie Fang successively served as deputy chief of staff of the Northeast Democratic Coalition Army, chief of staff of the Twelfth Corps and other positions, and after the outbreak of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea in 1950, Xie Fang came to the Korean battlefield as chief of staff of the Volunteer Army, where he assisted Commander Peng Dehuai very well.
Every time Peng Dehuai encountered a major military plane that was hesitant to decide, he would say: "Call Xiao Zhuge to come", this little Zhuge refers to the solution.
In 1955, Xie Fang was awarded the rank of major general because he lacked experience during the agrarian revolution and his overall position in the army was too low, so he was awarded major general, which was also considered for many reasons.
Quasi-corps-level Duan Suquan.
Duan Suquan was a native of Chaling, Hunan, born in 1916, joined the revolution at the age of 14, in 1933, the Red Second and Sixth Armies returned to Xiangxi, Duan Suquan was appointed as the political commissar of the independent division, this year he was only 17 years old, he and the division commander Wang Guangguang led more than 800 people to cover the main force.
Later, due to the total annihilation of the outnumbered independent division, the division commander Wang Guangguang was captured and heroically sacrificed, Duan Suquan escaped the disaster because of his wounds, and after losing contact with the troops at that time, Duan Suquan returned to his hometown to marry and have children, until he returned to the party organization in 1937.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Duan Suquan successively served as secretary of the PINGbei Prefectural Committee of the CPC and political commissar of the Pingbei Military Subdistrict, and during the Liberation War, Duan Suquan successively served as commander of the Jirecha Military Region and commander of the Eighth Column of Dongye.
During the Campaign to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Duan Suquan successively served as commander of the Air Force of the Northeast Military Region and first deputy commander of the Air Force Command of the Volunteer Army.
But the Volunteer Air Command and the Central Military Commission Air Force suppressed Duan Suquan's opinion.
Later, Duan Suquan directly reported the report to peng Dehuai, the commander of the volunteer army, and General Peng was furious and asked the air force to make a review, and Liu Yalou and Xiao Hua had to review it.
In 1953, the central government issued a directive to conduct a general review of cadres at all levels throughout the country, and Duan Suquan's experience of leaving the army for more than 3 years was mentioned, and when he was awarded the title in 1955, someone said about it again, and as a result, Duan Suquan's award of title was affected.
In the end, it was actually a "temporary major general", and in this matter, Duan Suquan really suffered a lot of grievances.
In 1993, Duan Suquan died of illness at the age of 78, and after his death, when Chen Jianying, the wife of the old leader Ren Bishi, came to mourn him, he said a meaningful sentence: "On the Long March Road, we have already held a memorial service for Comrade Duan Suquan, but he did not die, dragging his broken feet, begging all the way and climbing back to the army, he was the political commissar of the independent division at that time. Alas, he has suffered a lot of grievances in his life."
Chen Yi of the rank of quasi-corps.
Chen Yi is a native of Zunyi, Guizhou, born in 1912, joined the revolution at the age of 17, Chen Yi's main work in the early years was the revolutionary cultural movement, he successively served as the secretary of the Northern Cultural General League Party Group, the Hebei Province Anti-Imperialist Grand Alliance Party Group Secretary and other positions.
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Chen Yi joined the Eighth Route Army and successively served as an officer of the Propaganda Department of the Northern Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and the director of the Jiluyu Daily. After 1942, Chen Yi successively served as the director of the Shandong branch of the Xinhua News Agency and the director of the Propaganda Department of the Shandong Branch of the CPC Central Committee.
During the Liberation War, Chen Yi successively served as director of the Propaganda Department of the General Political Department of the Northeast Democratic United Army and deputy director of the Field Political Department of the Northeast Democratic United Army. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chen Yi successively served as the minister of culture of the General Political Department.
In 1952, the army began to be rated, and most of the comrades in the General Political Department were very old, so the rating was relatively high, Liu Zhijian, director of the Propaganda Department of the General Political Department, was rated as deputy corps, Wang Zonghuai, minister of youth, and Zhu Ming, first deputy director of the Organization Department, were all rated as quasi-corps ranks, and they all later became lieutenant generals.
Chen Yi did not have combat experience during the agrarian revolution, so he was awarded the rank of major general, which also combined many factors.
After talking about these three quasi-corps-level generals, then, there is another deputy corps-level general, his name is He Jinnian.
He Jinnian Shaanxi Province Anding people, born in 1910, joined the Communist Party of China at the age of 18, two years later turned to the Red Army, as we all know, the Northern Shaanxi Red Army was led by Liu Zhidan, Xie Zichang and others, in fact, He Jinnian was also one of the founders of the Northern Shaanxi Red Army.
During the agrarian revolution, He Jinnian successively served as the commander, division commander, and commander of the Red Army, and led his troops to participate in several anti-encirclement and suppression battles in the revolutionary base areas of northern Shaanxi, and in 1936, the number of the Red 27th Army was restored, He Jinnian was appointed as the commander of the army, the political commissar was Wang Ping, and later Wang Ping became a general.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, He Jinnian successively served as the commander of the 1st Regiment of the Eighth Route Army's Left Guard Corps, the commander of the Trilateral Military Sub-district, and during the Liberation War, He Jinnian successively served as the commander of the Hejiang Provincial Military Region and the commander of the 11th Column in Dongye.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, He Jinnian successively served as deputy commander of the Northeast Military Region, commander of the garrison of the Northeast Military Region, commander of the air defense force, commander of the armored corps, and other positions.
In 1952, when the army was rated, He Jinnian was rated as a deputy corps rank, and when he was awarded the rank in 1955, according to the regulations, He Jinnian should at least be a lieutenant general, but as a representative of the Red Army in northern Shaanxi, the general should also be, so why was he only a major general in the end?
Related to the Gaogang Incident in 1954, He Jinnian was implicated.
At that time, according to the relevant departments responsible for the appraisal of titles, it was to evaluate the rank of colonel He Jinnian, and He Long did not agree on this matter, he went to zhu De, Peng Dehuai, and others, and the three marshals found Chairman Mao, and when Chairman Mao learned that He Jinnian was going to be awarded the rank of colonel, he also said that he was low, and thus, He Jinnian finally became a major general.
After that, He Jinnian successively served as deputy commander of the armored corps, and in 2003, He Jinnian died of illness at the age of 93.
He Jinnian's funeral was handled in accordance with the treatment of the Zhengda Military Region, and there was no mention in the eulogy that he was awarded the rank of major general in 1955.