When the title was awarded in 1955, 798 people were awarded the rank of major general, and among hundreds of major generals, the first rank was Xie Fang, who had served as chief of staff of the Volunteer Army and was the "little Zhuge Ge" whom Peng Dehuai relied on.
Xie Fang was awarded major general, many people were upset for him, thinking that the award was low, even Peng Dehuai said that if Xie Fang was awarded major general, then he can only be a lieutenant general, of course, we see from today' point of view, Peng Dehuai's words, in fact, most of these words are angry words, can not be taken seriously.
Relative to Xie Fang, among these hundreds of major generals, there are two more, senior and high-ranking, but they are also awarded major generals, they are He Jinnian and Yuan Yelie.
When he is mentioned, many people know that he is a deputy corps-level general, who served as the commander of the 11th Column of the Northeast Field Army, the second deputy commander of the 15th Corps of the Shiye Ande Ande and the commander of the 48th Army.
Later, he was awarded the title of major general for the simple reason that when he was working in the northeast, he was closely related to Gao Gang and was implicated.
So, who is Yuan Yelie?
Yuan Yelie's seniority was even older than He Jinnian's, because he was the battalion commander at the time of the Nanchang uprising.
As we all know, the Nanchang Uprising was the first shot fired by our Party against the Kuomintang reactionaries, and the influence of the Nanchang Uprising in the history of our army was enormous; among the ten marshals of the Republic, seven of them participated directly or indirectly, and there were many generals, admirals, lieutenant generals, and so on, all of whom participated in the Nanchang Uprising.
Among these people, Lin Biao was only a company commander at that time, Chen Geng was the battalion commander, and Su Yu was the squad leader.
Yuan Yelie was also a battalion commander at that time, so why did he only give the title of major general when he was later awarded the title? Let's look at his life qualifications.
A native of Dongkou, Hunan, Yuan Was born in 1899 and was admitted to Chairman Mao's alma mater, the Hunan First Normal College, in 1921, where he had heard Chairman Mao's revolutionary speech on the Communist Manifesto.
In 1925, Yuan Yelie was admitted to the second phase of the Whampoa Military Academy, and in the same year, he joined the Communist Party of China, and after graduation, he participated in the Northern Expedition and was assigned to Ye Ting's troops as a company commander.
During the Northern Expedition, Yuan Yelie fought bravely and repeatedly won the praise of his superiors, and after the Northern Expedition conquered Wuchang, he was promoted to battalion commander.
On April 12, 1927, Chiang Kai-shek launched a counter-revolution, our party organization decided to arm an uprising, Yuan Yelie, as the main general of Ye Ting's troops, he participated in the Nanchang Uprising, in which Yuan Yelie led his troops to annihilate a regiment of the enemy.
At this time, an officer in his 40s wearing a Kuomintang uniform came on horseback, and when Yuan Yelie saw it, he mistakenly thought he was a Kuomintang officer, so he arrested him and sent him to the headquarters of the rebel army.
Yuan Yelie quickly apologized, Zhu De did not think so, he smiled and said: "Your vigilance is still quite high!" ”
After the Nanchang Uprising, Yuan Yelie returned to his hometown and led the peasants in armed struggle in his hometown, in 1928, Yuan Yelie was appointed by the party organization to go to Guangxi to participate in the revolution, and in 1930, he participated in the Longzhou Uprising led by Deng Xiaoping.
After the uprising, the Kuomintang troops sent people to encircle and suppress many times, and in 1931, during the battle in Meihua Village, Ruyuan County, Guangdong Province, Yuan Yelie was unfortunately wounded, and then he went to Shanghai under the pseudonym Yuan Yingwu to recuperate.
In May, Yuan Yelie was arrested by the British patrol at his home, they found many party documents in Yuan Yelie's home, in the face of the enemy's torture, Yuan Yelie never admitted his identity, and finally, the enemy sentenced Yuan Yelie to 5 years in prison for "endangering the Republic of China" and imprisoned in Nanjing Tilanqiao Prison.
Unexpectedly, soon, Chen Duxiu, Peng Shuzhi and 10 other people were also imprisoned in Tilanqiao Prison by the Kuomintang for "endangering the Republic of China".
Yuan Yelie followed Chairman Mao, but an accident in prison made him and Chen Duxiu "fellow prisoners", which may also be one of the reasons that affected his award.
After several years in prison, Yuan Yelie was released, and then the party organization sent him to Beiping to work and set up an anti-Japanese guerrilla training class.
After that, Yuan Yelie successively served as the director of training at the first branch of the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University, and the deputy commander and chief of staff of the Bohai Naval Region.
One day in 1944, a Japanese Type 972 aircraft had an accident and was forced to land on the seashore north of Weixian County, Shandong Province, and the pilot was captured by the local armed militia.
After interrogation, the pilot said that he was the son of the commander of a certain Japanese division, and only later did he admit that he was the distant nephew of Okamura Ningji, commander of the North China Dispatch Army of the Japanese invasion of China.
Yuan Yelie was surprised to learn of this, and not long after, the Japanese army sent a number of planes to throw leaflets everywhere, declaring that as long as the captured pilots were released, they were willing to exchange a large number of weapons, and they could also make other conditions.
Yuan Yelie decided not to use the guns and ammunition of the Japanese, but to release more than 30 cadres of our side who had been unfortunate enough to be trapped in the enemy's camp during the battle.
The Japanese army agreed, and in the end, we exchanged this pilot for more than 30 regimental, battalion, and company-level cadres.
During the Liberation War, Yuan Yelie successively served as the commander of the Seventh Division of the Shandong People's Liberation Army, the commander of the Bohai Column, and the second deputy commander and chief of staff of the Shandong Military Region.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Yuan Yelie successively served as deputy commander and chief of staff of the Navy of the East China Military Region, commander of the Navy of the East China Military Region, political commissar, and chief of naval staff.
In 1953, when Chairman Mao inspected the provinces and cities in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, he received Tao Yong, commander of the East China Military Region, as well as Yuan Yelie, and others. Ah, you originally worked in the Shandong army, you are the first normal in Changsha, remember that you are a native of Dongkou, Hunan, right? ”
Yuan Yelie said excitedly: "Yes, the chairman has a really good memory."
Yuan Yelie was awarded the rank of major general when he was awarded the title in 1955, and the main reason for his honorable experience in the first half of his life was that he had been imprisoned.
In this regard, Yuan Yelie also had no complaints or regrets, and he continued to contribute to the revolution.
During the Cultural Revolution, Yuan Yelie was not afraid of the darkness, stuck to his bottom line, won the praise of his comrades-in-arms, and died of illness in 1976 at the age of 77.
Two years later, the Party organization posthumously recognized him as a revolutionary martyr.
The vicissitudes of the sea, the true colors of the heroes, General Yuan Yelie deserves to be remembered forever by future generations.