The Third Field Army was reorganized from the East China Field Army in 1949. The newly established Third Field Army was also headed by General Chen Laozong as the commander of the field army, Su Yu as deputy commander and deputy political commissar, and General Zhang Zhen as the chief of staff of Sanye. At the same time, the newly formed Third Field Army has a total of four corps, a special forces column, with a total strength of about 700,000 troops, second only to the Fourth Field Army, ranking second among the four major field armies.
The newly formed Third Field Army, under the command of four corps, was commanded by famous generals of the Three Fields Army. For example, the commander of the Seventh Corps is Wang Jian'an, the commander of the Eighth Corps is Chen Shiyu, the commander of the Ninth Corps is Song Shilun, and the commander of the Tenth Corps is Ye Fei. The four corps commanders had previously held positions, and Wang Jian'an was the commander of huaye's eighth column. Chen Shiyu was the chief of staff of the East China Field Army and the commander of the famous Chen Tang Corps. Song Shilun was the commander of the Tenth Column of Huaye, and Ye Fei was the commander of the First Column (the column was the Sharp Knife Column of the East China Field Army). Judging from the previous positions of the four corps commanders, only Chen Shiyu had a higher position, was the chief of staff of the East China Field Army, and was also the commander of the famous Chen Tang Corps, so there was no objection to him serving as the commander of the Eighth Corps.
Wang Jian'an, commander of the Seventh Corps, Song Shilun, commander of the Ninth Corps, and Ye Fei, commander of the Tenth Corps, were all column commanders before that, and they belonged to the same rank. Of course, our army also pays attention to seniority, and Song Shilun's seniority in the Third Field Army should be deeper than Ye Fei and Wang Jian'an. It should be known that the tenth column led by Song Shilun is not the main column of the East China Field Army, and its record of achievements is certainly not as good as that of the first column, the fourth column, the sixth column, and the ninth column. Including in the course of fighting the enemy, the Tenth Column of the Song Dynasty Wheel was tasked with blocking the attack for a long time, and rarely undertook the main offensive operation.
Wang Jian'an's Eighth Column was good at attacking strong points and was the main column of the East China Field Army on the battlefield of liberating Shandong, and Ye Fei's First Column was both offensive and defensive, and was also one of the columns that Commander Chen Laozong relied on on on the battlefield.
From this point of view, the four corps commanders of Sanye and the commander of the Eighth Corps, Chen Shiyu, are well deserved, and the commander of the Ninth Corps, Song Shilun, has become one of the commanders of the four major corps in Sanye with profound seniority. Among the Three Wild Armies, there was another fierce general, who was more qualified to be elected commander of the Seventh Corps or the commander of the Tenth Corps than Wang Jian'an and Ye Fei, and he was General Xu Shiyou.
General Xu Shiyou is a fierce general in the history of our army, and in the camp of the Third Field Army, his seniority can be deeper than that of Ye Fei, Wang Jian'an and others. During the Red Fourth Front, Xu Shiyou was the commander of the army, and served as the deputy brigade commander of the 386 Brigade during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and was later transferred to Shandong to establish a base area, and since then, General Xu Shiyou has taken root in Shandong.
Before the establishment of the Third Field Army, Xu Shiyou was the commander of the famous Xu Tan Corps, leading the liberation of the Shandong region. At this time, Ye Fei, Wang Jian'an and others were still the commanders of the column, so in comparison, Xu Shiyou's position was a little higher than theirs. It should be known that during the Liberation War, the superiors originally wanted to divide the East China Field Army into two, with the first column, the fourth column, and the sixth column forming the Southward Corps, also known as the Outer Line Corps, with Su Yu as the commander of the corps, with su Yu as the commander of the corps, with the purpose of going south to establish a base area and prepare for the future liberation of Southern China. Another part of the Inner Line Corps was formed with Xu Shiyou as the commander of the corps. Although this last plan was not implemented, it also reflected Xu Shiyou's high internal qualifications in the East China Field Army.
Therefore, after the East China Field Army was reorganized into the Third Field Army, it was a pity that Xu Shiyou was not elected commander of the corps. In terms of contribution to the War of Liberation, the Ninth Column of Huaye, which he single-handedly brought out, was an ace main column with both offensive and defensive strength, and it was one of the columns that made great contributions to the liberation of Shandong.
During the Liberation War, General Xu Shiyou did not become the commander of the corps, but after winning the Liberation War, Xu Shiyou was the first general of the Third Field Army to serve as the commander of the Grand Military Region. From 1955, when he became the commander of the Nanjing Military Region, to his resignation in 1973, he served for 18 years, becoming the longest commander of the Grand Military Region after the founding of the People's Republic of China among the famous generals of the Three Wilds.