The great title awarded in 1955 occupies a very important position in the history of the People's Liberation Army. This is the first time that our army has been awarded a title, and it also marks the further modernization and regularization of our army. At that time, the number of people conferred titles was so large that the stars would shine, which was extremely rare in the world's military history!
At that time, a total of ten marshals, ten generals, 55 generals (later wang Jian'an and Li Jukui were later awarded as generals, a total of 57), 177 lieutenant generals and 1360 major generals (including those who were later promoted), that is to say, from 1955 to 1965, the generals who were awarded and promoted in the period from 1955 to 1965 were collectively called founding generals.
These generals all came out of the flames of war, and they have made great contributions to the Chinese revolution, and there are also relatively special ones, such as Marshal Lin Shuai is cultivating, Liu Shuai is busy with the Nanjing Military Academy, and Ye Shuai is preparing for military exercises. Among the generals, Chen Mingren and Dong Qiwu, the generals of the Chinese Army uprising in the War of Liberation, were awarded the rank of general, and there were also special generals of our party, such as Li Kenong, who was a representative of the secret front, who was awarded the rank of general. And Ulan Fu and Yan Hongyan did not have the rank of general and were awarded generals, etc., which are more special.
Of course, these generals were given military ranks well-deservedly, and at that time, when the titles were awarded, there were also awards, and medals were awarded to those who had made significant contributions to the revolution, and these medals were divided into medals and medals, which was the honorary "certificate" awarded to meritorious personnel!
In fact, medals existed as early as the Red Army period, for example, during the Red Army period, the Soviet government issued the Red Star Medal, and the Red Star Medal at that time was divided into three classes, of which the first class was the highest. Red Star Medal, First Class: Awarded to a person who has made a special meritorious service in leading all or one of the advances of a revolutionary war. Second Class Red Star Medal: Awarded to a person who has transferred the tide of battle and won a great victory in a certain battle. Third Class Red Star Medal: Awarded to a person who has often performed heroic and resolute.
Some people even joked that the first-class Red Star Medal can even be said to be a death-free gold medal, of course, this is a joke, but it can be seen that the Red Star Medal is precious, such as Zhu Laozong Peng and Premier Zhou were all awarded the First Class Red Star Medal at that time, and others who were awarded the Red Star Medal were also senior generals of our army. In 1955, the award of titles was more standardized for meritorious personnel, and special resolutions were formed.
On February 12, 1955, the 7th session of the First National People's Congress made the "Resolution on The Provision of Medals and Medals awarded to meritorious personnel of the Chinese People's Liberation Army during the Chinese Revolutionary War", which awarded the August 1st Medal and the August 1st Medal, the Independence Freedom Medal and the Independence Freedom Medal, the Liberation Medal and the Liberation Medal to those who participated in the revolutionary war during the Red Army period, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the Liberation War.
At that time, the medals were mainly divided according to the meritorious personnel in the three revolutionary periods, and were divided into medals and medals, the medals were divided into grades, and the medals were not divided, of course, the most famous was the medals, today we mainly talk about the three medals awarded at that time. The medals are the Order of Bayi, the Order of Independence and Freedom and the Liberation Medal, each of which is divided into three grades and awarded according to the contributions and positions of each period.
The August 1st Medal is awarded to persons who participated in the revolutionary war during the period of the Agrarian Revolutionary War and who participated in the revolutionary war without gross negligence.
The First Class August 1st Medal was awarded to cadres of the Red Army at or above the division level, the Second Class Bayi Medal was awarded to the regimental and battalion level cadres at that time, and the Eighth Order of the Third Class was more widely distinguished, the Red Second and Red Fourth Fronts in 1935, the Red Second and Red Fourth Fronts before September 30, 1935, the Red Army in Northern Shaanxi and the 25th Army of the Red Army, and before July 6, 1937, the personnel below the company level who insisted on guerrilla warfare in various places and participated in the Northeast Anti-Japanese Coalition Army.
August 1st Medal
The Medal of Independence and Freedom is awarded to persons who participated in the Revolutionary War without gross negligence during the War of Resistance Against Japan.
Among them, the Order of Independence and Freedom of the First Class conferred on the Red Army cadres at the brigade level and equivalent to the brigade level when it was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army, the detachment level and equivalent to the detachment level and above in the New Fourth Army, and the cadres who served as cadres of the guerrilla army level and the new Fourth Army division level and above before September 2, 1945.
The Order of Independence and Freedom of the Second Degree was awarded to brigade and regimental ranks and their equivalent cadres during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and the Order of Independence and Freedom of the Third Degree was awarded to the battalion, company and equivalent cadres at that time.
In other words, the independence medal is eligible for at least one company or equivalent position during the War of Resistance.
The Order of Liberation is awarded to persons who participated in the revolutionary war without gross negligence during the Liberation War.
Among them, the Liberation Medal of the First Class was awarded to the cadres at or above the military level and its equivalent at that time, the Liberation Medal of the Second Class was awarded to the division level and its equivalent cadres at that time, and the Liberation Medal of the Third Degree was awarded to the regimental and battalion level and its equivalent cadres at that time.
Of course, the generals of the Nationalist uprising are also awarded the Liberation Medal, such as Dong Qiwu and Chen Mingren, who have a first-class liberation medal. According to the regulations at that time, a total of 144 people were awarded three first-class medals, all 10 marshals and 10 generals were awarded three first-class medals, and 47 of the 57 admirals were awarded three first-class medals. Of the 177 lieutenant generals, 59 were awarded three first-class medals, only 15 of the founding major generals received three first-class medals, and one colonel received three first-class medals.
Liberation Medal
In this way, only 142 people received three first-class medals at the same time, so what about two more? These two people are more special, they have no rank, but they were awarded the Order of August 1 of the First Class, the Order of Independence and Freedom of the First Class, and the Liberation Medal of the First Class, which were Feng Baiju and Zhou Baozhong, who had already transferred to local work at that time.
What is so special about these two that they can be awarded three first-class medals at the same time, and you know that many generals at that time were not able to obtain the honor? Did they deserve these three first-class medals? Let's take a look!
Feng Baiju
Perhaps many people have not heard of this general, but people have indeed made great contributions to the Chinese revolution, and there is only one word, that is, he is the representative of the Qiongya Column. During the Red Army period, there were not only the three main forces of the Red Army, but also the Qiongya Column and other Red Army units.
Feng Baiju served as the commander of the Qiongya Independent Second Division during the Red Army period, and the commander and political commissar of the Independent Column of the Qiongya People's Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Force, which shows that Feng Baiju held positions at the division level and above during the agrarian revolution, so he could get the August 1st Medal of the First Class!
During the All-out War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Feng Baiju served as the secretary of the Qiongya Special Committee of the Communist Party of China and the chief of the Independent Corps and political commissar. In February 1941, he was appointed Chairman of the Qiongya Military Commission of the Communist Party of China. These two posts belong to the senior positions of the local guerrilla forces and therefore meet the conditions for the award of the Order of Independence and Freedom of the First Class. During the Liberation War, Feng Baiju served as the commander and political commissar of the Qiongya Column of the People's Liberation Army, and met the conditions for the award of the First Class Liberation Medal, so he was awarded three First Class Medals.
Zhou Baozhong
Although General Zhou Baozhong did not participate in the awarding of titles, he was indeed well-known, he was the main founder of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Coalition Army and one of the main leaders of the anti-Japanese guerrilla war in the northeast region, and he still stood firm in the northeast at the most difficult moments, and was a capable general.
During the agrarian revolution, Zhou Baozhong served as the commander of the Northeast Anti-Japanese League and the commander-in-chief of the Second Road, and this position was really not low, it was a position above the division level, which met the conditions for the award of the August 1st Medal of the First Class.
During the All-out War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he served as the commander-in-chief and political commissar of the Second Route Army of the Northeast Anti-Japanese League, which met the conditions for the award of the Order of Independence and Freedom of the First Class. During the Liberation War, Zhou Baozhong served as deputy commander of the Northeast Democratic United Army, deputy commander of the Northeast Military Region and commander of the Jilin Military Region, which fully met the conditions for the awarding of the First Class Liberation Medal, so he was awarded three First Class Medals.
Looking at the countless personnel who were not serving in the army at that time, only these two were awarded three first-class medals, of course, this is an affirmation of their merits, but also their honor, but also countless martyrs with blood and lives in exchange. Both generals were from the army and were representative of the flag. If it were not for the fact that they had transferred to local work at that time, as representatives of one side, they had been awarded the rank of general more than enough.