In 1955, when the first title was awarded at the founding of the People's Republic of China, he was known as the first person to advance into the northeast, and Zeng Kelin, who had made meritorious contributions to seizing the northeast after the victory of the war, was only awarded the rank of major general.
To this day, some people think that the title is too low!
In the early days of the Liberation War, Zeng Kelin served as the commander of the Third Column of the Northeast Democratic United Army, with more than 100,000 troops, which was an important part of the Northeast Democratic United Army.
Today, I will discuss with you why Zeng Kelin, who has made meritorious contributions to seizing the northeast, only awarded the rank of major general?
Some students cleverly explained that Zeng Kelin's name was not good, in Dongye you have to call Zeng Wanglin to do it, Zeng Kelin is definitely not OK, this is of course a joke, in fact, Lin Biao, who was the commander of the Northeast Field Army at the time, was really not very happy with him, and we will talk about this a little later.
After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Soviet Red Army that occupied the northeast surrendered the weapons of the Kwantung Army, and the northeast became a real power vacuum, and for the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, whoever could quickly seize the northeast could gain the lead. However, according to the Yalta Agreement and the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance, neither the Kuomintang nor the Communist army could go to the northeast before the Red Army retreated.
Chiang Kai-shek, who was bent on waging a civil war and thought that he had the odds of victory, was trying his best to find excuses and did not focus on seizing the northeast.
On the third day after the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, Commander-in-Chief Zhu De issued an order for the former northeast army general Lü Zhengcao in Shanxi to lead his troops to march toward Chahar and Rehe; Zhang Xuesi, a former general of the Northeast Army in Hebei, to march toward Liaoning; and Wan Yi, a former general of the Northeast Army in Shandong and Hebei, to march toward Liaoning.
It should be said that the former generals of the Northeast Army who insisted on fighting behind enemy lines after joining our army in north China were regarded as the best candidates to rush to the northeast to receive the surrender of the Japanese army.
However, in terms of geographical location, the Li Yunchang Department of the Jireliao Military Region, which was stationed in northern Hebei and western Liaoning at that time, was the closest armed force to the northeast, but this base area was a relatively weak area in the enemy's rear base area, and there were only 13,000 troops in full count.
However, it was this unit that became the first core force to seize the northeast, and Zeng Kelin, the commander of the Sixteenth Military Sub-district at the time, led a force of only more than 1,500 people from the Western Liaoning Corridor into Liaoning, becoming the "vanguard force" to seize the northeast.
However, there is a small episode in which When Zeng Kelin entered the northeast, he actually "disobeyed" the orders of the central authorities!
It turned out that after Zeng Kelin's departure, the Chinese Communists issued an order that the troops from all walks of life rushing to the northeast could not make a big show, could not play the name of the regular army, could not enter the big cities, and so on. However, Zeng Kelin's department had only one radio station, and due to the weak signal, it had already lost contact with the central authorities after opening the entrance to the customs, and had been marching in a high-profile manner and marching directly to Shenyang.
This "high-profile" approach also brought great convenience to Zeng Kelin, and when Zeng Kelin's troops arrived near Shanhaiguan, the reconnaissance force with only a few pistols collected more than four hundred puppet troops. And encountered the Soviet Red Army, the Red Army was also confused about this sudden army, but when the Zengkrin Department showed the epaulettes of the sickle and axe, it quickly mingled with the Soviet Red Army.
At that time, the Soviet Red Army wanted to be surrendered to Shanhaiguan, but the Japanese army at Shanhaiguan resisted stubbornly and refused to surrender, so the Soviet Red Army cooperated with Zeng Kelin's department to take Shanhaiguan in one fell swoop. This was the first time in the history of China and the Soviet Union that the division met, and it was also the first time that they fought hand in hand, and they successfully achieved success.
On September 5, Zeng Kelin had already marched into Shenyang in a mighty way, and at this time Zeng Kelin had already changed his shotgun for cannon, and the donkey he rode in the base area period, "shotgun for cannon", had become a high-headed horse in the East.
When the troops arrived in Shenyang, it caused a sensation among the people of Shenyang, and this was the first time that the people of Shenyang saw the regular Eighth Route Army, and it was also the first time they saw the first Chinese army after the victory of the War of Resistance.
Taking into account the "Yalta Agreement" and the "Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance", Major General Kafton of the Soviet Army stationed in Shenyang at that time did not allow Zeng Kelin's troops to enter Shenyang, and made some difficulties, but seeing the enthusiasm of the people of Shenyang, Major General Kaftun was worried about causing unnecessary trouble.
In the end, Zeng Kelin's troops were allowed to enter Shenyang, but he was advised not to carry out activities under the name of the regular army of the Eighth Route Army.
Despite some twists and turns in the process, Zeng Kelin was the first senior CHINESE officer to rush to a major northeastern city, and immediately formed the Shenyang garrison and began to collect enemy weapons on a large scale, and in just a few days, Zeng Kelin's army had grown to 20,000 people.
Zeng Kelin, who had been fighting hard for many years in Jireliao, had always faced the toughest Japanese puppet army, and the situation had always been very difficult, and only tens of thousands of people in the Jireliao base area was also a marginalized unit in the CCP's base area.
However, history has given the Jireliao Military Region an excellent opportunity to enter the northeast first with the geographical advantage of "getting the moon first near the water tower platform," and Zeng Kelin, who entered Shenyang, suddenly became a "rich man of the land," and he did not expect to become a key figure influencing the trend of history.
On the morning of September 14, without any notification from the Yan'an side, a Soviet plane stopped at the airstrip in Yan'an, and Zeng Kelin, who was still "calling the wind and rain" in the northeast a few days ago, magically appeared in Yan'an and brought "Soviet representatives" with him.
At that time, the CCP's attitude toward the Soviet Union was very vague, and it was not known whether the Soviet Union would continue to be ambiguous with the Kuomintang or choose to support the CCP. At this time, the "Soviet representative" came to Yan'an, which naturally attracted great attention, and Commander-in-Chief Zhu De personally received this "Soviet representative."
In fact, Zeng klin's words are a bit too big, this "Soviet representative" does not fully represent the Soviet Union, but the representative of Marshal Malinovsky, the supreme commander of the Red Army in the northeast at that time, Colonel Beruroso and the translator, Lieutenant Colonel Shedming.
Beiruroso immediately told Commander-in-Chief Judd, who had come to greet him, that his rank was not high, and that his trip was only to convey Marshal Malinowski's statement. Reiterating that neither the Eighth Route Army nor the Kuomintang Army could enter the northeast until the Red Army withdrew from the northeast, the eighth route army troops that had already entered the northeast requested the Chinese Communists to issue a retreat order.
In fact, the Soviet Union sent not only planes to Yan'an, but also planes to Chongqing, conveying the same instructions to chiang kai-shek's government.
It should be said that Commander-in-Chief Zhu De was rather disappointed in this remark of the Soviets, and of course, the top level of the Chinese Communists still hoped to get the real situation in the northeast from Zeng Kelin so that he could make plans early.
According to Zeng Kelin's report, the next day the CPC Central Committee issued a circular to the Central Bureaus, which can also be seen.
The circular said:
Zeng Kelin, commander of the Sixteenth Sub-district of the Hebei Eastern Military Region, was ordered to lead 1,500 men to the northeast after the surrender of the Japanese Kou, and had cooperated with the Red Army in laying down the cities of Shanhaiguan, Xingcheng, Suizhong Jinzhou, and Beizhen, and entered Shenyang City on September 6.
According to Zeng Kelin's report, a total of the following points are summarized:
The first is that Zeng Kelin's department has grown to more than 20,000 people, all of which are newly equipped, and there are Zeng Kelin's troops in every city from Shanhaiguan to Shenyang;
The second is that the 120,000-88th Route Army, which had been captured by the Northeast Army and worked as laborers in the northeast, had been organized into guerrilla groups and driven into Changchun;
The third is that there are a lot of various weapons and materials piled up in Shenyang and various places, and no one is guarding them; Zeng Kelin's department has occupied the main arsenals and warehouses in Shenyang, and it is said that hundreds of thousands of guns, cannons, front doors, and countless other military materials are countless;
The fourth point is that it is extremely easy to expand the army in the northeast, as long as a large number of people are called to join the army, there are still a large number of pseudo-organizations waiting to be reorganized.
These points mainly convey to the CHINESE Communists that the vanguard troops, Zeng Kelin, have become the local rich men, and now the central authorities should quickly send troops into the northeast to carry out large-scale expansion, and there will be as many guns and people as possible.
Finally, he reiterated several points that need to be paid attention to in the northeast, such as not entering the city, not using the name of the regular army, but being able to carry out activities outside the big city, and so on.
It can be said that Zeng Kelin brought a shot in the arm to the central authorities, which made the central authorities issue an important policy decision, that is, to abandon all the base areas in the south, go all out to seize the northeast, and finally make up the strategic idea of "developing to the north and defending to the south."
At that time, the Chinese Communists dispatched 20,000 cadres and 100,000 troops to the northeast, but a slightly embarrassing thing happened, the Chinese communists believed that the Zeng Kelin Department had controlled quite a lot of military weapons in the northeast, so the troops who rushed to the northeast could go to the northeast to get more advanced weapons without carrying weapons.
In fact, Zeng Kelin did obtain a large amount of equipment in the previous half a month, but Zeng Kelin did not have a long time in Shenyang, and the weapons he received were limited, but he had never seen so much equipment before, overestimated the equipment that could be received, and far from reaching the situation that Zeng Kelin said that "weapons everywhere".
After the establishment of the Northeast Bureau of the COMMUNISTs was completed, coupled with the change in the situation, the Soviet Union failed to hand over all its weapons to the CCP, resulting in the troops going to the northeast with excessively high expectations, empty-handed, but without the necessary weapons.
After arriving in Shenyang, Peng Zhen called Yan'an and said: "The armory I am guarding has only 75 mountain guns and 11 guns, 70 mortars and 5 million bullets. ”
Many people sent the complaint to Zeng Kelin's body, believing that Zeng Kelin had falsely reported intelligence, which led to everyone being unprepared and falling into this embarrassing situation. In fact, although Zeng Kelin exaggerated the facts, as long as the army entered the northeast, it had already gained the opportunity, and from the general direction, there was no problem.
Later, the Soviet army was stimulated by the US army to assist the Kuomintang army to land in the northeast, and directly handed over the weapons of the Kwantung Army to the Eighth Route Army that drove into the northeast on a large scale, which greatly solved the urgent need.
However, there was only one thing that made the TOP level of the CPC very dissatisfied with Zeng Kelin, because part of the Eighth Route Army that later entered the northeast was really short of weapons, so Lin Biao asked Zeng Kelin's department to give up some weapons and ammunition, but zeng Kelin refused, which even led to the Northeast Democratic Coalition Army frequently falling into a passive situation in the early stage of the northeast battlefield.
Some people even blamed the defeat in the Siping Campaign on Zeng Kelin's body, and in the later period, when Lin Biao was the number one party, government, and army in the northeast, Zeng Kelin suffered, and during the Liberation War, Zeng Kelin's position did not rise but fell.
Because Zeng Kelin seized the opportunity when he left the customs, his troops exceeded 100,000 people, and with this military force as the mainstay, it was reorganized into the third column of the Democratic Coalition Army, and Zeng Kelin naturally served as the commander of the column.
However, we should be able to see that at the beginning of the exit, Zeng Kelin's troop base was too small, a large number of puppet troops and bandit troops were absorbed, the combat effectiveness was obviously worrying, and frequent defeats on the northeast battlefield in the early days of the Liberation War could not be well completed.
Under such circumstances, Lin Biao sent Han Xianchu, the deputy commander of the Fourth Column, to assist Zeng Kelin in the Third Column.
In the Battle of Sibao Linjiang, the two men had differences in the command of the campaign, and Zeng Kelin believed that in the battle, it was necessary to pick a soft persimmon pinch and attack the weaker enemy's newly organized 22nd Division first, but Han Xianchu believed that it was necessary to gnaw hard bones first and fight the stronger enemy 89th Division first.
Normally speaking, Zeng Kelin is the main post, Han Xianchu is the deputy post, and it should be mainly Zeng Kelin, but this matter has reached Lin Biao, and for Han Xianchu's strength, Lin Biao knows it, so he finally adopted Han Xianchu's battle plan, and the result was as expected, and the three columns fought a big victory.
In the autumn of 1947, Han Xianchu was promoted to commander of the Third Column, while Zeng Kelin was first reappointed commander of the Liaonan Military Region, and then transferred to the Seventh Column as deputy commander, giving Deng Hua a hand.
This is an obvious demotion, but in the Northeast Field Army, only look at ability, do not look at achievements, no matter how much merit you make, as long as your ability is not good, you have to stand on the side.
When Deng Hua was promoted to commander of the Fifteenth Corps, he did not promote Zeng Kelin to the commander of the column, but instead promoted the chief of staff Fang Qiang to the commander of the seventh column. Later, when the Seventh Column was reorganized into the Forty-fourth Army, Zeng Kelin only served as deputy commander.
Considering Zeng Kelin's embarrassing status, Lin Biao decided to let him serve as the commander of the tank division, and later let Zeng Kelin learn to fly, and after two years of study, he became the commander of the Eighth Air Division, and also retained the treatment of deputy army. Although superficially demoted, we all know that mechanized units are a little smaller and have fewer commanders, but they are very important on the battlefield.
The reflection of the military position is that from 1946 to 1955 there was no promotion, but was transferred from the front line and was not reused.
When the title was first awarded at the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1955, according to Zeng Kelin's position at that time, only one major general rank could be awarded.
Although Zeng Kelin joined the Red Army very early, the highest level of the regimental chief of staff during the Red Army period was only the commander of the military sub-district, ostensibly at the level of division commander, but in fact the number of units may not even have a complete brigade.
Because of the superior conditions of entering the northeast first, the army was developed to more than 100,000 people, but when the fight began, it was found that it was not good at large corps combat, and Lin Biao's eyes could not tolerate sand, so it was marginalized.
Whether Zeng Kelin could not fight the war, or whether Lin Biao deliberately suppressed Zeng Kelin, or Zeng Kelin's "exaggerated" intelligence brought great trouble to the People's Liberation Army that had just entered the northeast.
For these doubts, Zeng Kelin said that he did not care, nor did he complain about the party's arrangements, he was the son of a peasant, he could become a general, he was already very satisfied, thanks to the party's cultivation, it was very glorious.
In 2007, General Zeng Kelin completed his 94-year-old open-minded life.