In 1955, our army began to implement the rank system, and army building also officially began to advance toward institutionalization.
However, since this is the first time a title has been awarded, military district cadres usually look to people above the rank of major general to see how they treat their ranks.
Everyone came out of the rain of bullets, and many didn't care about the rank, they felt that it was already an honor to be able to lead the rank alive compared to the sacrificial comrades.
However, there are also some who care about the level of the military, which is not wrong, after all, the rank is a symbol of honor.
However, when the superior asked Kong Qingde for his views on the rank, he had planned to award him the rank of lieutenant general, but Kong Qingde said that he was not qualified enough, and it was enough to give it to a colonel.
Kong Qingde
In terms of seniority, he was sufficient to award lieutenant generals
Ranks are not arbitrarily arranged by leaders, but should be based on facts, and leaders will consider and decide based on their past experiences and contributions.
Therefore, it is also appropriate to grant Kong Qingde the rank of lieutenant general.
In 1928, Kong Qingde joined the National Revolutionary Army in order to seek a way to survive, and in three years, he heard about many glorious deeds of the Red Army and felt that it was the poor who were there.
Coincidentally, the battalion commander of his battalion, Wei Mengxian, revolted in Lu'an, and he became a Red Army as he wished.
After making the right choice, Kong Qingde fought more and more bravely, from soldier to company commander, he did not spend too much time, you know, the line of fire promotion, basically is the death squad, fortunately Kong Qingde is lucky enough to survive.
In the Battle of Wangjiaweizi, Kong Qingde led the whole company of soldiers to bravely move forward, and he was also hit by a local shell on the door of his head, but he did not care at all, and let the hygienist simply bandage it and returned to the battlefield.
And this scar followed him all his life.
After the Red Fourth Front entered northern Sichuan, the Kuomintang launched a "three-way siege", and Kong Qingde's company successfully completed the task of covering the rear of the flank, which also made him pay special attention to the leadership.
After merging with the Central Red Army, Kong Qingde was also promoted to the commander of the 36th Regiment, and when crossing the meadow, Kong Qingde gave his horse to the wounded to ride, and he was reluctant to use it.
In the battle of the private seat just out of the meadow, Kong Qingde was wounded again, and a bullet passed through his left chest, and finally completed the long march on a stretcher.
Therefore, these feats during the Red Army period also laid the foundation for Kong Qingde's position.
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army, and Kong Qingde became the commander of the 1st Battalion of the 769th Regiment of the 385th Brigade of the 129th Division.
In the famous "Night Attack on Yangmingbao" battle, the 3rd Battalion went to attack the airfield, while the 1st Battalion was responsible for containing the Japanese army, and Kong Qingde led his troops to successfully complete the task, and finally ensured the smooth operation of the whole operation.
Later, due to the fierce firepower of the Japanese army, the Eighth Route Army mainly began to fight guerrilla warfare, and Kong Qingde's troops were also active in the Area of Xiyang and Pingding, and he led his troops to launch surprise attacks many times, often making the Japanese army hold their heads and scurry and be caught off guard.
During this period, there was a very special work that could reflect the trust of his superiors in Kong Qingde: escorting U.S. military observers to the Jin-Cha-Ji region for an inspection.
This matter is of great importance to the image of the Eighth Route Army, and the superior attaches great importance to it, so Kong Qingde also made a military order to ensure that the task was completed on time.
Since not too many fighters can be brought, this escort operation must be foolproof, and the slightest mistake will be a failure.
After being attacked by the enemy during the day, Kong Qingde decided decisively to take a small road, let everyone remain silent, and all act at night, and in this way, he successfully sent the American observer Carlson to his destination.
Carlson later wrote a book about the Chinese Revolution and the War of Resistance, which also mentioned in detail the history of Kong Qingde's escort.
In March 1938, in the "Shentouling Ambush Battle" that excited the whole country, Kong Qingde fought another outstanding "enticing battle", when the 769th Regiment was responsible for breaking into Licheng, kong Qingde's 1st Battalion entered in the early morning, beating the enemy to the point of confusion, and then all withdrew before dawn, and finally caused the pursuing enemy to fall into the Shentouling ambush circle.
In January 1939, the enemy increased the "sweeping" of the base area, which brought great difficulties to the anti-Japanese resistance, the reconnaissance officers of Kong Qingde's battalion headquarters found that the Japanese army carried a mountain cannon, Kong Qingde immediately selected 30 people to form a commando team, carried weapons into the village where the Japanese army was stationed, and successfully dragged the mountain cannon away after hacking all the Japanese troops with a large knife.
This was also the first mountain cannon captured by the 129th Division in North China, and Liu Bocheng was very happy when he heard about it, which was called "No guns, no cannons, the enemy built them for us." ”
In the campaign to attack Liaoxian County, Kong Qingde's right hand was once again blown off by a shell, and due to his serious injuries, he was also quickly sent to the 129th Division Hospital for treatment, fortunately, after everyone's efforts, Kong Qingde's hand can still be used.
By 1942, the revolutionary base areas were further expanded, the personnel of the army were replenished, and the superiors decided to transfer experienced cadres to strengthen the local armed forces, and at this time Kong Qingde was also appointed commander of the Third Army Sub-district, and the conditions for the meeting were also more difficult, Kong Qingde commanded production on the one hand, and commanded the operation on the other.
By 1943, he was also promoted to commander until the end of the War of Resistance.
It can be said that the period of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was the most rapid process of Kong Qingde's growth, and with this resume, there was no problem in conferring the rank of general after the founding of the People's Republic of China.
During the Liberation War, Kong Qingde's performance was even better.
Immediately after Chiang Kai-shek tore up the peace agreement, Kong Qingde immediately led his Fourth Brigade to the front, from the Longhai Road to Juye, beating the enemy to the head.
In the Battle of Dingtao City in 1947, the Fourth Brigade crossed the Yellow River to the south and annihilated all the enemy troops who escaped from Dingtao.
Under the strategic deployment of "advancing into Dabie Mountain", they even more painfully destroyed a large number of heavy weapons, packed lightly, and drove all the way to the Huadian area on the north bank of the Huai River.
The following year, the main force of the Kuomintang army drew troops from southern Henan and other places to the north, and Kong Qingde personally commanded the 28th Brigade to attack Fancheng, liberating Xiangyang all the way and capturing Kang Ze, the commander of the Kuomintang 15th Appeasement District.
Kang ze
By February 1949, the army had undergone a major adjustment, and the Tongbai Military Region became the 58th Army of the People's Liberation Army, and Kong Qingde began to serve as the commander of the army.
After the founding of New China, he came to the Nanjing Military Academy as one of the first batch of high-ranking cadres to study, and when he came here, Kong Qingde, who had experienced hundreds of battles and was wounded several times, would always be remembered by history.
Such a brilliant resume, but only a lieutenant general
In 1955, Liu Xingyuan, director of the Cadre Department of the Central and Southern Military Region, made a phone call to Kong Qingde and briefly introduced some of the conditions for cadres to evaluate military ranks.
Liu Xingyuan finally asked Kong Qingde's opinions and thoughts on military ranks.
But mentioning this, Kong Qingde said: "First of all, I also thank the organization for its affirmation and concern for me, but as a survivor who came out of the war era, I was already very lucky to be able to catch up with the awarding and awarding, no matter what kind of military rank I was awarded, I will be very satisfied." ”
After hearing these words, Liu Xingyuan still wanted to hear his specific opinions, but Kong Qingde said: "No matter what I give, I can accept it, and it is good to be able to award a school official, a colonel or a colonel." ”
Kong Qingde later recalled these past events, and he always believed that there was no joke at that time, although these things were related to his honor, and it was impossible to have no ideas, but Kong Qingde was thinking about these issues from another angle.
He was wounded several times in the war, whether it was a shrapnel hit the forehead or a bullet through the lungs, as long as the luck was worse, he would die on the road of revolution, but now, he can still live to watch the growth of the new China, which is already a very honored thing.
Moreover, from the perspective of the trajectory of life, Kong Qingde has this kind of idea, and indeed can represent a group of people.
He grew up from an ordinary peasant family in Qufu, Shandong Province, and because there was really no other way to live, he embarked on the road of joining the army, and his thinking changed from "revenge for his family" to "liberating the people" and regarded him as his life's goal.
He said: "Under the leadership of the party, my thinking has been constantly strengthened, and I have experienced two snowy mountains, three over meadows, and also experienced a rain of guns and bullets, and several times I was seriously injured and could not die, but many comrades fell on the eve of victory. ”
From these words, it can be seen that after these ideas come out, the rank on the shoulder is no longer important, and the ideal is the most important compared with these.
Moreover, the story of active demotion does not exist when a rank is awarded.
For example, Kong Qingde became a division commander during the Red Army period, but after the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army, and in order to achieve the most important goals, everyone did not care about personal gains and losses, almost everyone chose to "demote themselves to the third level", then there was no need to do any ideological work at all, and everyone had a bottom in mind.
After the founding of New China, everyone's life gradually improved, and there was no need to care about these things at all, the goals of a stage were achieved, and the gains and losses were not important.
At that time, the country's 6 military regions were gradually transformed into 12 major military regions, Kong Qingde was also ordered to go to the Wuhan Military Region to participate in the formation work and share the task of military training, and the superiors also finally determined that Kong Qingde was still awarded the rank of lieutenant general, even if no matter how much he asked for demotion, the school officer was really a bit excessive.
Considering that the institutionalization of military ranks had just advanced, Kong Qingde did not shirk it any longer, and finally accepted the general star on his shoulder.
The day of December 15, 1955, was the day that General Kong Qingde will never forget.
On that day, the Wuhan Military Region held a ceremony to confer the title, and the place was in the auditorium of the Wuhan Municipal Party Committee, and Vice Premier Li Xiannian specially attended the ceremony, and about a thousand people participated in this grand gathering.
On behalf of Chairman Mao, Li Xiannian awarded the rank of general to Chen Zaidao, commander of the Wuhan Military Region, and lieutenant general Kong Qingde and Tan Puren on behalf of Premier Zhou.
Li Xiannian
In fact, after that phone call, Kong Qingde forgot about the military rank, and before this day, he had no idea what kind of rank he would be awarded and what kind of medal he would receive, and he had never inquired.
He recalled: "I was a little surprised to hear that I had been awarded the rank of lieutenant general, but more of a surprise and excitement. ”
On that day, Kong Qingde walked up to the stage with the pace of a soldier, and when he saluted, he also worked extra hard, and the golden lieutenant general's epaulettes and several medals also made him feel the heavy weight.
After the ceremony, everyone put on the new dress to take photos, and held a celebration dinner at the Victory Hotel in Hankou that night, at this time, he once again thought of those comrades who could not attend the event because of sacrifice, thought of the ups and downs of these years, and had many thoughts in his heart, and he frequently raised a glass, which was also considered to soothe his emotions.
After three years, Kong Qingde really had a chance to "demote".
In 1958, the Wuhan Military Region held a party congress, when Chairman Mao also came to Wuhan to inspect the work, during which the chairman received all the delegates, Kong Qingde happened to stand in the front row, and also had a precious group photo with Chairman Mao, which was also one of the things he was most proud of.
The party congress made a series of decisions, including responding to Chairman Mao's call to go down to the grass-roots level to become soldiers, and the 18 generals in the meeting all expressed their attitude and took the initiative to apply for the next company.
At the end of October of that year, Kong Qingde took off his lieutenant general's uniform and wore a soldier badge with the symbol of a soldier, and he was 46 years old that year.
Everyone came to a certain military region in Henan by train and car, and the leaders of the division rushed over to report their work to the leaders, but everyone said: "We are here to exercise as soldiers, not to come to squat, we do not have command rights in our hands, and you do not have to report." ”
During this time, all people did not receive special care, and the ordinary soldiers implemented the "five same" system, as a result, the company commander of the local unit was not at ease to let General Kong Qingde stand guard, and specially arranged several people to secretly protect Kong Qingde, after being discovered, Kong Qingde also seemed helpless, simply applied to go to the cooking class to cook.
After coming to the cooking class, whether it is cooking rice or front steaming, Kong Qingde can be said to be doing everything, and the small soldiers on the side feel very strange, Kong Qingde replied: "When soldiers can't cook, they can do it, during the Red Army, we all make our own food to eat." ”
These things are also enough to see that Kong Qingde has never felt superior because he is a lieutenant general, and he has always put his original intention first.
In 1983, Kong Qingde retired according to the treatment of the main post of the Grand Military Region, and after retirement, he was often concerned about the construction of the national army.
Moreover, General Kong Qingde was also a well-known longevity old man, living for 100 years.
reference
Hou Hongzhi. Kong Qingde's life and death escorted the US military officer Carlson[J]. Archive Memory, 2017(08):21-23.
ZHANG Wei. The 100-year-old life of "Iron Mouth General" Kong Qingde[J]. Journal of Party School of Changchun Municipal Party Committee, 2015(03):45-48.
Kong Qingde,Zheng Zhubin,Gao Fei. "It is very good to be able to confer the title of school official"[J]. Fujian Party History Monthly, 2009(13):16-18.