What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
General Shaw, who had been a warrior, was awarded the rank of general in 1955, which was slightly lower. Because the Eighth Route Army had only 3 main divisions during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, there were a total of 6 main and deputy division commanders, of which 5 were main and deputy division commanders became marshals, and only Xiao Ke, the deputy commander of the 120th Division, was awarded the rank of general. Why was General Shaw awarded the rank of General? Let's take a look at the reasons.
One: Shaw, who threw himself into the revolution
Xiao Ke, born in 1907, is a native of Tiancun, Jiahe Pantou, Hunan.
Shaw came from a family of scholars, and although the economic conditions were not very good, the family's education was very good. Since he was a child, he has read the Four Books and Five Classics, and has attended a higher primary school, and is a relatively literate general in the People's Liberation Army, known as a "Confucian General".
In 1926, Xiao Ke was admitted to the Gendarmerie Training Institute in Guangzhou. The gendarmerie training institute was incorporated into the Whampoa Military Academy, so Xiao Ke also became a cadet of the Whampoa IV. "Man's fate is destined by heaven", the students of Huangpu Phase IV have caught up with a good fate. The students in the previous periods also had the experience of failing the crusade twice, and even lost a lot of people. However, the huangpu phase IV took the last train of the Northern Expedition, and the war was like a bamboo, and the merits were constantly increasing.
However, with the success of the Northern Expedition, Chairman Chiang's ambitions swelled sharply and he betrayed the revolution. Shaw then threw himself into the torrent of opposition to the Kuomintang reactionaries and joined the Communist Party in May 1927. In August 1927, Xiao Ke followed Ye Ting to participate in the Nanchang Uprising, and after the failure of the uprising, he returned to his hometown to mobilize the grass-roots masses.
When Jinggangshan met the division, Xiao Ke grasped the training of the troops, making the third column one of the main forces of the Red Fourth Army (ps: among them, Yang Chengwu, Liu Yalou, Wang Jingjing and others were his subordinates). In October 1932, Shaw served as the commander of the Red Eighth Army, but unfortunately the Red Eighth Army did not exist for long, otherwise Xiao Ke would not have been just a general. In July 1934, Xiao Ke became the commander of the Red Sixth Army, responsible for opening up the passage of the Long March.
In November 1934, Xiao Ke, with the cooperation of the Red Second Army, ate two brigades of the Nationalist Army, destroyed one brigade and one regiment, and killed Li Yanling, the commander of the Nationalist Brigade, and captured the chief of staff Zhou Zhixian alive. On the road of the Red Army's Long March, Xiao Ke made a significant contribution to the preservation of the red army's strength, so he was elected a member of the Central Military Commission in 1936.
Two: Xiao Ke during the War of Resistance
In 1937, the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army accepted the reorganization and became the Eighteenth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army. At the beginning of the departure from northern Shaanxi for the anti-Japanese battlefield, the Eighth Route Army had only three main divisions, namely the 115th, 120th, and 129th Divisions. The commander of the 120th Division was He Long, and the deputy division commander was Xiao Ke, and from then on, Xiao Ke cooperated with He Long's work for a long time.
At that time, the 120th Division sent troops to Shanxi, and Xiao Ke made outstanding contributions in the creation and consolidation of the base area in northwestern Jin. In January 1940, Xiao Ke led his troops to counterattack the encirclement and suppression of the Japanese puppet army, which lasted 14 days, annihilated more than 800 Japanese puppet troops, and shot down an aircraft. During the consolidation of the Pingxi base area and the opening up of the Pingbei base area, Xiao Ke fought fiercely with the Japanese army hundreds of times and annihilated more than 5,500 Japanese puppet troops. A large base area was established in the Jire Chaliao area, which created favorable conditions for the future liberation of the northeast.
In 1942, Xiao Ke served as the deputy commander of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, assisting Commander Nie in strengthening the Jin-Cha-Ji base area. In many battles with the Japanese army, Xiao Ke summarized guerrilla tactics such as mine warfare and tunnel warfare, and began to promote them to the base areas. In 1943, Xiao Ke became the acting commander of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region.
Three: Xiao Ke during the liberation period
As the deputy commander of the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army, Xiao Ke summed up a lot of experience in the war, but unfortunately missed the early battles of the Liberation War. In May 1948, Xiao Ke responded to the instructions of organizing "running a large military school" and participated in the establishment of North China Military and Political University, concurrently serving as vice president.
Although in May 1949 Xiao Ke was transferred to the first chief of staff of the Fourth Field Army, he crossed the river with the army to the south. However, at that time, the combat orders were mainly from the commanders of the Fourth Field Army, and Xiao Ke rarely took the lead alone, so there were fewer military achievements.
In November 1954, Shaw became Deputy Minister of Defense. In April 1955, Xiao Ke concurrently served as the deputy director of the Training Directorate of the People's Liberation Army, so he was rated as a regular corps in the cadre rating.
In 1955, Shaw was awarded the rank of general and became the first general.
Four: The reason Why Shaw is a general
1: The reason for the Red Fourth Front
During the Western Expedition, Xiao Ke's troops were severely reduced, from more than 10,000 to 4,000. At that time, Zhang Guotao of the Red Fourth Front admired Xiao Ke very much, so Xiao Ke became the commander of Zhang Guotao's army. It was precisely because of Zhang Guotao's involvement that the generals of the Red Fourth Front were suppressed when they conferred titles, and Xiao Ke was more or less affected.
2: Transferred to the Chief of Staff of the Fourth Field Army
At the time of the reorganization of the army, the 120th Division was first changed to the Jinsui Field Army, and later became the First Field Army. As the deputy commander of the 120th Division, if Xiao Ke went to the Jinsui Field Army, it would be better to award the title. However, because of his disagreement with the commander of the Jinsui Field Army, Xiao Ke only became the vice president of a military and political university. The battle has a name, but there is no actual command. In '49, Shaw went to the Fourth Field Army, and he was not alone. The number of marshals and generals was limited to each field army, and it was difficult for him to get a quota for the fourth field army, so he was affected.
Of course, General Xiao Ke was very calm about these things, and once said: Many comrades-in-arms died in the war for the birth of new China. I should have been killed a long time ago, and I can judge or not, and I can judge any title.
This attitude of high wind and bright festivals has also made people praise and left a widely circulated good story.