The Ministry of National Defense is the department responsible for national defense affairs, and it is reasonable to say that the leaders of the Ministry of Defense should all have military ranks, because the Ministry of Defense has the power to command the three services.
But it is no coincidence that among the successive ministers of national defense in our country, there is such a minister, he does not have a military rank, when the identity of other defense ministers is hung with the rank of general, only he has his name, and the rank of general is Geng Biao.
Although he held the post of minister of national defense for a relatively short time, he made great contributions to the construction of China's national defense cause.
A military general from a poor background
In 1909, Geng Biao was born in a poor family in Hunan, because of poverty, Geng Biao rarely had the opportunity to learn, because of poverty, Geng Biao suffered from the oppression of capitalism, but he established the determination to serve the motherland from an early age, which can be described as a humble country that does not dare to forget the worries of the country.
Geng Biao's youth was spent in turmoil, when China's national strength was weak, the people were not happy, the warlords were fighting, the people were worried about the sunset, and the suffering was unspeakable, and geng biao was the same.
But he came into contact with communism as a teenager, and under the guidance of Marxism, Geng Biao became a proletarian revolutionary fighter and a member of the Communist Youth League in 1925.
After joining the Communist Youth League, Geng Biao accepted the party's instructions to carry out a revolutionary armed struggle in his hometown of Hunan, where he was tasked with stealing guns from the enemy's arsenal with the other members of the team, which were eventually used to arm the Red Guards of the Workers of Shuikou Mountain.
After the completion of the mission, Geng Biao went to various parts of Hunan, led the peasant uprising, carried out armed struggle, and became a brave soldier in battle, even in the most difficult period of the party, Geng Biao still followed the party and withstood a huge test.
In 1928, Geng Biao officially joined our party, and after joining our party, Geng Biao led a guerrilla force to join the Red Army, replenishing the strength of the Red Army.
During this period, Geng Biao participated in many anti-encirclement and suppression struggles of the Red Army, and in the struggle, Geng Biao was brave and good at fighting, and his outstanding battle achievements made great contributions to the military struggle of the Red Army.
Under the Policy of the Nationalist Government, the Nationalist Government army concentrated its firepower on attacking the Soviet zone, and the Red Army failed in its counter-encirclement and suppression campaign and had to start the Long March.
During the Long March, Geng Biao still showed his bravery and fought bravely all the way to cover the retreat of the Red Army.
After the main force of the Red Army entered the nobility, Geng Biao led his troops to forcibly cross the Wu River at the river boundary crossing, taking the lead in capturing the natural danger loushan pass, and opening up a forward passage for the central column and large troops.
For this reason, the great man once wrote a letter praising Comrade Geng Biao on this matter, which shows Geng Biao's merits during the Long March of the Red Army. After the Red Army arrived in northern Shaanxi, Geng Biao was unfortunately wounded in battle, but he still took his wounds to the battlefield and continued to command the army to fight, like a god of war.
During this period, he did his best to eliminate the influence of Zhang Guotao's erroneous line and was a firm communist fighter.
With the full-scale outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the transformation of domestic contradictions, Geng Biao also focused on fighting the Japanese army.
In the Battle of Zhangjiakou, he commanded his troops to launch an attack on the Japanese puppet army entrenched in Zhangjiakou, and in one fell swoop recaptured this important town outside the Country that had been occupied by the Japanese army for many years, making great contributions to China's War of Resistance.
During the Liberation War, Geng Biao participated in countless battles, galloped on the battlefields of North China, and won many wars, laying the foundation for china and our party to win the war.
Outstanding soldier without rank
In 1955, the Party Central Committee held a ceremony to award titles to soldiers who had made meritorious contributions to the establishment of New China, but because Geng Biao was not in the army at that time, he was not awarded a title, and he also became a famous rankless general.
Outstanding diplomat
After the founding of New China, the struggle for military strength was no longer the main task of our party, and Geng Biao also broke away from the army and embarked on another battlefield, and this fighter was the diplomatic battlefield.
Under such conditions, Geng Biao served as China's diplomat for twenty years, when the newly founded New China was poor and weak and had no place to speak of in the international community.
He has successively served as Chinese Ambassador to the Kingdom of Sweden and Minister to Denmark and Finland, Ambassador to Pakistan, Member of the Party Committee and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ambassador to Myanmar and Albania.
During his tenure as a diplomat, Geng Biao, under the direct leadership of the premier, conscientiously implemented the foreign principles and policies of the central authorities while the ever-changing diplomatic field was in full swing at that time.
It has made major contributions to the diplomatic cause of creating and developing New China and established the lofty style of China's diplomats of the older generation.
Geng Biao was born with a straight nature and liked to tell the truth, and when he was ambassador to Albania, he directly proposed improvements to the central authorities after seeing the problems of China's diplomatic theory.
The great man read his suggestion and praised his behavior of telling the truth, and he commented on Geng Biao: "Geng Biao dares to tell the truth, reflects the real situation, and is a good ambassador."
Not many people can get praise from great people, but Geng Biao has received his praise twice, which shows the trust and love of great people for him.
Geng Biao did not fear at all, he fought against the hostile faction and others, resisted the pressure, and unswervingly implemented the foreign policy formulated by the central government.
His actions led to the resentment of the hostile faction, who brutally persecuted him, but even so, he remained unyielding and showed the fearlessness of the revolutionary fighters.
In accordance with the instructions of the premier, Geng Biao eliminated the influence of the erroneous thinking of the "Z" in the diplomatic field, creating a new situation in China's diplomacy.
He paid attention to accumulating experience and put forward some important principles for developing inter-party relations, which have become important theoretical guidance for China's diplomatic work.
On the night that the hostile faction was crushed, Geng Biao was appointed as the head of the central propaganda outlet. During this period, he did a great deal of work in the field of propaganda to eliminate the influence of the propaganda mouths long controlled by the hostile faction, which played a positive role in guiding the movement of the people.
He became prime minister and commanded the three armed forces
In March 1978, Comrade Geng Biao became vice premier, first responsible for China's diplomatic work, and later served as the standing committee member and secretary general of the Central Military Commission, assisting the chairman and vice chairman of the Central Military Commission in handling the daily work of the Central Military Commission.
In 1981, Geng Biao became Minister of National Defense, and the following year he became State Councilor.
From soldiers to diplomats, to propaganda, to vice premiers and defense ministers, Geng Biao has done a good job no matter what position he is in, and behind his excellent work ability is Geng Biao's pure patriotic feelings.