What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
At the 1955 award ceremony, Su Yu, Xu Haidong, Chen Geng, Luo Ruiqing, Huang Kecheng, Xiao Jinguang, Tan Zheng, Zhang Yunyi, Wang Shusheng, Xu Guangda and other ten founding generals were awarded the rank of general. We know that whether it is the ten marshals or the ten generals, their list composition is more to consider the level of seniority, and to maintain the balance of each system, military capabilities are secondary. However, the ten marshals and ten generals are indeed outstanding founding generals, some of whom are good at military affairs and some who are good at political work, and have made outstanding contributions to the founding of new China in various fields.
So, if we only talk about military level, who is the strongest of the ten generals? The author will start from the military careers of the ten major generals and rank their military capabilities.
Tenth place: Luo Ruiqing. During his revolutionary career, General Luo Ruiqing was mainly responsible for political work and the work of defending the Central Committee, and served as the political commissar of the Red Fourth Army, the director of the Political Protection Bureau of the Red First Army, the director of the Political Department of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, and the director of the Political Department of the Second Corps of the North China Military Region. The Red Fourth Army, the first military first-class designation of the people's army established after zhu Maohui division, has an extremely important position in the people's army, and Luo Ruiqing's ability to become the political commissar of the Red Fourth Army fully demonstrates his rank and contribution. He was awarded the rank of general after the founding of the People's Republic of China, which can be said to be without any controversy, but because Luo Ruiqing rarely served as a military commander, he could only rank in this position.
Ninth place: Tan Zheng. Tan Zheng is a model of political work in our army; he has participated in the revolution since the autumn harvest uprising, and his seniority is also very old; in his long revolutionary career, Tan Zheng has served as director of the political department of the Red First Division, director of the political department of the Red 12th Army, deputy political commissar and director of the political department of the Jinsui United Defense Army, director of the political department of the Northeast Democratic Coalition Army, and director of the political department of the Fourth Field Army. Tan Zheng's political work ability is very outstanding, but the military commander is not his strength, so he ranks ninth.
Eighth place: Wang Shusheng. Wang Shusheng's seniority is also very old, he joined the party during the Great Revolution, participated in the jute uprising, served as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Red Fourth Front, and was one of the founders of the Eyu-Anhui Soviet Region. After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Wang Shusheng served as deputy commander of the Central Plains Military Region, commander and political commissar of the Northwest Hubei Military Region, and other positions, with high hard work and high qualifications, but in terms of military command ability, Wang Shusheng could only rank eighth among the ten major generals.
Seventh place: Zhang Yunyi. Zhang Yunyi participated in the Xinhai Revolution and was the oldest of the ten generals. Zhang Yunyi served as the commander of the Red Seventh Army during the Red Army, the deputy commander of the New Fourth Army during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and the chief of staff of HuaYe during the Liberation War. Zhang Yunyi's position in the army has always been very high, but to say that the opportunity to command the war is not too much, and it is basically reasonable to rank seventh.
Sixth place: Xiao Jinguang. Xiao Jinguang will be a general with both excellent political and work skills, and his qualifications are also very high, which can be said to be second only to Zhang Yunyi among the ten major generals. As early as the period of the Great Revolution, Xiao Jinguang served as the division party representative of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and served as the political commissar of the Fifth Red Army and the commander of the Red 29th Army during the Red Army.
Xiao Jinguang's greatest contribution was the deeds of adhering to Linjiang during the Liberation War. At that time, under a very bad situation, Xiao Jinguang vigorously defied the public opinion and insisted on the isolated city of Linjiang, and finally won time for the strategic counter-offensive of the Northeast Democratic Coalition Army, in ancient times, Zhang Patrol stubbornly guarded Suiyang, a city locked Jianghuai in the Tang Dynasty, and now Xiao Jinguang insisted on linjiang, a lonely city locked the three eastern provinces, and the famous generals of ancient and modern times had many similarities.
Fifth place: Huang Kecheng. Huang Kecheng is also a cadre with both military and political excellence, and as a general with a political work background, Huang Kecheng not only has a very high military quality, but also has a transcendent strategic vision. After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the strategic policy of marching into the northeast put forward by him can be said to have opened the door to victory for the Chinese revolution.
Fourth place: Xu Guangda. Xu Guangda should be regarded as the first general of the 120th Division and the Northwest Field Army. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, when he was the commander of the Second Sub-district of the Jinsui Military Region, he made outstanding contributions in the anti-sweeping struggle. During the Liberation War, Xu Guangda, as one of the only two corps commanders in Yiye, was also the most important famous general of General Peng.
Third place: Xu Haidong. Because of his health, Xu Haidong basically had no record in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, but his achievements in the Red Army period were enough to make him a famous general of a generation. During the Red Army period, Xu Haidong and Cheng Zihua commanded the Long March of the Red 25th Army, which successively severely damaged the Nationalist army in Dushu Town and Yujiahe, and established the revolutionary base areas in Hubei and Shaanxi, and was the first Long March team to arrive in northern Shaanxi.
After arriving in northern Shaanxi, Xu Haidong served as the commander of the Red 15th Army, commanding the Battle of Guoshan Castle, the Battle of Yulin Bridge and other victorious battles, and throughout the Red Army period, Xu Haidong experienced hundreds of battles and almost no defeats, and could be called an outstanding general in the Red Army. Founding General Chen Geng once said: The proudest thing in my life is that I have been the leader of Comrade Xu Haidong, which shows Xu Haidong's outstanding military ability.
The first and second ranked two did not have any suspense, and they were definitely su Yu and Chen Geng, two famous military-level generals. Among the ten generals, Su Yu and Chen Geng's military ability was at the marshal level. In the War of Liberation, Su Yu commanded Huaye to fight against the enemy for a long time and achieved a series of brilliant achievements. Chen Geng also played an independent role in the Liberation War for a long time, and the series of battles of the Taiyue Column were separately written in the history of our army's war. It can be said that Chen Geng and Su Yu are both talented marshals in the people's army.
If you want to compare the military capabilities of Su Yu and Chen Geng, the author believes that the two marshals are outstanding, but Su Yu is slightly better, what do you think?