Zhang Aiping was a general with a straight disposition, who did not care about high or low in his position, felt that he could do it, no matter how low he was, felt that he could not do it, and did not want to do it no matter how high.
He has pushed out many positions during wartime and peacetime.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he dismissed the post of chief of staff of the New Fourth Army; in the early days of the Liberation War, he served as deputy commander of the Central China Military Region, and he was dismissed from the post of commander of the field column, leaving his old subordinate Zhang Zhen to take up the post and go through some training.
After the founding of New China, he succeeded Zhang Zhen as chief of staff of the East China Military Region and was responsible for the daily work of the East China Military Region.
At that time, the main leaders of the East China Military Region held several positions, with commander Chen Yi concurrently serving as the mayor of Shanghai and working in Shanghai; and political commissar Rao Shushi concurrently serving as secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, responsible for the East China Bureau.
Su Yu served as deputy commander in charge of the daily work of the military region, and Zhang Zhen, chief of staff, and Tang Liang, director of the political department, were responsible for assisting.
In 1952, su Yu and Zhang Zhen were both transferred to the general staff, and Zhang Aiping, who was serving in Zhejiang, was transferred.
According to the general practice of the grand military region, the chief of staff can concurrently serve as deputy commander, mainly in the absence of the commander, which can facilitate work. Like He Jinnian, deputy commander and chief of staff of the Northeast Military Region, and Peng Shaohui, deputy commander and chief of staff of the Northwest Military Region.
Zhang Aiping felt that serving as deputy commander was just a pseudonym, and it was better to only serve as chief of staff, and her work was more focused. He recommended Xu Shiyou, commander of the Shandong Military Region, to serve as deputy commander of the East China Military Region.
In 1954, Zhang Aiping was appointed deputy director general, and by 1955, he had been in this position for one or two decades, responsible for scientific research on cutting-edge weapons.