The Ninth Army of the Red Fourth Front, this is a meritorious unit of our army during the Red Army period! Originating in the Eyu-Anhui region, this team arose in the northern Sichuan region and was once one of Xu Xiangqian's favorite troops. Unfortunately, this force unfortunately fell in the Hexi Corridor. However, it is gratifying that the ministry has produced a large number of founding heroes, such as: Wang Shusheng, Xu Shiyou, Li Jukui, Tao Yong, He Jian... However, Zhan Caifang, the first political commissar of the Red Ninth Army, why did he only receive the rank of lieutenant general?
Zhan Caifang, a native of Hong'an, Hubei Province, was born in 1907. Because of his poor birth and the early death of his parents, he was reduced to a cowherd baby very early. In 1924, in order to supplement his family, he came to Wuhan to work. Here, he began to be exposed to some new ideas and took the initiative to join the Communist Youth League. In 1927, because of his outstanding performance, he was honored to join the party. This year, he was only 20 years old. In the same year, he led some peasants from his hometown in eastern Hubei to participate in the famous jute riot.
Because of his bravery in battle and his repeated military achievements, he was quickly promoted to a regimental political commissar of the Eyu-Anhui Red Army. Under the command of Xu Xiangqian, Zeng Zhongsheng, Chen Changhao, and other chiefs, he led his troops to participate in the first to fourth anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaigns in the Eyu-Anhui Soviet Region. In 1932, the main force of the Red Fourth Front was forced to march west, and then came to the northern region of Sichuan. Zhan Caifang also participated in this journey, and after the Red Fourth Front came to northern Sichuan, he was quickly promoted to political commissar of the Red Twelfth Division.
After the Red Army entered Sichuan, Zhan Caifang led his troops to participate in the anti-"three-way siege", Yi (Long) South (Department), Battalion (Shan) Canal (Mountain), Xuan (Han) Da (County) and other battles. In these battles, our army annihilated no less than 40,000 enemies. Immediately, a raging current of enthusiastic participation in the Red Army was set off in the local area. Subsequently, our army was expanded from four main divisions to four corps. Among them, the Red Twelfth Division was expanded into the Red Ninth Army, with He Wei as the commander and Zhan Caifang as the military political commissar.
This year, Zhan Caifang was only 26 years old, which can be described as young and promising, and the future is immeasurable! He fought bravely, was loyal to the party, and always carried out the orders of his superiors to the letter. Therefore, Zhang Guotao, Xu Xiangqian, Chen Changhao and other leaders especially liked and trusted him. At the end of the same year, he and He Wei led the Red Ninth Army to participate in the anti-"Six-Way Siege" campaign in the Sichuan-Shaanxi Soviet Region. The future founding general Xu Shiyou, at this time, served as the deputy commander of the Red Ninth Army and the commander of the Red Twenty-fifth Division.
In this battle, the Red Ninth Army showed tenacity and played the courage of the ace army! He Wei and Zhan Caifang led the army headquarters and two divisions to deploy in the eastern front area from Wanyuan to Xuanhan and Daxian to deal with the enemy's fifth and sixth routes, and the other division was deployed on the western front in northern Sichuan, uniting brother troops to deal with the enemy's other four lines of men and horses. According to statistics, the enemy army has invested more than 200,000 people. As for our army, there are only a few tens of thousands of people in total, of which the Red Ninth Army has only more than 10,000 people.
This earth-shattering battle of the ghosts and gods soon began! On the western front, the Twenty-seventh Division of the Red Ninth Army, with the cooperation of a regiment of brother troops, defeated four regiments of the enemy army and annihilated more than 600 enemy troops in the Battle of Wulidun. On the Eastern Front, the 25th Division of the Red Ninth Army, under the command of division commander Xu Shiyou, finally defeated the enemy's Wang Lingji Division after four days of fierce fighting. According to statistics, this division, together with its brother troops, annihilated more than two thousand enemy troops.
In early 1934, a division of the Red Fourth Army, the Red Ninth Army, and the Red Thirty Army united to launch a counterattack against the enemy Hao Yaoting's troops. After fierce fighting, our army annihilated two regiments of the enemy, and then destroyed Wang Lingji's division and annihilated most of his Seventh Brigade. In this way, after a bloody battle, our army repelled all the enemy troops on all fronts, and then confronted the enemy at Maduguan, Honglingtai, and Maobachang. The enemy commander-in-chief Liu Xiang became angry, and he then launched the second and third general offensives.
However, under the stubborn resistance of the Red Ninth Army and other units, Liu Xiang's three phases of general offensives all failed. Moreover, the enemy lost more than 30,000 people. Liu Xiang was not willing to lose, and he immediately used more than one hundred and forty regiments to launch the fourth general offensive. Among them, the enemy army invested tens of thousands of people to attack the Wanyuan Mountains, mainly against the 25th Division of the Red Ninth Army and other units. After nearly twenty days of fierce fighting, the Red Ninth Army and other units annihilated tens of thousands of enemy troops, and the enemy army never made any progress.
By the beginning of August 1934, the enemy was at the end of the crossbow. Subsequently, our army launched an all-out counteroffensive from both the east and the west. In the counter-offensive on the Eastern Front, our army annihilated nearly 10,000 enemy troops, and then was unable to continue to advance. In the counter-offensive on the western front, the Red Thirty-first Army killed the outskirts of Guangyuan City, the Red Ninth Army killed the outskirts of Yilong City, and the Red Thirty Army entered cangxi county... In this way, the battle that lasted for nearly a year finally came to an end. According to statistics, our army annihilated more than 80,000 enemy troops.
In this battle, the Red Ninth Army was able to attack and defend well, and its performance was outstanding, and it annihilated no less than 10,000 enemy troops. In this regard, He Wei, Zhan Caifang, Xu Shiyou, Chen Haisong and other commanders and fighters all made great contributions! It can be said that in this battle, the performance of the Red Ninth Army and the Red Thirty Army is the most dazzling. In particular, there were two regiments of the Red Ninth Army, which won the medals of "Attacking like a Fierce Tiger" and "Defending Like Mount Tai" respectively. Deputy Commander Xu Shiyou was soon promoted to commander of the Red Fourth Army because of his excellent performance.
In 1935, Zhan Caifang participated in the famous Long March. During the Long March, he was reappointed as the political commissar of the Red Thirty-first Army. Halfway through, he was ordered to study at the Red Army University. Therefore, he was not incorporated into the famous Western Route Army. As for most of the commanders and fighters of the Red Ninth Army, they were ordered to cross the river to fight in the Hexi Corridor. In the end, under the crazy siege of tens of thousands of Majia army bandits, this heroic force was almost completely destroyed, and only a very small number of commanders and fighters escaped and returned to Yan'an.
After the end of the Long March, Zhan Caifang came to the Anti-Japanese Red Army University to study. In March 1937, the school criticized Zhang Guotao's separatism, mistakenly injuring a group of cadets from the Red Fourth Front. Some of them were criticized and punished, and some even went to the hospital in popularity. Against this background, a group of trainees, represented by Xu Shiyou, Zhan Caifang, Hong Xuezhi, Wu Shi'an, and others, decided to quietly leave Yan'an and return to the Daba Mountains of Sichuan to fight guerrillas.
However, Wang Jian'an suddenly repented. He then reported the incident to the school. After the headmaster Lin Biao heard the news, he quickly sent people to surround this group of students. In the end, more than thirty people were arrested, including Xu Shiyou and Zhan Caifang. They were all imprisoned for a period of time, and were not freed until the outbreak of the War of Resistance. Since then, Zhan Caifang has been working in the kang university main school and the second branch, and once served as the captain of the first brigade of the second branch.
In 1940, Zhan Caifang married a female soldier named Yang Jing. According to Yang Jing's recollection, until the wedding day, the Zhan captain was still wearing an old military uniform with patches and patches. She looked in her eyes and was anxious in her heart. So she went to Wu Xian'en, who was in charge of logistics. Wu Xian'en was distressed about Zhan Caifang's old brother, so he made an exception and gave the couple a new set of military uniforms. However, Zhan Caifang made some unpleasant trouble at the wedding, so she was transferred away from the second branch.
In the same year, Zhan Caifang came to the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region of the Eighth Route Army and was appointed deputy commander of the Third Military Sub-district. The commander of the third division, Huang Yongsheng, was wise and courageous, but he was somewhat arrogant. Therefore, at first, he looked down on this deputy commander Zhan a little. However, after Zhan Caifang returned to the battlefield, he quickly led his troops to fight some victorious battles, and also completed some of the work assigned by Huang Yongsheng with quality and quantity. Therefore, Huang Yongsheng has been impressed by him since then, and the two have become friends.
In the summer and autumn of 1941, the three sub-districts were suddenly besieged by heavy Japanese troops. Huang Yongsheng acted alone with a company of the Red Army, mainly responsible for containing the main force of the Japanese army. Zhan Caifang took a Red Army company and was mainly responsible for covering the organs of the three divisions. After a bloody battle, our army finally broke out of the encirclement. But, unfortunately, a wave of ghosts suddenly rushed over. At this time, Yang Chengwu's first division guards killed each other and desperately rescued the organs of the third division.
At the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Zhan Caifang was ordered to leave the Third Sub-district and work in the eastern Hebei region. At the time of parting, Huang Yongsheng was very reluctant. However, the two got together again a few years later. After coming to Jidong, Zhan Caifang successively served as deputy commander of the Jireliao Military Region of the Eighth Route Army and commander of the Jidong Military Region. After the liberation war broke out in full swing, the Jidong Field Force under his command was reorganized into the Ninth Column of the Northeast Democratic Coalition Army, with him as commander and Li Zhongquan as deputy political commissar.
Under the command of Zhan Caifang and Li Zhongquan, the Ninth Column successively participated in the Battle of Wuling Mountain Blockade, the Battle of Beining Road, the Battle of Chaoyang, the Autumn Offensive in Northeast China, the Winter Offensive, the Liaoshen, Pingjin, Xianggan, and Hengbao campaigns. Especially in the Battle of Jinzhou, this unit served as the task of breaking through the south of Jinzhou City, quickly opened the breakthrough, and then developed in depth, annihilating a total of 15,000 enemy troops and capturing Fan Hanjie, the supreme commander of the Jinzhou garrison.
Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, this unit was reorganized into the Forty-sixth Army of the Fourth Field Army, with Zhan Caifang as the commander and Li Zhongquan as the political commissar. According to the investigation, Lin Biao's evaluation of this unit is very high, which can be summarized as: This unit is very new, its predecessor was a local armed force, but it should be full of vitality, able to bear hardships, have a high fighting mood, have a brave style, and resolutely carry out orders... At the same time, Huang Yongsheng also came to the northeast, formed the eighth column, and repeatedly joined forces with Zhan Caifang to resist the enemy.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhan Caifang served as deputy commander of the Hunan Military Region, commander of the public security forces of the Central and Southern Military Region, and deputy commander of the Guangzhou Military Region. In 1952, our army was relegated to the rank of cadre, and he was designated as a quasi-corps-level cadre. In 1955, he was awarded the rank of lieutenant general. At the same time, he was awarded the Order of August 1st Class, the Order of Independence and Freedom of the First Class, and the Liberation Medal of the First Class. In 1988, he was awarded the Medal of Merit of the Red Star, First Class. In 1992, he died of illness in Beijing at the age of 85!
Finally, let's talk about the rank of Lieutenant General Zhan Caifang: he joined the regiment in 1924, joined the party in 1927, and was promoted to political commissar of the Red Ninth Army in 1933. His qualifications almost exceeded that of most of the founding lieutenant generals, admirals, and even some generals. General Wang Shusheng will be his old partner, General Xu Shiyou, General Li Jukui, General Chen Xilian, Lieutenant General Tao Yong... All of them were his old subordinates. However, the exodus of Yan'an seriously affected his career.
Because of this incident, coupled with his always short temper and low culture, he served as a deputy during the War of Resistance. It was not until after the outbreak of the Liberation War that he had the privilege of being alone in the northeast. Lin Biao loved Cai, at least gave him a chance. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, he had always been a military-level cadre, and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, he was designated as a quasi-corps-level cadre. With his seniority, prestige, military achievements... For example, the rank of lieutenant general is still relatively fair, and as for the rank of general, it is somewhat high.
However, General Zhan Caifang was able to go up and down, and never complained. His high wind and bright festival are really admired by us who are young people! In addition, some information shows that he once scolded some old subordinates. However, he can still be regarded as a love soldier. He saved many people on the Long March, such as General You Taizhong of the old Red Army. In addition, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, he also protected a fallen old Eighth Road in Hunan, he was a native of Jiaocheng, Shanxi, whose original name was Su Zhu.