In 1955, the founding congress conferred the rank, among the 70 first commanders of the People's Liberation Army, 13 were not awarded the rank, and the remaining 57 were awarded the rank, each with 1 general; 11 generals; 36 lieutenant generals; 8 major generals; and 1 colonel.
The highest rank was Xu Guangda, commander of the 3rd Army of the First Field Army, who was awarded the rank of general;
The lowest rank was Yin Xianbing, commander of the 16th Army of the Second Field Army, who was awarded the rank of colonel.
Xu Guangda, the founding general of the first commander of the Third Army
Yin Xianbing thus created an embarrassing record, becoming the only colonel among the 70 first military commanders.
What is even more embarrassing is that in 1950, Yin Xianbing served as the deputy commander of the 5th Corps of the Second Field Army, with the rank of deputy corps commander, while the colonel was equivalent to the level of the main division, with the rank of quasi-corps, the rank of main army, the rank of deputy army, and the rank of quasi-army.
Yin Xianbing was equivalent to being demoted five times in a row, and finally only awarded the rank of colonel.
What's going on? This has to start with Yin Xianbing.
01. Head of the Guard Regiment
Yin Xianbing, born in 1915, to a poor peasant family in Hanchuan, Hubei Province.
Yin Xianbing is a cowherd, when he was a child, he was often looked down upon, his personality is untamed, every time he is bullied, he always tries to get revenge, over time, he becomes the head of the village child, often with the same village children and the next village children to fight in groups.
In January 1930, the 15-year-old Yin Xianbing joined the Red Army, in fact, at the beginning, he did not have much consciousness, he felt that he was a soldier.
But he was young and knew that he could not be a deserter, could not be a coward.
Therefore, he was particularly brave in battle, and because of his outstanding performance, he joined the Communist Youth League in March of that year.
In the winter of 1934, Yin Xianbing joined the party with honor, and successively served as a platoon commander, company commander and battalion commander of the 4th Division of the Red 2nd Army, and experienced the anti-"encirclement and suppression" struggle in the Eyu-Anhui Soviet District, the anti-"three-way siege" and the anti-"six-way siege" in the Sichuan-Shaanxi Soviet Region.
During the Long March of the Red Fourth Front, Yin Xianbing had become the chief of staff of the regiment.
However, at this time, he was not yet exposed.
After the Long March, Yin Xianbing was once captured and imprisoned in the "prisoner's camp" of Zhang Xueliang's Northeast Army.
In 1936, after the Xi'an Incident, Yin Xianbing was rescued.
In 1937, after the outbreak of the All-out War of Resistance, Yin Xianbing was transferred to the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army as chief of staff and acting regimental commander of the Special Forces Regiment.
In July 1938, Yin Xianbing was promoted to regimental commander, and founding general Li Zhimin was appointed political commissar.
The special service regiment, also known as the "Zhu De Guard Regiment", is an expanded "three-three system" large regiment, the whole regiment has 3 battalions, 9 infantry companies, in addition to 3 regimental directly subordinate companies, 3 battalions belong to the machine gun platoon, the whole regiment has a total of more than 2300 people, can be described as strong and strong.
Jude and the Guard Corps
02, budding
In 1940, Yin Xianbing was transferred to the deputy commander of the Western Hebei Guerrilla Zone (commander Yang Xiufeng).
In January 1940, Wang Shusheng, commander of the Jinchayu guerrilla column, and Huang Zhen, political commissar, came to Jixi and announced the order of the 129th Division, ordering the Jixi guerrillas to go north to Shijiazhuang Yuanshi at the end of February to crush the Japanese conspiracy to turn north China into a "military base."
On March 21, Yin Xianbing commanded the Jixi guerrillas to fight a famous encirclement and annihilation battle at the Heishui River in Yuanshi County, Shijiazhuang, killing more than 200 Japanese puppet troops, including more than 100 Japanese troops.
From left, Li Da, Deng Xiaoping, Liu Bocheng and Cai Shufan
This was the first great victory of the local armed forces in western Hebei, and it was praised by the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and the division commander Liu Bocheng highly appreciated it.
Yin Xianbing thus emerged and became famous in the First World War, after which Yin Xianbing commanded one major battle after another, and his reputation was shocked, becoming a rising star of the 129th Division.
In June 1940, the Western Hebei Guerrilla Brigade, the 2nd Regiment of the Jinji-Hebei Yubian Guerrilla Column and the Zanhuang Independent Regiment were reorganized into the newly organized 11th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, with jurisdiction over the 31st, 32nd and 33rd Regiments.
Yin Xianbing was appointed brigade commander and then commander of the 1st Sub-district of the Taihang Military Region, founding major general Huang Zhentang was appointed political commissar, and founding lieutenant general Qin Jiwei was appointed deputy brigade commander.
Yin Xianbing led his troops to participate in the anti-"Nine Road Siege" and the Hundred Regiments War in southeastern Jin, making outstanding contributions to the victory of the War of Resistance.
03. General Nino
On October 7, 1945, the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Military Region transferred the troops of the Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Military Subdistricts of the Jiluyu Military Region and formed the First Column, with Yang Dezhi as the column commander Yang Dezhi, Su Zhenhua as the political commissar, and Zeng Siyu as the deputy commander Zeng Siyu. It administers the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Brigades.
Yin Xianbing served as the commander of the Second Brigade, Founding Major General Dai Runsheng as the political commissar of the Second Brigade, Zheng Unification as deputy brigade commander, and Wang Xiao as chief of staff.
Liu Bocheng
Soon, Liu Bocheng, commander of the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Military Region, visited the troops in the First Column and the Second Brigade, and Liu Bocheng asked Yin Xianbing a question:
"You say a squad can fight an enemy army?"
Yin Xianbing was asked, unable to think of how to answer such a question well.
Liu Bocheng smiled and said in a firm tone:
"Yes! The problem is to see if the squad leader has the fighting spirit. This squad of mine is not to fight the enemy's forwards, let alone to fight the enemy's own team, but it can specialize in hitting the scattered enemies who have fallen behind, or it can use the tail and weight of the enemy to fight and leave without fighting hard. This is entirely possible. ”
Liu Bocheng said a word, let Yin Xianbing be used for life, and later Yin Xianbing had two famous words -
"If the battle is delayed, the enemy will be taken away by reinforcements"; "With fighting spirit, there will be tactics."
Under the guidance of Liu Bocheng, Yin Xianbing became a fierce general, good at grasping the fighter, able to fight for the last five minutes, and was the proud love of Liu Bocheng and Yang Dezhi.
Yang Dezhi
On March 16, 1947, the first column and the seventh column of the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Military Region were merged into the first column, with Yang Yong, the former commander of the seventh column, as the commander of the first column, Su Zhenhua as the political commissar, Zhao Jimei as the deputy commander, Pan Yan as the chief of staff, and Wang Huiqiu as the director of the political department.
Under the jurisdiction of the 1st, 2nd, 19th, 20th Brigade, cavalry regiments, artillery battalions, special service battalions, a total of more than 25,000 people, under the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Field Army structure, Yin Xianbing is still the commander of the Second Brigade.
In late March, the 1st Column participated in the Northern Henan Offensive.
On June 30, the 1st Column crossed the Yellow River south with the field army and turned to the outside line. In the Battle of Southwest Lu, the city of Shouke yuncheng set a precedent of 1 column of the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Field Army annihilating 2 brigades of the enemy alone, and was commended by the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Military Region.
Subsequently, together with the 6th Column, more than 13,000 Kuomintang troops were annihilated in the Liuyingji area, and in August they leapt thousands of miles into the Dabie Mountains.
On May 9, 1948, the 1st Column of the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Field Army was renamed the 1st Column of the Central Plains Field Army.
Yin Xianbing served as deputy commander, and the other leaders did not change, and then Yin Xianbing led his troops to participate in the Battle of Wandong and the Battle of Yudong, the Battle of Zhengzhou, and the Battle of Huaihai.
Commanders of the First Column of the Central Plains Field Army, from left, Yin Xianbing, Wang Huiqiu, Yang Yong, Su Zhenhua, Wu Shi, and Pan Yan
On February 19, 1949, the Central Plains Field Army was renamed the Second Field Army, and the first column was formed into the 16th Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
Yang Yong, commander of the First Column, and Su Zhenhua, political commissar, served as commanders and political commissars of the 5th Corps of the Second Field Army.
Yin Xianbing served as the first commander of the 16th Army, founding Lieutenant General Wang Huiqiu as political commissar, Dai Runsheng as deputy political commissar, Wu Shi as deputy political commissar and director of the political department, and founding Major General Yang Junsheng as chief of staff.
Although the combat effectiveness of the 16th Army is not as good as that of the 12th Army (Commander Kaiguo Lieutenant General Wang Jinshan), the 13th Army (Commander Kaiguo Lieutenant General Zhou Xihan), the 14th Army (Commander Kaiguo Lieutenant General Li Chengfang), and the 15th Army (Commander Qin Jiwei), it is also a very distinctive unit.
Yin Xianbing commanded the battle with a desperate momentum, not eating or sleeping, endlessly, not reaching the goal, never giving up, the enemy suffered enough.
He was a famous general of Erye, and together with Wang Jinshan, the commander of the 12th Army, he was called Erye Two Flowers.
In April of that year, shortly after the formation of the 16th Army, was ordered to participate in the Battle of the River Crossing, Yin Xianbing organized troops to cross the river, for seven consecutive days and seven nights did not close their eyes, after the successful landing, Yin Xianbing fainted for a day.
When he woke up, he directed the troops directly on a stretcher to move on.
Yin Xianbing's command of the battle is very interesting, he never uses a command ruler on the battle map, directly forks his thumb and index finger, one stroke and one stroke, 120 miles in a small way, and 180 miles in a large way.
Therefore, the commanders and commanders of the divisions under the 16th Army complained one after another:
Heaven is not afraid, I am afraid of Commander Yin's big hand, a big one is one hundred and eight!
Under the leadership of Yin Xianbing, the 16th Army marched at a very alarming speed, one shot a day, all the way to Guizhou.
Yin Xianbing made great contributions to the victory of the Liberation War and the founding of New China.
In January 1950, Yin Xianbing was promoted to deputy commander of the 5th Corps and guizhou military region, and concurrently served as the commander of the 16th Army.
04. North Korea raises its prestige
After the outbreak of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the 16th Army was reorganized into the 16th Army of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army and entered the Korean War.
Yin Xianbing still served as the commander of the 16th Army of the Volunteer Army, and the founding major general Chen Yunkai served as the political commissar.
However, this 16th Army can be different from the original 16th Army, which was the only mechanized composite army of the Chinese army at that time, receiving a full set of Soviet modern equipment, and receiving training from Soviet instructors in the northeast before entering the DPRK.
Yin Xianbing thus became the first commander of the mechanized composite army, which showed the recognition and trust of his superiors for his ability.
In fact, the Central Military Commission attached great importance to the 16th Army's entry into the Korean War, and even Mao Zedong himself twice received the leaders of the 16th Army (the first time, Yin Xianbing studied at the Nanjing Military Academy, and political commissar Chen Yunkai accepted face-to-face instructions on behalf of the 16th Army).
After entering the DPRK, the 16th Army successively participated in the preparations for the anti-landing operation in the spring of 1953 in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and undertook the task of anti-airborne and anti-landing operations on the west coast of Korea.
At the end of June, he was tasked with the defense of the Pingkang area on the frontal front and participated in the counterattack in the summer of 1953.
Just when Yin Xianbing was ambitious and ready to do a big job and lead his troops to take the front-line command post of the US Eighth Army, Yang Yong, deputy commander of the Volunteer Army, called him and said:
"The enemy is about to sign, I see you stop, don't fight."
Angry, Yin Xianbing scolded:
"Yankee, you can't get along with Lao Tzu all the time!"
05. Rank of Colonel
On the afternoon of September 27, 1955, Huairen Hall in Zhongnanhai, Beijing, held a grand ceremony to honor the generals who had made outstanding contributions to the cause of the liberation of New China.
Marshal Conferment Ceremony
Yin Xianbing was a general of the rank of deputy corps, and it was customary to confer the rank of general or lieutenant general, and with his seniority and military achievements, the general may be a little reluctant, but the lieutenant general is nailed down.
Take his partner, for example:
When Yin Xianbing was the head of the Eighth Route Army General Special Service Regiment, the political commissar Li Zhimin was a general;
When he was the commander of the newly organized 11th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, the deputy brigade commander Qin Jiwei was a lieutenant general, and the political commissar Huang Zhentang was a major general;
When he was the commander of the 16th Army, the two political commissars, Wang Huiqiu was a lieutenant general and Chen Yunkai was a major general.
However, in the end, Yin Xianbing was only awarded the rank of colonel, and was awarded the Order of August 1 of the Second Class, the Order of Independence and Freedom of the First Class, and the Liberation Medal of the First Class.
Yin Xianbing looked around and saw that only Liang Jinhua, the commander of the 24th Army, was awarded the rank of colonel like himself (Liang Jinhua was promoted to major general in 1961).
In April 1958, after returning from Korea, Yoon Seon-byung served as vice minister of the Material Security Department of the People's Liberation Army Political Academy (later changed to deputy director of the Ministry of State Affairs), which was actually an idle post.
Therefore, Yin Xianbing was depressed, and he never wore a military uniform in informal occasions.
Why was Yin Xianbing, who was supposed to be awarded the rank of lieutenant general, only awarded the rank of colonel?
It turned out that it was all a problem caused by the problem of life style.
Yin Xianbing learned a lot of professional military knowledge when he received relevant training with Soviet instructors.
At the same time, I also learned a hobby - dancing.
At that time, Yin Xianbing was almost obsessed with dancing, and as long as he had free time, he practiced it.
Of course, Yin Xianbing is a veteran general in the army, and he can still distinguish between the light and the heavy, and he did not delay his work because of dancing.
However, he had problems with life because of dancing.
At that time, he actually transferred his dance partner to his side as a confidential secretary, and later, he not only made an unforgivable mistake, but also made the female secretary pregnant.
The female secretary felt shameless and committed suicide in shame, which happened to happen in North Korea again, so it caused a very bad impact.
Peng Dehuai, commander of the Volunteer Army, could not tolerate sand in his eyes, and immediately reported Yin Xianbing's problem to the Central Military Commission.
When Mao Zedong heard about this, he was furious and directly criticized by name.
It embodies the iron rule that he strictly governs the army, no matter who he is, no matter how great his merits are, no matter how deep his seniority, as long as he violates military discipline, he will be severely punished!
Therefore, Yin Xianbing, who was originally intended to be awarded the rank of lieutenant general, was only awarded the rank of colonel.
Later, after Yin Xianbing returned to China, he was only arranged to serve as the deputy director of the Material Security Department of the People's Liberation Army Political College, which was actually an idle post.
In January 1983, Yin Xianbing finally ushered in a turnaround, and on the recommendation of his old bosses Yang Yong and Su Zhenhua, he was appointed deputy commander of the Beijing Military Region.
On January 6, just as Yin Xianbing was about to go to office, Yang Yong and his old friend Xu Liqing (the founding lieutenant general) died of illness on the same day.
Yin Xianbing was shocked to hear the bad news, very sad, and cried on the spot.
Due to excessive sadness, Yin Xianbing induced cerebral hemorrhage and was admitted to the hospital that night.
On February 10, Yin Xianbing died of illness at the age of 68, and his rank remained forever in the rank of colonel.
Yin Xianbing's old age was illuminated, his eyes were shining, and the tiger wei still existed
In 1988, the People's Liberation Army restored the rank system, and awarded 17 generals, 146 lieutenant generals, and 1212 major generals that year, for a total of 1375 generals.
With Yin Xianbing's qualifications, if he is still alive, he can be awarded the rank of general.
Unfortunately, the Slovaks have passed away, leaving a historical regret.
Although Yin Xianbing did not promote to the rank of general, he is still the unforgettable founding father of the Republic and an immortal general of the People's Liberation Army!