The Central Plains Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, abbreviated as Nakano, was one of the main forces of the Chinese People's Liberation Army during the Liberation War, and was reorganized into the Second Field Army in February 1949. It was gradually developed on the basis of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army and local troops in the Jin-Hebei Luyu Border Region during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. Nakano's unit can be said to have made an important contribution to the victory of the War of Liberation. For example, the thousand-mile leap into the Dabie Mountains, the annihilation of the Huang Wei Corps in the Battle of Huaihai, the Battle of Crossing the River, the liberation of Yunguichuan, in this battle to liberate the Great Southwest, Nakano nearly wiped out Chiang Kai-shek's million troops. In the battle, more than 37,000 officers and men of the Second Field Army were killed, including 200 cadres at or above the regimental level. It has made great contributions to the cause of Chinese people's liberation.
The Central Plains Field Army was able to achieve such brilliant results, except for Liu Deng, the two chiefs who commanded well. The generals of the Central Plains Field Army are also indispensable, such as Chen Geng, Yang Yong, Wang Jinshan, Zhou Xihan, Qin Jiwei, Zeng Shaoshan, Chen Xilian, Li Chengfang, and other famous generals who are familiar to us, who are all the pillars of the Central Plains Field Army. So today I will introduce to you the three famous generals of the Central Plains Field Army during the Liberation War. These three can be said to be the three golden flowers of the Central Plains Field Army, and their positions are the same, they are all corps commanders. But the strange thing is that after the founding of New China, when the three were awarded the rank in 1955, they were different.
Commander of the Fourth Corps Chen Geng
General Chen Geng became famous in his early years, a student of the first phase of Huangpu, and together with Hu Zongnan and He Zhihan, he was called the Three Masters of Huangpu.
On October 17, 1945, the main force of the Taiyue Military Region was organized into the Fourth Column, and Chen Geng was appointed as the commander of the column. From November 24 to January 3, 1946, the Southwest Jin Campaign was launched, liberating more than 30 towns and annihilating more than 10,000 enemy troops. From January 17 to 29, the Fenxiao Campaign was launched, and more than 16,000 enemy troops were annihilated. The main force of Liu Deng's field army jumped into the Dabie Mountains, and Chen Geng's army advanced into Yushan' E. After the Central Plains Field Army was reorganized into the Second Field Army, he served as the commander of the Fourth Corps, and then participated in the liberation of Guangdong and Yunnan.
He was awarded the rank of Grand General on 27 September 1955.
Commander of the Third Corps Chen Xilin
General Chen Xilian was a rising star in the Central Plains Field Army, and during the War of Resistance Against Japan, he was also a regimental commander under the 129th Division, which can be said to be unknown. However, in October 1937, he led his troops to attack the Japanese airfield at Yangmingbao at night, blowing up 24 Japanese fighters. It was also with this battle that Chen Xilian became a celebrity of the Eighth Route Army.
After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Chen Xilian served as the commander of the 3rd Column of the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Field Army, and successively participated in the battles of Shangdang, Handan, and Southwest Lu. In 1947, he participated in the Battle of Dabie Mountain, liberated 9 counties and large areas in Wanxi in half a month, and opened up a new situation in Wanxi. In April 1947, the 2nd Rapid Column of the Kuomintang Army was completely annihilated in the Battle of Northern Henan, and then the important town of Tangyin in northern Henan was captured, and Sun Dianying, commander of the 12th Column of the Kuomintang, was captured alive. After the Huaihai Campaign began, he led the Central Plains Field Army and the East China Field Army to form the Western Front Group, was ordered to capture Su County, and completely annihilated more than 12,000 enemy defenders in Su County, completely isolating the Xuzhou Liu Zhi Group, and then cooperated with brother troops to annihilate the Kuomintang Huang Wei Corps in Shuangdui. In February 1949, he was appointed commander of the 3rd Corps of the Second Field Army, leading his troops to participate in the Battle of Crossing the River, breaking through the river defense line and cutting off the Zhejiang-Gansu Line, detouring to the southwest, and annihilating the Song Xilian Group.
In 1955, he was awarded the rank of general.
Commander of the Fifth Corps Yang Yong
Yang Yong, commander of the Fifth Corps, was a very good general, who served as the main vanguard of the Long March during the Red Army period and also participated in the Pingxingguan Campaign during the War of Resistance.
In November 1945, the 7th Column of the Jinluyu Military Region was formed and served as its commander. In April 1946, Yang Yong led the Seventh Column to cross the battlefields of Jin, Lu and Henan, and annihilated the reorganized 3rd Division, the 41st Division, and the 47th Division of the Kuomintang army in the three battles of Juye, Dingtao, and Juannan. In 1947, he was appointed commander of the 1st Column of the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Field Army, and led his troops to participate in the Northern Henan Offensive. In the Battle of Southwest Lu, it broke through the Yellow River defense line of the Kuomintang army and conquered Yuncheng in one fell swoop. After that, he led his troops to participate in the march on Dabie Mountain, and organized and commanded the Battle of Gaoshanpu. In the Battle of Huaihai in November 1948, Yang Yong captured Mi Wenhe, deputy commander of the 55th Army of the Nationalist Party, and Wu Shaozhou, deputy commander of the Kuomintang regiment, and 9 generals including Wu Shaozhou, deputy commander of the Kuomintang regiment, in the Shuangduiji area. In February 1949, he was appointed commander of the 5th Corps of the Second Field Army, participated in the Battle of Crossing the River, went straight out of the Zhejiang-Gansu Line, and liberated more than 20 towns such as Quzhou, Jingdezhen and Shangrao. In November, after marching into the southwest and liberating Guizhou, he led the main force of the 5th Corps and the first part of the 3rd Corps to participate in the Battle of Chengdu.
He was awarded the rank of general in 1955.
The above three are all well-known excellent generals of the Central Plains Field Army, don't look at their positions. But when the ranks were awarded in 1955, the ranks awarded by the three were different. General Chen Geng is a general rank, while Yang Yong and Chen Xilian are two general ranks. Why?
In fact, the reason is very simple, you must know that in the Liberation War, our army had a total of 21 corps commanders, but only four were awarded generals, and the rest were generals. General Chen Geng was better than Chen and Yang in both his merits and military prowess in the War of Liberation. If Chen Geng of the Second Field Army did not award the title of general. Then, there is not a single general in the Central Plains Field Army. Therefore, the Central Plains Field Army must have a general, and among the commanders of the Central Plains Field Army Corps, Chen Geng is the most qualified to evaluate the general.