1955 was a special year for the founding general of new China. That year, New China held its first ceremony to honor the generals who had made meritorious contributions to the revolution.
At the ceremony, there were a total of 10 marshals, 10 generals, 57 generals (including late supplementary awards), and 175 lieutenant generals.
Screen of the conferment ceremony
In general, the scale of this award is very large, because it is the first award ceremony in New China, so as long as they have made major meritorious service to New China, most of them have the opportunity to be awarded military ranks.
The person responsible for the selection of military ranks was Luo Ronghuan, who at that time was the head of the General Cadre Management Department, and he was mainly responsible for the evaluation of military ranks.
Luo Ronghuan
Since it was the first time in New China to select military ranks, Luo Ronghuan's pressure was also very large, he tried to ensure fairness, after a long period of selection, Luo Ronghuan sorted out a list of appraisals, and handed this list to the chairman for review.
Although the chairman looked at this list of appraisals, he basically did not raise any objections, which also shows that Luo Shuai's work is very well done, and this very difficult appraisal list makes people unable to pick out any major problems, and the vast majority of generals are convinced.
However, the chairman pointed out a point on the list of appraisal titles, and he personally gave instructions to promote the ranks of Han Xianchu and Pi Dingjun to the first level on the basis of the original.
Chairman Mao
It turned out that in this list of awards, Han Xianchu was initially rated as a lieutenant general, and Pi Dingjun was rated as a major general. Han Xianchu was ranked deputy in his 1952 officer rating, and it makes sense that he was rated as a lieutenant general according to this qualification.
Pi Dingjun's seniority was slightly lower than Han Xianchu's, and in the late stages of the Liberation War, he was the commander of the 24th Army, which was indeed a little lower than that of the generals who were selected as lieutenant generals.
Therefore, in the list of titles originally drawn up by Luo Shuai, Pi Dingjun was a major general.
So what special contributions did Han Xianchu and Pi Ding have, and finally, at the behest of the chairman, Han Xianchu was promoted from lieutenant general to general, and Pi Ding was promoted from major general to lieutenant general?
Han Xianchu's early revolutionary career
Han Xianchu was born in Huang'an County, Hubei Province, from a poor family, when he was a child, he not only worked as a cow herder, but also learned to be a smith, and after a little older, Han Xianchu supported himself by working as a short-term worker.
At that time, the poor people had a very difficult life, and in order to change the fate of themselves and the poor, Han Xianchu joined the anti-imperialist alliance.
In 1930, Han Xianchu joined the Communist Party and joined the guerrillas in Xiaogan, and soon, with his performance in battle, Han Xianchu's position in the ranks also became higher and higher.
Han Xianchu
In April 1933, Han Xianchu's independent regiment was reorganized and assigned to the Red 25th Army. Since then, Han Xianchu has made many achievements in the Red 25th Army, especially in a fierce battle in Dushu Town, which made him famous in one battle.
It is no exaggeration to say that Han Xianchu on the battlefield was very brave, and as a middle-level cadre of the army, Han Xianchu repeatedly charged into battle, cheered up the generals, and often used a small number of troops to contain a large number of enemy troops.
Han Xianchu's outstanding performance gave him the opportunity to enter the Yan'an Anti-Japanese Military and Political University in 1937, laying the foundation for him to become a generation of famous generals.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Han Xianchu had already shown his ability as a commander-in-chief; Han Xianchu did not start with a high position, only as a deputy regimental commander, but he made great military achievements when opening up the anti-Japanese base area in southern Hebei, and was soon promoted by his superiors.
In 1940, Han Xianchu was already the commander of the new 3rd Brigade, and he could already stand alone among the senior generals of the Eighth Route Army, becoming the commander of the 3rd Military Subdistrict of the Jiluyu Military Region.
During this period, Han Xianchu fought many outstanding battles with the 129th Division, especially the battle of breaking the Handan-Chang Highway, which caused a lot of trouble for the Japanese puppet army.
Due to his outstanding performance during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Han Xianchu was once again trained by his superiors, and successively studied at the Military and Political Academy and the Military Academy, gaining a lot of theoretical knowledge and gaining a lot of insight.
During the Liberation War, Han Xianchu showed his skills and was known as the famous general of the four wildernesses, becoming a powerful warrior around Lin Zong, and was praised by Lin Zong as "one person is comparable to 100,000 troops".
Hero of the liberation of Hainan Island
During the Liberation War, there were many outstanding generals in the major field armies, but because of Han Xianchu's special military achievements during the Liberation War, the chairman promoted him from lieutenant general to general.
So, what special achievements did Han Xianchu make during the Liberation War that made the chairman so concerned about him? This also starts with the liberation of Hainan Island.
In 1950, the People's Liberation Army basically liberated the entire territory of the mainland, except for a few islands, the People's Liberation Army defeated the Kuomintang army led by Chiang Kai-shek.
However, the PLA at that time also had some disadvantages, such as the PLA's air force and naval strength were obviously inferior to the Kuomintang army, which made the PLA suffer a lot of losses when it landed on the islands.
Especially in the Battle of Kinmen Island, the People's Liberation Army experienced a rare defeat during the Liberation War, and it was this defeat that made the superiors very cautious about the landing operation on Hainan Island.
Because of the DEFEAT of the People's Liberation Army in the island landing battle, it led to a certain fear of island landing warfare from the commander down to the ordinary soldiers.
At this critical moment in the liberation of Hainan Island, Han Xianchu stood up and believed that our army should immediately liberate Hainan Island, and it was not feasible to formulate the original operational plan for landing on the island in June, because the main tool used by the PLA to land on the island was the wind sailing boat, which needed to rely on the monsoon wind before the valley rains to cross the sea.
At that time, as the deputy commander of the Twelfth Corps, Han Xianchu directly crossed the level and reported to Chairman Mao, expounding his view of insisting on landing on the island as soon as possible to fight.
Under normal circumstances, it is a big taboo in the military for subordinates to report beyond their ranks, but this time the chairman is not only not angry, but also praises Han Xianchu for his foresight.
After full discussion by the superior leaders, the Hainan Island Liberation War was finally launched ahead of schedule, and han Xianchu personally led the three corps of the Twelfth Corps as the main force to launch an attack on the nationalist defenders on Hainan Island.
On April 16, 1950, Han Xianchu led an army of 30,000 people, without the cooperation of the air force and navy, took great risks, disregarded personal life and death and honor, and launched an attack on Hainan Island.
A hero ship that lands on the island to fight
Thirty thousand SOLDIER soldiers rode on more than 400 wind sailing ships, and they charged towards Hainan Island with fearless spirit.
The next day, Han Xianchu led his army to successfully seize the beach of Hainan Lingaojiao, overcame the biggest difficulty in landing on the island, and liberated Hainan Island as 30,000 People's Liberation Troops rushed to the island.
In the liberation of Hainan Island, Han Xianchu can be said to be the first achievement, he dared to speak out, expressed suggestions on the battle plan formulated by his superiors, and in the operation on the island, Han Xianchu was a pioneer and liberated Hainan Island with fearless courage.
If the Hainan Island Liberation War had been shelved at that time, many problems might have arisen, such as the difficulty of the People's Liberation Army landing on the island during special seasons and missing the best time to land on the island.
Group photo after the liberation of Hainan Island
If Hainan Island had not been liberated at that time, with the outbreak of the Korean War, our army's plan to liberate Hainan Island would have been shelved again. Reference to the failure to initiate the liberation of Taiwan because of the Korean War, resulting in the fact that Taiwan has not yet returned.
In this sense, Han Xianchu's credit is too great, and it is not just as simple as liberating a Hainan island.
Therefore, in view of the great merits made by Han Xianchu, at the behest of the chairman, Han Xianchu, who was supposed to be awarded the rank of lieutenant general, was directly promoted to the first level and awarded the rank of general.
Pi Ding was promoted to lieutenant general by exception
According to the 1955 standard for awarding titles, Pi Dingjun was formulated to be awarded a reasonable major general, because Pi Dingjun had been a brigade commander during the War of Resistance Against Japan, and this qualification was not very suitable for the award of lieutenant general.
Skin is constant
However, Pi Dingjun had great merits during the Liberation War, which also made Chairman Mao particularly impressed with him, and when the People's Liberation Army assessed military ranks, Chairman Mao gave special instructions:
"Pi has merit, less JinZhong".
When Chairman Mao said that "Pi has merit, less jinzhong", which gong does Pi Dingjun refer to?
It turned out that in 1946, after Chiang Kai-shek launched a full-scale civil war, the Kuomintang sent more than 200,000 troops to surround the 60,000 people of the Central Plains Military Region in Dawu County, Hubei Province, and the Central Plains Military Region faced great difficulties.
The Central Committee hastily sent a telegram to the Central Plains Military Region:
"Agree to break through, the sooner the better, don't worry, survival and safety first."
With the order of the superior, the leaders of the Central Plains Military Region discussed the breakthrough of the Northern Route Army led by commander Li Xiannian and the breakthrough of the Southern Route Army led by deputy commander Wang Shusheng.
Pi Dingjun was ordered to take over the task of covering the breakthrough of the main force, and he said emphatically: "The chiefs are assured, and the First Brigade will resolutely complete the task."
In this way, under the attack of several times the enemy, Pi Dingjun led the first brigade to repel the enemy's attack many times, and won a lot of time to ensure the breakthrough of the main force and organs.
Soldiers of the Central Plains Breakout
It is worth mentioning that the first brigade led by Pi Dingjun has a relatively large number of more than 7,000 people, but despite this, he is facing a crazy attack of more than 200,000 national troops, and the difficulty of this blockade can be imagined.
It was a fact that the enemy was outnumbered, and Pi Ding knew that the more than 7,000 men of the First Brigade could not fight with the enemy.
He not only had to buy time for the main force to retreat, but also to reduce the casualties of his own troops, and at the same time, while sniping at the enemy, he also tried to find a way to highlight the enemy's encirclement, and all kinds of difficulties made Pi Dingjun very stressed.
After discussion with the comrades, Pi Dingjun decided to adopt the strategy of suspicious troops, so that the enemy could misjudge the route of their breakthrough, and the first brigade completed the task of covering the breakthrough of the main force of the Central Plains Military Region after many days of blockade.
Pi Dingjun spent 22 days with more than 7,000 people in a brigade and more than 200,000 enemy horses, which was a miracle.
What surprised Chairman Mao even more was that Pi Dingjun not only completed the task of covering the breakthrough of the main force, but also transferred more than 7,000 people of the First Brigade to the East China Military Region at a very small cost of casualties and more than 5,000 people.
More than 5,000 veterans who have experienced the baptism of war and have rich combat experience have become one of the main forces of the East China Military Region in the future, and have made great contributions to the liberation of all parts of the country by the East China Military Region.
Pi Dingjun more than 7,000 people sniped at the enemy more than 200,000 people, and successfully broke through, which was not only a victory at that time, but also increased the morale of the Platon's Liberation Army throughout the country, made them confident and capable of facing the strong enemy, and injected a shot of "cardiotonic agent" into the PLA soldiers throughout the country.
When drawing up military ranks in 1955, Chairman Mao remembered the special merits of Pi Dingjun and Han Xianchu, and took the initiative to instruct them to be promoted to a higher level on the basis of their original ranks in recognition of their special contributions in the special period.