In 1955, when the ranks were awarded, the ranks of generals at the first level of the army were quite different, some were awarded generals, some were awarded lieutenant generals, some were major generals, and some were colonels. Among them, chen mingren and Dong Qiwu were awarded generals, and before the title was awarded, Chen Mingren's position was the commander of the 55th Army, and Dong Qiwu's position was the commander of the 69th Army. The five military-level generals who were awarded the rank of colonel were Yin Xianbing, commander of the 16th Army, Liu Xuan, political commissar of the 60th Army, Zhang Lixiong, political commissar of the 13th Army, Liang Jinhua, commander of the 24th Army, and Xiao Feng, acting commander of the 28th Army.
General Liang Jinhua
So the question is, as a general of the same military rank, why are Chen Mingren and Dong Qiwu generals, but Yin Xianbing and Liu Xuan and others are colonels? Let's first talk about Chen Mingren, a native of Liling, Hunan, graduated from huangpu phase I, and was the first to ascend to the head of Huizhou City during the Eastern Expedition against Chen Jiongming, and became famous in World War I. However, because of his upright personality and repeated confrontations with his superiors, Chen Jiongming's career was not smooth, and he was not promoted to military commander until 1944. After that, he followed the Chinese Expeditionary Force to fight the Japanese army on the battlefield of Burma, and repeatedly conquered the fortresses heavily defended by the Japanese army, and promoted his power in foreign lands.
After the outbreak of the Liberation War, Chen Mingren led the 71st Army into the northeast battlefield to fight with our army, and in the Siping Defense Battle, he withdrew from the onslaught of the Northeast Field Army with inferior troops, which was also one of the rare highlights of the Nationalist army on the northeast battlefield. With this battle, Chen Mingren received a Blue Sky and White Sun Medal and was promoted to commander of the 7th Corps. However, he was soon ostracized by Chen Cheng and transferred back to Nanjing to be idle. In August 1949, Chen Mingren revolted in Hunan, served as the commander of the 21st Corps of Siye, and led his troops to participate in the suppression of bandits in Guangxi. In 1952, when he was ranked, Chen Mingren was designated as a regular corps, so he was awarded the rank of general in 1955.
General Chen Mingren
Dong Qiwu, like Chen Mingren, was an uprising general. After the liberation of Tianjin and Beiping, Lao Jiang sent people to Suiyuan many times to offer Dong Qiwu a high-ranking official Houlu in an attempt to make him continue to resist or withdraw his troops to the west in Suiyuan, but Dong Qiwu refused. In a fit of rage, the old Chiang stopped sending Suiyuan's funds and supplies in a vain attempt to force Dong Qiwu to submit, and in the face of difficulties, he insisted on saving himself and revolted on September 19, 1949, saving 1.2 million Suiyuan people from the flames of war.
After the uprising, Dong Qiwu served as the commander of the 23rd Corps of the People's Liberation Army and led his troops to participate in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and when he was reassigned in 1952, Dong Qiwu was designated as the rank of the Zhengbing Regiment. Therefore, when he was awarded the rank in 1955, although he was the commander of the 69th Army, he was finally awarded the rank of general based on his rank at the time of his 52nd grade and his contribution to the Suiyuan Uprising. Although Chen Mingren and Dong Qiwu held the position of military commander at the time of the grand title, their rank in 52 years was that of the Zhengbing Army, so both eventually became founding generals.
General Dong Qiwu
So why were Yin Xianbing and Liu Xuan, and others only awarded the title of Colonel? Yin Xianbing joined the Red Army at the age of 15 and served as the first commander of the 16th Army. After the outbreak of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the 16th Army, as the only composite army of the Volunteer Army, went to the Korean battlefield in December 1952, when the armistice negotiations had reached a critical stage, so the 16th Army did not get much opportunity to perform. In 1952, when the title was awarded, Yin Xianbing planned to award the rank of lieutenant general, but was eventually awarded the rank of colonel due to personal style problems.
Liu Xuan, political commissar of the 60th Army, only joined the revolution in 1936, the experience of the Red Army period was almost blank, and at the beginning of the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, his position was only as the instructor of the 3rd Detachment of the Partisan Detachment in Western Hebei, and at the end of the Liberation War, he was the director of the Political Department of the 31st Division of the 11th Army of the Erye Army, and in September 1952 he was appointed as the political commissar of the 31st Division of the Volunteer Army, and after returning to China, he was promoted to the political commissar of the 60th Army. Lacking the experience of the Red Army period, he was only a company-level cadre in the early stage of the War of Resistance, which to some extent affected Liu Xuan's title, so he was finally awarded the rank of colonel in 1955 and promoted to major general in 1961.
General Liu Xuan
Zhang Lixiong, the political commissar of the 13th Army, joined the revolution at the age of 16 and has been engaged in political work, and was partnered with Pi Dingjun during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the early days of the Liberation War. Pi Dingjun was originally intended to be awarded major general, but he was awarded the rank of lieutenant general for his meritorious service in the Central Plains Breakthrough. Zhang Lixiong has hardly served as a military commander, and his military achievements are not obvious, so it is understandable that he was awarded the title of colonel in 195, and in 1961 Zhang Lixiong was promoted to major general, and this year the old general is already 108 years old.
General Zhang Lixiong
Liang Jinhua, commander of the 24th Army, joined the Red Army at the age of 15 and served as the deputy commander of the 24th Army in Sanye at the end of the Liberation War. After the outbreak of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, he followed the 24th Army into the Korean War and was promoted to commander. In 1952, when he was ranked, he was designated as a deputy military rank, and when he was awarded the rank in 1955, the deputy military rank could be awarded the rank of major general or colonel, and finally Liang Jinhua was awarded the rank of colonel, and in 1961 he was promoted to major general. Xiao Feng, the acting commander of the 28th Army, was awarded the title of colonel, but he was affected by the defeat in the Battle of Kinmen. Although they were all military generals when they were awarded the title, for various reasons, Chen Mingren and Dong Qiwu became generals, and Yin Xianbing and Zhang Lixiong became colonels.