During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Nationalist government awarded Song Meiling the rank of lieutenant general in recognition of her contributions to the construction of the Air Force. But this rank is only honorary, more of an honorary nature. After the founding of New China, Li Zhen became the first female general, and her military rank was major general. So who will be the first female lieutenant general in our country? She is Nie Li.
Nie Li was born in 1930 in a charity hospital in the Shanghai Concession. At that time, her father Nie Rongzhen and her mother Zhang Ruihua were both engaged in underground work in central special science, and the birth of their daughter brought great happiness to Nie Rongzhen and his wife. However, due to the tight work and malnutrition, Zhang Ruihua's milk was insufficient, and he had no money to buy milk powder, so Xiao NieLi could only drink batter.
A year later, Gu Shunzhang defected, and Nie Rongzhen was serving as chief of staff at the Central Military Commission, and because he had intersected with Gu Shunzhang when he worked in the special branch in the past, his situation was very dangerous. For safety reasons, his superiors sent him to work in the Central Soviet District of Jiangxi. His wife Zhang Ruihua and daughter Xiao Nie Li stayed, but the difference between father and daughter was 15 years.
After separating from her husband, Zhang Ruihua took Xiao NieLi to work in Shanghai for three years. In the spring of 1934, due to the betrayal of traitors, Zhang Ruihua and Xiao NieLi were unfortunately arrested. He was first detained in the patrol room, and two days later transferred to the Tilanqiao Women's Prison. The enemy used all kinds of means in a vain attempt to obtain our Party's secrets from Zhang Ruihua's mouth, but none of them succeeded. Soon after, the enemy hit Xiao Nie Li again, and the female agents disguised themselves into the cell and tried to get close to Xiao Nie Li, asking her which uncles and aunts often went to their homes, hoping to get some useful clues from them.
But no matter how cleverly the agents cajoled, Xiao Nie Li didn't say a word. Due to the lack of conclusive evidence and the organizational rescue, Zhang Ruihua and Xiao Nieli were released from prison half a year later. After his release from prison, Zhang Ruihua first worked in the branch of the Central Underground Printing Factory, and in the autumn of 1935, he was ordered to go all the way to the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region. Due to the difficult road, for safety reasons, Xiao Nie Li was fostered in the home of the mother of Mao Qihua, an underground worker on the outskirts of Shanghai, when Nie Li was not yet 6 years old.
Mao Qihua's mother's life is also very difficult, it is not easy to maintain her livelihood, and Xiao Nie Li naturally has no opportunity to study. After getting a little older, Xiao Nie Li began to work as a small hired worker for a rich family in the neighborhood, getting up early every day and being greedy, doing all kinds of chores, and suffering a lot. But Nie Li is very strong, she knows that her parents are not around, everything can only rely on herself, so she never complains about being tired. It was not until after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War that Nie Li returned to his father, who had been separated for a full 15 years.
When he learned that his daughter had begun to do child labor at a young age and had not read a day's book, Nie Rongzhen was very guilty, and he took his daughter's small hand and left tears. Soon after, Nie Li entered elementary school and became the oldest student in the class. Nie Li studied very hard, and it took only 9 years to complete the course from primary school to high school.
After graduating from high school, Nie Li entered the Leningrad Institute of Precision Machinery and Optical Instruments to study, and after returning to China, he was assigned to the Fifth Research Institute to engage in research on missiles and rockets, and successively served as deputy director of the Science and Technology Department of the Science and Technology Commission of the Ministry of National Defense and deputy director of the Science and Technology Committee of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense. In recognition of Nie Li's contributions to the field of national defense science and technology, she was awarded the rank of major general in 1988 and promoted to lieutenant general five years later. Nie Li's husband served as director of the Working Committee of the Ministry of National Defense with the rank of general.