The Ministry of National Defense was established in 1954 after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and the first minister was Mr. Peng, a famous warlord of the Liberation War years, and the second minister was Lin Zong, the commander of the Fourth Field Army, who is more familiar to everyone. These two are famous generals in the history of our army, and it is reasonable for the two of them to take the lead in the post of defense minister. The third minister of national defense was Ye Shuai, one of the ten marshals, and the fourth minister of national defense was Xu Shuai, one of the ten marshals, who not only held the post of minister of defense after the founding of the People's Republic of China, but also served as the chief of the general staff. Like General Peng (note that General Peng served as chief of the general staff of our army before liberation) and Lin Zong did not hold the post of chief of the general staff after liberation.
Geng Biao
In the 1980s, the post of defense minister was no longer held, and it was held by a general at the level of marshal. From 1981 to 1982, the Minister of National Defence was General Geng Biao, the only minister of defence without a military rank. By June 1982, Geng Biao stepped down as Minister of National Defense, and the next minister was General Zhang Aiping, the founding general. Note that General Zhang Aiping was the first of the 57 founding generals to hold the position of Defense Minister, and the only general who ever served as Defense Minister. Because the next minister of defense will be General Qin Jiwei, the founding lieutenant general.
In this way, the founding generals who served as defense ministers were four marshals, one admiral and one lieutenant general. Although, among the 57 founding generals, only General Zhang Aiping has held this position, in fact, there are five generals who have served as vice ministers of national defense.
Zhang Aiping is one on the left
When the Ministry of National Defense was first established in 1954, Two generals, Xiao Ke and Li Da, held the position of Deputy Minister of Defense. Both of them were awarded the rank of general in 1955, so it seems that Xiao Ke and Li Da, two generals, were the first founding generals to work in the Ministry of National Defense, but these two were deputy ministers. He did not hold a ministerial position like General Zhang Aiping. Since then, three founding generals have served as deputy ministers of defense.
The first was General Liu Yalou, who was an outstanding military general. During the Liberation War, with Marshal Lin Zong, Luo Shuai and called Lin Luo Liu. The three military and political generals joined hands to liberate the northeast, defeating Chen Cheng, Wei Lihuang, Du Yuming, Liao Yaoxiang, Fan Hanjie and other senior generals of Chiang Kai-shek's military clique, and made contributions to the liberation of the northeast.
Liu Yalou
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, General Liu Yalou threw himself into the construction of the mainland's air force and became the first commander of the air force. It is under his efforts and in the shortest possible time that an air force that can fight with the US imperialist powers has been created. In September 1959, Liu Yalou was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense and Commander of the Air Force.
The second founding general to be appointed vice minister of defense will be General Yang Dezhi. I believe that everyone knows that Yang Dezhi is the general of our army in a hundred battles, and his military career has successively gone through the red army period, the war of resistance and the period of the liberation war, including the war to resist the United States and aid Korea, and the 1979 border self-defense counterattack war, all of which have general Yang Dezhi participating in the command. Such an experience can definitely be regarded as one of the founding generals who have commanded operations for a long time. General Yang Dezhi not only held the post of Vice Minister of National Defense, but he also served as the chief of the general staff of our army.
The third founding general, General Xu Shiyou, was appointed vice minister of defense. I don't know if you have found that the three generals who were appointed as vice ministers of defense after 1954 were all generals who had experienced hundreds of battles in the war years. General Liu Yalou was a famous general of the Fourth Field Army. General Yang Dezhi was a famous general of the First Field Army and a famous general of the North China Field Army. General Xu Shiyou was the tiger general of the Third Field Army and one of the more legendary generals among the founding generals.
General Xu Shiyou not only served as vice minister of national defense, but also as commander of the Nanjing Military Region. In this position as commander of the Grand Military Region, General Xu Shiyou served for 25 years and also participated in the command of the 1979 Border Self-Defense Counterattack. Join hands with Yang Dezhi to defend the country and defend the territory of the motherland from infringement.
In 1982, the post of Deputy Minister of Defense officially withdrew from the stage of history and was no longer established. Friends who may be familiar with history know that the above five generals also held other positions during their tenure as vice minister of defense. For example, Xiao Ke served as the deputy director of the Training DirectorAte and the Director of the Combat Training Department. Li Da is the Deputy Director of the Department of Training and the Minister of Planning and Supervision. Liu Yalou served as commander of the Air Force, General Yang Dezhi served as commander of the Grand Military Region, and General Xu Shiyou was also appointed commander of the Great Military Region. It can be seen that the position of deputy minister, they just hang a title.