In 1949, after the battle of the Pingjin Campaign, the whole army was unified and reorganized, and Dongye was reorganized into the Fourth Field Army. As the deputy commander of the 7th Column, Zeng Kelin was changed to deputy commander of the 44th Army.
At this time, Lin Biao talked to him, saying that the field army wanted to form a chariot division, and decided to make Zeng Kelin the commander of the division. This meant that Zeng Kelin was demoted from deputy commander to division commander. Of course, due to the need for demotion and use of work, the treatment of military positions remains unchanged. He became the only division commander in Shino to enjoy military status.
For Zeng Kelin, such an inexplicable "demotion" is not the first time.
The first person to advance into the northeast, the expansion of the team has achieved outstanding results
After the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Zeng Kelin, commander of the 16th Military Subdistrict of the Jireliao Military Region, was ordered by Li Yunchang to lead his troops into the northeast. The Zengklin Army was one of the three-way advance army and the fastest to reach the northeast.
After arriving in Shenyang, the Soviet army made some representations, demarcated an area to form a garrison area, and began to expand the troops, and the 4,000-strong team was rapidly expanded. The number of 21 brigades under the jurisdiction of the 16th sub-district alone has reached more than 13,000 people; the number of 21 brigades has reached more than 15,000; the number of 24 brigades has reached more than 14,000; the number of Shenyang garrison brigades has reached more than 5,000; the Anshan garrison brigade has more than 2,000 people, and more than 6,000 people directly under the sub-district.
In just two months, the Zengkelin Department was expanded from more than 4,000 people to more than 60,000 people. After receiving Chen Yun's telegram, Chairman Mao replied: It is very comforting to receive it!
The 16th Division did not stop expanding until the end of 1945, when the 16th Division grew to 9 brigades and 7 independent regiments, with a total of more than 70,000 people.
Because the numbers of troops entering the northeast are different, the organization is chaotic. The Northeast Bureau and the headquarters of the Northeast People's Autonomous Army began to unify and reorganize the troops in the northeast, and the 70,000 or 80,000 troops under the jurisdiction of Zeng Kelin were organized into different units.
During the war, he was demoted many times "inexplicably"
After the Northeast People's Autonomous Army was reorganized into the Northeast Democratic United Army, the units under the jurisdiction of the Liaodong Military Region (South Manchuria Military Region) were reorganized into the Third Column and the Fourth Column. He served as deputy commander and assisted Cheng Shicai, Xiao Hua and others in their work.
On October 31, 1946, after the Qidaojiang Conference, he was changed from deputy commander of the Liaodong Military Region to commander of the Third Column, and was demoted for the first time. Because the survival of the Liaodong troops was difficult, it was necessary to strengthen the leadership of the combat troops, and the 3rd Column was Zeng Kelin's old unit, and he was more suitable for him.
In August 1947, he was transferred out of the field army and served as a commander in the Liaoning Military Region, where he presided over local work. After six months of service, he was transferred to the deputy commander of the 7th Column, which was the second demotion.
This demotion is also a bit inexplicable. Lin Biao told him that he was about to form a corps, deng Hua would be the commander of the corps, and the commander of the 7th Column would be replaced by him when the time came. However, we need to first be aggrieved and understand the troops first.
This grievance was again for more than a year, until after the end of the Pingjin Campaign, the deputy commander not only did not turn regular, but was demoted to division commander.
For Zeng Kelin's demotion, it is also caused by many factors.
Lin Biao has always liked people who can fight, and during the Battle of Sibao Linjiang, Zeng Kelin asked to fight the weak enemy first, and then the strong enemy; the partner Han Xianchu was just the opposite, knocking out the enemy's trump card, and the weak enemy did not attack and destroy himself.
In 1947, Lin Biao made an overall adjustment to the commanders of the field army, and a group of people who could fight hard battles were put in a position of reuse. One column Wan Yi was replaced by Li Tianyou, the third column Zeng Kelin was replaced by Han Xianchu, and the fourth column Hu Qicai was replaced by Wu Kehua. Hu Qicai is not unable to fight, but his health is not good, and he has been recuperating for a long time, which is not conducive to the combat command of the troops.
However, having said that, Zeng Kelin's contribution to advancing into the northeast is still worthy of recognition, and it is also the biggest highlight of his liberation war.