In October 1982, the team of the Wuhan Military Region in the central region made a relatively large adjustment. Zhang Wannian, 54, served as deputy commander of the military region. Zhang Wannian was a native of Shandong, a general of the Fourth Field Army, who made meritorious achievements in the Battle of Tashan.
The Siye army entered the pass, Zhang Wannian marched into the central and southern regions, and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served in the Guangzhou Military Region. In 1979, the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam began, and Zhang Wannian was already the deputy commander and division commander of the 43rd Army. At that time, the founding generals gradually grew old, two veteran generals Xu Shiyou and Yang Dezhi commanded on the front line, and Zhang Wannian, as a young new generation of generals, emerged and became famous.
Zhang Wannian used Chairman Mao's military thinking to concentrate his forces to fight the war of annihilation and achieved impressive results. Deng Xiaoping discovered this young general, a rare military talent who really knew how to lead troops to fight.
But no matter how good the talent, it also needs to be experienced step by step. In 1981, Zhang Wannian was promoted to commander of the 43rd Army. From deputy commander to military commander, Zhang Wannian only took 3 years. In 1982, Zhang Wannian attended the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of China as an outstanding representative elected by the whole army and was elected as an alternate member of the Central Committee.
In the same year, Zhang Wannian's position was promoted again, and he served as the deputy commander of the Wuhan Military Region, entering the Military Region for training, in charge of military training and management education. So, who was Zhang Wannian's boss at that time? Who is the commander of the Wuhan Military Region?
His name is Zhou Shizhong, and he is also a famous general of a generation, who is exactly 10 years older than Zhang Wannian. Zhou Shizhong, from Hong'an, Hubei Province, China's first major general, joined the Red Army at the age of 12. At that time, because of his young age, Zhou Shizhong was rejected by the cadres of the local Soviet.
Don't look at his young age, but he has ambitions since he was a child, Zhou Shizhong said that he will continue to grow taller. The Soviet cadre asked him, can he carry a gun? Zhou Shizhong replied that he could carry water a few years ago. The children of the poor had long been soldiers, and Zhou Shizhong had served as a clerk and a trumpeter.
He was a member of the Red 25th Army. In one battle, in order to burn down the enemy's turret, several comrades were killed, and the battalion commander was anxious and wanted to go up on his own. The young Zhou Shizhong rushed ahead of the battalion commander and asked the battalion commander to stay and command, and he rushed up.
Sure enough, it was a hero out of a teenager. Under the cover of fire, the 15-year-old Zhou Shizhong jumped forward and approached the enemy's turret. The enemy spotted him, and a burst of bullets came over him, and Zhou Shizhong was wounded in the calf. Ignoring the pain, he managed to blow up the enemy's turret with torches and grenades.
Zhou Shizhong's eyes were relatively large, and he was very bright. His comrades-in-arms gave him the nickname "Zhou Dayan". After the victory of this battle, the comrades-in-arms no longer called him "Zhou Dayan" and changed his name to "Zhou Bold". Zhou Shizhong is indeed a hero and a tiger.
On the road of the Long March of the Red 25th Army, wu Huanxian, the political commissar of the army, was unfortunately killed, and Zhou Shizhong, who was deeply saddened, charged forward, killed the commander of the enemy regiment, and avenged commissar Wu. He was rewarded by Xu Haidong for this. When the Long March arrived in northern Shaanxi, Zhou Shizhong bid farewell to the work of the division and changed to an instructor.
In the Battle of Pingxingguan, Zhou Shizhong was wounded in the back, and after a simple bandage, he insisted on fighting. In 1938, Zhou Shizhong was promoted to battalion commander and became a military commander. Later, moving south to the New Fourth Army, Zhou Shizhong became Peng Xuefeng's general and served as deputy regimental commander.
When the Liberation War broke out, many generals of the original Red 25th Army followed Huang Kecheng's Third Division to the Northeast Battlefield, while Zhou Shizhong remained in the East China Battlefield, where he served in the Second Column led by Wei Guoqing, serving as deputy division commander, division political commissar and army chief of staff.
(Left One Zhang Wannian, Left Second Zhou Shizhong)
Throughout his life, Zhou Shizhong trained in many posts, not only could charge into the battlefield, lead the troops to fight, but also be good at doing political work, or an excellent chief of staff, is a rare all-round general. In 1955, Zhou Shizhong was awarded the rank of founding major general.
In 1959, Zhou Shizhong became chief of staff of the Fuzhou Military Region. The commander of the Fuzhou Military Region at that time was Han Xianchu. Han Xianchu and Zhou Shizhong went out of Hong'an, Hubei Province, and they were both comrades in arms of the Red 25th Army, and they were all born with a pair of tiger guts, Zhou Shizhong was nicknamed Zhou Bold, and Han Xianchu was nicknamed Han Bold.
Zhou Shizhong assisted Han Xianchu in strengthening the deployment of coastal combat readiness and crushing the possible attack of the Kuomintang at any time. In 1968, Zhou Shizhong was promoted to deputy commander of the Fuzhou Military Region. At that time, the Fuzhou Military Region gathered a large number of famous generals, Han Xianchu was the commander, the political commissar was General Ye Fei, and Lieutenant General Pi Dingjun was also the deputy commander of the Fuzhou Bureau.
In 1975, Zhou Shizhong was transferred to the deputy commander of the Wuhan Military Region, and in 1982, he was officially promoted to commander. In 1985, the Wuhan Military Region was one of the largest military regions that was abolished. Zhou Shizhong, 67, retired from a leadership position and regretted missing the 1988 award.
Otherwise, Zhou Shizhong could also be conferred the title of general.
The Wuhan Military Region was abolished, and Zhang Wannian was reappointed deputy commander of the Guangzhou Military Region until he took up the leadership position of commander of the Great Military Region. Zhang Wannian's later achievements were so great that he was awarded the title of general in 1993 and vice chairman of the Central Military Commission.