In the war years, the close escort work of the central leadership was crucial. Some people think that the person in charge of this work does not seem to have a very high position, but some generals were responsible for the security of the chairman and others when they were young, and over time, the influence of this early work experience was revealed, and later developed very well and held important positions. Early in his military career, two of the most famous founding generals were in charge of the president's escort, and both of them were more than 1.8 meters tall. After the founding of the country, one of the two great Han became the founding generals and the other was the founding general, who were they?
The first is Luo Ruiqing. Luo Ruiqing was named the founding general in 1955. According to the introduction of the general's son Luo Jian, the exact height of his father when he was young was 1.82 meters. The chairman is tall, but his height is slightly shorter than Luo Ruiqing, so during the Red Army period, the chairman affectionately called Luo Ruiqing "Luo's eldest son", which means big and tall. In 1933, Luo Ruiqing became the director of the Political Protection Bureau of the First Red Army, directly responsible for the escort work of the chairman and other chiefs, and even the daily life, leisure and entertainment of the chairman were strictly protected by Luo Ruiqing.
Once the chairman wanted to swim in the river, Director Luo thought that it was too dangerous to go into the water, and insisted that the chairman was not allowed to swim, so the chairman and him turned their faces and quarreled. In the end, Luo Ruiqing still couldn't resist the chairman's temper, and sent 4 soldiers down the river to swim with the chairman, while he was closely monitored on the shore (Luo could not swim), and finally ensured the safety of the chairman. Although there was a big fight, Luo Ruiqing left a very good impression on the chairman. In his military and political career, the chairman has always trusted Luo Ruiqing very much, and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the chairman once said on a special occasion: Luo Ruiqing I know, he has never opposed me, except for one swim. This may seem like a joke, but it's not.
In his military and political career, Luo Ruiqing mostly held political work positions, and there were not many battles he actually commanded. During the Red Army, he served as the political commissar of the Army, served as the director of the Field Political Department of the Eighth Route Army during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and was the director of the Political Department of the North China Military Region during the Liberation War, and at the same time, in conjunction with the famous General Yang Dezhi, served as the political commissar of the Second Corps of North China (later the 19th Corps). In the Jin-Cha-Ji region, the corps achieved remarkable results, and in the later stages of the Liberation War, it coordinated with the Northeast Field Army that entered the customs and won the Pingjin Campaign. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Luo Ruiqing rose step by step, serving as vice premier of the State Council, chief of the general staff of the People's Liberation Army and other key positions, not only as a founding general, but also as a deputy state-level leader.
Another "big tall" was General Zhang Zongxun. Zhang Zongxun was taller than Luo Ruiqing, reaching a height of 1.86 meters. When posing with other founding generals, Zhang Zongxun was clearly taller than most. During the Red Army and the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Zhang Zongxun had two experiences of guarding the chairman. When he went to Jinggangshan in 1927, he organized a guard platoon to be responsible for the safety and security of the chairman, and in 1937 Zhang Zongxun served as the director of the First Bureau of the Central Military Commission, directing the mobilization of the guard regiment to protect the head of the central government into Yan'an. Zhang Zongxun was in fact a general of the concubines whom the chairman trusted very much, and his later promotion was very rapid.
During the Liberation War, Zhang Zongxun served as deputy commander of the First Field Army, second only to Peng Laozong in the field army. In fact, according to Zhang Zongxun's resume, to some extent, he has more advantages than Luo Ruiqing in the previous article. Luo Ruiqing was a civilian cadre, and Zhang Zongxun was a "military general", he commanded many battles, and had the opportunity to be rated as a founding general. Before the award of the title in 1955, in the first edition of the appraisal plan submitted by Peng Laozong and Luo Shuai to the Central Committee, Zhang Zongxun ranked 10th among 15 generals, and it is said that no matter how he evaluated, he should not miss the rank of general.
However, the central government was adjusted, and Xu Guangda (the Red Second Army representing He Laozong), which was more symbolic during the Red Army period, entered the list of generals, and finally only rated 10 generals, so Zhang Zongxun regrettably missed the rank of general, but he still became one of the 57 founding generals. From the experience of Luo Ruiqing and Zhang Zongxun, it is not difficult to see that the escort work of the central chief is actually a very important work with a future for later development, of course, this also requires the generals themselves to have excellent quality and real talent to become real generals.