In 1955, when the whole army was awarded the rank of lieutenant general, a total of 175 generals in our army were awarded the rank of lieutenant general, but one of them, known as the "general mentor", served as a company commander of Xu Shiyou, personally summoned general Chen Xilian into the army, saved the life of You Taizhong, who was still an ordinary soldier at that time, and recommended Hua Guofeng to Premier Zhou. He is the founding lieutenant general Zhan Caifang.
In this way, General Zhan Caifang's seniority and prestige are not limited to that of lieutenant generals in any case, so why didn't he give him the rank of general? Let us take you through the legendary life of General Zhan Caifang.
General Zhan Caifang was born in 1907 in a peasant family in Huang'an, Hubei Province, with a total of 6 brothers and sisters, in order to support a large family, Zhan Caifang's parents could only rely on heavy physical labor to support.
When he was 7 years old, long-term fatigue, old illness plagued by his mother because there was no money for treatment, died, so that the family was even more poor, the misfortune is not alone, a few years later, General Zhan Caifang's father died of hunger, accidentally ate poisonous wild vegetables, he suddenly became an orphan.
Fortunately, Zhan Caifang received help from his eldest sister and brother-in-law, who not only took him to his home to take care of him, but also encouraged him to study, which also opened general Zhan Caifang's vision.
At the age of 16, his brother-in-law recommended him to wuhan middle school founded by Mr. Dong Biwu as a school worker through connections, where he saw a wonderful world and came into contact with advanced ideas and theories.
In 1924, Zhan Caifang joined the Socialist Youth League, and soon returned to his hometown to join the peasant movement, and also mobilized the masses to form the Peasants' Self-Defense Force, with him as the leader.
In 1927, Zhan Caifang, who actively organized the peasant movement, joined the Communist Party of China and led the peasant self-defense forces to participate in the jute uprising, embarking on the road of armed revolution.
After that, he fought bravely and well in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, and rose from platoon commander and company commander all the way to political commissar and military commander, and the generals mentioned above were friends with General Zhan Caifang during this period.
Chen Xilian was admitted as a soldier
In early 1928, Zhan Caifang, who was fighting guerrilla warfare in his hometown, found an opportunity to hide in a peasant household while fleeing from the enemy's capture, and was hidden in the rice tank of the family by the hostess, and confused the searching enemy.
In this way, Zhan Caifang became familiar with the family, and gradually used this place as a secret stronghold for the guerrillas, and the half-sized children of the peasant family admired him very much and repeatedly expressed their desire to follow him as a soldier. This 13-year-old child is Chen Xilian. Zhan Caifang thought that Chen Xilian was too young, and always comforted him and said that if he waited, he would definitely have a chance in the future.
One day in April, Chen Xilian, who was herding cattle for the landlord's family, was lying on the ground shaking with his stomach because of unbearable abdominal pain, and as a result, after being seen by the young master of the landlord's family, he actually beat him severely and scolded him for pretending to be sick and lazy.
Chen Xilian, who couldn't bear it, took advantage of the night to find Zhan Caifang and insisted on joining the Red Army, zhan Caifang cried and laughed, and asked him why he had to become a soldier when he was so dangerous as to be a soldier.
Chen Xilian cried and said: I have been bullied by the landlord's family for 6 years, and I have never wanted to live this life again, I know that you are the masters of the poor, specially beating bad people and landlords, I want to be with you.
Listening to Chen Xilian's description and looking at the scars on his body, Zhan Caifang thought of his childhood and felt the same way, but Chen Xilian was too small, he took a gun and said to Chen Xilian: You see you are not as tall as it, how to become a soldier? Wait another year, I'll pick you up!
In this way, Zhan Caifang accompanied Chen Xilian back home, and the worried mother at home hugged Chen Xilian and cried bitterly.
In April 1929, Zhan Caifang, who was already the commander of the Eighth Brigade of the Seventh Red Army, fulfilled his promise and personally brought Chen Xilian into the Red Army units, so that he could fulfill his wish. General Chen Xilian also always had great respect for General Zhan Caifang on the road of revolution in the future.
Save You Taizhong with a ponytail
In June 1935, as the political commissar of the Red 31st Army, he led the troops to participate in the Long March, and on the way through the meadow, he accidentally saw several soldiers helping a seriously ill number to the grass, so he asked: What is wrong?
Seeing the chief's question, a soldier replied: He is seriously ill and has no medicine, and he wants to rest here for a while.
The warrior's words were not full, but Zhan Caifang understood what he meant. At that time, the conditions of the troops were very difficult, not only lacked medicines, but even food could not be guaranteed, and such a seriously ill or seriously injured person could not keep up with the troops once they stopped, although it was cruel, but this was the reality.
Zhan Caifang went up to observe the condition of the sick man, considered it for a while, and said: He is quite strong, and he is so young, if he can carry it, he is a good warrior, so let's pull him with my ponytail and see the creation!
So the seriously ill number pulled the horse's tail and pulled on the road. What was amazing was that he really stubbornly survived and followed the troops out of the grass smoothly.
And this warrior, who was brought down by Zhan Caifang with a ponytail, was awarded the rank of major general in 1955 and You Taizhong in 1988.
Recommend Hua Guofeng to Zhou Enlai
One day in June 1967, Premier Zhou Enlai asked while chatting with General Zhan Caifang, who had served as deputy commander of the Hunan Military Region and was in charge of the work of the "three branches and two armies" in Hunan at that time: Is there any cadre in Hunan who can come out to work?
General Zhan Caifang understood Premier Zhou's meaning, and he thought about it for a while and said to the premier: There are two people, one Wanda and one Hua Guofeng.
After Premier Zhou listened, he asked Hua Guofeng how he was
Zhan Caifang commented without hesitation: Honest and reliable
Premier Zhou then asked: Where is he now?
Zhan Caifang replied: "The Xiangjiang River Wind and Thunder" is in the hands of it.
Soon, under the instructions of Premier Zhou, Zhan Caifang personally went to Changsha to find Hua Guofeng and put him on a plane to Beijing. Since then, Hua Guofeng has always remembered Zhan Caifang's kindness.
So why was Zhan Caifang only awarded the rank of lieutenant general? Realistically speaking, General Zhan Caifang joined the revolution very early, served as a commander at the military level during the Red Army period, and did not meet the standards of a general until the period of the Liberation War.
Unfortunately, in the later period of the Liberation War, the units of our army were reorganized, the column of the field army was changed to an army, and the corps was added to the army, while the rank of General Zhan Caifang remained in the rank of commander, so when the rank was awarded in 1955, the rank of lieutenant general was awarded according to the commander.
But General Zhan Caifang said this when he heard others feel sorry for him:
"I didn't revolution for the sake of military ranks, I remember how many comrades I lost in those years, and what merits they have achieved? What rank? ”
General Zhan Caifang is such an old revolutionary who is indifferent to fame and fortune, but selfless, and when he died, Mr. Hua Guofeng personally inscribed for him the "High Moral Respect, Eternal Tianfang" elegance. Mr. Dong Biwu also commented on him: great courage is cowardly, and great wisdom is like foolishness.