The ten founding marshals of the People's Republic of China in 1955 were all among the twelve members of the newly formed Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China on September 28, 1954. Except for Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, the rest are just the top ten marshals of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1955.
However, in the previous decade, nine of the ten marshals of 1955 were among the new twelve members of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China on August 23, 1945.
The newly formed Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China in August 1945 consisted of twelve members. They are ranked in the following order: Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, Peng Dehuai, Chen Yi, Nie Rongzhen, He Long, Xu Xiangqian, Liu Bocheng, Lin Biao, and Ye Jianying.
If the list of Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, and Zhou Enlai is removed, the other nine members of the Central Military Commission are listed in order: Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, Chen Yi, Nie Rongzhen, He Long, Xu Xiangqian, Liu Bocheng, Lin Biao, and Ye Jianying.
See no, Marshal Nine. There was only one missing, and he was Luo Ronghuan.
Compared with the list of twelve members of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China in September 1954, Liu Shaoqi and Zhou Enlai were not included. They no longer care about the work of the army. Deng Xiaoping and Luo Ronghuan were added.
We can see that after four years of the War of Liberation, the nine members of the new Central Military Commission on August 23, 1945 (the nine marshals of the 55 years), compared with the ranking order of the twelve members of the Central Military Commission in 1954, their rankings have changed considerably; The ranking order of Zhu De and Peng Dehuai remained unchanged, and Lin Biao's ranking entered the third place from the eighth place; Liu Bocheng advanced from seventh to fourth; Chen Yi retreated from fourth to sixth; The two new recruits were Deng Xiaoping and Luo Ronghuan.
Deng Xiaoping ranked seventh (Deng Xiaoping was a field marshal-level candidate, who was not awarded the rank of marshal because of his local work), after Chen Yi; Luo Ronghuan ranked eighth (ranked seventh among the Top Ten Marshals in 1955), surpassing Xu Xiangqian, Nie Rongzhen, and Ye Jianying;
From the above list, it can be seen that the ten marshals have a necessary condition, that is, to enter the ranks of members of the Central Military Commission of the CPC.
That is to say, only those who have made outstanding contributions and command ability during the four years of the Liberation War can enter the ranks of the new members of the Central Military Commission of the CPC in 1954.
Six members of the new Central Military Commission in 1954 were members of the General Front Committee or Standing Committee who commanded the joint operations of the two major field armies in the Huaihai and Pingjin campaigns. These six people were Lin Biao, Luo Ronghuan, and Nie Rongzhen, the general former members of the Pingjin Campaign; Liu Bocheng, Chen Yi, and Deng Xiaoping, members of the Third Standing Committee of the General Front Committee of the Huaihai Campaign.
Of the six members of the Standing Committee of the General Front Committee, only Deng Xiaoping and Luo Ronghuan did not enter the list of twelve members of the Central Military Commission in August 1945.
Su Yu was only one of the five members of the General Front Committee of the Huaihai Campaign, not the Third Standing Committee. Therefore, after the Liberation War, Su Yu was not eligible to enter the new list of twelve members of the Central Military Commission in September 1954, and it was impossible to enter the list of the ten marshals. It's a very simple thing.
Among the ten founding marshals, most of them were leaders of famous uprisings and the creation of revolutionary base areas.
For example, after the Nanchang Uprising, Zhu De led the rebel troops to Go to Jinggangshan and Mao Zedong to create the Jinggangshan Mountain Revolutionary Base Area, and Chen Yi was also one of the leaders of Zhu Mao Chen San when he created the Jinggangshan Revolutionary Base Area. Peng Dehuai was the commander-in-chief of the Pingjiang Uprising, He Long was the commander-in-chief of the Nanchang Uprising, Liu Bocheng was the Chief of Staff of the Nanchang Uprising Staff, and Nie Rongzhen participated in the planning of the Nanchang Uprising and was one of the leaders of the Guangzhou Uprising in December of the same year.
Neither Lin Biao nor Luo Ronghuan was the leader of the uprising. During the Nanchang Uprising, Lin Biao served as a company commander, and Luo Ronghuan participated in the Autumn Harvest Uprising as a company instructor after Mao Zedong's "Three Bays Reorganization", which was roughly the same level as Lin Biao.
In addition, Su Yu served as the head of the guard squad of the General Front Committee during the Nanchang Uprising.
In this way, the twelve members of the Central Military Commission in September 1954, as well as two other candidates, were determined by their contributions to the War of Liberation. As a result, Deng Xiaoping and Luo Ronghuan made up for it.
Why did Deng Xiaoping and Luo Ronghuan solve the problem of making up for the members of the Central Military Commission? Because they were both six members of the General Front Committee and the Standing Committee of the General Front Committee who commanded two major field armies in each of the two major battles during the Liberation War.
Well, here's the problem. What qualifications do you have to enter the six Standing Committee members of the General Front Committee of the Huaihai and Pingjin Campaigns?
Were they decided by Mao Zedong and the Central Military Commission on an ad hoc basis before the two major battles?
My research found that it was not at all.
Lin Biao, Luo Ronghuan, Nie Rongzhen, Liu Bocheng, Chen Yi, and Deng Xiaoping, the six general front committees or standing committee members of the two major campaigns, all of whom held previous positions, determined their general front committees and standing committee members.
Because, among the six of them, five of them had previously held the posts of deputy secretary of the Northeast Bureau, the North China Bureau, and the Central Plains Bureau, and one was the commander in charge of the military of the Central Plains Bureau of the CPC.
Let's take a look at the positions held by the commanders of the four major field armies in the four major organs during the Liberation War.
First, look at the Northeast Bureau of the COMMUNIST Party; Secretary, Lin Biao; Deputy Secretary Peng Zhen (transferred to the Central Committee in May 1947), Deputy Secretary: Luo Ronghuan, Gao Gang, Chen Yun, Li Fuchun. (Above)
The North China Bureau of the Communist Party of China (established in 1945) had Liu Shaoqi as the first secretary, Bo Yibo as the second secretary, and Nie Rongzhen as the third secretary.
Northwest Bureau of the Communist Party of China, first secretary of Peng Dehuai, second secretary of He Long. (Both were members of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China in August 1945 and September 1954))
The Central Plains Bureau of the Communist Party of China (established in May 1948), the Central Committee decided that Deng Xiaoping would be the first secretary, Chen Yi would be the second secretary, and Deng Ziwu would be the third secretary. Twelve comrades, Liu Bocheng, Deng Xiaoping, Chen Yi, Deng Zihui, Li Xiannian, Song Renqian, Su Yu, Li Xuefeng, Chen Geng, Zhang Jichun, Xie Fuzhi, and Liu Zijiu, were members of the CPPCC National Committee.
Note that although Liu Bocheng is not a deputy secretary or above of the Central Plains Bureau, he ranks first among the twelve members of the Central Plains Bureau of the CPC, ranking ahead of Deng Xiaoping and Chen Yi, and is in charge of military work.
Su Yu is only a member of the committee and ranks seventh.
In May 1948, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided that Chen Yi would work in the Central Plains Bureau, and he would still serve as the commander and political commissar of the East China Field Army.
Regarding the above-mentioned telegram, the central authorities said: "Liu Bocheng is the commander of the Central Plains Military Region and the Central Plains Field Army, Deng Xiaoping is the political commissar, Chen Yi is the first deputy commander of the Military Region and the Field Army, and Li Xiannian is the second deputy commander of the Military Region and the Field Army." Chen Yi is still the commander and political commissar of the East China Field Army... ”
Note that on the same day, in May 1948, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued a telegram entitled "Jurisdictions and Candidates for the Liberated Areas of North China and the Central Plains".
Among them, the jurisdiction of the Central Plains is defined as: "Except for the current jurisdiction of the Central China Liberated Area, the area south of the Longhai Sea, north of the Yangtze River, and up to the Sichuan Gorge Border Area belongs to the Central Plains Liberated Area." (See The Biography of Chen Yi, Contemporary China Publishing House, July 2015 edition, p. 245)
Note that the Huaihai Campaign, launched on November 6, 1948, took place in the central plains liberated area south of the Longhai Road and north of the Yangtze River. This also shows that Mao Zedong had considered the decisive battle in the Central Plains as early as May 1948 and formed a new Central Plains Bureau of the CPC to rule this very large region.
On November 16, 1948, Mao Zedong drafted a telegram on behalf of the Central Military Commission and established the General Front Committee of the Huaihai Campaign. The cable said; "The general front committee is composed of five comrades Liu, Chen, Deng, Su, and Tan, and when possible, five-member meetings are held to discuss important issues, and Liu Chen and Deng are often the three members of the Standing Committee who handle everything on the spur of the moment, and Comrade Xiaoping is the secretary of the general front committee." (The Collected Military Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. V, Military Interests Publishing House, Central Literature Publishing House, December 1993 edition, p. 231)
The three members of the General Front Committee of the Pingjin Campaign were Lin Biao, Luo Ronghuan, and Nie Rongzhen. Note that at this time, Luo Ronghuan is ranked ahead of Nie Rongzhen, which is in line with the ranking order of the new twelve members of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China in September 1954 and the top ten marshals in 1955, and it is also Luo Ronghuan who ranks before Nie Rongzhen. It shows that Luo Ronghuan was very much valued by Mao Zedong and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
Then, there is a considerable difference between the Three Standing Committee members of the General Front Committee of Liu Chen and Deng in the Huaihai Campaign and the two members of the Committee, Su and Zhang. Mao Zedong said in a telegram that Liu Chen and Deng were often put in charge of everything for the Standing Committee. It is explained that it is not a five-person decision-making, but a regular decision-making by Liu Chen and Deng San Standing Committee.
Here, I say a distinction. When the second phase of the Huaihai Campaign surrounded and annihilated the Huang Wei Corps, Mao Zedong's Central Military Commission was considering the next step of crossing the river.
The Central Military Commission submitted the preliminary opinions on the operational policy of crossing the river to the General Front Committee for discussion. The density of this telegraph was extremely high, and it was only sent to Liu, Chen, and Deng, and Xiao Ping was instructed to read it to Su and Tan at the meeting, and then burn it down. (See The Biography of Chen Yi, Contemporary China Publishing House, July 2015 edition, p. 256).
On December 17, 1948, two days after the Annihilation of Huang Wei's Corps, the Central Military Commission telegraphed: "I plan to invite Comrades Bo Cheng and Chen Yi to come with the Central Committee for a consultation."
On the 19th, Liu and Chen went north and arrived at the village of Xibaipo in Pingshan, the seat of the CPC Central Committee, at the end of 1948, and Liu and Chen attended the meeting of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee from January 6 to 8, 1949.
See the difference between the Standing Committee of the General Front Committee and the members of the CPPCC National Committee.
Also, why Chen Yi ranked third among members of the Central Military Commission in 1945 to sixth among members of the Central Military Commission in 1954, and why Su Yu never entered the list of members of the above two Central Military Commissions.
Okay, that's it for today. Welcome to leave a comment.
Original article, author; Paragraph 81. Note; Anyone who plagiarizes this article will be held accountable.
Bibliography:
"Biography of Chen Yi", "Military Anthology of Mao Zedong", "History of the Second Field Army", "Biography of Liu Bocheng", "History of the Third Field Army", etc.