The Great Volunteers defeated the United Nations forces headed by the United States, displayed the military prestige of Chinese soldiers, and even more so, played the national prestige of New China, and no one in the world dared to underestimate China. The victory of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea also showed the world that the Chinese nation has truly stood up. As Marshal Peng Dehuai said:
"Gone are the days when Western invaders could occupy a country by erecting a few cannons on a coast in the East for hundreds of years."
The importance of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea to China is self-evident, and of course our volunteers have also made great sacrifices, and it is precisely because our forefathers sacrificed their lives and spilled their heads and blood that we have today's happy life and let us pay tribute to the great ancestors of the volunteers.
In fact, at that time, we also experienced some internal debates about whether to support North Korea, but in the end, the chairman hammered the blow and punched open, lest a hundred punches come, and decided to send troops to support North Korea, of course, before officially sending troops to North Korea, we have made sufficient preparations. On June 25, 1950, the Korean Civil War broke out.
At that time, in order to defend our northeastern frontier and facilitate support for Korea, a national defense conference was held on July 7 of that year, and it was decided to establish the Northeast Frontier Army. At that time, the Northeast Frontier Army had a total of 255,000 men, consisting of the former Siye 3rd Corps, the 42nd Army, the 1st Artillery Division, the 2nd Artillery Division, the 8th Artillery Division, and a certain number of anti-aircraft artillery, engineers, and combat vehicle units.
At that time, Su Yu was appointed commander and political commissar of the Northeast Frontier Army, and Xiao Jinguang was appointed as deputy commander and Xiao Hua deputy political commissar, and this lineup can be said to be quite strong, and in late August, it was decided to transfer 100,000 veterans to prepare to replenish the front-line combat units after the start of the war, and in early September, the 50th Army was incorporated into the Northeast Frontier Army.
At that time, the chairman wanted Su Yu to finally be appointed commander, because of General Su Yu's health, and wanted to make General Lin commander, but General Lin was also in poor health, coupled with drastic changes in the Korean war situation, and finally Chairman Mao issued an order, Jiang Northeast Frontier Army was changed to the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, and Peng Dehuai Peng was appointed commander and political commissar of the volunteer army, with Deng Hua, Hong Xuezhi, and Han Xianchu as deputy commanders.
Throughout the period of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, in addition to Mr. Peng Dehuai Peng, who served as the commander of the Chinese People's Volunteers, there were also General Deng Hua, General Yang Dezhi and General Yang Yong, that is to say, General Deng Hua was the second official commander of the Chinese People's Volunteers, but before that, Chen Geng had acted as the commander of the Chinese People's Volunteers, but why didn't he eventually become the commander of the Chinese People's Volunteers?
When the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea broke out, Chen Geng was not in China, so he was not the first batch of fighters to enter Korea. Chen Geng was in Vietnam to help the Vietnamese army against the French, and on November 1, 1950, Chen Geng set off from Cao Binh, Vietnam, for his return home. On the 29th, Chen Geng came to Beijing, first reported to the chairman and other leading comrades, his work during his stay in Vietnam, and then transferred to the northeast to go to North Korea.
On April 25, 1951, he was appointed commander and political commissar of the Third Corps of the Chinese People's Volunteers, and soon became deputy commander of the Chinese People's Volunteers.
It is logical that Chen Geng succeeded Mr. Peng as commander and political commissar of the Chinese People's Volunteers, but it was Deng Hua who finally succeeded Mr. Peng, not Chen Geng, and General Chen Geng, who served as acting commander and acting political commissar of the Chinese People's Volunteers, was transferred back to China after only two months.
I personally think one of the reasons is that General Chen Geng's health does not allow him to continue to command the battle in a harsh environment. During the revolutionary years, Chen Geng was injured in the leg many times, and he was once caught by the enemy and subjected to severe electrocution, which caused him great physical trauma, and when he returned from Vietnam, his health was not good.
The environment of the Korean battlefield was even worse, and Mr. Peng returned to China at that time, on the one hand, to report the situation on the Korean battlefield, on the other hand, because of his physical condition, the central government asked him to return to China immediately for treatment, so it is reasonable to transfer Chen Geng back to China, of course, the more important reason, that is, the central government needs Chen Geng to do a more important thing, that is, to establish our own military school to cultivate special military talents.
At that time, in view of the changes in the international situation and the needs of the Cold War environment, Soviet leader Stalin Mao suggested that a high-level military academy integrating sea, land and air should be proposed as soon as possible to cultivate high-level military personnel for the development of new China. At that time, Chairman Mao and others discussed and decided to establish a military academy, that is, the Kazakh military industry, and the leader headed by the chairman determined Chen Geng as to who should take on the heavy responsibility.
Because Chen Geng not only had culture and rich experience in fighting against France and the United States in the People's Liberation Army, but also had a high prestige in the army, Chairman Mao approved Chen Geng as the director of the Military Engineering Academy, and immediately let Chen Geng, who commanded the battle in Korea, return to China.
After Chen Geng returned to China, he was immediately called to Zhongnanhai by the chairman, and Chen Geng reported to the chairman on the situation of the Korean battlefield and sighed with emotion: The Soviet Union has assisted us with a lot of advanced weapons and equipment, even surpassing the US aircraft and artillery, but there is a problem, sometimes even if a small screw is dropped, no one will repair it.
At this time, the chairman and others also said that we were going to establish a military school and were ready to make Chen Geng commander, and Chen Geng immediately waved his hand when he heard this, saying that it was okay to let himself lead the troops to fight, and now that he wants to open a school, I am afraid that he will not be able to do it.
And Premier Zhou said:
"When we think about it, we all think that only you can do this task, and during the Red Army, didn't you bring out a very good cadre team? And you just came back from the front, and you can better understand the military gap between us and the US military, you say you don't do who to do! ”
Chairman Mao also said that you are not fighting alone, you can come to us if you have any problems, and the Soviet Union will also send experts to assist you, so you can rest assured, so Chen Geng finally took over the heavy responsibility of founding Kazakhstan's military industry, and finally trained a large number of specialized personnel for the mainland.
In other words, at that time, the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea was very important, and the establishment of military academies was equally important. The commander of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea can be replaced by others, but not everyone can do it when the military school was established, and it was precisely Chen Geng who was the right person.
Chen Geng did not become the commander of the volunteer army, but there is a Kazakh military industry in China, which has cultivated a large number of talents for us, and General Chen Geng has made great contributions to the country!