The first conferment of the title by the Chinese People's Liberation Army in September 1955 can be called an extremely grand and influential ceremony in the history of our army. It can be described by the phrase "clouds are full of valleys, the moon shines in the long sky, washing feet and collecting clothes, it is the time of banquet".
During the Liberation War, our army set up five major strategic regions, and the commanders of each strategic region were of course one of the key targets of this award. As one of the principal heads of the major strategic regions, the director of the Political Department is generally very prominent in his qualifications and achievements. Interestingly, however, the five political directors of the five strategic regions were not uniformly rated in this award.
The director of the political department of the Northeast Field Army is Tan Zheng, a model figure in political work in the whole army, and the director of the political department of the North China Military Region is Luo Ruiqing, who was jokingly called by Chairman Mao as "a person that the king of Yan does not want." Both of them were born in 1906, participated in the revolution very early and made outstanding contributions, and were both awarded the rank of general.
The directors of the political departments of the two major field armies in East China and Northwest China were Tang Liang and Gan Siqi, both old revolutionaries who participated in the Red Army's Long March, at the age of 45 and 52 respectively, and were awarded the rank of general.
However, Zhang Jichun, director of the Political Department of the Central Plains Field Army, was not awarded a military rank.
In terms of age, Zhang Jichun, born in 1900, is 55 years old, a few years older than the four political directors mentioned earlier.
In terms of qualifications, Zhang Jichun devoted himself to the revolution as early as 1922 when he was studying at the Third Normal School in Hunan because of the influence of Mao Zedong and participated in the student movement and peasant movement led by the Communist Party of China. He joined the party four years later and participated in the famous Shonan Uprising with Zhu De and Chen Yi. During the Jinggangshan period, Zhang Jichun became one of the earliest political cadres of our army.
Judging from the aspect of meritorious service, whether it was during the Agrarian Revolution, the War of Resistance Against Japan, or the War of Liberation, Zhang Jichun made indelible contributions to our party and our army, and can be said to be one of the most effective assistants to Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping, the two leaders of the Central Plains Field Army.
All in all, no matter how you measure it, Zhang Jichun is an excellent general of our army, and if you refer to the conferral of titles by the other four directors of the Political Department, he is at least qualified to become the founding general.
But in fact, Zhang Jichun was not awarded any rank, what is going on?
In fact, the reason is very simple, that is, Zhang Jichun had been transferred to work in the Central Propaganda Department when he was awarded the title and did not stay in the army.
After the founding of New China, Zhang Jichun held many important posts in the Southwest Military Region, including first deputy secretary of the party committee, deputy political commissar, and director of the political department. After that, Zhang Jichun participated in the march into Tibet, suppressing bandits and suppressing rebellion, land reform, and suppressing rebellion with his unit. He devoted a lot of effort to the construction and development of the southwest region shortly after liberation, and also played an extremely important role.
By 1954, in accordance with the needs of the new tasks in the construction and development of new China, the party Central Committee had readjusted the work of many outstanding personnel of our army.
There is no doubt that this was a major turning point in Zhang Jichun's life, who had been in the army for most of his life; although leaving the army for many years would make him feel reluctant to do so, as a loyal Communist Party member, he was willing to accept new revolutionary tasks and new challenges in work and life, and gladly went to his death.
When Zhang Jichun received the order, he already knew that the General Political Department of the Central Military Commission had begun to make preparations for evaluating military ranks, and he also understood that once he left the army, it would mean that many things would have to start over. However, Zhang Jichun did not consider his personal fame and fortune at all, but resolutely obeyed the arrangements of his superiors, drawing a successful end to his 30-year career in horse fighting.
When the military rank was assessed in 1955, Zhang Jichun was fully qualified to be awarded the rank of general according to the evaluation criteria, but according to the relevant instructions of the party Central Committee, cadres who had left the army, no matter how great their combat merits or meritorious service, would no longer be awarded military ranks, so Zhang Jichun became the only director of the political department of the five major strategic regions that year who was not awarded the title.
However, Zhang Jichun did not have the slightest doubt about the central authorities' decision, nor did he say a word about the Central Military Commission and the leaders of Liu and Deng in those years, but he worked at his post with peace of mind, "but watching the flowers blossom and fall, and not saying right and wrong," and became an example for revolutionaries of the older generation regardless of personal fame and fortune.