On February 9, 1949, the whole army was reorganized, and the 8th Column was reorganized into the 26th Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
In this reorganization, the 26th Army produced a total of 5 cadres at the army level and 6 cadres at the division level.
Amazingly, all five military-level cadres came from the famous General County.
Commander: Zhang Renchu
He was born in Huang'an (now Hong'an), the first county of the general. Born in the old Red Army, he participated in the Long March, and in May 1948 he was appointed commander of the 8th Column, the second commander of the 8th Column, and the first commander of the 26th Army.
Due to many injuries during the war years, after returning to China to resist US aggression and aid Korea, he recovered for 8 years and was awarded the rank of lieutenant general in 1955.
In 1962, he became the deputy commander of the Jinan Military Region.
Political Commissar: Wang Yiping
Born in Rongcheng, the famous Jiangjun County in Shandong. In his early years, he participated in the revolution when he was studying at the famous Wendeng township teacher in Jiaodong.
Wang Yiping has two points that attract attention:
First, Wendeng Rongcheng, who came from the East China Sea, the birthplace of the revolution in the early days of Jiaodong, did not grow up in Jiaodong like his contemporaries, but went to Yan'an, and rushed from Yan'an to Luzhong in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War.
The second is that he was born in General County but was not awarded the rank of general.
Wang Yiping served as political commissar of the 26th Army and the 22nd Army respectively, and in 1952, Marshal Chen Yi personally transferred to Shanghai as the head of the organization, missing the 1955 award.
Later, he served as Secretary of the Shanghai City Committee, Vice Mayor and Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Deputy commander: Zhong Guochu
Born in another famous general county: Jiangxi Xingguo, the 3rd in Paijiangjun County.
He was the commander of the 23rd Army at the time of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and after returning to China, he served as the commander of the 27th Army. Later, he served as Secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and Deputy Director of the Provincial People's Congress.
In 1955 he was awarded the rank of major general.
Chief of Staff: Chen Hong
Another one from Jiangjun County: Anhui Jinzhai, ranked second of the top ten Jiangjun counties.
When the 8th Column was established, Chen Hong was the commander of the 23rd Division (later the 7th Division of the 26th Army).
Chen Hong later served as commander of the 26th Army. After that, he served as the deputy commander of four military regions in Jinan, Chengdu, Nanjing and Lanzhou.
In 1955 he was awarded the rank of major general.
Director of the Political Department: Li Yaowen
is also born in Jiangjun County, and Wang Yiping is a fellow villager and an adult.
Li Yaowen grew up in Jiaodong in his early years and participated in the Tianfushan Uprising.
When the 8th Column was established, he partnered with Chen Hong and was the political commissar of the 23rd Division.
There is a good story of two people on the Internet: After the liberation of Shanghai, Chen Hong drove a jeep to pull Li Yaowen on the beach, but was chased and intercepted by the police, and the two quickly fled by car, the scene is very interesting.
At the time of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, 32-year-old Li Yaowen was already the political commissar of the 26th Army, the youngest regular army rank in the troops participating in the war. After that, he fought with Commander Zhang Inchu on the Korean battlefield, and the cooperation was very tacit.
Later served as political commissar of the Navy.
Li Yaowen was the only 11 to have participated in the conferral twice, being awarded the rank of major general in 1955 and general in 1988.
Five military-level cadres, all from General County, are also very rare.