General Chen Geng had four major tiger generals under his command: Zhou Xihan, Li Chengfang, Zha Yusheng, and Chen Kang.
In 1955, Zha Yusheng was awarded the rank of major general, and Zhou Xihan, Li Chengfang and Chen Kang were all awarded the rank of lieutenant general.
However, for a special reason, the protagonist of this article, General Chen Kang, has been bumpy all the way, and even became a "deserter" and was almost disciplined.
Founding Lieutenant General Chen Kang
In any army, "desertion" is a very serious act, ranging from confinement and disciplinary punishment.
Those with serious consequences and bad effects are also sent to military court, sentenced to imprisonment or even shot.
From the basic definition of the word "deserter", a soldier who leaves the army without the approval of his superiors is a deserter.
People can't help but ask, how could Chen Kang, a battle-hardened soldier who has been in the battlefield for a long time, be a deserter pointed out by a thousand people?
The fact is that Chen Kang really committed such a thing that year.
Without the consent of his superiors, he did not even say hello to the leader, and fled the army with two other people.
A native of Guangji County, Hubei Province, General Chen Kang joined the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army in June 1930 and served as the commander of the 276th Regiment of the Red Fourth Front before the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
After the troops arrived in Yan'an, for reasons that were well known, Chen Kang and many cadres of the Red Fourth Front Army entered the Kang Da study.
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army, and most of the former Red Fourth Front troops were incorporated into the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and some people were transferred to the New Fourth Army.
Chen Kang was one of the cadres of the Red Fourth Front Who was transferred to the New Fourth Army, along with Ye Daozhi, Xu Changsheng, and others who were transferred to the New Fourth Army.
Because the Kuomintang had restrictions on the organization of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army, many Red Army generals were demoted to one or more levels.
After arriving at the New Fourth Army, Ye Daozhi was directly demoted from division commander to battalion commander, his old subordinate Xu Changsheng became a staff officer, and Chen Kang was also demoted from regimental commander to supplementary battalion commander.
In this regard, many people, including Ye Daozhi, Xu Changsheng, and Chen Kang, could not understand it for a while, and they carried a heavy burden in their hearts.
Old photo Group photo of senior generals of the New Fourth Army
The three men "pitied each other with the same disease" and actually had the idea of "going back to the old troops."
All three of them were veteran Red Army members who had participated in the Long March, and it was reasonable to say that they could apply to their superiors in an open and upright manner.
Unfortunately, they did not.
On July 31, 1938, the three of them quietly left the unit with pistols in the name of looking at the terrain, and did not greet anyone before leaving.
The New Fourth Army headquarters soon learned of Ye Daozhi, Xu Changsheng, and Chen Kang's unauthorized departure from the army with guns, and the military department immediately sent Li Zhigao, chief of the reconnaissance section, to lead people to pursue them.
Li Zhigao caught up with them in Jiangxi, and the two sides began a fierce dispute, and in a state of emotional out-of-control, the two sides also used force.
In the chaos, Xu Changsheng was hit by a bullet and immediately fell to the ground and died, while Ye Daozhi was captured by Li Zhigao and returned to the army headquarters.
However, Chen Kang escaped by chance, and he ran to Wuhan in one breath, and then turned around and ran back to the old unit, the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army.
Back in the 129th Division, Chen Kang was severely criticized by his superiors and was subsequently sent to the 129th Division's camp school as a teacher.
Chen Kang thought that in this life, he would never have the opportunity to lead troops to fight, but unexpectedly, at an occasional opportunity, Zhou Xihan, chief of staff of the 386th Brigade, found him.
At that time, the 386th Brigade had a lot of fighting, and the casualties of officers and men were very serious, especially the lack of experienced cadres.
Zhou Xihan originally wanted to report to Brigadier Chen Geng and directly promote Chen Kang to regimental commander, but Brigadier Chen Geng clearly told him that because Chen Kang had left the army without permission, he was not suitable to serve as a military commander.
Zhou Xihan, who was eager to use people's hearts, immediately adjusted his thinking, so let's become the deputy regimental commander first.
Chen Geng Zhou Xihan
For Zhou Xihan's arrangement, Brigadier Chen Geng chose "default".
In this regiment, although Chen Kang was only a deputy regimental commander, he had always been used as a regimental commander by the brigade, because there was no regimental commander at all.
Whether this was Zhou Xihan's intention, we have no way of knowing. However, it was Zhou Xihan who saw the hero and reactivated the enthusiasm of a predatory soldier.
After that, Chen Kang successively participated in the "Hundred Regiments War" and other battles, because of his bravery in battle and proper command, he was promoted to regimental commander soon after.
Under the command of Brigadier Chen Geng, Chen Kang's military talents were brought into full play, and he gradually became a member of the Tiger General under General Chen Geng.
The names of Chen Kang and Chen Geng are only one word apart, and many people will make mistakes if they are not careful.
Chen Geng had absolute prestige in the 386th Brigade, with a large number of "fans", and many officers and soldiers would imitate his conversation, style, and even the details of life.
Chen Kang was also one of the "hardcore fans" of Brigadier Chen Geng, who not only learned a lot of military knowledge from Chen Geng, but even learned the kung fu of "acting" by Brigadier Chen Geng.
Many people know that Chen Geng is lively and is a pistachio of "people see and love".
During the Whampoa Military Academy, Chen Geng was an active member of the "Blood Flower Drama Society".
Chen Geng once wrote his own drama "The Emperor's Dream" and played the role of "Fifth Aunt" in this satire on Yuan Shikai's restoration as emperor.
Many years later, many huangpu elderly people still remember the scene of that year.
At that time, Chen Geng had a powdered face, a flower in his head, holding Yuan Shikai's crown in both hands, and walking with the golden lotus step, which made the Huangpu students laugh.
In August 1947, Chen Geng also assigned Chen Kang a task of "acting out a big drama".
This drama is the famous "Yuxi Morning Glory" battle.
The "Morning Glory in Western Henan" is a classic example of a battle after Chen Xie's army forcibly crossed the Yellow River.
Old photos
The "cow" that Chen Geng wanted to lead was called Li Tiejun, who was a classmate of Chen Geng's Huangpu Phase I.
Therefore, when Chen Xie's army crossed the Yellow River, Li Tiejun led tens of thousands of troops to directly slaughter them.
How to deal with Li Tiejun, an old classmate?
Chen Geng summoned Chen Kang, who was then the commander of the 13th Brigade, to give him a chance: "Li Tiejun's strength is too much, you must find a way to lure the main force of Li Tiejun to Funiu Mountain, first drag him, drag him down, drag him down, and then we will attack him." ”
"You can act boldly with confidence, the more real the better, as long as you don't show flaws, your performance will be successful!" 」
This was the only requirement that Chen Geng had made to Chen Kang.
At that time, Chen Kang's troops only had a few thousand people, so how could he draw the 30,000 main forces of Li Tiejun?
Chen Kang said: "I will not fight with him hard, as for how to accompany him to 'act' this play, I definitely have a way to ensure that the performance is seamless, and I must drag him Down Li Tiejun." ”
As soon as Chen Kang appeared, he made a big move, he spread the troops according to the fan surface, and for a time, his troops could almost be seen on the main road and small road.
After the troops entered the village, Chen Kang ordered the troops to rent the houses in the whole village and bury as many pots and pots as possible to make rice, so that the whole village was full of cooking smoke.
Li Tiejun was really deceived, and immediately led the army to chase after him.
Li Tiejun was hooked so quickly, Chen Kang was secretly happy in his heart, and ordered the troops to lead Li Tiejun's "bull nose" and immediately move.
After all, Li Tiejun was a high-caliber student in the first phase of Huangpu, and the troops chased after a certain road, so Li Tiejun ordered the troops to stop the pursuit and shrink back.
Li Tiejun is too cunning, what can be done about this?
"Please be better than a radical general", Chen Kang decided to stimulate Li Tiejun.
Old photo of General Chen Geng (left)
Chen Kang ordered his troops to besiege Zhenping. Zhenping was the western gate of Nanyang and a must for the Kuomintang army.
Sure enough, when Chen Kang was fighting fiercely in Zhenping, Li Tiejun's large army quickly followed.
However, by the time Li Tiejun arrived at Zhenping, Chen Kang had already taken his thousands of officers and men away.
Li Tiejun thus decided that the People's Liberation Army that attacked Zhenping must be the main force of Chen Xie's army, and he wanted to seize this opportunity to duel with his old classmate Chen Geng.
Chen Kang once again held Li Tiejun's "bull nose", but Li Tiejun was still very cautious, and he ordered the troops to keep a distance from the PLA, and while following up, he spied on the strength of the PLA.
Chen Kang decided to continue making a big fuss.
During the day, in order to confuse the enemy's aerial reconnaissance planes, Chen Kang ordered the troops in the army to line up in a long line, and when it was dark, the soldiers began to burn bonfires again.
Therefore, Li Tiejun was basically certain that what he had been following was the main force of Chen Xie's army.
Seeing that it was not far from Funiu Mountain, the main force of Chen Xie's army had all been in place, and a heavenly net had been set up on Funiu Mountain.
Chen Kang decided to stimulate Li Tiejun again, so as not to "slip the hook" at the last moment.
Therefore, Chen Kang ordered his troops to concentrate their firepower and fiercely "bit" Li Tiejun.
In this way, the suspicious Li Tiejun finally made up his mind, he asked the troops to throw away the weight, and chased Chen Kang into Funiu Mountain.
Chen Kang fought and walked away here, one moment to the east, the next to the west, tossing Li Tiejun to unspeakable pain, and the officers and men under his command were bitter and tired.
At this moment, Li Tiejun received a telegram ordering him to immediately return to Pinghan Road.
As a result, the "morning glory war" became a "cattle chasing war", and Chen Kang quickly mobilized his troops, biting Li Tiejun's troops to death, and fighting while chasing.
In this way, Li Tiejun's cattle were "led" into Funiu Mountain by Chen Kang, and then driven into the ambush circle of Chen Xie's army.
Just as Chen Geng had estimated in advance, poor Li Tiejun was exhausted by Chen Kang's drag, the officers and men complained bitterly, their combat effectiveness was greatly reduced, and they were finally defeated.
After the war, Chen Geng praised Chen Kang's "acting skills": "Your acting is too wonderful, but I pity my old classmate." ”
After Li Tiejun was captured, he said to Chen Geng: "The defeat of our army this time is not so much a defeat as it has been dragged down. ”
After that, the main force of the original 386 brigade developed into the 13th Army, the commander was Zhou Xihan, and Chen Kang became the deputy commander of the 13th Army.
At the end of 1949, Chen Kang personally led three main regiments from Nanning to southern Yunnan, and in fourteen days, the troops marched 1800 miles, catching up with and capturing Tang Yao, deputy commander-in-chief of the Kuomintang army.
This Tang Yao was the highest ranking general among the captured Kuomintang generals.
General Chen Kang (right)
After the founding of New China, Chen Kang was appointed commander of the 13th Army and later entered the Military Academy.
From 1956 onwards, Chen Kang served as deputy commander of the Kunming Military Region, commander of the Yunnan Provincial Military Region, and acting commander of the Kunming Military Region, and in 1977, Chen Kang was transferred to the deputy commander of the Lanzhou Military Region.
In 2002, Chen Kang died at the age of 92.