Among the many famous generals of the rebel army, three are the most famous. The first is Fu Zuoyi, the second is Chen Mingren, and the third is Zeng Zesheng. In the face of these three, even people who don't usually pay attention to history basically know it.
When Fu Zuoyi uprising is mentioned, there will be the peaceful liberation of Beiping. When Chen Mingren is mentioned, there must be a "101" that commands a million-strong army to go out of the customs as a response, and some people even take the Battle of Siping as an example to say: Chen Mingren is better able to fight than "101". And if you talk about Zeng Zesheng, most people will talk about the Han River Resistance Battle on the battlefield to resist US aggression and aid Korea.
At the same time, when these three people were awarded the title in 1955, they were also treated in three ways. Fu Zuoyi did not participate in the evaluation because he became the minister of water conservancy at that time and was not in the military circles.
But there is also a saying that it is impossible to give Fu Zuoyi an evaluation, and it is obviously low to give it to a general, and it is not appropriate to give it to a marshal or general, so it is better not to evaluate it.
Chen Mingren was rated as a general, and basically had no objections, after all, he played really well in the Battle of Siping, which made Siye suffer.
And Zeng Zesheng has many people who think that it seems to be underestimated, because on the battlefield to resist US aggression and aid Korea, Zeng Zesheng led the 50th Army, and his performance was really moving and praised.
However, I don't know if you have noticed that after the outbreak of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, among the famous generals of the national army who rebelled, not only General Zeng Zesheng participated in the battle, but also a famous general participated, this is General Dong Qiwu, who, like Chen Mingren, was rated as a general in 1955.
Therefore, the question now arises: Why was Zeng Zesheng, who performed so well on the battlefield to resist US aggression and aid Korea, a famous general of the uprising, rated as a lieutenant general, while Chen Mingren and Dong Qiwu were both rated as generals?
One of them: influence, that is, different qualifications
The reason why Fu Zuoyi's uprising is so famous lies in its influence. After all, there had never been an uprising of a Kuomintang heavyweight like Fu Zuoyi before. In terms of military rank, Fu Zuoyi is a general of the national army, and in terms of position (real power), he can be called a feudal official in North China - he wants to have soldiers, he wants to have generals, and he wants to have status.
Look at Chen Mingren again, he not only has the Battle of Siping, but also the first phase of Huangpu, and he emerged during the Northern Expedition. At the celebration party, Chiang Kai-shek ordered all the officers and soldiers to raise their guns to salute him - our Premier Zhou was also among them at that time.
After Chen Mingren's uprising, Premier Zhou also made a point to talk about it. At the same time, Chiang Kai-shek also said: Chen Mingren is a banner of the first phase of Whampoa.
The reason why Chen Mingren fell silent later and was not reused by Chiang Kai-shek was that his character was very upright and he had contradicted Chiang Kai-shek many times. Therefore, when the Liberation War began, Du Yuming of the first phase of Huangpu led the northeast, and Liao Yaoxiang of the sixth phase of Huangpu was the commander of the corps, while Chen Mingren was still the commander of the army, and the 71st Army was stationed in Siping.
Even if he won the Battle of Siping, he was still rectified - don't blame Chen Cheng for this matter, after all, the person who finally approved and agreed was Chiang Kai-shek. Therefore, Chen Mingren was already quite famous before the uprising, and the award of the rank of general was well deserved, which was also a great recognition and respect for Chen Mingren.
As for General Dong Qiwu, he belongs to the Fu Zuoyi system and can be called the first general under Fu Zuoyi - not Chen Changjie, because Chen Changjie was only asked by Fu Zuoyi to guard Tianjin in 1948. The previous Chen Changjie belonged to Yan Xishan's Jin family like Fu Zuoyi.
And Dong Qiwu has always followed Fu Zuoyi and participated in almost all the battles of Fu Zuoyi's department. For example, the famous Wuyuan victory and so on. After Fu Zuoyi went to Beiping, he guarded the Suiyuan area, which was Fu Zuoyi's starting place, and it can also be regarded as Fu Zuoyi's real rear or retreat.
To make it clearer, Dong Qiwu is in Fu Zuoyi's system, which is equivalent to the second-in-command status. Therefore, as soon as Fu Zuoyi announced an uprising in Beijing, Dong Qiwu responded in Suiyuan. Therefore, when the title was conferred in 1955, when Fu Zuoyi did not participate, it was natural for Dong Qiwu to be awarded the rank of general, and the influence was there.
Finally, General Zeng Zesheng, his influence cannot be compared with Chen Mingren, Dong Qiwu and another uprising general, Tao Zhiyue (Xinjiang).
Second: the position is different
Before the uprising, General Zeng Zesheng was in the capacity of army commander when he commanded the army to enter the war in Korea. Before the uprising, Dong Qiwu was the chairman of the Suiyuan Provincial Government and the commander of security, and when he commanded the troops to enter the Korean War, he was the commander of the 23rd Corps - in the vernacular, one was the commander and the other was the commander.
The same is true of General Chen Mingren, who was the commander of the 1st Corps before the uprising and the commander of the 21st Corps after the uprising, and his position is also that of commander.
Before the uprising, General Tao Zhiyue served as chairman of the Kuomintang Xinjiang Provincial Government, commander-in-chief of the Xinjiang garrison, and deputy director of the Northwest Administrative Chief's Office.
Historically, the positions are different, which will naturally affect the corresponding titles. Therefore, the three commanders of the national army before the uprising: Chen Mingren, Dong Qiwu and Tao Zhiyue, were all awarded generals. Before the uprising, Kong Congzhou, Zeng Zesheng, and Han Liancheng, who belonged to the division and army level, were awarded the rank of lieutenant general.
Third, the difference in the contribution of the uprising
When General Dong Qiwu's Suiyuan uprising is mentioned, it represents the overall uprising in the Suiyuan region, including the army, finance, territory, and so on.
This was also the case with the Changsha Uprising of General Chen Mingren, and the entire Changsha was returned to the people in its entirety - this was the contribution of the uprising.
However, General Zeng Zesheng's Changchun uprising did not have such an uprising effect. That is, after Zeng Zesheng's uprising, it affected the course of the Changchun Campaign, rather than directly contributing to the overall uprising in Changchun. After all, it was Zheng Dongguo who guarded Changchun at that time, that is to say, only Zheng Dongguo's uprising at that time could achieve the effect of the overall return.
Even though they are all uprisings, it is necessary to distinguish between the contributions of uprisings. Therefore, when the title was conferred in 1955, it was natural to make corresponding references, so Chen Mingren and Dong Qiwu were generals, and Zeng Zesheng was a lieutenant general.
General analysis: In short, the reason why Chen Mingren and Dong Qiwu were awarded the rank of general, and Zeng Zesheng, who became famous in the Korean War, was a lieutenant general, is not just a certain point or a certain period, but the result of comprehensive consideration.
Although we are discussing very lively, for Chen Mingren, Dong Qiwu, and Zeng Zesheng, it is a different realm.
For example, General Dong Qiwu, after learning that he was awarded the rank of general, hurriedly wrote a letter saying: As far as I am concerned, I was only a lieutenant general before the uprising, and if I can maintain my original position after the uprising, I am already very grateful to the party and Chairman Mao, and there is no reason to promote me to the rank again......
Chairman Mao's reply was: "He is a famous rebel general, and according to his merits, contributions, and qualifications, he should be awarded the rank of general, and no one can lower his opinion...... Dong Qiwu must be awarded the rank of general!"