1955 was a milestone year for our army. This year, for the first time, our army implemented the rank and rank system, which marked that our army's regularization construction had entered a new stage. However, this award was not perfect, and for various reasons, many people were eventually awarded military ranks that did not match their qualifications and positions, and He Jinnian is the most typical example.
He Jinnian was born in Anding, Shaanxi, and was an old Red Army with outstanding military achievements. In 1927, 17-year-old He Jinnian graduated from high school and was admitted to a normal school in Suide.
He Jinnian's youth was a period of vigorous development of the revolution, and he participated in democratic revolutionary activities as early as when he was a high school student. When he was a student at the Normal School, He Jinnian was deeply influenced by Marxism-Leninism and established a lofty ideal of fighting for communism all his life. At the beginning of 1928, He Jinnian officially joined the party, and soon after, he was sent by the party organization to secretly break into the Kuomintang troops stationed in the Shaanxi and Gansu areas.
He Jinnian carried out fruitful military movement work in the Kuomintang army, uniting and mobilizing a group of progressive soldiers. In 1932, He Jinnian participated in the Jingyuan Uprising and was appointed deputy commander of the Red Army's Shaanxi-Gansu guerrilla force. In August of that year, the guerrillas were attacked by the enemy, and He Jinnian was unfortunately separated from his troops.
In order to get in touch with the organization as soon as possible, He Jinnian went through hardships and begged all the way to Lanzhou, and finally returned to the revolutionary ranks.
In the years that followed, He Jinnian successively served as the political commissar of the Shaanxi-Gansu guerrilla detachment, the chief of staff of the guerrillas, the division commander, and the commander of the corps.
In 1937, the Red 27th Army was incorporated into the 344th Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and soon went to the anti-Japanese front. But He Jinnian remained in northern Shaanxi and accepted a more important task. At that time, in order to defend Yan'an, the Eighth Route Army established a left-behind corps, and He Jinnian was appointed as the head of the first garrison regiment.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, He Jinnian was ordered to lead his troops into the northeast and came to the Heilongjiang region. At that time, Heilongjiang was extremely serious in terms of banditry, and He Jinnian was ordered to exterminate dozens of bandits, including Xie Wendong and Zashan Diao, in a very short period of time, and laid a solid base for our army in the northeast.
After the outbreak of the Liberation War, He Jinnian was transferred to the front-line troops to work, successively served as deputy commander and commander of the column, and participated in important battles in Liaoshen and Pingjin.
After the battle of crossing the Yangtze River began, He Jinnian, then deputy commander of the 15th Corps of the Fourth Field Army, led the army to the south and liberated a large area of land south of the Yangtze River. After the outbreak of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, He Jinnian participated in the organization and leadership of the logistics of the Volunteer Army, mainly responsible for railway transportation.
According to He Jinnian's qualifications and merits, it was no problem to be awarded the rank of lieutenant general, but due to the involvement of the Gaogang incident, He Jinnian was initially only rated with the rank of colonel. After learning of this situation, He Long, who has always been upright, felt that it was very unfair, and after careful consideration, he decided to directly report the situation to Chairman Mao.
One day in 1955, Chairman Mao met He Long at Juxiang Bookstore. After a short greeting, He Long explained his intention straight to the point: "Chairman, I think He Jinnian's military rank is a bit low. Hearing this, Chairman Mao was a little surprised: "What military rank does He Jinnian plan to award?" He Long did not answer, but presented a list to Chairman Mao.
Chairman Mao was very surprised to find that He Jinnian's name appeared on the list of colonels: "He Jinnian, I know that he is one of the founders of the Red Army in northern Shaanxi, so how can he be awarded a colonel? It seems that his military rank is indeed undergraded, and I think he should at least be awarded a major general!"
Chairman Mao's instructions were quickly transmitted to the relevant departments, and He Jinnian was reclassified as a major general. Although he was not awarded the military rank he deserved, He Jinnian was not disheartened, he accepted the result calmly, and continued to contribute to the construction of the army with full enthusiasm.
In 1957, He Jinnian became the deputy commander of the armored corps, becoming the only deputy corps-level major general at that time. He Jinnian has been working in the armored corps for more than 20 years, and during this time, he has presided over the development of our army's first main battle tank, making outstanding contributions to the development and growth of our army's armored forces.
In 1982, 72-year-old He Jinnian retired as secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of the Armored Corps. After He Jinnian retired, he did not choose to enjoy his old age in peace, he used every bit of time to write literary and historical monographs, including memoirs, leaving valuable historical materials for future generations.
In 2003, He Jinnian passed away in Beijing, completing his glorious life.