In September 1955, when the whole army conferred the title, Xu Haidong and Chen Geng both won the rank of general: Xu Haidong ranked higher, followed by Su Yu in second place, and Chen Geng was the fourth general. It seems that Xu Haidong's position in the army is slightly superior, but in fact, Chen Geng directly led Xu Haidong in the early days of the Red Army, and was strict with the latter, criticizing the other party twice.
Chen Geng's military experience is very peculiar, and he has switched several times in the Central Red Army, the Red Fourth Front Army, and the Special Intelligence Department, which also makes him grow into a "generalist" and a legendary general of our army. In terms of popularity among the people, perhaps General Chen Geng far surpasses Xu Haidong. In 1931, Chen Geng was sent to the Hubei-Henan-Anhui base area as the commander of the 12th Division of the Fourth Front Army. Xu Haidong later held a very high position and became the first-class commander of the Red Army Corps, but at this time his qualifications were not as good as Chen Geng, and he only served as the regiment commander in the Fourth Front Army.
In the spring of 1932, the organization notified Xu Haidong to be the head of the 36th Regiment, but Xu Haidong was unwilling. The 36th Regiment was subordinate to Chen Geng's 12th Division, not because Xu Haidong was dissatisfied with Chen Geng, but because his appointment meant breaking away from the old army. Many officers had similar concerns, reluctant to build up their own armaments, and fearful that the new contingent would not be well commanded. Xu Haidong found Chen Geng, hoping not to transfer himself to the 36th Regiment. Chen Geng patiently persuaded Xu Haidong at first, saying that wherever he was in office, he would do revolution, and asked him not to think too much.
But after persuading for a long time, Xu Haidong still insisted that he would not leave the old army. Chen Geng is a good-tempered general, but when he heard Xu Haidong say this, his smile froze: You tell me, which unit of the Four Front Army is yours? Xu Haidong realized that the conversation had changed its taste. Yes, is there still a private armed force in the people's army? If you continue to talk about it, you will make a big mistake, and he will not dare to squeak. Chen Geng taught him again: The concept of the local people is not good. According to what you say, isn't it much more difficult for me to be sent by the central government to Dabie Mountain, where I am not familiar with my life? Don't do revolution? Chen Geng's training was reasonable, and finally Xu Haidong obeyed the arrangement and reported to his new post.
However, when Chen Geng led Xu Haidong, he didn't just train him this time. After Xu Haidong became the head of the 36th Regiment, Chen Geng once assigned him a task. Before the meeting, Xu Haidong thought that he was going to fight a big battle, but he didn't expect Chen Geng to speak, and he was dumbfounded: it turned out to be to let the 36th Regiment communicate and assist local women's organizations to make a batch of new army shoes. Xu Haidong was reluctant and said to Chen Geng: Our regiment is the main force, and such a trivial matter should be implemented by the logistics department, what should we do? Don't go!
Chen Geng saw that Xu Haidong was so "prickly" and decided to change his temper. "What is the main regiment? Your self-proclaimed main regiment? There are still conditions for carrying out the task, so just go home, and I'll find someone else to do it, the regiment commander! "Chen Geng easily didn't get angry, and this anger criticized Xu Haidong for nearly half an hour." Xu Laohu" is considered to have thoroughly understood the strength of the division commander, and was angrily criticized twice in just a few months, Xu Haidong took the team to carry out the task without saying a word, and later this batch of military shoes was very good and of excellent quality.
Although he has been with Chen Geng for a short time, Xu Haidong has been taught a lot. Xu Haidong's own military talent and straightforward personality were upright, while Chen Geng helped him shape his collective consciousness and overall outlook, which was extremely important for senior generals. Because of the influence of some subjective and objective factors, Chen Geng's position in the later period of the Red Army was not as good as Xu Haidong's, and even several levels worse. Xu Haidong led the Red 25th Army to northern Shaanxi smoothly, and the number of troops continued to grow, becoming one of the best Red Army units during the Long March, which was highly praised by Chairman Mao. In November 1935, Xu Haidong became the commander of the Red 15th Army. In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, Xu Haidong and Chen Geng became the earliest brigade-level cadres of the Eighth Route Army and made outstanding contributions.
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