Among the founding generals of the mainland, cadres are roughly divided into two types, one is military cadres and the other is political work cadres. Since the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, many people have suddenly turned from political work cadres to military cadres, but they did not realize their expectations, and the battle was quite beautiful, so these people are called "military and political" generals.
Needless to say, marshals and generals, except for Tan Zheng, who was crowned with the title of "political general", everyone else is a general of "both military and political".
Among the generals, Wang Zhen, Wang Xinting, Deng Hua, Chen Xilian, Yang Chengwu, Liu Zhen, Zhang Aiping, Wei Guoqing, Ye Fei, and Yang Yong are all such representatives.
The most representative is Chen Xilian, nicknamed "Little Steel Cannon", brave in battle, during the Red Army period, he was promoted from a soldier to the political commissar of the division step by step, and after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, he was reappointed as the military commander, and served as the commander of the 769th Regiment of the 385th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and led the troops to win the first victory of the 129th Division against Japan - the victory of Yangmingbao.
On June 12, 1938, the 769 Regiment was expanded into the new 385 Brigade, and Chen Xilian was promoted to brigade commander, at the same level as Chen Geng, Xie Fuzhi and others, at this time he was less than a year after he became the regiment commander, and he was only 23 years old at the time, the youngest brigade commander of the Eighth Route Army.
Since then, Chen Xilian has become more and more courageous, invincible, and has become the main general under the command of Chief Liu Deng, and in 1949, he served as the commander of the Third Corps of the Second Field. You must know that Erye has a lot of old qualifications, such as Wang Shusheng, Wang Hongkun, and Chen Zaidao, pull one out at random, and his qualifications are all beating Chen Xilian, and his combat achievements are not bad, but Chen Xilian finally stood out from them and became a rising star, which shows that his ability is recognized by Chief Liu Deng.
Among the lieutenant generals, Zhan Caifang, Zheng Weishan, Du Yide, and Hu Qicai are also of this type, and they are all from the Red Fourth Front Army.
Zheng Weishan is a lieutenant general who is more able to fight, after joining the Red Army, he started as a herald, served as the political commissar of the division at the age of 18, and was transferred to the political commissar of the 88th Division of the number one ace division of the Red Fourth Front Army at the age of 19.
Among the major generals, Zhong Wei is the most representative. Major General Zhong Wei gives the impression of being a fierce general similar to Li Yunlong, but in fact, he has a certain cultural foundation, and he also writes with a beautiful brush, so he has been serving as a political cadre during the Red Army.
In the later period of the Anti-Japanese War, Zhong Weicai was transferred to the military commander, and his real fame was in the Northeast Battlefield, where he had "disobeyed" three times, not only was not punished, but was also praised by the head of the four fields, and was directly promoted from the division commander to the commander of the column in 1948.
So, what is the reason for this peculiar phenomenon?
First, it is the positioning of political work cadres. During the period of the Red Army, our army's positioning of political work cadres was not accurate, and they could be political work cadres who could know almost a word, and some had not gone to school, but they had the patience to learn and the ability to learn quickly, and they could also assume this role.
Second, it is role assuming. Political commanders are very important in our army's system, and our army has always practiced the "two-chief system", collectively known as "military and political chiefs", the two commanders cooperate with each other to jointly lead a unit, so someone needs to assume one of these roles, and the command level of some political commanders is actually not worse than that of military commanders, but he needs to assume this role.
Third, it is tempering on the battlefield. In fact, in many cases, military commanders and political commanders divide their troops and command a battlefield, and this phenomenon is most prominent in the Red Fourth Front Army. For example, Chen Changhao, the chief political commissar of the Red Fourth Front Army, fought bravely on the battlefield, usually rushed to the front with the soldiers, and when encountering a relatively large battle, he would also divide his troops with the commander-in-chief Xu Qianqian, and each commanded a strategic direction. After coming and going, many political leaders also learned about war during the war, and all of them became generals of "both military and political affairs."