Ranks represent the honor and contribution of a soldier, and every senior general hopes that he can make a meritorious service for the country and earn a high enough rank. In 1955, the first conferment ceremony of new China was held in Huairen Hall in Zhongnanhai, and more than 1,000 senior generals participated in the awarding of titles.
Of these more than a thousand people, the vast majority of them experienced life and death during the revolutionary period, and it was a blessing to survive from the ghost gate. The victory of the new Chinese revolution is inseparable from the efforts and sacrifices of those high-ranking generals, and in the era of peace, they deserve some special treatment.
There is no such thing as absolute fairness in the world, and the same is true for the awarding of military ranks, and there are too many aspects to consider to be absolutely fair. In 1955, the work related to the first award of titles in New China was very complicated, and Luo Ronghuan, the chief officer in charge of awarding titles to officers below the rank of general, was under great pressure, and how to make most senior generals have no objections as much as possible was an important prerequisite that directly affected whether the title awarding work could be carried out in an orderly and normal manner.
Throughout the process of awarding titles, some people felt that their ranks were high and took the initiative to request that their ranks be lowered, such as Xu Guangda. Some people felt that their ranks should not be so low, and asked for another level of promotion, taking Wang Jinshan, Wang Bicheng, and Zhong Wei as an example, the three of them made the most trouble, and in the end, what was the change in their ranks?
In the 1952 military rank assessment, Wang Bicheng was at the rank of deputy corps, and most of the generals of this level were awarded lieutenant generals, and only a few months were awarded generals. The reason why Wang Bicheng was dissatisfied with his rank was naturally justified, and during the Liberation War, Ye Fei, who was at the same level as him, was finally awarded the rank of general, and he was naturally dissatisfied in his heart.
During the Liberation War, he followed Su Yu's southern expedition to the north and fought many victorious battles, and was a fierce general of Su Yu's concubine. In the Battle of Suzhong, Wang Bicheng eliminated Li Mo'an's ace american weapons and won a decisive victory in the Soviet area.
After the merger of the two major field armies in central China and Shandong, Wang Bicheng, under the command of Su Yu, blocked Li Xianzhou's escape route in the Battle of Laiwu and captured 20,000 enemy troops in the Battle of Tusikou, and Wang Bicheng's 6 columns made a miraculous contribution. During the Battle of Menglianggu, Wang Bicheng faced the 74th Division of the Old Enemy, successfully occupied Duozhuang, cut off Zhang Lingfu's retreat, and was the first to attack the main peak, killing the enemy general Zhang Lingfu.
If we only look at his performance during the Liberation War, he can be awarded a general, and the title that can be awarded needs to be considered comprehensively, not only to consider the merits of the Liberation War period, but also to consider the period of the Red Army and the War of Resistance Against Japan.
In the period of the War of Resistance Against Japan, both of them served as brigade commanders of the New Fourth Army, but in the later stages of the war, Ye Fei was promoted to deputy division commander, and Wang Bicheng was still a brigade commander, and the positions of the two were one level apart. In 1952, when the military rank was evaluated, Ye Fei was at the rank of the main corps, and Wang Bicheng was at the rank of deputy corps, and the difference between the two was one rank.
When he learned that he had been appointed lieutenant general, Wang Bicheng made a lot of trouble, and found his old superior Tan Zhenlin and asked him to intercede for himself, reflecting the problem that his title was too low. In the end, due to various factors, Wang Bicheng failed to achieve his wishes, and the rank was fixed on lieutenant general.
Zhong Wei was very angry after learning that his rank was major general, and said angrily in public: "I want to hang the rank card on the dog's tail", which caused a bad impact. Is Major General Zhong Weizhi too low? Let's first talk about his qualifications, his military achievements.
During the Red Army period, Zhong Wei served as the political commissar of the regiment in Peng Dehuai's Red Third Army, and the highest position during the Red Army period was the director of the division's political department, which could not be considered high, but it was not low, and it was still no problem to appoint a major general or lieutenant general. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Zhong Wei's highest position was deputy brigade commander, and he had no advantage among the founding lieutenant generals.
During the Liberation War, Zhong Wei ushered in his own performance stage, under the command of Lin Zong, Zhong Wei fought bravely and was very creative, and the overall strength of the Fifth Division under his command was not as good as the main column in the northeast, but the sense of existence was very high, and it was often used as the main force.
In 1948, Zhong Wei was promoted from division commander directly to commander of the 12th Column, the only case in the entire Northeast Field Army. It is worth mentioning that Zhong Wei often disobeys orders, has his own opinions, fights at all costs, and is good at fighting, so he is deeply appreciated by Lin Zong.
In the 1955 awarding ceremony, Zhong Wei was a major general, and the major general of the battle merit was indeed lower. The main reason that affected Zhong Wei's award of the title may be the Battle of Qingshuping, where Zhong Wei was lightly attacked by the enemy and was caught off guard by the Gui clan, losing thousands of people. Considering that in the later stages of the Liberation War, our army as a whole wiped out the nationalist army with the trend of sweeping away the fallen leaves in the autumn wind, Zhong Wei fought a defeated battle, which caused a bad impact.
"King Madman" Wang Near the Mountain
Wang Jinshan's situation is similar to Wang Bicheng's, he fought bravely and fiercely, and was known as the "Madman of wang", and the two were similar in terms of seniority and battle achievements. During the Red Army period, Wang Jinshan's highest position was division commander. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Wang Jinshan started from deputy regimental commander and has always been the deputy commander of the column.
During the Liberation War, Wang Jinshan made great contributions to the Xiangfan Campaign, adopted the tactic of "pulling up mountains to attack the city, and the fierce tiger digging out his heart", and conquered the strategically significant xiangyang city in only two days.
In the Battle of Xiangfan, Wang Jinshan was praised by Liu Shuai, the commander of the field army, for his outstanding performance, and after the war, Liu Shuai commented: "In the siege of Xiangyang, the 6 columns commanded by Wang Jinshan played a leading role. In the Campaign to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Wang Jinshan commanded the famous Battle of Shangganling, and since then he has become famous in one battle and has become a founding lieutenant general known to the chinese people.
In 1955, after Wang Jinshan learned that he had been awarded lieutenant general, he found the chief designer of Erye's political commissar and asked him to intercede for himself, hoping to be promoted to another level to become a general. After full consideration, the chief designer thought that it was reasonable to award Wang Jinshan Zhong, because his deputy corps commander during the Liberation War was also rated as deputy corps in 1952.
epilogue
Wang Jinshan, Wang Bicheng, and Zhong Wei were all dissatisfied with their ranks at first and felt low. Later, after the patient explanation of the chiefs, they realized their mistakes and did not make any more trouble. Napoleon once said that soldiers who do not want to be marshals are not good soldiers, and that a general who wants to fight for a high rank for himself is also a common sentiment, not a big problem.