At the 1955 conferment ceremony, Siye's deputy corps-level generals Hong Xuezhi, Han Xianchu, Li Tianyou, Liu Zhen, and others were awarded the rank of general for their outstanding military merits, while Wu Kehua, another tiger general in Siye, was only awarded the rank of lieutenant general. Wu Kehua, who served as the commander of the Fourth Column of the Northeast Democratic Coalition Army, the commander of the 41st Army in Siye, and the deputy commander of the 15th Corps, was one of the ace generals of Siye, but when he was awarded the title, he was lower than Han Xianchu and others in the same position.
Wu Kehua, a native of Yiyang, Jiangxi, came from a poor peasant family. In order to make a living, Wu Kehua dropped out of school early and went to Yiyang County to work as an apprentice. The apprenticeship sharpened his will and increased his insight, and Wu Kehua soon realized the current situation of poverty and weakness in old China, and his thinking gradually progressed, and he grew into a revolutionary.
After the defeat of the Great Revolution, Wu Kehua returned to his hometown and joined the local peasant armed forces in Yiyang. At that time, Fang Zhimin and Shao Shiping led an armed uprising in northeastern Jiangxi, established a base area, and established the Red Tenth Army. When the Red Tenth Army passed through Yiyang, Wu Kehua did not hesitate to join the team and embarked on a long journey of the new-democratic revolution.
In the Red Tenth Army, Wu Kehua fought bravely and thought progressively, and soon achieved the position of battalion commander. Later, Wu Kehua was transferred to the Fifth Red Army as the regimental commander, and gradually made a name for himself in the Long March, becoming a well-known member of the Red Army. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Wu Kehua was sent organizationally to Shandong, where he soared into the sky and grew into a senior general of our army.
In Shandong, Wu Kehua successively served as deputy commander, commander, brigade commander of the Fifth Brigade, commander of the Fifth Division, and deputy commander of the Jiaodong Military Region of the Shandong Column.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the Fifth Division was transferred to the northeast battlefield, and Wu Kehua was also transferred to the northeast as a commander, where he would play his reputation as a famous general. In the Battle of Xinkailing, Wu Kehua, together with Hu Qicai, Han Xianchu, Peng Jiaqing, and others, jointly commanded the main force of the Nationalist army and set a record for the first time to completely annihilate an integrated division of the Nationalist Army in one campaign; in the Liaoshen Campaign, he commanded the 41st Army to fight a bloody battle at Tashan, blocked the enemy for six days and six nights, blocked the crazy attack of the 11 divisions of the Nationalist army, and played an important role in the successful conquest of Jinzhou by the people's army.
After Siye entered the pass, Wu Kehua successively served as the commander of the 41st Army and the deputy commander of the 15th Corps, and the command post department followed Siye all the way south, swept away Jingxiang, crossed the Lingnan Mountains, and fought all the way to Nan'ao Island, completely burying the Chiang family dynasty. In the 1952 rank evaluation of all-army cadres, Wu Kehua was rated as a deputy corps-level cadre, and in 1955, Wu Kehua was awarded the rank of lieutenant general.
Wu Kehua, as the ace general of Siye, is not inferior to Hong Xuezhi, Li Tianyou and others of the same level, but why are Hong Xuezhi, Li Tianyou and others all ranked generals, while Wu Kehua is only a lieutenant general? The author believes that there are the following reasons.
First, although Wu Kehua was at the deputy corps level like Hong Xuezhi and others in the rank evaluation, he became the commander of the corps much later than Hong Xuezhi and others. Hong Xuezhi and others were appointed deputy commanders of the corps when they set up the combat unit of the corps in 1949, while Wu Kehua was promoted to deputy commander after the founding of the People's Republic of China, much later.
Second, Wu Kehua's qualifications are also far inferior to those of Hong Xuezhi, Li Tianyou and others. During the Red Army period, Hong Xuezhi became the director of the Political Department of the Fourth Red Army, Li Tianyou and Han Xianchu were both division commanders, and Liu Zhen was the political commissar of the division. With this qualification as the foundation, in the future, the normal procedures will be awarded the rank of general, not to mention that they also have outstanding military achievements?
Wu Kehua's seniority was far worse than theirs, and Wu Kehua's highest position in the Red Army was regimental commander, which could only be regarded as a mid-level commander. Of course, Wu Kehua made rapid progress during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and after the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he achieved the post of deputy commander of the Jiaodong Military Region and commander of the Fifth Division of the Shandong Military Region. However, Wu Kehua was subordinate to the famous generals in the Liberation War, and there were too many strongmen in the four fields, and there were nineteen generals alone, and it is understandable that Wu Kehua was only awarded lieutenant general. In terms of Wu Kehua's combat achievements and abilities, if he were in other field armies, he would probably have the rank of general.
After the founding of New China, Wu Kehua served as an artillery commander, a railway commander, and a commander of the Chengdu Military Region, and he was definitely a high-ranking and powerful position; although he was only a founding lieutenant general, his position was no less than that of most of the future, and this fully demonstrated the recognition of his outstanding military achievements organizationally.
Among the 177 lieutenant generals who founded the country, Wu Kehua, Nie Fengzhi, Wang Jinshan, Tao Yong and others were the most outstanding in military ability, among whom Nie Fengzhi was resourceful and Wu Kehua was brave and good at war, which can be called the absolute double pride among the founding lieutenant generals. Their ability and battle merit are enough to be generals, but after all, there are too many famous generals in the people's army, and in the end they are only awarded the rank of lieutenant general, although unfortunately, it is also a very normal thing.
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