In 1955, Liu Yalou was awarded the rank of general. Xiao Jinguang, commander of the Navy whose position was at the same level as his, Luo Ruiqing, commander of the Public Security Army, and Xu Guangda, commander of the armored corps, were all awarded the rank of general. As a newly formed branch of the People's Liberation Army, the Air Force should be valued, so why is Liu Yalou, the commander of the Air Force, one level lower?
In fact, in terms of revolutionary qualifications and contributions, Liu Yalou is fully qualified to be rated as a general. In 1955, a total of ten people were awarded the rank of general, Xiao Jinguang, Luo Ruiqing and Xu Guangda were the commanders of the service, and Su Yu, Xu Haidong, Huang Kecheng, Chen Geng, Tan Zheng, Zhang Yunyi, Wang Shusheng and seven others were the generals of the army corps.
Among them, Su Yu belongs to the only one among the ten people. He was the representative of the Red Army who remained in the south after the Long March to persist in the three-year struggle, and he fought many "immortal battles" in the Liberation War, ranking first among the generals, which is beyond reproach. Although Xu Haidong retired to the second line after a long period of recuperation after the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, it is reasonable for him to be awarded the rank of grand general because he gave him sufficient material support after the Arrival of the Central Red Army in northern Shaanxi and helped the Central Red Army, which lacked clothing and food, to tide over the difficulties.
In addition to the two people with outstanding merits, Liu Yalou is not only not much different from the other eight people, but also has his own advantages.
First of all, Liu Yalou is the representative figure of the Red Second Division of the Red First Army of the Central Red Army. The core of the leadership of New China came from the Central Red Army, and seven of the ten generals came from the Central Red Army, which shows its important position. The Red First Army evolved from the Red Fourth Army, the main force of the "Zhumao Red Army". In 1930, Liu Yalou became the director of the Political Department of the Red Second Division of the First Red Army, and was Lin Biao's right-hand man. During the Long March, the Red Second Division, as the main force of the Red First Army, fought many vicious battles, such as forcibly crossing the Wujiang River, crossing the Chishui River four times, and capturing the Luding Bridge. Originally, Chen Guang was the representative figure of the Red Second Division, but he set himself on fire and died in 1953, so Liu Yalou became a representative figure.
Second, it is conducive to the reciprocal exchange of Chinese and Soviet armies. Our army's 1955 rank was based on the Soviet military rank system as a model. According to the Soviet system, the rank of marshal consisted of three grades: Grand Marshal, Marshal and Marshal of the Ranks. However, the other branches of our army except the army are in the initial stage of establishment, and their commanders are not yet qualified to confer the rank of marshal, so they set up the rank of general and correspond to the "marshal of the army" in the Soviet Union, so as to facilitate reciprocal exchanges between the two sides. Luo Ruiqing, Xiao Jinguang, and Xu Guangda were awarded the rank of great general and had a lot to do with this.
Therefore, from a comprehensive point of view, it is very normal for Liu Yalou, who has the background of the Red Second Division and is the commander of the Air Force, to be awarded the rank of general, but why was Liu Yalou finally awarded the rank of general?
First of all, Liu Yalou participated in the revolution for a relatively short time. Most of the ten generals joined the revolution during the Period of the Great Revolution, while Liu Yalou joined the Communist Party of China in 1929 and joined the Revolution later than them, leaving a gap in his resume in the early days of the revolution.
Secondly, Liu Yalou studied in the Soviet Union during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and lacked anti-war experience. In 1938, Liu Yalou became the education chief of Kang Da. In 1939, Liu Yalou went to the Frunze Military Academy in the Soviet Union to study until 1945, when he entered the northeast with the Soviet Red Army to participate in the war against Japan. Although Liu Yalou went to the Soviet Union to study was also to complete the tasks assigned by the organization, because he was absent from the experience of the front-line battle of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression during this period, he was rated as a regular corps in the 1952 senior general rating.
This rating basically determines that Liu Yalou has no connection with the rank of general. Because in the final list of ten generals, 8 people are rated as members of the Central Military Commission, which shows that the level of members of the Central Military Commission is the basic standard for the rank of great general. But this is not decisive, because Xu Guangda and Wang Shusheng, who are also at the rank of the zhengbing army with Liu Yalou, have also been rated as generals, which shows that this is not the only criterion.
The most important point is that Liu Yalou was punished for lying about his military achievements in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. During the Period of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the Air Force, which had been formed for less than a year, was ordered to draw capable personnel and organize them into the Air Force of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army to participate in the war in the DPRK. In line with the principle of learning while fighting, the Volunteer Air Force has braved the strong enemy and achieved brilliant results. However, in terms of hard power, there is still a big gap compared with the US military.
After the end of the war in 1953, the Volunteer Air Command said in its report that the ratio of losses between China's MiG-15 and the United States F-86 was one to one, but Duan Suquan, deputy commander of the Volunteer Air Force, with his actual combat experience and extensive information, believed that it would be very good for China to exchange two fighters for one US fighter, but the Air Command suppressed Duan Suquan's opinion. Afterwards, Duan Suquan reported the situation and detailed original war report materials to Peng Dehuai, which attracted attention. In the end, the central authorities determined that Duan Suquan's opinion was correct, and Liu Yalou, commander of the Air Force, made a profound written review of the matter.
Based on the above three reasons, it is reasonable that Liu Yalou was finally rated as a general. However, it was rumored on the Internet that during the awarding of the title, Liu Yalou believed that his military rank was low, and once complained to the old leader Lin Biao about bitter water and fought for a major general rank for himself. This statement stems from a letter written by Lin Biao to Chairman Mao, in which he asked the chairman to consider the old comrades of Jinggangshan in the quota of generals.
The relationship between Liu Yalou and Lin Biao is very good, Lin Biao once said, "Three chiefs of staff on the top of a Liu Yalou building!" Therefore, many people think that Lin Biao is speaking for Liu Yalou. In fact, this argument is untenable, because Liu Yalou, who only joined the revolution in 1929, is not an old Jinggang. More importantly, judging from Liu Yalou's subsequent treatment, he did not have the need to fight for the rank of great general for himself.
Although Liu Yalou was awarded the rank of general, he enjoyed the treatment of a general at the administrative level. In 1956, General Liu Yalou was elected as a member of the Central Military Commission, which showed the recognition of his merits by the Central Committee. In 1965, Liu Yalou died of illness at the age of 55. The central government specially approved the holding of a memorial service for him in Zhongshan Hall, Lin Biao personally presided over the ceremony, and most of the state leaders attended, which is also unique among the generals.