In most people's minds, Zhu De can be regarded as the head of the "Top Ten Marshals", with an extraordinary status. However, few people know that when he was awarded the title in 1955, Mr. Zhu's military rank order number was 004. Who is 001? Some people say it was Chairman Mao, but the truth is a bit surprising.
Title evaluation is a very large and complex task. There are so many generals in the army who have been through life and death for so many years. Now that they have finally finished the war, how to "give rewards" has become a big problem. It cannot be too high or too low. From the proposal of the agenda in early 1950 to the awarding ceremony in September 1955, numerous meetings were held to study and discuss the matter, which even Chairman Mao was troubled by.
September 27, 1955 was the first conferment ceremony after the founding of the People's Republic of China. The Zhongnanhai the night before was brightly lit, and everyone was busy preparing for tomorrow's ceremony. However, Chairman Mao, who was sitting at his desk, was preoccupied and felt troubled when he looked at the two certificates in front of him.
It was already 11 o'clock in the night, but Chairman Mao had no intention of taking a rest. He picked up the pen several times to write down someone's name on the certificate, but he hesitated several times and never made up his mind. Until after midnight, for the sake of the chairman's health, the secretary reminded the chairman that it was time to take a rest, but the chairman refused and said seriously: "A decision must be made today."
2 hours later, the chairman finally signed the two orders. The certificate he was struggling with had a few large characters "Military Rank Order" printed on the red cover. The next day, the awarding ceremony was held as scheduled. However, as the head of the "Top Ten Marshals", Zhu De's awarding number was 004. So who is 001?
Regarding this answer, it is certain that 001 is not Chairman Mao or Premier Zhou. The two leaders refused to participate in the title evaluation from the beginning. At that time, someone suggested that Chairman Mao refer to the Soviet Union's ranking model and set up a "Grand Marshal" on top of the "Ten Marshals". Then Chairman Mao would naturally be the only candidate. However, this suggestion was sternly rejected by Chairman Mao. In addition, Premier Zhou and Liu Shaoqi also publicly stated in advance that they would not participate in the title evaluation, so 001 is not among these leaders.
In the modern history of our country, there are not many people who have served as marshals: Sun Yat-sen was once elected as the "Grand Marshal", Zhang Zuolin once proclaimed himself " The Grand Marshal of the Anguo Army ", but the gold content can be imagined; even Chiang Kai-shek also had the title of "Generalissimo of the Navy, Army and Air Force". Since the founding of New China, there have been only 10 marshals, all of whom were selected in 1955. All of the 10 marshals have made great military achievements and have extremely high status. So who is the mysterious 001? There have been many opinions over the years, but there has never been a definite answer. It was not until 60 years later that the truth emerged.
2015 was the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War. At that time, a reporter from an editorial department of our army went to Marshal He Long’s home to interview, but when collecting information, he saw the military rank order from that year. The number on it was exactly "001".
Why He Long is ranked "001" is mainly because his revolutionary qualifications are older, even earlier than Zhu De.
On August 1, 1927, the "Nanchang Uprising" started. This armed uprising was of great significance to our party. It was not only the first shot in armed resistance against the Kuomintang reactionaries, but also unveiled the independent leadership of our party in armed struggle and Prelude to the creation of a revolutionary army. Because of the special significance and status of the Nanchang Uprising, August 1 is designated as my country’s Army Day. And He Long was the commander-in-chief of the Nanchang Uprising.
He Long was born in poverty, and he hated evil as much as he hated it when he was young. At the age of 18, He Long was inspired by the Revolution of 1911 and joined the Chinese Revolutionary Party led by Sun Yat-sen and began his revolutionary career.
He Long, who was born in the grassroots, started with two kitchen knives and formed a peasant revolutionary armed force. During this period, he was repeatedly attacked and experienced several ups and downs, but he never gave up the revolution. He Long was a staunch follower of Sun Yat-sen, and he repeatedly made outstanding achievements in the Northern Expedition and other wars. By 1926, He Long, who had just turned 30, had already become a division commander and was a famous general in the Northern Expedition.
In 1927, He Long was promoted to commander of the 20th Army of the National Revolutionary Army based on his military exploits. However, with the death of Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek coming to power, He Long had different views with him and gradually changed his beliefs and fell towards communism. However, due to He Long's strong power, Chiang Kai-shek tried many times to win over him, and he did not hesitate to offer very generous conditions: Chiang Kai-shek promised to make He Long the chairman of Jiangxi Province, buy him villas in Shanghai and Nanjing, and also give him the Hanyang Ordnance Factory. Give it to He Long. It can be said that if He Long had agreed to Chiang Kai-shek at that time, he would have had no shortage of fame, power, and money, which would have directly equaled reaching the "peak of life." However, this was not what He Long wanted. At this time, Chiang Kai-shek did not know that He Long had secretly maintained contact with our party and even had the idea of joining the party. However, some people in the party still did not trust He Long, who was a former warlord, so his application for party membership was not approved.
After the "April 12 Coup", He Long witnessed Chiang Kai-shek frantically killing our party members and patriots. He completely broke with Chiang Kai-shek and planned to wait for an opportunity to leave him.
Nanchang Uprising
On July 20, 1927, our party decided to hold an armed uprising in Nanchang. Premier Zhou had known He Long for a long time, believed that He Long was trustworthy, and advocated allowing He Long to participate in the uprising. Premier Zhou sent Tan Pingshan , a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, to find He Long and tell him that our party was about to launch an independent armed struggle and hoped that He Long could lead the 20th Army to participate.
He Long agreed without hesitation. He had not joined the party at this time, and participating in the Nanchang Uprising meant officially breaking up with the Kuomintang. It could be said to be taking a huge risk, but He Long did not weigh the pros and cons at all, and was happy to do so. He said: "Okay! You trust me, He Long, and I will obey your orders. I will do whatever you want me to do!"
Facts have proved that He Long did not live up to the trust of our party. In the early morning of August 1, the Nanchang Uprising officially started. The rebel army annihilated more than 3,000 enemies in just 4 hours and achieved victory.
The Nanchang Uprising fired the first shot of armed resistance against the reactionary rule of the Kuomintang, declared our party's firm position to carry the Chinese revolution to the end, and caused a great shock to the Kuomintang opposition. After that, He Long went from a senior general of the national army to a wanted criminal overnight, but he never regretted it. Soon after, under the witness of Premier Zhou, He Long officially joined our party.
In a middle school in Ruijin, Jiangxi Province, Premier Zhou held a simple party joining ceremony for He Long. Many comrades also witnessed this scene. Before the ceremony, Tan Pingshan asked He Long: "How much assets and real estate do you have?" He Long replied: "I have nothing now." Zhou Yiqun asked: "What social connections do you have among the workers, peasants, military and government? How do they view the revolution?" He Long's answer was: "We no longer have any social relations after joining the revolution."
He Long was originally a high-ranking member of the national army, and he was at the peak of his life. For his true faith, He Long abandoned everything outside his body and resolutely switched to our party at a critical moment. This kind of decisiveness and persistence is not something everyone can achieve. He Long’s daughter He Jiesheng once said: “The reason why my father was elected as the commander-in-chief of the Nanchang Uprising and stood side by side with Zhou Enlai, the supreme leader of the Communist Party who instigated the Nanchang Uprising, was not only that this army was the main force of the Nanchang Uprising, but also because As the leader of the Kuomintang army, he took the initiative to choose and follow the Communist Party when the Communists were at their most dangerous and the historical sky was darkest."
After He Long joined our party, he performed outstandingly in both the Anti-Japanese War and the War of Liberation, and established his ideals. He has made countless military exploits and has always firmly supported Chairman Mao. He worked hard and devoted himself to the people's liberation cause and the construction of socialism. Therefore, regardless of his qualifications, strength or contribution, Chairman Mao awarded the "No. 001" military rank order to He Long is well-deserved.
It is worth mentioning that after the title was awarded in 1955, the central government also awarded the Bayi Medal , Liberation Medal , etc. to those who served meritoriously during the war. The August 1st Medal is also numbered, starting from 001, but this time 001 is not He Long, but has been vacant.At that time, Chairman Mao took the lead in stating that he did not want the medal. Premier Zhou and Liu Shaoqi also announced that they did not want it. However, as a sign of respect, the three first-level medals from 001 to 003 were vacant and were not awarded. The subsequent medals were ranked from 004. The owner of the medal No. 004 is Zhu De. Therefore, Zhu De's military rank order and medal number are both 004.
The number of the military rank order does not mean that it is a ranking of the strength and qualifications of the marshals, and the marshals themselves do not actually care about these so-called rankings. The original intention of every marshal to participate in the revolution was definitely not for personal gain, but for the country and the people, and to let thousands of oppressed poor people live a good life. It is precisely because of this belief that no matter what difficulties and obstacles they encountered, the marshals never changed their original intentions, persisted, and ushered in a new world.
