Mr. Zhu
In 1955, New China held its first medal ceremony after the founding of the People's Republic of China. Among them, marshal was the highest rank in the army, so his candidate naturally attracted much attention.
The selection process of marshal is extremely strict. It needs to be nominated by the Secretary of the Central Committee and finally approved by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee. In the end, ten generals, Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, Lin Biao, Liu Bocheng, He Long, Chen Yi, Luo Ronghuan, Xu Xiangqian, Nie Rongzhen, and Ye Jianying, were appointed as the top ten founding marshals. They are all the mainstays of the Republic. However, among the ten marshals, only three are the "boss" in Chairman Mao's words. Who are they?
is first of all one of the founders of Red Army - Marshal Zhu De. Marshal Zhu De is the oldest senior revolutionary. He was born in Yunnan Military Academy. After graduation, he joined the Yunnan Army and became an officer. However, Zhu De saw the dark rule of the Nationalist Government during his time in the Yunnan Army. He believed that it was impossible to save the poor and weak old China with the corruption of the Kuomintang.
It happened that the Marxist ideas promoted by the May Fourth Movement reached Zhu De. After studying, Zhu De became a Marxist and joined the Communist Party of China. After the failure of the Great Revolution, he led the troops to launch the Nanchang Uprising, which fired the first shot of armed resistance to the Kuomintang.
When the rebel army suffered setbacks, Zhu De inspired the troops to strengthen their revolutionary beliefs and preserved the fire for the Red Army. From this perspective, without Zhu De, there would be no Red Army, Eighth Route Army or even the People's Liberation Army. Therefore, he can be called the founder of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhu De became the commander-in-chief of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, so he was affectionately called Mr. Zhu by Chairman Mao.
Mr. Peng
Next is Marshal Peng Dehuai who was praised by Chairman Mao in his poem. "Who dares to fight with a sword and stand on horseback? I am General Peng." Marshal Peng Dehuai's military experience is legendary. At the age of 18, Peng Dehuai, who had been well-trained in society, decided to join the Hunan Army. Peng Dehuai, who had just joined the army, had already determined to become a general. After hard work, he was admitted to the Hunan Military Academy for further study.
During the Northern Expedition of the National Revolution, Peng Dehuai had already accepted communist ideology and secretly became a Communist Party member. When the Kuomintang rebelled against the Great Revolution, Peng Dehuai raised his voice and responded to his call, quickly pulling together a team and establishing the Fifth Red Army. Peng Dehuai then led the Fifth Red Army to Jinggangshan, China, to join Zhu Mao's Red Army. During the subsequent Long March, Peng Dehuai also made great contributions to the smooth transfer of large troops. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Peng Dehuai took charge of the Taihang Mountains and launched the "Hundred Regiments Campaign" in 1940, which dealt a heavy blow to the arrogance of the Japanese army in North China and greatly inspired the Chinese people's confidence in victory against the Japanese invaders. During the War of Liberation, Peng Dehuai led a group of troops to penetrate the northwest border and liberated the country's northwest border with thunderous momentum, making outstanding contributions to the territorial integrity of New China.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Peng Dehuai was once again appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army. He went to the cold North Korea and fought a bloody battle with the well-armed US military. In the end, under Peng Dehuai's outstanding command, the Chinese Volunteer Army shattered the US military's ambition to spread the war to China, forcing the proud Americans to lower their heads and sign the armistice agreement. Marshal Peng Dehuai spent his entire life in the army and made countless glorious military exploits for the Republic. Therefore, it is very reasonable for Chairman Mao to honor him as Mr. Peng.
Mr. He
The last person who was called "boss" by the chairman was Marshal He Long. Speaking of He Long, his most famous deed is probably "making a revolution with two kitchen knives". He Long was born in a poor peasant family in Hunan. He was oppressed by the landlord class when he was young, which paved the way for him to embark on the road of revolution.
Under the influence of the Revolution of 1911, He Long joined the Chinese Revolutionary Party led by Sun Yat-sen in 1914 and was imprisoned three times. But this did not deter the determined He Long. In 1916, He Long led 21 young men armed with kitchen knives to seize the local salt bureau, mobilized a peasant armed force, and officially embarked on the road of leading the revolution.
During the National Revolution, He Long served as the commander of the First Division of the Ninth Army of the National Revolutionary Army and had grown into a senior officer. However, after Chiang Kai-shek tore up the revolutionary achievements and established a dictatorship, He Long ignored the reactionaries' interests and firmly stood in the Chinese Communist Party camp. He also participated in the extraordinary August 1st Nanchang Uprising. After the Nanchang Uprising, He Long established the Second Red Army Corps and the Western Hunan-Hubei Revolutionary Base, and became one of the founders of the Red Army.
During the Red Army's Long March, faced with the provocation of the separatist forces, He Long strengthened his revolutionary beliefs and obeyed the decisions of the Party Central Committee. At that time, Zhang Guotao tried to win over He Long to his own camp and engage in separatism, but was severely refuted by He Long. He Long firmly believed that without the leadership of the Party Central Committee, the revolutionary cause would not be successful.
It was precisely because He Long played the role of the sea god in the revolutionary era that Chairman Mao called him "a flag of the Second Front Army of the Red Army" and called him "Mr. He". After the founding of the People's Republic of China, He Long not only provided great support for military construction, but also became the founder of China's sports industry, allowing China's sports level to catch up with the world's top level in a short period of time. It can be seen that Marshal He Long's significance to the Republic is irreplaceable.
