During the War of Liberation, the name of this unit changed several times. It was successively named Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Field Army, Northwest Field Corps, Northwest Field Army, First Field Army, etc. Two generals served as chiefs of staff, namely Zhang Wenzhou and Yan Kuiyao.

The predecessor of the First Field Army was the Red Army in the Red Army period, that is, the Eighth Route Army 120th Division during the War of Resistance. During the War of Liberation, the name of this unit changed several times. It was successively named Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Field Army, Northwest Field Corps, Northwest Field Army, First Field Army, etc. Two generals served as chiefs of staff, namely Zhang Wenzhou and Yan Kuiyao.

At the 1955 rank award ceremony, Zhang Wenzhou was only awarded the rank of major general. As the chief of staff of Nishino, why is Zhang Wenzhou just a major general? There are two main reasons. One is that Zhang Wenzhou's military qualifications are relatively low. In the early stage, he mainly engaged in military transport work in the Northeast Army and the Northwest Army. He only joined the Red Army in 1935, which will definitely have an impact on his future title.

Another is that Zhang Wenzhou was only in the 1952 level assessment. Unless a general at the army level has made outstanding contributions and deep qualifications, he or she can only be awarded the rank of major general. When awarding the rank, a total of 107 military-level cadres were finally awarded the rank of major general, and it was basically reasonable for Zhang Wenzhou to be awarded the rank of major general.

Yan Kuiyao, chief of staff of the First Field Army, was similar to Zhang Wenzhou. He also did underground work to carry out military transportation in the early stage. He entered the army relatively late and was also affected when he was awarded the rank. Although he was the chief of staff of the First Field Army, Yan Kuiyao was only awarded the rank of lieutenant general in 1955. When Yan Kui was rated in 1952, he was at the deputy regiment level, one level higher than Zhang Wenzhou, but when he was awarded the rank, there were as many as 22 deputy regiment level lieutenant generals, so the rank of lieutenant generals that Yan Kui wanted was also reasonable.

The predecessor of the Central Plains Field Army was Red Fourth Front Army , and 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army during the War of Resistance Against Japan . The leadership team has always been relatively stable and there are few changes. Commander Liu Shuai, Political Commissar Deng, and Chief of Staff Li Da have been an unshakable trio since the beginning of the War of Resistance Against Japan. Li Da's qualifications are much higher than those of Zhang Wenzhou and Yan Kui. He joined the Red Army after the Ningdu Uprising in 1931. He started as the company commander of the Red Fifth Army during the Red Army period. It took only three years to reach the position of Chief of Staff of the Red Second Army. His upgrade speed was like a rocket.

After the Red Fourth Front Army expedition, Li Da was appointed as the chief of staff of the Western Army reinforcements, assisting Liu Shuai to lead his troops to wait for the battle and be ready to cross the river and advance west at any time. At this time, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party reached an agreement to fight against Japan, and the reinforcements of the Western Route Army were reorganized into the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and Li Da served as the chief of staff. During the War of Liberation, Li Da's position was still Liu Shuai's chief of staff. It can be said that the outstanding military achievements of the Second Field Army are inseparable from Li Da's outstanding contributions. In 1955, Li Da was awarded the rank of general , which was well deserved.

East China Field Army Chief of Staff Chen Shiju, who has followed Member Mao to participate in the revolution since the Autumn Harvest Uprising. During the Red Army, he served as the acting commander of the 30th Red Army, during the Anti-Japanese War, served as the chief of staff of the 343rd Brigade of the 115th Division and the chief of staff of the Shandong Military Region, and during the Liberation War, he served as the chief of staff of the Huaye Army. Chen Shiju was old enough, made great contributions and had high enough level. In 1955, he was awarded the rank of general, which everyone hoped to be. After Huaye was reorganized into the Third Field Army, Chen Shiju was renamed the commander of the Eighth Corps, and the position of Chief of Staff was succeeded by Zhang Zhen. Zhang Zhen's qualifications were a little worse than Chen Shiju. During the Red Army, he was the chief of staff of the regiment and the chief of staff of the division during the War of Resistance Against Japan. During the War of Liberation, he was the deputy commander of the column, the chief of staff of the Corps, and the chief of staff of the Field Department. He was promoted steadily step by step. His qualifications and positions were both standard lieutenant general level, and he was eventually awarded the rank of lieutenant general.

Northeast Liu Yalou, chief of staff of the field army, was the No. 3 figure of Dongye at that time. He was called Lin Luo Liu together with the two leaders of Lin Luo. Liu Yalou had systematically studied advanced military theory in the Soviet Union for several years and had a deep understanding of military theory. During his assistance to Chief Lin Luo in command of the East Field Army, he showed excellent combat planning capabilities and military theory level, and made great contributions to the liberation of the Northeast.

Liu Yalou served as the commander of the First Red Division and the Second Red Division during the Red Army. Although he studied in the Soviet Union most of the time during the Anti-Japanese War, he served as the Chief of the Anti-Japanese University Education before going to the Soviet Union, and his level was also not low.During the War of Liberation, Liu Yalou returned to China and was appointed as the chief of staff of the Northeast Democratic Alliance Army, and since then he became Lin Luo's right-hand man.

Liu Yalou personally directed the battle to liberate Tianjin, which shows that he not only has a high level of military theory, but also has strong practical command. Therefore, after Dongye was reorganized into the Fourth Field Army, Liu Yalou was appointed as the commander of the Corps and led his troops south to sweep away the remnants of the National Army, with an unstoppable momentum.

Liu Yalou serves as the commander of the Corps, and Xiao Ke is the chief of staff of the Fourth Field Army. Xiao Ke is well-deserved among all the chiefs of staff. During the Red Army, he served as the commander of the Red Sixth Army and the deputy commander-in-chief of the Second Red Front. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, he served as the deputy commander of the 120th Division. Judging from the qualifications of these two periods, Xiao Ke even had the qualifications as a marshal. You should know that among the six division commanders and deputy division commanders of the three divisions of the Eighth Route Army during the War of Resistance Against Japan, except for Xiao Ke, the other five were all rank marshals.

But Xiao Ke's position during the War of Liberation was much lower. He was eventually only rated as a corps-level cadre in 1952 and was awarded the rank of general in 1955. In terms of rank, it was reasonable, but in terms of qualifications, it was a bit low.

To sum up, among the seven chiefs of staff of the four major field troops, four were awarded the rank of general: Liu Yalou, Li Da, Xiao Ke, and Chen Shiju, two were awarded the rank of lieutenant general: Zhang Zhen and Yan Kuiyao, and one was awarded the rank of major general: Zhang Wenzhou.

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