In 1955, the domestic war in New China was basically over. In view of the need for coordinated operations and diplomacy, and in order to honor the many generals who had sacrificed their lives and blood, our army decided to hold an unprecedented ceremony for the three-service conferment. On February 8, at the meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the "Official Service Regulations" were passed, marking the formal entry into the military rank system in our army.
html On September 27, the military investiture ceremony was held grandly at Huairen Hall in Beijing. The participating generals looked solemn and filled with excitement, waiting for their own moment of glory. During this awarding ceremony, a total of 1,048 generals were awarded military ranks at various levels, including 10 with the rank of marshal, 10 with the rank of general, and 57 with the rank of general.After the conferment of military titles, some generals felt that their military ranks were conferred too high, and took the initiative to request a downgrade, which reflected the noble and upright side of revolutionaries, such as Marshal Luo Ronghuan, General Xu Haidong, etc.; there were also several generals who felt that their military ranks were conferred low. , I was very unconvinced, and afterwards I took the initiative to complain to relevant leaders, such as Wang Jinshan, Wang Bicheng and Zhong Wei. However, the one who caused the most violence was Duan Suquan, who was "temporarily awarded major general". After he learned of his military rank, he tore off his epaulettes in public, without any concern for the negative impact it would have.
So, why is Duan Suquan so angry?
The 1955 military awards were actually judged mainly based on the 1952 assessment levels. The higher the rating, the higher the corresponding military rank level. In addition, the awarding of titles requires comprehensive consideration of the qualifications and military exploits of the person being awarded the title. In principle, the generals at the "main corps level" correspond to generals or generals, most of the "deputy corps level" are rated as lieutenant generals, a few are rated as generals, and the "deputy corps level" are rated as lieutenant generals. Of course, there are also those who are awarded generals at the quasi-corps level, as evidenced by He Bingyan.
Duan Su Quan has very senior qualifications. He was a division-level cadre of our army at the age of 18. He also made great achievements in the Anti-Japanese War and the War of Liberation. When the military rank was evaluated in 1952, he was a serious quasi-corps-level general. Logically speaking, with such qualifications and military exploits, it would not be too much to be named a general. However, in fact, he only received the military rank of "temporary major general."
What does "temporarily awarded major general" mean? It is also different from the general major general. If the major general is already underestimated, then "temporary major general" means that the rank of major general is only temporarily granted and may be withdrawn at any time.
Why are you so harsh on a general who has fought for the country through life and death? What is the hidden secret behind the controversy surrounding Duan Suquan’s conferment of the title?
Duan Suquan was born in a peasant family in Chaling, Hunan Province (now Zhuzhou City, ) in 1916. Although the family conditions were not superior, his father sent Duan Suquan to a private school and an elementary school. At that time, the revolutionary atmosphere in Hunan was very strong. Under the influence, Duan Suquan, who was only 10 years old, participated in the local peasant movement. Four years later, Duan Suquan joined our party again.
Although he was only 14 years old, Duan Suquan showed extraordinary maturity and ability. It was not long before he was appointed as the director of the Organization Department of the County Party Committee and the Director of the Propaganda Department of the County Party Committee. It seems difficult for us today to imagine that a child in his teens could lead the work of an entire county with only primary school education experience. During the anti-encirclement and suppression campaign, Duan Suquan participated in many operations against "encirclement and suppression" and the advance into Nanxun, and accumulated a lot of combat experience in the process.
If this trend continues, Duan Suquan's future in our army can be said to be limitless. However, an accident temporarily ended Duan Suquan's highlight moment.
In November 1933, Duan Suquan was appointed as the special committee of our party for Eastern Guizhou and the political commissar of the Eastern Guizhou Independent Division, and established a revolutionary base in the eastern Guizhou area. Duan Suquan is indeed very good at political work. It didn't take long for him to build an armed force of more than 800 people.
Although the Eastern Guizhou Independent Division was temporarily created, the actual strength of the army is far from the division-level standard. However, the independent forces in eastern Guizhou, with fearless spirit, shouldered the task of covering the main force of the Second and Sixth Red Army Corps as they marched eastward.In order to achieve the operational goal well, Duan Suquan asked the Qiandong Independent Division to pretend to be the main force of the Red Army, and took the initiative to start a fierce battle with the enemy troops from eastern Guizhou who came to encircle and suppress them. Wang Jialie saw that our army was in a hurry and stopped pursuing the Red Army. The Sixth Army concentrated the strength of more than a dozen regiments to besiege the Qiandong Independent Division. Under the huge disadvantage of troops and weapons, the Qiandong Independent Division finally fought until it ran out of ammunition and food. The division commander Wang Guangze was captured and sacrificed, and Duan Suquan himself was injured as a result. At the critical moment, the communications squad leader hid Duan Suquan in a cave and escaped death. Duan Suquan was then sent to a nearby fellow villager's home to recuperate. After
barely recovered from his injury, Duan Suquan didn't know where the organization was. In desperation, Duan Suquan returned to his hometown in Hunan and embarked on a very sad and dangerous road of begging.
From leaving his hometown at the age of 14 to returning to his hometown at the age of 17, it took Duan Suquan just over three years to grow into a division-level cadre in the Red Army, which is unimaginable to ordinary people. And precisely because of this, the local National Government authorities did not have too much suspicion about him who was in a desperate situation. In the days that followed, Duan Suquan obeyed his father's orders and married a woman named Tan Qiuying locally.
By September 1937, the united front between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party against Japan had been reached. The Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth National Revolutionary Army. The former Red Second and Sixth Army Corps led by He Long now became the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army, with its headquarters stationed in Shanxi. . When Duan Suquan learned the news from a fellow villager who also left the army due to injuries, he could no longer restrain his desire to return to the army. With the help of his father and wife, Duan Suquan traveled from Chaling to Taiyuan, Shanxi via Changsha. When he met Ren Bi, the former leader of the Red Sixth Army, he was so excited that he burst into tears. The moment Ren Bishi saw Duan Suquan, he was extremely surprised.
"Duan Suquan, it turns out you are still alive. I thought you had been killed. I held a memorial service for you at the Party Congress of the Front Army. Just come back, just come back!"
After returning to the army, Duan Suquan was He was sent to Yan'an Anti-Japanese Military and Political University to study. Because of his strong learning ability and top grades in all subjects, he stayed at the school to become a teacher after graduation. Since 1942, Duan Suquan has been serving as a political worker in the Beiping Military Division of Shanxi Province. During the difficult anti-mopping operations, Duan Suquan not only did not suffer a major blow from the Japanese army, but instead consolidated and developed the Pingbei Anti-Japanese Revolutionary Base Area. On the eve of the Japanese surrender, Duan Suquan led his troops to launch an offensive against the Japanese troops in Zhangjiakou . Zhangjiakou, an important town, was recaptured in World War I and became the first provincial capital city liberated by our army.
From 1937 to 1945, the eight years of the Anti-Japanese War further tempered Duan Suquan's revolutionary will. In the liberation war that broke out immediately, Duan Suquan's military skills were better displayed and he fought many beautiful battles.
In October 1946, Duan Suquan served as the commander of the Jirecha Military Region and led his troops to fight the enemy in the Rehe area. Soon, fierce fighting was going on in the Northeast battlefield. In order to break the national army's combat plan of "attacking in the south and defending in the north, first south and then north", the Northeast Field Army launched an summer offensive. Duan Suquan led his troops to support the battle and conquered the battle known as The paddock, the "first stronghold", won the paddock battle, which greatly assisted Higashino's summer offensive.
In 1947, Duan Suquan, on the recommendation of Cheng Zihua, succeeded Huang Yongsheng, the fierce general of Dongye, as the commander of the Eighth Column. After Duan Suquan took office as the commander of the 8th Column, he commanded the troops conscientiously and fought many good battles worthy of praise, two of which are the most famous: First, commanding the 8th Column and the 3rd Column cooperated tacitly to annihilate the enemy troops in the Liaoshen battlefield. The temporary 22nd Division of the 93rd Army completely cut off the connection between Zheng Dongguo and Shenyang stationed in Jinzhou; secondly, in the battle to encircle and annihilate Liao Yaoxiang Corps, the 8th vertical flying force commanded by Duan Suquan advanced eastward, once again cutting off Liao Yaoxiang and The connection between Yingkou .
However, what he did not expect was that although he resolutely executed the order and made a great contribution to the Dongye army's final Liaoshen Battle overall victory, Duan Suquan's 8th Column was killed by Lin at the subsequent summary meeting of the Liaoshen Campaign. They were always criticized by name, on the grounds that they were not bold enough in commanding operations, which almost caused delays. Afterwards, Duan Suquan was transferred to the North China Military Region as Chief of Staff, which was equivalent to a half-level reduction in his position.
In 1953, when the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea broke out, Duan Suquan was reused again and was appointed commander of the Northeast Military Region Air Force. During the battle of the US military, the troops exaggerated the number of enemy annihilations. Duan Suquan saw the clues and reported the matter to his superiors. Many people were punished for this, and Duan Suquan invisibly offended a large number of people. All of the above have invisibly affected Duan Suquan's conferment. In 1955, some people made a fuss about the four years since Duan Suquan left the army, saying that he had "problems left over from history" and needed further investigation. Therefore, he was only temporarily awarded the rank of major general.
Looking at his former subordinates, one by one became generals and lieutenant generals, but he was only awarded a major general, a feeling of shame enveloped his heart. Duan Suquan was a man with a temper. He couldn't bear such humiliation, so he tore off his epaulettes in front of many leaders. Before his death, he told his family that he would never be buried in military uniform after a hundred years.
Throughout Duan Suquan's life, he devoted almost his entire youth and energy to the revolutionary cause, but in the end he did not receive the honor he deserved, which has to be said to be a huge regret. Later, he gradually let go of the matter. Many generals who were much better than him, those real heroes lost their lives on the battlefield and did not have the chance to wait until the day when they were awarded the title. What did he have to complain about?
In 1964, Duan Suquan and Jiang Jun served as the leader of the working group to support Laos , helping them with land reform and army building. Later, Duan Suquan successively served as deputy commander of the Fuzhou Military Region and vice president of the Military and Political University, continuing to shine for the construction of New China. In 1993, 78-year-old General Duan Suquan died of cerebral hemorrhage, completing his life of unwavering devotion to the revolution.
