Hong'an County, Hubei Province is a magical place. It is the source of the Huangma Uprising and the cradle of the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Revolutionary Base. The seeds of the revolution were sown here very early. It is also the famous " General County " in China and abroad. 223 generals including Han Xianchu, Chen Xilian, Qin Jiwei, etc. 61 were awarded titles in the 1950s and 1960s.
The person we are going to talk about today is also from Hong'an, Hubei. His name is Luo Houfu. Although he won three first-class medals in 1955, he was only awarded the rank of colonel. What's going on?
Luo Houfu was born in a poor peasant family in Hong'an, Hubei. There was not much land at all. By working for landlords to make a living, Luo Houfu suffered a lot since he was a child. He helped with farm work when he was not old. With the difficult family situation, coupled with the influence of local aspiring young people, Luo Houfu had a long time ago. He participated in the peasant riots, joined the peasant Red Guards, and became an activist.
In 1930, Luo Houfu joined the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, and then joined our party and became a glorious Communist Party member. Because of his bravery in combat, Luo Houfu was quickly promoted from company commander to battalion political commissar, and then to guerrilla division commander . Although he didn't have many soldiers under his command, he insisted on carrying out guerrilla war in Hubei, Henan and Anhui.
At that time, the Kuomintang reactionaries led by Chiang Kai-shek continued to encircle and suppress the Red Army . The failure of the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" forced the Central Red Army to undergo strategic transfer. However, Luo Houfu did not participate in Long March , but stayed in the local area to carry out guerrilla warfare, which preserved the revolutionary forces well.
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the Red Army and guerrillas left in the eight southern provinces were reorganized into the New Fourth Army. Luo Houfu served as the brigade commander of the 14th Brigade of the Fifth Division of the New Fourth Army. Although the "Southern Anhui Incident" caused serious trauma to the New Fourth Army, the rebuilt New Fourth Army became stronger. Under the leadership of our party, Luo Houfu witnessed the victory of the Anti-Japanese War.
During the War of Liberation, Luo Houfu came to the northwestern Hubei region and served as deputy commander of the northwestern Hubei military region . The commander of the northwestern Hubei military region whom he partnered with was Wang Shusheng, who was later awarded the rank of general.
After the founding of New China, Luo Houfu became the deputy director of the Political Department of Hubei Military Region and belonged to the military-level cadre . Logically speaking, he would have been awarded the rank of lieutenant general or major general in the 1955 rank, but he was only awarded the title of colonel.
You should know that Luo Houfu won three first-class medals at the same time, including first-class August 1 Medal , first-class freedom and independence Medal and first-class liberation Medal to commend his contributions during the Red Army, the War of Resistance Against Japan and the War of Liberation. How difficult is it to get three first-level medals at the same time? Among the founding major generals of
802, only 15 won three first-class medals at the same time.
It can be seen that Luo Houfu, as a division commander during the Red Army, a brigade commander during the War of Resistance Against Japan, and a military-level cadre during the War of Liberation, did make many military achievements and was well deserved to be able to win three first-class medals. However, why was he only awarded the rank of colonel?
It is said that after the founding of New China, Luo Houfu arranged for a security chief to work in a cigarette factory. The security chief once used to cover up the guerrillas. In fact, it was normal for this to do so, but after all, it violated the discipline and the organization demoted Luo Houfu. Fortunately, Li Xiannian came forward to protect him, saying that Luo Houfu made great contributions during the revolutionary period, so he retained Luo Houfu's qualification to be awarded and awarded him the colonel.
In 1961, Luo Houfu was promoted to major general, making up for his original regrets. In fact, in our lives, there are many people who make mistakes. The important thing is to correct mistakes, just as people say, "It is no big deal to know the mistakes that can improve."
