In September 1955, New China held its first award ceremony.
This time, a total of 10 marshals, 10 generals, 55 generals, 175 lieutenant generals, and 798 major generals were awarded.
In fact, there were many generals who were satisfied with the title at that time, but they all did not award the title for different reasons.
For example, Chairman Mao originally planned to award the rank of "Grand Marshal", Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping, and Su Yu awarded the rank of marshal, etc., but they all took the initiative to give up.
Chairman Mao also suggested at the time: Anyone who does not work in the army should not be awarded ranks. So at that time, many people who originally met the requirements did not receive titles.
However, there are exceptions among these people, such as Chen Manyuan, who was acting as the first secretary of the Guangxi Provincial Party Committee, chairman of the provincial government, and the second political commissar of the Guangxi Military Region at that time.
He was originally nominated for the rank of general, but in the end he missed the rank. What is going on?
Chen Manyuan was born in December 1911 in a poor peasant family in Mengshan County, Guangxi. He was extremely intelligent since childhood and entered the high school of Provincial No. 2 Middle School located in Wuzhou under the age of 14.
Influenced by the revolutionary wave, he joined Chinese Communist Youth League at the age of 15, and in less than a year he became Chinese Communist Party member .
Although Chen Manyuan is young, his revolutionary belief is very firm.
After the "April 12" counter-revolutionary coup, Chen Manyuan was unfortunately arrested and imprisoned. Faced with the enemy's coercion, temptation, torture and torture, Chen Manyuan was not afraid and would rather die than surrender, which truly reflected the tenacious and unyielding spirit of the Communists. After being released from prison, he participated in the Baise Uprising led by Deng Xiaoping, Zhang Yunyi, etc., and was incorporated into the 7th Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, and served as company instructor, battalion political commissar, division political commissar, etc.
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War in 1937, Chen Manyuan served as the chief of staff of the 344th Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, assisting Brigade Commander Xu Haidong to lead his troops to participate in the Pingxingguan Battle and establish the anti-Japanese base in southwestern Shanxi.
During the Anti-Japanese War, Chen Manyuan served as commander of the Third Military Sub-district of the Jin-Cha-Hebei Military Region, deputy chief of staff, chief of staff, etc., and led the troops to fight south and north, making great achievements.
During the War of Liberation, Chen Manyuan served as Chief of Staff of the Jinsui Military Region, Chief of Staff of the First Corps of the North China Military Region, Chief of Staff of the 18th Corps, and Deputy Commander.
On the eve of the founding of New China , Chen Manyuan, who was commanding the battle in the northwest, received an order from the central government to assist Zhang Yunyi in preside over the work in Guangxi.
On September 22, 1949, Zhang Yunyi was ordered to serve as Secretary of the Guangxi Provincial Party Committee, and Mo Wenhua, Chen Manyuan and others served as Deputy Secretary.
Mo Wenhua is also an old Red Army soldier, and was once the political commissar of the 14th and 13th Corps of the Fourth Field Army of the People's Liberation Army.
In early December of the same year, Zhang Yunyi was appointed as the chairman of the Guangxi Provincial Government, and Chen Manyuan was appointed as the first vice chairman of the provincial government.
At that time, Guangxi was devastated and was in a state of destruction. Although it has been liberated, bandits in some areas have caused chaos and poisoned the people.
During this period, Chen Manyuan assisted Zhang Yunyi in leading the military and civilians in Guangxi to eliminate bandits many times, and achieved great results.
At the same time, he also actively assisted the leaders in the restoration of production and the land reform movement, so that Guangxi, which has been destroyed by war, gradually recovered its vitality.
In July 1952, Tao Zhu, then acting secretary of the provincial party committee, was ordered to be transferred to the fourth secretary of the South China Branch. Zhang Yunyi was old and weak, and the daily work of the Guangxi Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government was basically chaired by Chen Manyuan.
In May of 2014, Chen Manyuan was appointed as the acting first secretary of the Guangxi Provincial Party Committee and the chairman of the provincial government, and shouldered the important task of organizing and leading the comprehensive work of Guangxi.
Not only that, Chen Manyuan also serves as the second political commissar of the Guangxi Military Region, and Zhang Yunyi is the first political commissar.
We all know that General Zhang Yunyi was later awarded the rank of general. The Guangxi Military Region belongs to the second-level military region and the corps level. In theory, Chen Manyuan can be rated as the rank of general.
In fact, there were two candidates for the rank of generals reported by the Guangxi Military Region at that time. One was Chen Manyuan and the other was Li Tianyou, who was the commander of the Guangxi Military Region at that time.
This report file is still preserved in the archives of the People's Liberation Army of China. So it can be seen that Chen Manyuan had the opportunity and was qualified to award the rank of general at that time.
Picture | In 1939, Wang Ping, Zhu Liangcai and Chen Manyuan (from left) took a group photo
At that time, Military Commission also had another standard for evaluating the rank of general: held a division-level position during the Agrarian Revolution War, brigade-level position during the War of Resistance Against Japan, and corps-level position during the War of Liberation.
In contrast, Chen Manyuan's position in these three historical periods meets the conditions for awarding the rank of general.
During the Agrarian Revolution War, Chen Manyuan served as a political commissar of multiple divisions, and served relatively early. During this period, he served as the director of the political department of a provincial military region.
In addition, he also served as the director of the Political Department of the Seventh Army of the Red Third Army for a short time. So it meets this requirement completely.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Chen Manyuan was appointed chief of staff of the 344th Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army. Although he was not a brigade commander, deputy brigade commander, or political commissar, the 343rd Brigade Chief of Staff Chen Shiqu was also awarded the rank of general in 1955, so he fully met this condition.
What's more, he has also served as the commander of the Third Military Sub-district of the Jin-Cha-Hebei Military Region.
You should know that the military sub-district political commissar Wang Ping, Zhu Liangcai , and deputy commander Huang Yongsheng were awarded the rank of general in 1955. As the commander, Chen Manyuan naturally met this requirement.
During the Liberation War, although Chen Manyuan only served as deputy commander and chief of staff of the 18th Corps of the People's Liberation Army, the commander of the corps was generally held by Marshal Xu Xiangqian.
In addition, the deputy commander and political commissar of the Corps Wang Xinting was also awarded the rank of general in 1955.
Not only that, Chen Bojun, Li Tianyou, Han Xianchu, , Hong Xuezhi and others who were also deputy commanders of the Corps during the Liberation War were awarded the rank of generals in 1955.
So, no matter from which historical period, Chen Manyuan meets the conditions.
Of course, some people may say: At that time, Chen Manyuan's work focus had shifted from the military to the party and government. The political commissar of the Guangxi Military Region was just a part-time job, and he could not be considered working in the military.
Didn’t Chairman Mao say that it is better not to be awarded titles for those who do not work in the army.
However, Chen Manyuan is different from other party cadres and military political commissars who come from part-time political commissars. He not only holds important positions in the army, but also holds the position of military commander for a long time.
Therefore, among the more than 50 generals awarded in 1955, General Chen Manyuan deserves a place.
But why was he not awarded the rank of general in the end, and even did not have lieutenant general or major general? This has to start with one person, who is the chairman of Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam.
At that time, Chairman Ho Chi Minh from Vietnam was always paying attention to the first award of New China, especially the attention to one person, he was Wei Guoqing General .
In the early 1950s, General Wei Guoqing was ordered to serve as the head of the military advisory regiment in Vietnam to help the Vietnamese people fight against France.
With the help of Wei Guoqing and others, the Vietnamese People's Army continued to grow and grew, and in 1954, it won the victory of Dien Bien Phu Battle , laying a solid foundation for the liberation of the entire Vietnam.
During this period, Chairman Ho Chi Minh and Wei Guoqing formed a deep friendship.
In February 1955, Wei Guoqing, who was still working in Vietnam, was elected as the governor of of Guangxi Province.
During his visit to China, Chairman Ho Chi Minh highly praised Wei Guoqing to Chairman Mao and suggested that Wei Guoqing be praised as the rank of general.
For this reason, Chairman Mao transferred this issue to Chen Manyuan, who was then the first secretary of the Party Committee of the Guangxi Military Region, the second political commissar, and the acting first secretary of the Guangxi Provincial Party Committee.
After receiving the document, Chen Manyuan immediately offered to say that he would not participate in the rank evaluation and gave up the rank of general.
Just like that, Chen Manyuan missed the rank of general he should have obtained.
Military rank is not only a status and honor for soldiers, but also an affirmation of their abilities and dedication.
However, when facing honor and status, our revolutionary ancestors can always take the initiative to give up. This spirit is undoubtedly worth learning from.
On November 22, 1986, Chen Manyuan officially completed his legendary and magnificent life at the age of 75.
