In September 1955, the army of the Republic of China conferred its first major awards, with a total of 1,048 generals awarded, including 10 generals, 55 generals, 175 lieutenant generals, and 798 major generals. Among the 1,048 generals who were awarded the title, the vast majority were awarded corresponding military ranks in accordance with the award standards announced by the Central Military Commission and the military levels and military positions of the awarded officers. However, in the actual ranking work, the Central Military Commission specifically requires that the relative balance of military cadres in various fields should be taken into account when ranking, especially some cadres in the first field should be rated highly. In addition, those who have made special achievements or have special representativeness in the revolutionary struggle can also be given a high rating. According to the ranking instructions of the Military Commission , in the first title conferment of the Republic in 1955, some generals who came from the same field were rated one level higher and were awarded the titles of general, general, lieutenant general and major general respectively. This issue will specifically explain in detail the 1955 title of the Republic of China. In this conferment, four generals from the first-level military system were awarded the rank of general. The specific introduction is as follows:
1. Xu Guangda, a regiment-level general who was born in the Red Army , was awarded the rank of general
In 1955, the Republic of China conferred the title of general for the first time. A total of ten generals were awarded. Eight of them had military ranks that met the general evaluation standards. Only two representative corps-level cadres were awarded the rank of general. They were Xu Guangda, a representative of the Red Second Front Army, and Wang Shusheng, a representative of the Fourth Red Front Army. Xu Guangda was born in the Second Red Army where He Long was founded. He once served as the Chief of Staff of the First Red Army and was the direct favorite of Mr. He. In the military rank appraisal in the first half of 1953, Xu Guangda, commander of the Armored Corps, was rated as General of the Armored Corps. At the end of 1954, the military rank evaluation work that had been put on hold for more than a year was started again. In the list of awards reported by the Armored Corps Party Committee, Xu Guangda's proposed military rank was still general. According to the ranking standards issued by the Central Military Commission at that time, most of the cadres at the regiment level were rated as generals. Xu Guangda's military rank was at the corps level, and the commander of the Armored Forces he held at the time was also at the corps level. Therefore, the Armored Forces Party Committee reported Xu Guangda's rank, appointment and qualifications as the proposed rank of general.
On January 14 and 15, 1955, Peng Dehuai chaired a Military Commission symposium to discuss the above list of generals. During the evaluation of generals, according to the decision of Chairman Mao and the Secretariat of the Central Committee, cadres of the Second Red Front Army must be selected in the list of generals. After discussion and research by the members of the Military Commission attending the meeting, two plans for generals were determined. In the first plan for generals, the Central Military Commission symposium unanimously approved Xiao Ke, Wang Zhen, and Xu Guangda of the Red Second Front Army to be selected into the list of 15 generals. On January 16, the preliminary list of generals was reported to Chairman Mao and the Secretariat of the Central Committee. After a comprehensive balance, the Secretariat of the Central Committee decided that Xu Guangda, as a representative of the Second Red Army Corps, the 120th Division and the First Field Army of the Eighth Route Army, was selected for the final list of the top ten generals. Xiao Ke and Wang Zhen, two representatives of the Red Sixth Army , were selected for the list of generals and were awarded the title of general.
2, He Bingyan, a quasi-corps level who was born in the Second Red Army Corps, was awarded the rank of general
Among the 51 generals approved by the Secretariat of the Central Committee in late January 1955, Liao Hansheng, then Vice Minister of State and Deputy Political Commissar of the Northwest Military Region, was selected for the preliminary selection of generals. Although He Bingyan, a quasi-corps-level cadre, was selected for the military in mid-January, However, after the list was reported to Chairman Mao and the Secretariat of the Central Committee, He Bingyan was excluded from the preliminary list of 51 generals at the end of January 1955 because the army level was only at the quasi-corps level and the general representative of the Second Red Army Corps was already Liao Hansheng.
On August 2, 1955, Defense Minister Peng Dehuai reported Chairman Mao's list of candidates to be awarded major general or above, including 56 generals. After deliberation, Chairman Mao decided to reduce the number of generals by 2. After He Long learned that the number of generals needed to be reduced by two more people, he specifically proposed to the Military Commission that his nephew and favorite general Liao Hansheng should be changed to lieutenant general. After study, the Military Commission accepted Mr. He's suggestion, and Liao Hansheng and Xu Liqing, who took the initiative to be demoted, were promoted from general to lieutenant general.
On September 16, 1955, the State Council held its 18th meeting to discuss the list of generals, lieutenant generals and major generals reported by the Ministry of National Defense. Among the general officers reported by the Ministry of National Defense, 54 are generals.When the State Council reviewed the list of generals, in view of the fact that Liao Hansheng of the Second Red Army Corps in the original list of generals was promoted to lieutenant general, there was no representative of the generals of the Second Red Army Corps in the list of generals. After discussion, the meeting decided to add one more general, and He Bingyan, commander of the Chengdu Military Region, was promoted from lieutenant general to general as the only representative of the Second Red Army. He Bingyan was re-elected to the list of generals, and his military rank was raised from lieutenant general to general.
Third, Yang Xiushan, who was promoted during the rank evaluation, was promoted to lieutenant general
by He Long's suggestion of "Shao Jinzhong". In 1955, during the evaluation of lieutenant generals and major generals, Yang Xiushan was the principal of the Military Normal School. His military rank was deputy military level, and his military position was also deputy military position. Based on his rank and appointment, Yang Xiushan was reported to the rank of major general according to the major general evaluation standards. After He Long, who was in charge of the Southwest Military Region's ranking evaluation, learned that Yang Xiushan was to be promoted to major general, in view of his beloved general Yang Xiushan's contribution to the revolution, He Long proposed to the Military Commission that Yang Xiushan should be evaluated as a lieutenant general, and decided to change Jin Rubai, who was on the list of lieutenant generals reported by the Southwest Military Region, to major general, and replace Jin Rubai with Yang Xiushan and be selected into the list of lieutenant generals. After discussion, Peng Dehuai, Luo Ronghuan and other members of the Military Commission agreed to He Long's suggestion and decided to upgrade Yang Xiushan to lieutenant general, raise his military rank to full military rank, and be promoted to deputy minister of the Military Academy Department of the Training Directorate. Jin Rubai, who was originally promoted to lieutenant general, was promoted to the rank of major general.
Four, Zeng Guangming, who was identified as a senior colonel in 1953, and was awarded the first-level major general in 1955.
In the military rank identification work that started in March 1953, Xinjiang Military Region planned to evaluate 13 major generals. Among the 13 major generals to be evaluated, there were no representatives of Xinjiang ethnic minorities and Zeng Guangming. In March 1953, the Xinjiang Military Region planned to evaluate the 13 major generals:
- from full military level to quasi-military level (6 people): Zeng Di, Zhang Zhonghan, Li Quan, Cheng Yuechang, Xu Guoxian (Deputy Commander of the Southern Xinjiang Military Region), Zuo Qi (Political Commissar of the Southern Xinjiang Military Region)
- Full division level (7 people): Zhu Jiasheng (Head of the Organization Department of the Political Department of the Xinjiang Military Region), Wang Chengzhong, Gan Zuchang, Zhang Shigong, Wu Zijie, Xiong Huang, He Jiachang (Commander of the Independent Cavalry Division of the Xinjiang Military Region)
After the army's rank evaluation work was restarted in January 1955, the party committees of all major units reconsidered the list of major generals and submitted the list of major generals to be evaluated. Because Wu Zijie had gone to serve in the Volunteer Army, the Northwest Military Region added several ethnic minority generals of the Xinjiang Military Region and the new deputy political commissar of the Southern Xinjiang Military Region, Zeng Guangming, to the list of major generals. In February 1955, the number of major generals reported by various major units totaled more than 1,100. After deliberation, Chairman Mao decided to limit the number of major generals to more than 800. Therefore, the list of major generals reported by major units needs to be reduced by a quarter. After a comprehensive evaluation, the Xinjiang Military Region decided that the deputy commander of the Southern Xinjiang Military Region, He Jiazhan, and the deputy political commissar Zhu Jiasheng were upgraded from major generals to senior colonels, while the deputy political commissar of the Southern Xinjiang Military Region, Zeng Guangming, was still reported as a major general. In March 1953, Zeng Guangming was proposed to be awarded the rank of senior colonel. Due to his outstanding work, he was awarded the rank of major general in 1955. While He Jiachang and Zhu Jiasheng were awarded the rank of senior colonel, Zeng Guangming was actually awarded an unusually high rank.
