After the founding of New China, in order to realize the modern management of the army, our country followed the Soviet Union and implemented a military rank system in the army, conferring titles on generals who had made military exploits for the revolution.
There were strict regulations at that time regarding what positions were awarded and what military ranks were awarded. For example, generals could be awarded at the corps level, lieutenant generals at the quasi-corps level, and major generals at the military level. Before the military rank conferment in 1955, Chen Mingren and Dong Qiwu were commanders. According to regulations, they could be awarded major generals. Why were they eventually awarded the rank of generals? Their military ranks were much higher than those of other military generals.
It is not difficult to find that Dong Qiwu and Chen Mingren were originally senior generals in the Kuomintang camp. During the War of Liberation, they chose to revolt and threw themselves into the embrace of the people. Why did Dong Qiwu and Chen Mingren receive special treatment and be awarded the rank of general as army commanders during the army-wide ceremony?
Chen Mingren and Dong Qiwu
Although Dong Qiwu and Chen Mingren are both senior generals of the national army, their development and camps are still very different. Chen Mingren graduated from the Huangpu Military Academy and was a direct descendant of Chiang Kai-shek. He performed well during the Anti-Japanese War and gained Chiang Kai-shek's reuse and trust.
Dong Qiwu is a native of Shanxi. He served as a soldier under Yan Xishan in his early years. During the Agrarian Revolutionary War, he served in Fu Zuoyi's department and was highly valued by Fu Zuoyi. After the September 18th Incident, Dong Qiwu actively resisted the war and participated in commanding the Great Wall Anti-Japanese War. He led his troops in bloody battles with the Japanese and puppet troops and repelled the Japanese attacks many times.
After the outbreak of the all-out Anti-Japanese War, under the leadership and command of Fu Zuoyi, Dong Qiwu participated in and commanded many large-scale battles, such as the Battle of Xinkou, Taiyuan, Baotou, Wuyuan, etc., and made great contributions to the cause of the Anti-Japanese War for the entire nation.
It is not difficult to find that Dong Qiwu and Chen Mingren were both famous anti-Japanese generals. Their performance during the Anti-Japanese War was very outstanding. Every general who resisted foreign enemies and defended his family and country, no matter what camp he was in, deserves our respect.
After the end of the Anti-Japanese War, the development trajectories of Dong Qiwu and Chen Mingren were also different. In the early days of the Liberation War, Chen Mingren became Chiang Kai-shek's right-hand man and worked very hard on the Northeast battlefield. In the Siping Battle, he defeated the Northeastern Democratic Alliance Army with more troops and defeated the fewer troops, showing his fierce general side.
After the First World War in Siping, Chen Cheng dismissed Chen Mingren on the charge of " sending troops to snatch food ". Chiang Kai-shek favored Chen Cheng. After Chen Mingren lost power, under the persuasion of his friends and the influence of the CCP organization, he began to change his mind and became disgusted with Chiang Kai-shek. In 1949, with the defeat of the national army, Chen Mingren and Cheng Qian announced an uprising in Changsha and chose to throw themselves into the arms of the people.
Chen Mingren was a famous general in Huangpu . His uprising had a great impact on Chiang Kai-shek and even the entire national army. Chairman Mao and other central leaders expressed their attention and welcome to Chen Mingren's uprising.
Dong Qiwu was not a close associate of Chiang Kai-shek. During the War of Liberation, he served as the chairman of the Suiyuan Provincial Government and the security commander. He was a senior official in charge of a province. According to the division of power, Dong Qiwu was regarded as Fu Zuoyi's person. With the defeat of Fu Zuoyi, Peking , Tianjin and other places were liberated by our army, Dong Qiwu was able to assess the situation and accepted our party's proposal to peacefully resolve the Suiyuan issue, avoiding war casualties and making great contributions to our army's liberation of Suiyuan.
The uprising of Chen Mingren and Dong Qiwu had a great impact at that time. This impact was beneficial to our army but not to the enemy's. Dong Qiwu's uprising created the "Suiyuan Way" in the War of Liberation. Many senior KMT generals followed suit, avoiding a large number of casualties. Chen Mingren's uprising destroyed the confidence of Chiang Kai-shek's direct troops to resist. From another aspect, it also confirmed the complete failure of the national army.
Outstanding performance after the uprising
After the uprising, Chen Mingren and Dong Qiwu were given full trust by the organization. They were appointed commanders of the 21st Corps and commander of the 23rd Corps respectively, and were able to continue to lead the troops.
During the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, Dong Qiwu led the 23 Corps to fight in North Korea, organized troops to complete military engineering tasks such as airport construction, and made great contributions to resisting U.S. aggression and aiding Korea and protecting the country.
Although Chen Mingren did not participate in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, he performed very well in the work of suppressing bandits in the country. In December 1950, Chen Mingren led his troops to Guangxi to carry out bandit suppression, annihilating more than 30,000 bandits and spies, and successfully completed the tasks of the Party Central Committee and Chairman Mao.
Before the military promotion ceremony in 1955, many units of our army were disbanded, including the 21st Corps and the 23rd Corps. The positions of Chen Mingren and Dong Qiwu were reduced from Corps Commander to Corps Commander, but they were still at the Corps level. In other words, the positions of Chen Mingren and Dong Qiwu have been reduced, but their ratings have not changed. It is reasonable and reasonable for them to be awarded generals at the corps level.
Although Chen Mingren and Dong Qiwu were uprising generals, they performed well during the War of Liberation and even after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and they were both famous anti-Japanese generals. Therefore, based on their contributions, Chen Mingren and Dong Qiwu are fully qualified to be awarded the rank of general.
Conclusion
Although Chen Mingren and Dong Qiwu were once senior generals of the national army, at critical moments, they were able to turn from darkness to light, take the overall situation into consideration and reduce casualties in an uprising manner, which also contributed to the liberation of the country.
Before being awarded the title, although Chen Mingren and Dong Qiwu were both army commanders and their positions were lower than other generals, they were both regimental-level generals before. According to the relevant regulations on the award, they could be awarded the title of general. After Dong Qiwu was awarded the rank of general, he felt that his military rank was high and wrote to Chairman Mao. Chairman Mao replied: Dong Qiwu must be awarded the title of General!
