During the Liberation War, the Northwest Field Army was one of the main forces of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Mr. Peng served as commander and political commissar, Zhang Zongxun as deputy commander, Zhang Wenzhou as chief of staff, and Xu Liqing as director of the political department.
After the founding of New China, in addition to Mr. Peng becoming the founding marshal, Zhang Zongxun was later awarded the rank of general, while Xu Liqing was the founding lieutenant general. Among the "Big Four", Zhang Wenzhou, who served as chief of staff, had the lowest rank and was only awarded the rank of major general.
Zhang Wenzhou is a native of Qin County, Shanxi Province. He joined our party in 1932. During the Red Army period, he successively served as the platoon commander of the Second Division of the Chasui Anti-Japanese Allied Army, the deputy company commander of the Second Division of the Red Twenty-sixth Army, the chief of the staff section of the Military Secretary Department of the Cpc Northern Shaanxi Provincial Committee, and the chief of staff. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he served as the chief of the education section of the Headquarters of the Eighth Route Army's Left Behind Corps, the chief of staff, and the chief of staff of the Third Brigade of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia-Jinsui Joint Defense Army.
During the Liberation War, Zhang Wenzhou successively served as deputy brigade commander of the Third Brigade of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia-Jinsui Joint Defense Army, chief of staff of the Joint Defense Army, chief of staff of the Field Army of the Northwest People's Liberation Army, and chief of staff of the Fourth Column of the Northwest Field Army. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served as chief of staff of the armored corps of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, acting chief of staff of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, and became the founding major general in 1955.
Although the rank is the lowest among the big four, Zhang Wenzhou's contribution is no less than theirs. Zhang Wenzhou was an extremely outstanding staff officer with a peculiar skill that he never forgot; no matter where he went, he could recall the terrain and terrain here and even the enemy's deployment without any mistake afterwards, which greatly improved the efficiency of our army's formulation of strategic plans