In 1955, after the list of the first ranks awarded by our army came out, it was ranked as one of the ten major generals
Chen Geng
Suddenly, I found the center and wanted to explain my thoughts. The Central Committee originally thought that Chen Geng came this time because, like Xu Shiyou and others, he was dissatisfied with his military rank, but what people did not expect was that they got a negative answer.
After inquiry, it was learned that Chen Geng was not dissatisfied with his rank, but because his old subordinate was rated as a lieutenant general.
Chen Geng came this time to hope that Chairman Mao would intercede, raise his old subordinates by one level, and even give one of his own stars to his old subordinates.
So who was this old subordinate who worried Chen Geng so much? How will Chairman Mao finally solve this problem?
Chen Kang
Veteran of the Red Army
Chen Geng's old subordinate was named
It's easy to confuse the two names without looking closely. Chen Kang was born on March 9, 1910 in Guangji County, Hubei Province, and in August 1927 he signed up for the Red Guards in his village, officially starting his military career, and in just three years he grew from a Red Guard to a county guerrilla.
In mid-July 1930, Chen Kang signed up to join the 4th Column of the 8th Army of the Red Third Army and became a member of the Red Army. In mid-January 1931, Chen Kang joined the Communist Party and became a squad leader in the 7th Company of the 3rd Battalion, 29th Regiment, Red 10th Division of the Red 4th Army.
In late October 1932, due to the failure of the fourth anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign in the Eyu-Anhui Soviet Region, the Red Fourth Front was forced to transfer. When the Red Fourth Front broke through the pass, Chen Kang led the soldiers to rush to the front. At the end of the year, Chen Kang was promoted to instructor of the 9th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 218th Regiment of the Red 73rd Division.
In April 1936, the head of the Red Fourth Front selected Chen Kang to enter the first phase of the Red Army University for study, and because the president Liu Bochengzhi was rigorous in his studies, Chen Kang studied while fighting and marching. Chen Kang not only conscientiously studied strategy and tactics, but also greatly improved his military and political quality.
Three months later, Chen Kang successfully graduated from the Red Army University and returned to the army and was transferred to the 276th Regiment of the 91st Division of the Red 31st Army.
Looking at Chen Kang's years in the Red Army, he can be said to be a witness and practitioner of the history of the Red Fourth Front.
Chen Geng's "fist"
In 1940, due to his excellent military and political quality, Chen Kang was transferred to the 17th Regiment of the 386th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army as deputy regimental commander, and the brigade commander at this time was Chen Geng, who also became Chen Geng's subordinate, and from then on followed Chen Geng on the battlefield.
On May 29, 1941, the 17th Regiment encountered the Japanese army unexpectedly while carrying out the escort mission, Chen Kang encountered the enemy army and was not afraid, commanded the troops to respond flexibly, successfully killed more than 110 Japanese troops, and also captured 11 Japanese troops, which was also praised by Chen Geng.
In May 1942, Chen Kang served as the commander of the 772nd Regiment of the 386th Brigade, which, when the 386th Brigade was established, had only the 771st and 772nd Regiments under its jurisdiction.
Therefore, the 772nd Regiment can definitely be said to be one of the old foundations of the 386th Brigade, also known as the "Fist of Commander Chen Geng".
。
Chen Kang was able to serve as the commander of the 772nd Regiment, in addition to his own super strength, he could not help but see Chen Geng's weight and trust in him.
In the month when Chen Kang took office, the Japanese army once again gathered 7,000 troops to launch a summer "sweep" of the Taiyue anti-Japanese base area. Chen Kang and the regimental political commissar commanded the troops to jump to the outside line, destroyed the Lintun Highway, and boldly attacked the Japanese army.
Using the method of "encircling Wei and saving Zhao" to make the Japanese army return to the division to save itself, it made the first contribution to smashing the enemy's summer "sweep"!
In August 1947, the 80,000-strong Taiyue Corps, composed of the Taiyue 4th Column, the Taihang 9th Column, and the 38th Army, according to the orders of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, forcibly crossed the Yellow River and advanced into the Central Plains, and launched a strategic offensive in response to the Zhongye army commanded by Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping and the Huaye army commanded by Chen Yi and Su Yu.
On August 21, Chen Kang, commander of the 13th Brigade of the 4th Column of Taiyue, and the political commissar, under the command of Chen Geng, commanded three regiments under their command to set off from Yangcheng, marched more than 70 kilometers in the rain, and gathered at the yellow river crossing to wait for the order of their superiors to cross the river.
Chen Kang (far right)
At that time, it was the flood season, and the terrain on both sides of the Yellow River was very dangerous, and the Kuomintang fortifications were very strong, so how easy was it to cross the Yellow River by force?
In order for the commando team to successfully cross the Yellow River, Chen Kang arrived on the north bank of the Yellow River with his scouts as early as August 18, surveyed the enemy situation and water potential, and made sufficient preparations for the selection of the section to cross the river.
On the 23rd, Chen Kang commanded the commando team to carry out a forced crossing from Dajiaokou to Mawan, and dozens of boats paddled in the very dangerous Yellow River, pointing directly to the south bank of the Yellow River.
Chen Kang led the soldiers of the 39th Regiment of the 13th Brigade to cross the river at Dajiaokou first and successfully, taking down the enemy who was stationed here in one fell swoop.
Captured Alive Tang Yao, deputy commander-in-chief of the enemy army
Chen Kang had been fighting with Chen Geng, but the most impressive was the Battle of Southern Yunnan.
Mengzi was an important hub of the enemy army in southern Yunnan, railways and roads could crisscross each other, and it could take a train to Kunming within 10 hours, and retreat could escape from the country and enter Vietnam across the Red River in two days and nights, so Mengzi was very important to the Kuomintang.
Chen Geng and Chen Kang, the former commander of the army, issued an urgent telegram one after another, ordering the 37th Division to quickly take Mengzi, occupy the airfield, block the enemy's air escape route, and then annihilate the enemy army in southern Yunnan with his brother troops.
The leader of the 37th Division wanted to learn more about the enemy situation in Mengzi, and it was at this time that the head of the reconnaissance unit came to report: "Not far ahead, there is an enemy vigilance regiment, they are digging trenches and repairing fortifications, and they can vaguely see mortars and light and heavy machine guns on the position. ”
This is a very important piece of intelligence for our army, so how should our army deal with it? At that time, the leaders of the 37th Division held an emergency meeting, at which there were two opinions:
"The first is to take advantage of the enemy's defenselessness to fight and destroy the enemy in the area; the second is to bypass the enemy troops here and take them straight from them."
The leaders of the 37th Division did not know how to make decisions, so they reported both methods to Chen Kang, who had been in the battlefield for a long time, and immediately agreed to the second plan, that is, to bypass the enemy army and take meng himself directly.
Soon after our army came to Mengzi, when the soldiers suddenly appeared in front of the enemy, they thought that it was only guerrillas who came to harass, but they did not expect that it was our army's troops. For a time, the enemy in the city and the airfield fled like a wasp on fire.
Chen Geng (far right)
One of the planes that had not yet had time to take off at the airport was destroyed by our army and one captured by our army. After 6 hours of fierce fighting, our army successfully occupied the airfield at 4:00 a.m. on the 16th, and successfully occupied Mengzi at 6:00 a.m.
Chen Geng was very happy to learn this news, and then ordered the soldiers to take advantage of the victory and pursue, and never give the enemy a chance to breathe. After receiving the order, Chen Kang hurriedly led the fighters to pursue the enemy who fled in a hurry, and finally captured Tang Yao, the deputy commander-in-chief of the enemy army, alive.
After Tang Yao was arrested, he said to Chen Kang:
"How did you get here?" Could it be 'flying'? We had expected you to arrive at least half a month later, but your excellency deserves chen geng's 'fist'! ”
Chen Geng: I would like to give him one of my stars
Chen Kang made outstanding military achievements during the war years, so after the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served as the deputy commander of the Kunming Military Region and guarded the southwest region of the motherland. In Chen Kang's decades of revolutionary career, most of the time was Chen Geng's subordinates, and Chen Kang's ability was also seen by Chen Geng.
Therefore, when Chen Geng learned that Chen Kang had been awarded the rank of lieutenant general, it was inevitable that he would be dissatisfied with his old subordinates. Chen Geng went to Chairman Mao and hoped that Chairman Mao could mention Chen Kang's rank, and even said:
"I'm willing to give him one of my stars!"
Chen Kang (front row middle)
Chairman Mao also cried and laughed after hearing this, and he said to his beloved general:
"I can understand your feelings, but you must know that the rank is not assessed by me alone, but by the evaluation team after investigation." Even if his merits and ranks do not match, his merits will be firmly remembered by the masses, and all of us will not forget his contribution to the motherland. ”
When Chairman Mao said this, Chen Geng could not persist any longer.
In 1955, Chen Kang was awarded the rank of lieutenant general.
And this incident also became Chen Geng's regret.