Among the founding generals of new China, many of them either did not serve in the headquarters of the armed forces or did not serve as commanders and political commissars of the Grand Military Region. But there are also some generals, like Liu Zhen, who served as a deputy at the level of the Grand Military Region for 28 years, until he was transferred to the commander of the Grand Military Region at the age of 62.
Liu Zhen, under the leadership of Xu Haidong in the Red Army, held the highest position as the political commissar of the division in the armed struggle in the Eyu-Anhui region and Shaanxi Province; during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he held the highest position as brigade commander; during the liberation period, he served as column commander, army commander, and deputy commander of the corps in the northeast.
After the founding of New China, he was transferred to the Northeast Military Region as the commander of the Air Force, and this position was the deputy post of the Great Military Region. By 1954, he was deputy commander of the Air Force. Although he was a deputy commander, he was not ranked high, and the first deputy commander at that time was Wang Bingzhang; the second deputy commander was Chang Qiankun.
Wang Bingzhang and Chang Qiankun held important positions in the Air Force in 1949, when New China was founded. Chang Qiankun became deputy commander of the Air Force, and Wang Bingzhang served as the chief of staff of the Air Force. At that time, the Air Force had just been formed, and there were only three leaders, one was commander Liu Yalou, one was political commissar Xiao Hua, and the other was Wang Bingzhang.
They both arrived in the Air Force earlier than Liu Zhen, and in 1953 Wang Bingzhang and Chang Qiankun were appointed as the first and second deputy commanders, and Liu Zhen was only transferred to the deputy commander in 1954, so the ranking could only be lower.
In 1959, he left his post because of the Lushan Conference. It was not until 1973 that he resumed his work as deputy commander of the Shenyang Military Region, and after four years in office, he was promoted to commander of the Xinjiang Military Region. At that time, the Xinjiang Military Region was one of the major military regions. It took him 28 years from deputy to the main post of the Grand Military Region.
After Liu Zhen served as commander of the Xinjiang Military Region for three years, he was transferred to the vice president of the Academy of Military Sciences and returned to his post of deputy. After five years in office, he retired to the second line and was elected as a member of the Central Advisory Committee.