Introduction: In 1955, among the founding generals awarded by the Republic, there was a female general who was particularly conspicuous, she was Li Zhen, who was awarded the rank of major general and became the only founding female general in our army. However, in terms of qualifications and contributions, Li Zhen is not the most prominent woman, the most prominent is someone else, she is the only female general of the Red Army, Zhang Qinqiu.
In February 1935, a team of more than 2,500 women was established in Wangmiao Street, Wangcang County, Sichuan Province, which was the only female combat unit of the Red Army, the Women's Independent Division, and the division commander was Zhang Qinqiu. This independent division had two regiments under its command.
Why was Zhang Qinqiu able to become the head of this women's independent division? Because she not only has seniority, but also fights bravely. Zhang Qinqiu served as the director of the political department of the Red Fourth Front during the Long March, and a woman could serve as the director of the political department of the large army, which shows that Zhang Qinqiu was definitely not a simple woman, but she had unique features, and later those who became founding generals Chen Geng, Chen Xilian, Xu Shiyou, and others were all subordinates of Zhang Qinqiu.
In March 1935, the Women's Independent Division of the Red Fourth Front army captured the Sword Pavilion, which was the sword gate pass of "one husband and one husband, no one can open". At that time, the county seat of Jianmen was conquered by the Red Army, but the enemy was still unwilling and waited for the arrival of reinforcements, and Zhang Qinqiu led the first regiment of the Women's Independent Division to shoulder the heavy responsibility of defending the city and providing assistance.
The female soldiers of the first regiment led by Zhang Qinqiu waited for work, occupied favorable terrain, patiently waited for the arrival of enemy reinforcements, and when the enemy reinforcements arrived, they took advantage of their unstable foothold to defeat the enemy. At that time, the female soldiers of the First Regiment of the Independent Division also shouted loudly, and the enemy who thought that it was the main force of the Red Army who was defending the city was shocked, and it turned out that some women had beaten them to such a bad end, and they could not accept this reality in their hearts, so they attacked again, and finally all the female fighters of the First Regiment were annihilated.
In 1936, the women's independent division led by Zhang Qinqiu was reorganized into a women's anti-Japanese vanguard regiment, and soon embarked on a difficult western expedition with the Red Fourth Front. After the defeat of the Western Expeditionary Army, our army never formed a female combat unit again, and the women's independent division led by Zhang Qinqiu became a unique existence in the history of our army.
It is said that Zhang Qinqiu's qualifications and contributions can be awarded to generals after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and Fu Zhong, who once served as the director of the political department of the Red Fourth Front, was awarded the rank of general. Because of the defeat of the Western Route Army, Zhang Qinqiu almost never went to the front line during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, so his contribution was reduced.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhang Qinqiu served as the vice minister of the Ministry of Textile Industry, because the generals working in the local area did not participate in the awarding of titles, so Zhang Qinqiu had no connection with the rank of general.