Who was the first brigade commander of the 358th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army? Probably many friends will say that it is Zhang Zongxun. But in fact, there was someone else, but he did not take office at that time because of his mood, which was replaced by Zhang Zongxunxun. So who is this person? He is Lu Dongsheng.
Lu Dongsheng is a native of Xiangtan, Hunan Province, born in 1908, because his family was poor and had no money to study, he was sent by his father to Chen Geng's family as a cattle herder. Chen Geng's grandfather served as a pipe belt in the Xiang Army, and was later awarded the title of General of Wuxian for his military merits. After demobilization and return to the field, he bought a lot of land in his hometown, which is the largest family in the local area.
At that time, Chen Geng was only 5 years older than Lu Dongsheng, and treated him like a biological brother, and the two often played together and formed a deep friendship. In 1916, Chen Geng, who was less than 14 years old, threw pen from Rong to Lu Dipingbu of the Xiang Army as a soldier. After Chen Geng left, Lu Dongsheng's heart was empty, and he soon left the Chen family and entered a factory as a worker.
In 1925, Lu Dongsheng came to Tang Shengzhi's 4th Division as a soldier, and in the following year he followed the troops to participate in the Northern Expedition. When the Northern Expeditionary Army reached Wuhan, Lu Dongsheng unexpectedly encountered Chen Geng here, who had been separated for nearly ten years. At that time, Chen Geng was already the battalion commander of Tang Shengzhi's special agent battalion.
Under the influence of Chen Geng, Lu Dongsheng began to accept progressive ideas and followed Chen Geng to participate in the Nanchang Uprising. Later, Chen Geng came to Shanghai to engage in intelligence work, and Lu Dongsheng followed Zhou Yiqun and He Long to Xiangxi and participated in the Sangzhi Uprising.
After that, under the command of He Long, Lu Dongsheng participated in the struggle to create and defend the Western Soviet District of Xiang'e, accumulated battle merits and was promoted to division commander, becoming one of He Long's most trusted confidants. After the Red Second and Red Sixth Armies joined the division, Lu Dongsheng took part in the struggle to create the Xiang'echuanqian revolutionary base area, and followed the troops to participate in the Long March.
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the main force of the Northern Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army, and Lu Dongsheng was appointed as the brigade commander of the 358 brigade of the 120th Division. But he did not take office, but took the initiative to ask to go to Yan'an to study, why is this? At that time, something bad happened to the 120th Division, and Lu Dongsheng was put on a "warlord style" hat, which he was very confused about and made some emotions, so he did not take up his post in the 358th Brigade.
Soon after, Lu Dongsheng entered the Yan'an Anti-Japanese University, and in the winter of the same year, he was sent to the Soviet Union to enter the Frunze Military Academy for further study. After the outbreak of the Soviet-German war, communication was cut off, and Lu Dongsheng had to stay in the Soviet Union until August 1945, when he returned to China as commander of the Songjiang Military Region. On December 14 of the same year, Lu Dongsheng was tragically killed at the age of 37 while stopping the robbery of Soviet Red Army soldiers.
In 1955, when the rank was awarded, Xu Guangda was awarded the rank of general. Although there is an advantage in this class (commander of the armored corps), it is more that he is "taken care of" as the representative of the Red Second Army. If Lu Dongsheng had not been killed, this quota would most likely have been his.
Although Xu Guangda came to the Honghu Soviet District in 1929, he went to the Soviet Union for medical treatment after more than two years of injuries, and did not return to China until the outbreak of the War of Resistance. Compared with Xu Guangda, Lu Dongsheng participated in all the major battles and battles of the Red Second Army, whether it was the creation of the Xiang'e Border Soviet District or the opening up of the Xiang'echuanqian Revolutionary Base Area, Lu Dongsheng made important contributions to it, so he was more representative of the Red Second Army.
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Lu Dongsheng was appointed brigade commander of the 358th Brigade (not yet in office), and Xu Guangda did not serve as the brigade commander of the independent second brigade of the 120th Division until 1942. Therefore, regardless of seniority or personal position, Lu Dongsheng is more suitable for representing the Red Second Army, and if he is not killed, it is still very likely that he will be awarded the title of general.