In the previous article, the author talked to you about a series of stories of famous generals, such as General Dong Zhentang, General Luo Binghui and so on. Today, we talk about General Guan Xiangying. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Guan Xiangying served as the political commissar of the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and the division commander was Marshal He Long. A problem arose in 1955 if General Guan Xiangying was alive. What rank will be awarded? The author believes that if a military rank is conferred, it must be a field marshal rank. Otherwise, he will be transferred to local work, and the position is equivalent to that of a marshal.
First, let's talk about the history of General Guan Xiangying. General Guan Xiangying was a Manchu of the Guarjia clan. It is the eleventh grandson of this white-flagged Guarjia clan, one of the eight major surnames of the Qing Dynasty, and a series of important figures appeared, such as Fei Yingdong, Aobai, Ronglu and so on. However, in Guan Xiangying's generation, there is no difference between him and ordinary people. Guan Xiangying's family belonged to an ordinary self-employed peasant family, with only 3 grass houses and a few acres of thin fields.
Because the family is too poor, of the 5 brothers and sisters, only Xiang Ying has read books. In 1902, Guan Xiangying was born in Dalian, Liaoning Province, and in 1920, at the age of 18, Guan Xiangying was admitted to the Business Department of Dalian Fushimitai Public School. Seriously, this is a very good school, and after graduation, I can be assigned to work for a Japanese company. However, Guan Xiangying hated a series of Japanese behaviors very much, and during his study and reading, Guan Xiangying read a series of progressive books and gained a better understanding of the situation abroad.
In 1922, after graduating, Guan Xiangying gave up his assigned job. He traveled thousands of miles to Shanghai, joined the local youth league in Shanghai, and was admitted to Shanghai University. In 1924, Guan Xiangying was sent to Moscow, the Soviet Union, for further study. In 1925, Guan Xiangying was honorably admitted to the party. In 1926, after Guan Xiangying returned to China, he held a series of important positions, such as central committee member, alternate member, secretary of the Communist Youth League Committee, member of the Central Military Commission, member of the Standing Committee, vice minister of the Military Department, secretary of the Military Commission of the Yangtze River Bureau, and so on.
Later, Guan Xiangying, together with Marshal He Long, led the western Xiang'e base area and served as the political commissar of the Red 3rd Army, a member of the Xiang'e West Branch Bureau, and the chairman of the Xiang'e Western Military Commission. In 1934, after the failure of the fifth anti-encirclement and suppression campaign, in order to cope with the Long March of the main force of the Red Army, Guan Xiangying and He Long led the Red 3rd Army to open up the Qiandong base area. Later, on the basis of the Red 3 Army, the unit was expanded into the Red 2 Corps. At that time, He Long served as the commander of the regiment, Ren Bishi as the political commissar, and Guan Xiangying as the deputy political commissar.
In 1935, during the Long March, Guan Xiangying took over as the political commissar of the Red 2 Front. In 1937, after the Japanese army launched the Lugou Bridge Incident, in order to unite all forces to resist the war, the Red Army troops in various regions began to accept reorganization. The Red Army in the north was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army, and the Red Army in the south was reorganized into the New Fourth Army. Among them, the Eighth Route Army had 120 divisions, 115 divisions and 129 divisions under its jurisdiction. Marshal He Long served as the commander of the 120th Division, and Guan Xiangying served as the political commissar of the 120th Division.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Guan Xiangying cooperated with Marshal He Long and led the establishment of a crucial base area in northwestern Jin. When Guan Xiangying cooperated with He Long for 10 years, Marshal He Long once recalled: "Guan Xiangying and I have always been together on the battlefield and in our work. Can't remember when they weren't together or when they were separated. "Due to overwork, in 1941, General Guan Xiangying fell ill and began to recuperate for a long time.
In July 1946, at the same time as the outbreak of the Liberation War, General Guan Xiangying died of illness in Yan'an at the age of 44. After hearing the news, Chairman Mao was very sad, and at the memorial service of General Guan Xiangying, he wrote down the link of "being loyal and loyal, serving the party and the country, and not dying to Comrade Ying." Marshal Zhu De was very sorry for the death of General Guan Xiangying, and wrote: "A model Communist Party member who has struggled for the revolution all his life, is indomitable, and has died after death." To Zhi Guan xiang ying comrade eons of time" elegy.
At that time, After hearing the news, Marshal He Long, who was on the front line, endured the pain and wrote the famous "Crying xiangying": "For fifteen years, you and I have lived and died together and suffered together. Honghu Lake, Xiang'exi, Eyuchuan shaanxi side, hot summer days; Xiang'ebian, Xiang'echuanqian, Yunguichuan, Ganshan, snowy mountain meadows, Xi'an Plain; stepping on Jinsui, out of Hebei, tens of thousands of miles of long-distance conquest, into death and birth, no matter on the battlefield, work, or regardless of the thatched huts, buildings and high halls, I can't remember when they were not together, when they were separated. Now, you and I are never gone, looking up to the heavens, your voice is like a sound, and I can't sleep. ”
In 1955, with the basic end of the war, our country entered the stage of post-war reconstruction and economic development. At the same time, the PLA troops began a series of regularization construction and began to use military ranks. The famous Ten Marshals and Ten Generals appeared. A question arises, if General Guan Xiangying was alive at that time, what rank would he be awarded?
Let us look at the criteria for awarding the rank of marshal: the main founders of the red army units in the era of the Red Army, the founders and principal responsible persons of the main base areas, the leaders of the main anti-Japanese armed forces during the War of Resistance Against Japan, and the principal responsible persons of the highest level and the major field armies during the War of Liberation. Seriously speaking, in terms of seniority in the era of the Red Army and the Era of the War of Resistance, General Guan Xiangying was very qualified. Since he died in 1946 and did not participate in the Liberation War, many problems cannot be speculated.
Let's look at the memories of General Xu Guangda, who once served as the brigade commander of the Independent 2nd Brigade of the 120th Division. General Xu Guangda once recalled: "If Commissar Guan is still there, he should also be a marshal." Judging from the seniority of General Guan Xiangying, if he is alive, in 1955, he will be awarded the rank of marshal, and this possibility is very high. After all, he was one of the founders of the base areas of the Red Army period and the division political commissar of the Eighth Route Army era.
Of course, there is another possibility, that is, like several other generals, they will not be awarded ranks and will be transferred to local work. But the position and rank of the work should be equivalent to that of the marshal. Here, pay tribute to the martyrs of the past, such as Lu Deming, Wu Zhonghao, Huang Gongluo, Cai Shenxi, Duan Dechang, Zeng Zhongsheng, Wang Erzhuo, Xun Huaizhou, Fang Zhimin, Liu Zhidan, Liu Yuxi, Wu Huanxian, Ye Chenghuan, Gao Jingting, Yang Jingyu, Zhao Shangzhi, Zuo Quan, Luo Binghui... Wait a minute.
There are many more stories about famous generals, and the author will talk to you slowly in future articles.