Revealing the secrets: During the war years of our army, Xiao Ke was once a lieutenant general and Chen Geng was a major general.

Most people are familiar with the awarding work of the People's Liberation Army of China. The founding awards ceremony in 1955 selected the top ten marshals, ten generals, and more than a thousand generals, lieutenant generals and major generals. . In fact, in the history of our army, attempts were made to do this as early as the war years.

In the early days of the founding of the People's Army (the Red Army period), wars were frequent, conditions were difficult, and there was basically no difference in treatment between officers and soldiers. Later, as conditions changed, the military's living conditions and treatment were stipulated to be treated differently according to their positions. However, until the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, there was not much difference in treatment between officers and soldiers, so there was no question of implementing a military rank system.

After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the Kuomintang and the Kuomintang cooperated again. Because the Kuomintang army at that time had military ranks, for the sake of cooperation between the two parties, the issue of our military ranks was put on the agenda.

The military rank system of the Kuomintang army began in April 1931, and the military ranks of the Beiyang period were used. However, the ranking work at that time was quite chaotic, and there were even many jokes. For example, the northwest warlord Ma Bufang awarded his son Ma Jiyuan, who was only 12 years old and still in elementary school, the rank of colonel. To this end, in 1935, the Nationalist Government re-promulgated the military rank list. On March 31, 1935, the Nationalist Government awarded Chiang Kai-shek the military rank of "Special General"; on April 1, it awarded the military rank of "First-Class General" to eight people including Feng Yuyang, Xishan, and Zhang Xueliang; and later, Li Jishen and Cheng Qian, Bai Chongxi, and Chen Cheng were awarded the rank of general first class.

In this way, by the time the Kuomintang and the Kuomintang cooperated for the second time, the military rank system of the Kuomintang army was relatively complete, but at that time the troops led by the Communist Party of China did not have corresponding military ranks. On August 1, 1937, the General Political Department of the Red Army proposed the idea that our army would "adopt an official rank system." After the Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army, and the guerrillas from the eight southern provinces were reorganized into the New Fourth Army and sent to the anti-Japanese front line, they continued to grow during the war, and plans began to implement a military rank system.

On May 30, 1939, the Eighth Route Army Headquarters issued the "Order to Establish a Hierarchical System" and promulgated the "Eighth Route Army Organization Table", which clearly stipulated the benchmark military ranks for positions at all levels. The approach was basically based on At that time, the ranks of the Kuomintang troops were set up, which also took into consideration the comparison with the Kuomintang troops.

At this time, some generals of our army have been awarded military ranks. Taking the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army as an example, the division commander Mr. He and the deputy division commander Xiao Ke are lieutenant generals. The division chief of staff Zhou Shidi, several brigade commanders and deputy brigade commanders Lu Dongsheng, Zhang Zongxun, Chen Bojun, Wang Zhen, Wang Hongkun and Wang Weizhou are major generals; subordinates Several regiment leaders Wang Shangrong, He Bingyan, Zhang Caiqian and others were colonels.

Most of the awarded Eighth Route Army commanders are generals who need to frequently deal with the Kuomintang or engage in united front work. However, the awarding work was not fully carried out this time. In 1940, the Anti-Japanese War entered a very difficult moment, and serious problems arose in the cooperation between the Kuomintang and Kuomintang. Under such circumstances, the Party Central Committee made a decision on April 24, 1942 that "there will be no regulations on military ranks in the army for the time being." Decide. Our army's first attempt at conferring titles came to an end after three years.

The first time was in September 1945, because our army wanted to send personnel to Shenyang to cooperate with the actions of the Soviet Far East Red Army. The military rank system of the Soviet army is very complete. Considering the convenience of work, the Party Central Committee temporarily awarded military ranks to six cadres dispatched by our army. For example, Ye Jizhuang was awarded the rank of lieutenant general and Wu Xiuquan was awarded the rank of major general.

The second time was in 1946. In order to facilitate the equal work between the representatives of the Military Mediation Office sent by our army to various places and the representatives of the Kuomintang, temporary titles were also awarded. For example, Rao Shushi who was stationed in Shenyang was awarded the rank of lieutenant general; Geng Biao who was stationed in Siping, Xu Guangda who was stationed in Benxi, Chen Geng who was stationed in Taiyuan, and Wei Guoqing who was stationed in Xuzhou were all awarded the rank of major general.

After the outbreak of a full-scale civil war, the military ranks of these generals were automatically cancelled.

On January 10, 1946, the two parties of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China signed the "Armistice Agreement". Both parties promised to stop the war and jointly build a peaceful country. On January 31, 1946, a political consultative meeting was held, attended by representatives of the two parties, other parties, and people without party affiliation, and a "CPPCC Resolution" was passed. The Kuomintang ostensibly accepted the peaceful founding of the country proposed by the Communist Party of China. Basic policy.

In the "CPPCC Resolution", the content related to the reorganization of the armies of the two parties is stipulated.

As a result, the military rank work of our army was once again formally proposed as a system.

On February 24, 1946, the Party Central Committee issued the "Instructions on Several Issues Concerning the Reorganization of the Army." Subsequently, the New Fourth Army and the Political Department of the Shandong Military Region clearly stipulated the military ranks of positions at all levels. For example, the commander and political commissar of the New Fourth Army are generals; the deputy commanders and deputy political commissars are generals or lieutenant generals; and the chief of staff are lieutenant generals. .

However, a few months later, in June 1946, the Kuomintang's 300,000-strong army besieged our Central Plains Liberated Area, the Liberation War broke out, and the issue of military titles was once again put on hold.