The First Field Army of the Chinese Communist Party was a military formation in the last stages of the Chinese Civil War (1949–1950).
110-597: The Northwest Field Army was originally under the command of Peng Dehuai with He Long and Xi Zhongxun as political commissars , which originally operated in Shanxi , Shaanxi , and Ningxia . It was 175,000 strong; most of its soldiers had been under the command of He Long during the war against Japan. He then became Peng's second-in-command. Peng's notable subordinates in the Northwest Field Army included Zhang Zongxun and Wang Zhen . Peng's forces were
220-639: A base in Taihangshan , on the borders of Shanxi and Hebei , and directed guerrilla operations in both provinces. From Taihangshan, Peng commanded two thirds of the Eighth Route Army, approximately 100,000 soldiers. In July 1940, Peng was given overall command of the largest communist operation of the anti-Japanese war, the Hundred Regiments Offensive , when 200,000 regular troops from the Eighth Route Army participated in
330-634: A base in Wutaishan but was called from duty to attend a Politburo meeting on December 13. At the meeting, Peng advocated a greater material commitment to the defense of Shanxi, but Mao disagreed and wanted the Red Army to reduce its commitment to fighting the Japanese. In 1938, after Mao's rival, Zhang Guotao , defected to the Kuomintang, Peng moved closer to Mao's position. In late 1938, Peng set up
440-576: A bean curd shop. The income from the land and shop supported an extended family of eight people, including Peng, his three brothers, his parents, his grandmother, and a grand-uncle. Peng's grand-uncle had joined and fought for the Taiping rebellion and used to tell Peng about the old Taiping ideals: everyone should have enough food to eat, women should not bind their feet , and land should be redistributed equally. Peng later described his own class background as "lower-middle peasant." From 1905 to 1907, Peng
550-513: A bronze statue of Mao in the Beijing Military Museum by saying, "Why take the trouble to put it up? What is put up now will be removed in the future." When greeted by a group of soldiers who shouted, "Long Live Chairman Mao!" (literally "10,000 years for Chairman Mao"), Peng addressed the soldiers by saying, "You shout '10,000 years for Chairman Mao!' – does he, then, live for 10,000 years? He will not even live for 100 years! This
660-775: A collection of arms that included over a million pieces of artillery. Peng's forces were pushed back to the border of Inner Mongolia but finally managed to decisively defeat Hu's forces in August, in the Battle of Shajiadian (沙家店战役), which saved Mao and other members from the Central Committee from being taken prisoner. Peng eventually pushed Kuomintang forces out of Shaanxi in February 1948. Between 1947 and September 22, 1949, Peng's forces occupied Gansu, Ningxia, and Qinghai . His forces repeatedly defeated but could not destroy
770-715: A conference in Beijing with Mao, Zhou, and Gao Gang on October 18, and they ordered the first wave of Chinese soldiers, in total more than 260,000 men, to cross into Korea on the night of October 19. On October 25, the PVA had its first confrontation with UN troops at Onjong and Unsan , and pushed the UN forces south of the Chongchon River by November 4 in the aftermath of First Phase Campaign. From November 24 to December 24, Peng directed 380,000 PVA troops to confront UN forces in
880-559: A construction laborer for the construction of a dam near Dongting Lake . When the dam was completed in 1916, Peng assumed that he was no longer in danger of being arrested and returned home and joined the army of a local Kuomintang -aligned warlord, Tang Xiangming . At the time, the minimum age of enlistment in Hunan was 18. Peng was able to join in March 1916 at the age of 17 as a private second class soldier. This may be why his year of birth
990-440: A few guns. Transports are not protected. More and more soldiers are dying of starvation. Can't you overcome some of your difficulties?" The atmosphere became so tense that Zhou was forced to adjourn the conference. He later called a series of meetings, and it was agreed that the PVA would be divided into three groups to be dispatched to Korea in shifts, to accelerate the training of Chinese pilots, to provide more anti-aircraft guns to
1100-526: A large amount of ammunition. In 1933, the Chinese Communist Party shifted its focus from underground activities in the cities to building up its power in rural bases. In October 1933 Chiang Kai-shek took command of nearly 800,000 soldiers and led the fifth encirclement campaign against CCP forces, which numbered about 150,000 regulars and guerillas. The communist military leaders, including Peng and Zhu De, prepared largely static defenses,
1210-590: A massive Communist effort to disrupt Japanese logistical networks across northern China. The Hundred Regiments Offensive was modestly successful, but political disputes within the Communist Party led to Peng being recalled to Yan'an , and he spent the rest of the war without an active command. After the Japanese surrendered , in 1945, Peng was given command of Communist forces in Northwest China. He
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#17327760858801320-623: A position of political leadership in the communist movement. In February 1932, Peng attacked but failed to dislodge elite NRA troops at Kanchow . Nonetheless, he continued to argue in favor of conventional operations over guerilla tactics during the August meeting of the Party's Military Commission, where he was named vice-chairman. During the fourth encirclement campaign involving 400,000 NRA soldiers, Peng successfully defeated an elite enemy division in Chiaohu and forayed into Fujian province, capturing
1430-515: A private train. Mao enjoyed the companionship of an ever-changing succession of enthusiastic young women, whom he met either at weekly dances in Zhongnanhai or on his journeys by train. Mao had a costly office suite built for him in Beijing, including a private, book-lined study (which, according to Mao's personal physician Li Zhisui , was never used). When Peng's wife suggested for the couple to spend more free time visiting Mao's quarters, Peng
1540-464: A strategy supported by the internationalists, the returned "students", and German advisor Otto Braun . Chiang was able to successfully encircle the soviet base areas and deal a number of defeats to the communists. Peng's own units shrank from 35,000 to around 20,000 men. CCP remnants decided to retreat from Jiangxi. On October 20, 1934, they broke out of NRA encirclement and began the Long March . Of
1650-632: A village in Nanxian , Peng noticed that the poor were being mistreated by a local landlord, and he encouraged them to establish an "association to help the poor." When the local villagers hesitated, Peng ordered his soldiers to arrest the landlord and execute him. Peng was reprimanded for his actions but not demoted or reassigned. After that incident, Peng began to consider seriously leaving the service of his provincial warlord army. In February 1922, after applying for extended unpaid leave, Peng and several other officers traveled to Guangdong to seek employment in
1760-474: A welfare state, and equal distribution of land. After Chiang split with Wang and re-ingratiated himself with the warlords, Peng and others felt that the CCP was the only major force that represented what they had been fighting for. More advanced communist doctrines and ideological considerations do not appear to have played a significant role. Following his defeat by He Jian, Peng and the remnant of his forces joined
1870-515: Is a personality cult!" When one of Peng's political commissars suggested that the Maoist hymn The East is Red should be widely taught throughout the PLA, Peng angrily rejected the suggestion, similarly by saying, "That is a personality cult! That is idealism!" Later in 1956, a group of soldiers visited Peng to request an audience with the chairman, but Peng rejected them by saying, "He is an old man, what
1980-437: Is considered one of the most successful and highly respected generals in the history of the CCP . Peng was born on October 24, 1898, in the village of Shixiang, Xiangtan County, Hunan . His birth name was " Peng Dehua ". Peng's family lived in a thatched-straw hut and owned approximately 1.5 acres of irrigated land on which the family grew bamboo, sweet potatoes, tea, cotton, and various vegetables. His father also operated
2090-609: Is so beautiful about him?" In preparation for the Eighth National Congress , held in September 1956, Peng attended a Politburo committee to redraft the new Party Constitution . At the meeting, Peng suggested for a section in the Constitution's preamble referring to Mao Zedong Thought to be removed. Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping , Peng Zhen , and most other senior CCP members present quickly agreed, and it
2200-498: Is sometimes given as 1897 not 1898. Peng received a monthly wage, a portion of which he would continuously send back to support his family. Within seven months, he was promoted to private first class. One of Peng's commanding officers was an idealistic Nationalist who had participated in the 1911 Xinhai Revolution and influenced Peng to sympathize with the Kuomintang's goals of social reform and national reunification. After another civil war broke out in 1917, Peng's regiment split from
2310-486: Is yet to be appointed as a state councillor, making it the only exception to the aforementioned co-serving norm. Notably, under the tenure of the President and CMC Chairman Xi Jinping , a series of major military scandals occurred from 2023 to June 2024, which eventually saw two of his former defence ministers, Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu , expelled from the CCP, with their military titles revoked. Prior to this, Li
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#17327760858802420-774: The 5th Corps , and the Twenty-Second Army under Tao Zhiyue , with the 9th Corps and the 7th and 8th Cavalry Divisions. Swaine, citing Witson, wrote in 1992 that '..most former units of the First FA were either deactivated after the Korean War, reassigned as replacements for Korean War units associated with other field armies, or redesignated..' (becoming units of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps ). Swaine goes on to say that '..The few remaining First FA combat units were transferred out of
2530-693: The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), allying himself with Mao Zedong and Zhu De . Peng was one of the most senior generals who defended the Jiangxi Soviet from Chiang's attempts to capture it, and his successes were rivaled only by Lin Biao . Peng participated in the Long March , and supported Mao Zedong at the Zunyi Conference , which was critical to Mao's rise to power. During the 1937–1945 Second Sino-Japanese War , Peng
2640-744: The Comintern rose to prominence within the Party. Following the return of several military leaders who had been training in Moscow, Jiangxi Soviet's forces were re-organized along more professional lines as Peng had long advocated for. On November 7, Peng was named to the Central Military Commission and to the Central Executive Committee of the Jiangxi Soviet, the first time that he had been named to
2750-708: The Dixie Mission , briefing the Americans about the military situation in Japanese-occupied China. The Japanese surrendered on September 2, 1945, ending China's war with Japan and beginning the final stage of the Chinese Civil War . In October Peng took command of troops in northern China, occupied Inner Mongolia , and accepted the surrender of Japanese soldiers there. In March 1946, communist forces (1.1 million soldiers) were renamed
2860-930: The First Field Army , with Peng Dehuai as commander and also serving as political commissar. The First Field Army was to comprise the 1st Corps Army and 2nd Corps Army, and totalled 134,000 men. After 1949, the First Field Army controlled five provinces - Shaanxi , Gansu , Qinghai , Ningxia , and Xinjiang . Among forces associated with the Field Field Army were the First Army ( 1st , 2nd, and 7th Corps ), Second Army ( 3rd , 4th, and 6th Corps ), Nineteenth Army ( 63rd , 64th , and 65th Corps ), Shaanxi Military Region, Ningxia Military Region, Qinghai Military Region, and forces in Xinjiang -
2970-484: The Great Leap Forward caused a nationwide famine, Peng became critical of Mao's leadership. The rivalry between Peng and Mao culminated in an open confrontation between the two at the 1959 Lushan Conference . Mao won this confrontation, labeled Peng as a leader of an "anti-Party clique", and purged Peng from all influential positions for the rest of his life. Peng lived in virtual obscurity until 1965, when
3080-672: The Korean Armistice Agreement in 1953. Mao directed China's general strategy, and Zhou was appointed general commander and coordinating Peng's forces with the Soviet and North Korean governments and the rest of the Chinese government. Over the next week, Peng established a headquarters in Shenyang , and prepared his invasion strategy with his officers. After Zhou and Lin had negotiated Stalin's approval, Peng attended
3190-557: The Northern Expedition , an effort to unify China by defeating the northern warlords. Tang's forces were incorporated into the NRA, and Peng was promoted to the rank of major. Peng himself did not become a formal member of the Kuomintang. He first heard of the CCP in 1925. Between July 1926 and March 1927, Peng campaigned in Hunan, participating in the capture of Changsha and Wuhan . Under General He Jian , Peng participated in
3300-775: The People's Republic of China was declared on October 1, 1949, Peng was appointed Chairman of the Northwest China Military and Administrative Commission and Commander-in-Chief and Political Commissar of Xinjiang, with Wang Zhen as his deputy. That appointment gave Peng responsibility over Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang, an area of over 5 million square kilometres (1.9 million square miles) but under 30 million people. Peng's forces continued their gradual occupation of Xinjiang, which they completed in September 1951. North Korea invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950. After receiving its endorsement from
3410-617: The Soviet Army — the only example of a modern communist force — as the model. Peng believed that the CCP's main role was to improve the welfare of the common people; this was contrary to Mao's political goals and contributed to their conflict in the late 1950s. Stalin once arbitrated in favor of Peng in a conflict with a Soviet diplomat by saying, "Trust him in everything; Peng is a long-tested, talented militarist ." After being recalled to China in April 1952, Peng succeeded Zhou in managing
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3520-480: The Soviet Union was the only communist country then equipped with a fully modern, professional army, Peng attempted to reform China's military on the Soviet model over the next several years, making the army less political and more professional (contrary to the political goals of Mao). Peng resisted Mao's attempts to develop a personality cult throughout the 1950s; and, when Mao's economic policies associated with
3630-657: The State Council . Lin Biao was senior to Peng on the State Council. Soon after accepting those appointments, on October 1, 1954, Peng produced an ambitious plan for the modernization of the PLA on the model of the Soviet military. Peng had been an alternate member of the Central Committee since 1934, a full member since 1938, and a member of the Politburo since 1945, but it was not until he became
3740-798: The United Nations , the United States landed its first troops in Korea on September 15. On October 1, the first anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic, UN forces crossed the 38th parallel into North Korea. There was some disagreement within China's leadership about how to react to the American push to the Chinese border. Mao and Zhou wanted direct military intervention, but most other Chinese leaders believed that China should not enter
3850-478: The state councillor , a position in the State Council newly established in 1982 consisting of high-ranking officeholders. And since all defense ministers are members of the CMC, in official state rhetoric, the ministers of National Defense is to be referred to as the " State Councillor and Minister of National Defense ". After 2008, holders of the position stopped serving concurrently as a CMC vice chair, further weakening
3960-408: The " People's Liberation Army " (PLA). Peng himself was placed in command of 175,000 soldiers, organized as the " Northwest Field Army ," most of which had been under the command of He Long during the war against Japan. He then became Peng's second-in-command. Peng's notable subordinates in the Northwest Field Army included Zhang Zongxun and Wang Zhen . Peng's forces were the most poorly armed of
4070-676: The 18,000 men under Peng's command when the March began, only about 3,000 remained when Peng's forces reached their eventual destination in Shaanxi on October 20, 1935. Due to their defeat in 1934, Peng began shifting toward the doctrine of guerilla warfare advocated by Mao. He supported Mao's rise to power during the January 1935 Zunyi Conference . Peng continued to consolidate the communists' base area after arriving in Shaanxi by campaigning in neighboring Shanxi and Gansu . In April 1937, Peng
4180-538: The 1950–1953 Korean War , and he served as the direct commander of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army for the first half of the war (though Mao and Zhou Enlai were technically more senior). Peng's experiences in the Korean War convinced him that the Chinese military had to become more professional, organized, and well-equipped in order to prepare itself for the conditions of modern technical warfare. Because
4290-592: The CCP Central Military Commission decided to reorganize the regional armies of the PLA into four field armies. On February 1, 1949, the joint defense military area command covering the Shaanxi, Gansu , Ningxia, Shanxi and Suiyuan provinces was renamed the Northwest Military Area Command and the Northwest Field Army was renamed the First Field Army of the PLA. The forces in Northwest China were designated
4400-509: The CCP. In 1970, Peng was formally tried and sentenced to life imprisonment, and he died in prison in 1974. After Mao died in 1976, Peng's old ally, Deng Xiaoping, emerged as China's paramount leader . Deng led an effort to formally rehabilitate people who he believed to have been unjustly persecuted during the Cultural Revolution, and Peng was one of the first leaders to be posthumously rehabilitated, in 1978. In modern China, Peng
4510-477: The Fifth Phase Campaign. Up to 40% of all Chinese forces in Korea were rendered combat ineffective between November 25 and December 24, 1950, and about 12 Chinese divisions were lost in from April 22 to June 10, 1951. All in all, over a million Chinese soldiers became casualties during the course of the war. Peng justified the PVA's high casualty rate by his almost religious belief in communism and
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4620-554: The Guangdong warlord allied with the Kuomintang. Nonetheless, Peng reorganized his battalion along pro-Kuomintang political lines in 1925. In late 1925, Chiang Kai-shek established the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) and led the Kuomintang to take control of Guangdong. Tang then realigned himself with Chiang in 1926. After Wu Peifu drove Tang out of Changsha, Chiang ordered the NRA to relieve Tang and began
4730-557: The Japanese. Mao was not able to force his position, and the communists co-operated with the Kuomintang and fought the Japanese. When the Japanese invaded Shanxi, the Red Army (renamed the Eighth Route Army ) assisted the Kuomintang warlord, Yan Xishan , in resisting the Japanese, and Peng traveled to the provincial capital, Taiyuan , with Zhou Enlai to co-ordinate tactics. After the Japanese advanced towards Taiyuan on September 13, 1937, Peng directed overall operations from
4840-548: The Kuomintang from which it occasionally staged guerrilla raids as far as Shanghai. That operation led the United States to form a defense agreement with Taiwan , which effectively prevented the communists from completely defeating the Kuomintang. Minister of National Defense (China) The Minister of National Defense of the People's Republic of China is the head of the Ministry of National Defense and one of
4950-504: The Nanking side. Peng became a full colonel after the reorganization. In 1927, Peng was approached several times by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members, including some of his old friends. The communists' persistent push for land redistribution resonated with his childhood experience of poverty. Peng was also disappointed by the left-right split within the Kuomintang and the in-fighting among Chiang Kai-shek's own forces. In October, Peng
5060-581: The PRC), and arrived on October 4. Peng listened to both sides of the debate and on October 5 decided to support Mao. Peng's support for Mao's position changed the atmosphere of the meeting, and most other leaders changed their positions to support a direct Chinese intervention in the Korean War. On October 5, Peng was named the Commander and the Commissar of the People's Volunteer Army and held both titles until
5170-459: The PVA" were won "under the correct leadership of the CCP and of Comrade Mao Zedong." Peng authorized the text after he had removed "and of Comrade Mao Zedong." In 1956, an anonymous Chinese citizen wrote a letter to Peng to condemn the practices of hanging portraits of Mao in public places and singing songs in praise of Mao. Peng sent this letter to Huang Kecheng , his chief of staff, to be widely distributed. Peng successfully opposed efforts to place
5280-470: The PVA's logistical problems with members of various government agencies involved in the war effort. After the government representatives emphasized their inability to meet the demands of the war, Peng, in an angry outburst, shouted, "You have this and that problem.... You should go to the front and see with your own eyes what food and clothing the soldiers have! Not to speak of the casualties! For what are they giving their lives? We have no aircraft. We have only
5390-441: The Red Army, but Mao, who had recently been promoted to the position, attacked Peng and Lin for challenging him and successfully retained his position. In October 1935, following the last major battle between the Kuomintang and the Red Army, Mao wrote and dedicated a poem to Peng. (The poem was not published until 1947.) In 1936, the American journalist Edgar Snow stayed for several days at Peng's compound in Yuwang while Peng
5500-445: The Second Phase Campaign, and he successfully recovered the area north of the 38th parallel. However, on his watch, Mao's son Anying was killed in an air raid. Despite his personal reservations, Peng then began an ambitious campaign to take the area south of the 38th parallel to fulfill Mao's political objectives for the war. About 230,000 Chinese soldiers crossed into South Korean territory on December 31 and captured Seoul as part of
5610-474: The Third Phase Campaign but were forced to evacuate it with heavy losses on March 14, 1951, as the UN forces counterattacked during the course of Fourth Phase Campaign. Peng launched a final Fifth Phase Campaign from April 22 to June 10 to retake Seoul with 548,000 Chinese troops, but it failed, and the Korean War came to a standstill just north the 38th parallel. In the evaluation of US Army's official Korean War historian Roy Edgar Appleman, Peng's performances in
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#17327760858805720-617: The air cover available to Hu. Peng was forced to abandon Yan'an in late March but resisted Hu's forces long enough for Mao and other senior party leaders to evacuate safely. Mao wanted Peng to provoke a decisive confrontation with Hu immediately, but Peng dissuaded him. By April, Mao agreed that Peng's objective was to "keep the enemy on the run... tire him out completely, reduce his food supplies, and then look for an opportunity to destroy him." On May 4 Peng's forces attacked an isolated supply depot in northeastern Shaanxi, arrested its commander, and captured food reserves, 40,000 army uniforms, and
5830-475: The air cover available to Hu. Peng was forced to abandon Yan'an in late March but resisted Hu's forces long enough for Mao and other senior party leaders to evacuate safely. Mao wanted Peng to provoke a decisive confrontation with Hu immediately, but Peng dissuaded him. By April, Mao agreed that Peng's objective was to "keep the enemy on the run... tire him out completely, reduce his food supplies, and then look for an opportunity to destroy him." On January 15, 1949,
5940-544: The area after the Shanghai massacre of 1927 . Peng kept his unit passive and began organizing local party branches with other secret members of the CCP within his own troops. His forces then executed the county magistrate and landlords, formed a local soviet , and incorporated themselves within the Chinese Red Army . Following a prolonged defeat at the hands of He Jian, who still served the KMT, Peng retreated to Jinggangshan to join Mao Zedong and Zhu De . Political scientist Jürgen Domes wrote that like many other young men at
6050-420: The area, which became the Jiangxi Soviet . Peng remained behind to guard Jinggangshan with a force of 800 soldiers but withdrew after an attack by a Hunanese Kuomintang force of 25,000 soldiers. He was criticized by Mao for retreating. Peng returned to the area with a force of 1,000 men later that year after the Kuomintang withdrew. He then successfully organized two large raids into southern Hunan, first during
6160-444: The armies of several Hunan-based warlord armies, raising himself from the rank of private second class to major. In 1926, Peng's forces joined the Kuomintang , and Peng was first introduced to communism. Peng participated in the Northern Expedition , and supported Wang Jingwei 's attempt to form a left-leaning Kuomintang government based in Wuhan . After Wang was defeated, Peng briefly rejoined Chiang Kai-shek 's forces before joining
6270-524: The army of the Kuomintang. Peng's impression of the Kuomintang in 1922 was not favorable, and he left Guangzhou with the intention of settling back in Hunan as a farmer. Peng returned to his home village by sea via Shanghai , the farthest that he had ever been from his home village, and farmed with his father for three months on land that his father had bought with money sent home by Peng, but Peng did not find that occupation to be satisfying. After one of Peng's old comrades had suggested that Peng apply to
6380-481: The battle of Fengtai, in which Kuomintang forces decisively defeated the warlord Wu Peifu . In 1927, Wang Jingwei attempted to establish a left-leaning Kuomintang government in Wuhan, causing a split with the center/right-leaning government in Nanking. Tang Shengzhi aligned himself with the Wuhan government, and Peng was promoted to lieutenant-colonel. However, Tang's forces were defeated by Chiang. During their retreat in 1928, He Jian, under whom Peng served, defected to
6490-424: The cities of Yuezhou and Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, with 17,000 soldiers and the support of another 10,000 guerillas. Changsha was defended by He Jian, Peng's former superior. Peng was initially victorious and occupied the city on July 30 following a hasty retreat by He. The anticipated nationwide revolution did not occur, however, and on August 5 He Jian counterattacked with a force of 35,000 men. Peng
6600-441: The commander of a newly formed Red 3rd Army. In July 1930, Li Lisan , who had gained de facto leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, saw the worldwide economic depression as a window of opportunity and issued a general order for communist units around China to "conquer one provincial capital" as a signal of a nationwide uprising and "revolutionary storm." Mao and Zhu were skeptical, but Peng prepared for and launched attacks on
6710-490: The communist base in Yan'an in late 1941. After being recalled to Yan'an, Peng was subjected to a political indoctrination campaign in which he was criticized as an "empiricist" for his good relations with the Comintern and survived professionally only through an unconditional conversion to Mao's leadership. Mao ordered Peng to be criticized for 40 days for the "failings" of the Hundred Regiments Campaign (even though Mao had supported it and later praised its successes). Peng
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#17327760858806820-471: The communist guerrillas at Jinggangshan. One of his first operations was to save Mao, who was attached to a unit that faced encirclement from Kuomintang forces. Jinggangshan was very poor and cold during the winter. It was ideal for retreat but not as a base for the growing communist forces. Zhu and Mao decided to attack into the adjacent area around Ruijin , Jiangxi , an agricultural city defended by weak warlord units. In January 1929, they successfully occupied
6930-403: The day-to-day affairs of the Central Military Commission in July 1952. In the spring of 1954, Peng was confirmed as the vice-chairman of the commission (Mao was its chairman) and became effectively the most senior military leader in China. On September 24, 1954, the First National People's Congress confirmed Peng's position and appointed him Defense Minister and one of the ten vice-ministers of
7040-407: The first stages of the 1957 Hundred Flowers Campaign but then supported Mao's efforts to arrest and persecute Chinese citizens who had criticized the CCP later that year. During the late 1950s, Peng developed a personal dislike for Mao's efforts to promote his own image in Chinese popular culture as a perfect hero singularly responsible for the communist victories of his time. In 1955 to 1956, Peng
7150-472: The five 'field army systems' '..served as the foundations for a geographically based pattern of factional affiliations within the overall structure of communist power.' Swaine, writing in 1992, noted that these relationships had deteriorated significantly. Swaine argued that few senior military leaders from the 'First Field Army system', as he put it, survived by 1992. Peng Dehuai Peng Dehuai (October 24, 1898 – November 29, 1974)
7260-421: The forces of Hu Zongnan and Ma Bufang , which retreated into Sichuan and were airlifted to Taiwan when the Kuomintang lost the Civil War in December 1949. In October Peng's forces, led directly by Wang Zhen, invaded Xinjiang. Most of Xinjiang's defenders surrendered peacefully and were incorporated as a new unit in Peng's army, but some ethnic guerrilla bands resisted Chinese control for several years. After
7370-440: The front lines, to purchase more military equipment and ammunition from the Soviet Union, to provide the army with more food and clothing, and to transfer the responsibility of logistics to the central government. Peng also became a zealous supporter of the Three-anti Campaign because of his belief that corruption and waste were the main causes of the PVA's hardship. Truce talks began on July 10, 1951, but proceeded slowly. Peng
7480-468: The insurgency was suppressed in early 1931. Peng scored a series of victories defending against the Kuomintang-aligned National Revolutionary Army (NRA) during the first three encirclement campaigns from December 1930 to May 1931. The outcome bolstered the positions of Zhu and Peng, who conducted conventional mobile operations in contrast with Mao's doctrine of guerilla warfare. After Li Lisan fell from power, "internationalists" who were more aligned with
7590-415: The leader of the PLA and moved permanently to Beijing in November 1953 that he could attend regular political meetings and became active in domestic politics. Peng had been loyal to Mao's leadership since the 1935 Zunyi Conference and continued to support Mao for several years after he had moved to Beijing. Peng, like Lin Biao, was implicated in passively supporting Gao Gang's effort to replace Liu Shaoqi as
7700-475: The local Hunan Military Academy to seek employment as a formally-trained professional officer, Peng accepted. Peng successfully gained admission in August 1922 and used the personal name "Dehuai" for the first time. In August 1923, after nine months of training, Peng graduated from the academy and rejoined his old regiment with the rank of captain. He was promoted to acting battalion commander in April 1924. In 1924, Tang's army aligned with northern warlords against
7810-482: The mine went bankrupt and the owners fled, which cheated Peng out of half his annual wages. Peng returned home in 1912 and took a number of odd jobs. In 1913, Hunan suffered another drought and famine, and Peng participated in a public demonstration that escalated into the seizure of a grain merchant's storehouse and the redistribution of grain among the peasants. Village police issued a warrant for Peng's arrest, and he fled to northern Hunan, where he worked for two years as
7920-554: The minister is nominated by the premier of the State Council , who is then approved by the National People's Congress or its Standing Committee and appointed by the president . The military is under the governance of the CMC, putting the Ministry of National Defense out of the chain of command, the minister is significantly less powerful than his counterparts from other countries, and has no direct command function over
8030-529: The most poorly armed of the newly re-organized army but were responsible for the area around the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) revolutionary base area , Yan'an. In March 1947, Kuomintang General Hu Zongnan , invaded the area with 260,000 soldiers. Hu's forces were among the best-trained and most well-supplied Nationalist units, but Xiong Xianghui , one of Zhou Enlai's spies, was able to provide Peng with information about Hu's strategic plans, his forces' troop distributions, strength, and positions, and details about
8140-448: The newly re-organized army but were responsible for the area around the communist capital, Yan'an. In March 1947, Kuomintang General Hu Zongnan , invaded the area with 260,000 soldiers. Hu's forces were among the best-trained and most well-supplied Nationalist units, but one of Zhou Enlai's spies was able to provide Peng with information about Hu's strategic plans, his forces' troop distributions, strength, and positions, and details about
8250-445: The next several months to brief Mao and Zhou about the heavy casualties suffered by Chinese troops and the increasing difficulty of keeping the front lines supplied with basic necessities. By the winter of 1951–1952, Peng became convinced that the war would be protracted and that neither side would be able for achieve victory in the foreseeable future. On February 24, 1952, the Central Military Commission , presided over by Zhou, discussed
8360-415: The operation and were supported by 200,000 irregular communist guerrillas. From August 20 to October 5, 1940, communist forces destroyed large numbers of bridges, tunnels, and railroad tracks in Japanese-occupied China and inflicted relatively heavy Japanese casualties. From October 6 to December 5, the Japanese counterattacked, and the communists mostly repelled the counterattack successfully. Peng's operation
8470-487: The party and his belief that the ends of the conflict justified the means. Some accounts even claimed that Peng invented the human wave tactic under the name "short attack" to exploit his manpower advantage. On November 19, 1951, Zhou called a conference in Shenyang to discuss improvements to China's logistical network, but they did little to resolve China's supply problems directly. Peng visited Beijing several times over
8580-546: The position. Among all its officeholders, Geng Biao was the only defence minister with a civil background, having no military rank of the PLA, neither was he a member thereof. Nonetheless, Geng did serve in the Red Army long before PLA’s foundation. With the exception of the aforementioned officeholder, all defence ministers in prior to Wei Fenghe came from the PLA Ground Force . In addition, current officeholder
8690-488: The post generally used for diplomatic purposes. Nevertheless, until the appointment of the current incumbent, Admiral Dong Jun , the post was always held by a member of the CMC. Dong has been serving in the position since December 2023. Historically, both the position and the ministry carried greater power. In the first decades of the PRC, the ministry included several more departments. all overseen by vice ministers. The minister
8800-726: The reformers Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping supported Peng's limited return to government, developing military industries in Southwest China. In 1966, following the advent of the Cultural Revolution , Peng was arrested by Red Guards . From 1966 to 1970, radical factions within the CCP, led by Lin Biao and Mao's wife, Jiang Qing , singled out Peng for national persecution, and Peng was publicly humiliated in numerous large-scale struggle sessions and subjected to physical and psychological torture in organized efforts to force Peng to confess his "crimes" against Mao Zedong and
8910-426: The region, to areas such as Central China or Tibet.' The best elements of the 4th Corps were reorganised as the 11th Division , which entered Tibet in 1962 and has remained there ever since. In recent years this formation has been referred to as a Highland Motorised Infantry Division. William Witson argued, in his pathbreaking work on PLA factions, The Chinese High Command (1972), that personal relationships within
9020-429: The rest of its army and joined the forces of Tang Shengzhi , who was aligned with Tan Yankai and Sun Yat-sen against those aligned with the northern warlord Wu Peifu . Peng received training in formal tactics from an officer in his brigade and education in written classical Chinese . In July 1918, Peng was captured on a reconnaissance mission behind enemy lines, but he was released after two weeks. In April 1919, Peng
9130-510: The second most powerful person in China in 1953 but then opposed Gao in 1954 once Mao had made his own opposition clear. Mao did not take any action against Peng or Lin, but Peng's involvement alienated Peng from Liu and Liu's supporters. In 1955, Peng supported Mao's efforts to collectivize agriculture. Along with Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, Lin Biao , Lin Boqu , and Luo Ronghuan , Peng opposed Mao's attempt to liberalize China's culture and politics in
9240-654: The successes and the failures of the war. PVA casualties during the first 12 months of the Korean War, from October 1950 to October 1951, were heavy. Soviet material support was slight, and because the only available means to transport supplies into Korea for the first year of the war was a force of 700,000 labourers, all available supplies were light and limited. The UN forces also had complete air superiority. The logistic constraints later caused 45,000 Chinese soldiers to freeze to death between November 27 and December 12, 1950, because of inadequate winter clothing. China's insufficient artillery, armor, and air support meant that Peng
9350-441: The summer of 1929 and later in the spring of 1930, increasing the amount of supplies and the number recruits for his force. Between those two raids, a compromise was reached within the broader communist forces at large. Professional military discipline and strategy should prevail over Mao's mobile guerilla tactics, while political indoctrination efforts by CCP commissars, such as Mao, would be strengthened. In April 1930, Peng became
9460-537: The time, Peng's social consciousness was awakened by their experience of impoverishment and sharpened by the disappointment they felt with the Kuomintang (KMT) for not completely following through with its revolution after the Qing dynasty was overthrown . Communist-leaning cadres of the Kuomintang were some of the most ardent advocates of the KMT party platform, which had called for national sovereignty, eradication of warlordism,
9570-799: The title of "Hero of the Korean Democratic People's Republic." Peng also received a hero's welcome in Tiananmen Square on August 11. Chinese troops remained in North Korea until 1958. The Korean War affected Peng's vision for the development of the PLA over the next decade. The heavy losses in the war's first year indicated unpreparedness for modern conventional warfare; the PLA needed modern professional standards, equipment, and tactics. Military training needed to take priority over political indoctrination, and commissars should be subordinate to military commanders. He regarded
9680-399: The top positions in the State Council . The minister usually is also a member of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and a member of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the top governing body of China's armed forces including the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Unlike in other countries, the minister does not have command authority over the armed forces, with
9790-445: The unified command structure of the NRA. At the August 20, 1937 Luochuan Conference ( 洛川会议 ), Mao believed that the united front should be used as a feint by giving token resistance to the Japanese but saving the strength of the Red Army for the eventual confrontation with the Kuomintang. However, Peng, along with most other senior military and political leaders, disagreed and believed that the Red Army should genuinely focus on fighting
9900-409: The war unless it was directly attacked. Lin Biao was Mao's first choice to lead the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA) into Korea, but Lin refused, citing his bad health. Mao then sought the support of Peng, who had not yet taken a strong position, to lead the PVA. Peng flew to Beijing from Xi'an (where he was still administering northwest China and directing the incorporation of Xinjiang into
10010-440: The war were unremarkable in terms of military talents despite his aggressiveness and leadership skills. During the Cultural Revolution , Red Guards claimed that Peng's successful campaigns, from October to December 1950, were fought under Mao's direction but that his unsuccessful campaigns, from January to May 1951, were organized by Peng against Mao's instructions. Modern scholars reject that interpretation and credit Peng with both
10120-473: Was a Chinese general and politician who was the Minister of National Defense from 1954 to 1959. Peng was born into a poor peasant family, and received several years of primary education before his family's poverty forced him to suspend his education at the age of ten, and to work for several years as a manual laborer. When he was sixteen, Peng became a professional soldier. Over the next ten years Peng served in
10230-566: Was approached by Duan Dechang , a CCP representative, but Peng could not make up his mind at the time. He met with Duan again later that month, however, and began studying basic communist theory. Albeit secretly, Peng became a member of the CCP no later than April 1928. After his superior officer He Jian defected to Chiang's forces, Peng was stationed in the mountainous Pingjiang County , northwest of Changsha, in May 1928. His orders were to eliminate local groups of communist guerrillas who had fled to
10340-461: Was campaigning in Ningxia . Snow had long conversations with him and wrote two whole chapters about Peng in his book Red Star Over China . He wrote more about Peng than any other individual, except for Mao. After the 1937 Marco Polo Bridge Incident , China and Japan went to war. When the Kuomintang and communists declared a united front to fight the Japanese, Peng was confirmed as a general in
10450-478: Was enrolled in a traditional Confucian primary school. In 1908, Peng attended a modern primary school but at the age of ten was forced to withdraw from this school because of his family's deteriorating financial situation. In 1905 to 1906, there was a severe drought in Hunan. Peng's mother died in 1905, and Peng's six-month-old brother died of hunger. Peng's father was forced to sell most of his family possessions for food and to pawn most of his family's land. When Peng
10560-452: Was forced to rely heavily on human wave tactics until the summer of 1951. Stealthy fireteams attacked in column against weak points in enemy defenses in the hope that surprise, attrition , and perseverance would break the enemy lines. Participants even drank large quantities of Kaoliang wine to improve their courage. Some of the worst Chinese battle losses occurred during the Second and
10670-504: Was forced to withdraw. On September 1, Peng attempted to capture Changsha again but suffered heavy casualties. Mao and Zhu had been reluctant to fully support Peng during his campaign. Nonetheless, Zhu was willing to explore other vectors of attack with Peng. Mao, however, believed that they should continue to consolidate their base areas instead. Under the influence of Li Lisan, some CCP members in Jiangxi rose up to oppose Mao's strategy, but
10780-461: Was held by influential generals, including Peng Dehuai , Lin Biao and Ye Jianying . The ministry was reformed into its current state in the 1982 constitutional revision . Between 1982 and 2008, the minister usually concurrently served as a vice chairman of the CMC , and was usually a member of the CCP Politburo . In addition, all ministers of National Defense would also be appointed as
10890-420: Was involved in a large number of efforts to moderate Mao's popular image by developing it into a personal campaign. Peng's preference for modesty and simplicity led Peng to oppose Mao's efforts to develop his personality cult. In 1955, a draft copy of a book, The Military History of the PVA , was submitted to Peng so that he could edit and authorize it. The preface of the book stated that "the military victories of
11000-476: Was named vice commander-in-chief of all Chinese communist forces, outranked only by Zhu De, who was named commander-in-chief. Peng's promotion was supported by Lin Biao, who had been actively supporting Peng for promotions to senior leadership as early as May 1934. In early 1935, Lin responded to widespread discontent within the Red Army over Mao's evasive tactics, which it perceived as unnecessarily exhausting, by publicly proposing for Peng to take overall command of
11110-418: Was not allowed to reply and was forced to make a self-criticism. Privately, Peng resented Mao's criticism of him, and in 1959 once told Mao: "At Yan'an, you fucked my mother for forty days." From 1942 to 1945, Peng's role in the war was mostly political, and he supported Mao very closely. In June 1944, Peng was part of a team that held conferences with American military personnel who visited Yan'an as part of
11220-492: Was one of the strongest supporters of pursuing a ceasefire with the Kuomintang in order to concentrate China's collective resources on resisting the Japanese Empire . Peng was the senior commander in the combined Kuomintang–Communist efforts to resist the Japanese occupation of Shanxi in 1937; and, by 1938, was in command of two-thirds of the Eighth Route Army . In 1940, Peng conducted the Hundred Regiments Offensive ,
11330-524: Was promoted to master sergeant and acting platoon commander. Tang Shengzhi's forces drove enemy troops out of Hunan in July 1920 and captured the provincial capital of Changsha . Peng participated in a failed mutiny over pay but was ultimately pardoned along with other rebels, because there was a shortage of soldiers at the time. In August 1921, Peng was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant and became acting company commander several weeks later. Stationed in
11440-530: Was recalled to China in April 1952 for a head tumor, and Chen Geng and Deng Hua later assumed Peng's responsibilities in the PVA. On July 27, 1953, Peng personally signed the armistice agreement in Panmunjom . At a mass rally in Pyongyang on July 31, Kim Il Sung awarded Peng his second North Korean "National Flag" Order of Merit, First Class (the first had been awarded to Peng in 1951) and awarded Peng
11550-494: Was reluctant and stated that Mao's surroundings were "too luxuriously furnished" for him to tolerate. Throughout the 1950s, Peng continued to refer to the Chairman as "Old Mao," an egalitarian title that was used among senior CCP leaders in the 1930s and 1940s. Peng staged his first offensive after becoming Defense Minister in January 1955 by attacking and occupying a chain of islands, part of Zhejiang , which were still held by
11660-615: Was removed from the final version of the 1956 Party Constitution. At the Congress, Peng was reappointed to the Politburo and as a full member of the Central Committee. Peng resented Mao's personal lifestyle, which Peng considered decadent and luxurious. By the late 1950s, Mao had developed a lifestyle that was out of touch with Peng's preference for modesty and simplicity. Mao enjoyed a private pool in Zhongnanhai and had many villas around China built for him, which he would travel to on
11770-579: Was removed from the office only a couple of months after his appointment in March 2023, causing the position to be briefly vacant from October. This was until Admiral Dong Jun was appointed into the office in December of the same year, making Dong the first PLA Navy officer to become the defence minister. Besides, the PLA Rocket Force , in which Wei was a member, also saw a purge that year, with corruption investigating taking place. Officially,
11880-504: Was successful in disrupting Japanese communication lines and logistics networks, which were not fully restored until 1942, but the communists suffered heavy losses, In communist sources, the Japanese casualties have two figures, one of which is 20,645 and the other 12,645. Foreign sources give figures of 20,900. In early 1941, the Japanese began a large-scale effort to drive Peng from his base in Taihangshan, and Peng relocated closer to
11990-535: Was the most senior commander responsible for defending the Communist leadership in Shaanxi from Kuomintang forces, saving Mao from being captured at least once. Peng eventually defeated the Kuomintang in Northwest China, captured huge amounts of military supplies, and actively incorporated the huge area, including Xinjiang , into the People's Republic of China. Peng was one of the few senior military leaders who supported Mao's suggestions to involve China directly in
12100-511: Was withdrawn from school in 1908, he and his brothers were sent to beg for food in their village. From 1908 to 1910, Peng took work on looking after a pair of water buffaloes. When Peng's grand-uncle died in 1911, Peng left home and worked at a coalmine in Xiangtan , where he pushed carts of coal for a wage of nine yuan a month. In 1912, shortly after the founding of the Republic of China ,
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