remainder of World War II, gaining a reputa-
tion as among the best of the communist
generals.
Following the Japanese surrender in Au-
gust 1945, Guomindang and communist lead-
ers made a halfhearted attempt at reconcilia-
tion—while simultaneously preparing for a
final showdown. When civil war erupted again
in 1947, Peng was entrusted with defending
Yan’an, the communist capital. However, his
175,000-man garrison withdrew before the on-
slaught of a large KMT force, and he gradually
abandoned the province. Undeterred, his
forces initiated a brilliant rear-area campaign
of ambush and interdiction against KMT sup-
ply lines, and the enemy retreated in turn.
Peng then pursued the fleeing Nationalists
and recaptured Yan’an in April 1948. He sub-
sequently directed operations in the distant
northwest, which was also conquered by the
communists. In 1949, Chiang Kai-shek and his
followers hurriedly fled the mainland for Tai-
wan, and communist victory was ensured.
That September Mao proclaimed the creation
of the People’s Republic of China, and a new
chapter was written in Chinese history.
The communist regime had less than a year
to consolidate its rule before a new war
erupted in neighboring Korea. In June 1950,
North Korean PremierKim Il Sunglaunched
an all-out attack against the Republic of
Korea to the south, triggering the first military
confrontation of the Cold War. Communist
forces surged and appeared to be winning
until September 1950, when United Nations
forces under Gen. Douglas MacArthur landed
at the port of Inchon. As the Americans
pushed inland, threatening to cut the North
Korean supply lines, Kim’s forces conducted a
hasty scramble northward to escape. The
withdrawal turned into a rout as MacArthur
made a fateful decision to pursue the fleeing
communists into North Korea. Such
prospects alarmed the Chinese leadership,
and Mao was unwilling to tolerate U.S. forces
(long allied with his bitter enemy, Chiang) in
such close proximity to Manchuria, China’s
principal industrial zone. Kim had also ap-
pealed to his fellow communists for help, and
in October 1950 the Chinese government
began dropping veiled hints about entering
the war if the Americans approached the Yalu
River. MacArthur, after consultation with
President Harry S. Truman and other leaders,
discounted the notion of Chinese intervention
and continued advancing upon the Yalu. The
Chinese continued warning that they would
fight if American forces approached their bor-
der, but MacArthur was not listening.
In October 1950, Peng was selected to
command a huge force of Chinese “volun-
teers” to fight in Korea. The general believed
in traveling light, taking for himself only two
battered suitcases and a book on butterflies,
his hobby. With incredible stealth and skill,
he infiltrated 380,000 men across the Yalu
River without detection by U.S. reconnais-
sance aircraft. The Chinese army at that time
appeared to be a ragtag affair and, from an
equipment standpoint, was woefully deficient
compared to the lavishly supplied Americans.
MacArthur’s army enjoyed distinct advan-
tages in firepower, supply, tanks, and ar-
tillery, as well as complete control of the air.
However, the Chinese peasants were tough,
resilient, and highly trained after a decade of
fighting Japan and the Nationalists. They
were also experts at nighttime infiltration
and small-unit tactics and would have will-
ingly sacrificed themselves in so-called
human-wave attacks if so ordered. The Amer-
icans began brushing up against Chinese
units in mid-October as they approached the
Yalu, but MacArthur ignored ominous intelli-
gence of a communist military buildup. Peng,
meanwhile, resolved to teach the insolent in-
vaders a lesson. He quickly perceived how
the United Nations advance was sloppily con-
ducted and, consequently, weakly strung out.
On October 25, 1950, the Chinese launched
several concentrated attacks against exposed
American and South Korean units. They
roughly handled several of MacArthur’s best
divisions, then suddenly broke contact and
disappeared back into the hills. Peng, with
Mao’s backing, initiated these attacks as aPENGDEHUAI