PENGDEHUAI
Peng Dehuai
(October 24, 1898–November 29, 1974)
Chinese General
A
tough-talking,
burly peasant, Peng
Dehuai was one of
the great Chinese military
leaders of the twentieth
century, a founding spirit
behind the People’s Lib-
eration Army. His skillful
infiltration tactics de-
railed a United Nations
advance to the Yalu River
in December 1950 and
drove Allied forces out of
North Korea. Peng’s per-
formance in the Korean
War proved highly cred-
itable to Chinese arms,
but he was ultimately
purged and humiliated
for criticizing Mao Tse-
tung’s revolutionary ex-
cesses.
Peng was born in Shix-
iang Village, Hunan Province, China, on Octo-
ber 24, 1898, the son of prosperous peasants.
However, when family fortunes declined, he
was forced to beg for food in the streets. By
1915, Peng sought to escape poverty by enlist-
ing in the army of a local warlord. He proved
adept as a soldier and was allowed to attend
the Hunan Military Academy in 1922. Shortly
after, he sided with Gen. Chiang Kai-shek’s
Nationalist forces (the Guomindang, or KMT)
during the drive to unite China under his rule.
In the course of successful fighting against
numerous warlords, Peng rose to command a
brigade. At this time, the KMT had formed an
unholy alliance with the Chinese Communist
Party (CCP) under Peng’s fellow Hunanese,
Mao Tse-tung, to facilitate their success. Fear-
ing communist strength, however, Chiang
broke with the communists in 1928 and began
a campaign of annihilation against them.
Peng, impressed with
Mao’s attention to the
plight of peasants,
promptly switched sides.
He subsequently assumed
command of the Fifth
Route Army and, in Janu-
ary 1929, defeated Na-
tionalist forces at Chang-
sha. However, Mao’s
expectations for a mass
peasant uprising never
materialized, and the com-
munists were forced into
Jiangxi Province. Peng
distinguished himself by
defending the “commu-
nist soviet” there be-
tween 1931 and 1934 and
also figured prominently
in the escape of CCP
forces from impending
Nationalist encirclement.
He then accompanied the legendary 6,000-
mile Long March to escape KMT persecution
and eventually ended up as deputy com-
mander under the legendary Gen. Chu Teh.
Chiang Kai-shek was poised to move in
for the kill in 1937 but postponed his plans
when Japanese forces began a war of con-
quest along the Chinese coast. This provided
the CCP valuable time to rest, regroup, and
regain its strength. Peng staged several suc-
cessful battles against the Japanese and rose
to command the Third Route Army. By 1940,
he had been promoted to lead the famous
Eighth Route Army and with it staged the
One Hundred Regiments offensive. This oc-
casioned heavy losses for the communists,
but their willing sacrifice against tremen-
dous odds endeared them to long-suffering
Chinese peasants. Peng subsequently staged
smaller attacks upon Japanese forces for thePeng Dehuai
Library of Congress