The only Korean to complete the Long March, Eighth Route Army artillery commander who led the Korean Volunteer Army and the Yan'an faction
Of some thirty Koreans who set out on the Long March, Mu Chong alone survived to reach Yan'an.
He joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1925 and became the only Korean to complete the Long March, rising to artillery commander of the Eighth Route Army. In northern China he organized the Korean Independence Alliance and the Korean Volunteer Army, serving as its commander-in-chief and emerging as the military leader of the Yan'an faction. After liberation he returned to North Korea, serving as KPA artillery commander and II Corps commander during the Korean War, but lost his power struggle with Kim Il Sung and was purged in December 1950 on charges of battlefield failure and murder. His downfall signalled the elimination of the Yan'an faction.
Career Timeline
- 1925Joined the Chinese Communist Party
- 1934–1935Participated in the Red Army's Long March
- 1937–1940Artillery Commander, Eighth Route Army
- 1942Commander-in-Chief, Korean Volunteer Army
- 1946Second Secretary, Workers' Party of North Korea
- 1948Deputy Minister of National Defence, KPA 2nd Command
- 1950Commander, KPA II Corps
Related historical events
Artillery Commander in the Chinese Red Army and Eighth Route Army
After graduating from the Baoding Military Academy's artillery course in 1924, Mu Chong served as an artillery officer in the Chinese Nationalist Army before joining the Chinese Communist Party in 1925. In 1930, fighting alongside Peng Dehuai's forces at Yangxin in Hubei, he scored direct hits on enemy ships and tanks with over ten of twenty shells fired, earning renown as 'the Red Army's legendary artillery hero.' He became artillery commander of the Red Army's Central Military Commission and, as a member of the CCP Military Commission, took part in the epic 25,000-li Long March from October 1934 to October 1935, completing it in full. Of some thirty Koreans who embarked on the march, Mu Chong was the sole survivor.
After the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937 and the Red Army's reorganisation into the Eighth Route Army, Mu Chong was appointed operations chief of the General Headquarters, winning the trust of Commander-in-Chief Zhu De and Deputy Commander Peng Dehuai. In January 1938 he became commander of the Eighth Route Army's first artillery regiment, a force of roughly a thousand men, and systematically built up its artillery capability. In 1940 he led his artillery troops in the Hundred Regiments Offensive, the Eighth Route Army's large-scale campaign against Japanese forces in northern China, achieving major successes. His artillery command experience later proved a vital asset when he founded the Korean Volunteer Army and helped build the Korean People's Army.