The “one-eyed dragon”, Red Army chief of staff and Deng Xiaoping’s partner who commanded at Huaihai
He lost his right eye at Fengdu in 1916 and became the “One-Eyed Dragon”: a founder of the People’s Liberation Army and one of the strategists who commanded the Huaihai campaign in November 1948.
A Sichuan soldier who lost his right eye in battle in 1916, he joined the party in 1926 and took part in the Nanchang Uprising. Trained at the Frunze Military Academy, he was Red Army chief of staff on the Long March and, as commander of the 129th Division with Deng Xiaoping as political commissar, formed the “Liu–Deng” army in the war with Japan. In the civil war he led the 1947 thrust into the Dabie Mountains and the Huaihai campaign of 1948–1949, the decisive phase of the Communist victory. A marshal after 1949, he founded the Nanjing Military Academy and withdrew after being criticised for “dogmatism” in 1958.
Career Timeline
- 1932–1937Chief of Staff of the Red Army
- 1937–1945Commander of the 129th Division, Eighth Route Army
- 1955Marshal of the People’s Republic of China
Related historical events
- 1927–1936From Jinggangshan to Yan’an: the soviet bases and the Long MarchChief of staff of the Red ArmyLed the Jinsha and Dadu crossings and the passage through Yi territory.
- 1937–1945The war with Japan and the second united frontCommander of the 129th DivisionBuilt the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu base with Deng Xiaoping.
- 1945–1949The Chinese Civil WarCentral Plains Field Army commander at HuaihaiLed the 1947 Dabie thrust and the Huaihai campaign.