Liu Bocheng - Commander of The CPC Army

Commander of The CPC Army

In the summer of 1930, Liu was sent back to China and was appointed as commissioner of the Central Military Committee of the CPC as well as Military Secretary of the Yangtze River division of the CPC. In December 1930, Liu went to Shanghai to assist Zhou Enlai in the daily administration of CPC military affairs.

In 1931, the CPC suffered great losses in several major cities and was forced to retreat to the countryside. Liu was sent to the Central Soviet Territory, the CPC’s power base in Jiangxi. In January 1932, Liu was appointed president and commissar of the Red Army Military Academy. By October he was promoted to Chief of Staff of the Red Army, assisting Zhu De and Zhou in the war against Chiang Kai-shek’s 4th Suppression on the Central Soviet Territory.

At the time, the CPC was under the reign of members of the 28 Bolsheviks, including Bo Gu and Zhang Wentian, and Otto Braun (also known by his Chinese name, Li De), the Military Advisor of Comintern, took control of military command. All three were educated in Moscow, and Liu found common ground with these young men. Liu agreed with their opinion of regular battle by laying siege instead of bushfighting, which led to a clash with other military leaders such as Mao Zedong and Peng Dehuai. Peng led his troops during the siege of Guangchang under the orders of Bo and Li De, which resulted in the troops suffering heavy casualties due to inferior weaponry and resources. Outspoken and bad-tempered Peng was furious, and in direct conflict with Liu.

However, Liu soon turned to Mao’s camp when he found Bo and Braun’s methods to be unpractical and extreme. In the Red Army’s endeavour against the KMT's Fifth Encirclement Campaign, Liu was demoted to Chief of Staff of the 5th Field Army following his dissidence with Bo and Braun. Bo and Braun led by way of doctrine and extremism, and the Red Army waged a face-to-face general war against the better-equipped and larger KMT army. Failure was inevitable; the CPC had to retreat from its territory to seek refuge, marking the beginning of the Long March.

During the Long March, near the end of 1934, Liu was reappointed as Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army and commander of Central Column, which consisted of the majority of the CPC senior leaders, such as Bo, Braun, Zhou and Mao. Liu led the army across the Wu River and took control of Zunyi, a county of Guizhou province. It was in this small city that the famous Zunyi Conference was held in January 1935. During this conference, Liu and most of the attendees showed their support for Mao.

As a result of this conference, Bo, who was then Braun’s command in military, was replaced by a new three-man team consisting of Mao, Zhou and Wang Jiaxiang. Later on, Liu assisted Mao and Zhu across the Red Water River four times. Liu himself led troops in the takeover of the Jiaopin ferry, securing the route across the Jinsha River for the major troops. In May, Liu was appointed commander of avant-courier army and worked with commissar Nie Rongzhen on securing the route for the remaining troops. When his army entered the ethnic settlement areas, Liu pledged brotherhood with a chieftain of the local Yi ethnicity, which significantly reduced the minorities’ hostility towards the CPC. Liu then led the 1st Division of the Red Army across the Dadu River, where Chiang plotted to have the CPC armies annihilated, in the same manner as Shi Dakai and his army’s road to perdition almost a century before.

When Mao's 1st Red Army later united with Zhang Guotao’s 4th Red Army, Liu stayed Chief of Staff. During a dispute between Mao and Zhang over major issues, which led to their later split, Liu maintained his support for Mao. By the time they reached Yan'an, it was obvious that Mao was the winner.