Nehru's Memoirs

Author: Nie Rongzhen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: Nie Rongzhen (1899-1992) was born on December 29, 1899, in Wutan Town, Jiangjin County, Sichuan. During the May Fourth Movement, he participated in patriotic student activities in his hometown. In 1919, he went to France for study and work. In 1922, he studied at the Chemical Engineering Department of the Solvay University in Belgium. In August, he joined the Communist Youth League of China in Europe, and in the spring of 1923, he transferred to the Communist Party of China. In October 1924, he went to Moscow, Soviet Union, and enrolled in the Communist University of the Toilers of the East, later transferring to the Chinese class of the Soviet Red Army School to study military science. In August 1925, he returned to China and served as a secretary and political instructor in the Political Department of the Whampoa Military Academy, and was also a member of the Guangdong Military Committee of the CPC. In May 1926, after the Northern Expedition began, he was appointed as a special envoy of the Military Committee and the Secretary of the Military Committee of the CPC Hubei Provincial Committee, participating in the work of sending CCP members to the Northern Expedition Army. After the April 12th Counter-Revolutionary Coup in 1927, he was sent to Shanghai to assist Zhou Enlai in reorganizing the destroyed workers' and handling post-coup matters. In July 1927, he was appointed by Zhou Enlai as the Secretary of the Frontline Military Committee and went to Jiujiang to prepare for the armed uprising. On August 1, he organized two regiments of the 25th Division of Zhang Fagu's army to participate in the Nanchang Uprising at the Mahuilin Station south of Jiujiang and arrived in Nanchang early the next morning, where he was appointed as the Party Representative of the 11th Army and led the army southward with the commander Ye Ting. After the failure in Chaoshan, he went to Hong Kong. In December, he participated in the leadership of the Guangzhou Uprising. In the face of the setback, he and Ye Ting made a decisive decision to withdraw, preserving part of the revolutionary armed forces. In 1928, he served as the Secretary of the Military Committee of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the CPC, and in early 1930, he became the Minister of Organization of the Shunyi Provincial Committee (with a scope of work equivalent to North China). From May onwards, he worked in the Central Special Committee and the Central Military Committee of the CPC, persisting in secret struggles in Hong Kong, Tianjin, and Shanghai. In December 1931, he entered the Central Soviet Area and successively served as the Deputy Director of the Political Department of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army and the Political Committee of the Corps. In March 1932, when the proponents of "Left-wing adventurism" demanded that the Central Red Army seize the cities on both banks of the Ganjiang River, he and the Corps Commander Lin Biao supported Mao Zedong's opinion that the main force of the Red Army should develop in areas with weak Guomindang forces and reported this to the Central Revolutionary Military Committee. In April, as the Political Committee of the East Route Army, he led the East Route Army under the command of Lin Biao in the Zhangzhou Campaign under Mao Zedong's leadership. After 1933, he and Lin Biao led the corps in participating in the fourth and fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaigns. In October 1934, he and Lin Biao led the corps in participating in the Long March. In January 1935, he attended the enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the CPC (the Zunyi Meeting) and supported Mao Zedong's proposals. After crossing the Jinsha River, he served as the Political Committee of the vanguard of the Central Red Army and, with the commander Liu Bocheng, led the army through the Yi ethnic minority area and crossed the Dadu River. Subsequently, he and Lin Biao led the First Corps as the vanguard of the Long March team, crossing snow-capped mountains and grasslands to open the way forward. In September, at Egu, he attended the enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee and opposed Zhang Guotao's separatist activities. After arriving in Shaanxi, he and Lin Biao led the corps in participating in the Zhalu Town Campaign and the Eastward Expedition. In May 1936, he and the acting Corps Commander Luo Quan led the corps in participating in the Western Expedition, and in October, he and the Second and Fourth Red Armies converged. In November, he participated in the command of the Shancheng Castle Campaign. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, he served as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief and Political Committee of the First Division of the Eighth Route Army, commanding the Pingxingguan Battle with Lin Biao, achieving a major victory for the country after the war. In November 1937, he was appointed as the Commander-in-Chief and Political Committee of the Jin-Cha-Hai Military Region, leading a part of the First Division with about 3,000 people to establish a rear enemy-resistant base in the border areas of Shanxi, Chaohai, and Hebei provinces. During the process of establishing, consolidating, and developing the base, he correctly implemented the strategic line and policies of the Central Committee of the CPC regarding the War of Resistance Against Japan, mobilized and organized the masses, developed anti-Japanese armed forces, and strengthened the construction of the Party and the government. By the end of 1938, the Jin-Cha-Hai border region had expanded to 72 counties and was hailed by the presidium of the sixth plenary session of the sixth central committee as a "model rear enemy-resistant base and a model area for the united front." In winter 1939, he commanded the Yanshuai Ridge and Huangtuling Battles, annihilating over 1,500 Japanese soldiers of the Independent Mixed 2nd Brigade and killing Abe Nobuyoshi, the division commander known as "the flower of the famous general" by the Japanese. In the spring of 1940, he led the Jin-Cha-Hai Southward Detachment to Jinshan Dong to participate in the counter-offensive against the stubborn faction of the Guomindang led by Zhu Huaibing. In August, he led the corps in participating in the "100-Battalion Campaign," organizing and commanding operations to raid railway lines such as Zhengtai, Jinpu, Pinghan, and Beining. In autumn 1941, over 70,000 Japanese troops launched a large-scale "sweeping" operation against the northern part of the Jin-Cha-Hai border region, including Pingxi, and encircled the leadership of the Jin-Cha-Hai Military Region in Fuping. While commanding the main force to switch to operations on the outside, he led over 10,000 personnel from the Party, government, and military organs to break through the encirclement with only one division's cover, foiling the Japanese plan to annihilate the leadership and main force of the Jin-Cha-Hai Military Region. In 1942, under extremely harsh conditions and with the base shrinking, he timely proposed "advancing to the rear of the enemy's rear," forming numerous armed work teams to infiltrate enemy-occupied areas, attack and seize weakly defended posts of the Japanese and puppet forces, and expand guerrilla areas. By 1943, he gradually frustrated the frequent "sweeping," "encroachment," and "purging" operations of the Japanese and puppet forces, turning the difficult situation around. In August, he left Jin-Cha-Hai to attend the rectification movement in Yan'an. In June 1945, he was elected as a member of the Central Committee of the seventh session of the CPC. From August 10, he began to deploy the Jin-Cha-Hai Military Region forces to launch counter-offensive operations against the Japanese and puppet forces. In September 1945, he returned to Jin-Cha-Hai, and in October, he worked together with He Long, the commander-in-chief of the Jin-Sui Military Region, to command the forces of the Jin-Cha-Hai and Jin-Sui Military Regions in the Hetao Campaign. In April 1947, he commanded the Zhengtai Campaign, annihilating over 30,000 Guomindang troops, capturing seven cities along the Zhengtai Railway and important mining areas such as Jingxing, connecting the Jin-Cha-Hai and Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu Liberation Zones. In November, after winning the Qingfengdian Campaign, he organized the Jin-Cha-Hai Field Army to launch the Jinzhajiang Campaign. In August 1948, he was appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of the North China Military Region. In January 1949, in accordance with the decision of the Central Committee of the CPC, he, along with Lin Biao and Luo Ronghuan, formed the General Front Committee for the Pingjin Front, commanding the Pingjin Campaign. In February, he became the Deputy Chief of Staff of the People's Liberation Army and the Commander-in-Chief of the Pingjin Garrison District, and in September, he was appointed as the Mayor of Beiping (now Beijing). In early 1950, he served as the Acting Chief of Staff of the People's Liberation Army, presiding over the work of the General Staff Department, assisting the leaders of the Central Military Committee in deploying the People's Liberation Army to continue liberating the southwestern region and coastal islands in the southeastern region, eliminating the remaining armed forces and bandits of the Guomindang. He participated in the organization of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea. He did a great deal of work in streamlining and reorganizing the People's Liberation Army, establishing leadership organs for various branches of the armed forces, and establishing military academies, formulating military regulations and rules. In 1954, he became the Vice Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Committee of the Central People's Government. In 1955, he was awarded the military rank of Marshal of the People's Republic of China. In November 1956, he became the Vice Premier of the State Council, overseeing science and technology work. In 1958, he also served as the Director of the State Council Commission for Science and Technology. From 1959 to 1987, he served as the Vice Chairman of the Central Military Committee of the CPC, participating in the leadership of the revolutionary, standardized, and modernized construction of the People's Liberation Army. In 1959, he also served as the Director of the Commission for National Defense Science and Technology of the State Council, leading scientific and technological breakthroughs, organizing nationwide cooperation, and successfully developing various missiles and atomic bombs in just five years, followed by the development of hydrogen bombs. Significant achievements were also made in the development of conventional weapons and civilian research projects. In his youth, he studied chemistry abroad and was determined to save the country through science. However, history made him a professional revolutionary and military figure. In his later years, after overthrowing the rule of imperialism and feudalism and establishing the People's Republic of China, he became a leader in science and technology work. In his work, he adhered to the mass line and the principle of relying primarily on self-reliance while seeking foreign assistance, valued and cared for intellectuals, mobilized and encouraged the enthusiasm of scientific and technological personnel, and promoted the continuous advancement of science and technology. During the "Cultural Revolution," he fought against the counter-revolutionary group led by Lin Biao and Jiang Qing. In the summer of 1969, at the request of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, he, together with Ye Jianying and Xu Xiangqian, conducted a thorough and in-depth study of the international situation under Chen Yi's leadership, proposing strategic suggestions and opinions to open up a new situation in foreign affairs. He was a member of the Central Committee of the eighth to twelfth sessions of the CPC, a member of the Political Bureau of the eighth (elected at the eleventh plenary session), the eleventh, and the twelfth sessions of the CPC. He was also the Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the fourth and fifth National People's Congresses. On May 4, 1992, he passed away in Beijing due to illness. His military writings enriched Mao Zedong's military thought, and his main works were collected in Nie Rongzhen's Military Writings. He also wrote Nie Rongzhen's Memoirs.