Biography of General Pan Zhenwu: The Martial Career of a Military Envoy in Suzhou

Author: Shi Da Jin (Compiler)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-09-01
Features: General Pan Zhenwu (1908426~1988922) joined the Great Revolution in 1926 and became a soldier in the Northern Expedition. In July 1930, he joined the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army and joined the Communist Party of China in October 1930. He participated in the first to fifth counter-offensives against the encirclement and suppression in the Central Soviet Region, the Long March, the War of Resistance Against Japan, and the War of Liberation. In 1955, he was awarded the rank of Lieutenant General. In 1956, he served as the Political Commissar of the Logistics Department of the Guangzhou Military Region. General Pan Zhenwu was sent to the Soviet Union in 1959 to serve as the Military Attaché of the People's Republic of China to the Soviet Embassy. After returning to China in 1963, he held positions such as Deputy Director of the General Office of the Ministry of National Defense, Director of the Foreign Affairs Bureau of the General Staff, Deputy Political Commissar of the Wuhan Military Region, and Secretary of the CPC Hubei Provincial Committee. General Pan Zhenwu was a delegate to the Party's "Seventh Congress." This article excerpts some of his deeds and achievements during the War of Resistance Against Japan for the readers.
Assuming Risk and Duty After Liu Yunbiao, the of the cavalry regiment of the First Red Army Corps, was transferred to the Red Army University for study, the corps leadership decided in June 1936 to transfer Pan Zhenwu to serve as the and Political Commissar of the cavalry regiment to strengthen its leadership. The united front between the Kuomintang and the CCP caused some veteran Red Army members and workers to be confused. had been our enemy, but now we were allied with him—was this not surrender to the Kuomintang? These revolutionary comrades were sincere and enthusiastic. However, after repeated education, some still couldn't understand, especially mid-level company and regiment commanders. They said, "The Kuomintang is our enemy. We used to seize land and distribute it to the peasants, and the five-star hats represented workers, peasants, and soldiers. Now we're wearing hats— isn't this surrender?" Many people in the cavalry regiment of the First Red Army Corps shared this sentiment. After Liu Yunbiao was transferred to the Red Army University, Peng Shenghe took over as the Political Commissar and, and Li Zhongqi became the regimental chief of staff. One night, Peng Shenghe and Li Zhongqi slept in the same kang (traditional bed). Peng Shenghe said, "Old Li, we've been revolutionizing for so long. Do you think wearing hats isn't surrender?" Li Zhongqi repeatedly said, "To resist Japan and save the nation, our only enemy is the Japanese. They occupied our Northeast and are now threatening our North China—they want to all of China. We must unite to resist Japan." Peng Shenghe said, "You can't convince me, and the higher leadership can't either. I'm still confused. Maybe I should just go back to being a civilian." This kind of thinking spread through the regiment for nearly a month. Around April, the First Red Army Corps demanded that the cavalry regiment report its thoughts directly to Comrade Nie Rongzhen, the Political Commissar. Peng Shenghe went to the corps headquarters to report, saying bluntly to Nie Rongzhen, "Although I'm reporting on ideological issues, I still don't understand. We've fought so hard, so many people have died—now we're wearing hats— isn't this surrender?" Peng Shenghe went with a staff member and a supply officer, and he also collected the entire regiment's salaries—about 2,000 yuan in cash. The cavalry regiment was about 25 kilometers from the corps headquarters. Originally, Peng Shenghe planned to go in the morning and return in the evening. But by the time it got dark, he hadn't returned. Li Zhongqi called the corps headquarters and reported to Wang Bingzhang, the of the Operations Department, saying, "Our Political Commissar Peng Shenghe went to the corps headquarters to report and also collected the salaries. He should have been back by 6 p.m., but he hasn't returned yet." Wang Bingzhang immediately reported the matter to Comrade Nie Rongzhen. Nie said, "Is everything okay? Maybe something happened on the way—he'll be back later." But by the next morning at 8 a.m., Peng Shenghe still hadn't returned. Li Zhongqi had no choice but to go personally to Comrade Nie Rongzhen and say, "There might be a problem! We've sent people to look, but from midnight to 8 a.m., we found no trace along the road to the corps. Peng Shenghe said he was worried about the change and had doubts. The Red Army changing hats, no confidence—and he joked about wanting to be a civilian!" At this point, Comrade Nie Rongzhen suddenly realized, "He told me the same thing! That really means there's a problem! You should send a platoon and quickly search in the direction of Xianyang. It's about 40 kilometers." Li Zhongqi then led a platoon to search along the road. Along the way, he asked an old farmer by the river, "Did you see three people—one riding a red horse, one riding a white horse, and one riding a flower horse?" The farmer said, "Yes! The horses are about nine kilometers away—they were thrown into a (gully)." "Are there any other units there?" the farmer asked. "No other units," the farmer replied. Li Zhongqi said, "Can you take me there?" At that time, many people in Northwest China knew how to ride horses, so the farmer led him there. They found all three horses but not the people. The and Political Commissar of the cavalry regiment had run away—this would affect the situation, and they needed to quickly appoint someone! So Comrade Nie Rongzhen said to Li Zhongqi, "Don't say anything about Peng Shenghe—don't get angry. The most urgent task now is to either bring Liu Yunbiao back from the Red Army University or find someone else to take his position?" The next day, the corps sent a deputy minister to hold a meeting of cadres, and Pan Zhenwu was also invited. The meeting reported how Peng Shenghe had run away, and that similar incidents had occurred in other units, which was a cause for vigilance. After the meeting, the deputy minister, representing the leadership of the corps' Political Department, announced: "Liu Yunbiao is studying at the Red Army University, so he is appointed to represent the Political Department of the division to appoint Pan Zhenwu as the and Political Commissar of the cavalry regiment, taking over Peng Shenghe's position. Pan Zhenwu must report for duty immediately." This was decided and approved by Comrade Nie Rongzhen. Soon after, Pan Zhenwu arrived as the leader to strengthen the cavalry regiment's forces.
In June, after taking office, Pan Zhenwu first focused on ideological work, handling it thoroughly. He not only gave lectures on the big picture but also deeply engaged with the reality and understood the issues. He explained to everyone, "We're not surrendering to—we're fighting for the war of resistance and saving the country. Without unity, we can't win the war! We can't put the Kuomintang's millions of soldiers, Zhang Xueliang's and Yang Huicheng's hundreds of thousands of soldiers, Feng Yuxiang's hundreds of thousands of soldiers—all wearing Red Army hats! There must be a major premise!" He spoke very profoundly and carefully, and everyone was convinced. For this, Pan Zhenwu received an official commendation.
On August 25, 1937, the Red Army's Eighth Route Army (including the Fifteenth Corps and the 74th Division of Shaanxi-Northwest Red Army) was reorganized as the National Revolutionary Army's Eighth Route Army's 115th Division, with Lin Biao as the commander and Nie Rongzhen as the deputy commander. On October 22, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to restore the system of Political Commissars and the names of Political Departments (Bureaus) in the Eighth Route Army's corps-level and higher units, with Nie Rongzhen appointed as the Political Commissar of the 115th Division and Luo Ronghuan as the Political Director. At that time, the 115th Division consisted of two brigades, one independent regiment, and one cavalry, artillery, engineering, and supply camp, with a total of 15,500 soldiers. Pan Zhenwu led the Red Army cavalry regiment, which was renumbered as the 115th Division's cavalry camp. After Liu Yunbiao returned from his studies, Pan Zhenwu was transferred back to the Political Department of the division to serve as the Minister of Enemy Work (later the Minister of Mass Work), participated in the Battle of Pingxingguan, and was responsible for managing prisoners of war.
After recapturing Quyang and winning the Battle of Pingxingguan, to expand the achievements, the superior authorities decided to send Pan Zhenwu to lead a team to recapture the city of Quyang. Quyang County was located in Hebei Province, west of the Pinghan Railway and north of the Zhengtai Railway, about 100 miles southeast of Fuping in Hebei. The northern part of the county was hilly and mountainous, with poor land. After the areas around Beijing and Tianjin fell to the Japanese invaders, the Japanese army advanced southward along the Jinpu and Pinghan railways, controlling the remote mountainous areas less tightly than the big cities. At that time, Quyang County had already been occupied by the Japanese. After hearing the reconnaissance report from the cavalry camp, the Political Director of the division, Luo Ronghuan, ordered the cavalry camp and the training team to act, with Pan Zhenwu leading the recapture of Quyang County. Under Pan Zhenwu's command, the cavalry camp made a night raid and, at dawn on October 18, swiftly defeated the enemy who were on patrol. They seized the enemy's supply depot and warehouse, completely liberating Quyang County. This was the first city the Eighth Route Army had recaptured from the Japanese and puppet forces since its operations began. When the Japanese occupied Quyang, they set up a supply depot in the eastern part of the county, stockpiling a large amount of military supplies. After the Eighth Route Army captured Quyang, opinions differed on how to handle these war spoils. Pan Zhenwu knew that it would be very difficult to hand over these items to the border region, mainly because there was no transportation. Moving hundreds of tons of supplies by hand to Fuping, nearly 100 miles away from Quyang, was no easy task! However, he still agreed to hand over most of them. After reaching a consensus, the troops mobilized the local people for support, and those who participated in the transport were given one kilogram of biscuits. When the farmers heard that the Japanese supplies were being transported to the Eighth Route Army, most enthusiastically participated. Adults carried two boxes on their shoulders, while children carried one box each, forming a thousand-person transport team. In just two days, they transported the supplies to the border government. Comrade Luo Ronghuan, the Political Director of the division, was very happy and highly praised the patriotic spirit of the farmers in Quyang County in supporting the war of resistance against Japan. He said, "With your support, we won't worry about driving out the Japanese bandits."
General Pan Zhenwu had many achievements in resisting Japan in Shandong, including establishing the enemy rear democratic government of the Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region in Quyang County and concurrently serving as the county magistrate of the Quyang County democratic government. As the representative of the 115th Division, he went to Liulin Town to meet Fu Zuoyi, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Kuomintang's Second War Zone, which objectively played a positive role in later opening up the Lüshan Mountains base area and protecting the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region.