Mao Zedong and His "Advisors" (Revised Edition)

Author: Fan Hao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: Guo Huaruo, a prominent military strategist of the founding generation of the People's Liberation Army, served as the acting chief of staff of the Red Army's First Front Army during the Jinggang Mountains period and later became the principal of the Fourth Branch of the Anti-Japanese Military Academy in Yan'an. He was appointed as an advisor by Mao Zedong and worked with him for many years. This book primarily tells the story of his interactions with Mao Zedong. During the early Jinggang Mountains period, he was the acting chief of staff of the Red Army's First Front Army, and many of the operational orders drafted by Mao and Zhu were personally written by him. He consistently supported Mao Zedong when he faced criticism and setbacks. Mao once asked him, "Am I an advocate of narrow empiricism?" He was a renowned military theorist of the Party, well-known and influential in the Guomindang-controlled areas during the war years. Mao Zedong wrote him eight letters, inviting him to serve as his "advisor." He followed Mao Zedong throughout his life, but in his later years, Mao said, "This comrade's thinking has never quite aligned with mine over the decades."