Communist Military Leaders of the Korean War

Background and History Peng Dehuai (pronounced Pung Duh-why) was born in 1898 in Xiangtan County of Hunan Province. He had sparkling eyes and was imbued with a powerful and unyielding spirit. Peng joined the CCP in 1928 and then commanded the Fifth Army of the Chinese Red Army, which led the vanguard of the Long March. He had attended the Hunan Military Academy and served as a Nationalist Officer, becoming a brigade commander before defecting. In the Chinese Civil War, he became the commander of the Eighteenth Field Army, the Northwestern Field Army, commander and political commissar of the First Field Army, deputy commander in chief of the PLA, and the first secretary of the Northwestern Bureau of the CCP. He was a rough-hewn man from very humble beginnings. Until 1916 he was a day laborer and then a soldier in a Warlord Army for $5.50 a month. He soldiered the rest of his life, some 60 years. He would talk to his troops and had great affection for his troops and they great loyalty to him.

Proclamation of the People's Republic of China After the founding of the PRC, he served as the vice chairman of the Revolutionary Military Committee of the Central Government, chairman of the Northwestern Military and Political Committee, commander of the PLA Northwest Military Region, first secretary of the Northwestern Bureau, defense minister, and vice premier. All his life Peng spoke frankly, bluntly, and he wrote in plain vigorous Chinese often at great length so that no one might doubt his opinion. He was to have many military clashes with Marshal Lin Biao and won most of them.

Activities in Korean War Peng became the CPVF Commander and Political Commissar and the Commander in Chief and political Commissar of the Chinese-North Korean Allied Forces during the Korean War. As the top Chinese military leader in Korea between 1950 and 1953, Peng commanded all military operations, made most of the important decisions at the front, communicated with Mao Zedong in Beijing intensively every day, worked with Kim Il Sung and other top North Korean Leaders, and visited Stalin in Moscow to discuss Korea's situation and the peace talks.