A History of the Modern Chinese Army by Xiaobing Li

Author:Xiaobing Li
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: ISBN-13: 9780813124384, University Press of Kentucky
Published: 2014-03-02T16:36:56.759000+00:00

Border Conflicts and the Cultural Revolution    0

thing about this new appointment, Wei studied international relations,

diplomacy, and the new republic’s foreign policy in Beijing.17

Shortly after accepting his new appointment, Wei submitted his

plan to the high command. On April 17, the CMC ordered its Sec-

ond, Third, and Fourth field armies to select experienced officers to

organize the CMAG. In May, 281 officers reported to the CMAG, in-

cluding 59 commanders and officers at the battalion level or above. On

June 27, two days after the Korean War broke out, Mao, Zhu, and Liu

met with Wei, Mei Jiasheng, Deng Yifan, and other high-ranking advi-

sors at Zhongnanhai. Mao told the military advisors that he was not the

one sending them to Vietnam. “It is President Ho Chi Minh who has

asked me for [your assistance],” the chairman said. “Who would have

thought our revolution would succeed first? We should help them. It

is called internationalism. You will help them to win the battles after

you get to Vietnam.”18 Liu and Zhu also spoke at the meeting. In July,

the CMC approved a party committee of the CMAG with Wei as the

secretary and Deng Yifan as the deputy secretary. At the CMAG head-

Ho Chi Minh and Vo Nguyen Giap meet with Chen Geng and Luo Guibo

in Vietnam in 1950. (Courtesy of Colonel Yan Guitang, member of the

CMAG.)

0   A History of the Modern Chinese Army

quarters, political, operational, technical, and medical advisory teams

were organized.19

On July 7, Senior General Chen Geng joined the CMAG as the

CCP Central Committee’s representative and entered Vietnam. Born

in Hunan in 1903, Chen joined the CCP in 1922 and enrolled in

the Huangpu Military Academy in 1924. He studied military science

in the Soviet Union in 1926. After his return, he became a battalion

commander and participated in the 1927 Nanchang Uprising. Then

he served as regiment and division commander of the Red Army. Dur-

ing WWII, Chen became the commander of the 386th Brigade, 129th

Division, Eighth Route Army. During the Chinese civil war, he was

appointed commander and political commissar of the Fourth Army

Group. After the founding of the PRC, he became the commander of

the Yunnan Military District and governor of Yunnan Province. Senior

General Chen was one of the most experienced and dedicated generals

of the PLA. In his telegrams to Chen in June 1950, Liu Shaoqi autho-

rized Chen as the “representative of the CCP Central Committee” in

charge of military advice in Vietnam.20

On August 11, Wei led the CMAG, about 250 officers, accom-

panied by Hoang Van Hoan, the Vietnamese ambassador to China,

into Vietnam. The next day, the PAVN held a welcome meeting, and

General Giap, commander in chief of the PAVN, made a speech in

Chinese. After their arrival, Wei, Chen, Mei, and top advisors served at

PAVN headquarters, including in the General Staff Department and

the Bureaus of Political Affairs and General Logistics. The other advi-

sors served at the headquarters of the 304th and 308th divisions and at

the headquarters of the 148th, 174th, and 209th regiments, according

to their rank and expertise. Zhai argues that personality was “an impor-

tant factor in shaping Beijing’s attitude toward revolution in Vietnam.”

The CCP and PLA leaders did not ignore “the close personal ties and

revolutionary solidarity that they and Ho Chi Minh had forged in the

years of common struggle in the past.

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