Liu Mingzhao (simplified Chinese: 刘明昭; traditional Chinese: 劉明昭; pinyin: Liú Míngzhāo; Wade–Giles: Liu Ming-chao; 4 December 1892 – 7 October 1986), more commonly known as Liu Bocheng (simplified Chinese: 刘伯承; traditional Chinese: 劉伯承; pinyin: Liú Bóchéng; Wade–Giles: Liu Po-ch'eng), was a Chinese military officer and Marshal of the People's Republic of China. Known as the 'half' of the "Three and A Half" Strategists of China in modern Chinese history, he was recognised as a revolutionary, military strategist, and theoretician and one of the founders of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).
Liu's nicknames "The Kutuzov of China" and The "One-eyed Dragon", were a reflection of his character, military achievement, Soviet military education and the fact that he lost his right eye in battle.
Liu was born to a peasant family in Kai County. Influenced by the revolutionary theories of Canton, he later decided to dedicate himself to the cause of establishing a democratic and modern China.
In 1911, Liu joined the Boy Scouts in support of Chinese revolution. In the following year, he enrolled in the Wampoa Military Academy and later joined the army against Yuan Shikai, who was planning to undermine the Xinhai Revolution and proclaim himself Emperor. In 1914, Liu joined Sun Yat-sen's party and gained extensive military experience.
In one battle during this period he captured 10,000 enemy soldiers, for which he was promoted to brigade commander.
In 1916, he lost his right eye in a battle for Fengdu county, Sichuan. After he lost the eye he gained the nickname "One-Eyed Dragon". Alternative accounts of how Liu lost his eye have included the speculation that he lost it during the Long March.
In 1923, during a war against the warlord Wu Peifu, in response to the Northern Expedition of the Kuomintang, Liu was appointed commander of the Eastern Route, and later was promoted to commanding general in Sichuan.
While fighting the army of Long Yun, a Yunnan warlord, Liu defeated a force commanded by Zhu De, who would later become one of his closest comrades in the Red Army. In the same year, Liu became acquainted with Yang Angong, the elder brother of Yang Shangkun, and Wu Yuzhang, who were among the earliest communists of Sichuan. Their relationship marked Liu's first real exposure to the theory and practice of Communism. In May 1926, Liu joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and was appointed military commissioner of Chongqing. In December 1926, along with Zhu De and Yang, Liu masterminded the Luzhou and Nanchong uprising, fought against local warlords, while supporting the Northern Expedition.
In 1927, Liu was appointed army corps commander of the 15th Provisional Army in the National Revolutionary Army. It was during this time that Liu witnessed the split between the Kuomintang and the CCP. After joining the CCP, Liu led the Nanchang Uprising together with Zhu De, He Long, Ye Ting, Li Lisan and Zhou Enlai, effectively declaring war on the KMT.
During this uprising, Liu was appointed the first chief of staff of the newly born Chinese Red Army. However, after a series of defeats Liu's forces were destroyed, and its leaders went underground. In 1927 Liu was selected to travel to Moscow, where he mastered Russian and attended the prestigious M. V. Frunze Military Academy. While studying in the Soviet Union he learned conventional, Western-style military tactics. While in Russia he translated a Russian textbook into Chinese, Combined Arms Tactics, and produced a commentary of Sun Tzu's Art of War, both of which promoted conventional tactics. Later on, Liu gave a lecture on the subject at the 6th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, which was held in Moscow.
In the summer of 1930, Liu was sent back to China and was appointed as commissioner of the Central Military Committee of the CCP as well as Military Secretary of the Yangtze River division of the CCP. In December 1930, Liu went to Shanghai to assist Zhou Enlai in the daily administration of CCP military affairs.
In 1931, the CCP suffered great losses in several major cities and was forced to retreat to the countryside. Liu was sent to the Central Soviet Territory, the CCP's power base in Jiangxi. In January 1932, Liu was appointed president and commissar of the Red Army Military Academy. By October he was promoted to Chief of Staff of the Red Army, assisting Zhu De and Zhou in the war against Chiang Kai-shek's 4th Suppression on the Central Soviet Territory.
At the time, members of the 28 Bolsheviks, including Bo Gu, Zhang Wentian, and Otto Braun (also known by his Chinese name, Li De), the Military Advisor of Comintern, took control of military command and Party leadership. All three were educated in Moscow, and Liu found common ground with these young men. During his time in the Jiangxi-Fujian Soviet (and during the subsequent Long March) Liu experienced conflicts with other CCP leaders, including Mao Zedong and Peng Dehuai.
Liu's conflict with Mao may partly be due to Liu's support for conventional tactics, which contradicted Mao's advocacy of guerrilla warfare. According to a later account by Zhang Guotao, Liu described Mao as being a "pedant", and resented Mao's tendency to micromanage his military officers, rather than delegating authority to Red Army's general staff. Peng once led his troops during a siege of Guangchang under the orders of Bo and Li De, which resulted in the troops suffering heavy casualties. Peng blamed this on his army's inferior weaponry and resources. Peng was known for being outspoken and bad-tempered. After the battle Peng became furious, leading him into direct conflict with Liu.
Liu grew to oppose the leadership of Bo and Braun later, after the Red Army began to suffer repeated defeats. In the Red Army's endeavour against the KMT's Fifth Encirclement Campaign, Liu was demoted to Chief of Staff of the 5th Field Army following his dissidence with Bo and Braun. Bo and Braun led by way of doctrine and extremism, and the Red Army waged a face-to-face general war against the better-equipped and larger KMT army. Failure was inevitable; the CCP had to retreat from its territory to seek refuge, marking the beginning of the Long March.
During the Long March, near the end of 1934, Liu was reappointed as Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army and commander of Central Column, which consisted of the majority of the CCP senior leaders, such as Bo, Braun, Zhou and Mao. Liu led the army across the Wu River and took control of Zunyi, a county of Guizhou province. It was in this small city that the famous Zunyi Conference was held in January 1935. During this conference, Liu and most of the attendees showed their support for Mao.
As a result of this conference, Bo, who was then Braun's command in military, was replaced by a new three-man team consisting of Mao, Zhou and Wang Jiaxiang. Later on, Liu assisted Mao and Zhu across the Red Water River four times. Liu himself led troops in the takeover of the Jiaopin ferry, securing the route across the Jinsha River for the major troops. In May, Liu was appointed commander of the vanguard and worked with commissar Nie Rongzhen on securing the route for the remaining troops. When his army entered the ethnic settlement areas, Liu pledged brotherhood with Xiao Yedan, a chieftain of the local Yi ethnicity, which significantly reduced the minorities' hostility towards the CCP. Liu then led the 1st Division of the Red Army across the Dadu River, where Chiang plotted to have the CCP armies annihilated, in the same manner as Shi Dakai and his army's road to perdition almost a century before.
When Mao's 1st Red Army later united with Zhang Guotao's 4th Red Army, Liu stayed Chief of Staff. During a dispute between Mao and Zhang over major issues, which led to their later split, Liu maintained his support for Mao. By the time they reached Yan'an, it was obvious that Mao was the winner.