Su Yu (Chinese: 粟裕; pinyin: Sù Yù; August 10, 1907 – February 5, 1984), courtesy name Yu (裕), was a Chinese general of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). He was one of the most prominent Communist commanders during the Chinese Civil War and the Second Sino-Japanese War, and was regarded as one of the PLA's most capable operational commanders. He served as deputy commander and principal operational planner of the East China Field Army under Chen Yi, playing a leading role in several major Communist victories. Su participated in the campaigns of the Chinese Red Army during the 1930s and served with the New Fourth Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. During the Chinese Civil War, he played a central role in the Menglianggu campaign, the Huaihai campaign, the Yangtze River Crossing campaign, and the Shanghai Campaign. His planning and command contributed significantly to the destruction of major Kuomintang forces in eastern China and the Communist victory in the civil war.
After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Su Yu held several senior military positions, including Chief of the General Staff from 1954 to 1958 and vice minister of national defense. He was awarded the rank of general in 1955 and later served in senior positions in the Academy of Military Science, where he contributed to the study and modernization of the PLA.
Su Yu was born on 10 August 1907 in Fengmushujiao Village in Fulong Township, Huitong County, Hunan Province, to an ethnic Dong family. He was the third child among six siblings. Su's father was Su Zhouheng (粟周亨) and his mother was Liang Manmei (梁满妹). He began his education at a traditional private school in 1913, where he studied classical texts such as the Three Character Classic, Hundred Family Surnames, Doctrine of the Mean and Classic of Poetry. In 1918, banditry in rural Huitong forced his family to move to the county seat. Su Yu continued his education at the local Model Primary School and later at a higher primary school. Although he performed well academically, his father required him to manage the family accounts, which disrupted his studies and resulted in him repeating grades.
As a student, Su was influenced by growing opposition to the Beiyang warlord forces stationed in the area. In January 1924, he left home and moved to Changde, where he continued his education. In the spring of 1925, he was admitted to Hunan Provincial Second Normal School in Changde. There, he joined the Students' Association, which was associated with the Chinese Communist movement. During the Northern Expedition, he and other students secretly circulated communist literature and helped raise funds to acquire weapons and ammunition in support of the advancing National Revolutionary Army. In 1926, Su participated in student protests against the expulsion of Teng Daiyuan, an incident that became known as the "Second Normal School Incident". He joined the Chinese Communist Youth League in November 1926 and became a member of the Chinese Communist Party the following year.
In 1927, following the April 12 incident, Su was transferred to Wuchang and assigned to the training unit of the 24th Division under Ye Ting. He received military training and later became a squad leader in the unit’s guard force. He participated in the Nanchang Uprising on 1 August 1927 and subsequently accompanied the communist forces southward. He took part in several battles in Jiangxi and Guangdong before joining Zhu De’s forces in southern Hunan, where he served as a company political instructor and participated in the Xiangnan Uprising and local land reform.
In April 1928, Su reached Jinggangshan, where Zhu De’s forces joined Mao Zedong’s troops to form the Fourth Army of the Chinese Red Army. He subsequently held several company-level command and political positions. In 1929, he was tasked with protecting Mao while he conducted political investigations in western Fujian. By 1930, Su had risen to command a detachment of the 12th Red Army and participated in military operations against Nationalist forces, including the second attempt to capture Changsha. From 1930, he held increasingly senior command positions in the Red Army. He served as commander of the 64th Division during the First and Second Encirclement Campaigns and participated in the Third Encirclement Campaign. In 1931, he became chief of staff of the Fourth Army and later commanded the Red Army’s Training Division.
In 1933, Su Yu was appointed chief of staff of the 11th Red Army. He was seriously wounded in the left arm during the Battle of Xiaoshi in Jiangxi that year, leaving his left arm permanently disabled. In 1934, he became chief of staff of the Red 10th Army Corps. Following its defeat at Huaiyu Mountain, Su led a small force to break through the encirclement and subsequently conducted guerrilla warfare in southwestern Zhejiang. In January 1935, he became commander of the newly formed Vanguard Division, which established a guerrilla base in the region.
After the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, Su joined the New Fourth Army and became deputy commander of its Second Detachment. He led a successful ambush against Japanese forces in southern Jiangsu during the Battle of Weigang in June 1938, which became his first victory against the Japanese. In 1939, he continued to command successful ambushes at Japanese forces in Shuiyang, Hengshan, Guandoumen and Litouqiao.
In 1940, he moved his forces into northern Jiangsu and helped establish the Subei (Northern Jiangsu) anti-Japanese base area in Jiangsu. He commanded the Battle of Huangqiao in October, defeating a major Nationalist force and strengthening the New Fourth Army's position in the region. In March 1944, Su oversaw the Battle of Cheqiao, a major victory against Japanese and collaborationist forces. The battle strengthened Communist control in central Jiangsu and was followed by a series of further offensives that reportedly eliminated more than 50,000 Japanese and collaborationist troops and captured or forced the abandonment of more than 60 strongpoints
In December 1944, Su led the main force of the New Fourth Army’s 1st Division across the Yangtze River and became commander and political commissar of the Su-Zhe (Jiangsu-Zhejiang) Military Region, later also serving as secretary of the Su-Zhe Regional Party Committee. He consolidated the Communist anti-Japanese bases in southern Jiangsu and eastern Zhejiang, and established a new base in western Zhejiang. From March to June 1945, New Fourth Army forces fought three engagements against Nationalist forces in the Tianmu Mountain region of western Zhejiang, particularly around Xiaofeng (present-day Anji County). All three ended in victories for the New Fourth Army. The campaigns demonstrated Su’s ability to transition from guerrilla warfare to large-scale conventional operations and were regarded by the Communist leadership as an important example of field command. Mao Zedong reportedly praised Su Yu’s military ability, predicting that he could eventually command an army of 400,000–500,000 troops.
After Japan's surrender in August 1945, Su Yu anticipated that renewed conflict between the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party was likely. He argued that Communist forces should withdraw from southern Jiangsu and establish new bases farther north. In October, he led more than 65,000 troops from the Su-Zhe Military Region across the Yangtze River into central Jiangsu. He subsequently became commander of the Central Jiangsu Military Region and helped reorganize the Central China Field Army.
After negotiations between the Kuomintang and Communist Party broke down, Su advocated fighting the Nationalist forces within the Communist-controlled areas of central Jiangsu. From July to August 1946, he commanded the Central Jiangsu Campaign, consisting of seven major engagements. The campaign resulted in more than 53,000 Nationalist casualties or captures and became known as the "Seven Victories in Seven Battles of Central Jiangsu." In December 1946, he commanded Communist forces in the Battle of Northern Jiangsu, destroying the headquarters and most of three and a half brigades of the Nationalist 69th Division. In January 1947, he commanded the Lunan Campaign in southern Shandong, in which Communist forces defeated several Nationalist formations, including the 26th Division and First Rapid Column. More than 53,000 Nationalist troops were reported killed or captured, along with large quantities of equipment, including 24 tanks and 217 artillery pieces.