Liu Zhidan (1903-1936)

Senior General of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' of Red Army; one of the earliest founders of the Northwest Red Army and the Northwest Revolutionary Base Area. Original given name Liu Jinggui, his courtesy name was Zhidan, he was born in Baoan County (currently Zhidan County named to honour his merits), Shaanxi Province. In 1922, he was admitted to Yulin Middle School of Lianxian County in Northern Shaanxi Province. He actively carried out various revolutionary activities in the school. For a period he was the chairman of the Student Autonomy Federation, organized and led the student movement. In the winter of 1924, he joined the Chinese Socialist Youth League and became one of the first members of it in Yuzhong. In the spring of 1925, he became a member of the Communist Party of China. In the same year, he entered the Fourth Phase of the Huangpu Military Academy.

After graduating the Fourth Phase of the Huangpu Military Academy in the autumn of 1926, he participated in the Northern Expedition War (1924-1927), as the CPC representative. He successively served as the Director of the Organizational Section of the General Political Department of the Second Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army, as the instructor of Xi'an Sun Yat-sen (Zhongshan) University, and the Director of Political Department of the Fourth Route Army attached to the National Revolutionary Army, he took an active part in the battles against the Northern Warlords. After the April 12 Incident in 1927, Liu, as a Communist, fled from Nationalist Feng's army and joined the armed struggle of the CPC. After the failure of the Great Revolution in 1927, he traveled to Hubei, Anhui, Shaanxi and other provinces, engaged in organizing local uprisings, and later served as the secret courier and transport work of the Shaanxi Provincial Committee of the CPC, he traveled back and forth between Shanghai, Henan and Shaanxi. In early 1928, he led a group of cadres to the Henan-Shaanxi border region to promote and lead the peasant movement and he trained the backbone of the local Red Guards in this region. He participated in leading the Weihua Uprising in April and was subsequently appointed as the chairman of the Military Commission of the Northwest Workers' and Peasants’ Revolutionary Army. After the defeat of the Weihua Uprising, he returned to Northern Shaanxi and was appointed as the secretary of the Military Commission of the Special Committee of the CPC in Northern Shaanxi. He was ordered to infiltrate into some warlord troops and bandit groups in Northern Shaanxi and in the border Regions of Shaanxi and Gansu to carry out military operations and organize new revolutionary armed forces, he served successively as battalion, regiment and brigade commander. In September 1931, Liu Zhidan and Xie Zichang incorporated the Western Shanxi guerrilla. In September 1931, Liu Zhidan and Xie Zichang incorporated the Western Shanxi guerrilla brigade into the Shaanxi-Gansu guerrilla corps of the Chinese Red Army of Workers and Peasants, which was known as the Northwest Anti-Japanese and Anti-imperialist United Army, for a period of time.

In 1932, Xie Zichang and his troops moved to the Shaanxi-Gansu border region, to open up Shaanxi-Gansu border Soviet region centered around Zhaojin and Nanliang, in this period. Du Heng, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee of the CPC, pursued the wrong “Left” policy, which caused serious losses to the established base areas and the Red Army; in October 1933, Liu Zhidan arrived in Zhaojin and was appointed as the Deputy Commander and as the Chief of staff at the Provisional Headquarters of the Red Army in Shaanxi-Gansu Border Region against Shanxi Army, and under his command a series of battle victories were won.

Since November, he successively served as the Chief of staff of the 42nd Division of the 26th Red Army; his troops cooperate with local armed forces in carrying out guerrilla warfare, this joint warfare expanded the Shaanxi-Gansu border base region and promoting the development of the revolutionary situation in the Northwest China. In autumn 1935, he served as the Deputy Commander and Chief of the staff of the 15th Red Army. In this period the Red Army was reorganized as the 15th Legion, consisted of the 25th, 26th, and 27th armies, totaling more than seven thousand regular troops. Later, he was stigmatized amd detained by “Left” opportunist group, unjustly arrested he stayed in prison until Mao Zedong and others arrived at northern Shaanxi, after which he was released. After the release, he served as the Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Commission of the Northwest, an the Deputy director of the Rear Forces Headquarter (Wayaobu Garrison) and later as the commander in chief of the North Route Army, and commander of the 28th Red Army. He led the Eastern Expedition in 1936 which fought against the Japanese aggressors, he was 33 years old when he was killed in the battle of Sanjiao Town, Zhongyang County, in Shanxi Province.

His main works are collected in Selected Works of Liu Zhidan.