Li Desheng - Pre- and Post-Liberation

Pre- and Post-Liberation

Li was a regiment supply section political instructor in 1934 and a platoon leader in 1937. He participated in the Long March and the Hubei-Henan-Anhui revolutionary bases. During the war against Japan, Li rose from platoon commander in 1937 to company commander in 1938, battalion commander in 1939-43, and regiment commander in 1943-45, all under the leadership of the 129th Division's Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping. Li was the 17th Brigade Commander from 1946–49, and served in the Central Plains Field Army during the Huaihai Campaign. Before the post-liberation reorganization, in which the 17th Brigade reemerged as the 12th Corps of the 2nd Field Army, Li led his 35th Division into the 1951-53 Korean War, rising to the rank of Division Commander. After the Korean War, Li was promoted to major general and returned to Anhui Province in the Nanjing Military Region. Li became Deputy Commander, and later Commander, of what eventually became the Jiangsu-based 12th Group Army. Li rose to the rank of Deputy Commander of the Nanjing Military Region in 1968-70.