One-Eyed Dragon

One of the most arresting figures in the motley hierarchy of Chinese Communism lunged from his lair last week. He was General Liu the One-Eyed Dragon. Liu's life dramatically paces the chronology of China's agony.

The son of Szechuan-born peasants, Liu Po-cheng early became a soldier, fighting the warlords' battles. In one early encounter, he lost an eye and gained his nickname. During the brief marriage of the Kuomintang and the Communists, he fought for Chiang Kaishek. After Chiang split with the Communists, Liu went to the Moscow Military Academy. On the Communists' famous retreat into Shensi (1934-35), Liu negotiated with savage Lolo chieftains to give the Communists safe passage through their forests. To seal their agreement, Liu and the Lolos' high chieftain drank newly killed chicken's blood. They swore, in this ancient feudal ceremony, that whoever broke the agreement would end up like the chicken.

Now Liu Po-cheng is commander of the Communists' Shantung-Shensi-Hopeh-Honan military areas. Chinese Communists, who regard him as a master of mobile warfare, have a new nickname for him: Chang-shen Chiang-chun (Always Victorious General).

Liu's description of his typical guerrilla strategy: "To hold on to a city till death is just the same as carrying a burden. If we do not give up certain cities when necessary, we would be stuck and on the defensive everywhere. If we threw away these burdens when we should, and let Chiang Kai-shek take them up one by one, his burdens will grow until finally he will be unable to walk."

Last week, while Nationalist forces slogged on doggedly toward the seaport of Chefoo, Liu Po-cheng broke loose.

He led 40,000 Communist guerrillas on their deepest raid into Nationalist territory this year, sweeping 300 miles in three weeks. U.S. headlines said that China's capital itself was threatened last week. Nationalist river craft steamed up the Yangtze to see if Liu Po-cheng would attempt a crossing; night guards carefully checked all vehicles entering Nanking. But the city itself was undisturbed, and the city gates were still open.

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