Chen Changhao

Chen Changhao (; 18 September 1906 – 30 July 1967) was a member of the 28 Bolsheviks and an important military figure of Zhang Guotao's 4th Red Army from Hanyang, Wuhan. Chen had also been known as Cangmu.

Biography Chen had a childhood education that engraved his solid foundation in Sinology. In 1926, he was able to enroll into the Central China Normal University and in 1927 transferred to the Wuhan University. In the same year, he joined the Communist Youth League of China and following the White Terror in 1927, he enrolled himself to the Moscow Sun Yat-sen University in December. During his stay in Moscow, he became close associates with Wang Ming, Bo Gu and others would later form the 28 Bolsheviks.

Together with Shen Zemin and Shen Demin, he returned to China on 14 November 1930, delivering the Comintern's October letter to Wang Ming. Wang, Chen, and the rest of the 28 Bolsheviks set out to oust Li Lisan from his dominant position in the CCP. They succeeded in doing so at the Fourth Plenary Session in early 1931. The Central Committee then assigned Chen to go with Shen Zemin and Zhang Guotao to take charge of the Eyuwan Soviet, a soviet on the border between Hubei, Henan, and Anhui provinces. They were tasked with bringing the soviet under closer central control. Conflict quickly erupted between the new leadership and the Communists native to the Eyuwan region. In November, Zhang Gutao got Chen appointed Political Commissar of The Red Fourth Army and together they conducted a major purge. Between 2,500 and 10,000 people were purged over the next two years for "counter-revolutionary" activities. Key founders of the Red Forth Army, such as Xu Jishen and Zhou Weijiong, were among those purged.

In November 1931, during the battle of Huang'an, Chen took part in a flight mission over the Nationalist Army on a captured Corsair trainer plane, threw hand grenades' at enemy force below; it's known as the first air operation in the history of Chinese communist force.

On 12 October 1932, Chen and Zhang's Red Fourth Army was forced to leave the Eyuwan Soviet due to a series of military defeats. Consequently, they retreated westwards and set up the Northwest Chinese Soviet Federation. Chen was elected to be an alternate member of the Central Committee in January 1934. to lead an attempt with Xu Xiangqian to open a passage to the USSR. However, after a 4-month battle against the Ma Clique in the Hexi Corridor and facing lack of reinforcements, the West Army was crushed. Chen was able to escape under the cover of wounded of the defeated West Army, and returned safely to Yan'an on 16 March 1937. Due to the start of the Second United Front, he returned to the Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Region in mid August 1937.