Lü Zhengcao

Lü Zhengcao (4 January 1904 – 13 October 2009) was a Chinese military officer and politician. Originally a follower of Northeastern warlord Zhang Xueliang, he became one of the founding Shang Jiang of the People's Liberation Army, and would go on to hold several important posts in military transportation and the railway industry for the People's Republic of China.

Early life Lü was born in Haicheng, in the province of Liaoning. He joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1937. He fought in China's war against Japan 1937–1945 as well as the civil war against the Kuomintang from 1945 to 1949.

In the spring of 1922, 17-year-old Lü Zhengcao, through the introduction of a distant relative, came to Shenyang to join the Northeastern Army, serving in the 9th Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment of Zhang Xueliang's Guard Brigade. Soon after, the Guard Brigade Headquarters started recruiting clerks, and Lü, who had only attended primary school, was selected by the examiners and transferred to the brigade's adjutant's office as a clerk with the rank of Sergeant. The young man was composed, articulate, and had neat and beautiful handwriting, deeply impressing Zhang Xueliang. In the winter of 1923, recommended by Zhang Xueliang, he passed the entrance exam for the fifth term of the Northeast Military Academy. After graduating in 1925, Lü Zhengcao served as a company commander, battalion commander, and a chief adjutant with the rank of Major in the Northeastern Army. In 1929, he was made Chief of Staff of the 16th Brigade with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

In the spring of 1934, his 647th Regiment moved to Beiping to take charge of the city's defense. At the time, Japanese troops stationed in Dongjiaomin Lane constantly provoked the city defense forces, attempting to find an excuse to seize Beiping's defenses, but were repeatedly met with resolute resistance from Lü's troops. In June 1935, Bai Jianwu, the commander of the armored car unit who had defected to hostile units under Shi Yousan, colluded with the invaders in an attempt to use armored cars to rush through the breach in the city wall east of Yongdingmen and seize Beiping in a coordinated attack. Shells landed in Beiping, causing panic among the citizens. Upon learning of the situation, Lü Zhengcao immediately led his troops by car to the breach at the old city wall to block the rebels. They shelled the armored vehicles, forcing the rebels to retreat. He then dispatched troops to Fengtai to cut off their retreat, launching a pincer attack that annihilated their entire force. This event was later known to historians as the "Beiping Incident".

Before he joined the Communists, Lieutenant Colonel Lü became the secretary and chief adjutant to the Kuomintang general, Zhang Xueliang, and was designated the Director of Zhang's Tongze Club, a famous social and entertainment venue. As Zhang's assistant, he frequently accompanied him to various social problem research meetings, scientific and current affairs lectures, reading groups, and travel groups organized by the Fengtian YMCA. Lü also persisted in learning English, playing tennis, and came into contact with some progressive youths and many progressive books promoting revolution. It was in this role that he was a witness to the Xi'an Incident, whereby Zhang and his fellow general, Yang Hucheng, forced the then-Chinese leader, Chiang Kai-shek, to suspend the civil war with the Communists in 1936 in order and join forces against the Japanese. While commanding the 647th Regiment (According to other sources, he was the head of the 691st Regiment at the time.)

On April 1, 1944, the Jin-Sui Branch of the CCP Central Committee decided to establish an Audit Committee, with Lü Zhengcao serving as its chairman. On the same day, the Audit Committee issued the "Audit Regulations", which stipulated the audit objectives, organization and authority, budget and final accounts audits, as well as audit procedures for grain and fodder, clothing, foreign exchange, and handover. From December 1945 onwards, he served as a standing member of the CCP Central Committee's West Manchuria Branch Bureau and Commander of the West Manchuria Military Region, comprising Liaoning and Rehe.

Chinese Civil War In June 1946, he was ordered to lead troops into the Northeast and transferred to the post of Deputy Commander of the Northeast Democratic Allied Army as well as heading of the Songhua River Defense Command, and in the following months, was made Vice Director of the Northeast Railway General Bureau, concurrently Deputy Commander and Director of the Northeast Railway Protection Corps' Political Department. When the Allied Army was renamed the Northeast People's Liberation Army in January 1948, Lü became Vice Director of the People's Revolutionary Military Commission's Railway Department. In the late 1940s, he was designated the Minister of Railways of the Chinese Communists' Northeast Administrative Committee (later renamed the Northeast People's Government).

To tap into potential and improve transportation capacity, Lü Zhengcao led the Northeast Railway Bureau in carrying out the "Resurrect Dead Locomotives" and "Bring Dead Trains Back to Life" campaigns. By the time of the Liaoshen Campaign, the Northeast Liberated Zone had received and repaired 885 locomotives and over 5,700 kilometers of rail, bringing the total operational length to 9,818 kilometers, accounting for 98% of the Northeast's railway network. In Northeast China, Japanese locomotives used a wheel-and-rider system, while Soviet locomotives used a crew-and-rider system, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. After comparative testing at two depots, practice proved that, under the conditions at the time, the crew-and-rider system was far superior to the wheel-and-rider system - the content of an article Lü penned. Receiving Mao Zedong's praise, he responded, "Much of what I said was layman's talk." Mao smiled and said, "Even laymen can become experts!"

During this time, Lü Zhengcao led the staff of the Railway Bureau and the population to support the Liaoxi front, risking their lives to covertly transport nearly 100,000 troops and a large amount of combat supplies to the front in just nine days using 64 military trains. Hostile aircraft were frequently flying at night, so the transport operation was conducted without lights. Despite the perilous and difficult conditions, including torrential rains and floodings in certain sections, no accidents occurred, ensuring the final victory of the Liaoshen Campaign. As town after town fell, captured Kuomintang commanders were utterly bewildered: "When you launched your attack, we had no idea where your troops came from!"

Lü was promoted to Vice Minister of Railways with four others. As Deputy Commander of the Railway Corps of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (a unit directly attached to the General Headquarters), Commander of Military Transportation of the Central Military Commission and Director of Military Transportation of the General Staff Department, he was a leading figure in organizing and transporting provisions to the front during the Korean War.

Then, he participated in the research and formulation of the national "First Five-Year Plan" for railway construction, and partook in the leadership of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge project, which boasts many world-leading technologies. Lü Zhengcao also directed to completion a series of trunk and branch railway projects, including the Chengyu, Tianlan, Xianggui, Lanxin, Baocheng, Fengsha, and Yingxia lines. At the National Railway Leadership Conference held from 16 to 18 November 1958, Lü established the transportation policy of "taking coal transportation as the key link, vigorously supporting agriculture, ensuring key priorities, and making comprehensive arrangements" and the infrastructure policy of "combining traditional and modern methods, integrating large, medium, and small projects, consolidating the foundation and simplifying the branches, and strengthening the trunk and weakening the branches." On 5 November 1964, the Ministry of National Defense appointed Lü Zhengcao as the First Political Commissar of the Railway Corps. In January 1965, at the 3rd National People's Congress, Liu Shaoqi, Chairman of the People's Republic of China, appointed him the Minister of Railways. From the second half of 1958, when Teng Daiyuan took sick leave, until early 1965 when he was officially appointed Minister of Railways, Lü had presided over the work of the Ministry in the capacity of Acting Minister and then Interim Minister. This body was created in 1964 to supervise railroad development during the Third Front construction of basic industry and national defense industry in China's rugged interior in preparation for potential invasion by the United States or the Soviet Union.

Later life In 1985, to support the return of the critically endangered Père David's deer to China, Lü Zhengcao helped found and chair the China Milu Foundation, now known as the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation. On 23 September 1990, he was awarded the International Tennis Federation's highest honor, the Medal of Honor, by the President of the International Tennis Federation, Philippe Chatrier.