Competing on "Another Battlefield" — A Glimpse of the People's Army's Athletic Competitions

Competing on "Another Battlefield" — A Glimpse of the People's Army's Athletic Competitions

■ Fan Jianghuai

Throughout the history of the People's Army, athletic competitions of varied forms and scales have left deep impressions on many officers and soldiers. These sports meets, held in both wartime and peacetime, not only laid the cornerstone for the development of Chinese sports but also tempered the fighting spirit and courage (血性胆气) of officers and soldiers, playing an active role in advancing the combat capability building of the troops.

I

On May 30, 1933, the sky was clear and a gentle breeze blew. That day, the Red Army Square at Yeping in Ruijin, Jiangxi, was filled with the clamor of crowds, as the people of the Soviet area from miles around beamed with joy.

At around six o'clock in the afternoon, golden sunlight bathed the Red Army Square as the First Athletic Games of the Chinese Soviet Republic opened grandly to warm applause.

To commemorate the eighth anniversary of the May Thirtieth Movement, from May 30 to June 3, 1933, the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic held the First Athletic Games at the Red Army Square in Yeping, Ruijin — also known as the "May Thirtieth" Red Athletic Games. This meet was the largest, highest-level, and most far-reaching comprehensive sports event of the Central Soviet Area period. More than 180 athletes participated from the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Army Groups, the organs of the Central Government, and subordinate counties and cities in Jiangxi and Fujian, competing across 18 events including football, basketball, tennis, track and field, and military sports.

Before this athletic games, the Red Army had already held many sports meets: on May 4, 1932, to celebrate the victory of the Zhangzhou Campaign, the General Political Department of the Red Army held a "Red May" sports meet in Zhangzhou, Fujian; on September 4, 1932, the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army School held a grand sports meet near Ruijin on the 17th anniversary of the "September Fourth" International Youth Day… According to incomplete statistics, the Red Army held hundreds of sports meets of varying scales in revolutionary base areas and during the Long March — an extremely rare phenomenon in the history of Chinese sports development.

In an era of incessant warfare, the sports meets that the Red Army held in the intervals between battles, adapted to local conditions, had a distinctive character: some were held to commemorate major holidays and anniversaries — such as "May First," "July First," "August First," the "September Fourth" International Youth Day, the anniversary of the October Revolution, and the anniversary of the May Thirtieth Movement — while others were held to celebrate battlefield victories, such as the Zhangzhou Campaign, victories in the counter-"encirclement and suppression" campaigns, and the victory of the Long March.

At the time of the First Athletic Games of the Chinese Soviet Republic, Comrade Mao Zedong inscribed the words: "Forge the iron sinews and bones of the working and peasant classes; defeat all enemies." This inscription defined the Soviet area's red sports policy (赤色体育方针) of "developing the red sports movement (赤色体育运动), cultivating the collective spirit and strong physique of the workers and peasants, and meeting the needs of class struggle," and became a mobilization order calling on all Red Army officers and soldiers to build strong bodies and fight the enemy with valor.

After the outbreak of the full-scale War of Resistance Against Japan, at the First Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region War Mobilization Athletic Games held in Yan'an on August 1, 1937, Comrade Mao Zedong issued a resolute call to the entire Party and Army: at this moment when North China is in crisis and the Chinese nation has reached its final hour, the holding of this war mobilization athletic games is of the utmost significance. This athletic games of ours is not merely a sports competition — it must also mobilize us for the War of Resistance. To defend the nation and defend our territory, we must mobilize the entire nation. He put forward the call to "build strong bodies to fight the Japanese," vividly demonstrating the Chinese nation's resolve and will to carry the War of Resistance through to the end.

These athletic competitions not only promoted the development of sports in our army and built the physical strength of officers and soldiers to defeat the enemy, but also time and again stirred up a red revolutionary tide in the revolutionary base areas, inspiring the courage and confidence of the broad masses of soldiers and civilians to overcome the enemy, and forging the red sports spirit (赤色体育精神) of sports serving revolutionary victory and serving national liberation and rejuvenation.

II

"Sons of the nation, warriors of the revolution — come, let us show our mettle! Make the international bandits and their bloody fascism tremble before us!"

This was the anthem of the "September First" Expanded Athletic Games held in Yan'an in September 1942. At this comprehensive sports event, the broad masses of soldiers and civilians sang the most stirring battle hymn, and in doing so interpreted the core purpose of our army's various athletic competitions.

At the sports meets of varying scales held during the revolutionary war years, the competition events included both track and field events such as the high jump, long jump, and 100-meter dash, and ball sports such as football, volleyball, basketball, and table tennis. Among the events that were invariably included were military sports (军事体育项目) applicable on the battlefield, such as shooting, grenade throwing, bayonet fighting, saber drill, and obstacle course. Every athletic games was both a competition in which officers and soldiers strove with all their might and a review of military training results.

After the Xi'an Incident, the Nationalist Party and the Communist Party cooperated once again. In order to review the results of military training and physical conditioning, and to display to the outside world our army's excellent combat style and spirit of unity and cooperation, the 15th Army Group held an all-corps athletic games beginning May 9, 1937, lasting nearly two weeks. Events included saber drill, obstacle course, armed running, equestrian, slide, swing, vaulting horse, horizontal and parallel bars, foot races, basketball, and volleyball.

After the competition began, Nationalist Northeast Army troops, who had set aside past grievances with the Red Army to jointly resist foreign aggression, also sent representatives to participate in some events. In the armed running competition, soldiers of the 72nd Division of the 15th Army Group, in full combat gear, easily completed 35 laps — approximately 6.5 kilometers — in one hour; the Northeast Army's competitors also completed 35 laps in full combat gear in just over an hour, but nearly all of them collapsed to the ground after crossing the finish line. In the vaulting horse, horizontal and parallel bars, basketball, and volleyball events, the Northeast Army's competitors and teams also lost to the 15th Army Group across the board. After the competition, the Northeast Army accepted defeat wholeheartedly, lavishing praise on the tenacious fighting spirit of the 15th Army Group's competing officers and soldiers, and expressing even greater admiration for the results of the 15th Army Group's two months of consolidated training. Three months later, the 15th Army Group was reorganized into the 344th Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army.

At the athletic games, officers and soldiers closely integrated sports competition with military skills, using the fighting spirit of fearlessness before a powerful enemy and the courage to compete, and using unyielding, skilled, and consummate competitive abilities, to display to the outside world our army's iron and blood military spirit (铁血军魂) of daring to fight and being certain of victory, raising the individual and team combat capabilities of the troops, and effectively achieving the goal of militarizing sports (体育运动军事化).

Commander-in-Chief Zhu De once presented a pennant to the "Combat Basketball Team" of the Eighth Route Army's 120th Division, inscribed with the words: "Champions on the court, warriors on the battlefield," commending their fighting spirit of excelling on the playing field and displaying heroism on the battlefield. In those tumultuous years thick with the smoke of gunpowder, many officers and soldiers were just like the players of the "Combat Basketball Team" — fighting tenaciously on the playing field to win championships, and fighting heroically on the battlefield to become heroes — a perfect embodiment of the union of the sports spirit and the fighting spirit.

— The Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army Model 5th Regiment participated in the Red Athletic Games held in August 1933, winning first place overall in nearly 30 events across various categories, and was awarded the honorary title "Model Red 5th Regiment." This Red Army regiment achieved outstanding athletic results on the playing field and also rendered distinguished service on the battlefield. During the Red Army period and in the subsequent War of Resistance Against Japan, the War of Liberation, and the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, this unit fought across 27 provinces and cities throughout the country as well as northern Korea, engaged in more than 3,000 major battles and engagements, annihilated more than 200,000 enemy troops, was awarded the title "Iron Army" by the 1st Army Group, and produced 13 heroic collectives — including the "Pingxingguan Battle Assault Company" and the "Gong Zimei Hero Squad" — as well as 27 heroic model individuals.

— Zhang Yeguang was the deputy regimental commander of a certain unit of the Eighth Route Army and also the captain of that unit's football team. In 1941, at a time when Japanese forces in the Shandong region were frequently conducting "mopping-up" operations and blockades against the base areas, the Eighth Route Army unit in which he served was surrounded by Japanese forces attacking from five directions in Ju County, Shandong. Zhang Yeguang, known on the football pitch as "the man who never tires," led a group of Eighth Route Army soldiers on a night forced march of 70 kilometers, successfully breaking through the Japanese encirclement and smashing the enemy's scheme. During the War of Liberation, Zhang Yeguang pushed his running ability to the utmost, leading his troops to pursue the enemy on foot for more than 60 kilometers, and ultimately used a single company to annihilate an enemy battalion, creating a case study of defeating a superior force with an inferior one.

— Shi Zhenhua was a regimental chief of staff in the Taiyue Column and also a basketball player capable of both stealing and shooting. In the battle to attack Zhangzi City during the Shangdang Campaign in September 1945, Shi Zhenhua carried forward the fighting spirit of daring to contest and charge, capable of both offense and defense, that he had shown on the court. With extraordinary courage in leading from the front and outstanding military organizational and command ability, he led officers and soldiers in repelling 13 enemy counterattacks. During the battle, Shi Zhenhua was heroically wounded but refused to leave the front line, persisting until the battle was won. After the Shangdang Campaign, Shi Zhenhua was awarded the honorary title "Combat Hero."

III

Whether in the Soviet areas, the border regions, or the liberated areas, whenever an athletic games was held, the surrounding villages for miles around became lively, filled with a festive atmosphere. Although the main actors of the athletic games were the competing athletes, such events allowed everyone to participate, sharing the joy and vitality that sports brought, and deepening solidarity between officers and soldiers and between the military and the people.

In the early summer of 1933, to commemorate the first Army Day of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, to review and advance the troops' military, political, and cultural studies, and to more broadly unite the laboring masses and carry out combat mobilization to smash the enemy's fifth "encirclement and suppression" campaign, the Central Red Army decided to hold a Red Athletic Games in Tengtian, Yongfeng County, Jiangxi. This was the largest comprehensive and independent sports event held after the founding of the 1st Front Army, and it played a major role in promoting the vigorous development of Red Army sports.

The intensive preparatory period for this athletic games fell in summer. The local workers and peasants, undeterred by the heat, actively threw themselves into the arduous work of constructing the venues and making preparations. Tengtian was the main venue for this Red Athletic Games, and more than 2,000 local workers and peasants participated in building the main venue. Together with Red Army officers and soldiers, they used locally produced timber, moso bamboo, and other materials to make simple sports equipment such as basketball hoops and volleyball nets, successfully completing a series of preparatory tasks including venue construction, equipment preparation, and logistical support, laying a solid foundation for the successful holding of the athletic games.

During the holding of these athletic games, local armed forces and workers and peasants were not merely spectators — they were also competing athletes. In July 1933, after the Fujian Red Army achieved victory in the Yongpingzhai Campaign, it held an unprecedented grand Fujian Military Region Athletic Games.

Participants included officers and soldiers from the 12th Army Group, the Fujian Military Region's directly subordinate units, and other troops, as well as local armed forces and ordinary civilians from the districts of Caici, Jiuxian, Guanzhuang, Yongpu, Chengjiao, and Hongfang. On the opening day of the athletic games, workers and peasants from the surrounding area carried colorful placards reading "Victory in Every Battle" and "Ever-Victorious Red Army," and brought dozens of loads of gifts and prizes — including red pigs, melons and vegetables, straw sandals, and hats — to the venue. In March 1934, during the fifth counter-"encirclement and suppression" campaign, the Hunan-Jiangxi Military Region held a Red Athletic Games in Yongxin City, with more than 1,000 athletes from 28 units participating. Among these competitors were Red Army officers and soldiers, Red Guards (赤卫军), Young Vanguard members (少先队员), and local civilians. At that time, the sports atmosphere in the Soviet areas was vibrant; everyone competed eagerly, the mood was joyful, and a heroic spirit of military-civilian unity and shared fate was forged. On September 1, 1942, the "September First" Expanded Athletic Games was held at the Youth Athletic Field in Dabiangou, Yan'an. The competition was divided into three categories: men's, women's, and youth. Participants included athletes selected from Yan'an's various organs, schools, factories, and military units, as well as athletes from the border region's various prefectural administrations and counties; in addition, the Eighth Route Army's 120th Division and the Shanxi New Army also sent competing athletes, making it an unprecedented "expanded athletic games" with mass participation… The athletic games not only brought joy to all but also strengthened military-civilian relations, deepened military-civilian solidarity, and inspired everyone's courage and determination to jointly defeat the enemy.

At these athletic games, we can also see unforgettable scenes such as the following. At the Red Athletic Games held in August 1933, Mao Zedong served as a referee for table tennis; Zhu De organized a team and competed against ordinary soldiers on the basketball court; Chen Yi participated in the chess competition and won first place… In competitions where officers and soldiers competed together and the military and civilians competed together, not only were outstanding athletic results achieved, but the spirit of equality and solidarity between officers and soldiers and between the military and civilians, and the spirit of cooperation with one heart from top to bottom, were also demonstrated.

Fertile soil nurtures fine timber; a mighty army produces fierce generals. In order to better forge the spirit of unity and cooperation among the troops' officers and soldiers, many athletic games set only collective honor awards for team champions in their competition events. Particularly during the various major military skills competitions held during the War of Liberation, the collective competition results of squads, platoons, and even companies were given special emphasis. Thanks to this distinctive competition mechanism, our army's revolutionary heroism and collectivism were well cultivated through sports competition, forging one after another iron and blood elite force (铁血劲旅) that charged forward bravely to win victory on the battlefield of blood and fire.

IV

A victorious army that has passed through suffering and glory needs an athletic games to celebrate victory and invigorate the military spirit. After the founding of New China, holding a fully realized All-Army Athletic Games became the aspiration of officers and soldiers throughout the army, and was gradually placed on the Central Military Commission's work agenda.

On May 9, 1952, with the Korean War situation basically stabilized and domestic economic construction in full swing, the General Staff Department and the General Political Department of the Central Military Commission jointly issued instructions to convene an All-Army Athletic Games to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the August First Army Day. This is what we commonly refer to as the First All-Army Games.

On the afternoon of August 1, 1952, the Athletic Games Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the August First Army Day and the First All-Army Games opened grandly in Beijing.

The First All-Army Games featured 45 competition events, including military events such as obstacle course, grenade throwing, and 500-meter armed running, as well as sports events such as track and field, gymnastics, weightlifting, swimming, cycling, basketball, volleyball, football, and baseball, and 42 demonstration events including aerobatic flying, water sports, equestrian, motorcycle, and group calisthenics. Nearly 2,000 athletes from delegations representing the Northwest Military Region, the Southwest Military Region, the East China Military Region, the Central-South Military Region, the Northeast Military Region, the North China Military Region, the Military Academy, Air Force units, Navy units, Public Security Force units, Central Military Commission directly subordinate units, and the Chinese People's Volunteer Army on the Korean War front participated in this sports event that drew the attention of the entire nation.

Over the course of the eleven-day competition, we saw young officers and soldiers who had just brushed away the smoke of the battlefield, not forgetting the red sports spirit, fighting tenaciously on the competitive field; we saw 6 battle-hardened veteran Red Army soldiers, their skills undiminished, their heroic spirit as strong as ever; we saw combat heroes who had shed blood on the battlefield still striving to be first on the playing field; we saw 15 senior commanders at the division level and above, veterans of long campaigns with outstanding achievements, leading from the front and charging ahead…

In the revolutionary war years, competing on the playing field was for the purpose of strengthening sinews and bones and building strong bodies, so as to kill the enemy and win battles on the battlefield. In peacetime, the young generation of sports athletes in our army had new competition goals on the competitive field — to scale the heights of sports and win glory for New China. In fierce competition, they broke national records in 7 events: men's high jump, women's long jump, men's 800-meter relay, men's 1,600-meter relay, women's 400-meter relay, women's 800-meter relay, and men's 800-meter freestyle swimming.

The successful holding of the First All-Army Games, with the goals of "selecting outstanding athletes from the troops, reviewing the level of troop training, popularizing sports in the troops, and expanding the political influence of our army," was of epoch-making significance. It played an enormous inspiring and driving role in rapidly stirring up a high tide of sports throughout the army after the founding of New China, sounded the bugle call for the great development of sports throughout the army, and also played an important role in promoting the development of China's sports cause — it was not until May 1959, after the conclusion of the Second All-Army Games, that our country held the First National Games in September of that same year.

The All-Army Games was the first nationwide comprehensive athletic competition held after the founding of New China, accumulating valuable experience for the subsequent holding of the National Games and other large-scale sports events. The games selected and cultivated a large number of sports backbone personnel, who later became the core force of the national sports enterprise. The holding of the All-Army Games played a demonstrative and leading role in promoting the institutionalization (制度化), standardization (规范化), and popularization (普及化) of New China's sports enterprise, and its influence ran through the entire process of Chinese sports from its initial steps to its takeoff.

Academic support: Chu Yin