Doctrine Political Work

Officers and Soldiers United, Sharing Hardship and Fortune Together — Inspiring Us to Uphold Our Original Aspiration and Fulfill Our Mission

官兵一致同甘共苦，激励我们守初心、担使命

PLA Daily (解放军报) 12 August 2026

Summary

Writing in PLA media to mark the 90th anniversary of the Long March, author Chen Lumin uses anecdotes about Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, Xu Teli, Lin Boqu, and Deng Liujin to argue that the Long March tradition of 官兵一致 (officer-soldier unity) remains the foundation of troop cohesion and combat effectiveness today. The piece closes with explicit prescriptions for 'New Era' cadres: shed 官架子 (official airs), share hardship before comfort, and listen to soldiers' grievances. This is standard political-work content aimed at junior and mid-grade officers; its value is as a record of how the institution frames the cadre-soldier relationship and cadre conduct norms in the current period, not as evidence of a new policy line or changed command climate.

Translation

"Officers and Soldiers United, Sharing Hardship and Fortune Together"

■ Chen Lumin

● The unity of will forged through the Long March is forever a precious spiritual treasure on the road to strengthening the military.

"Officers and soldiers united, sharing hardship and fortune; revolutionary ideals tower above the heavens." This is a line from the song "Crossing the Snowy Mountains and Grasslands" in the Long March Song Cycle (《长征组歌》). Our military has always emphasized unity between officers and soldiers — complete political equality, sharing the same hardships and fortunes in daily life — forming a new type of officer-soldier relationship that distinguishes it from the old armies. This has been an important guarantee for our military to overcome all manner of difficulties and hardships and to advance from victory to victory, and it was expressed to the fullest on the Long March.

Officers and soldiers united in sharing hardship and fortune is first reflected in the unity of will from top to bottom, in weathering difficulties together, in being of one heart and one mind, and in standing by one another through trials and tribulations. Because of the long marches, day and night without rest, through areas sparsely populated, and compounded by the enemy's frenzied pursuit and encirclement, running out of food and going hungry were frequent occurrences on the Long March. "Wind and rain harden the bones further; wild vegetables fill the stomach and steel the will." When the Red Army was climbing snowy mountains and crossing grasslands, food supplies were nearly exhausted. Under these circumstances, Comrade Zhu De drew thirty personnel from the Military Commission Cadre Regiment to form a wild vegetable survey team, with himself as team leader. When he encountered wild vegetables he did not recognize, he would set them aside, boil them, and taste them himself. Faced with the question of "who eats first," Zhu De said, "I am the team leader; I have the right of priority — I'll eat first." In this way, they found more than a dozen edible wild vegetables and alleviated the food shortage crisis.

But even wild vegetables were eventually exhausted, and conditions became even more dire. In August 1935, the Red Army entered the Songpan Grasslands, where it was said "a man who falls in cannot be seen from the head, a horse that falls in cannot be seen from the neck." Food was completely cut off, wild vegetables were gone, and large numbers of soldiers collapsed from hunger. To save the precious lives of the soldiers, Comrade Peng Dehuai ordered that his riding horse, the big black mule, be slaughtered for food. The big black mule had carried supplies and transported the wounded and sick throughout the march, and the guards could not bear to see it killed. Peng Dehuai said: "The troops can't even find wild vegetables to eat now. Only by slaughtering the animals can we solve the food problem — perhaps more people will be able to walk out of the grasslands." He distributed all the mule meat to the soldiers and did not eat a single bite himself. That mule meat was like charcoal delivered in the snow, helping many soldiers walk out of the grasslands. In order to overcome the hardship of food deprivation, the Red Army's officers and soldiers united their strength and pooled their wisdom, fully demonstrating the political advantage of unity between officers and soldiers in our military.

Officers and soldiers united in sharing hardship and fortune is also reflected in the Red Army's principle of equality for all — no differentiation in treatment by rank, and no one enjoying special privileges. Comrade Xu Teli, who was already over fifty years old during the Long March and was the oldest member of the Red Army ranks, marched alongside everyone else just like an ordinary soldier, holding a self-made walking stick. Comrade Lin Boqu, who was nearly fifty and in relatively poor health, was assigned a horse by the organization, but he rarely rode it, instead marching continuously with a walking stick in hand and a small horse lantern in the other to light the way for everyone. It was precisely this spirit of equality for all and unity between officers and soldiers that became an important foundation for the Red Army to consolidate its strength and find a way out of desperate straits on the extraordinarily arduous Long March.

Officers and soldiers united in sharing hardship and fortune is equally reflected in the Red Army's collectivist spirit and comradeship — living and dying together, standing by one another through adversity. Comrade Mao Zedong once pointed out: "All people in the revolutionary ranks must care for each other, love each other, and help each other." During the Long March, Deng Liujin, a female Red Army soldier who had served as head of the Women's Department of the Fujian Provincial Soviet, worked in the Cadre Convalescent Company. On one occasion, while the unit was crossing a steep mountain, they were suddenly subjected to enemy air bombardment, and the situation was critical. Deng Liujin said: not a single wounded soldier could be left behind. Heedless of the danger from the enemy aircraft, she knelt on the ground and crawled upward carrying a stretcher; her shoulders were rubbed raw and bleeding, her knees scraped to the skin, and after descending the mountain she coughed up large mouthfuls of blood. After a brief rest, she continued carrying the stretcher to catch up with the unit. Such moving examples were common on the Long March — officers and soldiers supporting one another, dividing food equally, taking turns caring for the wounded, sharing each other's joys and sorrows, living and dying together — vividly embodying the Red Army's fine tradition of unity between officers and soldiers and sharing hardship and fortune.

Party member cadres exercising their authority impartially, setting an example, and leading by personal conduct are also important elements of unity between officers and soldiers. During the Long March, while crossing the snowy mountains, a comrade wearing thin, worn clothing froze to death. The commanding officer ordered that the head of the supply department be summoned, intending to ask why this comrade who had frozen to death had not been issued a padded jacket. Comrades in the unit told him with tears in their eyes that the comrade who had frozen to death was the head of the supply department himself. The man in charge of clothing and equipment had rather frozen to death himself than put on something warm first — what a sublime level of consciousness and awareness! Awareness may seem intangible, but at critical moments it reveals tremendous power. Our Party won one arduous struggle after another precisely by relying on the selfless dedication of tens of thousands of advanced elements with a high degree of political consciousness. These Red Army Party member cadres who held authority over the distribution of supplies did not use their positions to seek personal gain; they held firm to the line between public and private, insisted on unified distribution of supplies, and won the support and trust of Red Army officers and soldiers through their own exemplary conduct. When there was salt, all shared the saltiness; when there was none, all shared the blandness — this was an important guarantee of the Red Army's victory in the Long March.

In the blink of an eye, this year marks the 90th anniversary of the Red Army's Long March victory. Revisiting the moving stories of "officers and soldiers united, sharing hardship and fortune" on the Long March, resolutely carrying forward this tradition, promoting this spirit, and upholding this conduct hold strong practical significance for military building today. Only by persisting in sharing hardship and fortune with officers and soldiers can New Era military Party member cadres ensure that the troops always maintain strong cohesion and combat effectiveness, and gather the immense strength to forge ahead on the new journey and achieve merit in the new era. We must respect the principal status of officers and soldiers, inspire their enthusiasm for struggle, proactively listen to their innermost thoughts, take seriously their demands and innovative achievements, offer timely encouragement and support, fully mobilize their subjective initiative, and inspire their spirit of responsibility and hard striving. We must better bring into play the exemplary and leading role of Party member cadres — enduring hardship first and enjoying comfort last, rushing to the front line at moments of danger and difficulty, proactively shouldering responsibility in the face of difficulties, disregarding personal gain or loss, setting little store by material possessions, inspiring and rallying officers and soldiers through concrete actions, and forming a powerful force to overcome all obstacles. We must take revolutionary forebears as models, draw spiritual strength from their deeds, and consolidate the ideological foundation of unity between officers and soldiers and sharing hardship and fortune; frequently examine and reflect on ourselves, always constrain, govern, and purify ourselves to a higher standard and stricter requirement, and in work and daily life consciously set aside the "official airs" (官架子) and maintain a sound conduct.

Stars shift and the Dipper turns; heaven and earth are transformed. The flames of the Long March have long since faded, and those extraordinary years have become the past, but the unity of will from top to bottom forged through the Long March is forever a precious spiritual treasure on the road to strengthening the military. The red flame of unity between officers and soldiers is passed down from generation to generation, inspiring us to hold fast to our original aspiration and courageously shoulder the historical mission; the fine tradition of officers and soldiers sharing hardship and fortune will transcend time and space and shine brilliantly forever.

Original Chinese

“官兵一致同甘苦” ■陈鲁民 ●长征淬炼出的上下同心，永远是强军路上宝贵的精神财富 “官兵一致同甘苦，革命理想高于天。”这是《长征组歌·过雪山草地》里的一句歌词。我军历来强调官兵一致，在政治上完全平等，在生活上同甘共苦，形成了区别于旧军队的新型官兵关系。这是我军战胜各种艰难困苦、从胜利走向胜利的重要保障，在长征路上更是体现得淋漓尽致。官兵一致同甘苦，首先体现在上下一心、共度时艰，同心同德、患难与共上。因为长途跋涉，昼夜兼程，行军又多在人烟稀少地区，再加上敌军疯狂的围追堵截，长征路上，断粮挨饿是时常发生的事。“风雨侵衣骨更硬，野菜充饥志越坚”。红军在爬雪山、过草地时，粮食给养几乎耗尽。在这种情况下，朱德同志从军委干部团抽调30人成立野菜调查小组，他担任组长，遇到不认识的野菜，单独挑出来煮熟试吃。面对“谁第一个吃”的问题，朱德表示“我是组长，我有优先权，我先吃”。就这样，他们找到十几种可食用野菜，缓解了缺粮危机。但野菜也有吃光的时候，这时条件就更加困难了。1935年8月，红军踏入“人陷不见头，马陷不见颈”的松潘草地，粮食彻底断绝，野菜也吃光了，大批战士因饥饿倒下。为挽救战士的宝贵生命，彭德怀同志下令杀掉坐骑大黑骡子充作口粮。大黑骡子一路驮运物资、接送伤病员，警卫员于心不忍。彭德怀说：“部队现在连野菜也吃不上了，只有杀牲口解决吃的，或许能多一些人走出草地。”他把骡肉全部分给战士，自己却一口未吃。这些骡肉如同雪中送炭，帮助许多战士走出草地。为了战胜断粮困难，红军官兵勠力同心、群策群力，充分展现出我军官兵一致的政治优势。官兵一致同甘苦，还体现在红军人人平等，待遇不分高低，谁也不搞特殊化上。长征时已经50多岁的徐特立同志是红军队伍中最年长者，但他就像普通战士一样，手拿一根自制手杖，和大家一起行军；年近半百的林伯渠同志身体较弱，组织上给他分配了一匹马，他却很少骑，而是一直拄着拐杖行军，手里还提着一盏小马灯给大家照路。正是这种人人平等、官兵一致的精神，成了红军在极其艰难的长征路上凝聚力量、走出绝境的重要基础。官兵一致同甘苦，同样体现在红军生死与共、患难相依的集体主义精神和战友情谊上。毛泽东同志曾指出：“一切革命队伍的人都要互相关心，互相爱护，互相帮助。”长征时，曾任福建省苏维埃妇女部部长的女红军邓六金在干部休养连工作。一次，部队在翻越陡峭高山时突然遭遇敌机轰炸，情况危急。邓六金说，绝不能丢下一个伤员。她不顾敌机轰炸的危险，跪在地上抬担架向上攀爬，肩膀磨出血、膝盖磕破皮，下山后大口吐血。稍加喘息，她又继续抬担架追赶队伍。这样的动人事例，在长征路上屡见不鲜，官兵们互相搀扶、均分食物、轮流照料伤员，休戚与共、生死与共，生动诠释了红军官兵一致、同甘共苦的优良传统。党员干部秉公用权、率先垂范、以身作则，也是官兵一致的重要内容。长征过雪山途中，有名同志穿着单薄的旧衣服被冻死，指挥员让把军需处长叫来，想问问他为什么不给这名被冻死的同志发棉衣。队伍里的同志含泪告诉他，被冻死的这名同志就是军需处长。管被装的宁可自己冻死也没有自己先穿暖和一点，这是多么崇高的境界觉悟！觉悟看似无形，关键时刻却会显现出强大力量。我们党就是靠着千千万万具有高度政治觉悟的先进分子无私奉献，才赢得了一场场艰苦卓绝的斗争。红军这些手握物资分配权的党员干部，不以职权谋取私利，坚守公私分明底线，坚持物资统一分配，以自身良好作风赢得了红军官兵的拥戴和信任。大家有盐同咸，无盐同淡，这是红军取得长征胜利的重要保障。弹指一挥间，今年已经是红军长征胜利90周年。重温长征路上“官兵一致同甘苦”的感人故事，坚定不移地赓续这一传统，弘扬这一精神，坚持这一作风，对于今天的军队建设具有很强的现实意义。新时代军队党员干部只有坚持与官兵同甘苦、共患难，才能使部队始终保持强大凝聚力与战斗力，汇聚起奋进新征程、建功新时代的磅礴力量。要尊重官兵主体地位，激发官兵奋斗热情，主动倾听他们的心声，重视他们的诉求与创新成果，及时给予鼓励与支持，充分调动其主观能动性，激发其担当拼搏精神。要更好发挥党员干部的示范引领作用，做到吃苦在前、享受在后，危难时刻冲在一线，困难面前主动担当，不计个人得失，看轻身外之物，以实际行动感召带动官兵，形成攻坚克难的强大力量。要以革命先辈为榜样，从他们的事迹中汲取精神力量，筑牢官兵一致、同甘共苦的思想根基；时常对照检视自身，始终以更高标准、更严要求约束自己、管住自己、净化自己，在工作和生活中自觉放下“官架子”，保持良好作风。星移斗转，天翻地覆。长征烽烟早已散去，峥嵘岁月已成过往，但长征淬炼出的上下同心，永远是强军路上宝贵的精神财富。官兵一致的红色薪火代代相传，激励我们坚守初心，勇担历史使命；官兵同甘共苦的优良传统，将穿越时空永远熠熠生辉。