Special Issue on Building the Military Through Politics · Forging Essentials | Victory Through Marching in Step

Victory Through Marching in Step

■ Liu Xiaowei

Fiery red flags fly high; lush bamboo groves teem with life. In October 1927, a Red Army unit that had just arrived at Jinggangshan after the Autumn Harvest Uprising stood before a massive granite boulder called "Thunderstruck Rock" and listened as Comrade Mao Zedong proclaimed three rules of discipline. The scene was deeply symbolic — the discipline of this revolutionary force rang out like a spring thunderclap and was branded into the hearts of officers and soldiers alike.

The great current of history surges ever forward, and the march of progress resounds with power. What enabled the People's Army to grow from weakness to strength, from suffering to glory? There are many reasons, but one of the most important is strict discipline.

Chairman Xi has profoundly observed: "The People's Army has marched from victory to victory, demonstrating the great power of revolutionary discipline. The People's Army has always been renowned throughout the world for its strict discipline. From the very day of its founding, it combined revolutionary steadfastness, political consciousness, and the seriousness of discipline — unifying will, unifying command, and unifying action — so that millions of troops obeyed every order and heeded every prohibition, attacking like a fierce tiger and defending like Mount Tai." Not long ago, at the opening ceremony of a senior cadre training course for the entire military, Chairman Xi once again earnestly instructed the People's Army's senior commanders: "You must understand laws and regulations, be clear about rules, and hold them in reverence. Ensure that everyone is equal before laws and regulations, that there are no exceptions in complying with laws and regulations, and that there are no exceptions in implementing laws and regulations."

These resounding words reveal the core secret of the People's Army's ability to overcome all enemies. An invincible army of victory has always been a mighty force with discipline as hard as iron and orders as weighty as mountains. Opening the magnificent annals of the People's Army's struggle, one finds that adherence to rules and strict discipline have long been fused into its bloodstream and carved into its bones — a red gene passed down from generation to generation. Strict rule of law and discipline are both the bedrock of confidence that has carried the People's Army to where it is today and the fundamental guarantee for comprehensively building a world-class military in the new era and continuing to write new chapters in the cause of strengthening and revitalizing the armed forces.

I

In the era of revolutionary war, officers and soldiers held fast to one conviction: only with strict discipline could they march in step toward victory.

The Wumeng Mountains, stretching for thousands of li in magnificent grandeur, still remember the following episode. In February 1936, He Long and Ren Bishi commanded the Second and Sixth Red Army Corps to occupy Qianxi, Dading, and Bijie. In the latter part of the month, to avoid encirclement by enemy forces, they led their troops into the Wumeng mountain region. Deep in the forests of the Wumeng Mountains, this Red Army force relied on iron discipline to break through the enemy's multiple encirclements and win that battle.

During the Wumeng Mountain maneuvering campaign, more than ten thousand Red Army officers and soldiers strictly observed march discipline — wrapping horses' hooves in cloth, conducting night marches without torches — and, in the desperate situation of being pursued and blocked by heavily armed enemy forces, silently maneuvered and fought their way through more than a thousand li. With iron-like discipline they moved like ghosts, successfully breaking out of the enemy's encirclement.

Nestled among mountains, the Jiaoping Ferry crossing has Jiaoping Town in Luquan County, Yunnan Province on its southern bank and Tong'an Town in Huili City, Sichuan Province on its northern bank. This small ferry crossing witnessed a stirring scene during the Red Army's Long March.

In April and May of 1935, the Nationalist Party massed heavy forces to encircle and block the Central Red Army layer by layer, vainly attempting to annihilate the Red Army on the banks of the Jinsha River. If the Red Army could not swiftly cross the swift-flowing Jinsha River, it would be trapped in a desperate situation with the natural barrier of the great river ahead and wave upon wave of pursuers behind.

At this critical juncture, on May 3, Liu Bocheng led the advance battalion of the Central Column's cadre regiment on a forced march directly to Jiaoping Ferry and rapidly seized control of the crossing.

There was no time to lose — cross the river immediately!

At this moment, the extreme importance of discipline became manifest. The Red Army formulated the "River Crossing Code," strictly enforcing crossing discipline: each unit would cross in order of arrival at the riverbank. From army corps commanders down to ordinary Red Army soldiers, without exception, all obeyed the unified command, boarding boats in an orderly fashion and crossing the river in an orderly fashion. Thirty thousand Red Army officers and soldiers, through their conscious adherence to discipline, used a few wooden boats to cross the river safely in their entirety, shaking off the pursuit and interception of several hundred thousand enemy troops and creating a miracle in military history.

"The waters of the Jinsha River rush and roar; the ever-victorious Red Army comes to cross. Unafraid of deep waters and swift currents, even less afraid of high mountains and long roads…" This bright folk song still echoes at the crossing today.

In the era of revolutionary war, the People's Army came to understand deeply that only with strict discipline could it win the hearts of the people and be invincible.

The outcome of war is determined by whether the hearts of the people are won or lost. Perhaps we can understand this from another perspective — that of foreigners.

In December 1937, U.S. military officer Evans Carlson, serving as a military observer in China, visited the Eighth Route Army headquarters in Hongtong County, Shanxi Province, to observe and investigate. After careful observation and inquiry, he wrote: "The Eighth Route Army never harasses the people, consciously observes discipline, is strict with itself, never molests women — it is the most restrained army I have ever seen. This seemingly inconceivable phenomenon is the result of education and effective organization." From this perspective, one can better understand why the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army were able to win the genuine support of the people and achieve continuous victories on the enemy's rear battlefields. "I believe this is the most self-disciplined and self-controlled army in the world," Carlson said.

In August 1947, when the Liu-Deng Army (刘邓大军) advanced into the Dabie Mountains, Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping personally laid down "three solemn pledges" (约法三章): death for shooting civilians; death for looting the people's property; death for rape. A deputy company commander in the security regiment, despite his combat merits, was strictly punished according to regulations for privately taking some printed cloth, vermicelli, and paper and pens from a local shop. Iron-fisted enforcement of discipline enabled the Liu-Deng Army to quickly establish a firm foothold and become a sharp blade thrust into the heartland of Nationalist rule.

During the liberation of Shanghai, officers and soldiers strictly observed the discipline of "do not enter civilian homes." Even in wind and rain and biting cold, they all slept in the streets and did not disturb the residents. This scene was photographed by embedded journalists and showed the world the true character of the People's Army. These seemingly simple rules of discipline were not only a distinctive mark setting the People's Army apart from all old-style armies; they were also the winning formula for consolidating military morale and winning the hearts of the people, with every rule embodying the nature and purpose of the People's Army.

Throughout the People's Army's nearly one hundred years of glorious history, generation after generation of officers and soldiers came to understand deeply that only with strict discipline could they forever preserve their true character and remain unconquerable.

Among the many artifacts in the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution, there is a fragment of a cotton-padded jacket that strikes every visitor with profound emotion. This fragment, no larger than a palm, bears obvious scorch marks. It is a vivid testament to martyr Qiu Shaoyun's strict observance of discipline.

In October 1952, during the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, the unit to which Qiu Shaoyun belonged was assigned an important combat mission. While executing a concealment mission, the young soldier Qiu Shaoyun's clothing was ignited by an enemy incendiary bomb. Flames consumed his body, yet in order not to expose the unit's position and to strictly observe battlefield concealment discipline, he endured excruciating pain, drove his hands deep into the earth, and remained absolutely motionless until he died a heroic death. This young soldier gave his life to embody the resounding pledge that "discipline is more important than life."

Officers and soldiers of a certain company of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army held their positions in the Chosin Reservoir area in temperatures of minus forty degrees Celsius. Clad in thin clothing, they maintained combat posture throughout; even as they froze stiff in the trenches, not a single person moved or withdrew without authorization. With steel-like discipline, the entire company forged in the frozen wilderness the "ice sculpture" tableau that made the enemy tremble.

This iron discipline, cast into the bloodstream, has continued throughout the People's Army's nearly one hundred years of history. After the founding of New China, the People's Army promulgated the "Three Major Regulations" (三大条令), using iron discipline to solidify the foundation of the military's centralized unity; after reform and opening up, it adhered to the unity of governing the military according to law and governing the military with strict standards, steadily advancing the regularization of the military; since the Party's 18th National Congress, governing the military according to law and governing the military with strict standards have been elevated to the basic strategy of military governance and incorporated into the overall framework of governing the country according to law. The entire military has persistently rectified conduct, enforced discipline, and combated corruption without letup, advancing political rectification (政治整训) with the spirit of rectifying work styles, adhering to the principle of strictness first, comprehensive strictness, and strictness from beginning to end, achieving an across-the-board leap in the military's conduct, discipline, and combat effectiveness.

History has repeatedly proven that the way to govern an army lies above all in strictness. Strictness is the People's Army's glorious tradition, an heirloom that cannot be broken or destroyed. It is precisely because it has always upheld strict discipline that the People's Army has been able to maintain a high degree of centralized unity, possess an indestructible cohesion and combat effectiveness, and become a steel force that conquers all it attacks and wins all it fights. "Only strictness can rectify discipline, only strictness can uphold military authority, only strictness can produce combat effectiveness" — this profound judgment is the theoretical crystallization of our Party's experience in governing the military with strict standards, and an important guiding principle for building the military through politics (政治建军) in the new era; tested by the passage of time, it shines ever more brilliantly.

II

Ensuring that the People's Army always maintains strict rule of law and discipline is an iron law of strengthening and revitalizing the armed forces, and even more so a hard battle of turning the blade inward and carrying out self-revolution. Governing the military lies above all in strictness, but the difficulty also lies in strictness. Entering the new era, the world situation, national conditions, and military conditions have undergone profound changes; the environment facing military development has grown increasingly complex. If one cannot resolutely enforce the rule of law and govern the military with strict standards, then in a prolonged peacetime environment, certain problems will quietly take root.

Where exactly does the difficulty of governing the military with strict standards lie?

The difficulty lies in maintaining strictness from beginning to end, always being strict. It cannot be denied that over time, as circumstances change, situations of laxity, emptiness, and softness in military governance will surface.

Looking back at the era of revolutionary war, our military's resolve to put strictness first never wavered. In 1937, Red Army commander Huang Kegong, who had distinguished himself in battle, brutally murdered a revolutionary youth after a failed attempt to coerce marriage, causing a great uproar in Yan'an. Huang Kegong had joined the revolution at age sixteen and bore numerous battle scars; many people, mindful of his combat merits, pleaded on his behalf, hoping he could be allowed to redeem himself through service at the anti-Japanese front. But the People's Army's discipline has never made room for personal sentiment. The Party Central Committee and the Central Military Commission ultimately decided to sentence Huang Kegong to death in accordance with the law. In a letter to the border region court, Mao Zedong explicitly stated that the Communist Party and the Red Army cannot but enforce stricter discipline against their own Party members and Red Army members than against ordinary civilians. That gunshot shattered the wishful thinking of "offsetting faults with merits" and demonstrated the People's Army's resolute attitude of maintaining strictness from beginning to end toward violations of discipline.

Entering the new era, the force of upholding strict rule of law and discipline has only increased, never decreased. Regardless of how high one's position or how great one's power, anyone who violates Party discipline, state law, or military regulations will be resolutely investigated to the end without the slightest leniency. Discipline has truly become an electrified "high-voltage line."

The difficulty of strictness also lies in maintaining consistent standards. In peacetime, far removed from the smoke of battle, accumulated malpractices in governing the military with strict standards can easily emerge — for example, tendencies such as being strict with others but not with oneself, being strict with subordinates but not with superiors, being strict with soldiers but not with officers.

Throughout the history of the People's Army, equality between officers and soldiers before discipline and rules has always been a fine tradition. Officers and soldiers are equal in every respect, with no distinction of high or low, noble or base, and certainly no special Party members or special soldiers. Everyone jointly observes laws and regulations and jointly upholds rules, generating the powerful force of unity from top to bottom and sharing life and death together.

During the Long March, with supplies extremely scarce, the Red Army formulated strict supply regulations: regardless of rank, rations standards and material distribution were completely uniform. Commander-in-Chief Zhu De, as a senior Red Army commander, wore the same coarse cloth uniform and ate the same coarse grain and wild vegetables as ordinary soldiers, carried his own pack on the march, and strictly observed all disciplinary regulations without the slightest special treatment. During the Huaihai Campaign, the forward command post required all participating personnel to shave their heads to prevent infection from head wounds. One soldier could not understand this and did not want to shave his head. After Deng Xiaoping learned of this, he personally took the lead and shaved his head first. Thereupon, all soldiers consciously complied with the forward command post's regulation. It was precisely this adherence to equality between officers and soldiers before discipline that enabled even the most difficult predicaments to be overcome together.

At the end of 2021, a document issued by the Central Military Commission generated a strong response among officers and soldiers throughout the military. This document — the "Opinions on Strengthening Supervision of Principal Leaders and Party Committee Standing Committees" — was a vivid embodiment of the principle of "being strict with superiors before being strict with subordinates, being strict with officers before being strict with soldiers." From this document it can be seen that on the new-era journey of strengthening the military, the fine tradition of equality between officers and soldiers has never changed.

The difficulty of strictness also lies in having a basis for strictness. Once environmental conditions change, tendencies and hidden dangers of strictness without basis and strictness outside the law can easily surface.

Governing the military according to law — the key lies in "law." The rule-of-law gene of the People's Army was planted from the very beginning of the military's founding. For example, the "Three Main Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention" (三大纪律八项注意), which were gradually refined and perfected, constituted the code of conduct jointly observed by all officers and soldiers throughout the military. Our military has always emphasized the building of laws and regulations: from combat operations to mass discipline, from material management to daily life, there are clear norms, giving the management of units laws to rely on and rules to follow.

In February of this year, the Central Military Commission issued newly revised "Regulations on the Authority and Procedures for Approving Party Disciplinary Sanctions by Military Party Organizations." This document focuses on precisely and normatively carrying out Party disciplinary sanction work, actively responds to key concerns in disciplinary enforcement practice, enriches and improves the applicable scope, basic guidelines, and principled requirements for military Party organizations to implement Party disciplinary sanctions, adjusts and standardizes the authority to approve Party disciplinary sanctions, and refines and clarifies procedural provisions for Party disciplinary sanctions. This gives officers and soldiers an added measure of reverence when performing their duties and an additional "tightening spell" (紧箍咒) when exercising power.

Entering the new era, the system for governing the People's Army according to law and with strict standards has become more complete. In October 2014, the Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee incorporated governing the military according to law and with strict standards into the overall framework of comprehensively governing the country according to law. In November 2021, the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee proposed: "Implement the strategy of governing the military according to law, build a military rule-of-law system with Chinese characteristics, and accelerate the fundamental transformation of the mode of military governance."

In daily combat readiness, officers and soldiers strictly implement the combat readiness system in accordance with military laws and regulations, without the slightest carelessness or relaxation; in military training, training is organized strictly in accordance with training outlines, without improvisation or compromise; in daily management, everything is carried out in accordance with rules and regulations, with rules observed in all matters and discipline upheld everywhere. Fulfilling one's mission in accordance with laws and regulations has become the norm in military barracks, laying a solid rule-of-law foundation for the cause of strengthening the military.

Difficulty reveals commitment; difficulty further reveals original intent. The People's Army's nearly one hundred years of glorious history, through countless vivid and concrete examples, proves that the resolve to maintain strictness from beginning to end, the original intent of equality between officers and soldiers, and the perseverance of acting in accordance with laws and regulations are the fundamental guarantees for this military to forever preserve its purity and honor. On the new journey of advancing the strengthening of the military, the People's Army will certainly continue to uphold iron discipline, carry forward fine traditions, and through the resolute practice of governing the military according to law and with strict standards, forge elite troops that heed the Party's command, are capable of winning battles, and maintain an excellent work style.

III

The greater the cause, the more it is filled with hardship and obstacles, the more it requires iron discipline as a guarantee, and the more it requires the power of the rule of law as support.

With the approval of the Central Military Commission, from April 13 to 19, 2025, the CMC Political-Legal Affairs Commission, in conjunction with the National Defense University, held a special seminar for military political-legal leading cadres. The seminar deeply studied and implemented Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law, implemented the strategy of governing the military according to law, focused on resolving major real-world problems, enhanced the capacity to perform duties according to law, and made every effort to provide strong rule-of-law guarantees and a secure and stable environment for achieving the centenary goal of the founding of the People's Liberation Army.

Thought is the guide to action. Only by fusing the concept of rule of law into the bloodstream and planting it in the soul can acting according to law become a conscious habit and strictly observing discipline become second nature. Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law is the fundamental guiding principle for comprehensively governing the country according to law in the new era and the action guide for comprehensively governing the military according to law.

— To ensure the People's Army always maintains strict rule of law and discipline, it is necessary to forge officers' and soldiers' faith in the rule of law. It is imperative to be guided by Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law, place governing the military according to law in an overarching, foundational, and strategic position, adhere to the principle of strictness first with law as the yardstick, drive profound transformation in the concepts, modes, and pathways of military governance, use the rule of law to navigate the journey of strengthening the military, and make the rule of law the most distinctive hallmark of military barracks and the most steadfast conviction of officers and soldiers.

China's "Two Sessions" (两会) have attracted increasing attention from the entire world in recent years. On March 10 of this year, the press spokesperson for the People's Liberation Army and People's Armed Police Forces delegation to the Fourth Session of the 14th National People's Congress, in an interview, stated that the "14th Five-Year Plan" outline, with promoting high-quality development as its theme, highlights four areas of focus, one of which is "strengthening the supply of laws and regulations and supervision of their implementation, and improving the military rule-of-law system with Chinese characteristics."

Since the Party's 18th National Congress, our military has accelerated the pace of military legislation, building a military laws and regulations system with the Constitution at its core and military regulations as the main body, covering all fields and all levels. A series of laws and regulations for building and governing the military under new circumstances have been successively promulgated, providing solid institutional guarantees for military development, preparation for war and combat, and the performance of duties by officers and soldiers.

— To ensure the People's Army always maintains strict rule of law and discipline, it is necessary to improve the military laws and regulations system. Good law is a prerequisite for good governance; without a complete system of laws and regulations, governing the military according to law is water without a source and a tree without roots. Since the new era, our military has kept pace with the practice of strengthening the military, focused on urgent warfighting needs, and attended to what officers and soldiers hope for, accelerating the enactment, revision, abolition, and interpretation of laws and regulations, filling institutional gaps, remedying institutional shortcomings, and optimizing institutional supply, so that all fields, aspects, and links of military development have laws to rely on and rules to follow.

In November 2024, with the approval of the Central Military Commission, the CMC Political-Legal Affairs Commission organized the compilation and printing of "Selected Important Statements by Xi Jinping on Governing the Military According to Law" for distribution throughout the military. The study notice required: "Give full play to the exemplary and leading role of the 'critical minority' (关键少数); in particular, high-level Party committees and senior cadres must take the lead in respecting, studying, observing, and applying the law." Leading cadres, as the "critical minority," are the organizers and implementers of governing and leading the military; whether the exercise of power is standardized directly affects the results of governing the military according to law.

— To ensure the People's Army always maintains strict rule of law and discipline, it is necessary to emphasize governing officials according to law and governing power according to law. Strengthen the constraint and supervision of power, guide leading cadres to take the lead in making decisions according to law, providing guidance according to law, and performing duties according to law, and use the "lead goose effect" (头雁效应) to drive the formation of a new rule-of-law ethos throughout the military.

"Once the law is established, violations must be punished; once an order is issued, it must be carried out and not reversed" — this vividly expresses the importance of strict law enforcement. If law enforcement is not strict, laws and regulations will become "paper tigers" and a "broken window effect" will form. Since the Party's 18th National Congress, the reason discipline and rules have increasingly become an electrified "high-voltage line" and the cage of institutions has been built ever more tightly is fundamentally that discipline is strictly enforced and violations of law are invariably prosecuted.

— To ensure the People's Army always maintains strict rule of law and discipline, it is necessary to strictly enforce laws and discipline and uphold the authority of laws and discipline. The vitality of law lies in its implementation; the authority of discipline lies in its enforcement. If laws are not observed, enforcement is not strict, and violations are not prosecuted, laws and regulations will become "scarecrows." For conduct that violates regulations and rules and violates disciplinary requirements, the response must be resolute and serious investigation and punishment, without the slightest leniency or accommodation.

IV

Military regulations exert their force; iron discipline displays its might.

"Every revolutionary soldier must remember: the Three Main Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention. First, obey orders in all your actions; marching in step is the only way to victory…" This resounding melody, born in the smoke of battle, surges through the bloodstream of officers and soldiers, and is also radiating new vitality in the People's Army's ongoing deepening of political rectification (政治整训).

At present, on the new journey of advancing the building of a strong nation and the great cause of national rejuvenation, the People's Army bears a major historical responsibility. The times are calling: the People's Army must resolutely adhere to governing the military according to law and with strict standards, and accelerate the transformation of the mode of military governance.

In the course of political rectification, in military barracks across the length and breadth of the country, spring breezes blow and vitality abounds. The favorable situation that officers and soldiers have longed for is becoming reality step by step:

— Party committees make decisions according to law. Conducting legal deliberation before decisions, conducting deliberations according to law during the decision-making process, and implementing decisions according to law afterward are becoming the conscious practice of Party committees at all levels. Strengthening rule-of-law thinking and bottom-line thinking to ensure that every decision conforms to military laws and regulations, conforms to the actual needs of unit development, and conforms to the needs of preparation for war and combat has long since become a shared consensus.

— Organs provide guidance according to law. Organs at all levels establish and practice a correct view of political achievements, resolutely rectify chronic ailments such as "mountains of documents and seas of meetings" (文山会海) and "leaving a paper trail for everything" (事事留痕), and take providing guidance according to law as the basic mode of work. Standardize work operations in accordance with regulations, clarify responsibilities and authority, optimize work processes, and streamline task arrangements — no layer-upon-layer escalation of requirements, no repetitive inspections — giving the grassroots the energy to implement tasks and the time to plan for victory.

— Units take action according to law. All units take acting according to law as an iron rule, running through all aspects of combat readiness, training, work, and daily life; strictly implement regulations and rules; and standardize combat readiness order, training order, work order, and daily life order, so that every action of the unit has rules to follow and laws to rely on.

— Officers and soldiers perform their duties according to law. The broad ranks of officers and soldiers keep their duties and missions firmly in mind, take performing their duties according to law as the basic code of conduct, clarify their post responsibilities, keep disciplinary requirements firmly in mind, and strictly observe behavioral bottom lines. Through in-depth and solid rule-of-law education, the rule-of-law literacy of officers and soldiers has continuously improved, and performing duties according to law has become a conscious conviction and a conscious action. The sunshine of the rule of law illuminates every corner of military barracks, and the power of the rule of law has been fused into every step of the journey of strengthening and revitalizing the armed forces!

The journey of ten thousand li is propelled by a strong wind; bearing a burden of a thousand jun, we set out again.

The People's Army, using strict rule of law and discipline to unify will and unify action, marches in step forward, radiating new vitality in the new-era building of the military through politics (政治建军), and will certainly be able to write new chapters in the strengthening and revitalization of the armed forces — chapters worthy of our revolutionary forebears, worthy of the century-long foundation, and worthy of this great era!