Nguyễn Sơn (1 October 1908 – 21 October 1956), also known by his Chinese name Hong Shui (), was a Vietnamese military leader who participated in the

Chinese Communist Revolution The Chinese Communist Revolution, officially known as the Chinese People's War of Liberation in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and also known as the National Protection War against the Communist Rebellion in the Republic of China (ROC ...

and the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...

against the French. Sơn spent much of his early years in China, and was one of the few Vietnamese who had participated in and survived the

Long March The Long March (, lit. ''Long Expedition'') was a military retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the National Army of the Chinese ...

with the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

. He was awarded the rank of Major General in both the

Vietnam People's Army Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

and the Chinese People's Liberation Army.Trịnh Tố Long
"Có một vị tướng như thế"
''Tiền Phong'', retrieved on 21 October 2014. He married Lê Hằng Huân, a daughter of the writer Lê Dư, his sisters-in-law being Lê Hằng Phương wife of the writer Vũ Ngọc Phan, and Lê Hằng Phấn wife of the writer Hoàng Văn Chí.

Early life

Nguyễn Sơn was born on 1 October 1908 in

Gia Lâm District Gia Lâm is the easternmost rural district (''huyện'') of Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam. Prior to 2003, the district covered the entire area of Long Biên district, which included Long Biên Bridge, Gia Lâm Airport, Gia Lâm railway stat ...

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

. He was the son of Vũ Trường Xương. When he was five years old he began to learn French at a Catholic school in Hanoi. When Sơn was fourteen years old he passed the Hanoi Teachers College. He often organizes students from the School of Education and the Guardian School to fight against Westerners in other schools. His parents married him to Nguyễn Thị Giệm four years older than him. He pretended to drink alcohol to causing trouble with his father-in-law and to get rid of his older wife. Nguyễn was sent to study in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, where he met

Ho Chi Minh (: ; born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), commonly known as (' Uncle Hồ'), also known as ('President Hồ'), (' Old father of the people') and by other aliases, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman. He served as P ...

. At the end of 1924, Nguyễn, Hoàng Văn Hoan,

Phạm Văn Đồng Phạm Văn Đồng (; 1 March 1906 – 29 April 2000) was a Vietnamese politician who served as Prime Minister of North Vietnam from 1955 to 1976. He later served as Prime Minister of Vietnam following reunification of North and South Vietnam ...

and more than 30 Vietnamese revolutionary youths, followed Ho Chi Minh to

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

. In March 1926, Nguyễn was introduced by

Li Fuchun Li Fuchun (; May 22, 1900 – January 9, 1975) was a Chinese Communist revolutionary and politician. He served as a Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China. Biography Li Fuchun was born in Changsha, Hunan Province. After completing middl ...

Cai Chang Cai Chang (; 14 May 1900 – 11 September 1990) was a Chinese politician and women's rights activist who was the first chair of the All-China Women's Federation, a Chinese women's rights organization. Early life Cai Chang was born in 1900 t ...

Lin Biao ) , serviceyears = 1925–1971 , branch = People's Liberation Army , rank = Marshal of the People's Republic of China Lieutenant general of the National Revolutionary Army, Republic of China , commands ...

, Liu Zhidan and others at the

Whampoa Military Academy The Republic of China Military Academy () is the service academy for the army of the Republic of China, located in Fengshan District, Kaohsiung. Previously known as the the military academy produced commanders who fought in many of China ...

. At the academy, he was introduced to Chen Yimin and joined the

Communist Party of China The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

. After graduating in October 1926, Nguyễn followed Ho Chi Minh's instructions and continued to work at the Whampoa Military Academy, and joined the Chinese Kuomintang.

Revolutionary career

On 12 April 1927, Chiang Kai-shek carried out a purge of thousands of suspected Communists and dissidents in Shanghai, and began large-scale massacres across the country collectively known as the "White Terror". In response, Nguyễn left the Kuomintang and officially joined the Communist Party of China in August 1927. In December 1927, he participated in the

Guangzhou Uprising Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, sou ...

, and after its failure fled to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. With the consent of

Ye Jianying Ye Jianying (; 28 April 1897 – 22 October 1986) was a Chinese Communist revolutionary leader and politician, one of the founding Ten Marshals of the People's Republic of China. He was the top military leader in the 1976 coup that overthre ...

and

Nie Rongzhen Nie Rongzhen (; December 29, 1899 – May 14, 1992) was a prominent Chinese Communist military leader, and one of ten Marshals in the People's Liberation Army of China. He was the last surviving PLA officer with the rank of Marshal. Biograph ...

, Nguyễn and

went to

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

in order to organize overseas Vietnamese to join the revolution. In 1928, he returned to China and joined the People's Liberation Army. In 1929, he held the position of company political commissar in the 47th Regiment, and commanded the company in battles near Dong River. During this time, he adopted the name Hong Shui. He was the only foreign officer in the People's Liberation Army. He served as the regimental commissar, and political director of the 34th Division of the

Chinese Red Army The Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army or Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, commonly known as the Chinese Red Army or simply the Red Army, are the armed forces of the Chinese Communist Party. It was formed when Communis ...

's 12th Army. Due to his rich practical experience and theoretical background, he was assigned to teach at the newly established Central Military Political School of the Red Army in Ruijin, Jiangxi Province. At the end of 1932, he also participated in the establishment of the first troupe of the Red Army, and later became leader of the troupe. In January 1934, at the Second National Congress of Delegates of the

Chinese Soviet Republic The Chinese Soviet Republic (CSR) was an East Asian proto-state in China, proclaimed on 7 November 1931 by Chinese communist leaders Mao Zedong and Zhu De in the early stages of the Chinese Civil War. The discontiguous territories of the ...

, Nguyễn was elected a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and as an ethnic minority representative. Because the leftist line prevailed in the Communist Party of China, during the period 1933 to 1938, he was expelled from the Communist Party of China three times, only to have his membership restored. In October 1934, he participated in the

, a military retreat undertaken by the Red Army to evade the pursuit of the Kuomintang army. During this time, he was falsely accused by

Zhang Guotao Zhang Guotao (November 26, 1897 – December 3, 1979), or Chang Kuo-tao, was a founding member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and rival to Mao Zedong. During the 1920s he studied in the Soviet Union and became a key contact with the Comi ...

of being a spy and was expelled from the CCP. He was sentenced to be executed, but was saved due to intervention from

Zhu De Zhu De (; ; also Chu Teh; 1 December 1886 – 6 July 1976) was a Chinese general, military strategist, politician and revolutionary in the Chinese Communist Party. Born into poverty in 1886 in Sichuan, he was adopted by a wealthy uncle at ...

and

Liu Bocheng Liu Bocheng (; December 4, 1892 – October 7, 1986) was a Chinese military commander and Marshal of the People's Liberation Army. Liu is known as the 'half' of the "Three and A Half" Strategists of China in modern history. (The other th ...

. The march traversed over 9,000 kilometres (5,600 mi) over 370 days from Jiangxi to

Shaanxi Province Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), Ni ...

and Nguyễn was the only Vietnamese to have successfully completed the march. In December 1935, he returned to

Yan'an Yan'an (; ), alternatively spelled as Yenan is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several counties, including Zhidan (formerly Bao'an) ...

after being lost for many days. He was later admitted to Chinese Red Army University, where in listened to the lectures by

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

and

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman Ma ...

. In July 1937, at the beginning of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

, he followed Commander-in-Chief of PLA Zhu De and the 115th Division across the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Ha ...

Shanxi Province Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level ...

to establish an anti-Japanese base at the

Wutai Mountains Mount Wutai, also known by its Chinese name Wutaishan and as is a sacred Buddhist site at the headwaters of the Qingshui in Shanxi Province, China. Its central area is surrounded by a cluster of flat-topped peaks roughly corresponding to the ...

. He was appointed Party Secretary of Dongye District and Head of the Propaganda Department of the Northeast Shanxi Party Committee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Son 1908 births 1956 deaths Vietnamese emigrants to China People's Liberation Army generals Generals of the People's Army of Vietnam Vietnamese communists Chinese communists People from Hanoi People from Bắc Ninh province Recipients of the Order of Ho Chi Minh Deaths from stomach cancer Deaths from cancer in Vietnam