Hong Xuezhi

Chinese military innovator who developed guerrilla warfare tactics against Japanese occupation

General Hong Xuezhi (1913-2006) reshaped modern warfare through his revolutionary 'Mine Warfare System' during the Second Sino-Japanese War. As commander of the Eighth Route Army's engineering corps, he transformed traditional landmine technology into a psychological weapon that crippled Japanese mechanized divisions.

His most impactful innovation was the 'Human Minefield' concept - mobile mine units that could be rapidly deployed and reactivated behind enemy lines. This tactic reduced civilian casualties while maintaining strategic pressure, documented in his 1943 manual 'People's Mine Warfare' which later influenced Viet Cong strategies.

Beyond military tactics, Hong pioneered China's first military-industrial complex in Yan'an caves, producing innovative weapons from scrap materials. His guerrilla engineering corps became prototype for modern PLA's technical branches, demonstrating how technological creativity could overcome material disadvantages.