Deng spent most of his career in the Communist military. While he never gained a reputation as a guerrilla hero, he built strong ties within the party’s military leadership. He commanded troops on the front lines of the Anti-Japanese war in the 1930s and 40s, and served as chief political officer in the Huai-Hai Campaign, which sealed the Communists’ victory over Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists.