The anti-Japanese armed struggle of the Korean people lasted for 15 years under difficult conditions without a state rear or any help of a regular army.

The Koreans had to fight against one million-strong army of the Japanese imperialists armed to the teeth who professed themselves to be the "leader" of Asia.

The Japanese imperialists made light of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army as "a drop in the ocean". But they suffered wholesale deaths in every battle by the original guerrilla tactics created by the great leader Kim Il Sung.

During the Hongqihe Battle in March Juche 29(1940) the Korean People's Revolutionary Army encountered the notorious "Maeda punitive troops".

The commander of the "punitive troops" Maeda was spreading a "strict dragnet" with the mobilization of all his troops, vaunting that he would annihilate the Korean People's Revolutionary Army.

On March 25, Kim Il Sung decided to defeat the chasing enemy with the tactics of allurement and ambush and set the Hongqihe Valley as an ambush.

As he expected, the enemy began to be lured into the ambush range, following the footprints of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army on the snow.

When the main forces of the enemy were lured completely into the ambush range, the Korean People's Revolutionary Army totally suppressed them with strong firepower.

Though the enemy suffered wholesale deaths, they did not surrender but hid themselves behind rocks and trees to hold out desperately.

Seeing through all the situation in time, Kim Il Sung mapped out a new plan to completely annihilate the enemy while avoiding the loss of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army.

In the battle the Korean People's Revolutionary Army killed and injured over 140 enemy troops including Maeda professing himself to be the "king of punitive operation", took more than 30 prisoners and captured a lot of war materials from the enemy.

Besides, the guerrilla tactics created by Kim Il Sung included the the tactics of escaping from siege by stealth to make the enemy fight among themselves, the tactics of making a sound in the east and defeating the enemy in the west and the rapid manoeuvre in which a large unit moved at midday.

Kim Il Sung correctly calculated the balance of forces between friend and foe and geographical and weather conditions according to the changing reality before applying different tactics in the battles against the enemy every time, creating new legends. Indeed, he was an outstanding military strategist who kept one million-strong army of the Japanese imperialists under his thumb.