In Spring 1959, PRC Defense Minister Peng Dehuai led a Chinese military delegation on a visit to Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. Peng expressed his displeasure with the Great Leap Forward to various communist leaders, including Nikita Khruschev. In his view, the socioeconomic policies of the period undermined the economic development necessary to modernize the army. On his return to China in mid-June, Peng criticized the Great Leap Forward. Peng's criticism culminated in his "Letter of Opinion." On July 14, Peng wrote a private letter to Mao criticizing some elements of the Great Leap Forward. In the letter, he cautiously framed his words and did not deny the "great achievement" of Mao, but meanwhile showed his disapproval for elements like the "winds of exaggeration" (i.e., over-reporting of grain production), the communal dining, and also the establishment of commune militia, which he felt would undermine the strength of the People's Liberation Army. He expressed his "confusion" towards "rather large losses" and the "epidemic of bragging" in the Great Leap Forward. Peng attributed the problems to "petty bourgeois fanaticism." For this reason, Mao extended the conference for more than ten days. Downfall of Peng Dehuai On July 23, Mao showed Peng's letter to his comrades and asked them to express their views on the issue. Peng made no further substantive argument other than for the party to immediately withdraw from political initiatives in rural areas. Peng's position found no support among other conference attendees, as it amounted to "political suicide" for the party. For example, Zhou Enlai, normally a mediator between the left and right sides of the party, was extremely critical of Peng. Additionally, Peng’s position would mean de facto realignment with Soviet approaches at a time when Mao had been trying to find an independent path in terms of both foreign and domestic policy approaches. By the time of the Plenum, which immediately followed the Lushan Conference, Peng had become politically isolated and stripped from his position as Defence Minister, replaced by Marshal Lin Biao. The Lushan Plenum adopted a resolution denouncing "the anti-Party clique headed by Peng Duhai." In contrast to Peng, Mao’s position was that peasant enthusiasm was positive because political development required mass momentum. Mao continued to believe that the experiment of giving the peasantry a political role should be continued. His view was that initiatives like self-organizing agricultural tasks, self-managed schools, and cooperative medical services