Peng was one of the most important generals active in defending the Jiangxi Soviet by taking a leading role in defeating Chiang Kai-shek's first three Encirclement Campaigns from December 1930 to May 1931. His successes were outmatched only by Lin Biao. On November 7, Peng was named to the Central Military Commission and to the Central Executive Committee of the Jiangxi Soviet, the first time that he had been named to a position of political leadership in the communist movement. After the consolidation of the Jiangxi Soviet, a number of Soviet-trained Communist Party leaders arrived and took power in the Soviet. Peng, like most other communist military leaders, supported their leadership until the Jiangxi Soviet was eventually overrun. In August 1933, Peng was named Vice-Chairman of the Central Military Commission, and in January 1934, Peng was appointed as an alternate member to the Sixth CPC Central Committee. Peng continued the defense of the Jiangxi Soviet throughout the early 1930s. In August 1933, after the indecisive Fourth Encirclement Campaign, Peng broke through Kuomintang defenses, conquered a large area of western Fujian, and captured great quantities of arms and ammunition.