Peng Xuefeng was a statesman and strategist who had both ability and political integrity and both civil and military skills during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression period. He is not only famous for his outstanding military command ability, but also widely read and knowledgeable. He was praised by Mao Zedong as a "good example of learning".

During his work in Taiyuan, Peng Xuefeng not only did a lot of United front work, but also made full use of his spare time to study hard and made a lot of reading notes. From February 1937 to June 1937, he wrote 58 diaries. It can be seen from these diaries that after work, he borrowed books from local libraries, Chueh-min Bookstore, Chinese and foreign bookstores, and so on 12 times. Books 106, covering politics, economy, military affairs, philosophy, history, literature, folk customs, etc. Prepare for the coming War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. Besides, he studies Japanese against time every day. Peng Xuefeng gets up early to read Japanese every day. After mastering Japanese, he began to read a large number of literary works, such as Xu Xiake's Travels, Everywhere by Yu Dafu, Turgenev's Son, Noble House, New Era, Virgin Land and Smoke. He feels that these books can't satisfy him. If he meets the opportunity, he will buy back a lot of books and periodicals and bring them back to his "home" (that is, Yan 'an). During this period, in addition to working hard for the victory of the revolutionary cause with confidence, reading became another major job for him. Peng Xuefeng's luggage is mostly books. His books are stamped with stamps such as "Snow Maple", "Collection of Snow Maple" and "Books for Everyone". Once, when he was going out, he pointed to several boxes of books at home and said to the staff around him, "I have been in the middle of the revolution and have no money." I just like reading. These boxes of books are my only property. You should take good care of them for me. "

1942, the situation was so urgent and the military affairs were so busy that I couldn't sleep until midnight. Although he was exhausted, he managed to find time to finish the Course of Dialectical Materialism, Research on the Civil War History of the Red Army of the Soviet Union, Autobiography of Nehru, History of French Pain, Memoirs of Berlin, Questions and Answers on China Studies, The West Chamber, Notes on Swallows, Selected Works of Zhang Yiping, Rural Investigation in Mao Zedong and Collected Works of Lu Xun. At that time, Peng Xuefeng was a famous reading model in the army. He often said, "If you don't study hard, you will lose to work." "A strategist or politician is not only a matter of knowledge, but also must have corresponding knowledge in all aspects. Just like a surgeon who doesn't know about internal diseases, he is by no means a good doctor. " He also said that in addition to going deep into the masses and real life to gain knowledge, reading is also very important, and it is necessary to read widely.

He is good at reading and writing and is often praised by soldiers. He always sums up actual combat experience between battles and writes military papers as experience. Many military textbooks such as Guerrilla Tactics and Outline of Strategy and Tactics were written by him in his spare time and between battles.