In the long arc of authoritarian consolidation, the removal of powerful figures from within the ranks of one's own military is both a warning and a declaration — a signal that loyalty, not merely competence, is the currency of command. On September 21, 2026, China's Communist Party expelled two senior military generals from both the party and the armed forces, citing disloyalty and corruption. The move fits a decade-long pattern under Xi Jinping of reshaping the military into an instrument of unambiguous personal and ideological allegiance. History reminds us that when a leader purges those cl