Luo was born in a village in Hengshan County, Hunan Province. In 1919, at the age of 17, he enrolled in Xiejun Middle School in Changsha. Five years later, he began attending Shandong University (then Qingdao Private College), completing a preparatory course in Industry in Commerce in 1926. He joined the Chinese Communist Youth League in April 1927 and the Chinese Communist Party later that year. He was the only one of the later ten Marshals to have followed Mao in the Autumn Harvest Uprising. During the Long March he served as the security chief for the Chinese Red Army.
During the Second Sino-Japanese War he served as political commissar of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army. The Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Region anti-troskyites campaign extended to other base areas, including Shandong, leading to a frenzied campaign of mass execution of party cadres. This was put to a halt thanks to Luo's intervention in November 1939. This incident reached Yan'an in early 1940, which lead to a reexamination of the anti-trotskyite campaign in Shandong on a meeting convened by Chen Yun. Here, the campaign was criticized as too extremist, although it was maintained that it was correct, which was not enough to stop the deadly campaign, despite Luo's efforts, which saved more than 100 lives, the campaign did not fully ended until April 1942, after an inspection by Liu Shaoqi.[1]: 480–481
After Zhu Rui dismissal as political commissar of the Eighth Route Army in Shandong on 1942, he held unified leadership over the government, Party and military in the Shandong area during the war against Japan. He chaired the General Study Committee, where he tried to oppose the Rectification Campaign excesses in Shandong.[1]: 617–620 During his leadership of Shandong the communist forces and territory grew, at the time of China's victory on the war against Japan the CCP controlled most of Shandong strongholds and communication lines, which were vital for communist victory during the Chinese civil war.[1]: 625
After World War II, Luo served as the political commissar of Lin Biao in Northeast China during the Chinese civil war.
After the formation of the People's Republic of China in 1949 he became Chief of Staff of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). He was made a marshal in 1955.
Luo was the member of the 7th CPC Central Committee and 8th CPC Politburo. He died in 1963, and the funeral was attended by Mao and Lin Biao; the only other funeral attended by Lin Biao was for PLA Air Force General Liu Yalou.
