The Eighth Route Army was created from the Chinese Red Army on September 22, 1937, when the Chinese Communists and Chinese Nationalists formed the Second United Front against Japan at the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, as the Chinese theater was known in World War II. Together with the New Fourth Army, the Eighth Route Army formed the main Communist fighting force during the war and was commanded by Communist party leader Mao Zedong and generalZhu De. Though officially designated the 18th Group Army by the Nationalists, the unit was referred to by the Chinese Communists and Japanese military as the Eighth Route Army. The Eighth Route Army wore Nationalist uniforms and flew the flag of the Republic of China and waged mostly guerrilla war against the Japanese, collaborationist forces and, later in the war, other Nationalist forces. The unit was renamed the People's Liberation Army in 1947, after the end of World War II, as the Chinese Communists and Nationalists resumed the Chinese Civil War.
Chinese propaganda poster depicting the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi.
The Eighth Route Army consisted of three divisions (the 115th, which was commanded by Lin Biao, the 120th under He Long, and the 129th under Liu Bocheng). During World War II, the Eighth Route Army operated mostly in North China, infiltrating behind Japanese lines, to establish guerrilla bases in rural and remote areas. The main units of the Eighth Route Army were aided by local militias organized from the peasantry.
After its fall 1938 victory in the Battle of Wuhan, Japan advanced deep into Communist territory and redeployed 50,000 troops to the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region.[1]: 122 Elements of the Eighth Route Army soon attacked the advancing Japanese, inflicting between 3,000 and 5,000 casualties and resulting in a Japanese retreat.[1]: 122
The Communist Party's liaison offices in cities under Nationalist control such as Chongqing, Guilin and Dihua (Ürümqi) were called Eighth Route Army Offices.
Ethnic Koreans who fought in the Eighth Route Army later joined the Korean People's Army.
Organizationedit
1937edit
In August 1937, the Eighth Route Army had three divisions.
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This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Eighth Route Army news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Eighth Route Army simplified Chinese 八路军 traditional Chinese 八路軍 pinyin Balu Jun officially known as the 18th Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China was a group army under the command of the Chinese Communist Party nominally within the structure of the Chinese military headed by the Chinese Nationalist Party during the Second Sino Japanese War Eighth Route ArmyEighth Route Army fighting on the Futuyu Great Wall Laiyuan Hebei 1938 Photograph by Sha Fei Active1937 1947Country ChinaAllegianceChinese Communist PartyBranchNational Revolutionary ArmyTypeRoute ArmyRoleInfantrySize600 000Part ofCPC Central Military CommissionNationalist Government Military Affairs CommissionGarrison HQShanxi and ShaanxiColorsGrey and White UniformMarchMilitary Anthem of the Eighth Route ArmyEngagementsSecond Sino Japanese War Chinese Civil WarCommandersCommanderZhu DeDeputy CommanderPeng DehuaiInsigniaArm badge as Eighth Route ArmyArm badge as 18th Group ArmyFlag as 18th Group Army In July 1937 the Presidium of the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party issued an order for the Chinese Red Army to reorganize into the National Revolutionary Army and stand by for the anti Japanese front line Former site of the Eighth Route Army Office in Guilin The Eighth Route Army was created from the Chinese Red Army on September 22 1937 when the Chinese Communists and Chinese Nationalists formed the Second United Front against Japan at the outbreak of the Second Sino Japanese War as the Chinese theater was known in World War II Together with the New Fourth Army the Eighth Route Army formed the main Communist fighting force during the war and was commanded by Communist party leader Mao Zedong and general Zhu De Though officially designated the 18th Group Army by the Nationalists the unit was referred to by the Chinese Communists and Japanese military as the Eighth Route Army The Eighth Route Army wore Nationalist uniforms and flew the flag of the Republic of China and waged mostly guerrilla war against the Japanese collaborationist forces and later in the war other Nationalist forces The unit was renamed the People s Liberation Army in 1947 after the end of World War II as the Chinese Communists and Nationalists resumed the Chinese Civil War Contents 1 History 2 Organization 2 1 1937 2 2 1940 3 See also 4 ReferencesHistory edit nbsp Chinese propaganda poster depicting the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi The Eighth Route Army consisted of three divisions the 115th which was commanded by Lin Biao the 120th under He Long and the 129th under Liu Bocheng During World War II the Eighth Route Army operated mostly in North China infiltrating behind Japanese lines to establish guerrilla bases in rural and remote areas The main units of the Eighth Route Army were aided by local militias organized from the peasantry After its fall 1938 victory in the Battle of Wuhan Japan advanced deep into Communist territory and redeployed 50 000 troops to the Shanxi Chahar Hebei Border Region 1 122 Elements of the Eighth Route Army soon attacked the advancing Japanese inflicting between 3 000 and 5 000 casualties and resulting in a Japanese retreat 1 122 The Communist Party s liaison offices in cities under Nationalist control such as Chongqing Guilin and Dihua Urumqi were called Eighth Route Army Offices Ethnic Koreans who fought in the Eighth Route Army later joined the Korean People s Army Organization edit1937 edit In August 1937 the Eighth Route Army had three divisions Division Commander Order of battle Commander Troop strength115th Division Lin Biao 343th Brigade Chen Guang 15 000344th Brigade Xu HaidongIndependent Regiment Yang Chengwu120th Division He Long 358th Brigade Lu Dongsheng 14 000359th Brigade Chen BojunTeaching Regiment Peng Shaohui129th Division Liu Bocheng 385th Brigade Wang Hongkun 13 000386th Brigade Chen GengTeaching Regiment Zhang Xian 张贤 1940 edit In Winter 1940 the Eighth Route Army had increased to 400 000 soldiers Division Commander Order of battle Commander Troop strength115th Division Chen Guang 1st Teaching Brigade Peng Mingzhi 70 0002nd Teaching Brigade Zeng Guohua zh 3rd Teaching Brigade Western Shandong Military Region Yang Yong4th Teaching Brigade Western Lake Military Region Deng Keming zh 5th Teaching Brigade Liang Xingchu6th Teaching Brigade Shandong and Hebei Military Region Xing Renfu zh Southern Shandong Military Region Zhang Guangzhong zh Shandong Column Zhang Jingwu 1st Brigade Wang Jian an 51 0002nd Brigade Sun Jixian zh 3rd Brigade Xu Shiyou5th Brigade Wu Kehua zh 1st Detachment Hu Qicai zh 4th Detachment Zhao Jie zh 5th Detachment Wang Bin 王彬 120th DivisionWestern and Northern Shanxi Military Region He Long 1st Independent Brigade4th Military Subarea Gao Shiyi 高士一 51 0002nd Independent Brigade2nd Military Subarea Peng Shaohui358th Brigade3rd Military Subarea Zhang Zongxun2nd Shanxi Youth Column8th Military Subarea Han JunCavalry Detachment Yao Zhe129th Division Liu Bocheng Taihang Mountain Military Subarea Liu Bocheng 56 000386th BrigadeTaiyue Mountain Military Subarea Chen GengSouthern Hebei Military Subarea Chen ZaidaoShanxi Hebei and Chahaer Military Region Nie Rongzhen 1st Military Subarea Yang Chengwu 100 0002nd Military Subarea Guo Tianmin3rd Military Subarea Huang Yongsheng4th Military Subarea Xiong Botao zh 5th Military Subarea Deng Hua3rd ColumnMiddle Hebei Military Region Lv ZhengcaoAdvanced Detachment Xiao KeShaanxi Left Behind Corps Xiao Jinguang 385th Brigade Wang Weizhou zh 22 600359th Brigade Wang Zhen1st Security Brigade Wen Niansheng zh Security Command Gao GangOthers 2nd ColumnHebei Shandong and Henan Military Region Yang Dezhi 50 0004th Column Peng Xuefeng5th Column Huang KechengSee also editGuerrilla National Revolutionary Army People s Liberation ArmyReferences edit a b Opper Marc 2020 People s Wars in China Malaya and Vietnam Ann Arbor University of Michigan Press doi 10 3998 mpub 11413902 ISBN 978 0 472 90125 8 JSTOR 10 3998 mpub 11413902 Preceded byChinese Red Army Armed Wing of the Chinese Communist Party25 August 1937 1 November 1948 with New Fourth Army12 October 1937 1 November 1948 Succeeded byPeople s Liberation Army Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Eighth Route Army amp oldid 1178923943, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
