Chapter 5 4. The Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army

On July 29 and 30, 1937, Peiping and Tianjin were successively captured by the Japanese, and Chiang Kai-shek was extremely anxious. On August 1, Zhang Chong, representative of the Nanjing government, sent an urgent message to Mao Zedong: Chiang Kai-shek secretly invited Mao Zedong, Zhu De, and Zhou Enlai to Nanjing to discuss national defense issues. On August 9, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China sent Zhu De, Zhou Enlai, and Ye Jianying to Nanjing to discuss state affairs. On August 12, CCP representatives Zhou Enlai and Zhu De discussed with Nanjing Zhang Chong, Shao Lizi, and Kang Ze the "Declaration on Cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party" drafted by the CCP. On the 13th, the Japanese invaders aggressively attacked Shanghai, and the Nationalist Government hastily organized the Battle of Songhu to resist the Japanese invaders' war against the confidant of Chiang Kai-shek's rule.Since then, Chiang Kai-shek has no place to compromise with Japan.

The Japanese invaded China in an all-round way, and the Chiang Kai-shek Group was under the powerful military offensive of the Japanese invaders in North China and East China.Chiang Kai-shek was eager to dispatch the Red Army to North China to fight against Japan, so he made a major concession, agreeing that the Red Army's combat mission was to act as a strategic guerrilla force, carry out flank operations, and assist the Kuomintang army to harass and suppress most of the Japanese army and wipe out part of it. On August 18, the Nanjing government agreed to reorganize the Red Army into the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army, organize 3 divisions, set up a general headquarters, and appoint Zhu De and Peng Dehuai as the chief and deputy commanders.Chiang Kai-shek no longer insisted on sending officers to serve in the Eighth Route Army, but only sent one liaison staff officer to the headquarters and three divisions.The long-disputed Red Army reorganization and personnel issues were finally resolved. On August 22, the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government officially announced the order for the reorganization of the Red Army.On this day, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China happened to hold an enlarged meeting of the Politburo in Luochuan.

On the closing day of the Luochuan Conference on August 25, Mao Zedong, chairman of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, and vice-chairmen Zhu De and Zhou Enlai issued a reorganization order to the entire army: Nanjing has begun the war of resistance against Japan, and the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party has initially succeeded.In order to realize the promise of the Central Committee of the Communist Party to change the name of the Red Army at the Third Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Kuomintang, make the Red Army a model of the Anti-Japanese National War, promote this Anti-Japanese War to become a revolutionary war against Japan for the whole nation, and strive for final and complete victory. As a result of the political negotiations, it was announced that the Red Army was renamed the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army, and the generals:

The former general headquarters was changed to the general headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, with Zhu De as the commander in chief, Peng Dehuai as the deputy commander in chief, Ye Jianying as the chief of staff, and Zuo Quan as the deputy chief of staff. The General Political Department was changed to the Political Department of the Eighth Route Army, with Ren Bishi as the director and Deng Xiaoping as the deputy director. The 1st Corps, 15th Corps, and 74th Division of the First Front Army were combined into the 115th Division of the Army, with Lin Biao as the division commander, Nie Rongzhen as the deputy division commander, Zhou Kun as the chief of staff, Luo Ronghuan as the director of the division's political training department, and Xiao Hua as the deputy division commander. director.

The 27th Army of the Second Front Army, the 28th Army's Independent 1st Division, the 2nd Division, and the Chishui Guard Battalion's former Zongzhi Division were jointly organized into the 120th Division of the Army, with He Long as the division commander, Xiao Ke as the deputy division commander, and Zhou Shidi as the commander. Chief of staff, Guan Xiangying is the director of the Political Training Department, and Gan Siqi is the deputy director. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th independent regiments of the 29th Army and the 30th Army of the Fourth Front Army were reorganized into the 129th Division of the Army, with Liu Bocheng as the division commander, Xu Xiangqian as the deputy division commander, Ni Zhiliang as the chief of staff, and Zhang Hao as the political trainer. Director of the Department, Song Renqiong as Deputy Director.

After the reorganization of the above departments, the appointment of personnel will be the same as before the head office.After each division is reorganized into the National Revolutionary Army, it is necessary to strengthen the leadership of the party and maintain and carry forward the glorious tradition of the 10-year struggle.Resolutely implement the orders of the Party Central Committee and the Military Commission, ensure that the Red Army becomes the Communist Party's army after reorganization, fight for the Party's line and policies, and complete the great mission of the Chinese revolution.

On the same day, the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China also issued an order for the reorganization of the former Northern Shaanxi Red Army: the original Northern Shaanxi Red Army was organized into three regular divisions of the Eighth Route Army, and some troops were drawn from the First, Second, and Fourth Front Army of the Red Army to form the Eighth Route Rear General Detention Office. Xiao Jinguang served as the director, under the jurisdiction of 8 garrison regiments, the 385 brigade headquarters and the 770 regiment headquarters, responsible for the defense of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia border area.

The compiled sequence of the Eighth Route Army is as follows: Commander-in-Chief: Zhu De, Deputy Commander-in-Chief: Peng Dehuai Chief of Staff: Ye Jianying, Deputy Chief of Staff: Zuo Quan Director of the Political Department: Ren Bishi, Deputy Director: Deng Xiaoping 115th Division Teacher: Lin Biao, Deputy Teacher: Nie Rongzhen Chief of Staff: Zhou Kun Director of Political Training Department: Luo Ronghuan, Deputy Director: Xiao Hua The 343rd brigade commander: Chen Guang, deputy brigade commander: Zhou Jianping The 344th brigade commander: Xu Haidong, deputy brigade commander: Huang Kecheng

120th Division Teacher: He Long, Deputy Teacher: Xiao Ke Chief of Staff: Zhou Shidi Director of Political Training Department: Guan Xiangying, Deputy Director: Gan Siqi The 358th brigade commander: Zhang Zongxun, deputy brigade commander: Li Jingquan The 359th brigade commander: Chen Bojun, deputy brigade commander: Wang Zhen 129th Division Teacher: Liu Bocheng, Deputy Teacher: Xu Xiangqian Chief of Staff: Ni Zhiliang Director of Political Training Department: Zhang Hao, Deputy Director: Song Renqiong The 385th brigade commander: Wang Hongkun, deputy brigade commander: Wang Weizhou

The 386th brigade commander: Chen Geng, deputy brigade commander: Chen Zaidao On August 29, the Central Military Commission decided to establish the Front Branch (later called the North China Army Branch).Nie Rongzhen served as a member of the committee. On September 11, the Eighth Route Army was renamed the 18th Group Army according to the unified national battle order, and the commander-in-chief and deputy commander-in-chief were renamed commander-in-chief and deputy commander-in-chief.