In June 1946, the vast land of China was once again on fire, and the Chinese People's War of Liberation kicked off. This is a strategic decisive battle waged by the Chinese people since 1840 and after more than a hundred years of searching up and down, against reactionary forces at home and abroad such as imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism.Starting from the breakthrough of the Central Plains, this magnificent war picture slowly unfolded on the ancient land of China.From the Central Plains to Northeast China, from East China to Northwest China, from North China to South China, for a while, gunfire rumbled, gunpowder billowed, and the flames of war burned all over the land of China.The grand scale of this war, the vastness of the battlefield, the fierceness of the battle, the large number of participants, the huge impact on China and the world, and the miracle it created of "winning the many with the few, and defeating the strong with the weak" are among the human race. It left a strong mark in the history of war.

The First Field Army is a powerful force in this strategic final battle. It is fighting in a vast area including Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia.The total area here is about 3.5 million square kilometers. The land is barren and the transportation is inconvenient. Plateaus, plains, deserts, and Gobi criss-cross. Han, Hui, Tibetan, Mongolian, Uighur and other ethnic groups live in it. At the beginning of the war, this strong force had only more than 20,000 regular troops, plus local armed forces and militias, the total number did not exceed 50,000, and the equipment was backward and ammunition was scarce.At that time, the Kuomintang had a total of 43 brigades and 320,000 troops in the Northwest battlefield.Among them, Hu Zongnan Group has 170,000 people in 20 brigades, Qinghai Ma Bufang and Ningxia Ma Hongkui's "Erma Group" has 12 brigades with 69,000 people, two brigades of Deng Baoshan Group, commander-in-chief of the Yulin Shanxi-Shanxi-Sui Border Region Headquarters, have 12,000 people, and Xinjiang defenders 9 The brigade has 70,000 people, and is well-equipped and well-supplied, with modern combat equipment such as aircraft, tanks, and artillery.

1 against 10 personnel, equipped with rifles against planes, tanks and cannons, with grain such as millet, black beans, and wild vegetables, and leaves against flour. Looking at the history of world wars, no other army in China or abroad has ever experienced such a war that was inferior in any aspect of material strength, but the First Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army has experienced it. Under the command of a group of famous generals such as Peng Dehuai, He Long, Zhang Zongxun, Wang Zhen, Xu Guangda, Yang Dezhi, etc., this army galloped like a broken bamboo.First drove Hu Zongnan to the Qinling Mountains to live in panic, then swung his arms to the west, wiped out Ma Bufang and Ma Hongkui, and then marched into Xinjiang singing battle songs... They crossed the Tianshan Mountains with a depth of one or two meters of snow, crossed flying sand and rocks The Flaming Mountains, across the "Sea of ​​Death" Taklimakan Desert... In places in Xinjiang where no human footprints have been left, they left their own footprints.Some military strategists commented that the Red Army's Long March was a miracle, and this march of the First Field Army was another miracle!

More than half a century has passed, and the historical scene has gradually blurred.But the years of fighting 60 years ago are still fresh in our memory: they were barefoot in winter, they gnawed bark when they were hungry, they dragged their emaciated bodies over snow-capped mountains and deserts, they put the five-star red flag on their handkerchiefs On the Mier Plateau, they fought against the wind and sand to cultivate and defend the frontier, and they conquered the north and south to suppress the bandits and put down the rebellion...The scenes, either tragic or grand, added so much heroism and mystery to the snow-covered plateau in the Northwest!

Now, let us review these magnificent scenes, follow the footsteps of history, and trace the development of the First Field Army together. The predecessor of the First Field Army was the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia-Shanxi-Sui Joint Defense Army formed in May 1942. He Long was the commander and Guan Xiangying was the political commissar. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, this unit has always undertaken the dual tasks of "anti-Japanese" and "anti-Hu".They withstood the test in the dangerous environment of the Japanese army's crazy attack and Hu Zong's southern eye, defending the safety of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region and the safety of the Party Central Committee.

On August 10, 1945, the Japanese government sent a note of begging for peace to the Allies through the two neutral countries of Sweden and Switzerland.In order to adapt to this change in the situation, on August 11, the Central Military Commission urgently ordered the Jinsui Field Army to be transferred from the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia, Jinsui Joint Defense Forces, directly under the command of the Central Military Commission, and immediately go to the front line of Jinsui to launch a counter-offensive operation against Japan.He Long and Guan Xiangying served concurrently as the commander and political commissar of the Jinsui Field Army respectively. Wang Shitai acted as the acting commander of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Jinsui Joint Defense Army, and Gao Gang acted as the political commissar (Guan Xiangying was seriously ill and could not take up his post). Gao Gang was transferred to work in the Northeast, and Xi Zhongxun acted as political commissar on his behalf.

At the beginning of 1947, Hu Zongnan's attack on the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region was in full swing.In order to unify operational command and improve operational efficiency, the Central Military Commission decided on February 10 to cancel the designation of the Shanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Joint Defense Force, so that the Shanxi-Gansu-Ningxia First Column of the Shanxi-Sui Military Region and the Shanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Jinsui Joint Defense Force stationed in the Shanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region from the Shanxi-Sui Front Line The new 4th Brigade, the Teaching Brigade, the 1st Garrison Brigade, and the 3rd Garrison Brigade under the jurisdiction of the United Defense Army formed the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Field Army, with Zhang Zongxun as the commander and Xi Zhongxun as the political commissar.

On March 13, 1947, Hu Zongnan's hundreds of thousands of troops attacked Yan'an.In order to strengthen leadership, the Central Military Commission decided on March 16 to revoke the designation of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Field Army, and all field troops and local armed forces in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Liberated Areas formed the Northwest Field Corps, which was unified under the Central Military Commission Vice Chairman and Chief of General Staff Peng Dehuai and the Northwest Northwest Army of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Bureau Secretary Xi Zhongxun commanded.Under the jurisdiction of the first and second columns, the teaching brigade and the newly organized 4th brigade, there are more than 26,000 people in total. On July 31, the Central Military Commission decided to officially name the Northwest Field Corps as the Northwest People's Liberation Army Field Army, with Peng Dehuai as commander and political commissar, and Zhang Zongxun and Xi Zhongxun as deputy commanders and political commissars respectively.

At the beginning of 1949, the victory of the three major battles ended, making the National Liberation War a decisive victory.In order to unify the army designation and speed up the national liberation process, on February 1, in accordance with the "Regulations on the Unification of the Whole Army Organization and Troop Designation" promulgated by the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China on November 1, 1948 and the "Regulations on All Military Organizations and Troop Designations" issued on January 15, 1949 Decision to Change the Numbers of the Field Army to Arrange in Ordinal Numbers", the Northwest Field Army was officially named the First Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, Peng Dehuai served as commander and political commissar, Zhang Zongxun and Zhao Shoushan served as deputy commanders, Yan Kuiyao served as chief of staff, and Gan Siqi served as the Political Department Director, with jurisdiction over the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, and 8th armies and the 1st and 2nd cavalry divisions, with a total strength of 155,000.In order to speed up the process of the Northwest Liberation War, the Central Military Commission ordered the 18th (Zhou Shidi as the commander and political commissar) and the 19th Corps (commander Yang Dezhi and political commissar Li Zhimin) to enter Shaanxi from Shanxi and belong to the First Field Army on April 25. The 19th Army of the Military Region was also placed under the command of the First Field Army.In order to meet the needs of the division of troops, it was reported to the Central Military Commission for approval. On June 13, the First Field Army was organized into the 1st Corps with the 1st, 2nd, and 7th Armies, and Wang Zhen was appointed as the commander and political commissar. For the 2nd Corps, Xu Guangda served as commander and Wang Shitai served as political commissar.So far, the total strength of the First Field Army has reached 344,000.

In June 1952, the Central Military Commission ordered the revocation of all field army designations, and the First Field Army has completed its glorious journey here!