The Eighth Route Army (), also known as the 18th Group Army, was a field army nominally under the banner of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of China, established in 1937 as part of the Second United Front against Japan. In practice, the Eighth Route Army was under the exclusive command of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and operated independently of the Kuomintang (KMT) central military command. Unlike most NRA units, which were directly overseen by the Nationalist Government, the Eighth Route Army maintained separate political and operational structures aligned with CCP objectives.
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.
History
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.
Shortly after the Marco Polo Bridge incident in 1937, the Eighth Route Army advanced into the Japanese rear in North China, establishing the Taihang resistance base area.
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. 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.
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.
In the Yan'an base area in September 1938, the Eighth Route Army established its first film group.
The Eighth Route Army was also responsible for the reeducation of Japanese POWs, and defectors during the Second Sino-Japanese War. In November 1940, the General Political Department of the Eighth Route Army established the Yan'an Japanese Worker and Peasant School. On May 15, 1941, the school was officially opened at Baota Mountain, Yan'an.
Several notable Japanese soldiers joined the Eighth Route Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Including Hideo Miyagawa, Kobayashi Kancho, and Maeda Mitsushige, the first Japanese to join the Eighth Route Army during the war.
In October 1941, 35 Japanese in Yenan, including Oyama Mitsuyoshi, took an oath to officially join the Eighth Route Army.
At the start of the war in 1937, the Eighth Route Army consisted of 80,000 troops. By 1945, its ranks had swelled to 1,028,893 troops.
From September 1937 to 10 October 1945, the Eighth Route Army engaged with Japanese and Chinese collaborationist troops in 99,847 battles, claiming to have killed or wounded 713,930 (401,648 Japanese and 312,282 collaborationist), captured 407,208 (5,096 Japanese and 402,112 collaborationist), and accepted the surrender and defection of 137,565 (710 Japanese and 136,855 collaborationist). In the same period, the Eighth Route Army suffered 121,444 killed and 225,687 wounded.
Organization 1937 In August 1937, the Eighth Route Army had three divisions. Division Commander Order of battle Commander Troop strength 115th Division Lin Biao 343rd Brigade 15,000 344th Brigade Xu Haidong Independent Regiment Yang Chengwu 120th Division He Long 358th Brigade Lu Dongsheng 14,000 359th Brigade Chen Bojun Teaching Regiment Peng Shaohui 129th Division Liu Bocheng 385th Brigade Wang Hongkun 13,000 386th Brigade Chen Geng Teaching Regiment Zhang Xian (张贤)
1940 In Winter 1940 the Eighth Route Army had increased to 400,000 soldiers. Division Commander Order of battle Commander Troop strength 115th Division Chen Guang 1st Teaching Brigade Peng Mingzhi 70,000 2nd Teaching Brigade 3rd Teaching Brigade Western Shandong Military Region Yang Yong 4th Teaching Brigade Western Lake Military Region 5th Teaching Brigade Liang Xingchu 6th Teaching Brigade Shandong and Hebei Military Region Southern Shandong Military Region Shandong Column Zhang Jingwu 1st Brigade Wang Jian'an 51,000 2nd Brigade 3rd Brigade Xu Shiyou 5th Brigade 1st Detachment 4th Detachment Zhao Jie 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) 51,000 2nd Independent Brigade2nd Military Subarea Peng Shaohui 358th Brigade3rd Military Subarea Zhang Zongxun 2nd Shanxi Youth Column8th Military Subarea Cavalry Detachment Yao Zhe 129th Division Liu Bocheng Taihang Mountain Military Subarea Liu Bocheng 56,000 386th BrigadeTaiyue Mountain Military Subarea Chen Geng Southern Hebei Military Subarea Chen Zaidao Shanxi, Hebei and Chahaer Military Region Nie Rongzhen 1st Military Subarea Yang Chengwu 100,000 2nd Military Subarea Guo Tianmin 3rd Military Subarea Huang Yongsheng 4th Military Subarea 5th Military Subarea Deng Hua 3rd ColumnMiddle Hebei Military Region Lü Zhengcao Advanced Detachment Xiao Ke Shaanxi Left Behind Corps Xiao Jinguang 385th Brigade 22,600 359th Brigade Wang Zhen 1st Security Brigade Security Command Gao Gang Others 2nd ColumnHebei, Shandong and Henan Military Region Yang Dezhi 50,000 4th Column Peng Xuefeng 5th Column Huang Kecheng
See also Guerrilla National Revolutionary Army People's Liberation Army Peng Dehuai Zhu De References
with New Fourth Army12 October 1937 – 1 November 1948