Eighth Route Army

The Eighth Route Army (), officially titled as the 18th Group Army, was a group 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.

However, 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.

Organization

1937

In August 1937, the Eighth Route Army had three divisions.

1940

In Winter 1940 the Eighth Route Army had increased to 400,000 soldiers.

See also

* Guerrilla
* National Revolutionary Army
* People's Liberation Army

References

with New Fourth Army
12 October 1937 – 1 November 1948

{{Authority control

1937 establishments in China
Anti-fascist organizations in China
Armies led by the Chinese Communist Party in World War II
Armies of the National Revolutionary Army
Military units and formations established in 1937
Military organizations associated with the Chinese Communist Party