In the early years of the Republic of China, after zhang Zuolin took control of the power in the northeast, he implemented the policy of "reorganizing the army with fine force and exerting great efforts to govern the country", opened mines, built railways, built banks, and opened schools, and actively reclaimed the army in northern Manchuria (Heilongjiang).
Zhang Zuolin recovered a series of sovereign interests through various means, so that 85 percent of the railways in the northeast were nationalized, 98 percent of the telecommunications equipment was nationalized, and the first air-conditioned train in Asia appeared in the northeast in 1930. In addition, the northeast also had the most developed heavy industry system in China at that time, especially in the military industry, and there were many large-scale arsenals in the northeast.
As early as 1916, Zhang Zuolin began to invest heavily in the construction of Fengtian Arsenal, after more than ten years of development, Fengtian Arsenal has tens of thousands of equipment and eight factories, the peak period of workers as many as 50,000 people. Before the September 18 Incident, the Fengtian Arsenal had mastered various advanced technologies from Japanese artillery to German-style explosives, whether it was Japanese-made howitzers of various calibers or European-style firearms, which could be imitated, with an annual production of more than 150 guns of more than 80 mm and more than 60,000 rifles.
In addition, there is the Fengtian Mortar Factory, the strength of this arsenal is also very strong, is a professional arsenal that is completely introduced into British technology, and by 1929, it already has more than 1,400 industrial workers, the scale far exceeds other domestic gun factories, and the annual output of mortars has reached more than 3,000. Zhang Zuolin also spent huge sums of money to buy aircraft and warships from abroad, attracting foreign scientific and technological talents, so that the northeast was in the military and the economy was all ahead of the interior.
Unfortunately, due to Zhang Xueliang's misjudgment, the Japanese army occupied the entire northeast without bloodshed, and the Japanese Kwantung Army captured 3 million rounds of ammunition, 500,000 shells, 2,500 machine guns, 150,000 rifles, and 250 heavy artillery at the Fengtian Arsenal alone, enough to arm 200,000 Japanese troops. In addition, more than 2,300 mortars were seized from the Fengtian Mortar Factory. The northeast air force spent a huge amount of money to buy more than 300 aircraft from abroad, but also fell into the hands of the Japanese.
After the September 18 Incident, the Japanese further developed the industry in the northeast, which further enhanced the industrial strength of the northeast. After the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in 1945, the importance of the northeast was self-evident, and it can be said unceremoniously that for the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, whoever occupies the northeast first can gain the world.
At the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Kuomintang was entrenched in the southwest region, not to mention going to the northeast, and even going to south China and east China would take a while, while the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army led by the Communist Party of China were active behind enemy lines, so it was easy for them to go to the northeast. As early as August 11, 1945, a few days before Japan announced its surrender, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army issued an order asking Li Yunchang to lead the Reji Reliao Military Region to the northeast immediately to cooperate with the Soviet army in launching a comprehensive counteroffensive against the Japanese army. After Japan surrendered, the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army quickly marched to the northeast region.
Among the more than 100,000 troops who initially went to the northeast, the Third Division of the New Fourth Army led by Huang Kecheng can be said to be the absolute main force. Among the many founding fathers, Huang Kecheng was an outspoken, dare to tell the truth, and also had a strategic vision, whether it was during the Red Army period or the War of Resistance Against Japan, Huang Kecheng made a major contribution to the Chinese revolution.
Huang Kecheng also recognized the strategic significance of the northeast early on, and in early September 1945, Huang Kecheng led the Third Division of the New Fourth Army back to the base area in northern Jiangsu. After he learned that the vanguard of our army had gone to the northeast, he immediately suggested to Rao Shushi, secretary of the Central China Bureau and political commissar of the New Fourth Army, that a telegram be sent to the central authorities and request that a large force be sent to the northeast. But Rao Shushi thought that this was not something they should be in charge of and did not agree to send the telegram.
So Huang Kecheng sent a telegram to the central authorities in his personal name, and in view of the situation at that time, he put forward his own suggestions, saying: "Since the northeast can line up and go, it should be sent as much as possible, at least 50,000 people, and it is best to go to 100,000 people." He also sent prestigious army leaders to preside over the work and quickly created a general base area to support the Kannai War. At present, if our Party does not have a large strategic base area in contact with one piece, there will be no big victory, and without a victory in a large-scale decisive battle, there will be no big strategic base area linked to a piece. ”
Although Huang Kecheng was only a local military commander at that time, he had a clear understanding of the overall strategic situation, and it can be seen from the telegram he sent to the central authorities at that time that Huang Kecheng had far-reaching insight and clear goals, which was indeed different from ordinary military commanders. On September 23, 1945, Huang Kecheng received an order from the central government to lead the Third Division of the New Fourth Army to the northeast.
Although the Third Division of the New Fourth Army is nominally only a division, it has more than 30,000 officers and men. The Third Division of the New Fourth Army was formed as the fifth column of the Eighth Route Army on the basis of the main force of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, which was leveled at the first battle of the War of Resistance Against Japan, and entered central China in accordance with the CPC Central Committee's strategic principle of "consolidating North China and developing Central China." After the Anhui Incident, it was reorganized into the Third Division of the New Fourth Army.
After receiving the order of the Third Division to quickly go to the northeast, Huang Kecheng decided to take only 4 brigades and 3 special regiments with a total of 15 regiments and 35,000 people in consideration of the needs of military struggle in the northern Jiangsu region after the Third Division left. The same number of troops and corresponding weapons and equipment were left to northern Jiangsu, and 35,000 local troops remained in northern Jiangsu, and the local armed forces in Huaihai District were organized into the twelfth column of the Central China Field Army, and the local armed forces in Yanfu District and some local armed forces in central Jiangsu were combined into the eleventh column of the Central China Field Army, which withstood the test and made contributions in the War of Liberation.
The Third Division of the New Fourth Army, which traveled north, departed from Huai'an on September 28, 1945, passing through the five provinces of Jiangsu, Shandong, Hebei, Rehe and Liaoning, traveling 3,000 miles, lasting two months, and arriving in the area west of Jinzhou in Liaoning Province on November 25. When the Third Division of the New Fourth Army set out for the northeast, it was also full of fierce generals, and Huang Kecheng, commander and political commissar of the Third Division of the New Fourth Army (founding general), Liu Zhen (founding general), deputy division commander and chief of staff Hong Xuezhi (founding general), director of the political department Wu Faxian (founding lieutenant general), and several brigade commanders were all well-known figures later.
When they first went to the northeast, many people rumored that the northeast was full of weapons and went to pick them up at will, so the Central Bureau asked them to leave the weapons behind and replenish them in the northeast, but Huang Kecheng was not so optimistic, but let the troops go to the northeast with all the weapons, and the Third Division of the New Fourth Army was also the only unit to go to the northeast with fully armed forces.
After Huang Kecheng arrived in the northeast, he found that the situation in the northeast was not so good, there were no weapons, no mass base, and no rear base area, and later when Du Yuming led the Kuomintang army fully equipped with American weapons to attack the northeast, he successively conquered Strategic Places such as Shanhaiguan and Jinzhou.
After conquering Jinzhou, Du Yuming had no intention of giving up and continued to attack north, at this time Lin Biao had no troops to use, and the troops to the northeast were all empty-handed, unable to form combat effectiveness, and were not opponents of the US ordnance army at all. At the most critical time of the battle, Huang Kecheng led the Third Division of the New Fourth Army to arrive, but Du Yuming still disdained this unit and ordered the troops to continue to attack, after successive attacks were blocked, Du Yuming received information from the General Staff Office, saying that this division of the New Fourth Army had more than 30,000 people, more than a single army of the Nationalist Army, Du Yuming hurriedly withdrew his troops, fearing that they would be ambushed, and Lin Biao blocked Du Yuming's attack.
The Third Division of the New Fourth Army led by Huang Kecheng later also developed a number of ace units, the Seventh Brigade of the Third Division of the New Fourth Army developed into the 16th Division of the Sixth Column of Dongye, the history of the department is very old, once participated in the Nanchang Uprising, and later reorganized into the Red 2nd Division of the Red First Army, the 685th Regiment of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, with strong combat effectiveness, able to attack and defend, well equipped, strong combat effectiveness, and is the first-class main division of the field army in the northeast. After the Battle of Liaoshen, the unit was reorganized into the 127th Division of the 43rd Army of the Fourth Field Army.
The 8th Brigade of the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army was formerly known as the Red 25th Army of the Eyu-Anhui Soviet District, which became a part of the 344th Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army during the War of Resistance, reorganized into the 4th Division of the 2nd Column of dongye after entering the northeast, and reorganized into the 115th Division of the 39th Army of the Fourth Field Army after the Liaoshen Campaign.
The 10th Brigade of the Third Division, formerly known as the 26th Army of the Red Army in Northern Shaanxi, was incorporated into the 344th Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army after the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and expanded to the northeast as the 5th Division of the Second Column of Dongye, whose commander was the famous Major General Zhong Wei. During the Liberation War, the 5th Division of the Second Column was evaluated by Lin Biao as the most vigorous unit in Dongye, with strong surprise ability and rich combat experience, and was the preferred main force division in previous major wars, and it was also the first-class main force division in the Northeast Army. The division was later reorganized as the 116th Division of the 39th Army of the Fourth Field Army.
The Independent Brigade of the Third Division of the New Fourth Army was later reorganized into the Sixth Division of the Second Column of the Northeast Field Army, and after the Battle of Liaoshen, it was reorganized into the 117th Division of the 39th Army of the Fourth Field Army. Among the three special service regiments of the New Fourth Army, the Guard Regiment of the Nenjiang Military Region was later formed as the Independent Division of the West Manchuria Military Region, and after August 1947, it was reorganized into the 21st Division of the 7th Column of the Northeast Field Army, and some of them were incorporated into the 36th Division of the 12th Column of dongye.
It can be seen from this that among the several units of the Northeast Field Army that fought hard battles, there was the shadow of the Third Division of the New Fourth Army, and these units fought from the White Mountains and Black Water in the northeast to Hainan Island under the command of Lin Biao, making a major contribution to the victory and liberation of the whole country.