After the "Lugou Bridge Incident", Japan launched an all-out war of aggression against China, and the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army and the Newly Organized Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army, which were referred to as the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army respectively. The Eighth Route Army was reorganized from the main force of the Red Army in the northwest, with three main divisions, each with two brigades and one regiment, of which the 343rd Brigade was one of the two brigades under the jurisdiction of the 115th Division.
The 343rd Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army was reorganized from the Red First Army of the Red Army in Sanyuan, Shaanxi Province, with the brigade commander Chen Guang, the deputy brigade commander Zhou Jianping, and the chief of staff Chen Shiyu. After the establishment of the 343rd Brigade, it had jurisdiction over two regiments, 685 and 686, and after the completion of the three original reorganizations, it crossed the Yellow River in the east to the anti-Japanese front at the end of August 1937, and after the victory of Pingxingguan, all parts were scattered to open up anti-Japanese base areas behind enemy lines. In March 1940, the Independent Brigade of the 115th Division was reorganized with the Eastward Anti-Japanese Advance Column to rebuild the 343rd Brigade, with Yang Yong as the brigade commander and Xiao Hua as political commissar.
In December 1938, the 115th Division's Eastward Detachment (the 115th Division Headquarters and the 686th Regiment of the 343rd Brigade and other units) advanced into Shandong, and in early 1939 the main force of the unit continued to advance eastward, while Yang Yong led the 3rd Battalion of the 686th Regiment and the Division Zhiyi to stay in Yunxi (west of the canal), and Yang Yong was the commander of the 686th Regiment at this time. Yang Yong led the unit to actively carry out the anti-Japanese struggle in the Yunxi area, and in May of the same year it was expanded into an independent regiment and seven detachments, and in July it was combined into the independent brigade of the 115th Division, with Yang Yong as the brigade commander and political commissar.
The Eastward Anti-Japanese Advance Column was formed in September 1938 by Xiao Hua, political commissar of the 343rd Brigade of the 115th Division, and led the 343rd Brigade to advance into Jilubian, and was reorganized in September 1938 at Jilubian, with the jurisdiction of the fifth detachment, the sixth detachment and the Jinpu detachment, and Xiao Hua, commander and political commissar. The fifth detachment was formed by the 685th Regiment of the 343rd Brigade of the 115th Division, and in early 1938 it advanced from Shanxi to Shandong, with detachment leader Zeng Guohua and political commissar Wang Xukun. The sixth detachment was renamed the Pingjin detachment formed by the local anti-Japanese forces in Jilubian, with detachment leader Xing Renfu and political commissar Zhou Guanwu. The Jinpu detachment was formed by the expansion of the engineer company of the 129th Division, and the detachment leader Sun Jixian.
After the formation of the anti-Japanese advance column in the east, it was scattered and developed, and in September 1939, Xiao Hua led the main force into Luxi. In March 1940, the Independent Brigade of the 115th Division merged with the organs of the Eastward Anti-Japanese Advance Column to rebuild the 343rd Brigade, the 343rd Brigade and the Luxi Military Region, the brigade commander was Yang Yong, the commander of the military region and the political commissar of the brigade and the military region was Xiao Hua, the brigade and military region chief of staff He Dequan, and the director of the brigade and military region political department Fu Zhuting. After the reconstruction, the 343rd Brigade has jurisdiction over the Yellow River Detachment and the Canal Detachment, the Yellow River Detachment has three regiments, the Canal Detachment has two regiments, and the whole brigade has two detachments and five regiments.
The Yellow River detachment was formed by the main force of the former independent brigade, with jurisdiction over three regiments of the first regiment, the second regiment and the third regiment, with peng Xiong as the leader of the detachment and Zhang Guohua as the political commissar. Peng Xiong was a Jiangxi Yong newcomer, who joined the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army in 1929, served as the chief of staff of the 686 Regiment after the beginning of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and later served as the chief of staff of the Independent Regiment, the commander of the Yellow River Detachment of the 343rd Brigade, and the chief of staff of the Third Division of the New Fourth Army. In 1943, Peng Xiong and Tian Shouyao led eleven cadres at or above the regimental level to study in Yan'an on the way to Yan'an to encounter the Japanese army on the north sea side of Lianyungang, and Peng Xiong and Tian Shouyao were martyred.
The Canal Detachment was formed by the fifth detachment of the former Eastward Anti-Japanese Advance Column and the sixth detachment of the Independent Brigade, and had jurisdiction over two regiments, the Fourth Regiment and the Fifth Regiment, with Zeng Guohua, the commander of the detachment, and Zeng Siyu, the political commissar. Zeng Guohua was a Guangdong Wuhua, who participated in the National Revolutionary Army and the Northern Expedition, joined the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army in 1931, served as the commander of the third battalion of the 685th Regiment of the 343rd Brigade after the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, and later served as the commander of the fifth detachment, the commander of the canal detachment of the 343rd Brigade, the commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 115th Division, the commander of the 6th Binhai Regiment, the chief of staff of the Binhai Military Region, and other positions. In 1955, Zeng Guohua was awarded the rank of lieutenant general.