In order to unite with the outside world and jointly resist Japan, the Red Army and the Southern Guerrillas led by the CPC were reorganized into the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army.
This means that the Red Army will henceforth become friendly with its former enemies, wearing the same uniforms, hats, and flags.
So, has the bloody feud of the past disappeared?
It's so easy.
In the process of adaptation, in the "dress-up" link, it was first "stuck in the shell".
"Changing clothes" is not as simple as changing a military uniform, according to the requirements, the Red Army generals will be affixed with the "blue sky and white sun" hat emblem on the military hat.
Just because of this "blue sky and white day" hat emblem, there was a headache "change of military hat storm".
The Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army, and the vast number of Red Army officers and men were about to face two problems:
First, due to the limited organization given by the Kuomintang to the Eighth Route Army, only three divisions were given the number of divisions under the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, so almost all the Red Army generals were "demoted and used."
For example, after the reorganization, the head of the Red Army at the regimental level and army level was basically demoted to the division level officer, the red army division commander was generally demoted to the brigade and regiment level officers, and some Red Army generals were "directly demoted to the third level".
In such a situation, it is unrealistic for the generals of the Red Army to have no ideas.
However, under the explanation and education of the higher-level organizations, the red army generals understood the overall righteousness and considered the overall situation, and this problem was quickly solved.
Another problem is more common: Officers and men of the Red Army are generally resistant to wearing the "Blue Sky and White Sun" hat emblem.
The red five stars should be replaced by "blue sky and white sun", not only that, but even the red flag must be replaced by the flag of "blue sky and white sun full of red".
Many fighters can't think straight, grumble, say weird things, and resolutely resist abound.
To be fair, in terms of the functionality of the military hat, the new military hat is much stronger than the Red Army's "octagonal hat".
This military hat imitates the German military helmet, its prototype is a ski hat, and the special feature is that the military hat has a half-circle protective cloth and two buttons.
When the weather is cold, the protective cloth can be removed from the button and can be used for the face and the back of the neck to protect the cold.
In hot weather, you can turn the protective cloth up and fix it on two buttons, so that it will not affect the heat dissipation.
However, the soldiers of the Red Army did not care much about the military hat itself, and what they really disliked was the "blue sky and white sun" hat emblem on the military hat!
The day before the official reorganization of the troops, the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army sent the "Blue Sky and White Sun" hat badge to each squad, requiring the soldiers to decorate the hat badge in advance and change hats uniformly at the oath division meeting.
As soon as they saw the "Blue Sky and White Sun" badge, many soldiers' anger was not smooth.
A veteran of the Red Fourth Front recalled:
At the class meeting, the squad leader gave each soldier a hat badge.
Holding the hat badge, the soldiers in the squad all bowed their heads, black faces, and sighed long and short, sullen and unhappy.
The squad leader said, "Let's put on the hat badge, tomorrow we will use it for the meeting." ”
One of the soldiers was a cannon barrel temper, he threw the "Blue Sky and White Sun" hat badge to the ground, and yelled at the squad leader: "I am a Red Army, not a white dog, why should I wear it?" ”
A few words aroused the hearts of the warriors, and everyone shouted one after another.
"If you wear this toy, what face will you see the folks?"
"I joined the army just to fight the Kuomintang reactionaries, to fight back and forth, and how we have become Kuomintang soldiers!"
"How many of our relatives and comrades-in-arms have been killed by the Kuomintang, and this vendetta will not be repaid, and we will not give up!"
In the eyes of the soldiers of the Red Army, the twelve horns on the "Blue Sky and White Sun" badge are like the twelve teeth of a vicious wolf, gloomy, vicious, and hateful.
Seeing it, the warriors will be disgusted, full of anger, how much blood and tears, how much bitterness, how much grief, together with the heart.
Veteran soldiers said: We all know the great principle of unity and resistance to Japan, that is, we really cannot accept it emotionally.
What worries commander Liu and other leaders of the 129th Division even more is that not only are ordinary soldiers unable to think straight, but they are ideologically resistant, and many cadres are also "unable to turn a corner" for a while.
Because they were all Red Army cadres, if they were not handled properly, the consequences would be even more serious.
Brigadier Chen Geng wrote in his diary: Liu and Zhang did not return, the reorganization order could not be officially announced, and many cadres were uneasy about their positions and considered their own whereabouts, so that it affected the work of the troops and the phenomenon of discipline being abolished...
What Brigadier Chen Geng recorded in his diary was the real situation at that time.
Once, when Commander Liu made a mobilization report in the unit directly under the organ, a cadre stood up and said very impulsively: "I would rather go home and farm than wear a Kuomintang military uniform and a hat of blue sky and white sun!" ”
Another cadre simply said bluntly: "Without wearing this dog skin, Lao Tzu will still beat the devil!" ”
This cadre once had such a thought: Leave the army and return to his hometown, and pull the team to fight the devils himself.
Liu Bocheng waved his hand, signaled them to sit down first, and then said to everyone: "Back then, I longed for revolution and took off the Kuomintang military uniform, and now, I am not willing to wear the Kuomintang uniform again." ”
"However, at the moment of the great enemy, we must make concerted efforts to deal with the Japanese, everyone is a revolutionary cadre, we should have a minimum view of the overall situation, and we must not disregard the interests of the state and the nation because of our personal likes and dislikes!"
Finally, Master Liu gave everyone an analogy: "A pair of brothers have a contradiction, at this time, a bully from a foreign tribe hit the door." ”
"You say, should the two brothers work together to fight the bully first, or should the brothers fight you to the death first?" Master Liu asked.
"Of course, it's the bully who hits the foreign tribe first!" The cadres replied without hesitation, and then they also wanted to understand the truth in Master Liu's words.
With everyone's active efforts, the Anti-Japanese Oath Meeting of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army was finally held as scheduled.
In front of the parade platform, Commander Liu faced all the commanders and fighters and passionately shouted out the roar of joint resistance against Japan.
"In the past, the Kuomintang was our enemy, but why has it become our friendly army today?" This is because we Communists have always regarded the interests of the nation as the highest interests! ”
"The great enemy is at present, the country and the nation are in danger, and our main enemy at present is Japanese imperialism!"
Liu Bocheng also deeply understood the feelings of the soldiers: "Comrades, changing hats and wearing hat badges is nothing, no matter how the form changes, the essence of our people's army will not change!" ”
Finally, Master Liu took out a military hat embellished with the "Qingtian White Sun" hat emblem, and pointed to the "Qingtian White Sun" hat emblem with his finger: "The hat emblem is white, but our hearts will always be red!" Comrades please remember four words - white skin red heart! ”
When he had finished, he put his hat on his head and solemnly issued an order: "Now I order, change the hat!" ”
At the sound of an order, all the commanders and fighters of the division took out the new military hats that had been prepared from their satchels.
The moment the red star hat was taken off, many of the warriors were emotional and their eyes were filled with tears.
On the parade stage, Master Liu and other leaders also had a thousand thoughts and solemn expressions.
All the red army soldiers did one thing in unison: they carefully kept the old military hat (especially the red five-star), without exception.
Master Liu persuaded the Red Army soldiers with the words "white skin and red heart", and thus calmed down the "storm of changing military hats".
On this night, Brigadier Chen Geng wrote in his diary: "The mood of changing clothes today is very complicated, in order to deal with the common enemy, temporarily collect the Red Army hat." ”
"Whatever hat you change, we will always be the party's army!"
In the memoirs of many generals, they all mentioned the "storm of changing military hats", which shows how much influence this matter had at that time.
So, when will the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army stop wearing the Blue Sky and White Sun Hat Emblem?
There is a saying that after the "Anhui Incident" in 1941, the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army cancelled the Blue Sky and White Sun Hat Emblem.
After the Anhui Incident, there were indeed officers and men of the New Fourth Army and the Eighth Route Army who, out of righteous indignation, were unwilling to wear the Kuomintang hat insignia.
However, in order to safeguard the overall situation of the united anti-Japanese united front, until the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army did not issue an order to cancel the blue sky and white sun hat emblem.
It was not until June 1946, when Chiang Kai-shek of the Kuomintang brazenly tore up the armistice agreement and the all-out civil war began, that the numbers of our Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army were cancelled one after another, and the officers and men of our army no longer wore the "Blue Sky and White Sun" hat badge.
On August 15, 1945, Luo Ronghuan, commander and political commissar of the Shandong Military Region of the Eighth Route Army, proposed to the Central Committee that the name of our army be changed to "People's Liberation Army."
In 1946, the Liberation War was in full swing, and the former Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army, and the Northeast Democratic United Army in the Liberated Areas were successively renamed the People's Liberation Army.
At this time, the vast number of commanders and fighters of our army finally put back their beloved "red five-star" hat badges.
Since then, "a red star has been worn on the head", and under the shining red star, the people's army has marched forward in triumph and marched toward victory throughout the country!