In October 1943, after the Taihang Military Region was separated from the 129th Division, it became a military region directly commanded by the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, with 8 military sub-districts under its jurisdiction.
The two regiments of the 1st Military Subdivision were the 10th Regiment and the 31st Regiment.
The leader of the 31st Regiment was named Zeng Jiyun.
Zeng Jiyun (?) –1944), date of birth unknown, was a native of Huang'an County, Hubei Province. In 1938, he was an instructor of the 1st Battalion of the 772nd Regiment of the 386th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and the deputy regimental commander and regimental commander of the 31st Regiment of the First Military Subdistrict of the Taihang Military Region. In October 1944, he was killed in the battle against Zanhuang County, Hebei Province.
The leader of the 31st Regiment was Xiang Shouzhi.
Xiang Shouzhi was born in 1917 in Xuanhan, Sichuan, and joined the Red 9 Army in 1934 as a guerrilla leader and deputy platoon commander of the Red 9 Army, and participated in the Long March. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he served as deputy company commander, company commander, deputy regimental commander of the 771st Regiment of the 386th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, deputy regimental commander of the 771st Regiment, commander of the 10th Regiment of the Taihang Military Region, and deputy commander of the 1st Detachment of the Taihang Military Region.
During the Liberation War, he successively participated in battles in eastern Henan, Zhengzhou, Huaihai, crossing the river, and marching into the southwest. Later, he participated in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and participated in the Fifth Campaign and Defensive Operations. He was awarded the rank of major general in 1955. After being unjustly detained for a period of time in the middle, he came back. In 1988, Xiang Shouzhi, then commander of the Nanjing Military Region, was awarded the rank of general along with the old chief, the commander of the 1st Military Subdistrict of Taihang.
This old superior was General Qin Jiwei. Qin Jiwei, a native of Hong'an, Hubei Province, participated in the Jute Uprising in 1927, and later served as the commander of the pistol battalion of the headquarters of the Red Fourth Front, the company commander of the International Regiment of the Young Communist Party, the leader of the Guard Regiment, the commander of the 274th Regiment of the Red Thirty-first Army, etc., participated in the Long March, during the War of Resistance, he served as the commander of the independent detachment (Qin Lai detachment) of the 129th Division, opened up the Jinzhong Anti-Japanese Base Area, and later served as the commander of the 1st Military Subdistrict of the Taihang Military Region, and later participated in the Liberation War and the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and was awarded the rank of lieutenant general in 1955.
During the war years, General Qin Jiwei had been the chief of Xiang Shouzhi.
Although General Xiang Shouzhi experienced wars and tribulations, he was optimistic and positive, so he was also a long-lived person, living until September 2, 2017, when he died at the age of 100.
Related Reading:
What are the military regions under the direct command of the Eighth Route Army Headquarters? Who are its commanders with the highest ranks?