In August 1937, after many negotiations between our Party and the Kuomintang government, the Kuomintang government, in view of the fact that Peiping, Tianjin, Shanghai and other places were occupied by the Japanese army, agreed to the Red Army, which persisted in guerrilla struggle in northern Shaanxi and in the three southern provinces, and reorganized it into the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army. Of course, in order to limit the development of our Party's armed forces, the main force at that time was only given three divisions. The first division had two brigades and the first brigade had two regiments.
The six brigades, the 343rd Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, were all from the First Army of the Red Army, and the brigade commander was Chen Guang at the time. The 344th Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army came from the 15th Army of the Free Red Army, and the brigade commander was Xu Haidong. The 358th Brigade of the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army was composed of troops from the 4th and 6th Divisions of the Red Second Front and the 28th Army of the Red Army in Northern Shaanxi, with Zhang Zongxun as the brigade commander. The 359th Brigade of the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army was composed of troops from the Sixth Army, the 32nd Army and the Special Service Regiment of the Red Army Headquarters, and the brigade commander was Chen Bojun.
The 385th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army was composed of troops from the 4th Army of the Red Fourth Front, and the brigade commander was Wang Hongkun. The 386th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army was composed of troops from the 31st Army of the Red Fourth Front, and the brigade commander was Chen Geng. Of these six brigades, the 343rd Brigade, which is the main force of the Red First Army, has the strongest combat effectiveness. The 344th Brigade was reorganized from the Red Fifteenth Army, and its combat effectiveness was not bad. In the entire War of Resistance Against Japan, they fought the famous Battle of Pingxingguan, with countless big battles and vicious battles, but in general, in terms of fighting devils, they were not as famous as the 386th Brigade of the 129th Division. The 386 Brigade led by Chen Geng fought famous battles in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, which I have described in detail in several previous articles and will not elaborate on them.
Why the 343 and 344 brigades, which rank first and second in combat effectiveness, are not famous, there is only one reason, they were in 1938 and 1940, respectively, the brigade organization did not exist, but developed in a larger direction. Although the two brigades of the 1st and 20th Divisions also fought many hard battles, their main task at that time was to defend Yan'an, and the 359th Brigade was once sent to Nanniwan to open up wasteland and cultivate land. The 385th Brigade of the 129th Division, as mentioned in the previous article, all the main forces remained in Yan'an to take on the task of security and protection. In this way, it can only be the 386 Brigade, which is out of the limelight.