In 1937, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression broke out in full swing, and the Japanese army attacked Shanghai and threatened Nanjing. In order to resist foreign humiliation and expel the Japanese, the Kuomintang and the Communists launched a second cooperation and established an anti-Japanese national united front. At the same time, the Southern Red Army and guerrillas were reorganized into the newly organized Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army, with Ye Ting as its commander.
Just when many people thought that the Kuomintang and the Communists were united in resisting Japan, Chiang Kai-shek brazenly launched the "Anhui Southern Incident" in 1940 and launched a fierce attack on the New Fourth Army. After this incident, the New Fourth Army was reorganized into 7 divisions, namely the 1st Division, commander Su Yu, the 2nd Division, division commander Zhang Yunyi, the 3rd Division, division commander Huang Kecheng, the 4th Division, division commander Peng Xuefeng, the 5th Division, division commander Li Xiannian, the 6th Division, division commander Tan Zhenlin, and the 7th Division, division commander Zhang Dingcheng. A total of more than 96,000 people, and the area of activity was redrawn.
With the completion of reconstruction, the New Fourth Army grew rapidly, and by the time of the victory of the War of Resistance, it had more than 300,000 people. So where did the seven divisions of the New Fourth Army go after the end of the War of Resistance? What about the results? We can review it carefully.
As we all know, the name of the New Fourth Army was used until January 30, 1947, when it was withdrawn. More than 30,000 people of the 3rd Division (Huang Kecheng's troops) went to the northeast to join the Northeast Field Army, participated in many major battles in the Liberation War, and made great achievements.
The 5th Division (Li Xiannian's department) was reorganized into the Central Plains Military Region, and after the outbreak of the Liberation War, Li Xiannian commanded the troops to make a strategic transfer and began the breakthrough in the Central Plains, kicking off the prelude to the Liberation War. In 1947, he joined forces with Liu Deng's army in victory and participated in the struggle to rebuild the Dabie Mountain base area, and also performed well in the Battle of Huaihai.
The remaining main forces of the New Fourth Army were reorganized into the East China Field Army. In the Liberation War, Huaye participated in the Battle of Laiwu, the Battle of Menglianggu, the Battle of Eastern Henan, the Battle of Jinan, the Battle of Huaihai, the Battle of Crossing the River, the Battle of Shanghai and other major battles that shocked the world. In the face of the huge disparity in equipment between the enemy and ourselves, HuaYe created a miracle of successive victories in war, annihilating many enemies and paying fewer prices, all of which created an unprecedented record in the national battlefield at that time. It was praised by Mao Zedong as "the unit with the largest record in all regions of the country".