After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party began to cooperate in the war against Japan, and the First, Second, and Fourth Fronts of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army and the Northwest Red Army were reorganized into the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army, with a total strength of more than 40,000 troops, under the jurisdiction of the 115th, 120th and 129th divisions, each division was the establishment of two brigades and four regiments and 12 battalions, so that there were 36 battalions at the beginning of the establishment of the Eighth Route Army. Of the 36 battalion commanders, many of whom later became founding major generals, and only four became founding lieutenant generals, so who were these four?
Zeng Guohua, commander of the second battalion of the 685th regiment of the 343rd brigade. Zeng Guohua, a native of Wuhua County, Guangdong Province, participated in the Agrarian Revolutionary War and the Long March, and served as the commander of the second battalion of the 685 regiment after the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan. In the Battle of Pingxingguan, Zeng Guohua led the second battalion to fight the Japanese Kou to the death, and even at the critical moment, he led his troops to seize the Laoye Temple, the commanding heights, and made an important contribution to the total annihilation of this Japanese Kou force. Soon after, Zeng Guohua was transferred to the eighth route army to the east to advance the anti-Japanese column of the 5th detachment detachment, led the troops into the Jilubian and Japanese pseudo-war, during which they respectively adopted the tactics of "transferring the tiger away from the mountain", "encircling Wei to save Zhao", and "attacking the west from the east" to attack the Japanese army strongholds at Dengming Temple, and the results were remarkable. After Japan's surrender, Zeng Guohua participated in the Liberation War, successively serving as deputy commander of the Third Column of the Northeast Democratic Coalition Army, chief of staff of the 13th Corps of Shino, and chief of staff of the 15th Corps, and was awarded the rank of lieutenant general in 1955.
Liang Xingchu, commander of the third battalion of the 685th regiment of the 343rd brigade. Liang Xingchu, a native of Ji'an, Jiangxi, joined the Red Army at the age of 17 and served as the commander of the Second Regiment of the Second Division of the Red First Army. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he successively served as the commander of the third battalion of the 685th Regiment of the Eighth Route Army, the deputy commander of the Suluyu detachment, the commander of the 5th Brigade, and the commander of the First Army Sub-district of the Coastal Military Region. During the Liberation War, he led the 10th Column of the Northeast Democratic Coalition Army to block Liao Yaoxiang's heavy army group in Montenegro for 5 days and nights, making an important contribution to the total annihilation of the enemy army. After the outbreak of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Liang Xingchu led the 38th Army into the Korean War and participated in the first to fourth battles; in the second campaign, he led the 38th Army to fight the first battle at Tokugawa, annihilated the pseudo-Seventh Division, opened the gap in the battle, and then marched westward to give the enemy a annihilating blow at Gazhiling; then sent troops deep behind the enemy lines, boldly interspersed, seized Sansholi and Longyuanli, cut off the retreat route of the "United Nations Army" to flee south, killed and wounded more than 7,000 enemy troops, and the 38th Army also won the reputation of "Banzai Army." He was awarded the rank of lieutenant general in 1955.
Zhang Renchu, commander of the first battalion of the 686th Regiment of the 343rd Brigade. Zhang Renchu, a native of Huang'an, Hubei Province, joined the Jute Uprising at the age of 18 and later joined the Red Army as the commander of the 294th Regiment of the 98th Division of the Red 33rd Army. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he successively served as the commander of the first battalion of the 686th Regiment of the Eighth Route Army, the regimental commander, the commander of the Lunan detachment, the deputy brigade commander of the Second Brigade, and the chief of staff of the Coastal Military Region. During this period, he led his troops to participate in the Battle of Pingxingguan, the Ambush of Guangyang, the Battle of Jinggou, the Battle of Wucheng, the Battle of Liaoxian and the Battle of Tianbaoshan, and made many achievements in battle. During the Liberation War, he successively served as the commander of the 8th Column of Huaye and the commander of the 26th Army of Sanye, and led his troops to participate in the Battle of Menglianggu, the Battle of Luoyang, the Battle of Huaihai and the Battle of Crossing the River. The War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea eventually broke out and led his troops to participate in the war in Korea, and successively participated in the 2nd, 4th and 5th Battles and the Jinhua Defense War, and was awarded the rank of lieutenant general in 1955.
Kong Qingde, commander of the 1st Battalion, 769th Regiment of the 385th Brigade. A native of Qufu, Shandong, Kong Qingde served as a soldier in the Kuomintang's Chen Qiaoyuan Department, joining the Red Army in 1931 as commander of the 10th Division of the Red 4th Army. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he successively served as the commander and regimental commander of the 1st Battalion of the 769th Regiment, the deputy brigade commander of the 8th Brigade of the Ji'nan Military Region, and the commander of the Third Army Sub-district. During the Liberation War, he successively served as the deputy commander of the 10th Column of the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Field Army, the deputy commander of the Tongbai Military Region and the deputy commander of the Henan Military Region, and led the troops to participate in the battles of Shangdang, Handan, Dingtao and Southwest Lu, and was awarded the rank of lieutenant general in 1955.