In June 1933, the Red Fourth Front won the victory of the anti-three-way siege, killing and wounding more than 14,000 people of the Sichuan army Tian Songyao's troops, capturing a large amount of booty, and consolidating and expanding the Sichuan-Shaanxi base area. On June 28, Zhang Guotao organized a six-day military conference at Mumen Temple in Mumen Town, attended by more than 100 cadres at or above the Red Fourth Front, and was presided over by Xu Xiangqian and Chen Changhao.
An important decision of this meeting was to expand the Red Fourth Front, and the troops were expanded into four armies, namely, the Red Fourth, Red Ninth, Red Thirty, and Red Thirty-first Army. With a total area of 42,000 square kilometers and a population of more than 5 million, in November of the same year, the Eastern Sichuan Guerrilla Army was reorganized into the Red 33rd Army, which now had more than 80,000 people (excluding local troops) in 5 armies.
So what was the basic situation when the five armies of the Red Fourth Front were formed, and who were the commanders? How does it end?
Commander of the Red Fourth Army - Wang Hongkun
The Red Fourth Army was formed by the expansion of the Red Tenth Division, with its commander Wang Hongkun, political commissar Zhou Chunquan, and political department director Xu Liqing (later Hong Xuezhi). The whole army has three divisions under its jurisdiction, namely the Red Tenth Division (division commander Wang Naigui, political commissar Gan Liangyou), the Red Eleventh Division (division commander Chen Zaidao, political commissar Ye Chenghuan), and the Red Twelfth Division (division commander Zhang Caigan, political commissar Xu Changxun).
Wang Hongkun, born in 1909, a native of Macheng, Hubei Province, participated in the Jute Uprising in 1927 and officially joined the Red Army in 1930, successively serving as the commander of the Red First Division of the Red First Army, the commander of the 30th Regiment of the Red Tenth Division of the Red Fourth Army, the commander of the Red Tenth Division, the commander of the Red Fourth Army, and the deputy chief of staff of the General Headquarters of the Red Fourth Front.
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Wang Hongkun successively served as brigade commander of the 385th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, deputy commander of the Ji'nan Military Region, and commander of the Hebei-Luyu Military Region; during the Liberation War, Wang Hongkun successively served as deputy commander of the Jin-Hebei Luyu Military Region and commander of the Sixth Column, commander of the Tenth Column of the Jin-Hebei Luyu Field Army, commander of the Tongbai Military Region, and deputy commander of the Hubei Military Region; after the founding of New China, Wang Hongkun successively served as deputy commander of the Navy and second political commissar of the Navy.
In 1955, Wang Hongkun was awarded the rank of general and was awarded the Order of August 1st Class, the Order of Independence and Freedom of the First Class, and the Liberation Medal of the First Class, and died of illness on August 20, 1993.
Commander of the Red Ninth Army- He Wei
The Red Ninth Army was formed by the expansion of the Red Twelfth Division, with commander He Wei, political commissar Zhan Caifang, deputy commander Xu Shiyou, chief of staff Wang Xueli, director of the political department Wang Xinting, and two divisions under the jurisdiction of the whole army, namely the Red Twenty-fifth Division (division commander Xu Shiyou and political commissar Chen Haisong) and the Red Twenty-seventh Division (division commander Wang Xueli and political commissar Mei Huafan).
He Wei, born in 1900, a native of Lehui County, Guangdong Province, graduated from the Huangpu Fifth Phase, participated in the provincial and Hong Kong strike, the Guangzhou Uprising, and the Baise Uprising, and in October 1932 he accompanied the Red Fourth Front Army to the west to enter Sichuan, and then successively served as the deputy division commander and division commander of the Red Twelfth Division of the Red Fourth Front, the commander of the Red Ninth Army, the commander of the Maogong Detachment and the political commissar.
In 1938, He Wei returned to Guangzhou with a leg injury on the pretext of treating and recuperating, and since then there has been no more news, and there are many theories about his whereabouts, but there is no very authoritative conclusion.
Commander of the Red Thirty Army - Yu Tianyun
The Red 30th Army was formed by the expansion of the Red 11th Division, with commander Yu Tianyun, political commissar Li Xiannian, chief of staff Wen Jianwu, and director of the political department Zhang Chengtai (later Li Tianhuan). It has jurisdiction over three divisions, namely the Red Eighty-eighth Division (division commander Wang Lieshan, political commissar Wang Jian'an), the Red Eighty-ninth Division (division commander Chai Hongru, political commissar Du Yide), and the Red Ninety Division (division commander Zou Hongsheng, political commissar Cheng Shicai).
Yu Tianyun, born in 1911 in Huang'an County (now Hong'an County), Hubei Province, participated in the Jute Uprising in 1927 and officially joined the Red Army in 1928, successively serving as the commander of the 36th Regiment of the Red 12th Division of the Red Fourth Army, the commander of the Red 30th Army, and the commander of the Red 31st Army.
In April 1936, Yu Tianyun, who was on a stretcher while crossing the Danba River, fell into the river and died at the age of 25.
Commander of the Red Thirty-first Army- Wang Shusheng
The Red Thirty-first Army was formed by the expansion of the Red Seventy-third Division, and its commander was Wang Shusheng, deputy commander-in-chief of the Red Fourth Front, Zhang Guangcai, political commissar, and Huang Chao, director of the Political Department. It has jurisdiction over three divisions, namely the Red Ninety-first Division (Division Commander Zhu Dechong, Political Commissar Lin Anying, and Deputy Division Commander Wang Youjun), the Red Ninety-second Division (Division Commander Chen Youshou, Political Commissar Yang Chaoli), and the Red Ninety-third Division (Division Commander Ye Daozhi, Political Commissar Wang De'an).
Wang Shusheng, born in 1905 in Macheng, Hubei Province, participated in the Jute Uprising in 1927 and successively served as the commander of the Second Route Army, a member of the Eyu Border Special Committee, the commander of the 1st Regiment of the Red 1st Division of the Red 1st Army, the commander of the Red 11th Division of the Red 4th Army, the commander of the Red 73rd Division, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Red Fourth Front Army and the commander of the 31st Army, and the deputy commander-in-chief of the Western Route Army.
After the outbreak of the All-out War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Wang Shusheng successively served as deputy commander and acting commander of the Jinji-Hebei Yu Military Region, deputy commander of the Taihang Military Region, and commander of the Henan Military Region; during the Liberation War, Wang Shusheng successively served as deputy commander of the Central Plains Military Region, deputy commander of the Hubei Military Region, commander of the Eyu-Anhui Border Bandit Suppression Headquarters, and political commissar. After the founding of New China, Wang Shusheng successively served as commander of the Hubei Military Region, deputy commander of the Central and Southern Military Region, vice minister of national defense, and director of the General Ordnance Department.
In 1955, Wang Shusheng was awarded the rank of General and died of illness on January 7, 1974.
Commander of the Red Thirty-third Army - Wang Weizhou
The Red Thirty-third Army was reorganized from the Eastern Sichuan Guerrilla Army, with commander Wang Weizhou and political commissar Yang Keming, under the jurisdiction of 3 divisions, namely the Red Ninety-seventh Division (Division Commander Wang Bo), the Red Ninety-eighth Division (Division Commander Ran Nanxuan), and the Red Ninety-ninth Division (Division Commander Jiang Qunlin).
Wang Weizhou, born in 1887, he is very senior, in his early years he participated in the Sichuan Road Protection Movement, the Xinhai Revolution, the Patriotic War, the Protector of the Law Movement, he was one of the founders of the Eastern Sichuan Guerrilla Army, the Eastern Sichuan Guerrilla Army and the Red Fourth Front Army after the division was reorganized into the Red Thirty-third Army.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Wang Weizhou successively served as deputy brigade commander of the 385th Brigade of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, brigade commander and political commissar of the 385th Brigade; during the Liberation War, Wang Weizhou successively served as deputy commander of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia-Jinsui United Defense Army and deputy commander of the Northwest Military Region; after the founding of New China, Wang Weizhou successively served as vice chairman of the Southwest Military and Political Committee and president of the Southwest Institute for Nationalities.
Wang Weizhou transferred to local work, did not participate in the first award of the title of our army in 1955, and died of illness on January 10, 1970.
The cadres of the Red Fourth Front were generally very young, and Xu Xiangqian, who was then the commander-in-chief of the Red Fourth Front, recalled many years later:
I was thirty-two years old, Chen Changhao was twenty-nine, and Wang Shusheng was twenty-eight. The vast majority of cadres at the two levels of military divisions are in their twenties. Wang Hongkun, commander of the Fourth Army, is twenty-four years old, Li Xiannian, political commissar of the Thirty Army, is twenty-four years old, and Chen Haisong, political commissar of the Twenty-fifth Division of the Ninth Army, is only twenty years old. Among the cadres below the regiment level, the "dolls" of seventeen or eighteen years old are a large piece.
After the formation of the five armies of the Red Fourth Front, the Sichuan warlords led by Liu Xiang quickly gathered more than 200,000 people to launch a six-way siege, which was a difficult battle for ten months.