In the history of the Red Army, the Red 25th Army is a well-known unit, the Red Army that arrived in northern Shaanxi in that year, in addition to the three major fronts, there was also the Red 25th Army, and the Red 25th Army was the first unit to arrive in northern Shaanxi and the number of troops did not decrease but increased.
From the date of its establishment to the anti-war period, the Red 25th Army was reorganized into the 344th Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, which lasted for 6 years, during which 5 people served as the commanders of the Red 25th Army.
1. The first military commander Kuang Jixun
On October 25, 1931, the Eyu-Anhui Soviet District transferred some units of the 10th, 11th and 12th Divisions of the Red 4th Army to form the 25th Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army in Mabu, Lu'an County, Anhui Province, with Kuang Jixun as its commander.
Kuang Jixun, a native of Sinan, Guizhou, served as a soldier in the Sichuan Army in his early years, and in 1926 he was electrified in response to the Hushun Uprising led by the Communist Party of China and joined the Communist Party of China at the end of the year. In 1929, Kuang Jixun led his troops to launch the Pengxi Uprising and joined the Red Army. Kuang Jixun then went to the Honghu area to serve as the commander of the Red 6th Army, and in December 1930, Kuang Jixun was sent to the Eyu-Anhui Su District as the commander of the Red 4th Army, and under the leadership of Kuang Jixun, the Red Fourth Army crushed the enemy's second encirclement and suppression.
Kuang Jixun
In October 1931, after the formation of the Red 25th Army, Kuang Jixun was transferred to the commander of the Red 25th Army, leading his troops to participate in the battles of Shanghuang and Sujiabu, and made contributions to smashing the enemy's third "encirclement and suppression" and further expanding the base area. However, he opposed Zhang Guotao's erroneous military guidelines and severely criticized Zhang Guotao's paternalistic style, and was killed by Zhang Guotao in June 1933 at the Hongkou field of Tongjiang, Sichuan, at the age of 38.
2. The second commander, Cai Shenxi
In July 1932, Cai Shenxi succeeded Kuang Jixun as the commander of the Red 25th Army.
Cai Shenxi, a native of Liling, Hunan, transferred from Sun Yat-sen's Army Lecture Hall to Huangpu I in 1924 and joined the Communist Party of China in the autumn of the same year. After graduation, he participated in the suppression of the Rebellion of the Merchants, the Two Eastern Expeditions and the Northern Expedition. In August 1927, Cai Shenxi participated in the Nanchang Uprising and later served as the chief of staff of the 24th Division of the 11th Army of the uprising.
Choi Shin Hee
In early 1930, Cai Shenxi was sent to lead the guerrilla struggle in southeastern Hubei, where he participated in the creation of the 15th Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army and served as its commander. In January 1931, the 15th Army and the 1st Army were merged into the 4th Army, and Cai Shenxi served as the commander of the 10th Division. During this period, he served as the principal of the Pengyang Military and Political School and trained a large number of military and political cadres for the Eyu-Anhui Soviet District.
In July 1932, Cai Shenxi succeeded Kuang Jixun as the commander of the Red 25th Army, and in October of the same year, Cai Shenxi led his troops to fight with the enemy in the town of Huang'anHekou in Hubei Province, when he was shot in the abdomen and died heroically, at the age of 26.
3. The third military commander Wu Huanxian
On November 30, 1932, the Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (Eyu-Anhui) rebuilt the Red 25th Army in Tanshugang, Huang'an, Hubei Province, with Wu Huanxian as its commander.
Wu Huanxian, a native of Xinxian County, Henan, joined the Communist Party of China in 1925 and participated in leading the Jute Uprising in 1927. Later, he successively served as the director of the political department of the 12th Division of the Red Fourth Army and the political commissar of the 73rd Division of the 25th Army of the Red Fourth Front, and participated in various anti-encirclement and suppression operations in the Eyu-Anhui Soviet Region. In October 1932, after the main force of the Red Fourth Front withdrew from the Eyu-Anhui Soviet Area, the remaining troops were reorganized into the new Red 25th Army, with Wu Huanxian as its commander.
Wu Huanxian
In April 1934, after the Red 28th Army and the Red 25th Army were merged into the new Red 25th Army, Wu Huanxian was reappointed as the political commissar of the Red 25th Army, and together with xu Haidong and Cheng Zihua, the two commanders of the army before and after, he smashed the encirclement and suppression of the Kuomintang army, making major contributions to the creation of the Eyu-Shaanxi Revolutionary Base Area and the expansion of the Red Twenty-fifth Army.
On August 21, 1935, the Red 25th Army was suddenly attacked by Kuomintang troops when crossing the Weihe River in the south near the village of Sipo in Jingchuan, Gansu. Wu Huanxian was unfortunately shot and died heroically in the battle to command the troops to seize the commanding heights, at the age of 28
4. Xu Haidong, the fourth military commander
In April 1934, the Red 28th Army led by Xu Haidong and the Red 25th Army led by Wu Huanxian merged into the new Red 25th Army after meeting the Leopard Rock Division in Shangcheng County, Henan Province, with Xu Haidong as the commander and Wu Huanxian as the political commissar.
Xu Haidong, a native of Dawu, Hubei Province, worked as a kiln worker for 11 years in his early years and participated in the Jute Uprising in 1927. He participated in the creation of the Eyu-Anhui Soviet District, and successively served as a battalion commander, regiment commander, and division commander. In October 1932, after the main force of the Red Fourth Front army withdrew from the Eyu-Anhui Soviet Area, Xu Haidong led the Red 27th Division and the troops led by Guo Shushen to form the Red 27th Army, and Xu Haidong served as the commander of the 79th Division.
General Xu Haidong
After the reconstruction of the Red 25th Army, Xu Haidong served as deputy commander and commander of the 74th Division, and after the main force of the Red 25th Army was transferred in October 1933, Xu Haidong led the remaining troops to form the Red 28th Army and served as the commander. In April 1934, he joined Wu Huanxian and became the commander of the newly formed Red 25th Army. In November of that year, the Red 25th Army began the Long March in the name of the Second Advance Team of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army to the North, and became the deputy commander, with Cheng Zihua as the commander, and later Cheng Zihua as the political commissar of the Red 25 Army, and Xu Haidong as the commander of the Red 25 Army.
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Xu Haidong's unit was reorganized into the 344th Brigade of the 115th Division, with Xu Haidong serving as the brigade commander and later serving as the deputy commander of the Jiangbei Headquarters of the New Fourth Army and the commander of the Fourth Detachment. After 1940, Xu Haidong was in a state of recuperation for a long time due to physical reasons, and even absent from the entire Liberation War. Xu Haidong was awarded the rank of General in 1955 and died in 1970 at the age of 70.
5. Cheng Zihua, the fifth commander of the army
In June 1934, Cheng Zihua was sent to work in the Eyu-Anhui Soviet District and was appointed commander of the Red 25th Army, and the original commander Xu Haidong was changed to deputy commander.
Cheng Zihua, a native of Yuncheng, Shanxi, was admitted to the Wuhan branch of the Whampoa Military Academy in December 1926, participated in the Guangzhou Uprising in 1927, and was sent to work in the Central Soviet Region in April 1931, successively serving as the commander of the 3rd 7th Regiment of the 3rd 35th Army, the commander of the Independent 3rd Division, the commander of the 40th Division of the Red Fifth Army, the commander of the 41st Division and the political commissar, the commander of the 14th Division, and the commander of the 22nd Division.
Cheng Zihua
In June 1934, after arriving in the Eyu-Anhui Soviet District, he succeeded Xu Haidong as the commander of the Red 25Th Army, and after Wu Huanxian's death in August 1935, Cheng Zihua became the political commissar of the Red 25th Army, and Xu Haidong was changed to the commander of the Huihong 25th Army.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Cheng Zihua served as political commissar of the Jizhong Military Region, secretary of the Party Committee of the Jizhong District, deputy secretary of the Jin-Cha-Ji Central Branch Bureau, and deputy political commissar of the Military Region. During the Liberation War, Cheng Zihua was transferred to the northeast region to work, and at the end of the Liberation War, he served as the commander of the Thirteenth Corps of Siye. After the founding of New China, Cheng Zihua was transferred out of the army and successively served as deputy director and director of the National Supply and Marketing Cooperative, secretary of the party leading group, minister of civil affairs, and vice chairman of the CPPCC National Committee. He was no longer in the army, so he was not awarded a military rank in 1955, and Cheng Zihua died in Beijing in 1991 at the age of 86.
brief summary:
The five commanders of the Red 25th Army, Cai Shenxi and Wu Huanxian, were killed in battle, Kuang Jixun was mistakenly killed, Cheng Zihua was transferred from the army without being awarded a military rank, and only Xu Haidong was awarded the rank of general in 1955. With their seniority in the military, if they could live to 1955, they should at least be at the level of generals.
In addition to these commander-level figures, the Red 25th Army produced a total of 97 founding generals, including 2 generals (Liu Zhen and Han Xianchu), 6 lieutenant generals (Li Yao, Zhang Tianyun, Zhang Chiming, Chen Xianrui, Lin Weixian and Liang Congxue) and 88 major generals. Liu Huaqing and Wang Chenghan, one of the 88 major generals, were awarded the rank of general after the reinstatement system in 1988.