The anti-war film and television dramas that we usually watch are always indispensable to the figures of the iron-blooded Chinese soldiers; then the question is, regarding the regimental commanders, division commanders, brigade commanders, etc. of the national army in the TV series, can you clearly distinguish who is who? Which position has more power? What rank can be held? Let's take a look at it today.
Speaking of positions, we have to mention the military rank system in the Republic of China period. In 1912, with the joint efforts of revolutionaries who overthrew the rule of the late Qing Dynasty, the Republic of China was officially established on New Year's Day. The Provisional Government of Nanjing at that time chose to add some minor changes to the rank system of the late Qing Dynasty, dividing it into superior officers, intermediate officials, junior officers, additional officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers, and then subdivided into each rank.
During the period when the Beiyang government was in power, a new "Ranking Table of Army Officers and Soldiers" was formulated, which was still three grades and nine grades, divided into general officers (upper, middle and lower), school officers (upper, middle and less), lieutenant officers (upper, middle, and less), warrant officers, non-commissioned officers (upper, middle and lower soldiers), and soldiers (upper class soldiers, first class soldiers, and second class soldiers).
On the eve of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, in order to meet military needs, the third and ninth grades became the fifth and eighteenth grades, and the admirals were divided into special, first, and second grades, namely generals (special generals, first-class generals, second-class generals, lieutenant generals, major generals), colonels (colonels, lieutenant colonels, majors), lieutenants (captains, lieutenants, lieutenants), warrant officers, non-commissioned officers (sergeants, sergeants, corporals), and soldiers (superior, first, second class).
At the same time, in addition to these formal ranks, there are also virtual titles, that is, lieutenant general plus general rank, or colonel plus major general rank, as well as posthumous gifts and other military ranks. Then some people probably have to ask, why bother to introduce these ranks? Because the specific positions in the military must be arranged according to the rank, and must not be arbitrarily exceeded.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the ranks of officers in the army were roughly sorted according to the order of platoon commander, company commander, battalion commander, regiment commander, brigade commander, division commander, army commander, and commander, with the platoon leader being the smallest and the commander the largest. Among them, the three official positions of regimental commander, brigade commander and division commander will be slightly troublesome.
Platoon commanders, as the name suggests, are officers who lead a platoon, are the most junior commanders, usually served by a second lieutenant or lieutenant. It can be seen here that even the most basic cadres must have the rank of lieutenant officer, and can only be a military academy graduate, not a non-commissioned officer.
The company commander is the highest commander of the company level, usually a lieutenant or captain. Theoretically, there can be three platoons in a row, three classes in a row, and about 10 people in a class. It is equivalent to saying that a company has about 100 people (plus the cooking class and the correspondent, etc., to the level of the company commander can have a correspondent).
In the National Revolutionary Army, a battalion with a full strength of 800 people is the battalion commander, and above the battalion commander is the regimental commander. The regimental commander should be an official position that we have seen more in the TV series, generally a major or a lieutenant colonel can only serve, the number of general regiments is more than 1,000 people, the strengthening regiment can reach 3,000 people, and the regimental commander's level is the regimental political commissar.
So why is the relationship between the regimental commander, the brigade commander and the division commander more complicated? Because the superior of the regimental commander can be both a division commander and a brigade commander, that is to say, the intermediate official position of the brigade commander can actually be dispensed with, which must be judged according to the planning of each division, and even the subordinate of the brigade commander may be a battalion commander. The infantry number of a brigade ranges from 3,000 to 9,000.
As for the division commander, he is the supreme leader of a division, and general military operations are basically based on divisions or troops, basically major generals or colonels. The general number of divisions is 6,000 to 8,000 people, but the stronger ones can reach tens of thousands. For example, the 74th Division, which stubbornly defended Changde in the Defense of Changde, had a full strength of 12,000, but because it was not full, it was only 8,000 people.
Needless to say, the commander is basically the highest leader who can be seen in foreign combat, only generals can serve, the benchmark rank is major general, the auxiliary rank is lieutenant general, and during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, an army had a formation of about 25,000 to 30,000 people, and the superior was the commander of the Zhengda Military Region, that is, the most senior commander.
Commander is the standard title, commander is just a colloquial language, this point should not be fooled by TV dramas. As long as the military supervisor of the military district is the commander, this is why when it is said above that the superior of the military commander, it is necessary to add a zhengda district level. The responsibilities of each military region are different, and the number of people under its jurisdiction is naturally different, so there is no definite number of people.
This should have clarified the ranks and corresponding official positions, right?