Speaking of the main forces of the Nationalist army during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, in fact, the main forces of each period and each theater were different, and the changes were quite large. Some troops did not recover after being crippled, and some troops recovered after being crippled and have been maintained, so they have become the main force of the national army that became more famous later. However, the first three German mechanized divisions and the Seventy-first Army formed on this basis have actually always been the main force of the Nationalist Army, and it can be said that like the Seventy-fourth Army, they fought all over the battlefield during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, from the Battle of Songhu to the counteroffensive in western Yunnan.
For example, at the time of the Battle of Songhu, the main force was of course the eighty-seventh, eighty-eighth, and thirty-sixth German mechanized divisions; from the beginning of the Battle of Songhu to the middle of October, the nationalist army headquarters was in accordance with the opinions of the German advisers, so that these three divisions were on the front line, and the troops that came up behind were all supplemented into these three divisions in batches to give play to the combat experience that these three divisions had accumulated before. This was also the period when the Nationalist army resisted the most in the Songhu battlefield. After the replacement of these three divisions began in late October, the newly arrived troops rushed upwards with their eyes blackened, and the sacrifice was relatively large.
By the time of the Nanjing defense war, in fact, the main force was still these three divisions, plus the teaching corps, but relatively speaking, at this time, because the first three divisions had already suffered too much loss, the Eighty-eighth Division even experienced six replenishments, and the number of casualties reached 12,000, which exceeded the original number of the division, so the casualties were relatively large, and there were more new recruits in the back, and the combat effectiveness was relatively poor, so the teaching corps played the role of the absolute main force during the Nanjing defense war. However, when the Thirty-sixth Division withdrew from the Battle of Songhu, its structure was relatively complete, so its combat effectiveness was between the 87th and 88th divisions and the teaching corps.
That is, during the Battle of Songhu to the defense of Nanjing, these three German mechanized divisions shined and were known as the first-class troops in the country. At this time, the Seventy-fourth Army was actually not so outstanding, and compared with these three German mechanic divisions, it could probably only be regarded as a second-rate unit. It was on the basis of these three divisions that the Seventy-first Army was formed. At first, three divisions were given a shelf of one army, and the names of the Seventy-first, Seventy-second, and Seventy-third Armies were given, but in fact there was only one division, and later merged into the Seventy-first Army, first Wang Jingjiu was the commander, then Song Xilian, after Song Xilian was promoted to the commander-in-chief of the Eleventh Group Army, Zhong Bin was promoted to commander. However, after this, the combat effectiveness of the Seventy-first Army was much worse than before.
After the decision to send troops to Burma, because it had already been said that the United States would give the nationalist army equipment for the ten armies and thirty divisions, the principal's first thought was still the Seventy-first Army, and the relationship between Chongqing and Longyun was tense at that time, so the principal transferred the Seventy-first Army to Yunnan, suppressing Longyun, Song Xilian was also the commander of the Kunming City Defense, directly monitoring Longyun, and Guan Linzheng's Fifty-second Army was transferred to southern Yunnan to garrison and monitor the troops of Lu Han of the Yunnan Army transferred back from the Ninth Theater. It was also because the principal was focused on the struggle against Long Yun at this time, so the troops finally sent to Burma, in addition to the Fifth Army named by Britain and the United States, and then the Sixth Army and the Sixty-sixth Army, were not the main forces, and the Seventy-first Army also missed the opportunity to make a name for itself.
However, when the expeditionary force returned home after a crushing defeat, the Sixth Army and the Sixty-sixth Army fled back to the country in a rout, and the Japanese army chased after them and crossed the Nu River at one point, and it was the principal who sent Song Xilian to garrison Baoshan in western Yunnan, and transferred the three divisions of the Seventy-first Army to the Baoshan area of western Yunnan in batches, and only then did they drive the Japanese troops who had already crossed to the east bank of the Nu River back to the west bank, and then they continued to confront the Japanese army across the river, until the time of the counterattack in western Yunnan, the Seventy-first Army fought side by side with the Second Army and other troops. However, at this time, the Seventy-first Army was no longer as good as before, and could only stand side by side with the Second Army, the Fifty-second Army, and other second-rate troops, and gradually distanced itself from the Seventy-fourth Army, the Fifth Army, the Eighteenth Army, the New First Army, and the New Sixth Army.
During the Liberation War, the Seventy-first Army was also transferred to the northeast to participate in the war together with the New First Army, the New Sixth Army, the Thirteenth Army, and the Fifty-second Army, and the commander at the time was Chen Mingren, and it was under the command of Chen Mingren that the Seventy-first Army stubbornly defended Siping and defeated the siege of Dongye's troops. After Chen Mingren was transferred, the Seventy-first Army was dispersed, resulting in the Annihilation of the Eighty-seventh and Eighty-eighth Divisions, and although it was later rebuilt, its combat effectiveness was no longer as brave as it had been. At the Battle of Huaihai, Xiang Fengwu, the last commander of the Seventy-first Army, led the Seventy-first Army with Liao Yaoxiang to reinforce Jinzhou, and was finally completely annihilated by Dongye in the area of western Liaoning. However, at this time, the Thirty-sixth Division was not in the order of the Seventy-first Army, but under the command of Hu Zongnan in Shaanxi.