The Fourth Field Army has the largest number of troops, so why is it the last in order? The establishment of strategic zones is the key
When it comes to the four major field armies, I think history lovers are like a family treasure. But have you ever thought of a question? What are the naming principles of the four field armies? Shinobi has the most troops, why is the number ranked last?
To understand this series of problems, you need to go back to the source. The establishment of the four major field armies has a lot to do with the course of the War of Liberation. Since the outbreak of the all-out civil war, our army has experienced an arduous strategic defense and eliminated the enemy's living forces. Taking June 1947 as the node, the War of Liberation entered a strategic counteroffensive.
By the beginning of 1948, the situation had changed. Our army has gained a great superiority over the enemy, and the naming method of the units of the Northeast Field Army, the Northwest Field Army, the Central Plains Field Army, and the East China Field Army has emerged. As far as the whole army is concerned, the number of millions of troops is not uniform. By September 1948, the time was ripe for a strategic decisive battle, and large corps operations had become inevitable.
Based on this, the Central Military Commission began to consider the reorganization of the whole army to facilitate the operation of large armies with the enemy. On November 1, the Central Military Commission issued the "Regulations on Unifying the Organization of the Whole Army and the Number of Troops." The Provisions state:
At present, the field army is divided into four parts, which are distinguished by place names, namely, the Northwest Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, the Central Plains Field Army, the East China Field Army, and the Northeast Field Army.
Naming each field army after a place name is actually setting up four strategic areas for combat against the enemy. Regarding the order of the numbers of field armies, the "Provisions" do not give clear provisions. However, in response to the adjustment of the unit number, the Northeast Field Army was carried out first.
On November 13, after the end of the Liaoshen Campaign, the Northeast Field Army had a time window for reorganization. In accordance with the "Regulations" of the Central Military Commission, the Northeast Field Army's 1st to 12th Columns, in accordance with the unified sequence stipulated by the Central Military Commission, was successively renamed the 38th, 39th, 40th, 41st, 42nd, 43rd, 44th, 45th, 46th, 47th, 48th, and 49th Armies of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, with more than 50,000 to 60,000 people in each army in 4 divisions; the 60th Army of the Kuomintang Army in the Changchun Uprising was organized into the 50th Army.
As for why the Central Plains Field Army, the Northwest Field Army, and the East China Field Army did not accept the reorganization, it was mainly fighting.
On January 15, 1949, the Central Military Commission issued the "Decision on Changing the Number of Field Armies to Ordinal Order", which clarified the issue of the ordering of the numbers of the four major field armies:
The Northwest Field Army was changed to the First Field Army, the Central Plains Field Army to the Second Field Army, the East China Field Army to the Third Field Army, and the Northeast Field Army to the Fourth Field Army.
As for why digital naming is needed instead of regional naming, the Decision also gives an explanation:
It is estimated that the development of this year's war, last year's Shudongdian stipulation that all field armies should be given the name of the military region is no longer suitable.
These two documents have a continuity of before and after, directly determining the order of the four major field army numbers. It can be seen that there are seemingly two different principles regarding the establishment of the four major field armies: the former is mainly based on the orientation of the strategic area, and the latter is mainly based on numbers.
In fact, both documents follow the general principle of "arranged by ordinal number" before and after. There is no doubt about this point, before the reorganization, the numbers of the various field armies of our army overlapped. The four major field armies are all set up with one column, two columns, and three columns... It is indeed necessary to arrange them numerically to facilitate the coordinated command of large corps operations.
Affirming the necessity of sequence numbering, let's see why it is so arranged. Judging from the strength of the troops at that time, the Northeast Field Army was supplemented by the Liaoshen Campaign and the Pingjin Campaign, and the total strength of the army had reached 880,000 people.
At the same time, the other three major field armies were the Northwest Field Army (155,000 people), the Central Plains Field Army (280,000 people), and the East China Field Army (551,000 people).
It can be seen from this that the Northeast Field Army has the largest number of people and should be ranked first, called the "First Field Army." However, the Northeast Field Army was ranked last, "subjugated" to the Fourth Field Army. Therefore, the order of the numbers of the four major field armies does not depend on the number of troops.
So, how was the order of the numbers of the four field armies determined? There's a lot going on here. Quoted in the "Complete History of the Chinese People's Liberation Army", the numerical numbers of the four major field armies are based on it
"Establishment of the Strategic Zone"
to sort. In other words, the establishment of strategic zones is the key.
Everyone should understand that there is an essential difference between the principle of "the establishment of strategic zones" in the "Decision" and the principle of "regional distinction" in the "Provisions", and the former emphasizes the timing of the establishment of strategic zones. The establishment time of the four major strategic zones is the sequence of strategic zones gradually opened up by the Eighth Route Army since the War of Resistance Against Japan, and the specific time is as follows:
Northwest Strategic Zone
Needless to say, the Northwest Strategic Zone is the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, which is the seat of the Party Central Committee and the Central Military Commission. Don't forget that the predecessor of the First Field Army was the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Field Army.
Central Plains Strategic Zone
After the Eighth Route Army entered the enemy's rear, the 129th Division took root in the Taihang Mountains and created the first anti-Japanese base area: the Jin-Cha-Ji base area. Based on this, the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Anti-Japanese Base Area was gradually opened up. Judging from the name, the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Anti-Japanese Base Area was the main source of the later Jinji-Hebei Luyu Field Army, the predecessor of the Central Plains Field Army.
East China Strategic Zone
In January 1942, the Central Military Commission instructed that "the administrative organs of the Shandong Column be changed into the administrative organs of the Shandong Military Region" and that "the 115th Division shall uniformly command the subordinate units of the Shandong Military Region". As a result, the Shandong Military Region, an important component of the East China Strategic Zone, was born. Another important component of the Anti-Japanese Base Area in Northern Jiangsu has close ties with the Eighth Route Army.
Northeast Strategic Zone
By August 1945, the War of Resistance had been decisively won. Subsequently, the Central Military Commission began to draw more than 100,000 troops from various places to the northeast. Among them, the Shandong Military Region of the Eighth Route Army is the main force.
Judging from the establishment time of the four strategic zones, the Northeast Strategic Zone was the latest to be established. Following the principle of the establishment of the strategic zone, the order of the numbers of the four major field armies is not so puzzling. Therefore, behind the simple ranking of the numbers reflects the course of our army's bloody War of Resistance.