After the outbreak of the All-out War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, our Party and the Kuomintang negotiated an agreement to reorganize the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army into the Fourth Army of the New Revolutionary Army in 15 guerrilla zones (except the Qiongya area of Guangdong Province) in eight provinces of Jiangxi, Fujian, Zhejiang, Anhui, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, and Guangdong that persisted in guerrilla warfare in 15 guerrilla zones (except the Qiongya area of Guangdong Province) into the Fourth Army of the New Army of the National Revolutionary Army, referred to as the New Fourth Army.
Ye Ting served as military commander, Xiang Ying as deputy commander, Zhang Yunyi and Zhou Zikun as chief and deputy chief of staff, yuan Guoping and Deng Zihui as directors and deputy directors of the political department, and 4 detachments under their jurisdiction, with a total of more than 10,300 people. We can see that at that time, Ye Ting was the commander of the army, and the deputy commander was Xiang Ying, but don't think that Ye Ting is the commander, he is the supreme leader of the New Fourth Army, in fact, it is not, the supreme leader of the New Fourth Army is deputy commander Xiang Ying.
The commander of the New Fourth Army is not the supreme leader, but the deputy commander is, which seems a bit unreasonable? In fact, this is very easy to understand, the New Fourth Army is a special unit, the product of the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party to resist Japan. After the outbreak of the All-out War of Resistance, on August 22, 1937, the Kuomintang unified the general, the main force of the Red Army in northern Shaanxi, into the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army, which we are accustomed to calling the Eighth Route Army
On August 25, the Central Military Commission announced the reorganization of the First, Second, and Fourth Fronts and the Northwest Red Army into the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army, and the troops were reorganized and directly went to the battlefield behind enemy lines, while the reorganization of the Red Army guerrillas in the south was difficult, until October 1937, when the Japanese army attacked Shanghai and threatened Nanjing, and the Nationalist government unified the Red Army guerrillas in the eight southern provinces into the New Fourth Army. The number of troops is available, but the selection of the commander of the New Fourth Army is another problem.
At that time, in order to control this unit, the Kuomintang Chiang Kai-shek wanted to send Chen Cheng or Zhang Fakui as military commanders, while our party wanted peng Dehuai or Ye Jianying as military commanders, and the two sides were deadlocked, and at this time, Zhang Fakui and Chen Cheng on the Kuomintang side were unwilling to serve as commanders in the New Fourth Army, and they recommended Ye Ting to Chiang Kai-shek.
We can think that General Ye Ting's appointment as commander of the New Fourth Army at that time was actually the result of mutual compromise between the Kuomintang and the Communists, after all, General Ye Ting was a non-party person at that time, and chiang kai-shek was not jealous.
Although Ye Ting was once a member of our party and participated in and led the Nanchang Uprising and the Guangzhou Uprising, he left the Party for ten years. Even though General Ye Ting was incomparably loyal to our party's revolutionary cause, it seemed a little out of place to let him fully lead the New Fourth Army, so the Central Military Commission at that time set up the New Fourth Army Branch and the Southeast Bureau, which was the highest leading body of the New Fourth Army, and the secretary of the New Fourth Army Army Branch and the Southeast Bureau was Xiang Ying.
Moreover, Xiang Ying is also the only deputy commander of the New Fourth Army, and it should be known that because of the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, the Kuomintang does not allow our party to set up a political commissar in the army, and Xiang Ying, the deputy commander, is actually the role of the political commissar, plus he is also the secretary of the New Fourth Army Branch, and he is the actual supreme leader of the New Fourth Army.
Xiang Ying became the de facto supreme leader of the New Fourth Army, in fact, it was not surprising at all, after all, the New Fourth Army was mainly reorganized from the Red Army guerrillas in the eight southern provinces, and the main leaders of the Red Army guerrillas in the eight southern provinces were Xiang Ying and Chen Yi, and Xiang Ying's status was higher in comparison.
Before the Long March, Xiang Ying's status in our party was very high. He was elected as a member of the Central Committee and a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee at the Third and Sixth Congresses of the Communist Party of China, and from 1926 to 1930, he served as the secretary of the Hubei Provincial Federation of Trade Unions, the executive member of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, and the secretary of the Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions. In the Central Soviet Region, Xiang Ying also served as acting secretary of the Central Bureau of the Soviet Union and vice chairman of the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic.
That is to say, Xiang Ying's position in our Party and the Provisional Government at that time was really high, in fact, what determined him to become the supreme leader of the New Fourth Army was his position after the Long March of the main force of the Red Army. At that time, the Central Red Army was preparing for the Long March, but it could not directly leave the base areas to the enemy, especially at that time, there were still many wounded, and there was no time to transfer.
Xiang Ying
In view of this situation, the top level at that time decided to leave the 24th Division of the Red Army and more than 16,000 local armed forces to persist in armed struggle in the base areas. In order to unify the leadership of these armed forces, the Central Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, the Central Government Office of the Chinese Soviet Republic, and the Central Military Region were set up, with Xiang Ying as the secretary of the sub-bureau and commander of the military region, and Chen Yi as the director of the office, who unified the struggle between the central revolutionary base areas and the revolutionary base areas in Fujian, Zhejiang, and Gansu!
In the subsequent struggle, the Red Army guerrillas in the eight southern provinces were gradually formed, until the outbreak of the all-out War of Resistance, these Red Army guerrillas were reorganized into the New Fourth Army, as we have already mentioned above, the commander of the New Fourth Army was determined by the complicated relationship at that time, Xiang Ying's status was very high, but he wanted to become the commander of the New Fourth Army.
Since the commander of the New Fourth Army has been determined, but this unit must also be completely in the hands of our Party, Xiang Ying, who has high prestige in the guerrillas of the Red Army in the south, has become the deputy commander, and this deputy commander is actually equivalent to the political commissar, and according to the principle of the party commanding the gun, Xiang Ying has the right to decide in the New Fourth Army.
Moreover, Xiang Ying was also the secretary of the New Fourth Army Branch and the Southeast Bureau, which was the number one of the party in the Southeast Bureau and the New Fourth Army at that time, that is to say, he was the supreme leader of the entire New Fourth Army, and at that time, General Ye Ting was not a party member and was not qualified to participate in the meetings of the New Fourth Army Branch and the New Fourth Army Party Committee.
We can see that Xiang Ying's becoming the de facto supreme leader of the New Fourth Army is related to his position in our party and our army, especially during the three-year guerrilla war in the south, he was also the supreme leader, and the New Fourth Army was reorganized from the Red Army guerrillas in the eight southern provinces, so it is well deserved that he became the actual supreme leader of the New Fourth Army.
Here, some people also asked, Chen Yi, The elder Chen Yi, was also one of the top leaders of the guerrilla forces at that time, although not as high as Xiang Ying's position, but after being reorganized into the New Fourth Army, Chen Yi should also become one of the leaders of the military department, right? But no, Chen Yi only served as the commander of the first detachment of the New Fourth Army, what was going on?
Chen Yi
In fact, this is very easy to understand, just like we said above that the reorganization of the New Fourth Army is very special, the Kuomintang once wanted to control this unit, Xiang Ying and Chen Yi can be said to be the two top leaders of the Red Army guerrillas in the eight southern provinces, the two can be said to be one article and one weapon (at that time, Chen Laozong was partial to martial), Xiang Ying was a deputy commander in the military department, and Ye Ting was already serving as a military commander at that time, but if Chen Yi was placed in the military department, it would be a little inappropriate.
If he is put in charge of the military in the military department, what will Comrade Ye Ting do, if he is not responsible, it will be overkill, and if Chen Yi is placed in the military department again, I am afraid that the Kuomintang side will also do its best to prevent him, rather than put him directly below, so Chen Yi served as the commander of the first detachment. But he also had a status, the deputy secretary of the New Fourth Army Army Branch, which was actually equivalent to the second in command after Xiang Ying.
Of course, Xiang Ying once felt that it was Qu Cai to let Chen Yi serve as the commander of the detachment, and wanted to transfer him to the military department, but Chen Laozong refused, he led the troops deep behind the enemy to develop, preserving the vitality of the New Fourth Army, although Chen Yi was the commander of the first detachment of the New Fourth Army in the sequence of the Nationalist Army, but within the New Fourth Army he was the deputy secretary of the army branch, and also served as the commander of the Jiangnan Command, the commander of the Northern Jiangsu Command, and the acting commander of the Central China General Command.
Chen Yi and his troops were able to develop rapidly behind enemy lines, and they also continuously provided ammunition and military supplies to the military department, Bai Chongxi and Gu Zhutong sighed: "Ye Xiang is a turtle in an urn, and his hands are coming; Chen Su is like a fish on the seashore, fleeting." It can be said that Mr. Chen's strategic vision is still there.
Moreover, he had unparalleled prestige in the New Fourth Army, so after the Anhui Incident, Mr. Chen was directly entrusted with the heavy responsibility of serving as the acting commander and commander of the New Fourth Army, and became the military commander of the New Fourth Army.