Of the seven divisions of the New Fourth Army, the Seventh Division of the New Fourth Army was a unit with a relatively low sense of existence, but this unit was very rich. Within the New Fourth Army, there is a saying that "the Seventh Division is rich, the whole army is armed", that is, the military expenses paid by the Seventh Division of the New Fourth Army can feed the entire New Fourth Army. So, where did the money from the Seventh Division of the New Fourth Army come from?
After the Anhui Incident,
The Central Military Commission of the COMMUNIST Party of China ordered the reconstruction of the New Fourth Army Headquarters, appointed Chen Yi as acting commander of the New Fourth Army, Liu Shaoqi as political commissar, Zhang Yunyi as deputy commander, Lai Chuanzhu as chief of staff, and Deng Zihui as director of the Political Department, and reorganized the units into 7 divisions and an independent brigade.
Among them, the commander of the Seventh Division of the New Fourth Army was Zhang Dingcheng and the political commissar Zeng Xisheng, but because Zhang Dingcheng had another task in Yan'an, he could not take up his post for a long time, so for a long time, it was the political commissar Zeng Xisheng who was responsible for the work of the Seventh Division and the Anhui River Military Region, until 1943, Tan Xilin
Only by serving as the acting commander of the Seventh Division of the New Fourth Army and the commander of the Anhui River Military Region did he relieve zeng Xisheng's pressure.
When the Seventh Division of the New Fourth Army was first established, its strength was very weak, and it was the weakest unit among the seven divisions of the New Fourth Army, and even Liang Xingchu's independent brigade was inferior. Other divisions had at least three brigades, while the Seventh Division had only
The 19th Brigade and an advancing regiment, with a total strength of only more than 2,000 troops, the activity area of the Seventh Division was also squeezed very small by the Japanese puppet army and the Kuomintang army, mainly the ChaonanShan District and the Wudong area, the ChaonanShan District was centered on Dongjiashan Mountain, east to Shijianbu, west to Renjia Dashan, about 30 kilometers long; south to the dustpan field, north to the Chao Lake, about 10 kilometers wide, the activity area is very small.
Although the Scope of Activity of the Seventh Division of the New Fourth Army is very small, they also have their advantages, and the Anhui River area where the Seventh Division operates has a certain mass base since the time of the Great Revolution in 1927, and the broad masses of the people in the Anhui River area have great trust in the ranks of the New Fourth Army. In addition, the Anhui River area, where the Seventh Division of the New Fourth Army is active, is not only densely populated, but also rich in products, and is a famous fish and rice town in central China, which is conducive to the survival and development of the anti-Japanese forces.
In order not to be noticed and suppressed by the Japanese puppet army, the Seventh Division of the New Fourth Army adopted the method of covert development, continuously expanded the anti-Japanese army and base areas, and carried out political power building. By the end of 1941, the strength of the Seventh Division of the New Fourth Army had grown from 2,000 to 4,000, the local armed forces had grown to 2,300, and the militia had increased to 22,000. Although the army has developed, but the weapons and equipment are poor, sometimes the troops can not even eat, in order to solve this problem, the Seventh Division began to develop the economy of the Anhui River region, adopted the policy of using business to support the army.
In order to develop the economy of the Anhui River Military Region, Zeng Xisheng dug up an economic wizard from the Financial and Economic Committee of the New Fourth Army, and he was Cai Hui, and before Cai Hui arrived in the Anhui River area, the local area was squeezed by the Japanese puppet army and the Kuomintang army, and the economy was on the verge of collapse. After Cai Hui arrived in the Anhui River Military Region in 1942, he immediately established the Anhui River Trade General Bureau, personally serving as its director, to manage the grain, money, taxes, supply and marketing, industry and commerce of the Seventh Division of the New Fourth Army, and trade with the enemy-occupied areas.
In order to smash the economic blockade of the Japanese puppet army against our base areas, Zeng Xisheng directly exercised unified management of grain, oil, cotton, and other materials in the base areas. At the same time, differential taxes were imposed on industrial products from enemy-occupied areas that entered our base areas, thus lightening the burdens of the peasants in the base areas and increasing taxes.
Cai Hui attaches great importance to economic cooperation with the enemy-occupied areas, and the grain, oil, cotton, and other products needed by the enemy-occupied areas need to be purchased from the base areas. The Japanese puppet army had to cooperate with our side and exchange military supplies, ordnance, medicines and other materials they produced with our army, and the Japanese puppet army often sent troops to transport guns, ammunition and medicines for our side in exchange for the grain, oil, cotton and other materials they needed.
Tangjiagou was the only commercial port controlled by the Seventh Division of the New Fourth Army in the Yangtze River Basin at that time, bordering Shanghai and Hangzhou in the east, Wuhu in the south, and Anqing in the west, and Cai Hui asked Zeng Xisheng to send heavy troops to protect this port and ensure the absolute safety of this port. In just a few months, Tangjiagou has gathered merchants, and thousands of tons of goods are transiting from this place every day.
Cai Hui also set up his own tobacco company, set up coal mines, salt transport companies, and grain companies, sold the products produced by these companies to the enemy-occupied areas, and then purchased from the enemy-occupied areas the guns, ammunition, steel, medicines, radios, milk powder, and other materials we needed.
The money bags of the Seventh Division of the New Fourth Army alone amounted to 44 million French dollars from January 1944 to January 1945, which was enough to provide for 20 Grade A divisions for a year according to the supply standards of the Kuomintang Army at that time. In addition, the Seventh Division of the New Fourth Army also handed over a large number of military supplies, communication equipment, medicines and other materials to the military headquarters.
According to the records of Lai Chuanzhu, chief of staff of the New Fourth Army, on January 22, 1944, the New Fourth Army was ready to send 35 million yuan of relief money to Yan'an and East China, of which the first division handed over 10 million yuan, the second division, the third division, and the seventh division handed over 5 million yuan, the fourth division, the Zhejiang Eastern Military Region handed over 3 million yuan, and the 16th brigade handed over 4 million yuan. On December 20, 1944, the Fifth Division of the New Fourth Army was in an extremely difficult situation, and the Seventh Division of the New Fourth Army took out 30 million yuan at a time, the 1st Division took out 40 million yuan, and the 2nd Division, the 3rd Division, and the 16th Brigade each took out 10 million yuan.
The military expenses of the officers and men of the Seventh Division of the New Fourth Army are also the most abundant of the units of the New Fourth Army and the Eighth Route Army, and the food standards are also the highest, each person has a monthly food fee, the staple food is rice, and pocket money is also distributed, three cigarettes per month, a toothpaste, and the uniform is also specially approved by the military department, and the only one in the whole army uses imported dragon head muslin, and the weapons and equipment are also all Japanese.
By the time of the victory of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in 1945, the Seventh Division of the New Fourth Army had 30,000 regular troops, local armed forces, and 170,000 militiamen, and controlled a base area of 14 counties with a population of 3 million. When the Seventh Division of the New Fourth Army was abolished in 1947, the assets under management reached 100 million, equivalent to 500,000 taels of gold. Later, many veterans of the Seventh Division recalled that the logistics support of the 7th Division before the northern retreat was the best in the whole army, eating fine grain, sending cigarettes, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, leather shoes, belts, fine cloth uniforms, and the medicine used were also imported, which was not at all comparable to the TubaLu in the north.