This is indeed an interesting and intriguing question. As we all know, when it comes to the establishment of the Eighth Route Army and the Eighth Route Army, we all know that it is the Twelfth Regiment of the Sixth Brigade of the Third Division, the commander-in-chief is Zhu De, the deputy commander-in-chief is Peng Dehuai, and the deputy chief of staff is first Zuo Quan, and then Teng Daiyuan. The director of the Political Department was Ren Bishi, and the deputy director was Deng Xiaoping.
From left: Peng Dehuai, Zhu De, Peng Xuefeng, Deng Xiaoping
Zuo Quan is a famous military general of our army, one of the leaders of the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, the third in command besides General Zhu and General Peng, one of the three carriages of the Eighth Route Army, and one of the soul figures of the Eighth Route Army. He was also the highest-ranking general of our army who died in the War of Resistance.
Zuo Quan, deputy chief of staff of the Eighth Route Army
However, Zuo Quan was actually only the deputy chief of staff of the Eighth Route Army, and the word "general" was missing. Zhu De was the commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army, and Peng Dehuai was the deputy commander-in-chief, but Zuo Quan was only the deputy chief of staff, not the deputy chief of the general staff.
In 1939, Mr. Zhu talked with Lin Mike. The middleman is Xiao Tian
Coincidentally, another anti-Japanese armed force led by our party, the New Fourth Army, also had this "strange" configuration: commander Ye Ting, deputy commander Xiang Ying, and deputy chief of staff Zhou Zikun.
In February 1938, Zhou Zikun was appointed deputy chief of staff of the New Fourth Army
When it comes to the chief of staff, I think of Zuo Quan and Zhou Zikun, they are both deputy chiefs of staff, whether it is historical materials or film and television dramas, the chiefs of staff of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army appear very frequently, almost on the occasion of Peng Zong's appearance, there is Zuo Quan appearing; if Xiang Ying or his name appears, there is Zhou Zikun to accompany him. This is also the norm, in line with the convention, after all, the chief of staff is to assist the military chiefs.
Statue of General Zuo Quan
However, Zuo Quan and Zhou Zikun are both deputy chiefs of staff, but the chief of staff is rarely mentioned. Could it be that the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army did not have a chief of staff?
The four giants of the New Fourth Army - Ye Ting, Xiang Ying, Zhou Zikun, Yuan Guoping
Of course not! The organization of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army is very complete, the leadership is complete, except for the lack of political commissars in the early days, the other organizational structures are very perfect. Then why did the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army not have the important post of political commissar? Mainly because the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army both belong to the national revolutionary army structure, the military hat has a blue sky and white sun hat emblem on the hat, the military salary is also allocated by the national government, and the institutional setup is naturally set up in accordance with the establishment of the national army. There has never been a position of "political commissar" in the establishment of the nationalist army, and at most there is a director of the "Political Training Office". Of course, the Political Training Office is also equivalent to the political department of our army, and the deputy commanders of the various divisions of the Eighth Route Army actually play the role of political commissars. The same is true of the New Fourth Army, with Xiang Ying as the deputy commander and in fact the political commissar. From another point of view, the political commissar is greater than the military chief at the same level. The system of political commissars is a characteristic of our army and is also one of the systems that ensure the party's command of guns.
From left: Luo Binghui, Zhang Yunyi, Xiang Ying, Chen Yi
Far from it, back to the point, do the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army have chiefs of staff? If so, why have you never heard of them? They were never seen in leadership. Where did they go? Since he is the chief of staff, why not perform his duties?
In September 1941, Zhang Yunyi and Chen Yi led some cadres of the New Fourth Army to take a group photo in Si County, Anhui Province
First of all, the answer: the chief of staff of the Eighth Route Army is Ye Jianying! The chief of staff of the New Fourth Army is Zhang Yunyi!
In 1935, Ye Jianying was appointed chief of staff of the Red Army
These are two quite a few characters. When he was awarded the title in 1955, Ye Jianying was one of the top ten marshals, and the last rank was the 10th marshal. Zhang Yunyi is one of the top ten generals, ranked seventh, and is the seventh general. Ye Ting and Xiang Ying, the main and deputy commanders of the New Fourth Army, were both killed one after another, so there was no comparison of titles. However, Chen Yi, deputy commander of a detachment of the New Fourth Army, later ranked sixth in the rank of founding marshal, and Su Yu, commander of the First Division, later ranked first in the rank of founding general, all of which proved that the rank of chief of staff of the New Fourth Army was not very low.
The second from the left is Zuo Quan, and the middle is Liu Bocheng
Coincidentally, Zuo Quan and Zhou Zikun, deputy chiefs of staff of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army, were also later killed. Zuo Quan was heroically sacrificed in the third phase of the Hundred Regiments War, the "May 1st Sweep" launched by the Japanese army in retaliation; Zhou Zikun was killed by liu Houzong, an aide-de-camp with Xiang Ying, who was lurking in the Bee Cave in Chikeng Mountain, Jing County, after the Anhui Incident. Ye Ting, commander of the New Fourth Army, was killed in the "April 8 Air Disaster" in 1946.
Zhou Zikun, deputy chief of staff of the New Fourth Army, and his wife He Ziyou
Then, why did Ye Jianying, chief of staff of the Eighth Route Army, and Zhang Yunyi, chief of staff of the New Fourth Army, not perform their duties?
Ye Jianying did not actually arrive at the post, which was related to the situation in Yan'an at that time. Ye Shuai, the eternal chief of staff of our army, was called "Ye Shan", and it was expected that he would become the chief of staff of the Eighth Route Army. Ye Shuai was highly qualified and qualified; he had served as Sun Yat-sen's chief of guard, an instructor at the Whampoa Military Academy, and a chief of staff in the Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army. However, the actual situation is that the Yan'an Military Commission cannot do without him, and the Eighth Route Army's office in Chongqing is also inseparable from him. Since the Kuomintang and the Communists had already cooperated, much of the united front work needed to be negotiated and communicated with the Kuomintang, and as Vice Chairman Zhou's deputy, Ye Shuai was busy with his work and lacked skills, and it was impossible for him to actually take up his post. Besides, there are many famous generals in our army, there are many talents, the chief of staff is named, and the specific work is done by the deputy post.
Ye Jianying and Zhou Enlai
Therefore, after the outbreak of the All-out War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Ye Jianying served as chief of staff of the Eighth Route Army but did not actually arrive at his post, mainly following Vice Chairman Zhou to do united front work in the Kuomintang region, and he had advantages in this regard. In addition to his post as chief of staff of the Eighth Route Army, Ye Jianying was also a member of the Central Military Commission. He helped the Kuomintang set up the Nanyue Guerrilla Training Course and gave lectures to nationalist generals on the strategies and tactics of the anti-Japanese guerrilla war. In addition, he gave full play to his own advantages and strengths, published articles and gave speeches in the United Front Area, expounded our party's position and policies, and expanded the party's influence.
Ye Shuai and the Prime Minister
In February 1941, the Pacific War broke out, the United States declared war on Japan, the World Anti-Fascist League united into one front, the Allies formed a unified camp, the international situation underwent great changes, the National Government also openly declared war on Japan, the united front work was completed, Ye Jianying returned to Yan'an to assist Chairman Mao in leading and directing the nationwide War of Resistance. Since then, he has been living in Wangjiaping, Yan'an, working in the rear general staff. Chairman Mao admired Ye Jianying very much and praised him: "Zhuge was only cautious in his life, and Lü Duan was not confused about major matters. ”
Bogu (Qin Bangxian), Ye Jianying and Zhou Enlai at the time of the Xi'an Incident
Let's talk about Zhang Yunyi, chief of staff of the New Fourth Army.
Leadership of the New Fourth Army
Zhang Yunyi was old and qualified, joined the League in his early years, participated in the Huanghuagang Uprising, the Xinhai Revolution, the Patriotic War and the Northern Expedition, joined the Party in 1926, led the Youjiang Uprising in 1929 and joined the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. During the Red Army period, Zhang Yunyi successively served as the commander of the Seventh Workers' Army, the deputy chief of staff of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, the commander of the Guangdong-Gansu Military Region, the deputy chief of staff of the General Headquarters of the Red Army, and the deputy chief of staff of the Red Army, and participated in the Long March in October 1934.
In February 1937, Zhang Yunyi was in Yan'an
When the New Fourth Army was formed, there were five chiefs of staff, namely Zhou Shidi, Zhou Zikun, Liu Ying, Chen Yi, and Zhang Yunyi. In the mind of military commander Ye Ting, Zhou Shidi was the best candidate. He was both Ye Ting's old subordinate and a liangguang person. Ye Ting very much hoped that he could come to the New Fourth Army as chief of staff and assist him in his work. The opinion of deputy commander Xiang Ying was Chen Yi or Liu Ying, both of whom were old men of the southern guerrillas, Chen Yi was also Xiang Ying's partner, and also the soul of the guerrillas in the eight southern provinces, and the two were born together and died together for more than three years. Liu Ying is an old man in the former Red Fourth Army, but he is not good at military affairs and is a political work cadre.
General Zhang Yunyi after the founding of the People's Republic of China
After comprehensive consideration, in order to respect Ye Ting's opinion, Yan'an appointed Zhang Yunyi as the chief of staff of the New Fourth Army. Zhang Yunyi is a native of Guangdong, has a relationship with the Guangdong Army, and is an old colleague of Chen Yi and Xiang Ying, and has also served as deputy chief of staff of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, deputy chief of staff of the Red Army Headquarters, and participated in the Long March.
Zhou Zikun, Zhang Yunyi, Ye Ting, Xiang Ying and Zeng Shan
However, Zhang Yunyi was also the commander of the third detachment of the New Fourth Army, leading his troops to carry out guerrilla warfare in southern Anhui, and then advanced into central Anhui to form the Jiangbei Guerrilla Column of the New Fourth Army. In May 1939, Zhang Yunyi became the commander and former secretary of the Jiangbei Headquarters of the New Fourth Army, and at the same time commanded the fourth and fifth detachments of the New Fourth Army to advance into eastern Anhui and go to the south of the Huai River on both sides of Jinpu Road to create a base area. Therefore, Zhang Yunyi is not in the New Fourth Army Headquarters, and the authority of the chief of staff is represented by Deputy Chief of Staff Zhou Zikun.
Front row from left: Zhou Zikun, Yuan Guoping, Ye Ting, Chen Yi
To sum up, both the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army have chiefs of staff, but none of them have actually arrived at their posts, and both have deputy chiefs of staff acting as chiefs of staff. Ye Shuai and General Zhang are just the opposite, Ye Shuai is working in the Central Military Commission and cannot get out of his body, and General Zhang Shuai is leading troops outside instead of the military headquarters. Interestingly, Zhang Yunyi was a general specially approved by Chairman Mao to receive the salary of a marshal, and in contrast to Xu Guangda, Xu Dashi was a general who "lowered his self-worth" and took the salary of a general.