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Text: According to the snow under the jade pass
Edit| According to the snow under the jade pass
As everyone knows, during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the anti-Japanese armed forces led by our party were called the "Eighth Route Army" and the "New Fourth Army" respectively, which were reorganized from the Red Army of the North and the Red Army of the South.
But the problem is that the name "Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army" only existed for less than a month before it was changed to "The Eighteenth Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army".
However, compared with the "Eighteenth Group Army", the "Eighth Route Army", which has existed for less than a month, is more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Whether it is a variety of text or video materials, during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, our army was called "Eight Roads" or "Eight Masters", and I have never heard of "Eighteen Masters".
Why, then, did we have to change the name to "Eighteen th Route Army" when we already had the name of the "Eighth Route Army"? Why did our army still call itself the "Eighth Route Army" after it had already changed its name?
Chiang Kai-shek's careful thoughts
As a matter of fact, whether it is the "Eighth Route Army" or the names of the 115th, 120th, and 129th divisions under the jurisdiction of the Eighth Route Army, they are all very "unlucky" names that Chiang Kai-shek "carefully selected."
"Road Army", also known as "Road". Originally, it was a campaign and tactical command level that was temporarily organized during operations, but during the ten-year civil war, Chiang Kai-shek retained it as a first-level command level, which was equivalent to, or slightly higher, the military level, and was ready to replace the command function of the army level.
As we all know, there are countless mountains and warlords within the Kuomintang army, and the management is chaotic, so at that time we can see the magical scene of the "road army" and the "army" at the same time.
After the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression began in 1937, no matter how reluctant Chiang Kai-shek was, he had to give the Communist army an official name.
Just thinking about how careful Lao Jiang is, he can guess what he will do next.
The number given to the Northern Red Army was the Eighth Route Army, with a total establishment of 45,000 people, which was the number of the Cantonese troops who stayed in Guangdong during the Northern Expedition.
After Hu Hanmin died of illness in 1936, Chiang Kai-shek wanted to take the opportunity to solve the problem of Guangzhou, so he sent people to take back the military and political power in Guangdong from Chen Jitang in the name of Hu Hanmin's funeral. Chen Jitang was naturally unwilling, and united Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi to raise troops against Chiang.
Guangdong was discordant and was drawn together by Chiang Kai-shek, Chen Jitang fled south to Hong Kong, and Li Zongren was forced to compromise with Chiang Kai-shek.
After the Liangguang Incident, the name of the "Eighth Route Army" was naturally revoked.
Now, after a year, Chiang Kai-shek has given the name of the "Eighth Route Army" to the Red Army, and the central thinking is self-evident.
So, could this be Chiang Kai-shek's "unintentional move"?
Impossible.
Just look at the numbers of the 3 divisions under the jurisdiction of the Eighth Route Army.
According to common sense, the numbers of the units under the jurisdiction of a combat unit, whether it is an army, a corps, division, or brigade, should be linked together to facilitate identification and management. Even if you don't know who the superior unit of this unit is, you can guess it as long as you think about it in order.
But what are the numbers of the units under the command of the Eighth Route Army? They are the 115th Division, the 120th Division, and the 129th Division. These 3 numbers don't seem to have any rules in that regard. Even if the troops of their adjacent numbers may still exist, they can also change to three numbers that have not been used before, so why do you have to pick these three?
Because these three divisions are the number of the Northeast Army, and they all participated in the "encirclement and suppression", "clearing and suppression", and "chasing and suppressing" the Red Army in the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Region. He also participated in the Battle of Zhiluo Town, the Battle of Mountain Castle, and the Battle of Longdong in Ningxia, and was a mortal enemy of the Red Army.
So, why were the numbers of these 3 divisions canceled?
Because from April to June 1937, the Kuomintang reorganized the Northeast Army, and the two divisions were reorganized into one division, and the three divisions of 115, 120, and 129 were canceled because of "poor performance". Chiang Kai-shek did not give anything else, and specially gave these three and the number of the "Eighth Route Army" to our army, which was obviously deliberate.
From the Eighth Route Army to the Eighteenth Army
On August 25, 1937, the Central Military Commission issued an order to reorganize the main force of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army into the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army, referred to as the Eighth Route Army. The soldiers of the Eighth Route Army also changed their octagonal hats and put on new military hats with the Kuomintang blue sky and white sun emblem.
However, while everything was in order, on September 11, the Military Council of the Nationalist Government suddenly issued a new order:
The Eighth Route Army was renamed the Eighteenth Group Army, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army was renamed the General Headquarters of the Eighteenth Group Army, Zhu De served as the commander-in-chief of the Eighteenth Group Army, and Peng Dehuai served as the deputy commander-in-chief. ”
Three days later, Zhu and Peng issued a general order to change the number.
Therefore, strictly speaking, this new "Eighth Route Army" only existed for half a month before it was changed to the "Eighteenth Group Army".
Chiang Kai-shek did this, what did he want?
The "group army" at this time was different from the four group armies in the later stage of the Northern Expedition, and belonged to the wartime establishment, which was the command structure of the campaign corps between the theater and the army. The original "road army" was changed to a "group army".
Although it may sound like it was just a change from the "Eighth Road" to the "Eighteenth Group", there are still some differences in politics.
According to the agreement between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, the Eighth Route Army was under the command of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China. However, it was changed to the "Eighteenth Group Army", and the superior became Yan Xishan, the commander of the Second Theater of Operations, and then Chiang Kai-shek, chairman of the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government.
The Kuomintang's "Measures for Handling the Communist Party Issue" says this:
"Now that the Eighteenth Group Army has been reorganized into a national army, its military orders, military and political affairs should be unified with the central government...... In order to unify the names of the command organs, all previous names that did not belong to the battle sequence were cancelled by general order, and the name of the Eighth Route Army was also cancelled at the same time, and they were not allowed to be used again. ”
This also created a problem, that is, the Kuomintang could be involved in the appointment of the generals of the Eighth Route Army.
In 1938, after Lin Biao was wounded by Yan Xishan's sentry, Chairman Mao wanted Luo Ronghuan to temporarily serve as the commander of the 115th Division, and copied a copy to the headquarters of the 18th Group Army.
Who would have thought that the 18th Group Army appointed Chen Guang, commander of the 343rd Brigade, as the commander of the 115th Division, and called back that it had been reported to the Second Theater Command and the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government for approval.
If the platform is launched, this is a big problem, but Chairman Mao finally chose to acquiesce in this matter.
Later, Premier Zhou mentioned the reshuffle at the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China:
"It is no longer allowed to be called the Eighth Route Army, only the Eighteenth Group Army. What does that mean? The Eighth Route Army is an army establishment in peacetime, that is, it is also in normal times, while the Eighteenth Route Army is an army establishment during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. But the common people in North China replied to him: It is still the name of the Eighth Route Army, and the words of the Eighteenth Group Army are difficult to pronounce. Chiang Kai-shek's decision was a step in his preparations for the abolition of the Eighth Route Army. ”
The Eighth Route Army forever
In any case, since Chairman Chiang's "leader" status has been recognized in accordance with the agreement, we have to accept it even if we know that he is not happy to change his name.
However, accepting the number of the 18th Group Army does not mean that the number of the "Eighth Route Army" should be abolished. Our party only calls itself the "Eighteenth Group Army" when it has foreign relations with foreign countries and when it issues wartime orders, and at other times, even when the leader speaks, we have always called ourselves the "Eighth Route Army" and never called ourselves the "Eighteenth Group Army." As for when to use the "Eighth Route Army" and when to use the "Eighteenth Group Army", the distinction is clear from the beginning.
For example, in the 1945 book "The Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army in the Eight Years of the Anti-Japanese War", the editor on the cover wrote "Propaganda Department of the General Political Department of the 18th Group".
This is not only because the name of the Eighth Route Army has been widely accepted by the whole party, nor because it claims that the Eighth Route Army is more favorable than the Eighteenth Group Army, and there are deep-seated considerations behind this.
The difference between the 18th Route Army and the Eighth Route Army is not only in the name, but also in the political perception of individual cadres. For example, in the 120th Division, some people printed their identity as "Major General and Brigade Commander of the 18th Group Army" on their business cards and distributed them everywhere.
For another example, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo Red Army had more than 80,000 people, but the Kuomintang gave only 45,000 members, and these extra comrades were the "Eighth Route Army" but not the "Eighteenth Group Army." Some people were even directly called "rebels" by the Kuomintang, such as the temporary 1st Division of Xu Fanting.
Moreover, some cadres who have been put on the "establishment" have become unhealthy and look down on those cadres who are "not part of the 18th Group Army" in their words.
In order to correct this kind of problem and erroneous thinking, although the name of the "Eighth Route Army" only existed for half a month, Chairman Mao and other central leaders insisted on the unification of the troops and called themselves the "Eighth Route Army," reduced the frequency of the appearance of the 18th Group Army as much as possible, and issued a verbal notice:
"With the exception of the use of the name of the 18th Army in the internal language of the Kuomintang government and the Military Commission of which Chiang Kai-shek was chairman, the name of the Eighth Route Army continued to be used on most occasions. When questioned by relevant officials of the Kuomintang government, they will explain on the grounds of the oral Xi of ordinary people and grassroots commanders and fighters. ”
For those comrades whose positions are ambiguous, special ideological education is also conducted.
In addition, the establishment of the "Eighteenth Group Army" is limited to death, while the "Eighth Route Army" can be large or small, and it can be expanded by "rubbing the edges", and all kinds of independent divisions, independent brigades, and independent regiments are not needed for supplies from his old Chiang Kai-shek, and Chiang Kai-shek can't say anything.
Interestingly, although the Kuomintang often attacked our army for calling itself the Eighth Route Army and less about the "Eighteenth Group Army," they themselves, including Chiang Kai-shek, also liked to call our army the "Eighth Route Army."
On April 28, 1939, Chiang Kai-shek's warrant to Jiang Dingwen and Wei Lihuang clearly mentioned the "Eighth Route Army":
"We should try to study and adjust the actions and tactics of the Eighth Route Army, as well as the spirit of leading the troops in combat and political work, so as to learn from its strengths. Therefore, in the name of liaison, capable personnel have been continuously dispatched from the theater to inspect their units. ”
It can be seen how deeply rooted the name of the "Eighth Route Army" is......