From September to December 1945, in just three months, our army transferred a number of troops and cadres from the liberated areas in Guannei, with a total of about 120,000 people, and advanced into the northeast region. Such a large-scale and cross-regional transfer of troops and cadres is the first time in the history of our army.
Among the troops advancing into the northeast, there were both the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army. In the eighth route army, it is mainly the 1st Division, 2nd Division, 3rd Division, 6th Division, 7th Division, 5th Division, and one main force of the Luzhong, Binhai, Jiaodong, and Bohai Naval Regions, with a total of more than 60,000 people. In the New Fourth Army, mainly the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army, with a total of more than 30,000 people.
In terms of independent units, the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army was the largest force advancing into the northeast.
What is the origin of the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army?
The predecessor of this unit can be traced back to the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army.
In August 1937, the 115th Division, one of the three main divisions of the Eighth Route Army, was formed by the main forces of the First and Fifteenth Armies of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army and the 74th Division of the Red Army in southern Shaanxi. On September 25, 1937, in order to cooperate with friendly forces in the Second Theater of Operations, the 115th Division ambushed the first part of the 21st Brigade of the 5th Division of the Japanese Army, known as the "Steel Army", and the heavy convoy, at Pingxingguan, and won the first major victory since the Eighth Route Army was released.
At the beginning of the establishment of the 115th Division, it had two brigades, namely the 343rd Brigade and the 344th Brigade, plus the division's independent regiment, cavalry battalion, artillery battalion, engineer battalion, heavy battalion, and teaching battalion, totaling 15,500 people. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, the 115th Division persisted in the War of Resistance and mobilized the masses, which became larger and larger. In February 1940, the 344th Brigade of the 115th Fifth Division, the Jinyubian Detachment, the Independent Guerrilla Detachment, the 3rd Column of the Decisive Death and the 4th Regiment of the Hebei Nationalist Army were combined into the 2nd Column of the Eighth Route Army.
In May 1940, Huang Kecheng, political commissar of the 2nd Column of the Eighth Route Army, led the 344th Brigade and the New 2nd Brigade, a total of about 12,000 people from five regiments, to the south from the Jiluyu base area to support the New Fourth Army. In August of that year, the New 2nd Brigade and the 678th Regiment of the 344th Brigade of this unit merged with the Suluyu Detachment, the Longhainanjin Detachment, and the 4th General Brigade of the New Fourth Army, which were active in the northeast region of Anhui, to form the 5th Column of the Eighth Route Army, which was under the command of the Central Plains Bureau, with Huang Kecheng as commander and political commissar.
After the "Anhui Southern Incident" that shocked China and foreign countries in 1941, our army reorganized the 5th Column of the Eighth Route Army into the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army, with Huang Kecheng as the division commander and political commissar, Peng Xiong as the chief of staff, and the 7th, 8th, and 9th Brigades under its jurisdiction, with a total of more than 20,000 people.
In the next four years, the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army created the anti-Japanese base area in northern Jiangsu, opened up a new situation in the War of Resistance in Central China, opened up the connection between the two major strategic areas of North China and Central China, and repeatedly defeated the attacks of the Japanese army, annihilating more than 60,000 Japanese puppet troops, and by the eve of the march to the northeast region in 1945, the main force had grown to 4 brigades and 3 independent regiments, with a total of 37,000 people.
After Huang Kecheng led the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army to the northeast region, he no longer used the title of the New Fourth Army and was incorporated into the Northeast People's Autonomous Army. Later, the Northeast People's Autonomous Army was successively renamed the Northeast Democratic United Army, the Northeast Field Army, and the Fourth Field Army.
The main force of the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army was formed into the 2nd Column, one of the main columns of the Northeast Field Army. Among them, the 5th Division of the 2nd Column was one of the 7 main divisions of the Northeast Field Army.
The 7th Brigade of the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army was formed by merging several units of the Shandong Military Region to form the 6th Column of the Northeast Field Army, and the 7th Brigade was reorganized into the 16th Division of the 6th Column, which was also one of the 7 first-class main divisions of the Northeast Field Army.
In addition, the 20th Division and the 21st Division of the 7th Column of the Northeast Field Army both have the blood of the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army.
It is no exaggeration to say that although the number of the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army no longer exists, this unit with excellent traditions has been dispersed to the columns of the Northeast Field Army and still plays the main role in the columns. As a result, the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army produced many famous generals in military history.
The most famous is, of course, Huang Kecheng, commander and political commissar of the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army. Huang Kecheng is highly myopic, can only see three or four meters, leaving the glasses will be difficult to walk. However, Huang Kecheng had a very strategic vision and was the first to propose marching to the northeast after the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan. Therefore, Chen Shuai said that although he was short-sighted, he was a clairvoyant.
In 1955, Huang Kecheng was awarded the rank of General, ranking third.
In addition to Huang Kecheng, the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army also produced 4 founding generals, namely Zhang Aiping, Hong Xuezhi, Liu Zhen, and Wei Guoqing.
Zhang Aiping successively served as the commander of the 8th Brigade and the 9th Brigade of the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army, and the deputy commander of the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army. Hong Xuezhi successively served as the commander of the Yanfu Military Sub-district of the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army, and the chief of staff and deputy commander of the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army. Liu Zhen successively served as brigade commander of the 10th Brigade of the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army and commander of the Huai Naval Sub-district. Wei Guoqing served as the political commissar of the 9th Brigade of the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army.
In addition, the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army also stepped out of a founding lieutenant general, Wu Xinquan. Wu Xinquan served as the political commissar of the 8th Brigade of the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army. The most shining moment of Wu Xinquan's life was in 1950, when he led the 39th Army of the ace army to "cross the Yalu River with great vigor and vigor", participated in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and in the Battle of Yunshan, he severely damaged the 1st Cavalry Division, an American ace unit that claimed to have never lost in the more than 160 years since the establishment of the American Revolutionary War.