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96-990: The Eighth Route Army was created from the Chinese Red Army on September 22, 1937, when the Chinese Communists and Chinese Nationalists formed the Second United Front against Japan at the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, as the Chinese theater was known in World War II . Together with the New Fourth Army , the Eighth Route Army formed the main Communist fighting force during the war and

192-970: A Nationalist forces' reconnaissance aircraft in eastern Hubei. The pilot, Long Wenguang, joined the Red Army and assisted them in attacking the enemy army. Before the Fourth Red Army retreated from its base area, the aircraft was concealed by local farmers and was found again in 1951. The First Red Army also captured two reconnaissance aircraft in 1932. [REDACTED] Communist Party / [REDACTED] Soviet Republic ( [REDACTED] Red Army ) → Liberated Area ( [REDACTED] 8th Route Army , New Fourth Army , etc. → [REDACTED] People's Liberation Army ) → [REDACTED]   People's Republic of China National Revolutionary Army The National Revolutionary Army ( NRA ; 國民革命軍 ), sometimes shortened to Revolutionary Army ( 革命軍 ) before 1928, and as National Army ( 國軍 ) after 1928,

288-652: A grand total of 515 divisions . However, many divisions were formed from two or more other divisions, and were not active at the same time. At the apex of the NRA was the National Military Council, also translated as Military Affairs Commission. Chaired by Chiang Kai-Shek, it directed the staffs and commands. It included from 1937 the Chief of the General Staff, General He Yingqin , the General Staff,

384-552: A link-up. The war involved over 1,000,000 of which 300,000 became casualties. Chiang's forces proved themselves capable even when outnumbered routing the southern forces by July, however in the north Chiang's forces were defeated and he himself narrowly avoided capture in June only when the northern forces stopped due to the defeat of the southern forces did the north stabilise. Chiang began negotiations for peace with Zhang as an intermediary however Feng and Yan believing themselves to be on

480-1005: A means for the KMT to unify China during the Warlord Era , the National Revolutionary Army fought major engagements in the Northern Expedition against the Chinese Beiyang Army warlords, in the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) against the Imperial Japanese Army and in the Chinese Civil War against the People's Liberation Army . During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the armed forces of

576-530: A minority of them stayed in southern China. The Chinese Red Army's weapons were all captured from the enemy army, with the most important and useful weapon being the rifle. In the winter of 1934, the First Red Army's twelve divisions had 72,300 soldiers and 25,300 rifles. Compared to the First Red Army, the Fourth Red Army had more rifles which allowed it to recruit many new soldiers in Sichuan. However,

672-726: A new group army. It was named the Second Red Army and He Long was tasked with being its commander. The Second Red Army and Fourth Red Army arrived in north Shaanxi in the autumn of 1936. Around the same time, roughly 21,000 soldiers from the Fourth Red Army attacked Gansu, wanting to find a way to the Soviet Union . By the end of 1936, they were defeated by the Nationalist forces' General Ma Bufang , with more than 6,000 soldiers being captured. Only Xu Xiangqian and other senior officers survived. Because of this great failure,

768-737: A new organisation. The Years below relate to the Minguo calendar which starts in 1911. Therefore, the 22nd year division is the 1933 division. The above template was only applied to divisions serving in Guangxi during the 5th encirclement campaign. A new Plan was devised in 1935 to raise 60 new divisions in 6 month batches with divisions to be raised from divisional districts tied to them, in an aim to enhance cohesion and communication as well as simplifying recruitment, officers however were to be recruited nationally and placed into these divisions to disrupt regional affiliations. The 24th Year New Type division

864-484: A total of 20,000 soldiers and planned to occupy Guangzhou . However, they were defeated before they reached Guangzhou with only a few thousand men surviving the battle. Zhu De led a column of survivors to Hunan to fight in the Autumn Harvest Uprising where they were defeated again. After the revolt, Mao Zedong organized the rebels into a guerilla army, establishing a revolutionary base area in

960-506: Is not an entity for fighting only. Its major task (or function) is to mobilize the masses. Fighting is only a means." This process involved the Red Army's significant responsibility for educating, organizing, and mobilizing the masses, functioning like the mobile embodiment of the Communist Party in addition to its military roles. Academic Cai Xiang writes that the Red Army's ability to function in this way helps explain why despite

1056-556: The 3rd , 6th , 9th , 14th , 36th , 87th , 88th , and the Training Division . Another German general, Alexander von Falkenhausen , came to China in 1934 to help reform the army. However, because of Nazi Germany's later cooperation with the Empire of Japan, he was later recalled in 1937. For a time, during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Communist forces fought as a nominal part of the National Revolutionary Army, forming

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1152-474: The Battle of Shanghai and Battle of Nanjing . The newly provided tanks, armoured cars, and trucks from the Soviet Union and Italy made it possible to create the only mechanized division in the army, the 200th Division . This Division eventually ceased to be a mechanized unit after the June 1938 reorganization of Divisions. The armoured and artillery Regiments were placed under direct command of 5th Corps and

1248-676: The Chinese Army in India called X Force, and Chinese Expeditionary Force in Yunnan, called Y Force . The US government repeatedly threatened to cut off aid to China during World War 2 unless they handed over total command of all Chinese military forces to the US. After considerable stalling, the arrangement only fell through due to a particularly insulting letter from the Americans to Chiang. By

1344-403: The Chinese Civil War the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) was known to have used penal battalions from 1945 to 1949. A unit made up of deserters and those accused of cowardice, the penal battalion was giving such tasks as scouting ahead of the main forces to check for ambushes, crossing rivers and torrents to see whether they were fordable, and walking across unmapped minefields. The military

1440-772: The Chinese Communist Party were nominally incorporated into the National Revolutionary Army (while retaining separate commands), but broke away to form the People's Liberation Army shortly after the end of the war. With the promulgation of the Constitution of the Republic of China in 1947 and the formal end of the KMT party-state, the National Revolutionary Army was renamed the Republic of China Armed Forces , with

1536-742: The Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army or just the Red Army , was the military wing of the Chinese Communist Party from 1928 to 1937. It was formed when Communist elements of the National Revolutionary Army splintered and mutinied in the Nanchang Uprising . The Red Army was reincorporated into the National Revolutionary Army as part of the Second United Front with the Kuomintang to fight against

1632-620: The Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army units, but this co-operation later fell apart. Women were also part of the army's corps during the war. In 1937 Soong Mei-ling encouraged women to support the Second Sino-Japanese War effort, by forming battalions, such as the Guangxi Women's Battalion . Troops in India and Burma during World War II included the Chinese Expeditionary Force (Burma) ,

1728-512: The Generalissimo. However, Chinese industry was incapable of producing the artillery or infantry guns in large quantities needed for the 60 division plan and German imports were not forthcoming. Mortars were introduced as substitutes for the infantry guns and later as a substitute for artillery. Horses were also lacking as the new division required many of them and Chinese divisions often used mules oxen or even buffalos as substitutes for

1824-597: The Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937–1945. In the later stages of the Chinese Civil War the Red Army splintered off once again and was renamed the People's Liberation Army . In the summer of 1926, the CCP took over the two divisions of the Chinese Nationalist Party forces and led a military mutiny. Nationalist forces General He Long commanded the 20th Corps to join them. They had

1920-489: The Jinggang Mountains . The two armies joined forces in the following year. In the winter of 1927, the CCP planned to conquer Guangzhou; however, the uprising failed and thousands of insurgents were killed by the Nationalist forces of General Li Jishen . Between 1928 and 1929, the CCP launched multiple uprisings. Mao Zedong and Zhu De led the organization and training of the Communist military, including

2016-581: The Xinhai Revolution and the Warlord Era of the Republic of China, "Dare to Die Corps" ( traditional Chinese : 敢死隊 ; simplified Chinese : 敢死队 ; pinyin : gǎnsǐduì ) were frequently used by Chinese armies. China deployed these suicide units against the Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War . "Dare to Die" troops were used by warlords in their armies to conduct suicide attacks . "Dare to Die" corps continued to be used in

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2112-518: The anti-communist Nazi Party and the anti-communist KMT were soon engaged in close cooperation . With Germany training Chinese troops and expanding Chinese infrastructure, while China opened its markets and natural resources to Germany. Max Bauer was the first adviser to China. In 1934, Gen. Hans von Seeckt , acting as adviser to Chiang, proposed an "80 Division Plan" for reforming the entire Chinese army into 80 divisions of highly trained, well-equipped troops organised along German lines. The plan

2208-654: The 200th Division became a motorized Infantry Division within the same Corps. This Corps fought battles in Guangxi in 1939–1940 and in the Battle of Yunnan-Burma Road in 1942 reducing the armoured units due to losses and mechanical breakdown of the vehicles. On paper China had 3.8 million men under arms in 1941. They were organized into 246 "front-line" divisions, with another 70 divisions assigned to rear areas. Perhaps as many as forty Chinese divisions had been equipped with European-manufactured weapons and trained by foreign, particularly German and Soviet, advisers. The rest of

2304-663: The Army's officers passed through the Whampoa Military Academy , and the first commandant, Chiang Kai-shek , became commander-in-chief of the Army in 1925 before launching the successful Northern Expedition. Other prominent commanders included Du Yuming and Chen Cheng . The end of the Northern Expedition in 1928 is often taken as the date when China's Warlord era ended, though smaller-scale warlord activity continued for years afterwards. In 1927, after

2400-559: The Chinese Red Army had several armies in the summer of 1928. The Chinese Red Army became stronger than before and during the summer of 1930. In the summer of 1932, the Chinese Red Army had formed three main forces before the Fourth Encirclement Campaign. The Chinese Red Army had nearly 200,000 men in the winter of 1934. Most of Chinese Red Army had arrived in northern Shaanxi by autumn 1936. Only

2496-668: The Chinese military. The Kuomintang used one to put down an insurrection in Canton. Many women joined them in addition to men to achieve martyrdom against China's opponents. A "dare to die corps" was effectively used against Japanese units at the Battle of Taierzhuang . They used swords. Suicide bombing was also used against the Japanese. A Chinese soldier detonated a grenade vest and killed 20 Japanese soldiers at Sihang Warehouse . Chinese troops strapped explosives like grenade packs or dynamite to their bodies and threw themselves under Japanese tanks to blow them up. This tactic

2592-444: The Chinese. However, even though this 1937 reorganisation maintained division strength at slightly under 11,000 men, less than 4,000 (the frontline personnel) were issued small arms such as rifles. In 1938 a further reform was brought about by He Yingqin at the behest of Chiang Kai-shek. He's report called for an integrated numbering and designation of units from the regimental level up and a standardised financial and supply system and

2688-866: The Eighth Route Army later joined the Korean People's Army . In the Yan'an base area in September 1938, the Eighth Route Army established its first film group. In August 1937, the Eighth Route Army had three divisions. In Winter 1940 the Eighth Route Army had increased to 400,000 soldiers. [REDACTED] Communist Party / [REDACTED] Soviet Republic ( [REDACTED] Red Army ) → Liberated Area ( [REDACTED] 8th Route Army , New Fourth Army , etc. → [REDACTED] People's Liberation Army ) → [REDACTED]   People's Republic of China Chinese Red Army [REDACTED] China portal The Chinese Red Army , formally

2784-696: The Eighth Route Army were aided by local militias organized from the peasantry. After its fall 1938 victory in the Battle of Wuhan , Japan advanced deep into Communist territory and redeployed 50,000 troops to the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region . Elements of the Eighth Route Army soon attacked the advancing Japanese, inflicting between 3,000 and 5,000 casualties and resulting in a Japanese retreat. The Communist Party's liaison offices in cities under Nationalist control such as Chongqing , Guilin and Dihua (Ürümqi) were called Eighth Route Army Offices. Ethnic Koreans who fought in

2880-676: The Fourth Army, which totaled about 6,000 men in the summer of 1928 and fought in Jiangxi . Also in the summer of 1928, Peng Dehuai , the Nationalist forces Regimental Commander, led a military mutiny. A Nanchang uprising survivor, He Long, also created an army in his hometown, with former government soldiers as the main fighting force. In the late 1920s, the Communist forces lacked resources and relied on guerilla tactics such as hit-and-run operations to compensate for their material limitations. In early 1930, more red armies were created and

2976-528: The Fourth Red Army in autumn. In 1934, the Nationalist forces purchased new German weapons and launched a fifth large-scale attack on the Red Army's base area in Jiangxi. The First Red Army lost more than 50,000 soldiers in this battle and had to leave Jiangxi to establish a new base. This was the beginning of the Long March . About 30,000 soldiers were left to defend the base areas in southern China. During

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3072-510: The Fourth Red Army's Commander in Chief Zhang Guotao was stripped of his military power. When the anti-Japanese war broke out on 7 July 1937, the communist military forces were nominally integrated into the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China , forming the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army units. The First Red Army was integrated into the 115th Division of the Nationalist forces. The Second Red Army

3168-572: The Guangxi clique controlled two: the Wuhan and Beiping; under Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi , respectively. Li Jishen , who was related to the Guangxi clique, loosely controlled the Guangzhou council; and a sixth council in Shenyang was under Zhang Xueliang . Chiang was faced with two options one was to immediately centralise the other to gradually do so, in the spirit of the expedition itself which

3264-573: The Guangxi clique to ally to face Chiang as Chiang had taken revenue sources from Yan. The anti-Chiang coalition had forces totalling 700,000 against Chiang's 300,000. Their plan was to seize Shandong and contain Chiang south of the Long-hai railway and the Beijing-wuhan railway then they would advance along the railway lines seizing Xuzhou and Wuhan whilst southern forces did the same to force

3360-408: The NRA is as follows: (Note that a unit is not necessarily subordinate to one immediately above it; several army regiments can be found under an army group, for example.) The commander-in-chief of the NRA from 1925 to 1947 was Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. Military Affairs Commission The NRA used multiple divisional organisations as different threats emerged as well as other factors necessitated

3456-603: The National Revolutionary Army, trained in China (not by Westerners) and led by Ma Clique Muslim generals, frightened the European observers with their appearance and fighting skills in battle. Europeans like Sven Hedin and Georg Vasel were in awe of the appearance Chinese Muslim NRA divisions made and their ferocious combat abilities. They were trained in harsh, brutal conditions. The 36th Division (National Revolutionary Army) , trained entirely in China without any European help,

3552-441: The Nationalist forces and Jiangxi's First Red Army. In the spring of 1933, the First Red Army defeated the Nationalist forces' fourth large-scale attack and eliminated two and a half of its elite divisions. Several of the Nationalist forces' generals were also captured. In 1933, the Fourth Red Army arrived at Sichuan and recruited more than 80,000 soldiers. This caused Sichuan's warlord Liu Xiang to gather 200,000 troops to attack

3648-435: The Nationalist forces' future generals participated in this battle such as Huang Wei , Du Yuming , Sun Li-jen , and others. Having lost more than half of its soldiers, the Fourth Red Army was defeated and had to retreat from its base area. He Long's Third Army also sustained significant loses, with more than 10,000 soldiers losing their lives after leaving western Hubei. During this time, there were also several battles between

3744-517: The Nationalist forces. The Chinese Red Army made use of artillery seized from the enemy forces. Most of the time the Red Armies only had mortars, with typically every army having three to five mortars. During the summer of 1930, Peng Dehuai 's Fifth Army captured four 75mm mountain guns in Yuezhou, but they lacked the required ammunition. In the spring of 1931, the Fourth Red Army captured

3840-524: The Northern Expedition, the National Revolutionary Army was bloated and required downsizing and demobilisation: Chiang himself stating that soldiers are like water, capable of both carrying the state, and sinking it. This was reflected in the enormous troop figures with 1,502,000 men under arms, of which only 224,000 came under Chiang's direct control; these, however, were the official figures as Chiang stated later he possessed over 500,000 and Feng Yuxiang who officially possessed 269,000 in reality had 600,000 thus

3936-555: The Party and the military was further institutionalized by the establishment of the Central Military Commission . In the view of the Communist Party, participation of the masses in the Red Army was significant beyond the direct concerns of manpower and material support. It was also viewed as a political process through which the masses would evolve into "masters of the state." According to Mao, "[T]he Red Army

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4032-407: The Red Army recruited red guards. The red guards were commanded by officers of the local soviet . When large-scale war broke out, the red guards were responsible for the logistical support of the Red Army and supplied new soldiers for the Red Army. For example, in the winter of 1932, Xiao Ke 's Eighth Army had 2,200 red soldiers and 10,000 red guards. The red guards' officers were not always loyal. In

4128-757: The US, reported that many US military officers saw US monopoly on Far Eastern trade as a rightful reward for fighting the Pacific war, a sentiment echoed by US elected officials. After the drafting and implementation of the Constitution of the Republic of China in 1947, the National Revolutionary Army was transformed into the ground service branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces – the Republic of China Army (ROCA). The NRA throughout its lifespan recruited approximately 4,300,000 regulars, in 370 Standard Divisions (正式師), 46 New Divisions (新編師), 12 Cavalry Divisions (騎兵師), eight New Cavalry Divisions (新編騎兵師), 66 Temporary Divisions (暫編師), and 13 Reserve Divisions (預備師), for

4224-563: The War Ministry, the military regions, air and naval forces, air defence and garrison commanders, and support services Around 14 Million were conscripted from 1937 to 1945. Also, New Divisions were created to replace Standard Divisions lost early in the war and were issued the old division's number. Therefore, the number of divisions in active service at any given time is much smaller than this. The average NRA division had 5,000–6,000 troops; an average army division had 10,000–15,000 troops,

4320-459: The appointment of loyal commanders. A new division table was also organised: the 27th Year (1938) division, which created the field army as a fixed unit, abolished divisional artillery (often a paper force due to the chronic shortage of field artillery) and coordinated artillery support at the army level; although the division remained at roughly 11,000 men strong this template was not followed with few divisions being re-organised on this pattern due to

4416-412: The army. Most of the Fourth Red Army's senior officers were killed by him, including Xu Jishen , Zhou Weijiong , and Xiaofang. Similar movements also occurred in western Hubei; in the spring of 1931, Xia Xi took over He Long's army and killed most of his senior officers including Duan Dechang . In the fall of 1932, the Nationalist forces gathered 300,000 soldiers to attack the Fourth Red Army. Most of

4512-413: The article The Democratic Movement within the Army , written during the Second Sino-Japanese War , Mao Zedong discussed the Red Army's political work and stated, "Through the democratic movement under centralized leadership, we were able to achieve a high degree of political unity, improve lives, and improve military technology and tactics, which are our three main purposes." This view of democracy in

4608-419: The autumn of 1930, Deng Xiaoping 's Seventh Army left its base area in Guangxi . In 1931, the Chinese Red Army defeated the Nationalist forces three times with a large-scale attack, causing the Nationalist forces to lose nearly 100,000 soldiers. Several smaller red armies came together and formed a group army. In the summer of 1931, General Zhang Guotao arrived at the Fourth Red Army's base area and took over

4704-547: The bulk of its forces forming the Republic of China Army , which retreated to the island of Taiwan in 1949. The NRA was founded by the KMT in 1925 as the military force destined to unite China in the Northern Expedition . Organized with the help of the Comintern and guided under the doctrine of the Three Principles of the People , the distinction among party, state and army was often blurred. A large number of

4800-469: The constant campaigning of the Central Army and the refusal of the warlords to adopt the new organisation. Nonetheless, the division still proved too large and they were reformed into triangular divisions (a division with a divisional HQ and 3 infantry regiments rather than the previous square division with 2 brigades each with 2 regiments); this 1938 organisation remained the most common formation until

4896-591: The dissolution of the First United Front between the Nationalists and the Communists, the ruling KMT purged its leftist members and largely eliminated Soviet influence from its ranks. Chiang Kai-shek then turned to Germany , historically a great military power, for the reorganization and modernization of the National Revolutionary Army. The Weimar Republic sent advisers to China, but because of

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4992-453: The end of the war although it was modified with 16 divisions receiving Anti-tank companies and 20 receiving anti-aircraft companies. Artillery remained in a chronic shortage only partially remedied by the production of 82mm mortars, but these mortars were far from universal even by the end of the war. Further changes were made in the 1942 re-organisation with the 1938 division losing all of its non-combat formations. These formations were moved to

5088-503: The end of the war, US influence over the political, economic, and military affairs of China were greater than any foreign power in the last century, with American personnel appointed in every field, such as the Chief of Staff of the Chinese military, management of the Chinese War Production Board and Board of Transport, trainers of the secret police, and Chiang's personal advisor. Sir George Sansom, British envoy to

5184-545: The equivalent of a Japanese division. Not even the German-trained divisions were on par in terms of manpower with a German or Japanese division, having only 10,000 men. The United States Army's campaign brochure on the China Defensive campaign of 1942–45 said: The NRA only had small number of armoured vehicles and mechanised troops. At the beginning of the war in 1937 the armour were organized in three Armoured Battalions, equipped with tanks and armoured cars from various countries. After these battalions were mostly destroyed in

5280-406: The fall of Burma. This plan was adopted concurrently with Y-Force which was the Chinese army in Burma. The divisions of Y-Force were similar to the 1942 divisions’ organisation. With the addition of extra staff especially in communications as well as an anti-tank rifle squad with 2 anti-tank rifles, radios were issued as were bren guns with the number of mortars raised form 36 to 54 to accommodate

5376-417: The field army level, and with the universal adoption of the triangular division formation the 1942 division had a strength of 6,794 officers and enlisted 60% of the strength of the 1938 division. This gave a total of 8,251 men per division it is important to note the complete absence of any Anti-air, Anti-tank or artillery at a divisional level a sign of the dire state of equipment shortage in China. During

5472-481: The first years of the war. The largest rebellion was the Ningdu Uprising which occurred in the winter of 1931. General Dong Zhentang  [ zh ] , head of the 26th Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army and his 17,000 soldiers were the first to join the First Red Army. After the uprising, the Nationalist Party strengthened its control over the army, making launching a military rebellion more difficult. Despite this, General Zhang Guotao , who regarded

5568-411: The former officers of the Nationalist forces with disdain, lead an attack in the summer of 1931 which killed more than 2,500 of the Fourth Red Army's middle and senior officers who originated from the Nationalist forces. The Chinese Red Army had no ranks. Officers and soldiers were considered equal. Early on, the officers were elected by the soldiers; however, during the later parts of the war this system

5664-505: The governor of Hunan who switched sides and joined Chiang, the Guangxi forces invaded Hunan, however Chiang bribed elements of the army in Wuhan to defect and within 2 months the Guangxi clique was routed, in March the party expelled Bai Chongxi, Li Jishen and Li Zongren and promoted their juniors who sided with Chiang in order to sow dissent within the clique, they later re-grouped and attempted to retake Hunan and Guangdong but were repelled in both provinces. Also in May Feng Yuxiang entered

5760-406: The lack of heavy artillery. The demands of the Chinese Military Affairs Commission to add additional support staff and divisional artillery were all rejected by the Americans and the idea of a centralised Y-force with the 30 divisions being grouped together was never realised. General Chen Cheng commanded the largest contingent of 15 divisions, Long Yun commanded 5 and 9 under Chiang himself. Prior to

5856-413: The leaders of many of the warlord and provincial armies joined with the KMT and were appointed as officers and generals, their troops joined the NRA. These armies were renamed as NRA divisions. The entire Ma Clique armies were absorbed into the NRA. When the Muslim Ma Clique General Ma Qi joined the KMT, the Ninghai Army was renamed the National Revolutionary Army 26th Division. The unit organisation of

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5952-404: The local forces lacked rifles. In the summer of 1934, Xun Huaizhou  [ zh ] 's Seventh Legion had 6,000 soldiers but only 1,200 rifles, which lead to the Seventh Legion's quick defeat when they attempted to attack Fuzhou . Every Red Army regiment typically had one machine gun company, with every company having six or more machine guns. The machine gun equipment rate of the Red Army

6048-415: The many horses. 10 divisions were organised in 1935 on the new model but equipment was lacking. A further 20 were reorganised by the Marco Polo Bridge Incident but equipment was again lacking meaning these divisions were not to be the modern equivalent of Western style or Japanese divisions. For a total of 10,012 men and 3,219 horses with the field artillery regiment. With the Mountain artillery regiment

6144-420: The military emphasized democratic centralism and avoiding what the Party deemed "extreme democracy[,] or anarchism ." In May 1933, the Chinese Red Army began to build a military regularization system. They established the Red Army headquarters on the front line to command operations. The Chinese Red Army often claimed they had three group armies, although, by 1931, the Second Red Army was much smaller than

6240-431: The most recruits. Women's Organizations were mobilized to provided support to the dependents of Red Army soldiers and to prevent women from "pulling on [their menfolk's] tails" to forestall their enlistment. Coerced recruiting was explicitly forbidden. As the number of former officers of the Nationalist forces that made up the Red Army decreased throughout the war, the Red Army began to develop military education for

6336-437: The new officers who were formerly farmers. Each base area established its own military academies, usually using captured enemy officers as teachers. The enterprise was very successful, and by 1936 most of the Red Army's military officers were former farmers. In 1931, commanders determined that there were a number of spies in the Red Army. This issue became particularly prevalent when the First Red Army's Chief of Staff Zhu Yunqing

6432-408: The number of red soldiers grew rapidly. By the summer of 1930, the Chinese Red Army had grown to more than 100,000 soldiers and had several base areas, such as in southern and northern Jiangxi, western Hubei , and eastern Hunan, among others. Peng Dehuai's Fifth Army attacked and occupied Changsha , the capital of Hunan. After the attack, Jiangxi became the largest base area of the Chinese Red Army. In

6528-467: The other two. In 1930, the Chinese Red Army had established several base areas. Though the designations of the Red Army changed frequently, the main leadership of base areas did not change significantly. In the early phases of its establishment, most of the Chinese Red Army's military officers were made up of former officers of the Nationalist forces, with most of them joining the Red Army secretly between 1925 and 1928. Many of these officers were killed in

6624-421: The reduction of the army to 65 divisions and gathered political support to begin actively reducing troops counts and centralising the army as well as abolishing the branch councils, this threatened the regional leaders and Li Zongren noted that it was intentionally designed to force the regional leaders into action so Chiang could eliminate them. The Guangxi clique rebelled in February 1929 when it fired Lu Diping

6720-471: The restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles they could not serve in military capacities. Chiang initially requested famous generals such as Ludendorff and von Mackensen as advisers; the Weimar Republic government turned him down, however, fearing that they were too famous, would invite the ire of the Allies and that it would result in the loss of national prestige for such renowned figures to work, essentially, as mercenaries . Immediately following

6816-463: The same time, the Fourth Red Army defeated Liu Xiang 's attacks, who lost more than 80,000 soldiers in battle. Before the First Red Army began the Long March, Xiao Ke 's Sixth Legion arrived at eastern Guizhou and joined forces with He Long 's Third Army. After this, the Third Army changed its designation to Second Legion. In the autumn of 1935, the First Red Army arrived in northern Shaanxi with only 6,000 soldiers after losing more than 80,000 along

6912-448: The soldiers from the Red Army's militia troops were armed with cold weapons at all times. In the autumn of 1930, Zeng Zhongsheng commanded 30,000 red guards who were armed with cold weapons. Despite the overwhelming numbers of red soldiers, 1,000 opposing troops armed with rifles were able to defeat Zeng Zhongsheng's forces. The Chinese Red Army used various types of submachine guns from Thompsons to MP 18s . They were captured from

7008-516: The spring of 1933, one of the red guards' officers killed 29th Army's commander Chen Qianlun and surrendered to the Nationalist forces. Usually each Chinese Red Army's army or legion had three or two infantry divisions. Each division has three infantry regiments and one mortar company. In different time the number of one division's soldiers is different. In the beginning every division had about 1000 or 2000 men. From 1933 to 1936, one division usually had about 5000 or 6000 men. After several uprisings,

7104-491: The total is 10,632 men and 3,237 horses However, as the war progressed and masses of equipment was lost the 60 division plan was abandoned as were larger divisions in general as the Military Affairs Commission switched to a smaller more mobile division suited to the reality of the situation. This was after an initial reorganisation in 1937 which incorporated the type 89 grenade launcher which impressed

7200-691: The true figure would likely reach 2,000,000. During the Northern expedition the KMT formed also formed branch political councils: in theory, subordinate political organs that were under the Central Political councils in Nanjing; in reality these were autonomous political bodies with their own military forces. Feng Yuxiang controlled the Kaifeng council; Yan Xishan the Taiyuan council; whilst

7296-735: The units were under strength and generally untrained. Overall, the Nationalist Army impressed most Western military observers as more reminiscent of a 19th- than a 20th-century army. Late in the Burma Campaign the NRA Army there had an armoured battalion equipped with Sherman tanks. Despite the poor reviews given by European observers to the European-trained Divisions, the Muslim Divisions of

7392-514: The verge of victory refused. Chiang had utilised the lull in action to gather strength and begin counteroffensives along the railways north aided by the closure of fighting in Bengbu by September Chiang was again closing in on Luoyang and this along with bribes spurred Zhang Xueliang to side with Chiang ending the war. When Adolf Hitler became Germany's chancellor in 1933 and disavowed the Treaty,

7488-432: The war he was too expelled from the party, once again Chiang bribed his enemy's allies and subordinates Han Fuju and Shi Yousan. Feng's armies were defeated and he fled to Shanxi and announced his retirement from politics, by July Chiang's forces had occupied Luoyang. Having defeated two of his largest enemies Chiang pushed further for demobilisation and announced it would be done by March 1930. This move spurred Feng, Yan and

7584-409: The war, including through mass mobilization campaigns operating behind enemy lines. At the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Red Army had 2 million militia members and 900,000 regular troops. In 1947, the Red Army was reorganized into the People's Liberation Army. It continued to operate as a guerilla army reliant on the support of the peasantry. By the time the People's Republic of China

7680-666: The war, other Nationalist forces. The unit was renamed the People's Liberation Army in 1947, after the end of World War II , as the Chinese Communists and Nationalists resumed the Chinese Civil War . The Eighth Route Army consisted of three divisions (the 115th, which was commanded by Lin Biao , the 120th under He Long , and the 129th under Liu Bocheng ). During World War II, the Eighth Route Army operated mostly in North China , infiltrating behind Japanese lines, to establish guerrilla bases in rural and remote areas. The main units of

7776-428: The way, sometimes less than 50 percent reaching camp alive. Then recruit camp was no better, with hospitals resembling Nazi concentration camps like Buchenwald. The rank insignia of commissioned officers . The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel . T.V. Soong at the behest of Chiang negotiated US sponsorship of 30 Chinese divisions which were to be designated assault divisions due to

7872-602: The way. During this same time, the Fourth Red Army moved to northern Sichuan and planned to attack Chengdu . By the end of 1935, they had lost more than 40,000 soldiers and were defeated. Therefore, they were forced to move to southern Gansu and wait for He Long 's Second Legion and Sixth Legion to arrive. In the summer of 1936, the Second Legion, the Sixth Legion and the Thirty-Second Army formed

7968-602: The weak industrial base in revolutionary China, a proletarian party nonetheless successfully developed. These ideas developed at the 1929 Gutian Congress The June 1930 Program for the Red Fourth Army at All Levels and the winter 1930 Provisional Regulations on the Political Work of the Chinese Workers and Peasants Army (Draft), which formally established Party leadership of the military. In

8064-586: Was almost the equivalent of western style divisions with the notable difference being the absence of radios in the Chinese division. Planning began in December 1934 and in January 1935 a classified meeting of over 80 of the highest NRA officers was called with a timetable published: This new army being significantly better armed and trained than the warlord armies would give Chiang a large advantage over his domestic opponents as well as being personally answerable to

8160-408: Was assassinated by a spy in a hospital. After this, each Red Army began to judge and execute the officers and soldiers who were suspected. In 1931, the First Red Army executed about 4,000 men. The Fourth Red Army and Third Red Army also executed thousands of officers, especially senior officers. Typically a Red Army's base area was surrounded by enemy forces. To protect the base area from enemy attack,

8256-427: Was commanded by Communist party leader Mao Zedong and general Zhu De . Though officially designated the 18th Group Army by the Nationalists, the unit was referred to by the Chinese Communists and Japanese military as the Eighth Route Army. The Eighth Route Army wore Nationalist uniforms and flew the flag of the Republic of China and waged mostly guerrilla war against the Japanese, collaborationist forces and, later in

8352-562: Was composed of Chinese Muslims and fought and severely mauled an invading Soviet Russian army during the Soviet Invasion of Xinjiang . The division was lacking in technology and manpower, but badly damaged the superior Russian force. The Muslim divisions of the army controlled by Muslim Gen. Ma Hongkui were reported by Western observers to be tough and disciplined. Despite having diabetes Ma Hongkui personally drilled with his troops and engaged in sword fencing during training. When

8448-403: Was eliminated. From regiment to army, the command system at each level had four commanders: commander, political commissar, chief of staff, and director of political department, with the political commissar holding the most power. Red Army recruitment efforts often involved mass meetings and competitions between different villages, counties, or mass organizations on the basis of which could supply

8544-458: Was established on 1 October 1949, the PLA had 5.5 million personnel, primarily light infantry. After the Communist Party assumed power in 1949, veterans of the Red Army were venerated in mainland Chinese culture and are distinguished from those who joined to fight with the Communist Party after the integration with the Nationalists, or during the second civil war. In 1954, the relationship between

8640-560: Was formed through bloody and inhumane conscription campaigns. These are described by Rudolph Rummel as: This was a deadly affair in which men were kidnapped for the army, rounded up indiscriminately by press-gangs or army units among those on the roads or in the towns and villages, or otherwise gathered together. Many men, some the very young and old, were killed resisting or trying to escape. Once collected, they would be roped or chained together and marched, with little food or water, long distances to camp. They often died or were killed along

8736-492: Was integrated into the 120th Division of the Nationalist forces. The Fourth Red Army was integrated into the 129th Division of the Nationalist forces. These three divisions had 45,000 soldiers in all. 10,000 soldiers were left to defend the base areas in northern Shaanxi . In southern China, the New Fourth Army 's 10,000 soldiers acted as a guerrilla force. At the time of the Second Sino-Japanese War , these two armies contained one million armed men. The Red Army grew rapidly during

8832-456: Was never fully realised, as the eternally bickering warlords could not agree upon which divisions were to be merged and disbanded. Furthermore, since embezzlement and fraud were commonplace, especially in understrength divisions (the state of most of the divisions), reforming the military structure would threaten divisional commanders' "take". Therefore, by July 1937 only eight infantry divisions had completed reorganization and training. These were

8928-527: Was no less than that of the Nationalist forces' elite troops. This was one of the important reasons why the Red Army was able to defeat the Nationalist forces on many occasions. The most common machine guns were the MG08 , ZB vz. 26 , M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle , and Hotchkiss M1914 machine gun . Due to the lack of rifles, the Chinese Red Army was forced to use cold weapons such as broadswords, spears, sabres, and other melee implements. In particular, most of

9024-602: Was the military arm of the Kuomintang (KMT, or the Chinese Nationalist Party) from 1925 until 1947 in China during the Republican era . It also became the regular army during the KMT's period of party rule beginning in 1928. It was renamed the Republic of China Armed Forces after the 1947 Constitution , which instituted civilian control of the military . Originally organized with Soviet aid as

9120-483: Was to eradicate warlordism and regionalism Chiang chose to immediately centralise the branch councils under the guise of demobilisation systematically reducing the regional troop strength whilst centralising them and building up his own strength. This was done in July 1928 with financial conferences calling for demobilisation and military commanders and political officials echoing the call for demobilisation. Chiang called for

9216-474: Was used during the Battle of Shanghai , where a Chinese suicide bomber stopped a Japanese tank column by exploding himself beneath the lead tank, and at the Battle of Taierzhuang where dynamite and grenades were strapped on by Chinese troops who rushed at Japanese tanks and blew themselves up. In one incident at Taierzhuang, Chinese suicide bombers obliterated four Japanese tanks with grenade bundles. During

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