In film and television dramas, the People's Liberation Army is often referred to as "**, and during the Liberation War, the Kuomintang army was called "****, and there was even a plot of calling each other ** brothers. On the surface, "* and " ** seem to be unambiguous, one referring to the Communist army and the other to the Kuomintang army. However, during the War of Liberation, Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang army was never referred to as "**" in press propaganda, propaganda within the party and the army, or in the name of the "**", but rather the Chiang army or Chiang gang.
Why not call Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang army "**" and call it "Chiang's army"?There are many historical and positional issues involved. The first is the origin of **. Ordinary people may directly associate it with the Kuomintang army, but the original "**" actually refers to the National Revolutionary Army, abbreviated as **.
In some literary and artistic works describing the War of Resistance Against Japan, the so-called "** usually refers to the Kuomintang army except for the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army, but this is not the case, all the armies of that era belonged to the National Revolutionary Army." The National Revolutionary Army was founded by Mr. Zhongshan in 1925 to carry out the Northern Expedition, and the famous Whampoa Military Academy was the officer training base of the National Revolutionary Army.
In that period, the National Revolutionary Army was a revolutionary army, regardless of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, it was the National Revolutionary Army, which was the origin of the **. The Whampoa Military Academy had both members of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and in the Northern Expedition, although the Kuomintang armed forces were the leading forces, it was also the cooperation of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, so it achieved remarkable results. In 1927, Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Ching-wei betrayed the revolution and turned the National Revolutionary Army founded by Mr. Sun Yat-sen into a reactionary force of landlords and capitalists.
Although nominally still called the National Revolutionary Army, it has essentially become Chiang Kai-shek's private army, and it should be called Chiang's army at this time. After three major uprisings, our army created the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, which was later renamed the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, which also became the origin of our army. In fact, the National Revolutionary Army has been abandoned by everyone. For example, in the Central Plains War, Chiang Kai-shek fought against local warlords such as Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, and Li Zongren.
The course of the National Revolutionary Army has undergone many changes. Since Chiang Kai-shek's betrayal of the revolution, although it existed in name only, it still represented the whole team in name until the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan. After the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression began, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party cooperated again, and warlords in various localities also actively participated in the anti-Japanese cause, forming an anti-Japanese national united front, and the National Revolutionary Army was revitalized during this period.
Chiang Kai-shek's cronies and local units were united under the banner of the National Revolutionary Army, and the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, led by the Communist Party, and the guerrillas in the nine southern provinces were also reorganized into the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army respectively. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, "* was actually the National Revolutionary Army, which became an army under the joint leadership of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, which included not only Chiang Kai-shek's army, but also the Northeast Army, the Northwest Army, the Jin Sui Army, the Sichuan Army, the Gui Army, etc., and even the Red Army.
Although the names were different during the War of Resistance Against Japan, everyone was united under the name of the "National Revolutionary Army". Until the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in 1945, the peace talks between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party in Chongqing were still discussed in the name of "National" and "National Revolutionary Army", trying to reorganize the armies of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, regularize the army and achieve the goal of a democratic country. However, the negotiations ended in failure and the war broke out again.
Chiang Kai-shek launched another offensive, the War of Liberation began, and the National Revolutionary Army was once again in trouble. After that, the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army under the leadership of the Communist Party were successively reorganized into the "Democratic Alliance Army" and eventually evolved into the "People's Liberation Army". The Kuomintang officially renamed its army "China *** National Revolutionary Army", and the word became a historical term.
Although "China *** is also called **, out of respect for the National Revolutionary Army and the consideration that Chiang Kai-shek *** is not worthy of using the name "China ***", our army has always called Chiang Kai-shek's army Chiang's army. In general, at different stages of history, our army also has different names for treating enemy troops. During the agrarian revolution, the enemy was often referred to as the "White Army" or "White Bandit Army".
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, they were called "friendly forces", and for frictional troops, they were called "stubborn troops". The well-known "enemy, puppet, and stubborn" arguments refer to the Japanese army, Wang Jingwei's puppet army, and the Kuomintang reactionaries and the armies of local warlords who confronted our army. After the outbreak of the Liberation War, our army usually referred to the Kuomintang army as "Chiang's army" or "Chiang's bandit army", rather than "**."