After the outbreak of the July 7 Incident, under the advocacy of the Communist Party of China, the anti-Japanese national united front was formed, and the Red Army proceeded from the overall situation of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army, with three divisions under its jurisdiction, namely the 115th Division, the 120th Division, and the 129th Division.
Next, let's take a look at the strength of the three divisions of the Eighth Route Army.
The reorganization of the Eighth Route Army was not smooth sailing, at the beginning, our army was ready to be reorganized into four armies, and the personnel of the army commander were also decided, respectively, **, however, Chiang Kai-shek did not agree.
After constant negotiations and struggles, the establishment of three divisions was finally decided, each of which had two brigades under its jurisdiction, plus one regiment, and five battalions, including a cavalry battalion, an artillery battalion, and an engineer battalion.
The difference is that the 115th Division has an independent regiment under its jurisdiction, while the 120th and 129th Divisions have a teaching regiment under its jurisdiction, so among the five battalions of the 115th Division, there is a teaching battalion, and the other two divisions each have a special service battalion, and the other establishment units and names are the same.
The commander of the 115th Division is **, the deputy division commander is ***, the chief of staff is Zhou Kun, and the director of the Political Training Office is ***
The 115th Division is the foundation of the Jinggangshan Army, and most of the old troops when the Jinggangshan Division was joined into this division, which was specifically adapted from some officers and soldiers of the Red 1st Army, the Red 15th Army and the Red 74th Division.
The Red 1st Army Corps is the troops of the Autumn Harvest Uprising and the Nanchang Uprising, as well as the troops brought to Jinggang Mountain after leading the Pingjiang Uprising, before the reorganization, this part of the force reached the scale of nearly 7,000 people.
The Red 15th Army was composed of Xu Haidong's Red 25th Army and the Northern Shaanxi Red Army, and its strength was larger than that of the Red 1st Army, reaching 8,000 people.
Together with part of the personnel of the Red 74th Division, the total strength of the 115th Division reached 1550,000 people, under the jurisdiction of the 343rd Brigade, the 344th Brigade, the independent regiment and 5 battalions, of course, these battalions are also the size of the regiment, but the structure is a little smaller.
After the formation of the 115th Division, the main task given to them was not only to resist Japan, but also to open up an anti-Japanese base behind the enemy, which also led to several divisions of the 115th Division, such as leading the independent regiment to open up the Jinchaji anti-Japanese base area, the 343 Brigade to open up the Luliang anti-Japanese base area, and the eastward expansion to open up the Shandong anti-Japanese base area, etc.
The 115th Division realized the intention of fighting a war while strengthening the strength of the Anti-Japanese War, and it can be said that during the entire War of Resistance against Japan, the 115th Division made great contributions.
The commander of the 120th Division is **, the deputy division commander is Xiao Ke, the chief of staff is Zhou Shidi, and the director of the Political Training Office is Guan Xiangying.
The 120th Division was mainly composed of the Red Second Front, and the main force was the Red.
Second, the Red Sixth Army Corps, at the same time absorbed part of the Red Army personnel in northern Shaanxi, as well as the directly subordinate teams of the Red Army Headquarters, etc., and the total strength reached 1More than 40,000 people.
Over the years, some people have questioned the 120th Division's contribution to the war against Japan, saying that during the entire War of Resistance Against Japan, the 115th Division fought tens of thousands of battles against the enemy and annihilated 350,000 Japanese puppet troops, while the 120th Division fought much less than the 115th Division more often than the 115th Division, only more than 10,000 times, and annihilated less than 130,000 Japanese puppet troops, which is a relatively large gap with the 115th Division.
But in reality, this is determined by their operational environment and combat mission.
After the formation of the 120th Division, the main task entrusted to them was to defend, therefore, whether it was combat or adjustment of deployment, it was more about defending the security of the Red Army, among them, most of the directly subordinate teams of the Red Army Headquarters were organized in the 120th Division, and there were considerations and intentions in this regard.
In addition, after the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression entered the most arduous stage, the 120th Division undertook heavy logistical support tasks, and the 359th Brigade led by ** to reclaim Nanniwan is a typical example.
Therefore, the 120th Division has important tasks other than fighting, and it is not surprising that the number of enemies destroyed is not as good as that of the 115th Division.
The commander of the 129th Division is ***, the deputy division commander is ***, the chief of staff is Ni Zhiliang, and the director of the Political Training Office is Zhang Hao.
The troops of the 129th Division are mainly composed of the Red Fourth Front Army, the Red Army of Northern Shaanxi, the Red Army Independent Regiment and the Cavalry Regiment, with a total strength of 130,000 people, the smallest of the three divisions.
However, although the 129th Division has a small number, it has a very large number of elite soldiers and strong generals, and its combat effectiveness is also very strong; according to statistics, in the entire War of Resistance Against Japan, the 129th Division destroyed the largest number of enemies, reaching more than 420,000 people.
In particular, the 386 Brigade led by Chen Geng, with Xu Shiyou, Chen Zaidao, Li Jukui, Wang Jinshan, Ye Chenghuan and other fierce generals under its account, fought many tough battles, making the Japanese puppet army hate and fear them, and even put forward the slogan of "specializing in fighting the 386 Brigade".
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the 129th Division was mainly deployed in the outpost of the Anti-Japanese War in North China, most of which were west of the Pinghan Railway and south of Zhengtai Road, in the middle of the east-west junction of the Japanese army.
(Reference: "Eighth Route Army", "Yanhuang Chunqiu", "Literature and History World").