After the Lugou Bridge Incident on July 7, 1937, in order to resist the common enemy, the process of cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party was accelerated, and the National War of Resistance finally broke out, and the two parties of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party realized the second cooperation.
In mid-September, according to the battle sequence, the "Road Army" was changed to the "Group Army", and the number of the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army was renamed the Eighteenth Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army.
In the early days of the establishment of the Eighth Route Army, ** served as the chief and deputy commander-in-chief respectively, and had three main divisions under its jurisdiction, the commander of the 115th Division, the deputy division commander, the commander of the 120th Division, and the deputy division commander Xiao Ke; Commander of the 129th Division *** Deputy Division Commander ***
Each division has two main brigades, the 115th Division is under the jurisdiction of the 343rd Brigade, Brigade Commander Chen Guang, and the 344th Brigade, Brigade Commander Xu Haidong; The 120th Division is under the jurisdiction of the 358th Brigade, Brigade Commander Zhang Zongxun (the original Brigade Commander Lu Dongsheng did not arrive), the 359th Brigade, Brigade Commander Chen Bojun; The 129th Division is under the jurisdiction of the 385th Brigade, Brigade Commander Wang Hongkun, and the 386th Brigade, Brigade Commander Chen Geng.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Xu Haidong and Chen Geng were awarded the rank of general, Zhang Zongxun, Chen Bojun and Wang Hongkun were awarded the rank of general, and General Chen Guang died a year before the award.
So, combined with the comparison of the combat participation and combat achievements of the brigades in the early stage of the establishment of the Eighth Route Army, what was the combat power ranking of these six brigade commanders on the battlefield at that time? The combat power mentioned here is also the ability of military command.
First of all, Chen Bojun and Wang Hongkun, the advantage is not in military command, especially Chen Bojun, not long after serving as the commander of the 359 Brigade, he went to the party school to study, and then he was more inclined to educational work, held important positions in the Kang University and the Military Academy, and was not good at military command.
The other four: Chen Guang, Xu Haidong, Zhang Zongxun, and Chen Geng, all served as military commanders for a long time, especially Chen Guang, Xu Haidong, and Chen Geng, all of whom have the ability to take charge of themselves.
Chen Guang served as the acting commander of the Red First Army Corps and the acting commander of the 115th Division, whether it was on the Long March or during the Anti-Japanese War, he commanded many classic battles, and was a famous general in the army.
Xu Haidong became famous in the Red Army, was the first to lead the team to complete the Long March to reach northern Shaanxi famous generals, during the Anti-Japanese War has held important positions in the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army, there is no lack of outstanding achievements, but the health is ill, in 1940 can no longer command the troops to fight, quit the front line, and then in a state of recuperation for a long time.
The 386 Brigade during the Anti-Japanese War was too famous and had a lot of achievements, which was closely related to Chen Geng's command ability, Chen Geng, who was famous all over the world during the Huangpu Military Academy, once again became the focus of the Anti-Japanese War, commanding the 386 Brigade to perform miraculous feats and annihilate countless enemies, and the Japanese army posted a revenge slogan of "Specializing in the 386 Brigade".
On the whole, the command ability of the six brigade commanders is Chen Geng, Chen Guang, Xu Haidong, Zhang Zongxun, Wang Hongkun, and Chen Bojun.