Why is the Eighth Route Army more famous than the New Fourth Army? They are all communist armies, and there is no such thing as being famous. If you talk about the difference, the difference is still a little bit.
In terms of the time of establishment, the Eighth Route Army (full name of the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army) was established in August 1937; The New Fourth Army (the full name of the National Revolutionary Army Army is the new Fourth Army) was established in October 1937, two months later than the Eighth Route Army;
In terms of the size of the troops, the Eighth Route Army obviously wanted the New Fourth Army to be larger in size and larger in number.
The entire army of the Eighth Route Army was about 460,000 people, under the jurisdiction of three divisions. The 115th Division was composed of the former First Front Army of the Red Army, with the division commander **, the deputy division commander *** Chief of Staff Zhou Kun, and the director of the Political Training Office *** under the jurisdiction of the 343rd Brigade (Brigade Commander Chen Guang) and the 344th Brigade (Brigade Commander Xu Haidong);
The 12th Division is composed of the former Second Front Army of the Red Army, with the division commander **, the deputy division commander Xiao Ke, and the director of the Political Training Office Guan Xiangying, under the jurisdiction of the 358th Brigade (Brigade Commander Zhang Zongxun) and the 359th Brigade (Brigade Commander Chen Bojun);
The 129th Division was formed with the former Fourth Front Army of the Red Army as the main editor, and the division commander was Zhang Hao, deputy division commander, director of the Political Training Office, and the 385th Brigade (brigade commander Wang Hongkun) and the 386th Brigade (brigade commander Chen Geng).
On September 11, the National Military Committee renamed the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army the Eighteenth Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army.
The New Fourth Army, on the other hand, was the reorganization of the Red Army and guerrilla units in various southern regions. On October 12, 1937, the National Military Commission announced that the guerrillas of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army and the 28th Army of the Red Army in the border areas of Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Hubei, Henan, and Anhui provinces (excluding Hainan Island) would be reorganized into the newly organized Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army.
The National Military Commission appointed Ye Ting as commander, Xiang Ying as deputy commander, Zhang Yunyi as chief of staff, Zhou Zikun as deputy chief of staff, Yuan Guoping as director of the Political Department, and ** as deputy director of the Political Department.
On December 25, 1937, the military headquarters of the New Fourth Army was established in Hankou, and on January 6, 1938, it was moved to Nanchang, Jiangxi, and Nanchang became the military headquarters of the New Fourth Army. The army has a total of more than 10,000 people, and has four detachments under its jurisdiction
The first detachment, ** as the commander, Fu Qiutao as the deputy commander; the second detachment, Zhang Dingcheng as the commander, Su Yu as the deputy commander;
In the third detachment, Zhang Yunyi concurrently served as the commander and ** as the deputy commander; The fourth detachment, Gao Jingting served as the commander. At the same time, the Communist Party of China decided to establish the New Fourth Army Branch of the Military Commission, with Xiang Ying as secretary and ** as deputy secretary.
In accordance with the CPC's strategic policy on the War of Resistance Against Japan, the New Fourth Army extensively mobilized the masses to carry out guerrilla warfare, strike at the Japanese puppet army, and create an anti-Japanese base area in Central China in the areas of rivers, lakes and ports in the north and south of the great rivers.
In terms of operational areas, the Eighth Route Army was fighting in the north at that time, while the New Fourth Army was mostly fighting in the south. There are big battles in the north, and small scenes in the south, although there are also sacrifices and hardships.
From the perspective of the scale of operations, the Eighth Route Army fought many big battles, such as Pingxingguan and the Battle of 100 Regiments, which had a great influence.
Of course, both the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army are the predecessors of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and they have paid the price of blood for the independence of this country, and they should be remembered!