During the War of Liberation, the most amazing strategic force of our army was the Fourth Field Army, because their strength grew too rapidly, and there was a saying in history that "100,000 people went out of the customs and 1 million people entered the customs", that is to say, the strength of the four fields expanded 10 times in the black soil of the northeast in just a few years, is this statement true?
Siye itself is a field army, formerly known as the Northeast Field Army, but it is not the sum of all combat forces in the Northeast. Because in addition to the field army, there are also relatively weak military district troops. Taking the eve of the Liaoshen Campaign in 1948 as an example, the Northeast Field Army actually had only 12 columns plus about 700,000 independent divisions, and more than 300,000 military region troops, all of which together reached more than 1 million people in the strength of our army in the Northeast.
As for the "one million out of the customs", it is even more unrigorous, just a general statement to describe the strength of the four fields. When they went south to the battlefield in North China in November 1948, there were only 800,000 people in total, including a large number of civilian workers. Therefore, the most realistic significance of "going out of the customs is to boost the morale of the troops and deter the Fu Zuoyi clique in North China, and the real number of troops of our army is not so strong.
In fact, even after the end of the Pingjin Campaign, Siye absorbed a large number of "liberation fighters" from Fu Zuoyi's uprising troops, and the official field troops of Siye were only 880,000 people, and then marched to Henan. Not to mention that there were no one million people when they entered the customs the previous winter, and after another four months, this number was not reached.
Turning back the time, the so-called "100,000 out of customs" figure is also inaccurate. In the second half of 1945, a total of about 110,000 troops of our army were transferred from all over North China and the Central Plains to the northeast region, in addition to 20,000 cadres and regiments, as well as the troops transferred to the northeast by the Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan Military Regions. In 1947, another 80,000 troops of the Jireliao Military Region were transferred to the Northeast Military Region. Therefore, the troops leaving the customs are far more than 100,000 people, and the total should be more than 200,000 people.
At the end of 1945, the number of our army in the northeast reached 270,000, and it took only two or three months to leave the customs. Among them, a large number of our troops in North China were sent to the Northeast Theater, which formed the foundation of the four fields, the most powerful strategic group in the future.
But having said so much earlier, it cannot be said that "100,000 people go out of the customs and 1 million people enter the customs" is completely incorrect. Don't forget that in the winter of 1948, the Northeast People's Liberation Army had a large number of left-behind troops, responsible for production and construction and maintaining social order in the Northeast. As long as the military situation requires it, the number of people entering the Northeast People's Liberation Army in 1948 can reach more than one million. It's just that from the perspective of actual operations and overall considerations, there are not so many troops entering the customs, but the real strength is still there.
In addition, after the Siye (Northeast Field Army) entered the customs, it fought a series of victories, and by the end of the second half of 1949, it had fought all the way to the southernmost part of the mainland, and the number of troops at this time had far exceeded 1 million. Judging from the approximate figures, it is not impossible to say that "100,000 people go out of the customs and 1 million people enter the customs".