In the midst of the flames of the War of Liberation, in order to adapt to the development of the war situation, our army gradually organized five powerful field army units, namely, the First Field Army (also known as the Northwest Field Army), the Second Field Army (also known as the Central Plains Field Army), the Third Field Army (also known as the East China Field Army), the Fourth Field Army (also known as the Northeast Field Army), and the North China Military Region Field Army. There are obvious differences in the establishment and strength of these five field army units, and the largest number of troops does not necessarily have an advantage in terms of strength. So, which field army had the largest establishment at that time, and which field army had the most abundant strength? Let's find out the answer to history.
First of all, in terms of establishment, the number and distribution of corps and corps of various field armies are not the same. The First Field Army has two corps under its jurisdiction, with a total of six corps; The Second Field Army had three corps under its jurisdiction, with a total of nine corps; The Third Field Army had four corps under its jurisdiction, and the number of corps reached fifteen; The Fourth Field Army also had four corps, but the number of corps was twelve; The field army of the North China Military Region has three corps under its jurisdiction, with a total of nine corps. From these figures, we can clearly see that the Third Field Army is the largest in terms of the size of its establishment.
The reason why the Third Field Army is so large in terms of establishment is inseparable from the profound heritage of its predecessor, the East China Field Army. The East China Field Army was formed by the merger of the Shandong Field Army and the Central China Field Army, which were subordinate to the New Fourth Army and the Eighth Route Army of the Shandong Military Region respectively during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. During the Liberation War, the East China Field Army once had fourteen infantry columns in the battle sequence. In February 1949, when the East China Field Army was reorganized into the Third Field Army, these columns were reorganized into corps, thus forming a huge establishment of 15 armies. Since the Third Field Army had only four corps at that time, these fifteen corps were divided into four corps, resulting in three of them having four corps each, while the other had three corps.
However, although the Third Field Army was the largest in terms of establishment, it was not the largest in terms of troops. The most powerful was the Fourth Field Army. Although the Fourth Field Army only had four corps and 12 corps under its jurisdiction, which was slightly inferior to the Third Field Army in terms of establishment and size, each of its corps had four divisions under its jurisdiction. This is unique among the five field armies, as the other field armies usually have only three divisions. It is precisely because of this special organizational structure that the Fourth Field Army far surpasses other field armies in terms of strength.
In order to more intuitively show the strength of each field army at the beginning of its establishment, we can list the following data: the total strength of the first field army was about 150,000 when it was established; The total strength of the Second Field Army was about 280,000 when it was established; The total strength of the Third Field Army was about 580,000 when it was established; When the Fourth Field Army was established, the total strength was more than 800,000; The total strength of the field army of the North China Military Region was about 280,000 when it was established. It should be noted that these figures refer only to the strength of the field army units and do not include the strength of the troops of the military districts.
In the ensuing war, the Fourth Field Army rapidly developed into the most powerful of the five major field armies by virtue of its abundant strength and strong combat effectiveness. Its total strength soon exceeded the million mark, becoming a veritable army of one million. In the course of the victory of the War of Liberation, the Fourth Field Army made outstanding achievements and made indelible contributions to the birth of New China.