Reorganization of the New Fourth Army (6).
On December 25, 1937, the day the military headquarters of the New Fourth Army was founded, and more than 50 people attended the meeting: Zhang Yunyi, who arrived in Hankou on December 19, Lai Chuanzhu, Li Zifang, Tang Guanghui, and other first cadres who went to work in Yan'an to work in the New Fourth Army who arrived in Wuhan by plane with Xiang Ying on December 23, and more than 50 people, including personnel of the headquarters of the New Fourth Army and representatives of the Hubei-Henan border region. At the meeting, Ye Ting and Xiang Ying spoke separately and gave explanations on the reorganization of the New Fourth Army. On this day, all the cadres changed into dark gray uniforms of the New Fourth Army, and all departments of the organs began to officially operate. After Ye Ting, Minister of Military Affairs of the People's Republic of China, He Yingqin, and the CCP both communicated and reported, the CCP also made some concessions, agreeing that the New Fourth Army would not be subordinate to the Eighth Route Army, and that there would be no divisions, brigades, and columns below the army level, and that there would be 4 detachments directly under the central government. Only offices and left-behind offices were set up in various parts of the south, and all the troops were sent to the anti-Japanese front. The Kuomintang made a compromise and agreed not to insert any person into the New Fourth Army, temporarily placing the Jiangbei troops under the command of the Fifth Theater and the Jiangnan troops under the command of the Third Theater, and upholding the principles of the Communist Party's independent leadership and guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines. On December 28, 1937, the New Fourth Army was approved by telegram to approve the specific plan for the organization of the New Fourth Army into four detachments and the allocation of cadres. After that, the organization of the guerrilla zones began rapidly. Xiang Ying, Zeng Shan, and Zhang Yunyi were in charge of the formation of the Red Army guerrillas in the south of the Yangtze River. The formation of the Jiangbei team was carried out by Gao Jingting, Fu Qiutao and others under the command of the Yangtze River Bureau of the Communist Party of China.
The military headquarters of the New Fourth Army only made a short stay in Wuhan. On January 6, 1938, the military headquarters of the New Fourth Army moved from Wuhan to Zhang Xun Mansion in Gaosheng Lane, Sanyanjing (now No. 7 Youzhu Road), Nanchang, and officially opened its office to the outside world, directly leading the Red Army guerrillas in various guerrilla areas in the eight southern provinces to go down the mountain, concentrate on training, reorganize and organize the New Fourth Army. The principal leading cadres of the military headquarters went to various guerrilla areas to convey the first instructions and visit the commanders and fighters of the Red Army who had persisted for three years, and at the same time did propaganda work on the united front policy. The anti-Japanese armed forces such as the "Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army," which had been renamed by the Red Army guerrillas, were reorganized into the New Fourth Army.
In January 1938, He Yingqin formally approved the establishment, salary, promotion pay, severance pay, and cadre allocation of the New Fourth Army. Soon after, Xiang Ying was appointed deputy commander, Zhang Yunyi was appointed chief of staff, Zhou Zikun (former head of Ye Ting's Independent Regiment and commander of the Red Army division, army commander, and director of the First Bureau of the Central Military Commission) was appointed deputy chief of staff, and Yuan Guoping (former acting director of the Political Department of the Red Army), former chairman of the Western Fujian Soviet and one of the main leaders of the Red Army guerrillas in western Fujian) was appointed director and deputy director of the Political Department.
On January 15, 1938, the Yangtze River Bureau of the Communist Party of China sent a telegram to Xiang Ying and agreed to the New Fourth Army.
I. 2. Immediately after the completion of the grouping of the third detachment, it concentrated in southern Anhui. On January 22 and February 20, the Yangtze River Bureau decided that the fourth detachment should pay close attention to concentration and training to participate in the war of resistance as soon as possible. On February 9, 1938, the Fifth Regiment of the Third Detachment set off from Shitang Town, Leadshan County, Jiangxi Province to southern Anhui. On February 10, the first regiment of the first detachment went from Chiayi, Pingjiang, Hunan, to southern Anhui via Cihua, Yichun, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang. On February 14, the 6th Regiment of the 3rd Detachment set out from Pingnantangkou in eastern Fujian to southern Anhui. It was not until March 1938 that the highly dispersed Red Army guerrillas in the eight southern provinces successfully completed their descent and centralized reorganization, and were formed into 10 regiments and 1 special battalion of four detachments in the early days of the New Fourth Army
Commander of the first detachment, Deputy Commander Fu Qiutao, Chief of Staff Hu Fajian, Director of the Political Department Liu Yan. It has jurisdiction over the first regiment and the second regiment. The first regiment was composed of the Red Army guerrillas in Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi, with Fu Qiutao as its commander, Jiang Weiqing as its deputy commander, Wang Huaisheng as chief of staff, and Zhong Qiguang, director of the Political Department. The second regiment was composed of the Red Army guerrillas in Jiangxi, Guangdong, Hunan, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi, and the Hunan, Guangdong, and Jiangxi guerrillas detachments in the southern Hunan guerrilla zone. The detachment totaled more than 2,300 people.
Commander of the second detachment Zhang Dingcheng, deputy commander Su Yu, chief of staff Luo Zhongyi, and director of the Political Department Wang Chengcheng. It has jurisdiction over the 3rd and 4th regiments. The Third Regiment was composed of Red Army guerrillas in western Fujian and Fujian-Jiangxi borders, with regiment commander Huang Mars, deputy regiment commander Qiu Jinsheng, chief of staff Xiong Menghui, and director of the Political Department Zhong Guochu. The Fourth Regiment was composed of Red Army guerrillas from Fujian, Guangdong, western Fujian, and southern Zhejiang, with regiment commander Lu Sheng, deputy regiment commander Ye Daozhi, chief of staff Wang Sheng, and director of the Political Department Liao Haitao. The detachment totaled 1800 people.
Commander of the third detachment Zhang Yunyi (concurrently), deputy commander *** Chief of Staff Zhao Lingbo, director of the Political Department Hu Rong. It has jurisdiction over the Fifth Regiment and the Sixth Regiment. The Fifth Regiment was composed of the Northern Fujian guerrillas, with the regiment commander Rao Shoukun, the deputy regiment commander Zeng Zhaoming, the chief of staff Gui Pengzhou, and the director of the Political Department Liu Wenxue. The 6th Regiment consisted of the Mindong guerrillas, with regiment commander Ye Fei, deputy regiment commander Wu Kun, chief of staff Huang Yuanqing, and director of the Political Department Nguyen Anh Binh. The detachment totaled more than 2,100 people.
Gao Jingting, commander of the fourth detachment, Lin Weixian, chief of staff, and Xiao Wangdong, director of the Political Department. Because of its largest number, it had four regiments, namely the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Pistol Regiments. The Seventh Regiment was composed of the 1st Division of the 28th Army of the Red Army on the Hubei-Henan-Anhui border, with regiment commander Yang Kezhi, political commissar Cao Yufu, chief of staff Lin Yingjian, and director of the Political Department Hu Jiting. The Eighth Regiment was composed of the Red Army guerrillas on the Hubei-Henan border, with regiment commander Zhou Junming, political commissar Lin Kai, chief of staff Zhao Qimin, and director of the Political Department Xu Xiangxiang. The Ninth Regiment is composed of the Special Service Battalion of the 82nd Division of the 28th Army of the Red Army and the Hubei ** Regiment, with regiment commander Gu Shiduo, political commissar Gao Zhirong, chief of staff Tang Shaotian, and director of the Political Department Zheng Zheng. The pistol regiment consisted of the pistol regiment of the 28th Army of the Red Army and some recruits, with the regiment commander Zhan Huayu and political commissar Wang Shaochuan. The detachment totaled more than 3,100 people.
The special service battalion consisted of guerrillas of the Red Army in southern Hunan and central Fujian. Battalion commander Peng Zilong, instructor Chen Maohui.
In addition, after the arrival of the military headquarters in Nanchang, various departments directly under it were also set up one after another. According to the unified establishment of the National Revolutionary Army at that time, the military department had eight divisions, and the only difference was that the political work department was expanded into the political department. There are more than 980 people in organs directly under the military department, and a total of 10,329 people in the whole army.
The main persons in charge of each department are:
Chief of Staff Lai Chuanzhu (former political commissar of the 1st Division of the 1st Red Army);
Li Yiyu, Director of the Secretariat (former Propaganda Minister of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China);
Director of the Adjutant Division, Huang Xuzhou (Ye Ting's old department for many years);
Ye Fuping, Director of the Quartermaster Department (Ye Ting's younger brother);
Shen Qizhen, Director of the Military Medical Division (MD graduated from Tokyo Imperial University);
Li Yiyu, director of the Military Judge Advocate General's Office, concurrently
Zhang Yuanshou, director of the military station department (former director of the supply department of the ** Military Commission);
Feng Yiying, director of the Intelligence Division (former director of the Intelligence Department of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army);
Huang Cheng, Secretary General of the Political Department (former Chairman of the National Salvation Association of Tsinghua University), Li Zifang, Director of the Organization Department (former Director of the Organization Department of the First Division of the Red First Army), Zhu Jingme, Minister of Propaganda and Education (former Director of the Propaganda Department of the Shanghai ** Bureau of the Communist Party of China), Director of the Mass Movement Work Department, Lin Zhifu, Director of the Enemy Army Work Department (Ye Ting's old friend, former Secretary General of the Guangdong Provincial Party Department of the Kuomintang), and Zhu Kejing, head of the Field Service Corps (former Party representative of the Ninth Army).
The 4th detachment was the latest to complete the formation. On March 29, 1938, the detachment belonged.
The 7th, 8th, and 9th regiments rendezvoused at Liubo Tuan (now Liubo Village), Huoshan County, Lu'an City, Anhui Province. It was only in April that it began to advance eastward, and launched the anti-Japanese front line with Shucheng County, Lu'an City, Tongcheng County, Anqing City, Lujiang City, Hefei City, Wuwei County, Wuhu City, and other areas in central Anhui.
The subsequent development of the New Fourth Army, like its formation, has gone through ups and downs and even tribulations. On April 4, 1938, the military headquarters of the New Fourth Army bid farewell to Nanchang and entered Yansi Town, eastern Huizhou District, Huangshan City, Anhui Province. Since then, the New Fourth Army has galloped on the anti-Japanese battlefields north and south of the great river, and has become an indomitable, hard-fought and steely New Fourth Army under the leadership of the Communist Party of China.