Eighth Route Army

History

The Eighth Route Army consisted of three divisions (the 115th, which was commanded by Lin Biao, the 120th under He Long, and the 129th under Liu Bocheng). During World War II, the Eighth Route Army operated mostly in North China, infiltrating behind Japanese lines, to establish guerrilla bases in rural and remote areas. The main units of the Eighth Route Army were aided by local militias organized from the peasantry.

Shortly after the Marco Polo Bridge incident in 1937, the Eighth Route Army advanced into the Japanese rear in North China, establishing the Taihang resistance base area.

After its fall 1938 victory in the Battle of Wuhan, Japan advanced deep into Communist territory and redeployed 50,000 troops to the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region. Elements of the Eighth Route Army soon attacked the advancing Japanese, inflicting between 3,000 and 5,000 casualties and resulting in a Japanese retreat.

The Communist Party's liaison offices in cities under Nationalist control such as Chongqing, Guilin and Dihua (Ürümqi) were called Eighth Route Army Offices.

Ethnic Koreans who fought in the Eighth Route Army later joined the Korean People's Army.

In the Yan'an base area in September 1938, the Eighth Route Army established its first film group.

The Eighth Route Army was also responsible for the reeducation of Japanese POWs, and defectors during the Second Sino-Japanese War. In November 1940, the General Political Department of the Eighth Route Army established the Yan'an Japanese Worker and Peasant School. On May 15, 1941, the school was officially opened at Baota Mountain, Yan'an.

Several notable Japanese soldiers joined the Eighth Route Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Including Hideo Miyagawa, Kobayashi Kancho, and Maeda Mitsushige, the first Japanese to join the Eighth Route Army during the war.

In October 1941, 35 Japanese in Yenan, including Oyama Mitsuyoshi, took an oath to officially join the Eighth Route Army.

At the start of the war in 1937, the Eighth Route Army consisted of 80,000 troops. By 1945, its ranks had swelled to 1,028,893 troops.

From September 1937 to 10 October 1945, the Eighth Route Army engaged with Japanese and Chinese collaborationist troops in 99,847 battles, claiming to have killed or wounded 713,930 (401,648 Japanese and 312,282 collaborationist), captured 407,208 (5,096 Japanese and 402,112 collaborationist), and accepted the surrender and defection of 137,565 (710 Japanese and 136,855 collaborationist). In the same period, the Eighth Route Army suffered 121,444 killed and 225,687 wounded.

Organization

1937

In August 1937, the Eighth Route Army had three divisions.

1940

In Winter 1940 the Eighth Route Army had increased to 400,000 soldiers.

References

with New Fourth Army 12 October 1937 – 1 November 1948

References

1. Li, Ying. (2024). "Red Ink: A History of Printing and Politics in China". Royal Collins Press.
2. Opper, Marc. (2020). "People's Wars in China, Malaya, and Vietnam". [[University of Michigan Press]].
3. Li, Jie. (2023). "Cinematic Guerillas: Propaganda, Projectionists, and Audiences in Socialist China". [[Columbia University Press]].
4. (August 30, 2022). ""The Eighth Route Army Treats Us as Friends, Brothers and Comrades."". Ministry of Foreign Affairs The People’s Republic of China.
5. (2010-09-06). "Japanese pacifists "irreplaceable" in China's anti-aggression war: historians". China Daily.
6. (August 13, 2015). "96-year-old Kobayashi Kancho". China.org.
7. (2017-08-14). "Feature: Japanese veteran of China's Eighth Route Army calls for reflection upon history". xinhua.
8. (August 30, 2022). ""The Eighth Route Army Treats Us as Friends, Brothers and Comrades."". Ministry of Foreign Affairs The People’s Republic of China.
9. (1994). "八路军·表册". [[Chinese People's Liberation Army Press]].