Chinese Red Army


The Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army or Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, renamed Chinese People's Red Army in 1936, commonly known as the Chinese Red Army or simply the Red Army, was the armed forces of the Communist Party of China from 1928 to 1937. The Red Army was incorporated into the National Revolutionary Army as part of the Second United Front with the Kuomintang to fight against the Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937. In the later stages of the Chinese Civil War, they were renamed the People's Liberation Army.

History

Formation of the Chinese Red Army (Late-1920)

In the summer of 1927, the Communist Party of China took over the two divisions of the Chinese Nationalist Party forces and led a military mutiny. Nationalist forces General He Long commanded the 20th Corps to join them. They had a total of 20,000 soldiers and planned to occupy Guangzhou. However, they were defeated before they reached Guangzhou with only a few thousand men surviving the battle. Zhu De led a column of survivors to Hunan Province to fight in the Autumn Harvest Uprising where they were defeated again. After the failed uprisings, Mao Zedong took over command of the 1,000 survivors and established a revolutionary base area in the Jinggang Mountains. The two armies joined forces in the following year. In the winter of 1927, the CCP planned to conquer Guangzhou; however, the uprising failed and thousands of insurgents were killed by the Nationalist forces of General Li Jishen.
Between 1928 and 1929, the CCP launched multiple uprisings. Although most of them failed, several small-scale units were created, such as Mao Zedong and Zhu De's Fourth Army, which totaled about 6,000 men in the summer of 1928 and fought in Jiangxi Province. Also in the summer of 1928, Peng Dehuai, the Nationalist forces Regimental Commander, led a military mutiny. A Nanchang Uprising survivor, He Long, also created an army in his hometown, with former government soldiers as the main fighting force.

Red Army's Early Success (Early-1930)

In early 1930, more red armies were created and the number of red soldiers grew rapidly. By the summer of 1930, the Chinese Red Army had grown to more than 100,000 soldiers and had several base areas, such as in southern and northern Jiangxi Province, western Hubei Province, and eastern Hunan Province, among others. Peng Dehuai's Fifth Army attacked and occupied Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province. After the attack, Jiangxi Province became the largest base area of the Chinese Red Army. In the autumn of 1930, Deng Xiaoping's Seventh Army left its base area in Guangxi Province.
In 1931, the Chinese Red Army defeated the Nationalist forces three times with a large-scale attack, causing the Nationalist forces to lose nearly 100,000 soldiers. Several smaller red armies came together and formed a group army. In the summer of 1931, General Zhang Guotao arrived at the Fourth Red Army's base area and took over the army. Most of the Fourth Red Army's senior officers were killed by him, including Xu Jishen, Zhou Weijiong, and Xiaofang. Similar movements also occurred in western Hubei Province; in the spring of 1931, Xia Xi took over He Long's army and killed most of his senior officers including Duan Dechang.
In the fall of 1932, the Nationalist forces gathered 300,000 soldiers to attack the Fourth Red Army. Most of the Nationalist forces' future generals participated in this battle such as Huang Wei, Du Yuming, Sun Li-jen, and others. Having lost more than half of its soldiers, the Fourth Red Army was defeated and had to retreat from its base area. He Long's Third Army also sustained significant loses, with more than 10,000 soldiers losing their lives after leaving western Hubei Province. During this time, there were also several battles between the Nationalist forces and Jiangxi Province's First Red Army.
In the spring of 1933, the First Red Army defeated the Nationalist forces' fourth large-scale attack and eliminated two and a half of its elite divisions. Several of the Nationalist forces' generals were also captured. In 1933, the Fourth Red Army arrived at Sichuan Province and recruited more than 80,000 soldiers. This caused Sichuan Province's warlord Liu Xiang to gather 200,000 troops to attack the Fourth Red Army in autumn.

Red Army's Defeats (Mid-1930)

In 1934, the Nationalist forces purchased new German weapons and launched a fifth large-scale attack on the Red Army's base area in Jiangxi Province. The First Red Army lost more than 50,000 soldiers in this battle and had to leave Jiangxi Province to establish a new base. This was the beginning of the Long March. About 30,000 soldiers were left to defend the base areas in southern China. During the same time, the Fourth Red Army defeated Liu Xiang's attacks, who lost more than 80,000 soldiers in battle. Before the First Red Army began the Long March, Xiao Ke's Sixth Legion arrived at eastern Guizhou Province and joined forces with He Long's Third Army. After this, the Third Army changed its designation to Second Legion.
In the autumn of 1935, the First Red Army arrived in northern Shaanxi Province with only 6,000 soldiers after losing more than 80,000 along the way. During this same time, the Fourth Red Army moved to northern Sichuan Province and planned to attack Chengdu. By the end of 1935, they had lost more than 40,000 soldiers and were defeated. Therefore, they were forced to move to southern Gansu Province and wait for He Long's Second Legion and Sixth Legion to arrive.

Formation of a New Army (Late-1930)

In the summer of 1936, the Second Legion, the Sixth Legion and the Thirty-Second Army formed a new group army. It was named the Second Red Army and He Long was tasked with being its commander. The Second Red Army and Fourth Red Army arrived in north Shaanxi Province in the autumn of 1936. Around the same time, roughly 21,000 soldiers from the Fourth Red Army attacked Gansu Province, wanting to find a way to the Soviet Union. By the end of 1936, they were defeated by the Nationalist forces' General Ma Bufang, with more than 6,000 soldiers being captured. Only Xu Xiangqian and other senior officers survived. Because of this great failure, the Fourth Red Army's Commander in Chief Zhang Guotao was stripped of his military power.
When the anti-Japanese war broke out on July 7, 1937, the communist military forces were nominally integrated into the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China, forming the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army units. The First Red Army was integrated into the 115th Division of the Nationalist forces. The Second Red Army was integrated into the 120th Division of the Nationalist forces. The Fourth Red Army was integrated into the 129th Division of the Nationalist forces. These three divisions had 45,000 soldiers in all. 10,000 soldiers were left to defend the base areas in northern Shaanxi. In southern China, the New Fourth Army's 10,000 soldiers acted as a guerrilla force. At the time of the Second Sino-Japanese War, these two armies contained one million armed men.
After the Communist Party assumed power in 1949, veterans of the Red Army were venerated in mainland Chinese culture and are distinguished from those who joined to fight with the Communist Party after the integration with the Nationalists, or during the second civil war.

Major Events

Main Leadership of the Red Army Headquarters

In May 1933, the Chinese Red Army began to build a military regularization system. They established the Red Army headquarters on the front line to command operations.
Military PostsFirst TermSecond TermThird Term
Chairman of the Military CommissionZhu DeMao Zedong
Commander in ChiefZhu De
Chief Political CommissarZhou EnlaiZhang Guotao
Chief of the General StaffLiu Bocheng
Deputy Chief of the General StaffZhang YunyiYe Jianying
Director of the General Political DepartmentWang JiaxiangCheng ChanghaoWang Jiaxiang
Deputy Director of the General Political DepartmentHe ChangYuan GuopingYang Shangkun
Director of SecurityLi KenongLuo Ruiqing
Minister of SupplyYe Jizhuang
Minister of Public HealthPeng LongboHe Cheng
Minister of Military StationYang Lisan

Commanders of Group Armies

The Chinese Red Army often claimed they had three group armies, although, by 1931, the Second Red Army was much smaller than the other two.
ArmyMilitary PostsFirst TermSecond TermThird Term
First Red ArmyCommanderZhu DePeng Dehuai
First Red ArmyPolitical CommissarMao ZedongZhou EnlaiMao Zedong
First Red ArmyChief of StaffZhu YunqingYe Jianying
First Red ArmyDirector of Political DepartmentYang YuebinYang ShangkunWang Jiaxiang
Second Red ArmyCommanderHe Long
Second Red ArmyPolitical CommissarRen BishiGuan Xiangying
Second Red ArmyChief of StaffLi DaZhou Shidi
Second Red ArmyDirector of Political DepartmentGan SiqiZhu Rui
Fourth Red ArmyCommanderXu Xiangqian
Fourth Red ArmyPolitical CommissarCheng Changhao
Fourth Red ArmyChief of StaffZeng ZhongshengNi ZhiliangLi Te
Fourth Red ArmyDirector of Political DepartmentLiu ShiqiCheng ChanghaoLi Zhuoran

Main Leadership of Base Areas

In 1930, the Chinese Red Army had established several base areas. Though the designations of the Red Army changed frequently, the main leadership of base areas did not change significantly.
Base AreaDurationMain LeadershipRemarks
Jiangxi1929 - 1934Mao Zedong
Jiangxi1929 - 1934Zhu De
Jiangxi1929 - 1934Bo Gu
Jiangxi1929 - 1934Zhou Enlai
Northern Jiangxi1929 - 1934Kong HechongBetrayed in 1934
Northern Jiangxi1929 - 1934Fu Qiutao
Northern Jiangxi1929 - 1934Fang BuzhouBetrayed in 1937
Eastern Jiangxi1929 - 1935Fang ZhiminDied in 1935
Eastern Jiangxi1929 - 1935Zhou Jianping
Eastern Jiangxi1929 - 1935Shao Shiping
Northern Fujian1929 - 1934Huang Dao
Northern Fujian1929 - 1934Huang LiguiDied in 1937
Northern Fujian1929 - 1934Wu XianxiDied in 1937
Western Jiangxi and Eastern Hunan1930 - 1934Ren Bishi
Western Jiangxi and Eastern Hunan1930 - 1934Wang Zhen
Western Jiangxi and Eastern Hunan1930 - 1934Xiao Ke
Western Jiangxi and Eastern Hunan1930 - 1934Cai HuiwenDied in 1936
Western Anhui, Eastern Hubei, and Southern Henan1930 - 1932Zhang Guotao
Western Anhui, Eastern Hubei, and Southern Henan1930 - 1932Xu JishenDied in 1931
Western Anhui, Eastern Hubei, and Southern Henan1930 - 1932Xu Xiangqian
Western Anhui, Eastern Hubei, and Southern Henan1930 - 1932Chen Changhao
Western Anhui, Eastern Hubei, and Southern Henan1930 - 1932Shen ZeminDied in 1933
Western Hubei1930 - 1932He Long
Western Hubei1930 - 1932Zhou YiqunDied in 1931
Western Hubei1930 - 1932Guan Xiangying
Western Hubei1930 - 1932Xia xiDied in 1936
Northern Sichuan1933 - 1935Zhang Guotao
Northern Sichuan1933 - 1935Xu Xiangqian
Northern Sichuan1933 - 1935Chen Changhao
Northern Sichuan1933 - 1935Wang Weizhou
Northern Shaanxi1932 - 1937Liu ZhidanDied in 1936
Northern Shaanxi1932 - 1937Xie ZichangDied in 1935
Northern Shaanxi1932 - 1937Xi Zhongxun
Eastern Guangdong1930 - 1931Gu Dacun
Guangxi1930 - 1932Deng Xiaoping
Guangxi1930 - 1932Li MingruiDied in 1931
Guangxi1930 - 1932Yu ZuoyuDied in 1930
Guangxi1930 - 1932Wei BaqunDied in 1932
Hainan1930 - 1932Wang WenmingDied in 1930
Hainan1930 - 1932Feng Baiju

Personnel

Military rebellion

In the early phases of its establishment, most of the Chinese Red Army's military officers were made up of former officers of the Nationalist forces, with most of them joining the Red Army secretly between 1925 and 1928. Many of these officers were killed in the first years of the war. The largest rebellion was the Ningdu Uprising which occurred in the winter of 1931. General Dong Zhentang, head of the 26th Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army and his 17,000 soldiers were the first to join the First Red Army. After the uprising, the Nationalist Party strengthened its control over the army, making launching a military rebellion more difficult. Despite this, General Zhang Guotao, who regarded the former officers of the Nationalist forces with disdain, lead an attack in the summer of 1931 which killed more than 2,500 of the Fourth Red Army's middle and senior officers who originated from the Nationalist forces.

Ranks and titles

The Chinese Red Army had no ranks. Officers and soldiers were considered equal. Early on, the officers were elected by the soldiers; however, during the later parts of the war this system was eliminated. From regiment to army, the command system at each level had four commanders: commander, political commissar, chief of staff, and director of political department, with the political commissar holding the most power.

Military education

As the number of former officers of the Nationalist forces that made up the Red Army decreased throughout the war, the Red Army began to develop military education for the new officers who were formerly farmers. Each base area established its own military academies, usually using captured enemy officers as teachers. The enterprise was very successful, and by 1936 most of the Red Army's military officers were former farmers.

Purges

In 1931, commanders determined that there were a number of spies in the Red Army. This issue became particularly prevalent when the First Red Army's Chief of Staff Zhu Yunqing was assassinated by a spy in a hospital. After this, each Red Army began to judge and execute the officers and soldiers who were suspected. In 1931, the First Red Army executed about 4,000 men. The Fourth Red Army and Third Red Army also executed thousands of officers, especially senior officers. These purges were likely one of the reasons why the Third and Fourth Armies were rapidly defeated in 1932.

Militia

Typically a Red Army's base area was surrounded by enemy forces. To protect the base area from enemy attack, the Red Army recruited red guards. The red guards were commanded by officers of the local soviet. When large-scale war broke out, the red guards were responsible for the logistical support of the Red Army and supplied new soldiers for the Red Army. For example, in the winter of 1932, Xiao Ke's Eighth Army had 2,200 red soldiers and 10,000 red guards. The red guards' officers were not always loyal. In the spring of 1933, one of the red guards' officers killed 29th Army's commander Chen Qianlun and surrendered to the Nationalist forces.

Organization

Usually each Chinese Red Army's army or legion had three or two infantry divisions. Each division has three infantry regiments and one mortar company. In different time the number of one division's soldiers is different. In the beginning every division had about 1000 or 2000 men. From 1933 to 1936, one division usually had about 5000 or 6000 men.

1928

After several uprisings, the Chinese Red Army had several armies in the summer of 1928.
ProvinceOrder of battleCommanderTroop strength
Jiangxi4th ArmyZhu De6000
Hunan5th ArmyPeng Dehuai2000
Hubei2nd ArmyHe Long1500
Anhui11th ArmyWu Guanghao300

1930

The Chinese Red Army became stronger than before during the summer of 1930.
ProvinceOrder of battleCommanderTroop strength
Jiangxi4th ArmyLin Biao5000
Jiangxi6th ArmyHuang Gonglue5000
Jiangxi10th ArmyFang Zhimin2000
Jiangxi12th ArmyDeng Yigang3000
Jiangxi20th ArmyHu Shaohai1500
Hunan5th ArmyPeng Dehuai4000
Hunan8th ArmyHe Zhanggong5000
Hunan16th ArmyHu Yiming2000
Hubei4th ArmyHe Long2000
Hubei6th ArmyDuan Dechang8000
Anhui1st ArmyXu Jishen2100
Zhejiang13th ArmyHu Gongmian3000
Jiangsu14th ArmyHe Kun700
Guangxi7th ArmyLi Mingrui6000
Guangxi8th ArmyYu Zuoyu1000

1932

In the summer of 1932, the Chinese Red Army had formed three main forces before the Fourth Encirclement Campaign.
ProvinceOrder of battleCommanderTroop strength
Jiangxi1st LegionLin Biao20000
Jiangxi3rd LegionPeng Dehuai18000
Jiangxi5th LegionDong Zhentang17000
Jiangxi12th ArmyLuo Binghui7400
Jiangxi22nd ArmyXiao Ke2000
Northern Jiangxi16th ArmyKong Hechong17000
Eastern Hunan8th ArmyWang Zhen2200
Eastern Hunan12th DivisionYe Changgeng1200
Eastern Jiangxi10th ArmyZhou Jianping4000
Western Hubei3rd ArmyHe Long14000
Western Anhui and Eastern Hubei4th ArmyXu Xiangqian30000
Western Anhui and Eastern Hubei25th ArmyKuang Jixun12000
Western Anhui and Eastern Hubei1st DivisionZeng Zhongsheng3000
Northern Shaanxi42nd DivisionLiu Zhidan200
Guangxi21st DivisionWei Baqun1000

1934

The Chinese Red Army had nearly 200,000 men in the winter of 1934.
ProvinceArmyOrder of battleCommanderTroop strength
JiangxiFirst Red Army1st LegionLin Biao22400
JiangxiFirst Red Army3rd LegionPeng Dehuai19800
JiangxiFirst Red Army5th LegionDong Zhentang12000
JiangxiFirst Red Army8th LegionZhou Kun10900
JiangxiFirst Red Army9th LegionLuo Binghui11500
Eastern GuizhouSecond Red Army2nd LegionHe Long4400
Eastern GuizhouSecond Red Army6th LegionXiao Ke3300
SichuanFourth Red Army4th ArmyWang Hongkun20000
SichuanFourth Red Army9th ArmyHe Wei18000
SichuanFourth Red Army30th ArmyYu Tianyun16000
SichuanFourth Red Army31st ArmySun Yuqing16000
SichuanFourth Red Army33rd Armyluo Nanhui 10000
Fujian7nd Army7th LegionXun Huaizhou 6000
Eastern JiangxiNew 10th ArmyNew 10th ArmyLiu Chouxi 4000
Northern Jiangxi16th Division47th regimentXu Yangang 1500
Eastern Hubei25th Army25th ArmyXu Haidong 3100
Northern Shaanxi26th Army78th DivisionLiu Zhidan 2000
Western Anhui28th Army82nd DivisionGao Jingting 1000

1936

Most of Chinese Red Army had arrived in northern Shaanxi Province by autumn 1936. Only a minority of them stayed in southern China.
ProvinceArmyOrder of battleCommanderTroop strength
Northern ShaanxiFirst Red Army1st LegionZuo Quan10000
Northern ShaanxiFirst Red Army15th LegionXu Haidong7000
Northern ShaanxiFirst Red Army28th ArmySong Shilun 1500
Northern ShaanxiSecond Red Army2nd LegionHe Long 6000
Northern ShaanxiSecond Red Army6th LegionXiao Ke 5000
Northern ShaanxiSecond Red Army32nd ArmyLuo Binghui 2000
Northern ShaanxiFourth Red Army4th ArmyChen Zaidao 9000
Northern ShaanxiFourth Red Army31st ArmyWang Shusheng 7000
GansuWestern Route Army5th ArmyDong Zhentang3000
GansuWestern Route Army9th ArmySun Yuqing 6500
GansuWestern Route Army30th ArmyCheng Shicai 7000
Southern Shaanxi25th Army74th DivisionChen Xianrui1400
Western Anhui and Eastern Hubei28th Army82nd DivisionGao Jingting 2500
Northern Jiangxi16th Division47th regimentFang Buzhou1200
Eastern FujianEastern Fujian Military CommandIndependent DivisionYe Fei1000
Northern FujianNorthern Fujian Military CommandIndependent DivisionHuang ligui3000
Southern ZhejiangSouthern Zhejiang Military CommandIndependent DivisionSu Yu1600

Equipment

Rifles

The Chinese Red Army's weapons were all captured from the enemy army, with the most important and useful weapon being the rifle. In the winter of 1934, the First Red Army's twelve divisions had 72,300 soldiers and 25,300 rifles. Compared to the First Red Army, the Fourth Red Army had more rifles which allowed it to recruit many new soldiers in Sichuan Province. However, the local forces lacked rifles. In the summer of 1934, Xun Huaizhou's Seventh Legion had 6,000 soldiers but only 1,200 rifles, which lead to the Seventh Legion's quick defeat when they attempted to attack Fuzhou.

Machine Guns

Typically every Chinese Red Army's regiment had one machine gun company, with every company having six or more machine guns. The machine gun equipment rate of the Red Army was no less than that of the Nationalist forces' elite troops. This was one of the important reasons why the Red Army was able to defeat the Nationalist forces on many occasions. The most common machine guns were the MG08, ZB vz. 26, M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle, and Hotchkiss M1914 machine gun.

Cold Weapons

Due to the lack of rifles, the Chinese Red Army was forced to use cold weapons such as broadswords, spears, sabres, and so on. In particular, most of the soldiers from the Red Army's militia troops were armed with cold weapons at all times. In the autumn of 1930, Zeng Zhongsheng commanded 30,000 red guards who were armed with cold weapons. Despite the overwhelming numbers of red soldiers, 1,000 opposing troops armed with rifles were able to defeat Zhongsheng's forces.

Submachine Guns

The submachine gun used by the Chinese Red Army was the MP 18. The MP 18s were captured from the Nationalist forces which had purchased them from Germany. The Red Army's elite troops often used these weapons in order to rapidly defeat the enemy forces.

Artillery

The Chinese Red Army made use of artillery seized from the enemy forces. Most of the time the Red Armies only had mortars, with typically every army having three to five mortars. During the summer of 1930, Peng Dehuai's Fifth Army captured two 75mm mountain guns in Yuezhou, but they lacked the required ammunition.

Aircraft

In the spring of 1931, the Fourth Red Army captured a Nationalist forces' reconnaissance aircraft in eastern Hubei Province. The pilot, Long Wenguang, joined the Red Army and assisted them in attacking the enemy army. Before the Fourth Red Army retreated from its base area, the aircraft was concealed by local farmers and was found again in 1951. The First Red Army also captured two reconnaissance aircraft in 1932.