New Fourth Army
The New Fourth Army was a unit of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China established in 1937. In contrast to most of the National Revolutionary Army, it was controlled by the Communist Party of China and not by the ruling Kuomintang. The New Fourth Army and the Eighth Route Army were the two main communist forces from 1938. The New Fourth Army was active south of the Yangtze River, while the Eighth Route Army was based in Yan'an in the northwest.
Members of the New Fourth Army wore their badges on the left arm, with "N4A" and the soldier's unit and name listed on the badge.
After the Xi'an Incident, the Kuomintang led by Chiang Kai-shek and the Communist Party of China led by Mao Zedong formed a United Front against Japan, which was already in control of Manchuria and pushing into North China. The Marco Polo Bridge Incident in July 1937 marked the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War.
In October, 1937, an announcement was made that Red Army soldiers active in the eight provinces in southern China — those who did not embark on the Long March would be part of the New Fourth Army. The New Fourth Army was established on December 25, 1937 in Hankou, moving to Nanchang on January 6, 1938, when the detachments began marching to the battlefront. At the beginning, the New Fourth Army had four detachments and one task force battalion and numbered roughly ten thousand. Later the army moved to Anhui province. Ye Ting was the army commander, Xiang Ying the deputy army commander.
It was in theory a united front against Japan but in practice there was friction between Nationalist and Communist Forces, which intensified in the fall of 1940, culminating in the New Fourth Army Incident with a full-fledged battle between the New Fourth Army and KMT National Revolutionary Army forces. Up until that point, most of the battles had been skirmishes. The army was fully reorganised after the incident and remained in active combat until the end of the war.
History
1937–1938
In 1938 the 1st, 2nd and 3rd detachments began marching to the battlefront in southern Anhui and southern Jiangsu. The 4th detachment got northern and middle Anhui. Because they were in the back of the Japanese army, the New Fourth Army didn't annihilate too much Japanese troops at first. In most of the time they were establishing base areas and recruiting new recruits. After the Japanese had occupied Wuhan, the New Fourth Army took the opportunity to set up several guerrilla camps in this area.1939–1940
In 1939, the Japanese Army stopped attacking the Nationalist forces on a large scale. The New Fourth Army was restricted in the south of the Yangtze River. In order to establish a new base area, the New Fourth Army sent an advance team to Northern Jiangsu and conflicted with guerrillas of the Nationalist forces here. In the battle of Huangqiao, the New Fourth Army destroyed the 89th Army and the 33rd division of the Nationalist forces. The Eighth Route Army also dispatched the 4th detachment's 12,000 men to support the New Fourth Army.1941–1943
In January 1941 the Nationalist forces surrounded and destroyed the headquarters of the New Fourth Army in retaliation. The New Fourth Army lost about 8,000 soldiers. The commander of the New Fourth Army was also caught. The Communist Party of China made a strong protest and announced the rebuilding the New Fourth Army in northern Jiangsu. At this time the New Fourth Army had already seven divisions and 90,000 soldiers. Between 1941 and 1943, the New Fourth Army fought mainly with the Japanese and lost a part of base areas. Because of the heavy losses, the 6th Division's designation was revoked.1944–1945
Because of the lack of troops, the Japanese ceased attacking the New Fourth Army actively. Several fierce battles erupted again between the New Fourth Army and the Nationalist forces. The New Fourth Army tried to establish base areas in eastern Zhejiang, Hunan and Hubei Province. When World War Two ended, they stopped operations and withdrew from base areas. At this time, the New Fourth Army already had 268,000 soldiers. In order to occupy northeast China in time, Huang Kecheng ordered the 3rd Division's 35,000 men to leave his base area.1946–1947
In summer 1946, Chinese Civil War had broke out. The Nationalist forces attacked the 5th Division first and occupy its base area successfully. But in middle Jiangsu Su Yu's 1st Division miraculously won by fewer and wiped out 56,000 soldiers of the Nationalist forces. Because of the lack of troops, the 1st Division, 2nd Division, 4th Division and 7th Division had to withdraw to Shandong in winter 1946. In January 1947, the New Fourth Army and Shandong Military Region of People's Liberation Army were merged into East China Field Army.Headquarters
The New Fourth Army Headquarters was located at No. 332-352, Shengli Street, Jiang'an District, Wuhan. The site was renovated by the Wuhan People's Government in 2005. On March 5, 2013, it was named a Major National Historical and Cultural Sites.Main leadership
Personnel
Guerrillas
Most of New Fourth Army's military officers were the guerrillas of Chinese Red Army, the others were from 8th Route Army. The experience in China's Civil War made them rapidly expand their forces in the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War. During the eight years of the war the officers with excellent abilities were usually promoted faster. For example, general Zhang Aiping was only a battalion commander of Chinese Red Army in 1934. However he had been a division commander of New Fourth Army in 1945.Military Education
With the rapid expansion of the size of the army, a large number of junior officers and newly recruited students need training. Because of the lack of teachers, the Eighth Route Army dispatched hundreds of military instructors to the New Fourth Army twice. From 1940 to 1942, the New Fourth Army had built established six military training schools in the battlefield. These military training schools were collectively referred to as branches of the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University.| School | principal | Establishment time | belongs to | Number of periods | Number of the Cadets |
| 4th branch school | Peng Xuefeng | 1940.3 | 4th Division | 7 | 5000 |
| 5th branch school | Chen Yi | 1940.11 | 3rd Division | 4 | 3000 |
| 8th branch school | Zhang Yunyi | 1941.5 | 2nd Division | 4 | 3000 |
| 9th branch school | Su Yu | 1942.5 | 1st Division | 5 | 3300 |
| 10th branch school | Li Xiannian | 1942.2 | 5th Division | 5 | 5000 |
| 10th branch school | Tan Xilin | 1945.3 | 7th Division | 1 | 600 |
Organization
In the first three years, New Fourth Army operated independently with the regiment as its basic unit. After the New Fourth Army Incident, the army was reorganized into seven divisions and nineteen brigades..1938
In spring 1938, Chinese Red Army's surviving guerrillas in the South were organized into New Fourth Army's four detachments.| Detachment | Commander | Order of battle | Commander | Troop strength |
| 1st Detachment | Chen Yi | 1st regiment | Fu Qiutao | 2300 |
| 1st Detachment | Chen Yi | 2nd regiment | Zhang Zhengkun | 2300 |
| 2nd Detachment | Zhang Dingcheng | 3rd regiment | Huang Huoxing | 1800 |
| 2nd Detachment | Zhang Dingcheng | 4th regiment | Lu Sheng | 1800 |
| 3rd Detachment | Zhang Yunyi | 5th regiment | Rao Shoukun | 2100 |
| 3rd Detachment | Zhang Yunyi | 6th regiment | Ye Fei | 2100 |
| 4th Detachment | Gao Jingting | 7th regiment | Yang Kezhi | 3100 |
| 4th Detachment | Gao Jingting | 8th regiment | Zhou Junming | 3100 |
| 4th Detachment | Gao Jingting | 9th regiment | Gu Shiduo | 3100 |
| 4th Detachment | Gao Jingting | Pistol regiment | Zhan Huayu | 3100 |
1941
After the New Fourth Army Incident, New Fourth Army was rebuilt in January 1941.| Division | Commander | Order of battle | Commander | Troop strength |
| 1st Division | Su Yu | 1st Brigade | Ye Fei | 12000 |
| 1st Division | Su Yu | 2nd Brigade | Wang Bicheng | 12000 |
| 1st Division | Su Yu | 3rd Brigade | Tao Yong | 12000 |
| 2nd Division | Zhang Yunyi | 4th Brigade | Liang Congxue | 18000 |
| 2nd Division | Zhang Yunyi | 5th Brigade | Cheng Jun | 18000 |
| 2nd Division | Zhang Yunyi | 6th Brigade | Tan Xilin | 18000 |
| 3rd Division | Huang Kecheng | 7th Brigade | Peng Mingzhi | 20000 |
| 3rd Division | Huang Kecheng | 8th Brigade | Tian Shourao | 20000 |
| 3rd Division | Huang Kecheng | 9th Brigade | Zhang Aipin | 20000 |
| 4th Division | Peng Xuefeng | 10th Brigade | Liu Zhen | 15000 |
| 4th Division | Peng Xuefeng | 11th Brigade | Teng Haiqing | 15000 |
| 4th Division | Peng Xuefeng | 12th Brigade | Tan Youlin | 15000 |
| 5th Division | Li Xiannian | 13th Brigade | Zhou Zhijian | 14000 |
| 5th Division | Li Xiannian | 14th Brigade | Lou Houfu | 14000 |
| 5th Division | Li Xiannian | 15th Brigade | Wang Haishan | 14000 |
| 6th Division | Tan Zhenlin | 16th Brigade | Luo Zhongyi | 8000 |
| 6th Division | Tan Zhenlin | 18th Brigade | Jiang Weiqing | 8000 |
| 7th Division | Zhang Dingcheng | 19th Brigade | Sun Zhongde | 3000 |
| Others | Independent Brigade | Liang Xingchu | 1000 |
1945
By the end of World War II, the New Fourth Army had grown to 268,000 men.| Division | Commander | Order of battle | Commander | Troop strength |
| Jiangsu and Zhejiang Military Region | Su Yu | 1st Detachment | Wang Bicheng | 26000 |
| Jiangsu and Zhejiang Military Region | Su Yu | 2nd Detachment | He Kexi | 26000 |
| Jiangsu and Zhejiang Military Region | Su Yu | 3rd Detachment | Tao Yong | 26000 |
| Jiangsu and Zhejiang Military Region | Su Yu | 4th Detachment | Liao Zhengguo | 26000 |
| Jiangsu and Zhejiang Military Region | Su Yu | 1st Military Subarea | Zhong Guochu | 26000 |
| Jiangsu and Zhejiang Military Region | Su Yu | 2nd Military Subarea | Chen Liping | 26000 |
| Jiangsu and Zhejiang Military Region | Su Yu | 3rd Military Subarea | He Minxue | 26000 |
| middle Jiangsu Military Region | Guan Wenwei | 1st Military Subarea | Huang Yifeng | 11000 |
| middle Jiangsu Military Region | Guan Wenwei | 3rd Military Subarea | Chen Yusheng | 11000 |
| middle Jiangsu Military Region | Guan Wenwei | 4th Military Subarea | Lu Sheng | 11000 |
| middle Jiangsu Military Region | Guan Wenwei | 5th Military Subarea | Wei Yongyi | 11000 |
| middle Jiangsu Military Region | Guan Wenwei | 6th Military Subarea | Bao Houchang | 11000 |
| middle Jiangsu Military Region | Guan Wenwei | Teaching Brigade | Liu Fei | 11000 |
| 2nd Division Southern The Huai River Military Region | Luo Binghui | 4th Brigade | Liang Congxue | 40000 |
| 2nd Division Southern The Huai River Military Region | Luo Binghui | 5th Brigade | Cheng Jun | 40000 |
| 2nd Division Southern The Huai River Military Region | Luo Binghui | 6th Brigade | Chen Qingxian | 40000 |
| 2nd Division Southern The Huai River Military Region | Luo Binghui | Eastern Route Military Subarea | Bi Zhanyun | 40000 |
| 3rd Division Northern Jiangsu Military Region | Huang Kecheng | 7th Brigade | Peng Mingzhi | 50000 |
| 3rd Division Northern Jiangsu Military Region | Huang Kecheng | 8th Brigade | Zhang Tianyun | 50000 |
| 3rd Division Northern Jiangsu Military Region | Huang Kecheng | 10th Brigade | Liu Zhen | 50000 |
| 3rd Division Northern Jiangsu Military Region | Huang Kecheng | Independent Brigade | Qin Jian | 50000 |
| 4th Division Northern Huai River Military Region | Zhang Aipin | 9th Brigade | Teng Haiqing | 50000 |
| 4th Division Northern Huai River Military Region | Zhang Aipin | 11th Brigade | Zhang Zhen | 50000 |
| 4th Division Northern Huai River Military Region | Zhang Aipin | 12th Brigade | Rao Zijian | 50000 |
| 5th Division Hubei, Anhui and Henan Military Region | Li Xiannian | 13th Brigade | Zhou Zhijian | 47000 |
| 5th Division Hubei, Anhui and Henan Military Region | Li Xiannian | 1st Military Subarea | Wang Haishan | 47000 |
| 5th Division Hubei, Anhui and Henan Military Region | Li Xiannian | 2nd Military Subarea | Wang Haishan | 47000 |
| 5th Division Hubei, Anhui and Henan Military Region | Li Xiannian | 3rd Military Subarea | He Bingyan | 47000 |
| 5th Division Hubei, Anhui and Henan Military Region | Li Xiannian | 4th Military Subarea | Han Dongshan | 47000 |
| 5th Division Hubei, Anhui and Henan Military Region | Li Xiannian | 5th Military Subarea | Wu Shian | 47000 |
| 5th Division Hubei, Anhui and Henan Military Region | Li Xiannian | 6th Military Subarea | Chen Gang | 47000 |
| 5th Division Hubei, Anhui and Henan Military Region | Li Xiannian | Middle Henan Military Subarea | Chen Xianrui | 47000 |
| 5th Division Hubei, Anhui and Henan Military Region | Li Xiannian | Southern Hubei Military Subarea | Zhang Tixue | 47000 |
| 5th Division Hubei, Anhui and Henan Military Region | Li Xiannian | Hubei and Anhui Command | Huang Shide | 47000 |
| 7th Division Wanjiang River Military Region | Tan Xilin | 19th Brigade | Lin Weixian | 27000 |
| 7th Division Wanjiang River Military Region | Tan Xilin | Southern Anhui Military Subarea | Liang Jinhua | 27000 |
| 7th Division Wanjiang River Military Region | Tan Xilin | Hanhe Military Subarea | Sun Zhongde | 27000 |