Eighth Route Army

18th Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army (Eighth Route Army)
Eighth Route Army fighting on the Futuyu Great Wall, Laiyuan, Hebei, 1938. Photograph by Sha Fei.
Active	1937–1947
Country	China
Allegiance	Communist Party of China
Branch	National Revolutionary Army
Type	Route Army
Role	Infantry
Size	600,000
Part of	CPC Central Military Commission Nationalist Government Military Affairs Commission
Garrison/HQ	Shanxi Province and Shaanxi Province
Colors	Grey and White Uniform
Engagements	Second Sino-Japanese War, Chinese Civil War
Commanders
Commander	Zhu De
Deputy Commander	Peng Dehuai
Insignia
Arm badge, as Eighth Route Army
Arm badge, as 18th Group Army

In July 1937, the Presidium of the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party issued an order for the Chinese Red Army to reorganize into the National Revolutionary Army and stand by for the anti-Japanese front line.

Former site of the Eighth Route Army Office in Guilin.

The Eighth Route Army (simplified Chinese: 八路军; traditional Chinese: 八路軍; pinyin: Bālù-Jūn), officially known as the 18th Group Army of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China, was a group army under the command of the Chinese Communist Party, nominally within the structure of the Chinese military headed by the Chinese Nationalist Party during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

The Eighth Route Army was created from the Chinese Red Army on September 22, 1937, when the Chinese Communists and Chinese Nationalists formed the Second United Front against Japan at the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, as World War II is known in China. Together with the New Fourth Army, the Eighth Route Army formed the main Communist fighting force during the war and was commanded by Communist party leader Mao Zedong and general Zhu De. Though officially designated the 18th Group Army by the Nationalists, the unit was referred to by the Chinese Communists and Japanese military as the Eighth Route Army. The Eighth Route Army wore Nationalist uniforms and flew the flag of the Republic of China and waged mostly guerrilla war against the Japanese, collaborationist forces and, later in the war, other Nationalist forces. The unit was renamed the People's Liberation Army in 1947, after the end of World War II, as the Chinese Communists and Nationalists resumed the Chinese Civil War.

Chinese propaganda poster depicting the Eighth Route Army in Shanxi.

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.

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.

Norman Bethune, a Canadian physician and communist, died while serving as a medic with the Eighth Route Army.

Organization

1937

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

Division	Commander	Order of battle	Commander	Troop strength
115th Division	Lin Biao (林彪)	343th Brigade	Chen Guang (陈光)	15,000
		344th Brigade	Xu Haidong (徐海东)
		Independent Regimental	Yang Chengwu (杨成武)
120th Division	He Long (贺龙)	358th Brigade	Lu Dongsheng (卢冬升)	14,000
		359th Brigade	Chen Bojun (陈伯钧)
		Teaching Regimental	Peng Shaohui (彭绍辉)
129th Division	Liu Bocheng (刘伯承)	385th Brigade	Wang Hongkun (王宏坤)	13,000
		386th Brigade	Chen Geng (陈赓)
		Teaching Regimental	Zhang Xian (张贤)

1940

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

Division	Commander	Order of battle	Commander	Troop strength
115th Division	Chen Guang (陈光)	1st Teaching Brigade	Peng Mingzhi (彭明治)	70,000
		2nd Teaching Brigade	Zeng Guohua (曾国华)
		3rd Teaching Brigade Western Shandong Military Region	Yang Yong (杨勇)
		4th Teaching Brigade Western Lake Military Region	Deng Keming (邓克明)
		5th Teaching Brigade	Liang Xingchu (梁兴初)
		6th Teaching Brigade Shandong and Hebei Military Region	Xing Renfu (邢仁甫)
		Southern Shandong Military Region	Zhang Guangzhong (张光中)
Shandong Column	Zhang Jingwu (张经武)	1st Brigade	Wang Jian'an (王建安)	51,000
		2nd Brigade	Sun Jixian (孙继先)
		3rd Brigade	Xu Shiyou (许世友)
		5th Brigade	Wu Kehua (吴克华)
		1st Detachment	Hu Qicai (胡奇才)
		4th Detachment	Zhao Jie (赵杰)
		5th Detachment	Wang Bin (王彬)
120th Division Western and Northern Shanxi Military Region	He Long (贺龙)	1st Independent Brigade 4th Military Subarea	Gao Shiyi (高士一)	51,000
		2nd Independent Brigade 2nd Military Subarea	Peng Shaohui (彭绍辉)
		358th Brigade 3rd Military Subarea	Zhang Zongxun (张宗逊)
		2nd Shanxi Youth Column 8th Military Subarea	Han Jun (韩钧)
		Cavalry Detachment	Yao Zhe (姚喆)
129th Division	Liu Bocheng (刘伯承)	Taihang Mountain Military Subarea	Liu Bocheng (刘伯承)	56,000
		386th Brigade Taiyue Mountain Military Subarea	Chen Geng (陈赓)
		Southern Hebei Military Subarea	Chen Zaidao (陈再道)
Shanxi, Hebei and Chahaer Military Region	Nie Rongzhen (聂荣臻)	1st Military Subarea	Yang Chengwu (杨成武)	100,000
		2nd Military Subarea	Guo Tianmin (郭天民)
		3rd Military Subarea	Huang Yongsheng (黄永胜)
		4th Military Subarea	Xiong Botao (熊伯涛)
		5th Military Subarea	Deng Hua (邓华)
		3rd Column Middle Hebei Military Region	Lv Zhengcao (吕正操)
		Advanced Detachment	Xiao Ke (萧克)
Shaanxi Left Behind Corps	Xiao Jinguang (肖劲光)	385th Brigade	Wang Weizhou (王维舟)	22,600
		359th Brigade	Wang Zhen (王震)
		1st Security Brigade	Wen Niansheng (文年生)
		Security Command	Gao Gang (高岗)
Others		2nd Column Hebei, Shandong and Henan Military Region	Yang Dezhi (杨得志)	50,000
		4th Column	Peng Xuefeng (彭雪枫)
		5th Column	Huang Kecheng (黄克诚)

See also

• Guerrilla
• National Revolutionary Army
• People's Liberation Army