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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	Chinese Communist Party
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 and Shaanxi
Colors	Grey and White Uniform
March	Military Anthem of the Eighth Route Army
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
Flag, as 18th Group Army

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 the Chinese theater was known in World War II. 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.

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.

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.

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.

See also

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

References

1. ^ Opper, Marc (2020). People's Wars in China, Malaya, and Vietnam. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. doi:10.3998/mpub.11413902. ISBN 978-0-472-90125-8. JSTOR 10.3998/mpub.11413902.
2. Li, Jie (2023). Cinematic Guerillas: Propaganda, Projectionists, and Audiences in Socialist China. Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231206273.
3. ""The Eighth Route Army Treats Us as Friends, Brothers and Comrades."". Ministry of Foreign Affairs The People’s Republic of China. August 30, 2022.
4. "Japanese pacifists "irreplaceable" in China's anti-aggression war: historians". China Daily. 2010-09-06.
5. "96-year-old Kobayashi Kancho". China.org. August 13, 2015.
6. "Feature: Japanese veteran of China's Eighth Route Army calls for reflection upon history". xinhua. 2017-08-14.
7. ""The Eighth Route Army Treats Us as Friends, Brothers and Comrades."". Ministry of Foreign Affairs The People’s Republic of China. August 30, 2022.

v t e Chinese Civil War
Principal belligerents and campaigns Nationalist Party / National Government ( National Revolutionary Army) → Constitutional ROC Government (ROC Armed Forces) → Republic of China on Taiwan Communist Party / Soviet Republic ( Red Army) → Liberated Area ( 8th Route Army, New Fourth Army, etc. → People's Liberation Army) →  People's Republic of China
Pre-1945 Post-1945 1923 Sun–Joffe Manifesto 1924 First United Front 1926 Canton Coup 1927–1949 Chinese Communist Revolution 1927 Nanking incident Shanghai Commune Shanghai massacre Nanjing–Wuhan split 715 Incident Little Long March Nanchang uprising Autumn Harvest Uprising Guangzhou Uprising 1930–1934 Encirclement campaigns 1931–1934 Chinese Soviet Republic 1933–1934 Fujian People's Government 1934–1936 Long March 1936 Xi'an Incident 1937–1946 Second United Front (Wartime perception of the Chinese Communists) 1941 New Fourth Army incident 1944 Dixie Mission 1945 Chongqing Negotiations Double Tenth Agreement Retrocession of Taiwan 1946 Jiaochangkou Incident Peiping rape case 1945–1947 Marshall Mission 1945–1949 Operation Beleaguer 1947 Yu Zisan Incident 1948 SS Kiangya incident Liaoshen campaign 1948–1949 Huaihai campaign Pingjin campaign 1949 Taiping Steamer Incident Yangtze River Crossing campaign Amethyst Incident ROC Government retreat to Taiwan PRC incorporation of Xinjiang 1949–1953 Bombing of Shanghai 1950 Hainan Island campaign Wanshan Archipelago Campaign 1950–1958 Kuomintang Islamic insurgency 1961–1972 Project National Glory

• Eighth Route Army
• 1937 establishments in China
• Armies led by the Chinese Communist Party in World War II
• Armies of the National Revolutionary Army
• Military units and formations established in 1937
• Military organizations associated with the Chinese Communist Party