IY - China's First Field Army

Author: Hong Bing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: The Field Army was one of the five main forces of the People's Liberation Army during the War of Liberation of the Whole Country. It was a crack force under the command of the Central Military Commission. It was formed by the reorganization and construction of the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army and local armed forces during the Anti-Japanese War in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Liberated Area and the Jin-Sui Liberated Area. Its development underwent stages such as the Jin-Sui Field Army, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Jin-Sui Joint Defense Army, the Northwest Field Army, and the Field Army stage. Under the leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Central Military Commission, and Chairman Mao Zedong, and under the command of Peng Dehuai, the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the People's Liberation Army and the (Northwest) Field Army Commander-in-Chief and Political Commissar, with the participation of Zhong Xun, the Political Commissar of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Jin-Sui Joint Defense Army (Northwest Military Region) in decision-making and assisting in command, relying on the strong support of the broad masses of the people and the coordination of friendly units at all levels, the army successfully completed the glorious task of defending the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Chairman Mao Zedong, and the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, and liberating the Northwest. This heroic force made great contributions to the victory of the War of Liberation of the Whole Country, the founding of the People's Republic of China, and the safeguarding of national sovereignty and security, establishing an unmatched historical merit.
When Chiang Kai-shek, with the support of U.S. imperialism, openly "descended the mountain" to seize the fruits of the Anti-Japanese War victory and encircled and blockaded the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region with his army, the Jin-Sui Military Region and the Jin-Sui Field Army, under the unified command of Commander-in-Chief Jialong and Political Commissar Li Jingquan, immediately launched a major counterattack against the Japanese and puppet forces, cutting off the Ping-Sui Railway and liberating large areas of land. After Japan's surrender, the Jin-Sui Military Region was separated from the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Jin-Sui Joint Defense Army, while the units of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region retained the designation of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Jin-Sui Joint Defense Army, governing five divisions and five military districts, with a total of over 28,000 personnel. At that time, the Kuomintang surrounded and blockaded the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region with eight armies and three cavalry divisions, totaling 200,000 troops, constantly provoking military actions, and even attempting to launch a surprise attack on the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in Yan'an. The people of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region engaged in a tit-for-tat struggle against the Kuomintang forces' raids and localized offensives. The Northwest People's Liberation Army launched a southward offensive to welcome the successful return of the 359th Brigade, which had broken out of the Central Plains, to Shaanxi. Through the campaign, it struck the raids of Deng Baoshan's forces in the Jin-Shan-Sui Border Region in the north. It crushed the plan of Hu Zongnan and Ma Hongkui's groups to launch a surprise attack on Yan'an. In the Guanzhong Military District battle, it inflicted heavy casualties on the invading enemy. Zhou Shidi commanded the Jinbei Field Army to launch the Jinbei Campaign, and Zhang Zongxun commanded the People's Liberation Army at the Datong Front to launch the Datong and Jining Campaigns, delivering a heavy blow to the Kuomintang forces. In the more than one year from September 1945 to February 1947, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region People's Liberation Army, along with militia and guerrilla units, fought 250 battles, eliminating over 10,000 enemy troops, winning over 5,000 enemy troops to defect, and defending and consolidating the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, laying the foundation for the Kuomintang forces' focused offensives.
When the Hu Zongnan Group launched a major offensive against Yan'an in February 1947, Peng Dehuai volunteered at the critical moment to take the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Northwest Field Army Corps. Facing an enemy ten times his size and better equipped, Peng remained calm and composed, commanding the Northwest People's Liberation Army to rely on the superior mass conditions and advantageous terrain of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, correctly applying Chairman Mao Zedong's "mushroom" tactics. Through the Yan'an Defense Campaign and the three consecutive victories at Qinghuabian, Yangmaha, and Panlong, it the morale of the Hu Zongnan Group, turning Chiang Kai-shek's plan to "solve the Shaanxi problem within three months" into a bubble.
After the Northwest Field Army was established, to attract the main force of the Hu Zongnan Group northward and coordinate with the Chen-Xie Corps crossing the Yellow River, Peng Dehuai commanded his forces to launch the Yulin and Shajiaodian campaigns and a series of counteroffensive operations, annihilating a large number of the Hu Zongnan Group's combat power. In 1948, the Northwest Field Army, facing an enemy five times its size, decisively shifted to offensive operations outside the lines, launching successive campaigns such as the Yichuan, Huanglongshanfu, Xifu, Chenghe, Libei, and Winter campaigns, turning the war from Shaanxi to the Guanzhong region north of the Wei River, continuing to pin down and weaken the Hu Zongnan Group, and effectively supporting and coordinating operations on other battlefields.
After the Liaoshen, Pingjin, and Huaihai campaigns, the War of Liberation of the Whole Country entered the stage of strategic pursuit, but on the northwest front, the situation of the enemy being stronger and the people being weaker had not fundamentally changed. Under this situation, the Field Army launched the Spring Offensive and the Shaanxi Central Campaign before the 18th and 19th Corps entered Shaanxi, liberating the capital of Shaanxi, Xi'an, and the vast areas of Shaanxi Central, repelling the joint counterattacks of the Hu and Ma armies, and creating conditions for liberating the Northwest. After the 18th and 19th Corps entered Shaanxi, the Field Army had a relative advantage in numbers, and the motor for the decisive battle in the Northwest had matured. To accelerate the liberation of the Northwest, the Field Army launched the Fumei Campaign according to the decision of "pinning Ma and attacking Hu first, then Hu then Ma," annihilating the heavy force group of Hu Zongnan; and launched the Lanzhou Campaign, which was decisive to the northwest battlefield, according to the principle of "pinning Hu and attacking Ma," capturing Lanzhou, which the Qing Ma called the "unbreakable iron city."
Advancing victoriously, the Field Army liberated Xietian, completely destroying the feudal rule of the Ma Buofang family. Starting from September 1949, the soldiers and commanders of the Field Army demonstrated the spirit of "shoulder the remaining bravery to chase the fleeing enemy," with overwhelming momentum, liberating the entire Northwest. The Field Army divided its forces to launch the Ningxia Campaign, the Hexi Campaign, to sweep the remnants of Shaanxi South and Longnan, liberating the entire territory of the four provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, and Qinghai. Subsequently, it divided into two routes: one led by Peng Dehuai to advance into Xinjiang, and the other led by He Long to advance into northern Sichuan. The Field Army also coordinated with the Southwest Military Region to advance into Tibet, planting the five-starred flag across the northern mountains of the motherland.
After the Field Army was merged with the Northwest Military Region, the units carried out tasks such as suppressing bandits, production, land reclamation and border defense, assisting local organizations in establishing the Party and government, and land reform, making important contributions to consolidating the people's regime, maintaining social order, restoring and developing production, and ensuring the supply of the army. The soldiers of the Field Army sacrificed their heads and blood for the cause of the liberation of the Chinese people. Their footsteps were left on the foot of the Baota Mountain, the Guanzhong Plain, the banks of the Yellow River, and the northern and southern mountains of the Tianshan Mountains, and the loyal bones of the martyrs were buried there. The people of all ethnic groups in China will forever remember this heroic force and forever cherish the heroic soldiers. The immortal merits of the Field Army will go down in history forever!