View source for Eighth Route Army

{{Short description|Chinese Communist unit (1937–1947)}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2017}}

{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name = Eighth Route Army
|image = Eighth Route Army fighting on Futuyu Great Wall, 1938.jpg
|caption = Eighth Route Army fighting on the Futuyu [[Great Wall]], [[Laiyuan]], Hebei, 1938. Photograph by [[Sha Fei]].
|dates = 1937–1947
|country = {{Flag|Republic of China (1912-1949)|name=China}}
|allegiance = [[File:Flag of the Chinese Communist Party (Pre-1996).svg|23px]] [[Chinese Communist Party]]
|branch = [[File:Flag of the Republic of China Army.svg|23px]] [[National Revolutionary Army]]
|type = [[Route Army]]
|role = Infantry
|size = 600,000
|command_structure = [[Central Military Commission (China)|CPC Central Military Commission]]<br />[[Nationalist Government]] [[Military Affairs Commission]]
|garrison = [[Shanxi]] and [[Shaanxi]]
|garrison_label =
|nickname =
|patron =
|motto =
|colors = Grey and White Uniform
|colors_label =
|march = [[Military Anthem of the Eighth Route Army]]
|mascot =
|equipment =
|equipment_label =
|battles = [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], [[Chinese Civil War]]
|anniversaries =
|decorations =
|battle_honours =
|battle_honours_label =
|disbanded =
|flying_hours =
|website =
<!-- Commanders -->
|commander1 = [[Zhu De]]
|commander1_label = Commander
|commander2 = [[Peng Dehuai]]
|commander2_label = Deputy Commander
|commander3 =
|commander3_label =
|commander4 =
|commander4_label =
|notable_commanders =
<!-- Insignia -->
|identification_symbol = [[File:8RA - NRA 8th Route Army (Communist).svg|200px]]
|identification_symbol_label = Arm badge, as Eighth Route Army
|identification_symbol_2 = [[File:18GA - NRA 18th Group Army (Communist).svg|200px]]
|identification_symbol_2_label = Arm badge, as 18th Group Army
|identification_symbol_3= [[File:Flag of the 8th route army.svg|200px]]
|identification_symbol_3_label= Flag, as 18th Group Army
|identification_symbol_4=
|identification_symbol_4_label=
<!-- Aircraft -->
|aircraft_attack=
|aircraft_bomber=
|aircraft_electronic=
|aircraft_fighter=
|aircraft_helicopter=
|aircraft_helicopter_attack=
|aircraft_helicopter_cargo=
|aircraft_helicopter_multirole=
|aircraft_helicopter_observation=
|aircraft_helicopter_transport=
|aircraft_helicopter_trainer=
|aircraft_helicopter_utility=
|aircraft_interceptor=
|aircraft_patrol=
|aircraft_recon=
|aircraft_trainer=
|aircraft_transport=
|aircraft_tanker=
}}
[[File:1937年红军改组为国民革命军命令.jpg|thumb|right|In July 1937, the Presidium of the [[Central Military Commission (China)|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.]]
[[File:Guilin Office of the Eighth Route Army 01.jpg|thumb|right|Former site of the Eighth Route Army Office in [[Guilin]].]]

The '''Eighth Route Army''' ({{zh |s = 八路军 |t = 八路軍 |p = Bālù-Jūn}}), officially known as the [[List of Army Groups of the National Revolutionary Army|'''18th Group Army ''']] of the [[National Revolutionary Army]] of the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]], was a [[Field army|group army]] under the command of the [[Chinese Communist Party]], nominally within the structure of the Chinese military headed by the [[Kuomintang|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 ==
[[File:Eight Route Army in Shanxi.jpg|thumb|Chinese propaganda poster depicting the Eighth Route Army in [[Shanxi]].]]
The Eighth Route Army consisted of three [[division (military)|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 [[militia]]s 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]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Opper |first=Marc |title=People's Wars in China, Malaya, and Vietnam |date=2020 |publisher=[[University of Michigan Press]] |isbn=978-0-472-90125-8 |location=Ann Arbor |pages= |doi=10.3998/mpub.11413902 |jstor=10.3998/mpub.11413902}}</ref>{{Rp|page=122}} 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.<ref name=":4" />{{Rp|page=122}}

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 Soviet|Yan'an base area]] in September 1938, the Eighth Route Army established its first film group.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Li |first=Jie |title=Cinematic Guerillas: Propaganda, Projectionists, and Audiences in Socialist China |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |year=2023 |isbn=9780231206273}}</ref>{{Rp|page=69}}

== Organization ==
=== 1937 ===
In August 1937, the Eighth Route Army had three divisions.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Division
! Commander
! Order of battle
! Commander
! Troop strength
|-
|rowspan="3"| 115th Division
|rowspan="3"| [[Lin Biao]]
| 343rd Brigade
| {{ill|Chen Guang|zh|陈光 (1905年)}}
|rowspan="3"| 15,000
|-
| 344th Brigade
| [[Xu Haidong]]
|-
| Independent Regiment
| [[Yang Chengwu]]
|-
|rowspan="3"| 120th Division
|rowspan="3"| [[He Long]]
| 358th Brigade
| [[Lu Dongsheng]]
|rowspan="3"| 14,000
|-
| 359th Brigade
| [[Chen Bojun]]
|-
| Teaching Regiment
| [[Peng Shaohui]]
|-
|rowspan="3"| 129th Division
|rowspan="3"| [[Liu Bocheng]]
| 385th Brigade
| [[Wang Hongkun]]
|rowspan="3"| 13,000
|-
| 386th Brigade
| [[Chen Geng]]
|-
| Teaching Regiment
| Zhang Xian (张贤)
|}

=== 1940 ===
In Winter 1940 the Eighth Route Army had increased to 400,000 soldiers.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Division
! Commander
! Order of battle
! Commander
! Troop strength
|-
|rowspan="7"| 115th Division
|rowspan="7"| {{ill|Chen Guang|zh|陈光 (1905年)}}
| 1st Teaching Brigade
| [[Peng Mingzhi]]
|rowspan="7"| 70,000
|-
| 2nd Teaching Brigade
| {{ill|Zeng Guohua|zh|曾国华}}
|-
| 3rd Teaching Brigade<br /> Western Shandong Military Region
| [[Yang Yong (general)|Yang Yong]]
|-
| 4th Teaching Brigade<br /> Western Lake Military Region
| {{ill|Deng Keming|zh|邓克明}}
|-
| 5th Teaching Brigade
| [[Liang Xingchu]]
|-
| 6th Teaching Brigade<br /> Shandong and Hebei Military Region
| {{ill|Xing Renfu|zh|邢仁甫}}
|-
| Southern Shandong Military Region
| {{ill|Zhang Guangzhong|zh|张光中}}
|-
|rowspan="7"| Shandong Column
|rowspan="7"| [[Zhang Jingwu]]
| 1st Brigade
| [[Wang Jian'an]]
|rowspan="7"| 51,000
|-
| 2nd Brigade
| {{ill|Sun Jixian|zh|孙继先 (解放军)}}
|-
| 3rd Brigade
| [[Xu Shiyou]]
|-
| 5th Brigade
| {{ill|Wu Kehua|zh|吴克华}}
|-
| 1st Detachment
| {{ill|Hu Qicai|zh|胡奇才}}
|-
| 4th Detachment
| {{ill|Zhao Jie|zh|赵杰 (1913年)}}
|-
| 5th Detachment
| Wang Bin (王彬)
|-
|rowspan="5"| 120th Division<br />Western and Northern Shanxi Military Region
|rowspan="5"| [[He Long]]
| 1st Independent Brigade<br />4th Military Subarea
| Gao Shiyi (高士一)
|rowspan="5"| 51,000
|-
| 2nd Independent Brigade<br />2nd Military Subarea
| [[Peng Shaohui]]
|-
| 358th Brigade<br />3rd Military Subarea
| [[Zhang Zongxun]]
|-
| 2nd Shanxi Youth Column<br />8th Military Subarea
| {{ill|Han Jun (general)|lt=Han Jun|zh|韩钧 (1912年)}}
|-
| Cavalry Detachment
| [[Yao Zhe]]
|-
|rowspan="3"| 129th Division
|rowspan="3"| [[Liu Bocheng]]
| Taihang Mountain Military Subarea
| [[Liu Bocheng]]
|rowspan="3"| 56,000
|-
| 386th Brigade<br />Taiyue Mountain Military Subarea
| [[Chen Geng]]
|-
| Southern Hebei Military Subarea
| [[Chen Zaidao]]
|-
|rowspan="7"| Shanxi, Hebei and Chahaer Military Region
|rowspan="7"| [[Nie Rongzhen]]
| 1st Military Subarea
| [[Yang Chengwu]]
|rowspan="7"| 100,000
|-
| 2nd Military Subarea
| [[Guo Tianmin]]
|-
| 3rd Military Subarea
| [[Huang Yongsheng]]
|-
| 4th Military Subarea
| {{ill|Xiong Botao|zh|熊伯涛}}
|-
| 5th Military Subarea
| [[Deng Hua]]
|-
| 3rd Column<br />Middle Hebei Military Region
| [[Lü Zhengcao]]
|-
| Advanced Detachment
| [[Xiao Ke]]
|-
|rowspan="4"| Shaanxi Left Behind Corps
|rowspan="4"| [[Xiao Jinguang]]
| 385th Brigade
| {{ill|Wang Weizhou|zh|王维舟}}
|rowspan="4"| 22,600
|-
| 359th Brigade
| [[Wang Zhen (general)|Wang Zhen]]
|-
| 1st Security Brigade
| {{ill|Wen Niansheng|zh|文年生}}
|-
| Security Command
| [[Gao Gang]]
|-
|rowspan="3"| Others
|rowspan="3"| 
| 2nd Column<br />Hebei, Shandong and Henan Military Region
| [[Yang Dezhi]]
|rowspan="3"| 50,000
|-
| 4th Column
| [[Peng Xuefeng]]
|-
| 5th Column
| [[Huang Kecheng]]
|}

== See also ==
* [[Guerrilla]]
* [[National Revolutionary Army]]
* [[People's Liberation Army]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Chinese Red Army]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=Armed Wing of the Chinese Communist Party
|years=25 August 1937 – 1 November 1948}}<br/>with [[New Fourth Army]]<br/>12 October 1937 – 1 November 1948
{{S-aft|after=[[People's Liberation Army]]}}
{{S-end}}
{{Chinese Civil War}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Eighth Route Army| ]]
[[Category:1937 establishments in China]]
[[Category:Armies led by the Chinese Communist Party in World War II]]
[[Category:Armies of the National Revolutionary Army]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1937]]