Eighth Route Army

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The Eighth Route Army (Simplified Chinese: 八路军; Traditional Chinese: 八路軍; pinyin: bālù-jūn) was a unit of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China. In contrast to most of the National Revolutionary Army, it was controlled by the Communist Party of China and not the ruling Kuomintang. The Eighth Route Army was one of the main military forces of the Communist Party of China, active during the Chinese Civil War and the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Communist Party of China's political leader was Mao Zedong, and their military leader was legendary communist general Zhu De.

The communists' Red Army (later the People's Liberation Army) had first been "formed" in 1927 when the Nationalist 27th Division mutinied. After ten years of fighting, though, in 1937, Japan invaded China proper. To counter this threat, the Communists and Nationalists formed the United Front. Most Communist forces wore either Nationalist uniforms or civilian clothes.

The two main Communist forces were the New Fourth Army and the Eighth Route Army, called such after their nominal designations in the Chinese national army. Consisting of three divisions (the 115th, which was commanded by Lin Biao, the 120th, and the 129th), the 8th Route Army's main advantage during World War II was its ability to blend in with Japanese forces when behind enemy lines. Also, the Communist forces could easily attack Japanese supply lines and small garrisons.

At the start of World War II, the 8th Route Army infiltrated itself behind Japanese lines in Northern China, where it established many bases of operations. It recruited Chinese semi-trained militia, and because of the long distance of the Communist bases from the large cities, which Japan focused its garrisons on, it was not economical for the Japanese to put much serious effort in attempting to suppress the Chinese forces. The lack of decent supply caused the Chinese to have to gain equipment from anything the enemy dropped. After World War II, the 8th Route Army had no serious combat. However, before and during the Korean War, the Korean People's Army, which was the Communist army of North Korea, was formed mainly from Korean veterans of the Soviet Red Army and the 8th Route Army.