National Revolutionary Army

5/6/2014 National Revolutionary Army - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Revolutionary_Army 1/9
National Revolutionary Army
Active 19251947
Country Republic of China
Allegiance Kuomintang (KMT)
Republic of China (ROC)
Type Army
Size 4,300,000 (total regular)
Engagements Northern Expedition
Sino-Soviet conflict (1929)
Long March
Second Sino-Japanese War
World War II
Sino-Mongolian border conflict
Chinese Civil War
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Chiang Kai-shek
Zhang Xueliang
Yen Hsi-shan
Feng Yuxiang
Sun Li-jen
He Yingqin
Hu Kexian
and many others
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Transcriptions
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The National Revolutionary Army (NRA), sometimes
shortened to Revolutionary Army () before 1928,
and as National Army () after 1928, was the military
arm of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 1925 until 1947 in the
Republic of China. It also became the regular army of the
ROC during the KMT's period of party rule beginning in
1928. The other two branches of the Republic's armed
forces were the Republic of China Air Force and the
Republic of China Navy.
Originally organized with Soviet aid as a means for the
KMT to unify China against warlordism during the Warlord
Era, the National Revolutionary Army fought major
engagements in the Northern Expedition against the Chinese
Beiyang Army warlords, in the Second Sino-Japanese War
against the Imperial Japanese Army and in the Chinese Civil
War against the People's Liberation Army.
During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the armed forces of
the Communist Party of China were nominally incorporated
into the National Revolutionary Army (while retaining
separate commands), but broke away to form the People's
Liberation Army shortly after the end of the war. With the
promulgation of the Constitution of the Republic of China in
1947 and the formal end of the KMT party-state, the
National Revolutionary Army was renamed the Republic of
China Armed Forces (), with the bulk of its
forces forming the Republic of China Army, which retreated
to Taiwan in 1949.
Contents
1 History
2 Structure
2.1 Unit organization
3 Equipment
4 Foreign suppliers
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin Gumn Gmng Jn
WadeGiles Kuo-min Ke-ming Chn
Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek,
Commander-in-Chief of the National
Revolutionary Army, emerged from
the Northern Expedition as the leader
of China.
The NRA during WWII
History
The NRA was
founded by the
Kuomintang in 1925 as the
military force destined to unite
China in the Northern Expedition.
Organized with the help of the
Comintern and guided under the
doctrine of the Three Principles of
the People, the distinction among
party, state, and army was often
blurred. A large number of the
Army's officers passed through the
Whampoa Military Academy, and
the first commandant, Chiang Kai-
shek, became commander-in-chief
of the Army in 1925 before
launching the successful Northern
Expedition. Aside from Chiang Kai-shek himself, other prominent
commanders in the National Revolutionary Army included Du Yuming
and Chen Cheng. The end of the Northern Expedition in 1928 is often
taken as the date when China's Warlord era ends, though smaller-scale
warlord activity continued for years afterwards.
In 1927, after the dissolution of the First United Front between the Nationalists and the Communists, the ruling
Kuomintang (KMT, or the Chinese Nationalist Party) purged its leftist members and largely eliminated Soviet
influence from its ranks. Chiang Kai-shek then turned to Germany, historically a great military power, for the
reorganisation and modernisation of the National Revolutionary Army. The Weimar Republic sent advisors to
China, but because of the restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, they could not serve in military
capacities. Chiang initially requested famous generals such as Ludendorff and von Mackensen as advisors - the
Weimar Republic turned him down, fearing that they were too famous, would invite the ire of the Allies, and would
result in the loss of national prestige for such renowned figures to work, essentially, as mercenaries.
When Adolf Hitler became Chancellor in 1933 and disavowed the Treaty, the anti-communist Nazi Party and the
anti-communist KMT were soon engaged in close cooperation with Germany training Chinese troops and
expanding Chinese infrastructure, while China opened its markets and natural resources to Germany. Max Bauer
was the first advisor to China.
In 1934 General Hans von Seeckt, acting as advisor to Chiang, proposed an "80 Division Plan" for reforming the
entire Chinese army into 80 divisions of highly trained, well-equipped troops organised along German lines. The
plan was never fully realised, as the different warlords vying for power simply could not agree on who would get the
new troops and whose would be disbanded. By July 1937 only 8 infantry divisions had completed reorganisation
and training. These were the 3rd, 6th, 9th, 14th, 36th, 87th, 88th, and the Training Division.
The National Revolutionary Army soldiers
marched into the British concessions in
Hankou during the Northern Expedition.
For a time, during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Communist forces fought as a nominal part of the National
Revolutionary Army, forming the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army units, but this co-operation later
fell apart. Throughout the Chinese Civil War, the National Revolutionary Army experienced problems with
desertion, with many troops switching sides to fight for the Communists.
Troops in India and Burma during World War II included the Chinese Expeditionary Force (Burma), the Chinese
Army in India, and Y Force.
[1]
After the drafting and implementation of the Constitution of the Republic of China in 1947, the National
Revolutionary Army was renamed as the Republic of China Armed Forces.
[citation needed]
Structure
At the apex of the NRA was the National Military Council, also
translated as Military Affairs Commission. Chaired by Chiang Kai-
Shek, it directed the staffs and commands. It included from 1937
the Chief of the General Staff, General He Yingqin, the General
Staff, the War Ministry, the military regions, air and naval forces, air
defence and garrison commanders, and support services.
The NRA throughout its lifespan recruited approximately 4,300,000
regulars, in 370 Standard Divisions (), 46 New Divisions
(), 12 Cavalry Divisions (), eight New Cavalry
Divisions (), 66 Temporary Divisions (), and
13 Reserve Divisions (), for a grand total of 515 divisions.
However, many divisions were formed from two or more other
divisions, and were not active at the same time.
Also, New Divisions were created to replace Standard Divisions lost early in the war and were issued the old
division's number. Therefore the number of divisions in active service at any given time is much smaller than this.
The average NRA division had 5,0006,000 troops; an average army had 10,00015,000 troops, the equivalent
of a Japanese division. Not even the German-trained divisions were on par in terms of manpower with a German or
Japanese division, having only 10,000 men.
The United States Army's campaign brochure on the China Defensive campaign of 194245 said:
[2]
The NRA only had small number of armoured vehicles and mechanised troops. At the beginning of the
war in 1937 the armour were organized in three Armoured Battalions, equipped with tanks and
armoured cars from various countries. After these battalions were mostly destroyed in the Battle of
Shanghai and Battle of Nanjing new tanks, armoured cars and trucks from the Soviet Union and Italy
made it possible to create the only mechanized division in the army, the 200th Division. This Division
eventually ceased to be a mechanized unit after the June 1938 reorganization of Divisions. The
armoured and artillery Regiments were placed under direct command of 5th Corps and the 200th
Division became a motorized Infantry Division within the same Corps. This Corps fought battles in
Guangxi in 19391940 and in Burma in 1942 reducing the armored units due to losses and
mechanical breakdown of the vehicles. On paper China had 3.8 million men under arms in 1941. They
were organized into 246 "front-line" divisions, with another 70 divisions assigned to rear areas.
A group of NRA soldiers from Sun Li-jen's
New First Army marching off while a P-40
Warhawk flies overhead. Notice the
soldiers are wearing American M1
Helmets.
Perhaps as many as forty Chinese divisions had been equipped with European-manufactured weapons
and trained by foreign, particularly German and Soviet, advisers. The rest of the units were under
strength and generally untrained. Overall, the Nationalist Army impressed most Western military
observers as more reminiscent of a 19th- than a 20th-century army.
Late in the Burma Campaign the NRA Army there had an armoured
battalion equipped with Sherman tanks.
Despite the poor views given by European observers on the
European trained Divisions, the Muslim Divisions of the National
Revolutionary Army, trained in China, not by westerners, and led by
the Ma Clique Muslim Generals, frightened the European observers
with their appearance and fighting skills in battle. Europeans like
Sven Hedin and Georg Vasel were in awe of the appearance
Chinese Muslim NRA divisions made and their ferocious combat
abilities. They were trained in harsh, brutal conditions.
[3][4][5][6]
The
36th Division (National Revolutionary Army), trained entirely in
China, without any European help, was composed of Chinese
Muslims, fought against and severely mauled an invading Soviet
Russian army during the Soviet Invasion of Xinjiang. The division
was inferior in technology and manpower, but slammed the superior
Russian force.
The Muslim divisions of the army controlled by Muslim General Ma Hongkui were reported by western observers
to be tough and disciplined. Despite having diabetes, Ma Hongkui personally drilled with his troops, and engaged in
sword fencing during training.
[7]
The NRA absorved massive amounts of warlord and provincial armies after their leaders joined the Kuomintang
and were appointed as officers and Generals. These armies were renamed as NRA divisions, the Ninghai Army
under Muslim Ma Clique General Ma Qi was renamed the National Revolutionary Army 26th Division after
General Ma joined the Kuomintang. The entire Ma Clique armies were absorbed into the NRA and renamed as
NRA divisions as well as other military forces.
Unit organization
The unit organisation of the NRA is as follows: (Note that a unit is not necessarily subordinate to one immediately
above it; several army regiments can be found under an army group, for example.) The commander-in-chief of the
NRA from 1925 to 1947 was Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.
National Military Council
Military Region 12 ()
Army Corps 4() - the Army Corps, , was one of the largest military formations in the
NRA during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
[8]
These Army Corps were composed of a number of
Group Armies, Army, Corps, Divisions, Brigades and Regiments. In numbers of divisions, they were
larger than Western Army groups. Only four were ever formed to command the large forces
A Chinese Nationalist soldier, age
10, member of a Chinese division
from the X Force, boarding planes
in Burma bound for China, May
1944.
defending the Chinese capital during the Battle of Wuhan in 1938. (See Order of battle of Battle of
Wuhan).
Army Group 40 ( Group Army)
Route Army ()
Field army 30 ()
Corps 133 ( Army Group) - usually exercised command over two to three
NRA Divisions and often a number of Independent Brigades or Regiments and
supporting units.
[8]
The Chinese Republic had 133 Corps during the Second
Sino-Japanese War. After losses in the early part of the war, under the 1938
reforms, the remaining scarce artillery and
the other support formations were
withdrawn from the Division and was held
at Corps, or Army level or higher. The
Corps became the basic tactical unit of the
NRA having strength nearly equivalent to
an allied Division.
Division ()
Brigade ()
Regiment ()
Battalion ()
Company
()
Platoon ()
Squad ()
Equipment
See also: Development of Chinese armoured forces (1927-1945), Development of Chinese Nationalist
air force (19371945) and List of World War II firearms of China
Chinese weapons were mainly produced for the National Revolutionary Army in the Hanyang, Guangdong and
Taiyuan Arsenals.
For regular provincial Chinese divisions their standard rifles were the Hanyang 88 (copy of Gewehr 88). Central
army divisions were typically equipped with the Chiang Kai-shek rifle (copy of Mauser Standard Model) and
Czechoslovakian vz. 24. However, for most of the German-trained divisions, the standard firearms were German-
Browning HP 9mm pistol manufactured by
John Inglis in Canada during 19441945
for forces in Burma. The Chinese
inscription says "Property of the Republic
of China".
US equipped Chinese Army in India
marching.
made 7.92 mm Gewehr 98 and Karabiner 98k. The standard light machine gun was a local copy of the Czech 7.92
mm Brno ZB26. There were also Belgian and French light machine guns. Provincial units generally did not possess
any machine guns. Central Army units had one LMG per platoon on average. German-trained divisions ideally had
1 LMG per squad. Surprisingly, the NRA did not purchase any Maschinengewehr 34s from Germany, but did
produce their own copies of them. Heavy machine guns were mainly locally-made Type 24 water-cooled Maxim
guns, which were the Chinese copies of the German MG08, and M1917 Browning machine guns chambered for
the standard 8mm Mauser round. On average, every Central Army
battalion would get one heavy machine gun (about a third to half of
what actual German divisions got during World War II). The
standard weapon for NCOs and officers was the 7.63 mm Mauser
C96 semi-automatic pistol, or full-automatic Mauser M1932/M712
machine pistol. These full-automatic versions were used as
substitutes for submachine guns (such as the MP18) and rifles that
were in short supply within the Chinese army prior to the end of
World War II. Throughout the Second Sino-Japanese War,
particularly in the early years, the NRA also extensively used
captured Japanese weapons and equipment as their own were in
short supply. Some lite units also used Lend-Lease US equipment
as the war progressed.
Major Chinese Arsenals:
Province Arsenal Name
Kwangtung Guangdong Arsenal
Honan Kung Hsien Arsenal
Manchuria Mukden Arsenal
Hupei Hangyang Arsenal
Shansi Taiyuan Arsenal
Szechwan Chengtu Arsenal
Generally speaking, the regular provincial army divisions did not
possess any artillery. However, some Central Army divisions were
equipped with 37 mm PaK 35/36 anti-tank guns, and/or mortars
from Oerlikon, Madsen, and Solothurn. Each of these infantry
divisions ideally had 6 French Brandt 81 mm mortars and 6
Solothurn 20 mm autocannons. Some independent brigades and
artillery regiments were equipped with Bofors 72 mm L/14, or
Krupp 72 mm L/29 mountain guns and there were 24 Rheinmetall
150 mm L/32 sFH 18 howitzers (bought in 1934) and 24 Krupp
150 mm L/30 sFH 18 howitzers (bought in 1936). At the start of
the war, the NRA and the Tax Police Regiment had three tank
battalions armed with German Panzer I light tanks and CV-33
tankettes. After defeat in the Battle of Shanghai the remaining tanks,
together with several hundred T-26 and BT-5 tanks acquired from the Soviet Union were reorganised into the
200th Division.
Infantry uniforms were basically redesigned Zhongshan suits. Puttees were standard for soldiers and officers alike
since the primary mode of movement for NRA troops was by foot. Troops were also issued sewn field caps. The
helmets were the most distinguishing characteristic of these divisions. From the moment German M35 helmets
(standard issue for the Wehrmacht until late in the European theatre) rolled off the production lines in 1935, and
until 1936, the NRA imported 315,000 of these helmets, each with the Blue Sky with a White Sun emblem of the
ROC on the sides. These helmets were worn by both elite German-trained divisions and regular Central Army
divisions. Other helmets include the Adrian helmet, Brodie helmet and later M1 helmet. Other equipment included
straw shoes for soldiers (cloth shoes for Central Army), leather shoes for officers and leather boots for high-ranking
officers. Every soldier was issued ammunition, ammunition pouches or harness, a water flask, combat knives, food
bag, and a gas mask.
Spears and swords in addition to rifles were used by the Muslim Ma Clique sections of the National Revolutionary
Army.
[7]
The Muslims had an assortment of rifles, German, British, Russian, and others.
Foreign suppliers
Belgium
Canada
Czechoslovakia
Denmark
France
Germany
Italy
Soviet Union
Sweden
United Kingdom
United States
See also
Chiang Kai-shek
German-trained divisions of the National Revolutionary Army
Whampoa Military Academy
Warlord era
Sino-German cooperation
History of the Republic of China
Douglas Macarthur
References
1. ^ See for example Charles F. Romanus and Riley Sunderland, United States Army in World War II: China-Burma-
India Theater (http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-CBI-Mission/), United States Army, 1952
2. ^ United States Army, China Defensive 4 July 1942 - 4 May 1945 (http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/72-
38/72-38.htm), p.5
3. ^ Andrew D. W. Forbes (1986). Warlords and Muslims in Chinese Central Asia: a political history of Republican
Sinkiang 1911-1949 (http://books.google.com/books?
id=IAs9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA97&lpg=PA97&dq=sven+hedin+ma+chung-
ying&source=bl&ots=KziGbXektN&sig=zvle_1dkzNnOTGb7rgxp4Xhf_wo&hl=en&ei=FGdTTMzhB4GB8gbc_aT
EBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CCoQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=sven%20hedin%20ma%
20chung-ying&f=false). Cambridge, England: CUP Archive. p. 97. ISBN 0-521-25514-7. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
id=IAs9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA120&dq=soviet+GPU+troops&hl=en&ei=QuwWTLPEMoX7lwfu_pTjCw&sa=X&oi=
book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=tanks%20planes%20artillery%20sword
&f=false). Cambridge, England: CUP Archive. p. 120. ISBN 0-521-25514-7. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
5. ^ Christian Tyler (2004). Wild West China: the taming of Xinjiang (http://books.google.com/books?
id=bEzNwgtiVQ0C&pg=PA109&dq=ma+zhongying+parallel+bars&hl=en&ei=UXkaTJ3WBIXwNIPDyJ0F&sa=X
&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=shadow-
fencing%20parallel%20bars&f=false). New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. p. 109. ISBN 0-
8135-3533-6. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
id=IAs9AAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=warlords+and+muslims&hl=en&ei=XoyOTLbsGMaqlAe83aTJAg&
sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=brown%20mass%20human&
f=false). Cambridge, England: CUP Archive. p. 107. ISBN 0-521-25514-7. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
7. ^
a

b
LIFE Nov 1, 1948 Ma Hung-Kwei (http://books.google.com/books?id=ekoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA57&dq=Ma-
Hung-
kwei&hl=en&ei=v62VTIzPJsKqlAem5P2kCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDQQ6AEwA
Q#)
8. ^
a

b
Hsu Long-hsuen and Chang Ming-kai, History of The Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) 2nd Ed., 1971.
Translated by Wen Ha-hsiung, Chung Wu Publishing; 33, 140th Lane, Tung-hwa Street, Taipei, Taiwan Republic
of China.
External links
ROC Ministry of National Defense Official Website (http://www.mnd.gov.tw/English/)
The Armed Forces Museum of ROC (http://museum.mnd.gov.tw/English/index.aspx)
Information and pictures of Nationalist Revolutionary Army weapons and equipment
(http://www.swallow.com.tw/military/chinese.htm#c00821)
rare pictures of NRA heavy armory (http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=57350)
more pictures of NRA (http://www.hardcorpsmodels.com/index.php?
option=content&task=view&id=27&Itemid=28)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=National_Revolutionary_Army&oldid=605985526"
Categories: Military of the Republic of China Military units and formations established in 1925
Military wings of political parties National Revolutionary Army Kuomintang
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