The Establishment of Anti-Japanese Base Areas in the Enemy’s Rear

A base area was established by the Communist Party of China within the vast area occupied by the Japanese invasion forces. During the Anti-Japanese War, the Communist Party of China led the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army, the South China People's Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Army, and other anti-Japanese armies to extensively mobilize, organize and arm the masses, carry out guerrilla warfare and organize anti-Japanese regimes in the vast areas occupied by the Japanese invading forces, making these areas the base areas for persevering in the resistance war.

In 1937, after the Eighth Route Army completed its strategic deployment, the Communist Party of China began the struggle to create anti-Japanese base areas in a well-timed manner. After the Battle of Pingxingguan, Nie Rongzhen led the 115th Division to carry out guerrilla warfare in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei border region with Wutai Mountain as the center, reorganized the local anti-Japanese forces, and on January 10, 1938, established the Provisional Administrative Committee of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region, opening up the first anti-Japanese democratic base area behind the enemy lines—Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Base Area.

Subsequently, Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping led the 129th Division to create the Shanxi-Hebei-Henan and Hebei-Shandong-Henan base areas, He Long and Guan Xiangying led the 120th Division to create the Jinsui base area, Luo Ronghuan led the 115th Division to create the Shandong base area with the Shandong column, Chen Yi and Zhang Yunyi led the New Fourth Army to penetrate behind the enemy in Central China to create the base areas in southern Jiangsu and eastern Anhui. The Party also created the Dongjiang and Qiongya base areas in South China.

The anti-Japanese base areas carried out guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines and dealt a heavy blow to the rear of the invading Japanese army. The anti-Japanese bases behind the enemy lines grew, and by 1945, on the eve of victory in the war, 19 anti-Japanese bases were established in Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia, Shanxi-Suiyuan, Shanxi-Hebei-Henan, Shandong, central Suzhou, central Anhui, Dongjiang, Qiongya, northern Huai He River, and eastern Zhejiang, covering a total area of about 1 million square kilometers. The population of the base area also grew from the initial 1.5 million to 100 million.

The base area implemented the Anti-Japanese National United Front policy, trained anti-Japanese cadres, and actively carried out production campaigns to support the front line. Among them is the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia border region established in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia anti-Japanese base area, which is the seat of the Central Committee of the CPC, the political guidance center of the people's war of resistance, and the strategic general rear of the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army and other people's anti-Japanese forces. The CPC Central Committee attaches great importance to the consolidation and construction of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia border region. The border region implemented rent and interest reductions, carried out large production campaigns and economic and cultural construction, practiced democratic politics, developed armed struggle, and became a model area for anti-Japanese democracy in the country. The continuous development and growth of the anti-Japanese base areas not only cooperated with the frontal battlefield of the KMT but also became the backbone of the World Anti-Fascist War to defeat the Japanese invaders and liberate the whole Chinese people. It also laid the foundation for the subsequent victory in the Anti-Japanese War and the People's Liberation War.