The military regions (; also called war areas) of the National Revolutionary Army were 76 northern military districts and the largest formations of the

National Revolutionary Army 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, or the Chinese Nationalist Party) from 1925 until 1947 in China ...

, under the Military Affairs Commission, chaired by Chiang Kai-shek during the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific T ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. During the Second Sino-Japanese War the National Revolutionary Army eventually organized itself into twelve Military Regions. In August 1937 there were: NRA Military Regions in August 1937

Theaters of Chinese National Revolutionary Army

As the Japanese advanced, three more military regions were formed and the older ones reassigned on 17 January 1938 following the capture of

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and t ...

. Following the

Battle of Xuzhou The Battle of Xuzhou was a military conflict between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China forces in May 1938 during the Second Sino-Japanese War. History In 1937 the North China Area Army had chased Song Zheyuan's 29th Army to the ...

and Northern and Eastern Henan 5th Military Region defended

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze Riv ...

and

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The p ...

north of the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

. 1st Military Region defended

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is a ...

. 3rd Military Region extended itself to defend

south of the Yangtze. 4th Military Region extended its command to the coast of Fukien. In early July 1938, during the battle of Wuhan the 9th Military Region was activated. It commanded units the 1st and 2nd Army Corps and the Wuhan Garrison, in

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...

west of Poyang Lake, southern Hupei and

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangx ...

south of the Yangtze River. Following the Battle of Wuhan the Chinese army was reorganized along with the military regions. Additionally there were two special military regions behind Japanese lines: * Shandong-Jiangsu Military Region - northern

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with it ...

and

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in His ...

. * Hopei-Chahar Military Region -

Hopei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and ...

and Chahar 6th Military Region was reactivated a second time in October 1939, after the

first Battle of Changsha The First Battle of Changsha (17 September 1939 – 6 October 1939; ) was the first of four attempts by Japan to take the city of Changsha, Hunan, during the second Sino-Japanese War. It was the first major battle of the war to fall within the ...

. It commanded forces in

south of the Yangtze and west of the Hsiang River. It included forces formerly part of 9th Military Region.

References

Citations

Sources

* 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. {{National Revolutionary Army Units and formations of the National Revolutionary Army