In 1937, the War of Resistance Against Japan began, and the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army, with Liu Bocheng serving as the commander of the 129th Division. He seized the opportunity to destroy 24 Japanese aircraft, alleviating the pressure on the frontline and gaining significant prestige. In 1938, Deng Xiaoping was appointed as the political commissar of the 129th Division, and together with Liu Bocheng, they formed a distinctive command style known as the Liu-Deng Command Art. They established the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Anti-Japanese Base Area in Shexian County, Handan, Hebei Province, relying on the Taihang Mountains. On one hand, they conducted guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines, while on the other, they developed the economy and organized the local population to carry out drought relief, locust eradication, and self-rescue in production. This people’s war struck back against the Japanese invaders, broke the enemy’s blockade of the Shexian base area, and gradually developed into the largest anti-Japanese base area under the leadership of our Party.
