A Study On Guerrilla Warfare In Shandong Anti - Japanese Base Area

Shandong anti-Japanese base area covered all over the province, located at the strategic hub on land connecting North China and East China as well as the maritime traffic junction between Northeast China and East China. The anti-Japanese guerrilla warfare took place quite early and developed pretty fast on the base area. Specifically, the form of guerrilla warfare was not only widely used, but it would be found throughout the process of anti-Japanese war. Soldiers and civilians of revolutionary and glorious tradition on Shandong anti-Japanese base area got involved in the extensive guerilla warfare of mass character under the guidance of Communist Party of China(CPC). They invented a set of methods of doing battle which can fit into Shandong by virtue of various sophisticated military tactics, contributing a lot to coordinating the frontline and fighting on the enemy-occupied area. Shandong has several kinds of terraces ranging from lofty hills, to a vast expense of plains, and to the long coastline and big lakes. Therefore, the tactics of guerrilla in Shandong anti-Japanese base area consist of tactics on hills, on plains and above the waters.Based on the historical materials of different source and the research results of the predecessors about Shandong anti-Japanese base area, the paper expounds the tactics of guerrilla in Shandong anti-Japanese base area. In the paper there are three parts. To begin with, the background of waging guerrilla warfare in Shandong anti-Japanese base area is analyzed from the perspectives of the founding of the base area and of the formation and development of CPC thoughts on guiding the guerrilla war, thus laying a foundation for further explaining guerrilla tactics in the anti-Japanese war. In the second part, the author summarizes what kind of tactic should be decided for the guerrillas on the hill, on the plain and above the water respectively, the universalities and individualities of each tactic before exploring the basis, meaning and effect of the decision on the respective tactic used in guerrilla of Shandong anti-Japanese base area according to some specific cases of war, especially those of the famous tactics, including Fanbian tactic, landmine warfare in Haiyang of Yantai city, guerrilla tactic by the railway, among others. Finally the paper evaluates the tactics of guerrilla warfare in Shandong anti-Japanese base area in terms of soldiers under the control of Japanese puppet regime, Kuomintang army and the CPC against the background of anti-Japanese war.