The army groups (, also translated as group armies) of the National Revolutionary Army were the largest conventional mobile formations in the organization of the army of the Republic of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The first army groups were established immediately after the Japanese attack at Marco Polo Bridge on 7 July 1937, and new army groups continued to be formed throughout the war.
During the war, the only military formations larger than the army group were the military regions, which were defined by geographical boundaries, and the army corps, of which only four were formed and only during the Battle of Wuhan. In effect, the army group was the largest fighting unit of the National Revolutionary Army, and usually exercised command over two or more field armies or several corps, and assorted lesser units. They were roughly equivalent in size to an Army in British or American military terminology. By the end of the war with Japan, 40 army groups of China were in existence. The civil war saw three additional army groups being formed, even as they were gradually being replaced by newly formed army corps, by then a largely analogous formation. The following list provides an overview of the army groups in the National Revolutionary Army, including their organization, commanders, and important battles.
1st to 10th army groups
Commanders killed in action are denoted by
Unit OrganizationBureau of Modern History. Daily Historical Records of the Republic of China (1931–1945). Republic of China: Academia Sinica, 1949. CommandersCommanders of the Nationalist Group Armies. Published in Memories of Thirty-Eight Years of the Republic, 2006. Duration Major battlesHsu Long-hsuen, and Chang Ming-kai. History of the Sino Japanese War (1937–1945). 2nd ed. Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China: Chung Wu Publishing Co., 1972.Hu Pu-yu. A Brief History of Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). 1st ed. Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China: Chung Wu Publishing Co., 1974. 1st Army Group 第一集團軍 Established: Aug 1937 Disbanded: Apr 1938 Song Zheyuan 宋哲元 Aug 1937 – Apr 1938 Tianjin–Pukou Railway Operation Battle of Northern and Eastern Henan Reestablished: Oct 1938 Reorganized into 1st Army Corps: Sep 1947 Long Yun 龍雲 Oct 1938 – Jan 1939 None Lu Han 盧漢 Jan 1939 – Mar 1945 Battle of Nanchang First Battle of Changsha 1939–40 Winter Offensive Second Battle of Changsha Third Battle of Changsha Battle of Zhejiang-Jiangxi Battle of West Hubei Battle of Changde Sun Du 孫渡 Mar 1945 – Sep 1947 None 2nd Army Group 第二集團軍 Established: Sep 1937 Reorganized into 4th Pacification Area: Oct 1945 Liu Zhi 劉峙 Sep 1937 – Feb 1938 Beiping–Hankou Railway Operation Battle of Taiyuan Sun Lianzhong 孫連仲 Feb 1938 – Aug 1943 Battle of Taierzhuang Battle of Suixian–Zaoyang 1939–40 Winter Offensive Battle of Zaoyang–Yichang Battle of South Henan Second Battle of Changsha Battle of West Hubei Liu Ruming 劉汝明 Aug 1943 – Oct 1945 Battle of Changde Battle of West Henan–North Hubei 3rd Army Group 第三集團軍 Established: Sep 1937 Disbanded:Mar 1943 Han Fuju 韓復榘 Sep 1937 – Jan 1938 Tianjin–Pukou Railway Operation Yu Xuezhong 于學忠 Jan 1938 – Jun 1938 Battle of Xuzhou Sun Tongxuan 孫桐萱 Jun 1938 – Feb 1943 Battle of Wuhan 1939–40 Winter Offensive Battle of South Henan Zhang Xuezhong 張雪中 Feb 1943 – Mar 1943 None Reestablished: Sep 1943 Disbanded: Nov 1946 Li Tiejun 李鐵軍 Sep 1943 – Feb 1944 None Zhao Shoushan 趙壽山 Feb 1944 – Nov 1946 None 4th Army Group 第四集團軍 Established: Sep 1937 Disbanded: Mar 1947 Jiang Dingwen 蔣鼎文 Sep 1937 – Feb 1939 Battle of Shanghai Sun Weiru 孫蔚如 Feb 1939 – Jun 1945 1939–40 Winter Offensive Battle of South Shanxi Battle of Central Henan Battle of West Henan–North Hubei Li Xingzhong 李興中 Jun 1945 – Mar 1947 None 5th Army Group 第五集團軍 Established: Sep 1937 Disbanded: Mar 1942 Gu Zhutong 顧祝同 Sep 1937 – Jun 1938 Battle of Shanghai Yu Xuezhong 于學忠 Jun 1938 – Feb 1939 None Zeng Wanzhong 曾萬鐘 Feb 1939 – Mar 1942 1939–40 Winter Offensive Battle of South Shanxi Reestablished: Jan 1943 Disbanded: Apr 1945 Du Yuming 杜聿明 Jan 1943 – Apr 1945 None 6th Army Group 第六集團軍 Established: Sep 1937 Reorganized into 10th Army Corps: Nov 1948 Yang Aiyuan 楊愛源 Sep 1937 – Mar 1939 Battle of Taiyuan Chen Changjie 陳長捷 Mar 1939 – Jan 1941 1939–40 Winter Offensive Yang Aiyuan 楊愛源 Jan 1941 – Jan 1946 None Wang Jingguo 王靖國 Jan 1946 – Nov 1948 None 7th Army Group 第七集團軍 Established: Sep 1937 Reorganized into Shanxi Guerrilla Corps Command: May 1948 Fu Zuoyi 傅作義 Sep 1937 – Mar 1939 Battle of Taiyuan Zhao Chengshou 趙承綬 Mar 1939 – May 1948 1939–40 Winter Offensive 8th Army Group 第八集團軍 Established: Sep 1937 Disbanded: Jul 1938 Zhang Fakui 張發奎 Sep 1937 – Jul 1938 None Reestablished: Feb 1939 Reorganized into 15th Army Corps: Nov 1948 Sun Chu 孫楚 Feb 1939 – Nov 1948 Battle of South Shanxi 9th Army Group 第九集團軍 Established: Sep 1937 Disbanded: Jan 1938 Zhang Zhizhong 張治中 Sep 1937 – Oct 1937 Battle of Shanghai Zhu Shaoliang 朱紹良 Oct 1937 – Dec 1937 None Gu Zhutong 顧祝同 Dec 1937 – Jan 1938 None Reestablished: Aug 1938 Disbanded: Mar 1945 Wu Qiwei 吳奇偉 Aug 1938 – Jul 1940 Battle of Wuhan 1939–40 Winter Offensive Miao Peinan 繆培南 Jul 1940 – Jul 1941 None Guan Linzheng 關麟徵 Jul 1941 – Mar 1945 None 10th Army Group 第十集團軍 Established: Jan 1937 Downsized into 19th Corps: Mar 1946 Liu Jianxu 劉建緒 Jan 1937 – Aug 1941 Battle of Shanghai 1939–40 Winter Offensive Wang Jingjiu 王敬玖 Aug 1941 – Dec 1945 Second Battle of Changsha Battle of Zhejiang-Jiangxi Battle of West Hubei Battle of Changde Battle of West Hunan Ou Zhen 歐震 Dec 1945 – Mar 1946 None
11th to 20th army groups Unit Organization Commanders Duration Major battles 11th Army Group 第十一集團軍 Established: Sep 1937 Disbanded: Sep 1940 Li Pinxian 李品仙 Sep 1937 – Oct 1939 Battle of Xuzhou Battle of Wuhan Xia Wei 夏威 Oct 1939 – Nov 1939 None Huang Qixiang 黃琪翔 Nov 1939 – Sep 1940 1939–40 Winter Offensive Reestablished: Nov 1941 Disbanded: Mar 1945 Song Xilian 宋希濂 Nov 1941 – Sep 1944 Battle of Yunnan-Burma Road Battle of Northern Burma and Western Yunnan Huang Chieh 黃杰 Sep 1944 – Mar 1945 Battle of Northern Burma and Western Yunnan Second Burma Expedition 12th Army Group 第十二集團軍 Established: Dec 1937 Reorganized into Quzhou Pacification Bureau: Oct 1945 Yu Hanmou 余漢謀 Dec 1937 – Oct 1945 Battle of Canton 1939–40 Winter Offensive 13th Army Group 第十三集團軍 Established: Feb 1939 Disbanded: Jan 1946 Wang Jingguo 王靖國 Feb 1939 – Jan 1946 None 14th Army Group 第十四集團軍 Established: Sep 1937 Disbanded: Jul 1944 Wei Lihuang 衛立煌 Sep 1937 – Oct 1939 Battle of Taiyuan Liu Mao'en 劉茂恩 Oct 1939 – Jul 1944 1939–40 Winter Offensive Battle of South Shanxi Battle of Central Henan 15th Army Group 第十五集團軍 Established: Sep 1937 Disbanded: Jul 1940 Chen Cheng 陳誠 Sep 1937 – Nov 1937 Battle of Shanghai Luo Zhuoying 羅卓英 Nov 1937 – Dec 1937 None Chen Cheng 陳誠 Dec 1937 – May 1939 Battle of Wuhan First Battle of Changsha Xue Yue 薛岳 May 1939 – Oct 1939 None Guan Linzheng 關麟徵 Oct 1939 – Jul 1940 1939–40 Winter Offensive Reestablished: May 1941 Disbanded: Oct 1945 He Zhuguo 何柱國 May 1941 – Oct 1945 Second Battle of Changsha Battle of Central Henan 16th Army Group 第十六集團軍 Established: Jan 1939 Disbanded: Mar 1945 Xia Wei 夏威 Jan 1939 – Nov 1939 None Cai Tingkai 蔡廷鍇 Nov 1939 – Nov 1939 Battle of South Guangxi Xia Wei 夏威 Nov 1939 – Mar 1945 Battle of Guilin–Liuzhou 17th Army Group 第十七集團軍 Established: Nov 1937 Disbanded: Oct 1945 Ma Hongkui 馬鴻逵 Nov 1937 – Oct 1945 Battle of West Suiyuan 18th Army Group 第十八集團軍 Established: Sep 1937 Mutinied to form People's Liberation Army: from Sep 1946 to early 1947 Zhu De 朱德 Sep 1937 – early 1947 Battle of Pingxingguan Hundred Regiments Offensive 19th Army Group 第十九集團軍 Established: Sep 1937 Disbanded: Oct 1942 Xue Yue 薛岳 Sep 1937 – Jan 1938 Battle of Shanghai Luo Zhuoying 羅卓英 Jan 1938 – Apr 1942 Battle of Wuhan Battle of Nanchang First Battle of Changsha 1939–40 Winter Offensive Battle of Shanggao Second Battle of Changsha Third Battle of Changsha Liu Yinggu 劉膺古 Apr 1942 – Jul 1942 None Luo Zhuoying 羅卓英 Jul 1942 – Oct 1942 None Reestablished: Apr 1943 Downsized into 22nd Corps: Sep 1946 Wang Zhonglian 王仲廉 Apr 1943 – Sep 1943 None Tang Enbo 湯恩伯 Sep 1943 – Jan 1944 None Chen Ta-ching 陳大慶 Jan 1944 – Oct 1945 Battle of Central Henan Battle of West Henan–North Hubei Zhang Xuezhong 張雪中 Oct 1945 – Sep 1946 None 20th Army Group 第二十集團軍 Established: Sep 1937 Disbanded: Jun 1945 Shang Zhen 商震 Sep 1937 – Jul 1940 Beiping–Hankou Railway Operation Battle of Wuhan Battle of Nanchang First Battle of Changsha 1939–40 Winter Offensive Huo Kuizhang 霍揆章 Jul 1940 – Jun 1945 Second Battle of Changsha Battle of Yunnan-Burma Road Battle of Northern Burma and Western Yunnan Second Burma Expedition Reestablished: Jan 1946 Downsized into 21st Corps: Feb 1947 Xia Chuzhong 夏楚中 Jan 1946 – Feb 1947 None
21st to 30th army groups