1930s
In the early 1930s, Chen Xilian served in the 4th Front Army as a political instructor and communications man, moving up the ranks to Regiment political commissar in 1934. His unit, which was led by Zhang Guotao, Xu Xiangqian and Li Xiannian, included such future leaders as Qin Jiwei. They fought Sichuan warlords on the western leg of the Long March. At the close of the Long March, Chen – like his colleagues Xu Shiyou and Yu Qiuli – would find himself on the wrong side of the Mao Zedong-Zhang Guotao dispute, and badly battered by Muslim cavalry and warlord armies. After the fighting, Chen emerged as a division commander and reached Yan'an in late 1935. He was assigned to the 129th Division of Eighth Route Army, which later became the core of the 2nd Field Army of Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping.
On October 19, 1937 he led the 769th Regiment, First Column, against Japanese units defending Yangmingbao airport, destroying 24 planes, and killing more than 100 Japanese soldiers, which alleviated the air threat on the Xikou Front. Chen at this time served under Xu Xiangqian with future generals Xu Shiyou, Xu Haidong and Han Xianchu.
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