The Shandong army refers to the main force of the East China Field Army, under the command of Chen Yi and Su Yu, fighting in Shandong Province against the Kuomintang troops. The army was ordered to march to Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces, engaging in military operations on exterior lines together with the main force of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army, commanded by Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping, and with the army of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army, commanded by Chen Geng and Xie Fuzhi, in order to carry the war to the Kuomintang areas. These troops fought in a series of major campaigns in areas centering on Henan Province and enclosed by the Yangtze, Huaihe, Yellow and Hanshui rivers.