與在日軍攻勢下被動形成的正面戰場不同,敵后戰場的出現完全是中共及其軍隊主動開辟的結果。以毛澤東為核心的中共領導層堅持獨立自主的山地游擊戰的方針,精心謀劃華北游擊戰爭的戰略布局,指揮八路軍主力部隊挺進敵后,在廣闊的華北山地和平原地帶實施戰略展開,一面配合國民黨軍的正面防御作戰,有力襲擾和打擊侵華日軍;一面廣泛發動群眾創建抗日根據地,建立起支持長期抗戰的主要戰略支點。華北地區廣大敵后游擊戰場的開辟,把戰爭引向持久戰的方向,為奪取對日作戰的最后勝利打下堅實的基礎。中共領導層對華北游擊戰爭布局的謀劃與實施,是從實踐層面對"保存自己、消滅敵人"這一戰爭指導根本原則的最好詮釋。

Unlike the front-line battlefields which formed passively under Japanese attack,the opening up of battlegrounds behind enemy lines was a product of the initiative of the CPC and its army.The CPC leadership headed by Mao Zedong adhered to a policy of launching independent mountain guerrilla warfare;carefully planned the strategic layout of guerrilla battlefields in North China;directed the Eighth Route Army’s advance behind the enemy lines;and deployed its army in the vast mountainous areas and plains of North China.On one hand,the CPC army cooperated with the KMT army in front-line defensive warfare by harassing the Japanese army;on the other hand,it extensively mobilized the masses to create anti-Japanese bases in order to establish major strategic pivots to support a long-term war of resistance.The opening up of extensive battlegrounds for guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines directed the fighting toward protracted warfare and laid a solid foundation for the final victory over Japan.The CPC leadership’s planning and implementation of the disposition of guerrilla war in North China offers the best practical illustration of the basic principle guiding warfare: "preserve one’s own forces,eliminate the enemy."