Author: Mo Guyan
In August 1949, on the eve of the birth of New China, China sent a military delegation to Moscow to negotiate with the Soviet side on matters related to helping our army form an air force. Liu Yalou, commander of the Siye 14th Corps, had already been appointed as the first commander of the Air Force at this time, so he led the team to go.
During the negotiations, the Soviet airborne troops left a deep impression on Liu Yalou, who said in a telegram to Beijing: In the operation of attacking the island, the paratrooper landing will play a great role. Beijing called back the next day and agreed to form paratroopers, and asked Liu Yalou and the Soviet Union to discuss in detail the specific details of forming paratroopers.
Xiao Ke, Liu Yalou, Chen Geng and Xu Guangda took a group photo
On the eve of the establishment of the New Central Committee, it was already decided to form an airborne troop, and when the chairman visited the Soviet Union the following year, he made a request for assistance to Stalin, hoping that the Soviet Union could send airborne experts to guide him, and the required parachutes and other basic equipment should also be ordered from the Soviet Union. With the support of the Soviet Union, the formation of our army's airborne troops has become smooth, and the starting point is not low.
The chairman said to Liu Yalou, the commander of the accompanying air force, that now that we have the 3rd Regiment of Paratroopers of the uprising, we will establish a powerful paratrooper unit in the future, which will be under the structure of your air force.
Liu Yalou
The 3rd Paratrooper Regiment mentioned by the Chairman, formerly known as the Paratrooper Corps of Chiang Kai-shek's Army, was established in Kunming in 1944, with 3 regiments under its jurisdiction, trained by American instructors, extremely well-equipped, and was Chiang's "pearl in the palm of his hand". The Paratrooper Corps did not participate in many battles in the Liberation War, only in the second stage of the Battle of Eastern Henan, the 1st and 2nd Regiments of Paratroopers participated in the battle, and as a result, they were severely attacked by Huaye's troops, and the two regimental commanders were killed and wounded. In April 1949, the 3rd Paratrooper Regiment stationed in Shanghai, under the leadership of regimental commander Liu Nongyi, revolted and was reorganized into the 7th General Corps of the Military and Political University of the East China Military Region, with Liu Nongyi as the commander-in-chief.
The Army Assault Corps, reorganized from the Parachute Regiment, was one of the most elite units in Chiang Kai-shek's army
At the beginning of 1950, the general headquarters decided to form a paratrooper unit based on the headquarters of the 89th Division, drawing officers and men from the army units of various military regions, and the paratrooper corps of the Military and Political University of the East China Military Region joined it as a backbone unit. In September, the 1st Marine Brigade of the Air Force was established, and Wang Jianqing, commander of the 77th Division of the 26th Army, served as the first brigade commander. This is the first official airborne unit of our army.
In early 1951, the Volunteer Air Force went to Korea to participate in the war. Most of the pilots in the first batch of fighters did not undergo parachuting training, resulting in the failure of the pilots to successfully parachute after the plane was damaged by enemy aircraft, causing undue losses to the Volunteer Air Force.
According to the instructions of the Air Force, the 1st Marine Brigade went to the northeast to train pilots to parachute. Over the course of four months, they trained more than 700 pilots, including Wang Hai, Zhang Jihui, Liu Yudi, Han Decai and a number of other air combat heroes. They have all had the experience of parachuting when the plane is out of control, and they have all been successful. Without the parachute training of the First Brigade of the Land War, the People's Air Force would probably have fewer generals.
Skydiving training
In 1961, China decided to form an airborne army, and the prime minister took out the number of three armies and let Liu Yalou pick it. The three armies were the 1st Army, the 38th Army and the 15th Army.
This unit of the 1st Army, flowing with the blood of the Red Second Front, was formerly known as the 1st Column of the Northwest Field Army, which participated in almost all major battles in the Northwest Battlefield except the Battle of Lanzhou, and was recognized as the number one main force in Xiye. After several reorganizations, the 1st Army condensed the essence of the entire First Field Army and participated in the war in the later period of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, gaining experience in fighting against a modern and powerful enemy.
Needless to say, the 38th Army, as the world-famous "Long Live Army," created a battlefield miracle in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, played a national prestige and military prestige, and was an undisputed top trump card in the entire people's army.
The 15th Army was founded during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and did not fight many major battles in the early days of the War of Liberation, until it was reborn after the Battle of Zhengzhou, performed eye-catching in the Battle of Huaihai, and has since become a rising star of the Erye Army. Compared with the first two "big brothers", the foundation of the 15th Army is obviously thinner, and it is at a disadvantage in competition.
Anti-aircraft shooting training, the instructor holds a paratrooper model in his hand to explain the demonstration
According to our ideas, we may all think that Liu Yalou should not hesitate to choose the 38th Army, because this army has the strongest combat effectiveness and is the old four wild troops that Liu Yalou is familiar with. However, Liu Yalou unexpectedly chose the 15th Army, a move that even Zhao Lantian, commander of the 15th Army, felt a little confused. He asked Liu Yalou why we chose our 15th Army to change to airborne troops with so many troops in the whole army? Liu Yalou replied: The 15th Army has played a military role in Shangganling, and not only in China but also in the whole world knows the 15th Army, and you must undertake the historical mission of establishing a new branch of the army for our army.
As we all know, the Battle of Shangganling was fought jointly by the 15th Army and the 12th Army of the Volunteer Army, but the first half of the most brutal and fierce battle was held up by the 45th Division of the 15th Army, and some of the detachments of the 45th Division were almost exhausted, and the status of the 15th Army in the army has since been greatly improved. This is an important reason why Liu Yalou favors the 15th Army.
Our army's early paratrooper units
Successive airborne operations during World War II showed that paratroopers have extremely high tactical value and can carry out pervasive infiltration strikes against important targets in the depth of the enemy, completely changing the mode of surface operations of the army. However, paratroopers are also the most dangerous branches of the army, they go deep behind the enemy lines, rely only on the light weapons in their hands and the powerful mechanized enemy to maneuver around, but also on time to complete the task of capturing important targets, being in the encirclement circle is the norm, and the military quality and psychological quality of officers and men have extremely high requirements.
Therefore, the airborne troops of any country are the most elite troops in that country. Units that can be reorganized into paratroopers will feel supremely honored.
[Operation Market Garden was the largest parachute operation of World War II, in which Allied paratroopers suffered heavy losses]
On March 14, 1961, the 15th Army was officially reorganized into the Airborne 15th Army, and a new branch of our army was proclaimed. At the 1984 military parade marking the 35th anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China, the airborne troops formed by the "Eighth Company of Shangganling Special Gong" and the company where Huang Jiguang belonged before his death were inspected, which was also the first time that the airborne troops of the People's Army appeared in the parade. The commander-in-chief of this military parade was none other than Qin Jiwei, the veteran commander of the 15th Army, who commanded the Battle of Shangganling.
Airborne troops at the National Day military parade in 1984
As for the question of which service the airborne troops belong to, the countries of the world are not the same, mainly depending on the connection between the airborne troops and the army and the air force, which is more, which is more conducive to the joint operation of combat and the management of peacetime construction.
The U.S. airborne troops have always been subordinate to the Army, because the U.S. Military believes that the airborne troops are engaged in combat on the ground, the main task is to capture the main points, and must be coordinated with the Army's mechanized units, and belonging to the Army is conducive to combat. The operational philosophy of the Soviet Army is different from that of the US Army, emphasizing the independent combat capability of the airborne troops, paying special attention to long-range attacks, so it cooperates more with the Air Force and belongs to the Air Force to facilitate operational command and management.
In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, our army comprehensively studied and learned from the experience of the Soviet army, and at that time all the aircraft and ground radars in our country belonged to the air force, so it was in line with the actual conditions of the country to classify the airborne army into the air force structure.
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