The people's army established the corps system in November 1948 under the leadership of The Northeast Field Army, after winning the Liaoshen Campaign, the Northeast Field Army was reorganized into the Fourth Field Army, the former Northeast Field Army Front First Corps was reorganized into the 12th Corps, and the former Front Line Second Corps was reorganized into the 13th Corps. Later, after the victory at the Battle of Pingjin, the 14th Corps and the 15th Corps were formed successively. Even other field armies have successively established a corps system.
The five major field armies that were successively reorganized had a total of 16 corps under their jurisdiction, plus the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd corps that were later reorganized into the rebel forces of the nationalist army, so that in the history of the people's army, at its peak, there were a total of nineteen corps. However, these corps did not exist for a long time, and after the liberation of the whole country, many corps were abolished. For example, General Wang Zhen's First Corps, after the liberation of Xinjiang, was revoked and transferred to the Xinjiang Production Corps.
In this way, most of the 19 corps of the people's army were abolished in 1950 and basically transferred to the formation of military district units in a certain province. The corps that were not abolished later all participated in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, but after the end of the Campaign to Aid Korea, some corps were gradually withdrawn.
However, of these 19 corps, one of the ace corps was withdrawn at the earliest time. Like other corps, it was basically abolished in 1950, and this ace corps was abolished in 1949 and was established in less than three months. Speaking of this, friends who are familiar with history may have guessed that the name of this corps is the 14th Corps. You know, the 14th Corps is an ace corps with a tenacious fighting style on the battlefield of liberation.
Although the corps was the first of the 19 corps in the people's army to be abolished. But the 14th Corps also left a brilliant record in the history of the Liberation War, absolutely, worthy of the title of Ace Corps. After all, the 39th Army and the 41st Army under the 14th Corps are the number one aces on the liberation battlefield. Including the 42nd Army, it performed well in the later Campaign to Aid Korea and became one of the ten aces of the Volunteer Army.
Since, the 14th Corps was the first ace corps to be abolished. So, which of the earliest aces to be revoked?
In fact, after the victory in the War of Liberation, some of the weaker armies were abolished or reorganized with several other armies. As we all know, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the people's army has undergone many reductions and reorganizations, constantly improved, removed the principle of leaving the old and leaving the new, and moved toward the road of strengthening the army through science and technology. Those units with a weaker fighting style were all abolished, leaving some elite units behind. In particular, in 1985, the superiors decided to disarm millions and retain only 24 armies.
You must know that 24 corps is equivalent to 8 corps, and the corps establishment of our army is three corps under the jurisdiction of each corps. At its peak, the People's Army had 19 corps. In this way, in 1985, the number of troops was reduced to half the number of troops during the Liberation War. The 24 corps that were able to be successfully preserved in 1985 were undoubtedly units with a very tenacious fighting style on the battlefield of liberation.
It was in this year that the 43rd Army, during the Liberation War, was abolished. As you may all know, the Forty-third Army is known as the Tiger Army, and the 127th Division and the 128th Division under its jurisdiction are all ace divisions with tenacious fighting styles. In particular, the 128th Division was known as the Tiger Division, which was personally assigned combat tasks by the commander of the Fourth Field Army, Lin Zong, three times. Needless to say, the history of the 127th Division can be traced back to the Ye Ting Independent Regiment and the Red Fourth Army at Jinggangshan.
Including during the Liberation War, the 43rd Army fought tenaciously, and together with the 40th Army, the 38th Army, the 39th Army, and the 41st Army, it was called the five main forces under Lin Zong. In 1985, the remaining four armies were successfully retained and promoted to the formation of the Army Group, and only the 43rd Army, which was abolished in 1985, became the first ace army in the people's army to be abolished. In fact, the 43rd Army was abolished as early as 1961, but it was not long before the 43rd Army was reorganized.