In the Central Plains breakthrough in June 1946, the "leather brigade" successfully completed the task of covering the breakthrough of the whole army in 23 battles in a thousand-mile battle that lasted 24 days, and successfully completed the task of covering the breakthrough of the whole army at the cost of more than 300 casualties and more than 1,700 casualties.
Although the "leather brigade" was used as a lone army ready to sacrifice at any time under the severe situation at that time, among the 6th Route troops that broke through in the Central Plains, it was the only unit that still retained its complete structure in the subsequent reorganization, while the other units were split and reorganized due to excessive losses.
The predecessor of the "Leather Brigade".
In April 1944, the invading Japanese army issued the "No. 1 Operational Order" for the purpose of opening up the Beijing-Guangzhou railway line, and China and Japan then launched three large-scale battles in Henan, Hunan, and Guangxi, namely Central Henan, Changheng, and Guiliu, known as the "Battle of Henan-Hunan and Guizhou" in history.
By August, with the continuous defeat of hundreds of thousands of Kuomintang troops, 38 cities including Zhengzhou, Xuchang, Luoyang, Changsha, and Hengyang fell one after another, and the entire western Henan region and surrounding areas fell into the hands of the Japanese army.
In order to deal with the Japanese army's unscrupulous and frantic sweep of the Eighth Route Army's base areas after the defeat of the Kuomintang army, the Central Military Commission decided to open up an anti-Japanese base area behind enemy lines in western Henan and use attack tactics to launch guerrilla warfare in the rear of the Japanese army, so as to strike at the arrogance of the Japanese army.
In August, based on the 3rd Regiment and the 35th Regiment of the Taihang Military Region, the Eighth Route Army was formed as an independent detachment of the Western Henan Anti-Japanese Detachment, with a strength of about 1,500 troops, with Pi Dingjun as the commander and Xu Zirong as the political commissar.
In September, Pi Dingjun and Xu Zirong led the newly established anti-Japanese independent detachment in western Henan to cross the Yellow River south and go to the Songshan area, like a nail into the rear of the Japanese army, and successfully opened up the anti-Japanese base behind the enemy line in western Henan.
In April 1945, the Western Henan Anti-Japanese Independent Detachment was transferred to the battle sequence of the Henan Military Region of the Eighth Route Army, and its name was changed to the 1st Detachment and the 1st Army Division of the Henan Military Region.
In August 1945, after Japan announced its unconditional surrender, the Kuomintang army continued to friction with our army in order to snatch the fruits of victory. In order to cope with the possibility of a civil war, various departments of our army have made necessary adjustments to the troop establishment and defense.
In November, the 1st Detachment of the Henan Military Region was reorganized into the 1st Brigade of the 1st Column of the Central Plains Military Region, and the 3rd, 35th, and 59th regiments under its original jurisdiction were successively renamed the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd regiments.
The "Leather Brigade" was officially formed, tracing back to its predecessor, the brigade originated from the troops developed by the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army led by Division Commander Liu Bocheng.
In April 1946, the 3rd Regiment of the 1st Brigade was transferred to the 1st Regiment and the 2nd Regiment respectively, and the 4th Regiment of the 14th Brigade was transferred to the 1st Brigade and renamed the 3rd Regiment. After this expansion, the 1st Brigade has grown stronger, and its number of soldiers has increased from more than 5,000 to more than 7,000.
Ordered in danger
In June 1946, the Kuomintang army launched a large-scale attack on the Xuanhuadian area, where the headquarters of the Central Plains Military Region was located, with 300,000 troops led by Liu Zhi, director of the Zhengzhou Pacification Office.
In order to preserve strength and in accordance with the instructions of the CPC Central Committee on "breaking through the encirclement immediately, as soon as possible, without any worries, survival first, victory first," the main force of the Central Plains Military Region began to break through in six directions.
On June 24, 1946, Wang Shusheng, deputy commander of the Central Plains Military Region and commander of the 1st Column, and Dai Jiying, deputy political commissar of the Central Plains Military Region and political commissar of the 1st Column, summoned Pi Dingjun and Xu Zirong to the column headquarters to explain the tasks in person:
The 1st Brigade was ordered to block the enemy in the east for 3 days and cover the westward advance of the main force across the Pinghan Railway. 3. After the expiration of the date, the breakout will be carried out according to the specific situation.
When parting, Wang Shusheng gave Pi Dingjun and Xu Zirong a few sets of plainclothes and advised:
"Keeping you here is for the sake of the big picture, and it is a last resort. Cadres at and above the regimental level of your unit can prepare plainclothes in advance for use in the event of a breakthrough, and you should do your best to preserve the cadres and leave some seeds for the future reorganization of the troops. ”
According to the grim situation at that time, the Central Plains Military Region left the 1st Brigade to block the attack and cover the retreat of the whole army, which was indeed a move to survive with a broken arm. Almost no one believed that this army, as an outcast, would be able to break through with the enemy's 300,000-strong army.
On the way back to the brigade headquarters, considering the particularity and arduousness of this mission, Pi Dingjun and Xu Zirong rode horses in parallel and remained silent for a long time.
Out of Lixu, Pi Dingjun turned sideways and said to Xu Zirong:
"The mission has to be done, but I will never change into civilian clothes. Even if I die in battle, I will wear this Eighth Route Army uniform and fall down with dignity. ”
Xu Zirong praised:
"The general died on the battlefield, and the loyal bones were buried in the green mountains. ”
The two looked at each other and smiled, rode their horses and whipped away, and galloped away!
Break out of the way
On June 25, 1946, the 6th Route Breakthrough Force of the Central Plains Military Region launched its own breakthrough operation. In addition to the 1st Brigade commanded by Pi Dingjun, who was responsible for the blocking mission, the other 5 breakthrough troops were:
Route 1: Central Plains Bureau organs, Central Plains Military Region organs, and part of the main forces of the Central Plains Military Region
Li Xiannian, commander of the Central Plains Military Region, Zheng Weisan, political commissar of the Central Plains Military Region, and Wang Zhen, deputy commander of the Central Plains Military Region, led more than 10,000 people from the Central Plains Bureau, organs of the Central Plains Military Region, cadre brigades, the 13th Brigade of the 2nd Column, the 45th Regiment of the 15th Brigade, and the 359th Brigade to break through to the north.
Route 2: The 1st Column and the 15th Brigade of the 2nd Column of the Central Plains Military Region
Wang Shusheng, deputy commander of the Central Plains Military Region and commander of the 1st Column, Dai Jiying, deputy political commissar of the Central Plains Military Region and political commissar of the 1st Column, and Liu Changyi, deputy commander of the 1st Column, led more than 9,000 people from the 2nd Brigade, the 3rd Brigade, and the 15th Brigade of the 2nd Column (lacking the 45th Regiment) to break through to the west and southwest.
Route 3: Jianghan Military Region of the Central Plains Military Region
More than 6,000 troops under the Jianghan Military Region of the Central Plains Military Region, led by Commander Luo Houfu and Political Commissar Wen Minsheng, broke through to the northwest of Hubei Province.
Route 4: Henan Military Region of the Central Plains Military Region
More than 2,000 troops under the Henan Military Region of the Central Plains Military Region, led by Huang Lin, commander and political commissar, broke through to southern Shaanxi.
Route 5: 2nd Independent Brigade of Eastern Hubei Province
More than 6,000 people of the 2nd Independent Brigade of Eastern Hubei Province, led by brigade commander Wu Chengzhong and political commissar Zhang Tixue, pretended to be the command organs of the Central Plains Military Region and the Central Plains Bureau, and moved to the Taihu Lake area in Yuexi, Anhui Province, so as to take the initiative to induce the enemy to pursue it.
The 2nd Independent Brigade of Eastern Hubei is also a unit that sacrificed its life for the sake of the overall situation.
On June 25, 1946, after the 5th Route Breakout Force launched a breakthrough operation, the Kuomintang troops did not notice the movement of our army until the early morning of the 26th. This time difference of one day and night made the early breakthrough operation of the troops of all walks of life very smooth.
At 16 o'clock in the afternoon of June 26, the first part of the enemy army encountered a stubborn resistance from Pidingjun's troops in the Baiqueyuan area, and then realized that the main force led by Wang Shusheng and Dai Jiying had retreated to the west. The enemy then gathered forces to attack the Pidingjun headquarters in front of him, intending to make a rapid breakthrough.
In order to buy time for the main force to break through, the 1st Brigade, under the command of Pi Dingjun and Xu Zirong, relied on the favorable terrain with the main force of the brigade to fight and retreat stubbornly to block, and another regiment of troops pretended to be a large force to shuttle left and right, attacking back and forth, so as to confuse the enemy and make it impossible for the enemy to find out the reality of the troops.
The enemy really hit the plan, thinking that there was at least one division of the blocking force in front of them, so they strengthened the frontal offensive and divided their troops into a detour to the left and right flanks, in a vain attempt to encircle this "division" and annihilate it in one battle.
The battle lasted until dusk, and seeing that the enemy's encirclement was about to close, at this urgent moment of 100,000 people, a heavy rain suddenly fell from the sky, and the raindrops of beans smashed on the face with a faint pain, making people blind.
In summer, it is already dark at 7 or 8 o'clock in the evening in the mountainous areas of southern Henan, accompanied by the torrential rain, and you can barely see your fingers.
Thus, fortunately, the offensive of the enemy army was slowed down.
Pi Dingjun shouted: God help me!
The decision was made immediately, leaving a battalion to continue to maneuver with the enemy, but the main force took advantage of the night to drill out of the junction of the enemy's two armies' defense area and rushed towards Liu's house in the rain.
At dawn on 27 June, the troops holding their positions took advantage of the mist to withdraw from the battlefield, cut a bloody path from the enemy's defense area on the flank, and rushed all the way to the west.
Coincidentally, the main force of the brigade that broke through in advance was under the command of Pi Dingjun, and on June 27, it also did not move a single step, and the whole brigade was hidden in the mountains of Liujiachong. Although the enemy searched the mountains several times, they were lucky enough to avoid them all.
On the night of 27 June, the battalion, which had taken on the heavy responsibility of being a suspicious soldier and had finally withdrawn from the battle, suddenly emerged from the ravine, shook off the pursuers, and after a night of rapid marching, arrived at Liujiachong on the morning of the 28th to join the main force of the brigade safely.
After counting the number of people, the 1st Brigade lost only more than 100 men in three days and two nights of heavy fighting with the enemy.
Only fast is not broken
Martial arts in the world, only fast is not broken!
After the troops converged, Pi Dingjun, who was well versed in this way, led the whole brigade to quickly leave Liujiachong on June 28 and go straight to Xiaojieling.
On June 30, the 1st Brigade arrived at Waxiping Village, Zhuyuan Township, Shangcheng County, Henan Province after a two-day rapid march. That night, the whole brigade rested here until 3 o'clock in the morning, and then rushed to Lu'an, Anhui.
On the night of July 1, Pi Dingjun led his troops to arrive in Lu'an, Anhui Province through an 80-kilometer forced march, and raided Jinzhai Songzi Pass, which was successfully successful.
On July 3, the whole brigade entered Wujiadian in Jinzhai and easily defeated a Kuomintang security force stationed there, Pi Dingjun decided to rest here for three days.
At this point, the troops, who had been fighting for eight days since June 26, could finally stop for a hot meal and a good night's sleep.
On July 7, the whole brigade finished resting and arrived at Dahuaping Town, Huoshan County, Anhui Province on the same day. On that day, there were no battles.
On July 10, the whole brigade arrived at Qianli Temple in Huoshan County, Anhui Province, and after capturing Qingfengling, it quickly seized Mozitan Town.
On July 11, the whole brigade successfully crossed the Wei River from Mozitan Town.
On July 12, the whole brigade entered Maotanchang Town, Lu'an County, Anhui Province.
On July 13, Pi Dingjun decided to rest for a day in Maotanchang Town, and held a mobilization meeting of the whole brigade on the eastern slope of the mountain to make a combat mobilization for the next stage of the plan of action for crossing the Central Anhui Plain.
On 14 July, the whole brigade attacked and advanced from Maotanchang Town along the road line from Lu'an to Hefei.
On July 15, the town of Guanting was captured.
On July 16, a surprise attack was made on Wushan Temple.
On July 18, the whole brigade passed through Xiatangji, Changfeng County, successfully crossed the Huainan Railway, and arrived at Chihe Town, Dingyuan County, Chuzhou, Anhui Province.
On July 19, the whole brigade entered Hongxinpu on the west side of the Jinpu Railway.
On 20 July, the whole brigade crossed the Jinpu Line and joined forces with the Jiashan Detachment of the Huainan Military Region near Zhongjiashan in the northeast of the Mingguang Third Boundary, and victoriously arrived at the liberated area of Jiangsu and Anhui.
The 1st Brigade led by Pi Dingjun and Xu Zirong of more than 7,000 people in the 24-day thousand-mile battle, after 23 battles of all sizes, at the cost of more than 300 casualties and more than 1,700 people lost, when the brigade arrived victoriously in the liberated area of Jiangsu and Anhui, there were still more than 5,000 people in the brigade.
The 1st Brigade became famous in the first battle, and since then it has a well-known alias - Leather Brigade!
Another lonely
And the other lone army, which was responsible for covering the breakthrough of the entire army in the Central Plains, was not as lucky as the leather brigade......
Under the leadership of brigade commander Wu Chengzhong and political commissar Zhang Tixue, the 2nd Independent Brigade of Eastern Hubei pretended to be the command organs of the Central Plains Military Region Headquarters and the Central Plains Bureau, so as to attract enemy troops and cover the real Central Plains Bureau and the organs of the Central Plains Military Region to break through to the north.
On the way to the Taihu Lake area in Yuexi, Anhui Province, the 2nd Independent Brigade of Eastern Hubei Province was surrounded by enemy troops at various levels, and many attempts to break through were unsuccessful, so they had no choice but to enter the Dabie Mountains to persist in guerrilla fighting.
However, under the heavy encirclement and suppression of the enemy, the battle lasted until mid-October, and only a few hundred people remained in the 2nd Independent Brigade of Eastern Hubei Province, which lacked food and clothing, and ran out of ammunition and food.
After contacting their superiors, brigade commander Wu Chengzhong and political commissar Zhang Tixue were ordered to transfer back to the liberated areas in disguise.
In the end, most of the remnants of the 2nd Independent Brigade of Eastern Hubei who insisted on guerrilla warfare in the Dabie Mountains died.
Li Xiannian Department
In addition to the above-mentioned leather brigade and the 2nd independent brigade of eastern Hubei Province, the breakthrough situation of the other 4 route troops that broke through the Central Plains is briefly described as follows:
Route 1: Central Plains Bureau organs, Central Plains Military Region organs, and part of the main forces of the Central Plains Military Region
The troops led by Li Xiannian, commander of the Central Plains Military Region, Zheng Weisan, political commissar of the Central Plains Military Region, and Wang Zhen, deputy commander of the Central Plains Military Region, were unable to get rid of the enemy's trailing pursuit for 15 days from 26 June to 11 July.
In order to disperse the enemy's pursuit and disposition, the troops had to divide into two routes, and the left and right flanks were dispersed to break through.
Left Wing Troops –
After more than 10 fierce battles, the Central Plains Bureau, the organs of the Central Plains Military Region, the 13th Brigade of the 2nd Column, the 45th Regiment of the 15th Brigade, and the Guard Regiment of the Central Plains Military Region arrived in southern Shaanxi on 2 August and joined up with the guerrillas in southern Shaanxi after more than 10 fierce battles.
In the process of breaking through the encirclement, in order to avoid the annihilation of the Central Plains Bureau and the leading organs of the Central Plains Military Region and cause even greater losses, the Party Committee made a temporary decision:
Zheng Weisan, political commissar of the Central Plains Military Region, Chen Shaomin, director of the Organization Department of the Central Plains Bureau, and several other senior cadres left the unit and disguised themselves as ordinary people to evacuate on their own.
Li Xiannian, commander of the Central Plains Military Region, led his troops into southern Shaanxi, and when he was still unable to get rid of the enemy's encirclement, pursuit, and interception, he joined up with the guerrillas in southern Shaanxi, opened up the Henan-Hubei-Shaanxi base area on the spot, and persisted in fighting and maneuvering with the enemy.
The 39th Regiment of the 13th Brigade, which was responsible for the task of guarding and blocking the rearguard, was separated from the main force in the breakout battle, and was later rebuilt by the 1st Battalion led by Regiment Commander Zhao Binglun, and the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Battalion led by Yang Huanmin, the political commissar of the brigade, also broke through the encirclement and entered the base area of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo Border Region on 12 September, but the 2nd Battalion of the 39th Regiment has not been heard from since.
Right Wing Units –
Wang Zhen led the 359th Brigade and the Cadre Brigade to break through the encirclement, but after many battles, they were still unable to break out of the encirclement on July 27.
In order to preserve as many cadres as possible for the reorganization of the troops in the future, Wang Zhen ordered the cadres and brigades to disperse on the spot, some of them followed the 359 Travel, some of them changed into civilian clothes and moved on their own, and the other part changed into civilian clothes and went into the village to find the people to cover, hide on the spot, and wait for the opportunity to move.
On August 29, Wang Zhen led the 359th Brigade Headquarters and the 718th Regiment and the 719th Regiment to finally break out of the encirclement and arrive at the base area of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo Border Region.
On September 8, Xu Guoxian, deputy commander of the 359th Brigade, led the 717th Regiment to finally get rid of the pursuing soldiers after a bloody battle and entered the base area of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo Border Region to join Wang Zhen's headquarters.
In the breakout operation, the troops of the 1st Route suffered a total of more than 1,570 casualties and more than 1,900 were scattered. Due to the scattered transfer of the right-wing troops, the casualties were only a few hundred, but the number of separated personnel was as high as more than 1,600, especially the cadres of the cadre brigade were relatively large, which is very regrettable!
The entire army went from more than 10,000 people at the beginning of the breakout to more than 6,000 people left at the end of the breakout.
Wang Shu's voice
Route 2: The 1st Column and the 15th Brigade of the 2nd Column of the Central Plains Military Region
Wang Shusheng, deputy commander of the Central Plains Military Region and commander of the 1st Column, Dai Jiying, deputy political commissar of the Central Plains Military Region and political commissar of the 1st Column, and Liu Changyi, deputy commander of the 1st Column, led their troops to break through to the west and southwest.
When the breakthrough troops arrived in the northwestern Hubei region on July 24, 1946, in view of the fact that the troops could not get rid of the enemy's trailing pursuit, after consulting the central authorities and obtaining approval, Wang Shusheng decided to disperse the troops on the spot, take Wudang Mountain as the center, open up a base area in northwest Hubei on the spot, and persist in guerrilla warfare.
Min Xuesheng, commander of the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Column, led the 6th Regiment of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Column (lacking 1 battalion), the 8th Regiment of the 3rd Brigade, the 1st Column Guard Regiment, and the 1st Column of the organs, totaling more than 2,500 personnel, to undertake the task of covering the rearguard and blocking the transfer of the whole army when forcibly crossing the Xianghe River.
During the battle, the 6th Regiment of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Column was dispersed, and the deputy commander of the 6th Regiment, Sun Zonglin, and the battalion commander Luo Jinke, gathered their troops and retreated to the Dahongshan area to persist in guerrilla warfare, and then joined up with the breakthrough troops of the Jianghan Military Region and was renamed the Second Brigade of the Jianghan Detachment, with the rest of the 6th Regiment less than 200 people.
After completing the task of blocking the attack, Min Xuesheng, commander of the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Column, led the rest of his troops to the north alone, and broke through the encirclement into the Funiu Mountains in early August, where he joined the breakthrough troops of the Henan Military Region.
The 2nd Vertical 15th Brigade (lacking the 45th Regiment), under the leadership of Brigade Commander Wang Haishan and Political Commissar Chen Xianrui, undertook the task of covering the crossing troops across the Pinghan Road, but failed to succeed because the enemy was tightly intercepted.
Wang Haishan, commander of the 2nd Column and 15th Brigade, had to leave the 43rd Regiment to be responsible for the break and harass the rout. He and political commissar Chen Xianrui led the rest of the troops to the north and arrived in southern Shaanxi on September 24, and the rest of the more than 1,300 people joined up with Li Xiannian's troops, who had arrived in advance, to jointly open up the Henan-Hubei-Shaanxi base area.
Wu Maojin, deputy commander of the 43rd Regiment of the 15th Brigade of the 2nd Column, was ordered to lead the 43rd Regiment to be responsible for collecting the personnel of the various units that were scattered during the forced crossing of the Xiang River. The rest of the 43rd Regiment, a total of about 1,000 people, went through several fierce battles, and finally about 300 people were left to retreat into the Tongbai Mountains and join up with the local guerrillas.
Wang Shusheng and Liu Changyi led the remnants of the retreat to the northwest of Hubei to form the Northwest Hubei Military Region, and persisted in fighting until the beginning of February 1947.
On February 12, 1947, Wang Shusheng was escorted by traffic officers and transferred to the liberated area of northern Jiangsu in disguise. This is exactly 10 years after the defeat of the Red West Route Army in 1937, Wang Shusheng once again successfully escaped in disguise.
At this point, only a force of less than 1,000 people led by Zhang Caiqian led by Zhang Caiqian was left to break through the encirclement on the road, crossing the Yangtze River to the south and stubbornly maneuvering with the enemy.
Route 3: Jianghan Military Region
The more than 6,000 people of the Jianghan Military Region, led by Commander Luo Houfu and Political Commissar Wen Minsheng, withdrew to the northwest of Hubei and merged into the Northwest Hubei Military Region led by Wang Shusheng.
Until December 1947, the rest of the army joined the 3rd and 12th columns of the Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, and Henan Field Army.
Route 4: Henan Military Region
Under the leadership of Huang Lin, commander and political commissar of the Henan Military Region, more than 2,000 people of the unit broke through to the southwest; due to the small number of people and small targets, the breakthrough operation was relatively smooth, and only more than 300 casualties and separated personnel were killed.
The unit arrived in southern Shaanxi on 30 July, and in early August it joined up with Li Xiannian's unit, which had arrived earlier, to jointly open up the Henan-Hubei-Shaanxi base area.
Except for the "Leather Brigade", the rest of the 6th Route Army that broke through in the Central Plains were split and reorganized in the subsequent reorganization, and only the "Leather Brigade" was retained in a complete structure.
The history of the "leather brigade".
In September 1946, the leather brigade, which had been evacuated to the liberated area of Jiangsu and Anhui for less than two months, went south from Gaoyou and fought Huaiyin for the first time. Subsequently, he participated in the first Lianshui Defense Battle of the Central China Field Army.
In October 1946, the leather brigade was incorporated into the combat sequence of the Central China Field Army, and its number was changed to the 13th Brigade, which was subordinate to the 1st Column of the Central China Field Army.
In February 1947, the Shandong Field Army and the Central China Field Army were combined into the East China Field Army, and the 13th Brigade was upgraded to an independent division and was subordinate to the 1st Column of the East China Field Army. In May, he participated in the Battle of Menglianggu.
In December 1947, the independent division was transferred to the battle sequence of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army.
In February 1948, the independent division was rebuilt into the 37th Brigade of the 13th Column of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region.
In May 1948, it was renamed the 13th Brigade of the 37th Column of the North China Military Region and participated in the Linfen Campaign. In June, he participated in the Battle of Jinzhong. In October, he participated in the Battle of Taiyuan.
In February 1949, the 37th Brigade of the 13th Column of the North China Military Region was reorganized into the 181st Division of the 61st Army.
In May 1949, the 61st Army was transferred to the First Field Army, and the 181st Division advanced to the northwest.
In November 1949, the 181st Division was transferred to the command of the Second Field Army and marched to the southwest.
In March 1951, the 181st Division was transferred to the 60th Army and incorporated into the 3rd Corps, as the second batch of troops to participate in the war in Korea, and participated in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
In September 1955, Pi Dingjun, deputy commander of the Fuzhou Military Region, who was studying at the Higher Military Academy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, was awarded the rank of lieutenant general of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
In December 1969, the number of the 181st Division was changed to the 180th Division. Because the 180th Division had suffered a serious defeat on the Korean battlefield, the order to change the number made all the officers and men of the division feel depressed.
In January 1985, the 180th Division reinstated the number of the 181st Division.
In September 1985, the 60th Army was withdrawn, and the 181st Division was transferred to the 1st Army, implementing the establishment of the B Division.
In October 1996, all 14 B divisions of the armed forces were transferred to the Chinese People's Armed Police Force and rebuilt into armed police mobile divisions directly under the Armed Police Headquarters.
The 181st Division was renamed the 181st Mobile Division of the Armed Police, under the jurisdiction of the 541st, 542nd, 543rd, and 711th Regiments of the Armed Police.
In 2018, the number of the 181st Mobile Division of the Armed Police was revoked and it was rebuilt into the First Mobile Detachment of the Second Mobile Corps of the Armed Police. The establishment of the unit is at the level of deputy division (brigade).
To this day, the "leather brigade" with a glorious history still adheres to the fine traditions of the old army and continues to perform its sacred duties in the Chinese people's armed police force.