At the beginning of 1949, in order to meet the new operational needs, our army was reorganized, and the troops of the four major field armies and the North China Military Region were reorganized into 16 corps, and later the three corps reorganized from the national army were added, making a total of 19 corps. Prior to this, various departments of our army have also set up 11 corps, and this article will take a look at it with you.
1. Northwest Field Corps
The Northwest Field Corps was the first corps established by our army during the War of Liberation, and it was developed by the Eighth Route Army and local armed forces in the Jinsui Liberated Area and the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo Liberated Area at the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the central government established the Jinsui Field Army, with He Long as the commander, and then the troops in the Jinsui area have been reorganized many times, in February 1947, the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China decided to take the 1st column of the Jinsui Military Region and the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningjin-Sui Joint Defense Army under the jurisdiction of the new 4th Brigade, the Teaching Brigade, the 1st and 3rd Garrison Brigades, a total of 6 brigades of more than 28,000 people to form the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo Field Army, with Zhang Zongxun as the commander and Xi Zhongxun as the political commissar.
Peng Dehuai
A month later, when the Kuomintang Hu Zong attacked Yan'an in the south, in order to strengthen the command of the northern Shaanxi region, the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China decided that all field troops and local armed forces stationed in the liberated areas of Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningbo would be under the command of Peng Dehuai, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China and chief of general staff, and Xi Zhongxun, secretary of the Northwest Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. At the same time, the Northwest Field Corps was established, with Peng Dehuai as commander and political commissar. In this way, Peng Dehuai led the Northwest Field Corps to fight against the national army in the great northwest.
At the end of July of the same year, the Northwest Field Corps was renamed the Northwest Field Army, and in February 1949, it was renamed the First Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, with Peng Dehuai still serving as commander and political commissar. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Peng Dehuai led this army to liberate the vast northwest with a weak force. After the founding of New China, Peng Dehuai also became the commander and political commissar of the Chinese People's Volunteers, leading the Chinese People's Volunteers to go abroad to participate in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and in 1955 he was awarded the rank of Marshal of the People's Republic of China, ranking second.
2. Chen Xie Corps
Chen Xie's corps is the most famous of these corps, and the main reason for this is that Chen Geng is the commander of this army.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Chiang Kai-shek insisted on launching a civil war, focusing on attacking Shandong and Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningbo liberated areas, in response to the military deployment of Lao Chiang, the Party Central Committee aimed at the Central Plains, in July 1947, the 4th Column, the 9th Column and the 38th Army of Zhongye formed the Chen Xie Corps, and Liu Deng and Chen Su's three-way army in a "product" shaped formation, each other as horns, mobile annihilation of the enemy.
Chen Geng
In the following year, Chen Geng led this army to fight all over the Central Plains, annihilating a large number of national army troops, after the reorganization of the whole army in 1949, the main force of the Chen Xie Corps was reorganized into the Second Field Fourth Corps, with Chen Geng as the commander and political commissar, and the original Chen Xie Corps Political Commissar Xie Fuzhi was reappointed as the political commissar of the Second Field Third Corps. In 1955, Chen Geng was awarded the rank of general, ranking fourth.
3. The four corps of the East China Field Army
At the beginning of 1948, the East China Field Army organized its subordinate units into four corps, namely the Suyu Corps, the Shandong Corps, the Chentang Corps, and the Northern Jiangsu Corps.
The official name of the Suyu Corps is the First Corps of the East China Field Army, which has jurisdiction over the first column (commander Ye Fei), the fourth column (commander Tao Yong) and the sixth column (commander Wang Bicheng), these three columns are the ace columns of the East China Field Army, and their strength is very strong. During the Liberation War, Su Yu was one of the most dazzling generals, and he was the first general to be awarded the title in 1955, ranking first among the founding generals.
Awayu
The official name of the Shandong Corps is the Second Corps of the East China Field Army, also known as the Xu Tan Corps, which has jurisdiction over the Seventh Column (Commander Cheng Jun), the Ninth Column (Commander Xu Shiyou), the 13th Column (Commander Zhou Zhijian) and the Bohai Column (Commander Yuan Yelie), with Xu Shiyou as the commander and Tan Zhenlin as the political commissar. The Battle of Jinan in 1948 was the masterpiece of Xu Tan's Corps. General Xu Shiyou, a fierce general of our army, was awarded the rank of general in 1955 and served as commander of the Nanjing Military Region and the Guangzhou Military Region for 25 years. Although political commissar Tan Zhenlin was not awarded the military rank, he has achieved the posts of vice premier of the State Council and vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, and his status is also very high.
Xu Shiyou
The official name of the Chen Tang Corps is the Third Corps of the East China Field Army, which has jurisdiction over the Third Column (Commander He Yixiang), the Eighth Column (Commander Wang Jian'an) and the Tenth Column (Commander Song Shilun), the commander of the Corps is Chen Shiyu, chief of staff of Huaye, and the political commissar is Tang Liang. Commander Chen Shiyu is also a tiger general, who once commanded Huaye and Zhongye to completely annihilate the Huang Wei Corps, and later replaced Su Yu to command the encirclement and annihilation of Du Yuming's group and annihilated more than 250,000 enemies. In 1955 he was awarded the rank of general. Political commissar Tang Liang was an outstanding political worker and was also awarded the rank of general in 1955.
Chen Shiyu
The official name of the Northern Jiangsu Corps is the Fourth Corps of the East China Field Army, with jurisdiction over the Second Column (Commander Wei Guoqing), the 11th Column (Commander Guan Wenwei) and the 12th Column (Commander Chen Qingxian). The commander of the corps is Wei Guoqing, and the political commissar is Chen Pixian. The main task of the corps was to stay in the northern part of the Jiangsu region and participate in the development of the war situation in East China. Corps Commander Wei Guoqing was awarded the rank of general in 1955, and although Political Commissar Chen Pixian was not awarded the rank of military, he also held the posts of secretary of the Central Political and Legal Commission, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, and member of the Standing Committee of the Central Advisory Committee.
Wei Guoqing
At the beginning of 1949, when the whole army was reorganized, the East China Field Army was reorganized into the Third Field Army, which still governed four corps, but the commanders of the corps were basically changed, Wang Jian'an, commander of the Seventh Corps, Chen Shiyu, commander of the Eighth Corps, Song Shilun, commander of the Ninth Corps, and Ye Fei, commander of the Tenth Corps.
4. Three corps in North China
From May to August 1948, the troops of the North China Military Region were reorganized into three corps, namely the first, second, and third corps.
The First Corps of the North China Military Region has jurisdiction over the forward command post of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region and its subordinate 8th, 13th, and 14th columns, with Xu Xiangqian, the first deputy commander of the North China Military Region, concurrently serving as the commander and political commissar of the Corps. After the Taiyuan Campaign in April 1949, Zhou Shidi served as the commander and political commissar of the 18th Corps, under the command of Peng Lao of the First Field Army, and participated in many battles to liberate the northwest and southwest. In 1955, Xu Xiangqian was awarded the rank of Marshal of the People's Republic of China, ranking eighth, and Zhou Shidi was awarded the rank of general.
Xu Xiangqian
The Second Corps of the North China Military Region, also known as the Yang Luogeng Corps, has jurisdiction over the 3rd and 4th Columns, the 2nd Column and 4th Brigade, and the 2nd Independent Brigade of the North China Military Region, with Yang Dezhi as the commander, Luo Ruiqing as the political commissar, and Geng Biao as the chief of staff. At the beginning of 1949, it was renamed the 19th Corps, and after the Taiyuan Campaign, the 19th Corps was changed to the command of Peng Lao and participated in many battles to liberate the northwest. In 1955, Yang Dezhi was awarded the rank of general, and after that, he successively served as the commander of the Jinan, Wuhan, and Kunming Military Regions for 25 years, and was promoted to chief of the General Staff in 1980.
Yang Dezhi
The Third Corps of the North China Military Region had jurisdiction over the 1st, 6th and 2nd Columns and 2 Brigades, and was renamed the 20th Corps in early 1949, with Yang Chengwu as its commander. The 20th Corps has been fighting in North China and has participated in many battles to liberate North China. Commander Yang Chengwu is also a well-known general of our army, who was awarded the rank of general in 1955 and served as commander of the Beijing Military Region and commander of the Fuzhou Military Region.
Li Chengwu
5. Two corps in the East Field
In September 1948, the Northeast Field Army reorganized two forward command posts into two corps headquarters, namely the First and Second Corps.
Dongye First Corps, Commander Xiao Jinguang, Political Commissar Xiao Hua, because the commander and political commissar are surnamed Xiao, so the corps is also known as the "Second Xiao Corps". After the Liaoshen Campaign, the First Corps was renamed the Twelfth Corps, with Xiao Jinguang as the commander and political commissar, and the former political commissar Xiao Hua was transferred to the commander of the Siye Artillery. Xiao Jinguang is the first corps commander of our army (the commander of the Eighth Route Army's left-behind corps), in December 1949, Chairman Mao personally appointed him as the commander of the navy, responsible for the formation of the navy, is the longest serving naval commander of our army, and was awarded the title of sixth of the top ten generals in 55 years. Political commissar Xiao Hua was awarded the rank of general in 1955, the youngest founding general, at the age of 39.
Xiao Jinguang
Dongye Second Corps, commander Cheng Zihua, political commissar Huang Kecheng, Cheng Zihua commanded the famous Tashan Resistance Battle during the Liaoshen Campaign, ensuring the victory of the Liaoshen Campaign. After the Liaoshen Campaign, the Second Corps was renamed the 13th Corps, with Cheng Zihua as the commander and Xiao Hua as the political commissar. Cheng Zihua was the only corps commander who was not awarded the rank, while political commissar Huang Kecheng was awarded the rank of general.
Cheng Zihua
Brief summary:
Before the large-scale reorganization of the whole army in 1949, the various field armies of our army successively set up 11 corps, all of which were served by famous generals of our army, and they commanded their respective corps and achieved remarkable results. With the reorganization of the troops in 1949, some of them were promoted, and some still served as corps commanders, and when the title was conferred in 1955, except for Cheng Zihua, the other corps commanders were awarded the rank of general and above. According to his qualifications and military exploits, Cheng Zihua also has the qualifications to be awarded the rank of general. Although he was not awarded the military rank, he also became the vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, with the rank of deputy state.