In the previous article, the author talked to you about the stories of various armies of the Shenyang Military Region, such as the 40th Army, the 39th Army, the 16th Army, the 23rd Army, and so on. Today, we talk about the 60th Army of the Nanjing Military Region. It has to be said that the 60th Army is also an old unit with a glorious history. From North China to the Northwest and Northwest, and finally to Korea, the 60th Army made great achievements. From the mid-1950s until 1985, the 60th Army was stationed in northern Anhui Province. Today, we will talk about the glorious 60th Army.
First, let's talk about the glorious history of the 60th Army. By the end of the Liberation War, the PLA's four major field armies and north China field troops had a total of 55 columns under their jurisdiction. After entering 1949, in the process of regularization, 55 columns plus other units were reorganized into 67 corps. The predecessor of the 60th Army was the 8th Column of the North China Field Force, and the commander of the column was General Wang Xinting. In the Liberation War, the 8th Column of North China participated in a series of battles such as the Battle of Yuncheng, the Battle of Linfen, the Battle of Jinzhong, and the Battle of Taiyuan.
In the Battle of Linfen, the 23rd Brigade of the 8th Column of North China fought bravely and took the lead in attacking the city of Linfen and was awarded the title of "Glorious Linfen Brigade". In the early spring of 1949, with the beginning of the regularization process of the PLA troops, the 8th Column of the North China Field Army was reorganized into the 60th Army and was under the management of the 18th Corps. In order to liberate the Great Northwest, the 18th Corps and the 19th Corps were placed under the command of the First Field Army. Subsequently, the 60th Army went to the Great Northwest and began the journey of conquest of the Great Northwest and the Great Southwest.
After General Wang Xinting served as the deputy commander of the corps, General Zhang Zuyu served as the commander of the 60th Army. After arriving in the Great Northwest, the 60th Army successively participated in many battles such as the Battle of Fumei, and its achievements were outstanding. In November 1949, the 18th Corps was placed under the management of the Second Field Army, and several armies, including the 60th Army, began to move to the Southwest. During this period, the 60th Army can be called the pioneer of the road, and along the way, it has successively conquered Hanzhong, Guangyuan, Jiangeguan, Mianyang and other places.
In 25 days, the officers and men of the 60th Army pursued more than 1,800 miles, fought 33 battles, liberated 16 county towns, killed and wounded 126 enemies, captured 10,080 enemy, captured 3 aircraft, 137 guns of various kinds, 498 light and heavy machine guns, 6,269 long and short guns, and 300 mules and horses. After the end of the large-scale war, in view of the bandit problem in some parts of Sichuan, the 60th Army was again engaged in the battle to eliminate bandits in the western part of Sichuan.
In a few months, the 60th Army killed and wounded 8,458 bandits, captured 36,335, forced 16,489 of them to surrender, and seized 181 guns of various kinds, 1,035 light and heavy machine guns, and 52,544 long and short guns, basically eliminating the bandits in the western part of Sichuan. After the outbreak of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, in March 1951, under the leadership of General Wei Jie, the 60th Army went to the Korean battlefield. At this time, General Zhang Zuyu was plagued by stomach diseases, coupled with the complexity of local construction work. Therefore, General Zhang Zuyu stayed in Sichuan.
In September 1952, General Zhang Zuyu re-appointed as the commander of the 60th Army. Under the guidance of the operational principle of "protracted combat and active defense," the 60th Army carried out cold gun and cold artillery killing operations against the enemy, killing and wounding a total of 12,688 prisoners (including surrenders) of the enemy, destroying 11 tanks, injuring 45 tanks, and capturing 1 mortar, 2 bazookas, 37 light and heavy machine guns, and 413 long and short guns. In September 1953, the 60th Army withdrew to China and did not return to Sichuan Province, but deployed to East China.
The 60th Army was successively subordinated to the East China Military Region and the Nanjing Military Region. Speaking of military regions, we must talk about the changes in our military regions. Because after understanding the changes in each military region, the movement of each army will be more intuitive. In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, China established the Northeast Military Region, the North China Military Region, the East China Military Region, the Central and Southern Military Region, the Southwest Military Region, and the Northwest Military Region. Judging from the jurisdiction of the six military districts, it basically corresponds to the six local bureaus at that time.
For example, the Northwest Bureau, the Northeast Bureau, and so on, the jurisdiction is basically overlapping. After entering the 1950s, with the basic end of the war, China entered the stage of economic development. At the same time, the various units of the People's Liberation Army entered the work of regularization construction. In such a big environment, the division of the original 6 military regions is not appropriate in all aspects. Thus, in 1955, the 6 major military districts were abolished. In the same year, 12 military districts were established. In view of the actual needs, in 1956, the Fuzhou Military Region was established.
Up to this time, the divisions of China's 13 military regions were formed, namely: Shenyang Military Region, Beijing Military Region, Jinan Military Region, Nanjing Military Region, Guangzhou Military Region, Wuhan Military Region, Chengdu Military Region, Kunming Military Region, Lanzhou Military Region, Xinjiang Military Region, Inner Mongolia Military Region, Tibet Military Region, and Fuzhou Military Region. The jurisdiction of each military district is not large, with roughly two or three provinces. For example, the Nanjing Military Region administers Jiangsu Province, Anhui Province, Zhejiang Province, and other places, and the Fuzhou Military Region manages Fujian Province and Jiangxi Province.
Among the 13 military regions, the tasks and target directions of each military region are different, and the number of troops stationed in each military region is naturally very different. From the early 1950s to the early 1960s, the task of northeast and southeast directions in China was very heavy. Therefore, a considerable number of main forces were stationed in both the Shenyang Military Region and the Nanjing Military Region. For example, the Shenyang Military Region has stationed the main forces of the 16th Army, the 23rd Army, the 38th Army, the 39th Army, the 40th Army, the 46th Army, the 50th Army, and the 64th Army.
Among them, the 38th Army, the 39th Army and several other armies belong to the ace fist unit in the whole army, and their combat effectiveness is very strong. The situation in the Nanjing Military Region is similar, with a series of main forces stationed in the 12th Army, 20th Army, 27th Army, 60th Army, and so on. Among them, the 12th Army, the 27th Army and other units belong to the fist units of the whole army. Unlike the tasks of the Shenyang Military Region, the Nanjing Military Region and the Fuzhou Military Region are ready to carry out large-scale amphibious sea crossing and landing at any time. Therefore, the targeted exercises of the various units are very strong.
Here, we need to remember General Zhang Zuyu. In 1961, at the age of 50, Lieutenant General Zhang Zuyu died young and was buried in the Yuhuatai Revolutionary Soldiers Cemetery in the same year.
Since the late 1960s, the 60th Army has been ready to come to the coastal areas at any time. Because since the end of the 1960s, the northern target has successively deployed more than 50 tank divisions and mechanized infantry divisions, known as "millions of troops," and the surprise ability and overall strength of each unit are very strong. From the northeast to the northwest, the pressure on the military regions in the north is very great.
In such a general environment, the strength of the various military regions in the north needs to be strengthened. Some of the elite units of the Kunming Military Region, the Nanjing Military Region, the Chengdu Military Region, the Fuzhou Military Region, and several other military regions in the south were transferred to the north. For example, the 27th Army, the 54th Army, and so on, have been successively transferred to the north. At the same time, the Pacific Fleet of the northern target, with its strong comprehensive strength, has the possibility of a large-scale amphibious landing. Therefore, after the 1970s, the Jinan Military Region and the Nanjing Military Region conducted many anti-amphibious landing exercises.
The Nanjing Military Region also formed a hypothetical enemy unit, now known as the "Blue Army Unit," a tactical tactic that simulated northern targets. In 1985, with the constant changes in the international situation, in view of the actual needs of the time. At the same time, our country has made a decision to disarm 1 million, and at the same time, it has made a comprehensive adjustment to the original 11 military regions. During this period, four military regions, including the Wuhan Military Region, the Fuzhou Military Region, and the Kunming Military Region, were abolished.
Why 11 military districts? Because in the late 1960s, the Inner Mongolia Military Region and the Tibet Military Region had been abolished and demoted to the level of deputy military region. At the same time, 11 of the 35 corps at the time were abolished. In total, 31 units at or above the military level were abolished, and 4,054 units at the division and regimental levels were abolished. In this round of disarmament, the 60th Army was abolished. Although the 60th Army was abolished, the glorious history of the 60th Army will forever be recorded in history. At this time, salute to all the veterans.
There are many more stories about the various armies of our country, and the author will slowly talk to you in future articles.