The 16th Army was a military formation of the People's Liberation Army

People's Liberation Army

The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...

 Chinese Communist Forces (CCF)).

Organization

It was composed of the 69th, 46th, 48th, and 4th Armored Divisions, the 68th brigade and an artillery brigade. The formation is still active as the 16th Group Army in the Shenyang Military Region

Shenyang Military Region

The Shenyang Military Region |16th Group Army]], with three divisions, including an armoured division, in Jilin, the 23rd Group Army headquartered at Harbin, and the 39th Group Army in Liaoning.-Current Officers:* Zhang Youxia , since October 2007...

.

History

The origins of this army go back to Nanchang Uprising

Nanchang Uprising

The Nanchang Uprising was the first major Kuomintang-Communist engagement of the Chinese Civil War, in order to counter the anti-communist purges by the Nationalist Party of China....

. After People's Republic of China established, it belongs to 62nd Group Army in a short term.

Legacy

People who served in the 16th Group Army and later went on to achieve notability in the military or other fields include Xu Caihou

Xu Caihou

Xu Caihou is one of three vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China along with Guo Boxiong. He succeeded Hu Jintao to the post on September 19, 2004 upon the latter's promotion to the chairmanship...

,one of two vice chairman of the Central Military Commission

Central Military Commission

A Central Military Commission or National Defense Commission is an organisation typical of Communist one-party states, responsible for supervising the nation's armed forces....

 of the Communist Party of China

Communist Party of China

The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...

 and the People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

 (The other one is Guo Boxiong

Guo Boxiong

Guo Boxiong , born July 1942 in Xianyang, Shaanxi province is the current Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, a position he was appointed during the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China along with membership of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China.As one of...

).