38th Army (People's Republic of China)
Encyclopedia
The 38th Mechanized Group Army is a military formation of China's People's Liberation Army
and one of three active group armies belonging to the Beijing Military Region. It is based at Baoding, Hebei and is composed of an armored division, three mechanized infantry divisions, an artillery brigade, a mechanized air defense brigade and an aviation regiment in addition to various support and logistics units. Its unit ID number is 66393.
, 113th
, and 114th
Divisions. Under Lin Biao
in mid-June 1949, the 38th took part in the campaign to take Southern China and encircled Yichang
, Hubei
and seized the city.
and the 42nd
Armies (the finest of the IV Army Group) along with the 27th
and the 39th
Armies from South China were placed at Peng Dehuai
's disposal as part of the People's Volunteer Army
(Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) or Chinese Communist Forces (CCF)) XIII Army Group, for the initial Chinese intervention in Korea.
The 38th Army and the 42nd Army
poured through the broken South Korean lines to Eighth Army’s east and threatening to envelop the entire force. The 38th Army was ultimately successful in setting up the "Gauntlet" against the US 2nd Infantry Division at Kunu-ri, and for its performance it received the title "Ten thousand years
Army".
The unit opposed the U.S. 45th Division during the Battle of Old Baldy
.
On October 6-15, 1952, the 38th Army fought in the battle for Baengma-goji
, a 395-meter hill near the Iron Triangle
. During the course of the battle, the hill changed hands 24 times after repeated attacks and counterattackss for its possession. It was the most intense position-grasping battle for a small hill during the course of the Korean War. The 112th
and 114th
Divisions under the command of General Gang Ong-hwi were selected as the main force to capture Baengma-goji, and the 113th
Division was to replenish the losses of the main force. The 38th Army committed seven regiments out of its total of nine regiments and sustained a total of 14,332 casualties (8,234 identified deaths, 5,097 presumed deaths, 1,001 wounded, and 57 prisoners, while the 9th Division
of South Korea suffered a total of 3,422 casualties (505 dead, 2,562 injured and 391 missing), plus over 400 more casualties in the 1st Battalion of the 30th Regiment. The American Fifth Air Force
made a total of 745 sorties and poured more than 2,700 bombs of various kinds, together with over 358 napalm bombs, onto the hill. Chinese forces rained no less than 55,000 shells during the nine-day battle period, and the South Korean forces fired over 185,000 bombs. The 38th Army, after having been replaced by the 23rd Army, had to withdraw to the rear.
area to replace the 65th Corps. In 1968 the 38th was involved in clashes with elements of the Hebei Military District over differences in revolutionary fervor.
In 1989 during the students' protest
, the 38th Army was one of the main units ordered to crush the protests and impose martial law on Beijing
. However, because of its close connections with the population of the nearby capital, and the fact that many students had served in the unit before attending university and that some students had performed summer training with the 38th as members of the army reserve
, the unit was reluctant to comply. The 38th, under the command of General Xu Qinxian (Chinese: 徐勤先), refused to use force against the students when martial law was declared, and was reported to have been in a tense stand-off with the 27th Army
and other units which held the city in the days immediately following the bloody crackdown, giving rise to fears of a civil war.
An unidentified mechanized division (probably from the 38th Group Army) conducted an opposed force exercise in mid-August 2002. It is believed that the exercise may have taken place at the MR CAT Base near the Great Wall. The unit used more than ten new systems including new mine clearing vehicles, infantry fighting vehicles and tanks. The unit is reported to be one of the first mechanized infantry divisions in the PLA..
According to the December 2002 PLA Activities Report the U.I Mechanized Air Defense Brigade (Unit 66440) assigned to the 38th Group Army recently improved its tactics and methods of defending against cruise missile attacks. This consisted of improving the units fire-control systems and detection capabilities.
The Mechanized Air Defense Brigade, Unit 66440, has reportedly retrofitted its field command modules to provide command platforms with geographic information, air service information, battlefield monitoring and digital transmission, enhancing the units command and control capability and ability to conduct accurate air defense. The unit conducted several exercises in 2002 including a live-fire exercise.
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...
and one of three active group armies belonging to the Beijing Military Region. It is based at Baoding, Hebei and is composed of an armored division, three mechanized infantry divisions, an artillery brigade, a mechanized air defense brigade and an aviation regiment in addition to various support and logistics units. Its unit ID number is 66393.
Chinese Civil War
The unit was originally established as the 38th Corps under the Fourth Field Army in early 1949. The 38th can trace its lineage back to the late 1920s thru its evolution from the 343rd Brigade. In 1949 the 38th Corps was composed of the 112th112th Division (People's Republic of China)
The 112th Division was a military formation of the People's Volunteer Army during the Korean War with a standard strength of approximately 10,000 men...
, 113th
113th Division (People's Republic of China)
The 113th Division was a military formation of the People's Volunteer Army during the Korean War with a standard strength of approximately 10,000 men...
, and 114th
114th Division (People's Republic of China)
The 114th Division was a military formation of the People's Volunteer Army during the Korean War with a standard strength of approximately 10,000 men...
Divisions. Under Lin Biao
Lin Biao
Lin Biao was a major Chinese Communist military leader who was pivotal in the communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, especially in Northeastern China...
in mid-June 1949, the 38th took part in the campaign to take Southern China and encircled Yichang
Yichang
Yichang is a prefecture-level city located in Hubei province of the People's Republic of China. It is the second largest city in Hubei province after the province capital, Wuhan. The Three Gorges Dam is located within its administrative area, in Yiling District.-History:In ancient times Yichang...
, Hubei
Hubei
' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...
and seized the city.
Korean War
The 38th, the 40th40th Army (People's Republic of China)
The 40th Army was a military formation of the People's Volunteer Army during the Korean War. It was composed of the 118th, 119th, and 120th Divisions.-History:In the morning of Oct...
and the 42nd
42nd Army (People's Republic of China)
The 42nd Army is a group army - a roughly corps-sized military formation - of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, active since the late 1940s.-History:...
Armies (the finest of the IV Army Group) along with the 27th
27th Army (People's Republic of China)
The 27th Group Army is a military formation of China's People's Liberation Army and one of three active group armies belonging to the Beijing Military Region. It is based in Shijiazhuang, Hebei and is composed of one armored brigade, two motorized infantry brigades, one artillery brigade, and an...
and the 39th
39th Army (People's Republic of China)
The 39th Army is a group army, a formation of roughly corps strength, of the People's Liberation Army.The Army was a military formation of the People's Volunteer Army during the Korean War...
Armies from South China were placed at Peng Dehuai
Peng Dehuai
Peng Dehuai was a prominent military leader of the Communist Party of China, and China's Defence Minister from 1954 to 1959. Peng was an important commander during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Chinese civil war and was also the commander-in-chief of People's Volunteer Army in the Korean War...
's disposal as part of the People's Volunteer Army
People's Volunteer Army
The Chinese People's Volunteer Army was the armed forces deployed by the People's Republic of China during the Korean War. Although all units in the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army belonged to the People's Liberation Army , the People's Volunteer Army was separately constituted in order to...
(Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) or Chinese Communist Forces (CCF)) XIII Army Group, for the initial Chinese intervention in Korea.
The 38th Army and the 42nd Army
42nd Army (People's Republic of China)
The 42nd Army is a group army - a roughly corps-sized military formation - of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, active since the late 1940s.-History:...
poured through the broken South Korean lines to Eighth Army’s east and threatening to envelop the entire force. The 38th Army was ultimately successful in setting up the "Gauntlet" against the US 2nd Infantry Division at Kunu-ri, and for its performance it received the title "Ten thousand years
Ten thousand years
The use of the phrase "ten thousand years" in various East Asian languages originated in ancient China as an expression used to wish long life to the Emperor, and is typically translated as "long live" in English...
Army".
The unit opposed the U.S. 45th Division during the Battle of Old Baldy
Battle of Old Baldy
The Battle of Old Baldy refers to a series of five engagements over a period of 10 months for Hill 266 in west-central Korea, though there was also vicious fighting both before and after these engagements.-Background:...
.
On October 6-15, 1952, the 38th Army fought in the battle for Baengma-goji
Battle of White Horse
The Battle of White Horse , was another in a series of bloody battles for dominant hilltop positions during the Korean War. Baengma-goji was a hill in the Iron Triangle, formed by Pyonggang at its peak and Kumhwa and Chorwon at its base, was a strategic transportation route in the central region...
, a 395-meter hill near the Iron Triangle
Iron Triangle (Korea)
The Iron Triangle was a key communist Chinese and North Korean concentration area and communications junction during the Korean War, located in the central sector between Chorwon and Kumwha in the south and Pyonggang in the north...
. During the course of the battle, the hill changed hands 24 times after repeated attacks and counterattackss for its possession. It was the most intense position-grasping battle for a small hill during the course of the Korean War. The 112th
112th Division (People's Republic of China)
The 112th Division was a military formation of the People's Volunteer Army during the Korean War with a standard strength of approximately 10,000 men...
and 114th
114th Division (People's Republic of China)
The 114th Division was a military formation of the People's Volunteer Army during the Korean War with a standard strength of approximately 10,000 men...
Divisions under the command of General Gang Ong-hwi were selected as the main force to capture Baengma-goji, and the 113th
113th Division (People's Republic of China)
The 113th Division was a military formation of the People's Volunteer Army during the Korean War with a standard strength of approximately 10,000 men...
Division was to replenish the losses of the main force. The 38th Army committed seven regiments out of its total of nine regiments and sustained a total of 14,332 casualties (8,234 identified deaths, 5,097 presumed deaths, 1,001 wounded, and 57 prisoners, while the 9th Division
9th Infantry Division (South Korea)
The 9th Infantry Division , also known as White Horse after the victory of Battle of White Horse, is an infantry division of the Republic of Korea Army...
of South Korea suffered a total of 3,422 casualties (505 dead, 2,562 injured and 391 missing), plus over 400 more casualties in the 1st Battalion of the 30th Regiment. The American Fifth Air Force
Fifth Air Force
The Fifth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan....
made a total of 745 sorties and poured more than 2,700 bombs of various kinds, together with over 358 napalm bombs, onto the hill. Chinese forces rained no less than 55,000 shells during the nine-day battle period, and the South Korean forces fired over 185,000 bombs. The 38th Army, after having been replaced by the 23rd Army, had to withdraw to the rear.
Cultural Revolution
The 38th Army returned to China in 1953, remaining in Manchuria to reinforce the Fourth Field Army. In 1967, during the Cultural Revolution, the 38th was relocated to the HebeiHebei
' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...
area to replace the 65th Corps. In 1968 the 38th was involved in clashes with elements of the Hebei Military District over differences in revolutionary fervor.
Tiananmen Square Protests
- Main article: Activities of the PLA During Tiananmen Protests of 1989Activities of the People’s Liberation Army During Tiananmen Protests of 1989With the Sino-Soviet Summit approaching and with the help of the local worker’s unions, the Beijing protesters reached one million supporters by 18 May 1989...
In 1989 during the students' protest
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident in Chinese , were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People's Republic of China beginning on 15 April 1989...
, the 38th Army was one of the main units ordered to crush the protests and impose martial law on Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. However, because of its close connections with the population of the nearby capital, and the fact that many students had served in the unit before attending university and that some students had performed summer training with the 38th as members of the army reserve
Military reserve force
A military reserve force is a military organization composed of citizens of a country who combine a military role or career with a civilian career. They are not normally kept under arms and their main role is to be available to fight when a nation mobilizes for total war or to defend against invasion...
, the unit was reluctant to comply. The 38th, under the command of General Xu Qinxian (Chinese: 徐勤先), refused to use force against the students when martial law was declared, and was reported to have been in a tense stand-off with the 27th Army
27th Army (People's Republic of China)
The 27th Group Army is a military formation of China's People's Liberation Army and one of three active group armies belonging to the Beijing Military Region. It is based in Shijiazhuang, Hebei and is composed of one armored brigade, two motorized infantry brigades, one artillery brigade, and an...
and other units which held the city in the days immediately following the bloody crackdown, giving rise to fears of a civil war.
Current
The 38th Group Army is currently one of the three group armies belonging to the Beijing Military Region. It is one of the best equipped and trained group army formations in China today, and is given the task to guard the national capital of Beijing. It also serves as a testbed for the latest equipments and doctrines developed by the PLA.An unidentified mechanized division (probably from the 38th Group Army) conducted an opposed force exercise in mid-August 2002. It is believed that the exercise may have taken place at the MR CAT Base near the Great Wall. The unit used more than ten new systems including new mine clearing vehicles, infantry fighting vehicles and tanks. The unit is reported to be one of the first mechanized infantry divisions in the PLA..
According to the December 2002 PLA Activities Report the U.I Mechanized Air Defense Brigade (Unit 66440) assigned to the 38th Group Army recently improved its tactics and methods of defending against cruise missile attacks. This consisted of improving the units fire-control systems and detection capabilities.
The Mechanized Air Defense Brigade, Unit 66440, has reportedly retrofitted its field command modules to provide command platforms with geographic information, air service information, battlefield monitoring and digital transmission, enhancing the units command and control capability and ability to conduct accurate air defense. The unit conducted several exercises in 2002 including a live-fire exercise.