4th Corps or Cửu Long Corps is one of the four regular army corps of the Vietnam People's Army

Vietnam People's Army

The Vietnam People's Army is the armed forces of Vietnam. The VPA includes: the Vietnamese People's Ground Forces , the Vietnam People's Navy , the Vietnam People's Air Force, and the Vietnam Marine Police.During the French Indochina War , the VPA was often referred to as the Việt...

. First organized in 1974 during the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

, 4th Corps had a major role in the Ho Chi Minh Campaign

Ho Chi Minh Campaign

The Hồ Chí Minh Campaign was the final title applied to a series of increasingly large-scale and ambitious offensive operations by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam which began on 13 December 1974...

 and the Cambodian–Vietnamese War. Today the corps is stationed in Dĩ An

Di An

Dĩ An, Bình Dương , is a town of Binh Duong Province in the Southeast region of Vietnam. It is about 20 km north of Ho Chi Minh City. It is 1706 km by rail from Hanoi. As of 2003 the towan had a population of 136,530...

, Bình Dương.

History

In July 1973, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam

Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam established 1930, is the highest authority within the Communist Party of Vietnam elected by the Party National Congresses...

 after its 21st conference issued a resolution of strengthening the armed forces in order to unify the country. In executing the issue, three months later the Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence (Vietnam)

Ministry of Defence is the governmental ministry of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam that manages, coordinates and supervises military affairs, including all military units, paramilitary units, and similar agencies in the country. The major office of the Ministry of Defence is located within the...

 and the Military Commission of the Central Committee approved the plan of organizing regular army corps for the Vietnam People's Army. On July 20, 1974, General Võ Nguyên Giáp

Vo Nguyen Giap

Võ Nguyên Giáp is a retired Vietnamese officer in the Vietnam People’s Army and a politician. He was a principal commander in two wars: the First Indochina War and the Vietnam War...

, Minister of Defence, signed the edict that led to the establishment of the 4th Corps in Đông Nam Bộ, where is located the part of Mekong River called Cửu Long River (Cửu Long Giang or Sông Cửu Long), from which came the name Cửu Long Corps of the unit. The first headquarters of the corps consisted of party committee secretary (bí thư) Hoàng Thế Thiện and commander (tư lệnh) Hoàng Cầm.

During the Ho Chi Minh Campaign

Ho Chi Minh Campaign

The Hồ Chí Minh Campaign was the final title applied to a series of increasingly large-scale and ambitious offensive operations by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam which began on 13 December 1974...

, it was 4th Corps that advanced through the delta regions of Phước Long

Phuoc Long

Phuoc Long may refer to:*Phuoc Long, Bac Lieu, a district in Bac Lieu Province, Vietnam*Phước Long, Bạc Liêu -district seat*Phuoc Long, Binh Phuoc, a district in Binh Phuoc Province in Vietnam...

, Biên Hòa

Bien Hoa

Biên Hòa is a city in Dong Nai province, Vietnam, about east of Ho Chi Minh City , to which Bien Hoa is linked by Vietnam Highway 1.- Demographics :In 1989 the estimated population was over 300,000. In 2005, the population wss 541,495...

 and later captured the Special Capital Military District of Saigon and several important targets within Saigon. After the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

, 4th Corps continued to engage in the Cambodian–Vietnamese War, the corps was awarded the title Hero of the People's Armed Forces (Anh hùng Lực lượng vũ trang nhân dân) in 1980.

Organization

The command structure of 1st Corps consists of the High Command (Bộ tư lệnh), the Staff of 2nd Corps (Bộ tham mưu), the Political Department (Cục chính trị), the Department of Logistics (Cục hậu cần) and the Department of Technique (Cục kỹ thuật). The combat forces of the corps include the 9th Infantry Division, 7th Infantry Division, 309th Infantry Division, 71st Regiment of Air Defence, 24th Artillery Regiment, 429th Regiment of Special Force and 550th Regiment of Engineers.

Commanders

Time	Commander	Notes
1974–1981	Maj. Gen. Hoàng Cầm
1981–1982	Col. Nguyễn Văn Quảng
1982–1988	Maj. Gen. Võ Văn Dần
1988–1991	Maj. Gen. Vũ Văn Thước
1991–1995	Maj. Gen. Lê Văn Dũng	Later promoted to General, Director of the General Department of Politics.
1995–1999	Maj. Gen. Nguyễn Minh Chu
1999–2004	Maj. Gen. Nguyễn Năng Nguyễn	Later promoted to Lieutenant General, Deputy Chief of the General Staff.
2004–present	Maj. Gen. Nguyễn Văn Thành