73rd Group Army

73rd Group Army
第七十三集团军
Active	1985–present
Country	People's Republic of China
Allegiance	Chinese Communist Party
Branch	People's Liberation Army Ground Force
Type	Group army
Size	Field army
Part of	Eastern Theater Command
Garrison/HQ	Jimei, Xiamen, Fujian
Engagements	Chinese Civil War
Commanders
Current commander	Major General Ding Laifu
Political Commissar	Major General Fang Ming
Insignia
NATO Map Symbol

The 73rd Group Army is a formation of China's People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF) subordinated to the Eastern Theater Command (ETC). The ETC's area of responsibility includes Taiwan,^[1] and the 73rd Group Army includes amphibious forces.^[2]

The 73rd Group Army was known as the 31st Group Army until April 2017.^[1] The group army was considered an elite unit.^[3]

History

Chinese Civil War

Main article: Chinese Civil War

The 31st Group Army traces its lineage to the Shantung Column of the Shantung Military Region which was formed around 1941. By 1945 the column had been reorganized and redesignated into several military districts, including the Chiao-Tung Military District. By 1946, elements of the Chiao-Tung MD were reorganized and redesignated 9th and 13th Columns. The 13th Column, commanded by Chou Chih-chien was composed of three divisions, including the 37th, 38th, and 39th. In the mid-to-late 1940s the 13th Column was reorganized and redesignated as the 31st Corps, also commanded by Chou Chih-chien. The 31st Corps was composed of the 91st, 92nd and 93rd Divisions.^{[4][page needed]}

By August 1949,^[5] 31st Corps was subordinated to the 10th Army of the Third Field Army.^[6] 29th and 31st Corps captured Zhangzhou in late-September.^[5] It participated in the capture of Xiamen and Gulangyu, and the Battle of Guningtou, in October.^[7]

The corps became the core of the 31st Group Army.^[8]

21st century

In early October 1991 the 258th Regiment of the 86th Motorized Infantry Division, along with units from various military sub-districts, conducted defensive exercises and combined militia exercises in the Banding Area, Lianjiang Xian, Fujian Province. In mid October to early November 1991 the 92nd and 93rd Infantry Divisions (since disbanded) of the 31st Group Army conducted routine training and field training activities in the Fuzhou area of Changpu and Nanan. In early April 1992 the signal corps of the 31st Signal Regiment conducted routine training and an overall signal training and evaluation between veterans and replacements in Xiamen, Fujian Province.^[9]

Composition

In 2024, the formation included the following components:

• 1 special operations brigade^[2]
• 1 armored brigade^[2]
• 1 mechanized infantry brigade^[2]
• 2 infantry brigade^[2]
• 2 amphibious brigades^[2]
• 1 artillery brigade^[2]
• 1 engineering/NBC brigade^[2]
• 1 support brigade^[2]
• 1 helicopter brigade^[2]
• 1 air defense brigade^[2]

References

Citations

1. Saunders et al. 2019, p. 240.
2. The International Institute for Strategic Studies 2024, p. 261.
3. Saunders et al. 2019, p. 35.
4. Whitson & Huang 1973.
5. Whitson & Huang 1973, p. 244.
6. Yoshihara 2022, pp. 66–67.
7. Yoshihara 2022, pp. 68–79.
8. Swaine 1992, p. 82.
9. Richard H. Yang eds. China's Military: The PLA in 1992/1993 (Taipei: Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies; 1993): p. 191-2

Sources

• The International Institute for Strategic Studies (February 13, 2024). The Military Balance 2024. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-032-78004-7.
• Saunders, Phillip C.; Ding, Arthur S.; Scobell, Andrew; Yang, Andrew N.D.; Joel, Wuthnow, eds. (2019). Chairman Xi Remakes the PLA: Assessing Chinese Military Reforms. Washington, D.C.: National Defense University Press. ISBN 978-1070233420.
• Swaine, Michael D. (1992). The Military & Political Succession in China: Leadership Institutions Beliefs (Report). Santa Monica, California: RAND Corporation. ISBN 0-8330-1296-7. R-4254-AF.
• Whitson, William W.; Huang, Chen-hsia (1973). The Chinese High Command: A History of Communist Military Politics, 1927-71. New York: Praeger. ISBN 978-1-349-01982-3.
• Yoshihara, Toshi (2022). Mao's Army Goes To Sea: The Island Campaigns and the Founding of China's Navy. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. ISBN 9781647122829.