| 166th Division (1948–49) | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1948.11 - 1949.7 |
| Country | People's Republic of China |
| Branch | People's Liberation Army |
| Type | Division |
| Role | Infantry |
| Part of | Fourth Field Army |
| Engagements | Chinese Civil War |
The 166th Division (Chinese :第166师) was created in November 1948 under the Regulation of the Redesignations of All Organizations and Units of the Army, issued by Central Military Commission on November 1, 1948, [1] basing on the 4th Independent Division, PLA Northeastern Field Army. The 166th Division was a Korean unit, composing of mostly Korean officers and soldiers.
Chinese is a group of related, but in many cases not mutually intelligible, language varieties, forming the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Chinese is spoken by the Han majority and many minority ethnic groups in China. About 1.2 billion people speak some form of Chinese as their first language.
The Fourth Field Army was a military formation of the People's Liberation Army. It was formed during the Chinese Civil War by existing members of Eighth Route Army and New Fourth Army stationed in Manchuria along with others, where they fought against the Republic of China government. The army also incorporated elements of the former Manchurian occupation forces, which included around 30 thousand Japanese troops. The army was commanded by Lin Biao, and it was involved in many crucial battles including the Liaoshen Campaign.
The division was under control of Northeastern Military District. Under the flag of 166th division it took part in the Chinese Civil War. In July 1949, the division was disbanded, and all its 10620 Korean officers and soldiers moved to North Korea, where it was re-organized as 6th Division of the Korean People's Army.
The Chinese Civil War was a war fought between the Kuomintang (KMT)-led government of the Republic of China and the Communist Party of China (CPC). Although particular attention is paid to the four years of Chinese Communist Revolution from 1945 to 1949, the war actually started in August 1927, with the White Terror at the end of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's Northern Expedition, and essentially ended when major hostilities between the two sides ceased in 1950. The conflict took place in two stages: the first between 1927 and 1937, and the second from 1946 to 1950, with the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937–1945 separating them. The war marked a major turning point in modern Chinese history, with the Communists gaining control of mainland China and establishing the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, forcing the Republic of China (ROC) to retreat to Taiwan. It resulted in a lasting political and military standoff between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, with the ROC in Taiwan and the PRC in mainland China both officially claiming to be the legitimate government of all China.
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is a country in East Asia constituting the northern part of the Korean Peninsula, with Pyongyang the capital and the largest city in the country. The name Korea is derived from Goguryeo which was one of the great powers in East Asia during its time, ruling most of the Korean Peninsula, Manchuria, parts of the Russian Far East and Inner Mongolia, under Gwanggaeto the Great. To the north and northwest, the country is bordered by China and by Russia along the Amnok and Tumen rivers; it is bordered to the south by South Korea, with the heavily fortified Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two. Nevertheless, North Korea, like its southern counterpart, claims to be the legitimate government of the entire peninsula and adjacent islands.
The 6th Infantry Division is a military formation of the Korean People's Army Ground Force.
As of its disbandment the division was composed of:
- 496th Regiment;
- 497th Regiment;
- 498th Regiment.
