| 62nd Division (1949–58) 62nd Infantry Division (1958–60) 62nd Army Division (1960-85) 1st Garrison Division of Lanzhou Military Region (1985–92) | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1949.2 - 1992.10 |
| Country | People's Republic of China |
| Branch | People's Liberation Army |
| Type | Division |
| Role | Infantry, Garrison |
| Part of | 21st Army Corps, Lanzhou Military Region |
| Engagements | Chinese Civil War, Korean War |
The 62nd Division (Chinese :第62师) was created in February 1949 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 5th Division, 2nd Column of the Huadong Field Army. Its history could be traced to the 5th Brigade, 4th Column of Eighth Route Army formed in July 1947.
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 Eighth Route Army, officially known as the 18th Army Group of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China, was a group army under the command of the Chinese Communist Party, nominally within the structure of the Chinese military headed by the Chinese Nationalist Party during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
The division was a part of 21st Corps. Under the flag of 62nd the division took part several major battles during the Chinese Civil War.
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.
In March 1953 the division entered Korea as a part of People's Volunteer Army. During its deployment in Korean it took part in the Battle of Kumsong. In August 1958 the division returned from Korea and renamed as 62nd Infantry Division(Chinese :步兵第62师).
The (Chinese) People's Volunteer Army was the armed expatriate volunteer forces deployed by the People's Republic of China during the War to Resist the United States and aid North Korea. Although all units in the Chinese People's Volunteer Army were actually transferred from the People's Liberation Army under orders of Mao Zedong, the People's Volunteer Army was separately constituted in order to prevent an official war with the United States. The People's Volunteer Army entered Korea on October 19, 1950, and completely withdrew by October 1958. The nominal commander and political commissar of the PVA was Peng Dehuai before the ceasefire agreement in 1953, although both Chen Geng and Deng Hua served as acting commander and commissar after April 1952 due to Peng's illness. The initial units in the PVA included 38th, 39th, 40th, 42nd, 50th, 66th Corp totaling 250,000 men, and eventually about 3 million Chinese civilian and military personnel served in Korea by July 1953.
The Battle of Kumsong, also known as the Jincheng Campaign, was one of the last battles of the Korean War. In July 1953, after the Republic of Korea (ROK) refused to participate in peace negotiations between the Communist and UN forces, the Chinese forces launched an attack on the Kumsong River Salient at the south of the town of Kumsong, scoring a victory over the UNC forces.
The division was then composed of:
- 184th Infantry Regiment;
- 185th Infantry Regiment;
- 186th Infantry Regiment;
- 342nd Artillery Regiment.
In April 1960 the division was renamed as 62nd Army Division(Chinese :陆军第62师).
In November the division detached from the Corps and was put under direct control of Lanzhou Military Region, and exchanged its 184th Infantry Regiment with 181st Infantry Regiment from 61st Army Division.
The Lanzhou Military Region was one of seven military regions in the People's Republic of China. It directed all military and armed police forces in Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, and Shaanxi. The Ali area of northwest Tibet also falls under this Region. It is headquartered in Lanzhou in Gansu Province. It is bordered to the south by the Chengdu Military Region, and to the north by Mongolia, the Altai Republic, which is a political subdivision of the Russian Federation, and Kazakhstan. This region is now part of the Western Theater Command due to the military reforms of 2015.
In February 1967, the division returned to 21st Army Corps' control after 21st's redeployment to Lanzhou Military Region.
In December 1969, 342nd Artillery Regiment was renamed as Artillery Regiment, 62nd Army Division.
In late 1975, 181st and 184th Infantry Regiments returned to their parent units.
In 1985 the division was re-organized and renamed as 1st Garrison Division of Lanzhou Military Region(Chinese :兰州军区守备第1师)(3rd formation). By then the division was composed of:
- 1st Garrison Regiment (former 184th Infantry);
- 2nd Garrison Regiment (former 185th Infantry);
- 3rd Garrison Regiment (former 186th Infantry);
- Artillery Regiment.
In October 1992 the division was disbanded and reduced as Independent Infantry Regiment of Ningxia Military District(Chinese :宁夏军区独立步兵团).
