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PLA 18th Army

The predecessor of the 18th Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army was the 20th Brigade of the 1st Column of Yuyuan Soviet Military Region and the 1st Column of the Central Plains Field Army under the Jinjiluyuyu Military Region.

After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, in order to counter the Kuomintang army's large-scale attack on the liberated area and prepare to execute strategic tasks maneuverably, the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu Military Region followed the instructions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to form a super-local regular corps and divided the 1st Army of the Jin-Ji-Lu Yu Military Region The 2nd Regiment, Independent Regiment, the 19th Brigade organized by the 1st Regiment of Hebei Civil Army in the 10th Army Division; the 5th Regiment, Independent Regiment, 8th Army Division.

The 20th Brigade composed of the 9th Regiment of the 11th Army Division; the 21st Brigade composed of the 9th Army Division Cavalry Regiment, Independent Regiment, Weihe Detachment and New 4th Road formed the 7th in the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu Military Region in Huaxian County, Henan In the column, Yang Yong was the commander, Zhang Linzhi was the political commissar, Zhao Jimei was the deputy commander, Zhang Guohua was the deputy political commissar, Chang Binggui was the chief of staff, and Wang Huiqiu was the director of the political department. After the formation of the column, they went south to fight in the east.

In December 1946, Zhang Guohua was instructed to lead the 7th Column of the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu Military Region to cross the Longhai Line south and meet with the 6th Army Division of the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu Military Region and the 8th Central China Army Division in the Pinggang area of Suixian County. On the 12th, the Henan-Anhui Soviet Military Region was established. Commander Zhang Guohua, political commissar Wu Zhipu, chief of staff Chen Mingyi, and director of the political department Wang Youping, were affiliated to the Jinjiluyu Military Region. After the formation of the Yu Ansu Soviet Military Region, it also entered the northern Henan counterattack.

In March 1947, the 7th Column of the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu Military Region and the 1st Column of the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu Military Region became the 1st Column of the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu Field Army. Under the jurisdiction of the 1st and 2nd Brigade; the number of the 19th and 20th Brigade of the former 7th column remains unchanged, the 21st Brigade was revoked, and the troops were assigned to the 19th and 20th Brigade respectively. In June, the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu field army advanced into Dabie Mountain. The 20th Brigade of the 1st Column crossed the Yellow River south, first participated in the Battle of Southwestern Shandong, and then continued to march for more than 20 days, with a journey of 1300 miles, smashing the enemy to encircle and intercept, arrived at the northern foot of Dabie Mountain, and entered the struggle to open up Southeast Henan.

At the same time, in order to cooperate with the field army to carry out the Southwestern Shandong Campaign and advance towards the Central Plains, the troops from the Henan-Anhui-Sudan Military Command swept across the border area of Henan-Anhui-Sudan, conquered 7 cities, and wiped out more than 6,000 enemies; they then attacked Pinghan Road and captured Huaiyang, etc. 5 city. In May 1948, the Central Plains Military Region was established. The Henan-Wansu Soviet Military Region was changed to the Central Plains Military Region. The Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu Field Army was renamed the Central Plains Field Army. The 20th Brigade was renamed the 20th Brigade of the 1st Column of the Central Plains Field Army. After that, the brigade participated in the battles of Wandong, Kaifeng, Suiqi and Xiangfan. Starting in October, the 20th Brigade and the Henan-Anhui-Sudan Military Command all participated in the Huaihai Campaign.

In February 1949, the Central Plains Field Army was reorganized into the Second Field Army according to the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China’s Central Military Commission and the number of troops. The 20th Brigade was built as the 18th Army and was affiliated with the 5th Corps of the Second Field Army. On February 18th, the 18th Army was formally established in Wutai Temple, Luyi County, Henan. Zhang Guohua served as the commander of the military, Tan Guansan served as the political commissar, Chang Binggui served as the deputy military commander, Wang Youping served as the deputy political committee, Chen Mingyi served as the chief of staff, and Guo Yingqiu served as the chief of staff. Director of the Political Department, Xia Zhongyuan served as Minister of Logistics.

The 20th Brigade of the 1st Column was renamed the 52nd Division, Wu Zhong was the divisional commander, and Liu Zhenguo was the divisional political commissar; the former Independent Brigade of the Henan-Wansu Soviet Military Region was reorganized as the 53rd division, Jin Shaoshan was the divisional chief, and Wang Qimei was the divisional political commissar; The 1st Regiment of the 1st Army Division, the 11th Regiment of the 2nd Army Division, and the 36th Regiment of the 3rd Army Division formed the 54th Division, with Wei Hongliang serving as the division chief and Luo Yegang as the political commissar of the division. There were more than 27,000 troops in the army. After the 18th Army was established, it immediately began to prepare for crossing the river to the south.

On April 20, the battle of crossing the river began. The 18th Army, as the general reserve team of the Second Field Army of the Jiangxi Crossing Army Group, successfully crossed the Yangtze River from Anqing to Zongyang Town on the 26th and advanced towards the Yinjiajiang, Qimen, Kaihua and Quzhou lines to chase and evade the enemy. On May 5, in the battle of Ma Jinling, more than 5,000 people from the Kuomintang Anhui Provincial Bao 3 Brigade and Bao 5 Brigade were wiped out, and Zhang Yichun, the Kuomintang Anhui Provincial Chairman and Lieutenant General Security Commander, was captured.

Afterwards, the 18th Army entered the Poyang Lake to the west, liberated Hukou, Duchang, Jiujiang and Lushan, to ensure the safety of the army going south. Beginning at the end of June, the army had been assigned to the 4th Regiment of the Second Field Army, commanded by the Fourth Field Army, to participate in the Battle of Hunan and Jiangxi, and the 12th Regiment of the Fourth Field Army to participate in the Battle of Hengbao. The 58th Army was annihilated, and more than 800 enemies were captured. After that, the 18th Army was rebuilt, and the Shaoyang area was assembled and transferred to preparations for entering the southwest.

In early November 1949, the army began to march towards the southwestern part of the country. The 18th Army was the second echelon of the 5th Corps, marching towards Xiangxi, and the camera participated in the battle. On the 24th, after advancing into Guiyang, it followed the 16th Army towards the south of Sichuan; the 54th Division stayed in Bijie to deal with the enemy forces of Guizhou and Yunnan, and defended the safety of the troops after entering Sichuan. The main force passes Junlian, along Zhenxiong, Luobiao, and Gongxian, straight out of Yibin, cutting off the enemy's road to Yunnan. On December 11, Guo Ruhuai, commander of the 22nd Corps of the Kuomintang Army, led the 72nd Army in Yibin Uprising.

The 18th Army, in addition to leaving a part to take over Yibin, mainly crossed the Yangtze River and advanced towards Leshan along the river, cutting off the enemy's last escape route in Chengdu. After participating in the Battle of Chengdu, the 18th Army stayed in the west of Sichuan to serve as the remnants of the Kuomintang army and bandits. During this period, Wang Qimei served as deputy political commissar of the army, and Liu Zhenguo served as director of the political department.

On January 6, 1950, the Southwest Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Southwest Military Region ordered the 18th Army to cooperate with the 14th Army and the Northwest Military Region to carry out its mission to Tibet. On the 21st, Li Jue served as the second chief of staff. On February 2, the Marching Tibet Support Command was established in Chongqing. Chang Binggui, deputy commander of the 18th Army, served as commander, and the logistics minister of the 3rd Corps Xu Guangyi served as political commissar. On February 3, the 18th Army formed an advance detachment for entering Tibet, with Chen Zizhi, deputy division commander of the 52nd Division, as commander, and Chen Jingbo, Minister of Military Enemy and Industry as a political commissar. On March 18th, the 18th Army held a meeting of marching to Tibet in Leshan.

On the 29th, Wu Zhong, head of the 52nd Division, led the 154th Regiment as the advance detachment for entering Tibet. It departed from Leshan and arrived in Ganzi on April 28. After deputy political commissar of the army Wang Qimei and chief of staff of Li Jue arrived in Ya'an, the original advance detachment for entering Tibet was changed to the forward command post and arrived in Ganzi. At the beginning of April, Miao Piyi, the deputy political commissar of the 53rd Division of the 18th Army, led the 157th Regiment as the advance team of South Road. It departed from Dingshan and arrived in Ba'an (present-day Batang) on July 30. At the same time, three other regiments and the military straight took part in the construction of the road from Ya'an to Ganzi. Beginning in early October, the 52nd Division of the 18th Army, with the cooperation of the comrades, carried out the Battle of Qamdo. After more than 20 battles, there were 9 generations of the Tibetan Army (one generation was equivalent to 1 regiment), of which the 9th generation uprising.

This campaign wiped out more than 5,700 enemies and liberated Qamdo, opening the door to Tibet and creating conditions for the peaceful liberation of Tibet. On January 18, 1951, the former Tibet Support Command merged with the 18th Army Corps in Sichuan. Formed the 18th Army Rear Forces Command, the Army Chief of Staff Chen Mingyi served as commander and political commissar, He Yunong, former Chief of Staff of the Tibet Support Command, also served as Chief of Staff, supported and repaired as the Second Chief of Staff, and Bai Jian as Director of the Political Department. On the second day, the Panchen Guard Battalion entered Tibet with the Northwest Field Army's troops entering Tibet, and was organized into the 18th Army sequence. In April, the 53rd Division, 54th Division, Military Direct and other departments of the Rear Force 1. More than 40,000 people built the Ganzi Airport. In May, a road between Ganzi and Changdu was constructed. Later, the Kangzang Highway Construction Command was established, and Chen Mingyi was also the commander.

Following the instructions of Chairman Mao Zedong's "Making progress while building roads", the road-building troops, with the support of fraternal troops and people of all ethnic groups, built the "Golden Bridge" from Beijing to Lhasa after five years of hard work, with a total length of 225 kilometers The Kangzang Highway was successfully opened to traffic on December 25, 1954. On May 23, 1951, the Central People's Government and the local government of Tibet signed an agreement on the peaceful liberation of Tibet. On the 25th, the Central Military Commission issued an order to enter Tibet, and the 18th Army began to march across Lhasa and across Tibet. On July 1, Zhang Guohua, Tan Guansan and other military organizations set off from Ganzi to Lhasa. On the 25th, the advance army detachment was established, with Wang Qimei as commander and political commissar, Chen Jingbo as chief of staff, and Lin Liang as director of the political department. The advance detachment departed from Qamdo and stationed in Jokhang, Shigatse, Gyangze, and Jiali on September 7 to successfully complete the mission of entering Tibet and peacefully liberating Tibet.

In December 1951, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Central Military Commission decided to establish the Tibet Military Region, with the 18th Army leading into Tibet to form a military region organ and be stationed in Lhasa (belonging to the leadership of the Southwest Military Region). Commander Zhang Guohua, political commissar Tan Guansan, deputy commander Chang Binggui, deputy political commissar Wang Qimei, chief of staff Li Jue, and director of the political department Liu Zhenguo. Under the jurisdiction of the 52nd, 53rd, 54th Division, Changdu Security District, Shigatse Security District, Heihe Security District, the 18th Army Rear Force Command and the 1st Regiment of Cavalry, the 5th, 8th Regiment of Engineers, the Tibet Military Region Cadre School, Independent Detachment, Panchen Guard Battalion, 9th Generation, etc. On February 10, 1952, the Tibet Military Region was formally established in Lhasa. On March 17, the 18th Army was changed to the Tibet Military Region, and the designation was immediately revoked.