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PLA 44th Army

The predecessor of the 44th Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army was the 7th Column of the Northeast Field Army. The column was developed during the war of liberation with a few troops from Shanhaiguan in the northern part of Liaoning province and the western part of Jilin province as the backbone.

From September to November 1945, the Third Division of the New Fourth Army, the 1st Brigade of Shaanxi-Ganning Teaching Division, the Jidong Military Region, the Jire Liao Military Region, and the Jinsui Military Region, etc. Each of the troops was transferred to Shenyang, Changchun, Siping, Liaobei and Jixi. Among them, the troops that entered Shenyang’s Jidong Military Region and Jinsui Military Region were expanded into Liaoji Military Region’s 1st Brigade in October, and other troops were expanded into local armed groups. Under the leadership of the Ximan Military Region, these brigades opened up bases in northern Liaoning and Jixi, established the people's regime, participated in the defense battles of Siping, and Kailu, Tongliao, and Maolin.

From February to March 1947, the local armed teams in the above-mentioned combat areas were incorporated into the 2nd Brigade of the Security Bureau of the Liaoji Military Region and the Independent Division of the Ximan Military Region. In April, the 1st, 2nd Brigade of the Security Bureau of the Liaoji Military Region and the Independent Division of the Ximan Military Region were renamed the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Divisions of the Independent Ximan Military Region in turn. From mid-May to early June, three independent divisions successively conquered Glass Mountain, Shuangshan, Yushutai and other places during the Northeast Summer Offensive. In mid and late June, it participated in the Siping attack and battle, and Ma Renxing, the commander of the independent first division, died in battle. In August, the 7th column of the Northeast Democratic Coalition was established in Shuangliao County, Jilin. Deng Hua served as commander and Tao Zhu served as political commissar. The three independent divisions were renamed the 19th, 20th, and 21st divisions in sequence. More than 21,000 people in the whole column. Participated in the Northeast Autumn Offensive from September to November. In January 1948, it was renamed the 7th Column of the Northeast People's Liberation Army.

From December 1947 to March 1948, participated in the Northeast Winter Offensive. From April to August, a new army consolidation campaign and military training were launched in the Siping area. From September to October, it participated in the battle of Liaoshen and cooperated with his comrades to conquer Jinzhou. It then surrounded the 9th Corps of the Kuomintang Army in the Montenegro and Dahushan areas, annihilated more than 40,000 enemies, and captured the deputy director of the Northeast Administrative Committee of the Kuomintang, Zhang Zuoxiang. And Zheng Tingji, commander of the 49th Army.

In November 1948, following the order of the Central Military Commission, the 7th Column was renamed the 44th Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Deng Hua served as military commander, Wu Fushan served as political commissar, Zeng Kelin served as deputy military commander, Tan Furen served as deputy political commissar and director of the Political Department, and Gao Tiqian served as chief of staff. Former 19th Division was renamed to 130th Division, Xu Shaohua was appointed to be the division head, Deng Dongzhe was appointed Political Committee; 20th Division was renamed to the 131st Division, Liu Shuiyuan was appointed to the division, Luo Yourong was the Political Committee; 21st Division was renamed to the 132nd division, Li Huamin was the division, Zhu Min was the politics Commissioner; the 12th Division of the Northeast Field Army’s Independent Division was transferred to the army’s organizational system and renamed the 157th Division. Zeng Jingfan was the division chief and Xing Cheng was the political committee. There were more than 48,000 troops in the whole army, which belong to the Northeast Field Army.

From December to January 1949, participated in the Battle of Pingjin. In April, the army was incorporated into the 15th Corps of the Fourth Field Army, and Tianjin marched toward Central China and South China. In June, the 157th Division was transferred to the Jiangxi Military Region. In July, the army crossed the Yangtze River in Jiujiang to participate in the battle between Hunan and Jiangxi. From October to November, it participated in the Battle of Guangdong, and was then responsible for the Guangzhou police and the robbers in central and eastern Guangdong.

From May to August 1950, the 131st Division liberated the Wanshan Islands with the cooperation of the Jiangfen Army and the artillery of the Guangdong Military Region. In September, the police task in Guangzhou was lifted and transferred to the bandits from the northern suburbs of Guangzhou to Yangshan and Wengyuan.

In October 1952, the 44th Army was revoked, and the military organization was merged into the naval organization of the Central South Military Region; the 130th Division and the 45th Army were combined into the 54th Army; the 131st Division Division was relocated to the Navy Base in Qingdao; the 132nd Division was relocated.