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PLA 66th Army

The predecessor of the 66th Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army was the 1st Column of the North China Military Region. The column was developed with more than 30 anti-Japanese guerrillas formed in the Ji-Jin area in 1937, 1938, and 1939, with a few Red Army members as the backbone. Some of its Red Army backbones include some guard soldiers who served as head guards for the headquarters of the headquarters during the Long March, and later the Eighth Route Army Guard Regiment. Some Red Army soldiers who participated in the 13th Regiment of the Red Army 5th Regiment and participated in the Pingjiang Uprising and persisted in the struggle over Jinggangshan. Part of the fighters of the 359th brigade Yanbei detachment of the 120th Division. These guerrillas have been active in the central and northern Taihang Mountains during the Anti-Japanese War.

In the early days of the Liberation War, the above-mentioned guerrillas developed into the independent first and second brigades of the Ji-Jin Military Region. From then on, the 1st and 2nd Brigade, under the command of Zhao Erlu, commander of the Jin-Jin Military Region, and Wang Ping, political commissar, fought in North China, where the first battle was Zhicun, and the flag was won; whole city. In November 1947, according to the instructions of the Central Military Commission, the Jijin Military Region and Chahar Military Region merged to form the Beiyue Military Region, Tang Yanjie served as commander, and Wang Ping served as political commissar. The troops belonged to the 1st column of Beiyue Military Region. The commander was concurrently served by Tang Yanjie, the political commissar was concurrently served by Wang Ping, Xiao Wenjiu was the deputy commander, Zhang Kaijing was the chief of staff, and Zhang Liankui was the director of the political department. The original independent first and second brigades were renamed the first and second brigades, respectively, and the original independent fourth brigades were renamed the third brigade.

In December, the ministry participated in the Pinghan Road raid, hitting the enemy's 35th military headquarters. In March 1948, the Ministry participated in the battles of Cha (Haer) South and Suidong, and conquered Tianzhen. In April, participated in the Yingxian battle. In May, Beiyue Military Region was under the direct jurisdiction of North China Military Region. In July, the Ministry participated in the Battle of Baoding. In August, in order to meet the needs of large-scale sports and tough battles, the 1st Column was organized as the 1st Column of the 3rd Corps of North China. Tang Yanjie served as commander, Kuang Fuzhao served as political commissar, and Zhang Liankui served as deputy political commissar and director of the political department. In September, the Ministry participated in the battle of Chasui. It successively conquered Jining, Fengzhen, Liangcheng and other strongholds, and cooperated with the comrades to liberate the vast areas of Suiyuan and Chabei. In December, it participated in the Battle of Pingjin and liberated Zhangjiakou, Xuanhua and other towns with his comrades.

In February 1949, in accordance with the Central Military Commission’s order to unify the organization and the number of troops, the Ministry was renamed the 66th Army of the People’s Liberation Army in Shunyi County, Hebei Province (now Beijing), under the 20th Corps (direct headquarters). Xiao Xinhuai served as military commander, Wang Zifeng served as political commissar, and Zhang Liankui served as deputy political commissar and director of the political department. The former 1st Brigade was renamed the 196th Division, Zeng Mei was the division head, and Ding Leif was the political commissar; the 2nd Brigade was renamed the 197th Division, Cheng Shaofu was the division chief, and Zhong Bingchang was the political commissar; the 3rd Brigade was renamed the 198th Division, Zhang Kaijing was the commander, Huang Lianqiu was the political commissar. In April, the 66th Army participated in the Taiyuan Battle, and liberated Taiyuan in collaboration with friendly forces. The 589th Regiment won the glorious title of "Dengcheng Pioneer Regiment". In May, it was reorganized from the 56th Division of the 96th Army of the former Kuomintang Army into the 55th Division of the Independent Army.

In August 1950, the independent 206th Division (under-department organization), the Independent 208th Division (under-department organization and 622th Regiment) and the 2nd and 3rd Regiment of the Taiyuan Provincial Military Region Police, a total of more than 12,000 people were included in the 66 Army. In October, the 66th Army entered the Korean battle and participated in the first to fourth battles. On March 15, 1951, it was ordered to return to China for rest. From June to November 1952, the newly formed three division artillery regiments, three anti-aircraft artillery battalions, and three anti-aircraft artillery battalions of the army were also ordered to enter the North Korean battle, which lasted for more than a year, and were assigned to 14 divisions. Successfully completed the task and returned to China in November 1953 for rebuilding.

During the period of entering the Korean War, the army emerged the "Quqiaoli Blocking Hero Camp", "Steel Gallbladder Iron Battlefield Hero Communication Company", "Tiexueshan Hero Company" and Yu Dejiang, Li Yu, Liu Taoshun, Zhang Xuji, Hou Bo Lock and many other heroic exemplary units and fighting heroes.

The 66th Corps was composed of the 196th, 197th, and 198th Divisions. The army was active in the Beijing Military Region until being disbanded in the 1985.