People's Liberation Army Navy - Marine Corps - History
In order to effectively safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, China has always attached great importance to the study of the implementation of amphibious operations, and the decisive force to achieve such a program - the military and weaponry of amphibious operations - has naturally become a top priority.
During the Revolution of 1911, the Guangdong Revolutionary Army formed the Marine Corps. The development of formal amphibious force in China can be traced back to the early days of the founding of the People's Republic. In order to attack Taiwan by force, the naval infantry was established in the early 1950s. By 1952, five land divisions and two chariot groups were formed.
In order to liberate Taiwan, the PLA set up its first marine regiment in April 1953. The regiment was enlarged to be a Marine division under the East China Navy of the PLA. On the southeastern coastal islands, the East China Military Region was based on the 1st Infantry Regiment and 2 Infantry Battalions of the Army. The 1st Marine Corps was formed, marking the official establishment of the Marine Corps of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. On December 9, 1954, on the basis of the first regiment of the Marine Corps and the teaching group of the amphibious tanks, the first division of the Marine Corps Division and the 2nd Regiment of the Sailors of the East China Military Region were merged to form the first Marine Division.
After the end of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, part of the Chinese forces providing aid to the DPRK troops was assigned to the Marine Corps, and its strength was once as high as 110,000 (8 divisions).
In terms of training of the troops, the Navy established a land-based school in Fujian in 1955 to train grassroots cadres in amphibious operations, and to formulate amphibious operational education syllabus, formulate operational regulations, and study new tactics with reference to foreign technology. In addition to the establishment of an exclusive educational school, the Navy has also established a number of amphibious training grounds, which can be combined with combat physical fitness and amphibious basic training, tactical training, specialized arms training and multi-military and arms training. In addition to training for the Marine Corps, these training grounds can also provide a number of infantry divisions for amphibious assault training each year. They can form landing troops alone or with the Marine Corps, and cooperate with landing ships to conduct amphibious exercises.
In January 1957, the Central Military Commission adjusted the organization of the entire army, and the Marines were revoked, but the Marine Corps was retained. In June 1957, the marine division was reorganized. Though the Marine Corps was originally established in the 1950s to conduct amphibious operations against Nationalist held islands, the organization was disbanded in October 1957 when the PLA essentially abandoned plans to liberate Taiwan by force. Following the disbanding of the Marine Corps, the PLAN did maintain a naval infantry, which consisted of several infantry and amphibious tank regiments.
In the 1960s and 1970s when the Marines were revoked, the PLA, in addition to the professional Marine Corps , also equipped an army division for each fleet (the East China Sea Fleet , the South China Sea Fleet , and the North Sea Fleet ) to participate in the landing campaign. The Marine Corps of the fleet is responsible for landing training for these Army divisions. During this period, the landing campaigns of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy were basically carried out in this form.
Since the People’s Liberation Army built its own army, the experience of landing operations across the sea has been less than that of land operations. In a few landing operations experience, there are both successful experiences and lessons of failure. Both success and failure occurred in the late 1940s and early 1950s. After the "August 23" Golden Gate Artillery, the People's Liberation Army never experienced the baptism of landing operations across the sea.
In December 1979, the PLA Navy started under orders to reestablish the Marine Corps to meet the demand of modern warfare, especially the rapid deployment of the South China Sea. In 1979 the CMC re-established the Marine Corps and organized it under the PLAN. On May 5, 1980 the 1st Marine Brigade was activated on Hainan Island.
On May 5, 1980, the 1st brigade of the South China Sea Fleet was officially established on the Longzhou River in Hainan Island . Soon, the East China Sea and the North Sea Fleet also formed a land brigade. Each land war brigade has three land camps, one tank battalion, one artillery battalion, one amphibious tank battalion, and one communication battalion. Each land battalion has three land links, one air defense missile company, and one mortar. The gun company, the brigade department has the headquarters, the political department and the logistics department, and directly under the jurisdiction of the diving company, anti-chemical company, engineering company, automobile company, health company, security company, teaching team, amphibious reconnaissance unit and helicopter unit Units, each land brigade has more than 5,000 people. After many military system reforms, only the South China Sea Fleet retained the strength of the first brigade of the First Marine Brigade and the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Army Tour of the Land Warfare. The remaining Marine Corps were reorganized into amphibious reconnaissance teams belonging to the respective fleets. Integration into a naval special operations group, the administrative establishment is under the jurisdiction of the South China Sea Fleet. At the beginning of the formation of the Marine Brigade, officers and men lived in grass sheds, slept on wooden beds, drank yellow muddy water, and lacked training equipment. However, they carried forward the fine traditions of the Chinese army's arduous struggle, overcame the hardships and hardships that many ordinary people cannot bear, and worked hard to build troops. The anti-aircraft missile company at the beginning of the formation was a typical nameless company. Without equipment, they used wooden sticks and yellow mud as a missile model, knocked them into missile ground equipment with iron sheets, and practiced against the model, so they were crowned with the "stick". However, in the live-fire shooting after the missiles were installed, they scored good results in the second round and two, and also set a precedent for the first missile launch of the entire army. The name "stick" is still in use today, but there is no such thing as a banter, but as a spirit passed down from generation to generation. At that time, the "stick company" has now developed into a missile battalion with various types of air defense and anti-tank. The 1996 military exercise revealed the logistical problems of the Joint Theater Command: the lack of unified command and the inability to effectively mobilize and coordinate civilian and military resources. In order to make up for the lack of logistical support, the People’s Liberation Army established the Joint Service Department in the military region in 1998 to facilitate the resolution of logistical problems during wartime. In 2003, General Cao Gangchuan (Chairman of the National Defense Mobilization Committee) called for strengthening the organization and leadership of the National Defense Mobilization Committee to arm the military struggle. According to the central strategic plan, it is possible to establish a logistics headquarters agency similar to the armed forces in various places.
In the mid-1990s, the Zhan Group reported that China will expand the size of the Marine Corps to a total of 45,000 people in 3 divisions in order to meet the needs of the rapid deployment of the surrounding environment (especially the South China Sea); The 1996 Balancing of Military Power data pointed out that its strength is 38,000, but these strength data are still to be confirmed.
Prior to 1999, Marine Corps officers were trained in Army academies. In 1999, the PLAN's Guangzhou Naval Vessel Academy established a Naval Marine Corps Tactics Command Department, which is responsible for training all new and company-grade Marine Corps officers.
In addition to the specialized amphibious forces, many units of the PLA also receive amphibious combat training. The PLA conducts amphibious combat training from May to September every year, and its scale and intensity continue to increase. In 2001, four divisions and a brigade of two group armies of the Guangzhou Military Region held amphibious combat exercises at least four divisions of the three army of the Nanjing Army. There are two divisions in the Jinan Military Region at the seaside. An armored division in the Shenyang Military Region also conducted amphibious operations in a reservoir in the interior.
In 2002, four divisions of the Nanjing Military Region and a brigade, three divisions of the Guangzhou Military Region conducted amphibious training. And in the past few years, the exercise forces have used new military training methods and assessment programs to provide uniform standards and assessment criteria for the entire military.
In an effort to improve the efficiency of joint operations, the Navy began a new compulsory course training for all military academies to help them participate effectively in amphibious operations. For example, in May 2002, 900 trainees from the Dalian Naval Academy went to Dalian Army College for a 30-day ground combat training. The Army Academy also began sending trainees to the Naval Academy for naval combat training. The drills also increased the difficulty. For example, in the 2002 Crossing and Landing Exercises, the 144th Steps Division used the engineers to clean up the potential landing areas before the force attack began. The Nanjing Military Region’s forces are also closely trained with the attack helicopter units, which provide command, reconnaissance and air support.
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