73rd Group Army
{{Use American English|date=January 2019}}{{Short description|Chinese military unit}}{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name = 73rd Group Army
| native_name = 第七十三集团军
| image = File:People's Liberation Army Ground Force sleeve badge.svg
| caption =
| nickname =
| motto =
| themesong =
| colors =
| march =
| ceremonial_chief =
| branch = {{Army|China}}
| type = Group army
| status =
| dates = 1985–present
| country = {{PRC}}
| allegiance = {{CPC flag}}
| command_structure = Eastern Theater Command
| size = Field army
| specialization =
| challenge =
| response =
| garrison = Jimei, Xiamen, Fujian
| battles = Chinese Civil War
| current_commander = Major General Ding Laifu
| commander2 = Major General Fang Ming
| commander2_label = Political Commissar
| notable_commanders =
| anniversaries =
| identification_symbol = 150px
| identification_symbol_label = NATO Map Symbol
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}}
The 73rd Group Army is a formation of China's People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF) subordinated to the Eastern Theater Command (ETC). The ETC's area of responsibility includes Taiwan,{{sfn|Saunders et al.|2019|p=240}} and the 73rd Group Army includes amphibious forces.{{sfn|The International Institute for Strategic Studies|2024|p=261}}
The 73rd Group Army was known as the 31st Group Army until April 2017.{{sfn|Saunders et al.|2019|p=240}} The group army was considered an elite unit.{{sfn|Saunders et al.|2019|p=35}}
History
=Chinese Civil War=
{{main|Chinese Civil War}}
The 31st Group Army traces its lineage to the Shantung Column of the Shantung Military Region which was formed around 1941. By 1945 the column had been reorganized and redesignated into several military districts, including the Chiao-Tung Military District. By 1946, elements of the Chiao-Tung MD were reorganized and redesignated 9th and 13th Columns. The 13th Column, commanded by Chou Chih-chien was composed of three divisions, including the 37th, 38th, and 39th. In the mid-to-late 1940s the 13th Column was reorganized and redesignated as the 31st Corps, also commanded by Chou Chih-chien. The 31st Corps was composed of the 91st, 92nd and 93rd Divisions.{{sfn|Whitson|Huang|1973}}{{Page needed|date=June 2024}}
By August 1949,{{sfn|Whitson|Huang|1973|p=244}} 31st Corps was subordinated to the 10th Army of the Third Field Army.{{sfn|Yoshihara|2022|pp=66-67}} 29th and 31st Corps captured Zhangzhou in late-September.{{sfn|Whitson|Huang|1973|p=244}} It participated in the capture of Xiamen and Gulangyu, and the Battle of Guningtou, in October.{{sfn|Yoshihara|2022|pp=68-79}}
The corps became the core of the 31st Group Army.{{sfn|Swaine|1992|p=82}}
=21st century=
In early October 1991 the 258th Regiment of the 86th Motorized Infantry Division, along with units from various military sub-districts, conducted defensive exercises and combined militia exercises in the Banding Area, Lianjiang Xian, Fujian Province. In mid October to early November 1991 the 92nd and 93rd Infantry Divisions (since disbanded) of the 31st Group Army conducted routine training and field training activities in the Fuzhou area of Changpu and Nanan. In early April 1992 the signal corps of the 31st Signal Regiment conducted routine training and an overall signal training and evaluation between veterans and replacements in Xiamen, Fujian Province.Richard H. Yang eds. China's Military: The PLA in 1992/1993 (Taipei: Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies; 1993): p. 191-2
Composition
In 2024, the formation included the following components:
- 1 special operations brigade{{sfn|The International Institute for Strategic Studies|2024|p=261}}
- 1 armored brigade{{sfn|The International Institute for Strategic Studies|2024|p=261}}
- 1 mechanized infantry brigade{{sfn|The International Institute for Strategic Studies|2024|p=261}}
- 2 infantry brigade{{sfn|The International Institute for Strategic Studies|2024|p=261}}
- 2 amphibious brigades{{sfn|The International Institute for Strategic Studies|2024|p=261}}
- 1 artillery brigade{{sfn|The International Institute for Strategic Studies|2024|p=261}}
- 1 engineering/NBC brigade{{sfn|The International Institute for Strategic Studies|2024|p=261}}
- 1 support brigade{{sfn|The International Institute for Strategic Studies|2024|p=261}}
- 1 helicopter brigade{{sfn|The International Institute for Strategic Studies|2024|p=261}}
- 1 air defense brigade{{sfn|The International Institute for Strategic Studies|2024|p=261}}
References
= Citations =
{{Reflist|2}}
= Sources =
{{refbegin}}
- {{Cite book |author=The International Institute for Strategic Studies |title=The Military Balance 2024 |date=13 February 2024 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=978-1-032-78004-7 }}
- {{cite book |editor1-last=Saunders |editor1-first=Phillip C. |editor2-last=Ding |editor2-first=Arthur S. |editor3-last=Scobell |editor3-first=Andrew |editor4-last=Yang |editor4-first=Andrew N.D. |editor5-last=Joel |editor5-first=Wuthnow |title=Chairman Xi Remakes the PLA: Assessing Chinese Military Reforms |url=https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Publications/Books/Chairman-Xi-Remakes-the-PLA/ |date=2019 |publisher=National Defense University Press |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-1070233420 |ref={{harvid|Saunders et al.|2019}}}}
- {{cite report |last1=Swaine |first1=Michael D. |title=The Military & Political Succession in China: Leadership Institutions Beliefs |url=https://www.rand.org/pubs/reports/R4254.html |date=1992 |publisher=RAND Corporation |location=Santa Monica, California |id=R-4254-AF |isbn=0-8330-1296-7}}
- {{Cite book |last1=Whitson |first1=William W. |last2=Huang |first2=Chen-hsia |title=The Chinese High Command: A History of Communist Military Politics, 1927-71 |date=1973 |publisher=Praeger |location=New York |isbn=978-1-349-01982-3 }}
- {{cite book |last1=Yoshihara |first1=Toshi |title=Mao's Army Goes To Sea: The Island Campaigns and the Founding of China's Navy |date=2022 |publisher=Georgetown University Press |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=9781647122829}}
{{refend}}
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{{Corps and Armies of the People's Liberation Army}}
{{Structure of People's Liberation Army Ground Force since 2017}}
Category:Field armies of the People's Liberation Army