People's Liberation Army
Order of Battle
by Xinhui
Military Region ( Da Junqu ):
Military Regions (MR) only handles day-to-day peacetime management of the PLA. In time of war, a WarZone Operational command will be setup to take control of all aspect of the military operation in that area, including all service branch such as the militia, reserve, People’s Military Police (PAP), Air force, navy, second artillery (Tactical nuclear weapons), Special Operations, etc.
China is currently divided into seven Military Regions (MR). MRs are administrative headquarters, responsible for the army, air, and naval forces located in several provinces. Each MR is intended to be commanded by a Lieutenant General, though some are commanded by full Generals. MR commanders ( siling yuan ) are assisted by several deputy commanders (fu siling yuan), including the regional air force commander and naval commander, if naval forces are present within the MR; a political commissar ( zhengzhi weiyuan or zhengwei ); and a number of deputy political commissars (fu zhengwei) . MR staffs parallel, but are smaller than, the organization of the four General Departments and are overseen by an MR Chief of Staff ( canmou zhang ). Each MR has a headquarters, political department, joint logistics department, and equipment department. The presence of a “joint logistics department” (lian qin bu) indicates that this element is intended to provide support to army, naval, and air forces assigned to the region. -- >From Dennis Blasko "PLA Ground Force: Moving Toward a Smaller, More Rapidly Deployable, Modern Combined Arms Force"
Military Region
Military District
Shenyang
Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang
Beijing
Hebei, Shanxi, Nei Menggu (Inner Mongolia)
Lanzhou
Gansu, Shaanxi, Xinjiang, Ningxia, Qinghai
Jinan
Shandong, Henan
Nanjing
Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi
Guangzhou
Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Hainan
Chengdu
Yunnan, Xizang (Tibet), Guizhou, Sichuan
In addition to the Military District (MD) listed above, there are several garrisons that are equivalent to MD. Those include the Beijing, TianJin, Shanghai, Chongqing garrisons. Also note: The PLA 5 digit identification number I used in this document is dated; PLA apparently implemented a new five-digit system during October 2000. Military units assign directly to MD, are consider having the lowest level readiness, and have little military value. They generally referred to as Cat C formations, most of those units already converted into PAP and reserve formations, but some in the boarder regions remain (43rd divisions for example) boarder guards. While garrison of Beijing and TianJin, Shanghai, and Chongqing are consider to be elite troops. Not all MD created equal.
Red Army and PLA Major Reorganizations:
Adopted from The PLA As Organization by Kenneth W. Allen
Year
Major Reorganization Events
1927
First corps established
1930
Juntuan and front armies created; 3-3 system codified
1937
Eighth Route Army and New Fourth Army created
1941
New Fourth Army restructured
1947
Field Armies created
1948
PLA formalized; Bingtuan established; 5 military regions (MR) and 4 MR levels created
1949
PLA Navy and Air Force established
1955
National Defense Council and Ministry of National Defense created; Field Armies and Bingtuan abolished; Corps subordinated directly to MRs; 6 MRs renamed and expanded to 13 MRs; 3 fleets established; 6 MRAFs formed
1957
PLA Air Defense Force abolished and merged into PLA Air Force
1958
8 General Departments reduced to 3
1969
13 MRs reduced to 11
1985
11 MRs reduced to 7; major demobilization initiated
1998
General Equipment Department created, additional demobilization initated
A note on our formation naming/numbering convention :
"Unidentified Armor Brigade" means we do not know its number; 4 Motorized Division refers to the Fourth Motorized Division. The unit HQ’s hometown is next to the unit number. (2) means 2nd formation bears the same name, for example 7 infantry divisions 7th and 9th division were combined as 3rd division in 1952, in 1969, a new 7th infantry division was formed in Xinjing in 1969. PLA Cavalry frontier defense units are horse based, not Helicopter based as that of the US/NATO.
CMC = Central Military Commission, ID = Infantry Division, FA = Field Army, older PLA army, pre-1985 reform. GA = Group Army, post 1985 Army organization.
Coy = company, Btn = Battalion, Regt =Regiment, Bgd = brigade, AAA = Anti-Aircraft Artillery. Arty = Artillery, Inf=infantry, AD =Air Defense. SSM (Surface to Surface Missile), ATGM (Anti-Tank Guided Missile), SAM (Surface to Air missile) MR = Military Region, MD = Military District, MRAF =Military Region Air Force.
According to Rick Kamer, the following is a possbile Army Aviation (LH LuHang ) Aircraft number system breakdown:
Number
Type
LH number
Military Regions
xx0xx
Y-8 (May include any transports)
LH0xxx
xx1xx Alloutte
LH4xxx
xx2xx S-70C
LH90xxx
xx3xx Sa-342
LH91xxx
Jinan MR
xx4xx Z-11
LH92xxx
Chengdu MR
xx5xx
Not noted
LH93xxx
Xinjiang MD
xx6xx Not noted
LH94xxx
Beijing MR
xx7xx Mi-17/171
LH96xxx
xx8xx
Mi-8
LH98xxx
Beijing MR
xx9xx
Z-9
LH97xxx
Shenyang MR