China will
reorganise more than half of its 1.55 million land force troops, phasing out
its army corps as it tries to mould a more nimble fighting force, sources
familiar with the military said, adding that strong internal resistance to the
change was expected.
Some of the
existing 18 Army Corps will be turned into 25 to 30 divisions. The size of a
corp varies from 30,000 to 100,000 soldiers.
The approach was
inherited from the Soviet Union, but it’s a bulky model no longer suited to the
demands of modern warfare, which prizes modularity, according to a retired
senior colonel based in Beijing.
The style of the
US 101st Airborne Division is the best example that the PLA land forces will
study
Source close to
the military
“This is a main
trend in modern warfare. Even the Russian army has tried to learn from the US
army by reducing the size of their troops, making land forces become more
nimble and quick-response,” the veteran said.
“The style of the
US 101st Airborne Division is the best example that the [People’s Liberation
Army’s] land forces will study, especially its quick deployment, equipment and
logistic supplies, as well as other supporting networks, which reflect the
success of its nimble and efficient system.”
A defence white
paper that came to light last year highlighted the importance of building
small, multifunctional and modular units that could take on different purposes
for joint operations.
The overhaul comes
amid a broader shift that the PLA embarked on early this year.
Under the
direction of President Xi Jinping, who also heads the decision-making Central
Military Commission, the four general headquarters were dissolved, before
setting up 15 new organisations including the Joint Staff Department. The seven
military commands were reshaped into five theatre commands. Some 300,000 troops
will also be cut by 2017.
Under the new
arrangement, divisions will receive instructions from the relevant theatre
command, which reports directly to the Joint Staff Department which is now part
of the Central Military Commission, before giving orders to frontline troops.
The shift away
from corps was the focus of Xi’s visit to the headquarters of the land force in
Beijing a few days before the anniversary of the founding of the PLA on August
1, a source close to the military said.
The source said Xi
called on leaders of the land force to speed up reforms in administration and
combat capability.
Currently the
biggest land force in the world, the army comprises 1.55 million soldiers, of
which 850,000 are mobile troops, most of whom are under the army corps, while
the rest are regional garrison troops.
Make sure you can
fight and when you fight, be certain to win
Xi Jinping, to
military in 2012
A source said it
was only a matter of time for the army corps units to be either downsized or
scrapped, although the change would inevitably encounter strong opposition from
the ground force.
The transition to
divisions is likely to result in the dismissal of tens of thousands of military
personnel. and, hence, trigger huge resistance from the troops affected.
Xi appears to be
tightening his grip on military power by letting go of some generals while
promoting others who have his trust, as he tries to
streamline the force and root out corruption within the ranks.
The past two years
have seen the downfall of several top brass, including former Central Military
Commission vice-chairmen Guo Boxiong
and Xu Caihou.
Xi wasted no time
spelling out his expectations for the army when he inspected the Guangzhou
Military Command in early December 2012, less than a month after becoming chair
of the commission, saying: “When you are summoned, you must come at once; when
you come, make sure you can fight, and when you fight, be certain to win.”
To the surprise of
many, Xi announced for
the first time that the PLA would cut troop levels by 300,000, in a speech
right after a massive military parade commemorating the 70th anniversary of the
victory over the Japanese on September 3 last year. Rather than the
air force and the navy, ground forces became the target for downsizing.
The 18 corps are
classified into either category A or category B. The first are better equipped
and have more manpower and resources. They include the 1st, 13th, 21st, 27th,
38th, 39th and 54th Army Corps, while the rest of the corps belong to category
B.
Under the overhaul
earlier this year, the seven military commands were replaced by five strategic
zones – Central, North, South, East and West. State media revealed the
distribution of the corps among the theatre commands later on.The Central
Theatre Command, which is responsible for the safety of Beijing and a few
provinces in its vicinity, boasts the largest number of corps – the 20th, 27th,
38th, 54th and 65th Combined Corps.
Second is the
North Theatre Command, which commands four – the 16th, 26th, 39th and 40th
Combined Corps.
The rest of the
five theatre commands each have three corps, with the 1st, 12th and 31st belong
to the East, the 14th, 41st and 42nd to the South, and the 13th, 21st and 47th
to the West.
This article appeared
in the South China Morning Post
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