The 173rd Division () was created in February 1949 under ''the Regulation of the Redesignations of All Organizations and Units of the Army'', issued by Central Military Commission on November 1, 1948,
[《中央军委关于统一全军组织及部队番号的规定》, http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_7254c7350100xb56.html] basing on the 3rd Sub-district of Tongbai Military District. Its history could be traced to 5th Independent Brigade of Jinan Military District formed in August 1947.
The division was composed of 517th, 518th and 519th Infantry Regiments. As a part of
58th Corps, during the
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...
the division took part in the creation of Tongbai base area and
Xiangfan Campaign
Xiangyang is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hubei province, China and the second largest city in Hubei by population. It was known as Xiangfan from 1950 to 2010. The Han River runs through Xiangyang's centre and divides the city no ...
.
In November 1950 the division was inactivated.
*Division Headquarters merged into Navy Command,
Middle-South Military Region;
*517th and 518th Infantry Regiments were transferred to Nanyang Military Sub-district;
*519th Infantry Regiment was transferred to Shangqiu Military Sub-district.
References
*中国人民解放军各步兵师沿革，http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_a3f74a990101cp1q.html
{{People's Liberation Army Divisions
Infantry divisions of the People's Liberation Army
Military units and formations established in 1949
Military units and formations disestablished in 1950