The Jinan Military Region was a PLA Military Region located in the east of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, covering the

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in His ...

and

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is a ...

Provinces, which also formed

military district Military districts (also called military regions) are formations of a state's armed forces (often of the Army) which are responsible for a certain area of territory. They are often more responsible for administrative than operational matters, and ...

s. It appears that

Yang Dezhi Yang Dezhi (; January 13, 1911 – October 25, 1994) was a Chinese general and politician. He was senior military officer in the North China (or 5th) Field Army, a veteran of the Korean War and commander in China during the Sino–Vietnamese ...

was one of the first commander of the Jinan MR, from 1958. It was considered a strategic reserve. It includes some of the area previously within the

Wuhan Military Region Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city and ...

, disbanded in 1985–88. The

5th Air Corps Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash that ...

was established in Weifeng,

Shandong Province Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizatio ...

, in 1952, possibly from the disbanding 11th Corps, but was moved to

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also Chinese postal romanization, romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the prov ...

in the

Nanjing Military Region The Nanjing Military Region () was one of the former seven military command regions for the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Its jurisdiction covers all military and armed police located in Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, and Sh ...

by 1954. After 1975 the 46th Army was transferred from Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province to Linyi,

. It was disestablished in 1985. There were previously three Group Armies within the Region, the 20th Group Army at

Kaifeng Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...

, the

26th Group Army The 80th Group Army ), formerly the 26th Group Army, is a military formation of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Ground Forces (PLAGF). The 80th Group Army is one of twelve total group armies of the PLAGF, the largest echelon of ground forces ...

at Weifang, and the 54th in Xinxiang. It previously included the now disbanded

67th Group Army The 67th Group Army was a military formation of the People's Liberation Army that existed from the civil war era until the disarmament of 1999. In its last years it was part of the Jinan Military Region with its headquarters at Zibo.Dennis J. Blask ...

. The Jinan Military Region was disbanded in the reorganisation of 2015–16, being split between the

Northern Theatre Command The Northern Theater Command (is) one of the five theater commands of the People's Liberation Army, founded on 1 February 2016. Its predecessor is the Shenyang Military Region and Beijing Military Region. Its headquarters is in the Heping Dis ...

and the

Central Theatre Command The Central Theater Command () is one of the five theater commands of the People's Liberation Army of China, and was founded on 1 February 2016. Its predecessors were the Beijing Military Region and Jinan Military Region. The International I ...

Structure

In 2006, the

International Institute for Strategic Studies The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is a British research institute or think tank in the area of international affairs. Since 1997, its headquarters have been Arundel House in London, England. The 2017 Global Go To Think ...

attributed the formation with 190,000 personnel, including two armoured divisions, one mechanised infantry division, three motorised infantry divisions, one artillery division, one armoured brigade, one mechanised infantry brigade, four motorised infantry brigades, two artillery brigades, three anti-aircraft brigades, and an anti-tank regiment. * 20th Group Army (Kaifeng, Henan) ** 11th Armoured Brigade with 20th Group Army at Xuchang. **other units *

(Weifang, Shandong) *

54th Group Army The 83rd Group Army (), formerly the 54th Group Army, is a military formation of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Ground Forces (PLAGF). The 83rd Group Army is one of twelve total group armies of the PLAGF, the largest echelon of ground fo ...

(Xinxiang, Henan)Blasko, The Chinese Army Today: Tradition and Transformation for the 21st Century, 2013, p.93. ** 127th Mechanized Infantry Division within 54th Group Army, at

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyan ...

, a ready reaction unit ** 162nd Motorized Infantry Division ** 11th Armored Division (Xianyang) **Artillery Brigade (Jiaozou, Henan) **1st Air Defence Brigade (Xingyang) ** 1st Army Aviation Regiment (Xinxiang) In the ''Military Balance 2014,'' the IISS listed the Jinan Military Region Air Force as consisting of the 5th Aviation Division, with two attack regiments; the 12th Fighter Division, with three fighter regiments; the 19th Fighter Division, with two fighter and one training regiment; the 32nd Aviation Division with one fighter and one training regiment; a Flight Instructor Training Base; and four

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...

battalions. (IISS 2014, 238).

Commanders and commissars, 2010-2015

* Zhao Zongqi (Commander), since November 2012 ** Wang Jun (Deputy Commander), since December 2011 ** Ji Wenming (Deputy Commander), since July 2014 ** Liu Zhigang (Deputy Commander), since December 2014 ** Zhang Ming (Chief-of-Staff), since December 2014 *

Du Hengyan Du Hengyan (; born July 1951) is a retired general ('' shangjiang'') in the Chinese People's Liberation Army. He served as Deputy Director of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission. Biography Du joined the PLA as a servi ...

(Political Commissar), since July 2010 ** Lü Jiancheng (Deputy Political Commissar), since July 2010 ** Wu Shezhou (Political Department Director) since December 2014

Nickname

Organizations affiliated with the Jinan Military Region often use the nickname "vanguard" (), including the Vanguard Performance Troupe () and the Vanguard Newspaper ().

Notes

References

, The Military Balance 2006 * Chapter 8, PLA Ground Forces, by Dennis J Blasko, in The People's Liberation Army as Organisation, RAND, CF182 * http://www.sinodefence.com Military regions of the People's Liberation Army Military units and formations disestablished in 2016 {{China-mil-stub