1st Armored Brigade (People's Republic of China)
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The 1st Armored Brigade (formerly the 1st Tank Division , then 1st Armored Division ) is an
Armored Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or f ...
formation of
People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...
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 most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. The brigade now serves as the armored element under the 65th Army in the
Beijing Military Region The Beijing Military Region was one of seven military regions for the Chinese People's Liberation Army. From the mid 1980s to 2017, it had administration of all military affairs within Beijing city, Tianjin city, Hebei province, Shanxi province, ...
.


Formation

The Tank Division, 4th Field Army() was activated in February 1949 in
Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...
, from Special Troops Tank Command, 4th Field Army. In May 1949 the division was renamed as 1st Tank Division(). In December 1950 the division was re-organized as 1st Tank Brigade(, note the change on
Chinese characters Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...
). By then the brigade was composed of: *1st Tank Regiment (medium); *2nd Tank Regiment (light); *Motorized Infantry Regiment; On November 3, 1950, the brigade was renamed as 1st Tank Division(). Its regiments were not affected.


Korean War

From March 1951 to November 1952 the division entered Korea to take part in the
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
as a part of People's Volunteer Army(CPA). From January to October 1953 the division spent its second deployment to Korea. After that the division moved to Fengtai,
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
.


After Korea

In February Artillery Regiment was renamed as Howitzer Artillery Regiment. On May 13, 1958, Motorized Infantry Regiment was renamed as Mechanized Regiment. In 1959 the division moved to Changping,
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
. Soon after it further moved to Jixian,
Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...
in 1962. In December 1962 Howitzer Artillery Regiment was renamed as Artillery Regiment. In August 1969 402nd Tank Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment from 197th Army Division was attached and renamed as 3rd Tank Regiment. By then the division was composed of: *1st Tank Regiment; *2nd Tank Regiment; *3rd Tank Regiment; *Mechanized Regiment; *Artillery Regiment. In August 1970 3rd Tank Regiment was detached and transferred to 79th Infantry Division as Tank Regiment, 79th Infantry Division. In September Mechanized Regiment was re-organized and renamed as 3rd Tank Regiment. On July 1, 1976, Armored Infantry Regiment was activated. During Sino-Vietnamese War in 1979, 130mm Self-Propelled Rocket Artillery Battalion (equipped with Type 70 130mm) from Artillery Regiment, 1st Tank Division was put under command of 124th Army Division, 42nd Army Corps for the infiltration in
Cao Bằng Cao Bằng () is a city in northern Vietnam. It is the capital and largest settlement of Cao Bằng Province. It is located on the bank of the Bằng Giang river, and is around away from the border with China's Guangxi region. According to the ...
region. In January 1983 the division was put under command of 66th Army Corps. In the 1980s the division was equipped with Type 59-2 medium tanks, becoming the only Type 59-2 unit in PLA ground force. In July 1985 the division was attached to
Tianjin Security District Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...
following 66th Army Corps' disbandment. In 1989 the division actively took part in the enforced martial law and the crackdown on protests in Beijing. In the morning on June 5, 1989, a tank column from 1st Tank Division was departing from the Tiananmen square to move to Jianguomen area was temporarily stopped by a young man, now famous as the Tank Man. Allegedly the division commander, General Xu Qingren was sitting in the leading tank and ordered the stop until the tank man was taken away. In April 1996 the division was attached to 24th Army. In October 1998, the division was renamed as 1st Armored Division(). The Armored Infantry Regiment was disbanded and absorbed into tank regiments which became armored regiments. By then the division was composed of: *1st Armored Regiment; *2nd Armored Regiment; *3rd Armored Regiment; *Artillery Regiment. In 2003 the division was attached to 65th Army following 24th Army's disbandment.


"Division to Brigade"

In late 2011 it split into two: the division main body re-organized into 1st Armored Brigade, while half of its battalions reorganized into 195th Mechanized Infantry Brigade. In April 2017 the brigade was deactivated and absorbed into 70th Combined Arms Brigade.


References

{{People's Liberation Army Divisions Armoured brigades of the People's Liberation Army Military units and formations established in 1949 Military units and formations disestablished in 2017