The 17th Corps (), later the 17th Army Corps, was a military formation of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

from 1949 to 1950 and 1968–73.

1st Formation

The 17th Corps was activated in February 1949 from 11th Column, Zhongyuan Field Army. The Corps was composed of the 49th Division, 50th Division and 51st Division. It became part of Yang Yong's 5th Army of the Second Field Army. The Corps took part in the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...

, especially the Huaihai Campaign. In March 1950 the corps was inactivated and converted as Guizhou Military District (later Guizhou Provincial Military District).

2nd Formation

On August 26, 1968, 17th Army Corps() was activated in Huayuanzhen, Xiaochang,

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

province. Army corps commander: Zhang Zhiyin(), commissar - Zhang Zhaojian(), who was the divisional commissar of 29th Army Division during the Wuhan Incident of the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

. As of its activation, the army corps was composed of: * 29th Army Division; * 1st Independent Division of Henan Provincial Military District, which redesignated as 50th Army Division; * Independent Division of Hubei Provincial Military District, which redesignated as 51st Army Division. The formation of the army corps was a result of Wuhan Incident. After the incident, the mutinous Independent Division of Hubei Provincial Military District was quickly disarmed and taken control by

15th Airborne Corps The People's Liberation Army Air Force Airborne Corps, also referred to as the People's Liberation Army Airborne Corps () is a corps grade airborne and air assault force subordinated to People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) headquarters ...

of the

PLAAF The People's Liberation Army Air Force, also referred to as the Chinese Air Force () or the People's Air Force (), is the primary aerial warfare service of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAAF controls most of the PLA's air assets, includi ...

and affiliated 29th Army Division that under great influence by

Lin Biao Lin Biao ( zh, 林彪; 5 December 1907 – 13 September 1971) was a Chinese politician and Marshal of the People's Republic of China who was pivotal in the Chinese Communist Party, Communist Chinese Communist Revolution, victory during the Chines ...

. The formation of 17th Army Corps was to "strain" the "rogue" independent divisions with "modest" 29th Army Division, and was a footstep forward by the

to further Lin's influence to the PLA ground force. In December 1969, 29th Army Division became 49th Army Division. After the

Lin Biao incident The Lin Biao incident ( zh, c=九一三事件, l=September 13 Incident) was an aircraft accident at 3 a.m. on 13 September 1971 involving Lin Biao, the sole Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party. Everyone on board a People's Liberation Ar ...

, all of Lin's "janissaries" were quickly put under arrest or investigation, including the corps commissar Zhang Zhaojian. In March 1973 the army corps was formally disbanded. *49th Army Division maintained in Xiaochang. Some sources declared that the division was renamed as Independent Division of Wuhan Military Region before it moved to

Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...

and became 56th Army Division; *50th Army Division was reorganized as 1st Independent Division of Henan Provincial Military District; *51st Army Division was reorganized as Independent Division of Hubei Provincial Military District.

References

*中国人民解放军历史上的70个军及其简史, https://web.archive.org/web/20170729094201/http://www.360doc.com/content/06/1128/16/13961_275728.shtml 17 Military units and formations established in 1949 Military units and formations disestablished in 1973 {{China-mil-stub