The 215th Division () was created in November 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 2nd Division, 1st Corps, 1st Army Group of the
People's Liberation Army of the Nationalist Party of China
People's, branded as ''People's ViennaLine'' until May 2018, and legally ''Altenrhein Luftfahrt GmbH'', is an Austro-Swiss airline headquartered in Vienna, Austria. It operates scheduled and charter passenger flights mainly from its base at St. ...
. Its history can be traced to the 177th Division, 38th Corps of the
National Revolutionary Army
The National Revolutionary Army (NRA; zh, labels=no, t=國民革命軍) served as the military arm of the Kuomintang, Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, or KMT) from 1924 until 1947.
From 1928, it functioned as the regular army, de facto ...
formed in March 1937, which defected along with the 1st Army Group of
Republic of China Army
The Republic of China Army ( Chinese, 中華民國陸軍) also known as the ROC Army (ROCA); colloquially the Taiwanese Army ( Chinese, 台湾陆军) by western or mainland Chinese media, or commonly referred as the National Military Army ( Chi ...
in August 1948. During its history in NRA, it took part in several major battles in the
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...
.
The division is part of
52nd Corps. Under the flag of 215th division it 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 ...
. In September 1951 the division was transferred to 21st Army Group's control following 52nd Corps' disbandment. In October 21st Army Group was reorganized as 55th Corps. In 1952 the division was renamed as 215th Infantry Division (). By then the division was composed of:
*643rd Infantry Regiment;
*644th Infantry Regiment;
*645th Infantry Regiment;
*544th Artillery Regiment.
In 1960 the division was renamed as 215th Army Division ().
In October 1969 the division was detached from the Army Corps and transferred to
Fuzhou Military Region
Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Mindong linguistic and cultural region.
Fuzhou's population was 8, ...
's control. In December the division was renamed as 89th Army Division (), and all its regiments were renamed as follows:
*265th Infantry Regiment (former 643rd);
*266th Infantry Regiment (former 644th);
*267th Infantry Regiment (former 645th);
*Artillery Regiment (former 544th).
In April 1975 the division was transferred to
29th Army Corps' control.
In February 1976 the division was renamed as 87th Army Division (), and all its regiments were renamed as follows:
*259th Infantry Regiment (former 265th);
*260th Infantry Regiment (former 266th);
*261st Infantry Regiment (former 267th);
*Artillery Regiment.
In October 1985 the division was disbanded: its divisional HQ and artillery regiment was re-organized as 3rd Artillery Brigade of Nanjing Military Region; its 261st Infantry Regiment was transferred to
92nd Infantry Division.
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 1985