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71st Group Army
第七十一集团军
Active	1949–present
Country	People's Republic of China
Allegiance	Chinese Communist Party
Branch	People's Liberation Army Ground Force
Type	Group army
Part of	Eastern Theater Command
Garrison/HQ	Xuzhou,Jiangsu[1]
Engagements	Second Sino-Japanese War World War II Chinese Civil War Korean War *Battle of Triangle Hill
Commanders
Current commander	Major General Han Bing
Political Commissar	Major General Huang Chaohui
Notable commanders	Wang Jinshan You Taizhong Li Desheng Li Zhen Zeng Shaoshan Ma Ning
Insignia
NATO Map Symbol

The71st Group Army (Chinese:第七十一集团军;pinyin:Dì Qīshíyī Jítuánjūn) is aChinesePeople's Liberation Army Ground Forcegroup army subordinated to theEastern Theater Command. It was called the12th Group Army before 2017.^[2]

The origin of the 12th Army lies in the surrender of the 74th Division of the Chinese NationalistNational Revolutionary Army, as well as with the sixth column of theSecond Field Army.^{[citation needed]} On 9 February 1949, the 34th, 35th and the36th Divisions were incorporated into the Twelfth Army.^[3] On 29 November 1949,Chongqing was captured and later theBattle of Chengdu was fought.^[4]

In December 1950, the 12th Army entered theKorean War as the 12th Army of the ChinesePeople's Volunteer Army (中国人民志愿军第十二军), quickly finding itself involved in theChinese Fifth Phase (Spring) Offensive. The 12th Army's most notable contribution to the war was the 1952Operation Showdown, known in Chinese as the Shangganling Campaign. Despite constant barrages of artillery fire and bombings, the 12th Corps, temporarily placed under command of the PVA 15th Corps, heldSniper Ridge againstRepublic of Korea forces and those of theUnited States Army's7th Infantry Division.^[5][6] Although incurring catastrophic casualties,^[7] the Chinese claimed victory in the battle and would go on to produce several major motion picture films such asBattle on Shangganling Mountain depicting the saga.^[5][8]

In April 1954, the 12th Army departedNorth Korea and returned togarrison in China inHefei City,Anhui Province and Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province. During the military downsizing by Deng Xiaoping, the 12th Army was reorganized into the 12th Group Army of thePeople's Liberation Army and given theMilitary Unit Cover Designator (MUCD) Unit 83226. The MUCD was changed again to Unit 73061 under theNanjing Military Region. On 1 August 1983, the2nd Tank Division was attached to the 12th Army Corps.^[9] Later, in May 1989, the 12th Army's 34th, 36th and 110th Divisions, Artillery Brigade, and Anti-Aircraft Battalion were deployed to Beijing toenforce martial law and suppress theTiananmen Square protests of 1989.^[10]

In 2016, the military regions were abolished and replaced bytheater commands;^[11] 12th Group Army was subordinated to the new Eastern Theater Command. In April 2017, the number of group armies was reduced and the 12th Group Army was redesignated as the 71st Group Army.^[2]

The 71st Group Army was first commanded by Major General Wang Yinfang from March 2017 to January 2018 until he was succeeded by Major General Li Zhonglin in January 2018.^[12][13] The group army's political commissar was Major GeneralXu Deqing from March 2017 to May 2018 when Yin Hongxing succeeded him.^[14][15] As of 2022, Xu serves as theCentral Theater Command's political commissar.^[16][17]

The 71st Group Army appears to comprise sixcombined-armsmaneuverbrigades, four of which are heavy (armored), one medium (mechanized), and one light (motorized) and each of which lead four combined-armsbattalions. These combined arms brigades are the PLAGF's basic operational unit, likely following theUnited States' and laterRussia's transition from division-centric warfare to brigade-centric warfare. The 71st Group Army also commands six combat support brigades.^[18]

Since 2017, the 71st Group Army commands the following subordinate units.

• 2nd Heavy Combined-Arms Brigade^{[citation needed]}
• 35th Heavy Combined-Arms Brigade [zh]^{[citation needed]}
• 160th Heavy Combined-Arms Brigade [zh]^{[citation needed]}
• 178th Medium Combined-Arms Brigade [zh]^{[citation needed]}
• 179th Light Combined-Arms Brigade [zh]^{[citation needed]}
• 235th Heavy Combined-Arms Brigade [zh]^{[citation needed]}
• 71st Artillery Brigade^{[citation needed]}
• 71st Army Aviation Brigade (Chinese:陆航第71旅)^[19] - OperatesZ-8,Z-9,Z-19,Z-20 helicopters^[20]
• 71st Air Defense Brigade^{[citation needed]}
• 71st Special Operations Brigade [zh]^{[citation needed]}
• 71st Engineering and Chemical Defense Brigade [zh]^{[citation needed]}
• 71st Service Support Brigade^{[citation needed]}

• Chae, Han Kook; Chung, Suk Kyun; Yang, Yong Cho (2001), Yang, Hee Wan; Lim, Won Hyok; Sims, Thomas Lee; Sims, Laura Marie; Kim, Chong Gu; Millett, Allan R. (eds.),The Korean War, vol. III, Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press,ISBN 978-0-8032-7796-0
• PLA Aerospace Power(PDF) (4 ed.).Air UniversityChina Aerospace Studies Institute. June 2024.
• Saunders, Phillip C.; Ding, Arthur S.; Scobell, Andrew; Yang, Andrew N.D.; Joel, Wuthnow, eds. (2019).Chairman Xi Remakes the PLA: Assessing Chinese Military Reforms. Washington, D.C.: National Defense University Press.ISBN 978-1070233420.
• Zhang, Song Shan (张嵩山) (2010),Decipher Shangganling (解密上甘岭) (in Chinese), Beijing: Beijing Publishing House,ISBN 978-7-200-08113-8

• Field armies of the People's Liberation Army
• Eastern Theater Command
• Nanjing Military Region
• Military units and formations established in 1949

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