The 23rd Army was an army of the Chinese
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the China, People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five Military branch, service branches: the People's ...
, active from 1949.
The army originally consisted of the 67th,
68th Division, and 69th Divisions. However, the 68th Division was disestablished in August 1952.
It was active during the
Korean War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Korean War
, partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict
, image = Korean War Montage 2.png
, image_size = 300px
, caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...
. The People's Republic had planned to rotate all troops in Korea by the end of 1953, and the Chinese Central Military Commission authorized the 23rd, 24th and 46th Corps to replace 20th, 27th and 42nd Corps by September 1952.
[.]
In Korea, under Commander Zhong Guochu, with Commissar Lu Sheng, it was assigned to east coast defence duties with the 67th, 69th and
73rd Divisions assigned.
It was one of the eight armies identified by the U.S.
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
as being active in the
Shenyang Military Region
The Shenyang Military Region was one of seven military regions for the Chinese People's Liberation Army. It has command and control of military and armed police forces in the three northeast provinces of Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Liaoning, w ...
as of 15 March 1967.
Dennis Blasko's 2002 RAND chapter identified it in the Shenyang MR with its headquarters in
Harbin
Harbin (; mnc, , v=Halbin; ) is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital and the largest city of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population after Shenyang and largest c ...
. He stated that it included the
69th Motorised Infantry Division/Brigade at Harbin, another motorized infantry brigade, and armored, artillery, and anti-aircraft brigades.
The army was disbanded in a cycle of reductions that began in 2003. Two units which were resubordinated directly to the Shenyang MR headquarters were the
68th Motorized Infantry Brigade, Qiqihar, Heilongjiang, and the 69th Motorized Infantry Division, Harbin, Heilongjiang.
[Blasko, 2006, 76]
Citations
References
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{{Corps and Armies of the People's Liberation Army
Field armies of the People's Liberation Army
Military units and formations established in the 1940s
Military units and formations disestablished in the 2000s