The 77th Group Army (),

Unit Unit may refer to: General measurement * Unit of measurement, a definite magnitude of a physical quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law **International System of Units (SI), modern form of the metric system **English units, histo ...

31667, formerly the 13th Group Army, is a

military formation Military organization ( AE) or military organisation ( BE) is the structuring of the armed forces of a state so as to offer such military capability as a national defense policy may require. Formal military organization tends to use hierarc ...

of the Chinese

People's Liberation Army Ground Force The People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF), also referred to as the PLA Army, is the army, land-based service branch of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), and also its largest and oldest branch. The PLAGF can trace its lineage from 192 ...

(PLAGF). The 77th Group Army is one of thirteen total

group armies Group armies () or army groups or combined corps, are corps-level military formations of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force of China. Despite what the name suggests, current Group Armies are not army-level formations, but corps-sized f ...

of the PLAGF, the largest echelon of ground forces in 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 ...

, and one of two assigned to the nation's

Western Theater Command The Western Theater Command () is one of the five theater commands of the People's Liberation Army, founded on 1 February 2016. Its jurisdiction includes Sichuan, Tibet, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Shaanxi, Yunnan, Chongqing. Guizhou ...

History

The 13th Group Army (

Military Unit Cover Designator A military unit cover designator (MUCD, , ) is a unique five-digit number used by the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China to externally identify military units. MUCDs are used externally to protect the identity of units, whi ...

(MUCD) 56005) was established in 1985 after the disbandment of the 50th Army. It incorporated the 149th Division, which had been part of the 50th Army. During the

Sino-Vietnamese War The Sino-Vietnamese War (also known by other names) was a brief conflict that occurred in early 1979 between China and Vietnam. China launched an offensive ostensibly in response to Vietnam's invasion and occupation of Cambodia in 1978, whi ...

, the

Kunming Military Region The Kunming Military Region was a military region of the People's Liberation Army, established in December 1954 or 1955 and disestablished during the 1980s. It was incorporated within the Chengdu Military Region. In the 1954 reorganization that ...

took responsibility for Chinese operations during the

Battle of Lào Cai A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

, which involved the 11th and 13th Armies from the Kunming Military Region itself, and the 14th Army from the

Chengdu Military Region The Chengdu Military Region was one of seven military districts and is located in the southwest of the People's Republic of China, covering Chongqing, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and the Xizang/Tibet Autonomous Region. It includes some of the area ...

, totaling about 125,000 troops. The three armies was followed by the reserve 149th Division of the 50th Army, as well as many support units.Zhang, p. 100. The invasion comprised three prongs of advances: while the 11th Army was assigned to attack Phong Thổ before hooking up to

Sa Pa Sa Pa (, also written as Sapa) is a district-level town of Lào Cai Province in the Northwest region of Vietnam. The town has an area of and a population of 70,663 in 2022. The town capital lies at Sa Pa ward. It is one of the main market and t ...

and Lào Cai from the west, the 14th Army was ordered to take Mường Khương and move against Lào Cai from the east; the central thrust was undertaken by the 13th Army, targeting Lào Cai itself, as well as the township of Cam Đường to the south.O'Dowd, p. 62. Blasko 2002, drawing upon the ''Directory of PRC Military Personalities'', 1999 and 2000 editions, wrote that the 13 GA (MUCD 56005), at

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

, comprised the 37th Motorized Infantry Division (MUCD 56013), the 149th Motorized Infantry Division (MUCD 56016) at

Emei Mount Emei (; zh, c=峨眉山, p=Éméi shān, O2-mei2 shan1), alternatively Mount Omei, is a mountain in Sichuan Province, China, and is the highest of the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains of China. Mount Emei sits at the western rim of th ...

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

, an Armored Brigade (MUCD 56017) at

Pengzhou Pengzhou (), formerly Peng County or Pengxian, is a county-level city of Sichuan Province, Southwest China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Chengdu. There is an expressway that connects Pengzhou to Chengdu. It is bo ...

, an Artillery Brigade (MUCD 56014) at Chongqing, and an Anti-Aircraft Artillery Brigade (MUCD 56018) at

Mianyang Mianyang ( zh, s=绵阳, t=綿陽, w=Mien2-yang2, p=Miányáng; Sichuanese Pinyin, Sichuanese romanization: ''Mien-iang''; formerly known as Mienchow, zh, t=綿州, p=Mianzhou, links=no; Sichuanese romanization: ''Miencheo''; ) is the second lar ...

, Sichuan.

Organization

* * * * * * * 77th Special Operations Brigade * 77th Army Aviation Brigade - Operates

Mi-17 The Mil Mi-17 (NATO reporting name: Hip) is a Soviet-designed Russian military helicopter family introduced in 1975 (Mi-8M), continuing in production at two factories in Russia, in Kazan and Ulan-Ude. It is known as the Mi-8M series in Russia ...

helicopters * 77th Artillery Brigade * 77th Air Defense Brigade * 77th Engineering Brigade * 77th Chemical Defense Brigade * 77th Service Support Brigade

Leaders

Commanders

Zhou Xihan Zhou Xihan () (August 27, 1913 – November 7, 1988) was a People's Liberation Army lieutenant general. He served in the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army and Eighth Route Army. He fought in the Chinese Civil War and Second Sino-Japanese War ...

: 1949–1952 * Chen Kang: 1952–1956 * Xu Qixiao: 1956–1965 * Wu Xiaomin: 1965–1968 * Gu Yongwu: 1968–1978 * Yan Shouqing: 1978–1980 * An Yufeng: 1980–1983 * Yang Anzhong: 1983–1985 * Chen Shijun: 1985–1994 * Gui Quanzhi: 1994–2000 *

Zhang Youxia Zhang Youxia (; born July 1950) is a Chinese general in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and currently the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC). Zhang previously served as Head of the CMC Equipment Development Department, ...

: 2000–2005 * Wang Xixin: 2005–2007 *

Zhao Zongqi Zhao Zongqi (; born 1955) is a general (''shang jiang'') of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China and a former Commander of the Western Theater Command. Zhao was born in Bin County, Heilongjiang province. In his earlier year he was the de ...

: 2007–2008 * Xu Yong: 2008–2013 * Wang Kai: 2013–2017 * Lin Huomao: 2017–2021 * Wang Suocheng: 2021–present

Political commissars

* Liu Youguang: 1949–1951 * Jin Rubai: 1951–1954 * Zhang Lixiong: 1954–1955 * Kong Junbiao: 1955–1961 * Lei Qiyun: 1961–1969 * Duan Siying: 1965–1969 *

He Yunfeng He Yunfeng (; January 1922 – January 6, 2013) was a People's Republic of China major general and 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 ...

: 1969–1970 * Zhao Wei: 1970–1975 * Geng Zhongxian: 1975–1978 * Qiao Xueting: 1978–1982 * Ai Weiren: 1983–1988 * Xiao Huaishu: 1988–1993 * Chen Peizhong: 1993–1996 * Qiu Jian: 1996–2005 * Cui Changjun: 2005–2010 *

Diao Guoxin Diao Guoxin (; born October 1958) is a lieutenant general (''zhong jiang'') of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China. He served as Political Commissar of the Tibet Military District from 2012 to 2016. Biography Diao Guoxin was born in O ...

: 2010–2012 * Zheng Xuan: 2013–2017 * Li Zehua： 2017–2021 * Kuang Ming： 2021–present

History

Organization

Leaders

Commanders

Political commissars

References

Further reading