During the Liaoshen Campaign in 1948, the Northeast Field Army of our army adopted a "column" formation, including 12 main columns, independent divisions, artillery, engineers, railway troops and local troops, with a total number of more than 1 million. Among them, it is recognized as the strongest in battle.
I. II. Third and Sixth Columns. The elite units of these four Northeast Field Army enjoyed a high reputation among the National People's Liberation Army at that time. The 1st Column of the East Field later evolved into the 38th Army (Banzai Army) of the 4th Field, the 2nd Column became the 39th Army, the 3rd Column became the 40th Army, and the 6th Column became the 43rd Army.
During the War of Liberation to the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, these four ace armies made great contributions.
The 38th Army conquered Siping and Tianjin when Li Tianyou was the commander, and made many military exploits, especially the 112th and 113th divisions under its jurisdiction were also the top ace divisions in the division-level troops of the whole armyThe 39th Army, formerly known as the 3rd Division of the New Fourth Army during the Anti-Japanese War, was led by General Huang Kecheng to lead the Northeast Base Cadres, and performed well in the Liaoshen Campaign and the Tianjin Campaign, and its record even surpassed that of the 38th Army, and it was the first choice in the Siye Offensive CampaignThe 40th Army was also the ace of the four fields, and performed well in the encirclement and annihilation of Liao Yaoxiang's Ninth Corps in the Liaoxi Plain, and at the same time was liberated in 1950.
Hainan made the first contribution in the key battle. As the most combat-effective army-level troops, the above three main forces of the four fields subsequently joined the 13th Corps of the Volunteer Army, and played a vital role in the battlefield of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea in the early days. In particular, in the second battle in 1950, the 38th Army made a long-distance attack to intercept the US army, made miraculous achievements, and was named and commended by the Zhiji as the "Long Live Army", which is unique in the history of our army. However, why did the 43rd Army (Sixth Column), which is as famous as these three armies, not participate in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea?
The 43rd Army is known as the "Tiger of Storming" and is obviously very strong. This title was first given to the 17th Division of the Sixth Column (128th Division of the Siye Period), and as a division-level combat unit, it was often directly dispatched by the Field Division as a tactical unit for attacking fortifications.
In the early days of the Liberation War, our army as a whole was on the defensive and was not good at attacking cities, so the main force attacking troops were particularly precious, and for conquering the three fortified cities of Siping, Jinzhou and Tianjin, the 17th Division was the general reserve of Yeji's fortified fortifications, which was highly trusted, and its siege methods and tactics were widely popularized and Xi throughout the army. The 43rd Army, one of the four largest ace armies in the late Liberation War, rose to prominence in a crucial decisive battle with the Gui ace Third Corps, successfully capturing the corps commander, Lieutenant General Zhang Gan, thus dismantling the powerful Bai Chongxi military group.
Although the scale reached 63,000 people, in 1950 its activities were in Guangdong and Hainan, and they were unable to participate in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. In May 1950, the 43rd Army participated in the liberation of Hainan Island as the main force on the island, when there was only a little more than a month left before the outbreak of the Korean War, and the troops needed to rest and recuperate, and it was very far away from the northeast border. Therefore, the Military Commission and Siye chose to let the 43rd Army stay behind to deal with the task of suppressing bandits at the southern tip of the mainland and Hainan. Before the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the formation of the Northeast Frontier Army did not take into account the 43rd Army far to the south.
In 1951, the 43rd Army directly assumed the responsibilities of the Western Guangdong Military Region, and then merged with the Hainan Military Region, and did not go to the Korean front in a formation like other units. Despite this, the 43rd Army still played an important role after liberation, continuing its legendary and great history.