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49th Infantry Division (1952–60)
49th Army Division (1960-69)
31st Army Division (1969-85)
31st Motorized Infantry Division (1985-2013)
31st Mechanized Infantry Brigade (2013-2017)
31st Combined Arms Brigade(2017-)
Active 1952.3-
Country People's Republic of China
Branch People's Liberation Army
Type Brigade
Role Infantry
Part of 75th Army
Garrison/HQ Dali, Yunnan
Engagements Vietnam War, Sino-Vietnamese War

The 49th Infantry Division(Chinese: 步兵第49师) was a division of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. It was formed in March 1952 and in August designated as a light division of national defense force. It was the second PRC infantry division numbered 49; 49th Division (First Formation) had been disestablished in 1950-51.

The division was organized from units and detachments of 5th Army Group left in Guizhou province.

The division was composed of:

  • 145th Infantry Regiment;
  • 146th Infantry Regiment (former 137th);
  • 147th Infantry Regiment (former 141st);
  • 307th Artillery Regiment.

From April 1955 the division was put under Kunming Military Region's control.

From June 1957 the division was transferred to Chengdu Military Region's control, in May 1958 the division returned to Kunming MR.

From April 1960 the division was renamed as 49th Army Division(Chinese: 陆军第49师).

From August 1967 to 1968, Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion, 49th Army Division was deployed to North Vietnam for air defense missions, during its deployment it allegedly shot down one U.S. aircraft and damaged another.

In November 1969, the division was transferred to newly formed 11th Army Corps and later redesignated as 31st Army Division(Chinese: 陆军第31师). All its regiments were redesignated as follow:

  • 91st Infantry Regiment (former 145th);
  • 92nd Infantry Regiment (former 146th);
  • 93rd Infantry Regiment (former 147th);
  • Artillery Regiment (former 307th).

From February to March 1979 the division took part in the Sino-Vietnamese War. During its deployment the division allegedly killed 1402 and captured 54 PAVN soldiers.

In October 1985 the division was transferred to 14th Army and renamed as 31st Infantry Division(Chinese: 步兵第31师), as a southern motorized infantry division. Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment, 31st Infantry Division was established.

In 1998, 91st Infantry Regiment merged with 18th Tank Regiment, 5th Tank Division as Armored Regiment, 31st Infantry Division. Since then the division was composed of:

  • 92nd Infantry Regiment;
  • 93rd Infantry Regiment;
  • Armored Regiment;
  • Artillery Regiment;
  • Anti-Aircraft Regiment.

In 2013 the division was splited to two: the 31st Mechanized Infantry Brigade(Chinese: 机械化步兵第31旅) and 32nd Motorized Infantry Brigade.

In April 2017 the brigade was renamed as 31st Combined Arms Brigade(Chinese: 合成第31旅). The brigade is now a maneuver part of PLA 75th Army, stationing in Dali, Yunnan.

References[]



All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at 31st Motorized Infantry Division (People's Republic of China) and the edit history here.
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