89th Division (People's Republic of China)

command structure
name=89th Division
date=
parent=30th Army
subordinate=265th Regiment
266th Regiment
267th Regiment

History

The 89th Division was a military formation of the People's Volunteer Army (Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) or Chinese Communist Forces (CCF)) during the Korean War. They were a component of the 30th Army, composed of the 265th, 266th, and 267th Regiments. The 89th Division was actually assigned though as a reinforcing Division to the 20th Army. [ [http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/korea/20-2-1/sn39.htm Appleman, Roy E. "South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu", pg 769] ] [ [http://www.army.mil/cmh/books/korea/ebb/ch3.htm Mossman, Billy C. "Ebb and Flow November 1950-July 1951", pg 55] ]

Two CCF Divisions, the 89th and 79th, attacked the 5th Marine Regiment west of the Chosin Reservoir in the Yudam-ni area. The marines killed the Chinese by the hundreds but were in danger of being cut off from the division headquarters at Hagaru-ri, at the southern end of the reservoir. [ [http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/brochures/kw-chinter/chinter.htm The Korean War: The Chinese Intervention, pg 17] ]

Current

It appears as if the 89th Division has been re-designated (through several iterations) as the Airborne Division of the 15th Airborne Corps [ [http://www.china-defense.com/orbat/15th_airborne/15_abc_1.html The 15th Airborne Corps] ] . If so, then the unit was used during the 1979 border conflict with Vietnam, three of the 15th Airborne Army's light artillery battalions were subordinated to the PLAAF'S 19th AAA Division's 55th Regiment at Ningming.

The Airborne Troops have also been used for internal purposes. For example, they were used in Wuhan during the Cultural Revolution. In addition, they were also used as a spearhead during the military crackdown on demonstrators in Tiananmen in June 1989. [ [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1991/plaaf-ch17.htm Airborne Troops] ]

References