t***h 发帖数: 5601 | 4 香港《南华早报》8月24日的报道
China to overhaul land troops in bid to transform world's biggest army into
nimble fighting force: sources
Strong resistance expected as old Soviet-model of organising army corps to
be replaced with smaller-sized divisions, say sources.
PUBLISHED: Wednesday, 24 August, 2016, 9:25am
UPDATED: Thursday, 25 August, 2016, 11:38am
China will reorganise more than half of its 1.55 million land force troops,
phasing out its army corps as it tries to mould a more nimble fighting force
, sources familiar with the military said, adding that strong internal
resistance to the change was expected.
Some of the existing 18 Army Corps will be turned into 25 to 30 divisions,
they told the South China Morning Post. The size of a corp varies from 30,
000 to 100,000 soldiers.
The approach was inherited from the Soviet Union, but it's a bulky model no
longer suited to the demands of modern warfare, which prizes modularity,
according to a retired senior colonel based in Beijing.
"This is a main trend in modern warfare. Even the Russian army has tried to
learn from the American army by reducing the size of their troops, making
land forces become more nimble and quick-response," the veteran said.
"The style of USA 101 Airborne Division is the best example that the [People
's Liberation Army's] land forces will study, especially its quick
deployment, equipment and logistic supplies, as well as other supporting
networks, which reflect the success of its nimble and efficient system."
A defence white paper that came to light last year highlighted the
importance of building small, multifunctional and modular units that could
take on different purposes for joint operations.
The overhaul comes amid a broader shift that the PLA embarked on early this
year.
Under the direction of President Xi Jinping, who also heads the decision-
making Central Military Commission, the four general headquarters were
dissolved, before setting up 15 new organisations including the Joint Staff
Department. The seven military commands were reshaped into five theatre
commands. Some 300,000 troops will also be cut by 2017.
Under the new arrangement, divisions will receive instructions from the
relevant theatre command, which reports directly to the Joint Staff
Department which is now part of the Central Military Commission, before
giving orders to frontline troops.
The shift away from corps was the focus of Xi's visit to the headquarters of
the land force in Beijing a few days before the anniversary of the founding
of the PLA on August 1, a source close to the military said.
The source said Xi called on leaders of the land force to speed up reforms
in administration and combat capability.
Currently the biggest land force in the world, the army comprises 1.55
million soldiers, of which 850,000 are mobile troops, most of whom are under
the army corps, while the rest are regional garrison troops.
A source said it was only a matter of time for the army corps units to be
either downsized or scrapped, although the change would inevitably encounter
strong opposition from the ground force.
The transition to divisions is likely to result in the dismissal of tens of
thousands of military personnel. and, hence, trigger huge resistance from
the troops affected.
Xi appears to be tightening his grip on military power by letting go of some
generals while promoting others who have his trust, as he tries to
streamline the force and root out corruption within the ranks.
The past two years have seen the downfall of several top brass, including
former Central Military Commission vice-chairmen Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou.
Xi wasted no time spelling out his expectations for the army when he
inspected the Guangzhou Military Command in early December 2012, less than a
month after becoming chair of the commission, saying: "When you are
summoned, you must come at once; when you come, make sure you can fight, and
when you fight, be certain to win."
To the surprise of many, Xi announced that the PLA would cut troop levels by
300,000, in a speech right after a massive military parade commemorating
the 70th anniversary of the victory over the Japanese on September 3 last
year. Rather than the air force and the navy, ground forces became the
target for downsizing.
The 18 corps are classified into either category A or category B. The first
are better equipped and have more manpower and resources. They include the
1st, 13th, 21st, 27th, 38th, 39th and 54th Army Corps, while the rest of the
corps belong to category B.
Under the overhaul earlier this year, the seven military commands were
replaced by five strategic zones - Central, North, South, East and West.
State media revealed the distribution of the corps among the theatre
commands later on.
The Central Theatre Command, which is responsible for the safety of Beijing
and a few provinces in its vicinity, boasts the largest number of corps -
the 20th, 27th, 38th, 54th and 65th Combined Corps.
Second is the North Theatre Command, which commands four - the 16th, 26th,
39th and 40th Combined Corps.
The rest of the five theatre commands each have three corps, with the 1st,
12th and 31st belong to the East, the 14th, 41st and 42nd to the South, and
the 13th, 21st and 47th to the West.
http://www.scmp.com/news/China/diplomacy-defence/article/2008043/China-phase-out-PLA-Army-Corps-sources-say
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as:
faster, nimbler and leaner look for land forces |