78th Group Army


The 78th Group Army is one of the group armies of the People's Liberation Army's Northern Theater Command. It was established in 2017, by seemingly a redesignation of the former 16th Group Army.

Organisation

It was composed of the 69th, 46th, 48th, and 4th Armoured Divisions, the 68th brigade and an artillery brigade.
In 2006 the formation consisted of the:
In 2013, the formation consisted of the:
Note Blasko 2013, lists the 4th Armoured Division as a division, not as a brigade.
In 2017, the formation consisted of the:
The origins of this army go back to Nanchang Uprising. After People's Republic of China was established, it belonged to the 62nd Group Army for a while.
On February 19, 1949, column 1 of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region in Henan Shenqiu area became the 16th Army of the People's Liberation Army, was placed under the 5th Corps of the PLA Second Field Army. Yin Xianbing was appointed army commander.

Notable people

People who served in the 16th Group Army include Xu Caihou, a former vice chairman of the Central Military Commission.