16th Army (People's Republic of China)

The 16th Army was a military formation of the People's Liberation Army Chinese Communist Forces (CCF)). The formation is still active as the 16th Group Army in the Shenyang Military Region.

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: (Source Blasko 2006, 76)
 * Headquarters, Changchun, Jilin
 * 46th Motorised Infantry Division, Changchun, Jilin
 * 48th Motorised Infantry Brigade, Tonghua, Jilin
 * 4th Armoured Division, Meihekou, Jilin
 * Artillery Brigade, Yanbian, Jilin
 * AA Brigade, Changchun, Jilin

History
The origins of this army go back to Nanchang Uprising. After People's Republic of China established, it belongs to 62nd Group Army in a short term.

On February 19, 1949, column 1 of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region in Henan Shen Qiu area became the 16th Army of the People's Liberation Army, was placed under the 5th Corps of the PLA Second Field Army. Yinxian Bing was appointed army commander.

Legacy
People who served in the 16th Group Army and later went on to achieve notability in the military or other fields include Xu Caihou,one of two vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China and the People's Republic of China (The other one is Guo Boxiong).