PLA Infantry Divisions and Brigades
Last updated: 1 January 2008
Infantry is the fundamental element of the PLA ground forces, though it is not generally regarded as one of the specialised service arms. Infantry is capable of a wide variety of missions, including attack, defence, patrol, pursuit, escort, security, etc. Infantry troops are equipped with small arms, light artillery, protective and survival gear, communication equipments, tools, and food. They use their own trucks or armoured vehicles for transportation and fighting, and rely on railway, aircraft or ships for long-distance travelling.
The PLA ground forces were predominately infantry before the mid-1980s. Its tactics accordingly were designed to exploit the capabilities of the infantry. As shown in the 1950s Korean War and the 1979 Sino-Vietnam border conflict, movement on foot was fairly fast, and a high rate of movement can be maintained by large forces over great distance in open terrain when unopposed. However, the Chinese also learned from the Korean War, and to some extent in the 1979 conflict with Vietnam, that in the offensive, unsupported massed infantry attacks (so-called “human wave tactics”) against vastly superior firepower was not only unavailing but in most case led to disastrously high losses in personnel and equipment.
The three force reduction programmes of the PLA in 1985, 1997, and 2003 saw a total of 1.7 million troops being axed. The ground forces, in particular infantry, absorbed the bulk of those reductions. In 1984, there were 115~122 infantry divisions in the PLA, and this had been reduced to about 25 infantry divisions and 33 infantry brigades in 2007, with about a third of them being mechanised infantry units equipped with armoured fighting vehicles.
In the PLA ground forces, according to their ways of manoeuvre, infantry units are categorised into light infantry (mountain infantry), motorised infantry, and mechanised infantry (armoured infantry). Light and motorised infantry units use trucks and other motor vehicles for long-distance manoeuvre, and combat on foot. Mechanised infantry units are mainly equipped with tracked armoured personnel carriers (APC) and infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) for transport and combat. In some regions, there are also static, artillery-heavy garrison units deployed along the coastline and borders.
In recent years, the PLA also introduced two new types of mechanised infantry units. Firstly, a number of motorised infantry divisions and brigades have been upgraded into light mechanised units equipped with wheeled armoured fighting vehicles for rapid deployment. Secondly, two amphibious mechanised divisions were formed between the late 1990s and early 2000s, mainly in response to the growing tension between China mainland and Taiwan. These divisions are equipped with specially designed amphibious tanks and armoured fighting vehicles intended for amphibious assault operations.
The largest infantry formation is a combined-arms infantry division, with 3 infantry regiments, an armoured regiment, an artillery regiment, and other supporting units, totalling some 12,000~14,000 personnel. In recent years, many infantry divisions have been downsized to brigades. Each infantry brigade has 3~4 infantry battalions, a tank battalion, an artillery regiment, an AAA battalion, and an engineering-chemical battalion.
An infantry regiment has three infantry battalions, an artillery battalion and a small number of supporting units. An infantry battalion has three infantry companies and 1~2 artillery (weapon) companies. An infantry company has three infantry platoons and a weapon platoon. An infantry platoon has three infantry (rifle) squads. An infantry (rifle) squad is the most basic tactical unit of the infantry. A typical motorised infantry squad has 10 infantrymen, which are grouped into three fire teams. An IFV-based mechanised infantry squad has a crew of 3 people (commander, driver, gunner) and 8 infantrymen.
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