89th Division (2nd Formation)(People's Republic of China)

89th Division
Country	People's Republic of China
Branch	Army
Type	Infantry
Part of	15th Airborne Corps

The 89th Division is a military formation of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force.

It served with the Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) or Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) during the Korean War. It was a component of the 30th Corps, composed of the 265th, 266th, and 267th Regiments. The 89th Division was actually assigned though as a reinforcing division to the 20th Corps.^[1][2]

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.^[3]

Current

It appears as if the 89th Division has been re-designated (through several iterations) as an Airborne Division of the 15th Airborne Corps.^[4] 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.^[5]

References

1. Appleman, Roy E. South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu. United States Army Center of Military History. p. 769. CMH Pub 20-2-1.
2. Mossman, Billy C. "Chapter 3, The Enemy". Ebb and Flow November 1950-July 1951. p. 55.
3. Stewart, Richard W. The Korean War: The Chinese Intervention. United States Army Center of Military History. p. 17. CMH Pub 19-8.
4. The 15th Airborne Corps
5. John Pike. "People's Republic of China People's Liberation Army Air Force". globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2016-08-18.