1st Corps (Vietnam)

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Quân đoàn 1
(1st Corps)
Active24 October 1973 – 21 November 2023
CountryVietnam
Allegiance People's Army of Vietnam
BranchActive duty
TypeArmy Corps
RoleRegular force
SizeCorps
Part ofPeople's Army of Vietnam
Garrison/HQTam Điệp, Ninh Bình
EngagementsVietnam War
Commanders
Current commanderMajor General Trương Mạnh Dũng
Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff CommanderSenior Colonel Nguyễn Trung Hiếu[1]
First party committee secretaryMajor General Nguyễn Đức Hưng

1st Corps (Vietnamese: Quân đoàn 1) or Quyết thắng Corps (Vietnamese: Binh đoàn Quyết thắng, literally: Determined Victory Corps) was a regular army corps of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN). First organised in 1973 during the Vietnam War, 1st Corps had a major role in the 1975 spring offensive that ended the war. Before disbanded on 21 November 2023, the corps was stationed in Tam Điệp, Ninh Bình.[2][3][4][5]

History

[edit]
Major General Lê Quang Hòa, the first committee secretary of the 1st Corps.

In 1972, after the failure of the air raid in Operation Linebacker II, the Federal government of the United States was forced to sign the Paris Peace Accords, according to which in 1973 the United States had to withdraw all troops home. However, the military situation in 4th Military Region of the People's Army of Vietnam is also unfavorable. The Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of Vietnam sent a few divisions that were suffering heavy losses to the North to reinforce.

In July 1973, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam after its 21st conference issued a resolution of strengthening the armed forces to unify the country. In executing the issue, three months later the Ministry of Defence and the Central Military Commission approved the plan of organising regular army corps for the Vietnam People's Army. On 24 October 1973,[6] General Võ Nguyên Giáp, Minister of Defence, signed the edict No. 142/QĐ-QP that led to the establishment of the 1st Corps in Tam Điệp, Ninh Bình.[7] The first headquarters of the corps was composed of party committee secretary (bí thư) Lê Quang Hòa and commander (tư lệnh) and deputy secretary Lê Trọng Tấn.

After the PAVN victory in the Battle of Ban Me Thuot in March 1975, 1st Corps was ordered to move to Southern Vietnam and participate in the 1975 spring offensive. During the last days of the war, 1st Corps had a major role in the attack on Saigon, in which it was assigned the mission of capturing the headquarters of the Joint General Staff. The corps was awarded the title Hero of the People's Armed Forces (Anh hùng Lực lượng vũ trang nhân dân) in 1985.[7]

Development process

[edit]

According to the decision of the Ministry of Defence, the organisational structure of the Corps includes: Corps Command. Three corps agencies: the General Staff, the Political Bureau, and the Logistics Department. Units upon establishment: 308th Infantry Division, 312th Division, 320B Infantry Division (later changed to 390th Division), 367th Air Defense Division, 202nd Tank-Armored Brigade, 45th Brigade Artillery, 299th Engineer Brigade and 140th Information Regiment.[6]

On 15 March 1975, while the Battle of Ban Me Thuot was gaining a crushing victory. 1st Corps was ordered to move into Southern Vietnam ready to fight. In just 12 days and nights, the entire formation of the corps (except for the 308th Division soldier who remained in Northern Vietnam on diversionary duty), had traveled over a distance of 1,789 km from the North to the South along the Ho Chi Minh trail, in time to enter the war zone directly participated in the fighting in the North of Saigon. After that, the corps moved into the battlefield along Highway 1 – Road 9 – through Lao Bao to Laotian territory – back to Kon Tum along route 14 through Buon Ma Thuot, on 14 April 1975 to Dong Xoai – Phuoc Long prepares for the final battle. During the Ho Chi Minh Campaign, Army Corps 1 received the task of attacking from the North of Saigon, encircling and destroying the enemy in Phú Lợi, Bến Cát, Bình Dương, Lai Khê, Tân Uyên; prevent the Army of the Republic of Vietnam's 5th Division from withdrawing to the inner city and neutralize this unit; attacked and captured the Chief of the Joint General Staff, the army command posts in Gò Vấp, Bình Thạnh; organized a combined attack force with other corps at the Independence Palace. Due to the urgent need to march from the North by all means of water, land and air. 1st Corps started the attack a day later than the other units.[8]

Organisation

[edit]

The corps organisation before merged with the 2nd Corps to form the 12th Corps on 29 November 2023:[9]

Headquarters

[edit]
  • Department of Staff[10]
    • 701st Reconnaissance Battalion
    • 140th Signals Battalion[11]
    • 21st Chemical Defense Battalion
  • Department of Politics
  • Department of Logistics[12]
    • 752nd Transportation Battalion
    • Two Logistics Warehouse Companies
  • Department of Technicals
    • Two Technicals Warehouse Battalions

Combat forces

[edit]
  • 308th Division[13]
    • 36th Infantry Regiment
    • 88th Infantry Regiment
    • 102nd Mechanized Infantry Regiment (BMP-2)[14]
    • 58th Artillery Regiment[15]
  • 312th Division
    • 141st Infantry Regiment[16]
    • 165th Infantry Regiment
    • 209th Infantry Regiment
    • 14th Artillery Battalion (100mm mortars)[17]
  • 390th Division[18]
    • 27th Infantry Regiment
    • 48th Infantry Regiment
    • 64th Infantry Regiment
  • 241st Air Defense Brigade (Type 65 anti-aircraft guns)[19]
  • 368th Artillery Brigade[20]
  • 299th Engineer Brigade (PTS amphibious vehicle, PMP floating bridge)[21][7]
  • 1st Corps Military School[22]

Commanders

[edit]
Time Commander Notes
1973–1974 Maj. Gen. Lê Trọng Tấn Later promoted to general and Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army.
1974–1975 Maj. Gen. Nguyễn Hòa Later promoted to lieutenant general and Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
1979–1983 Maj. Gen. Lê Nam Phong
1983–1988 Maj. Gen. Nguyễn Kiệm
1988–1995 Maj. Gen. Nguyễn Huy Hiệu Later promoted to Colonel General and Deputy Minister of Defence of Vietnam.
1995–1997 Maj. Gen. Đỗ Trung Dương Later promoted to lieutenant general and Deputy Chief of the General Staff.
1997–1998 Maj. Gen. Nguyễn Khắc Nghiên Later promoted to Colonel General and Chief of the General Staff.
1998–2002 Se. Col. Nguyễn Xuân Sắc Later promoted to major general and Deputy Director of the Military Academy of Politics.
2002–2005 Maj. Gen. Phan Khuê Tảo
2005–2007 Maj. Gen. Tô Đình Phùng
2007–2009 Maj. Gen. Trần Quốc Phú
2009–2010 Maj. Gen. Trần Anh Vinh
2010–2011 Maj. Gen. Phan Văn Giang Later promoted to Army General, Chief of the General Staff (2016–2021), Minister of Defense (2021–2026)
2011–5/2013 Maj. Gen. Nguyễn Tân Cương Later promoted to Colonel General and Chief of the General Staff
5/2013–2015 Maj. Gen. Trần Việt Khoa Later promoted to Colonel General and Director of National Defense Academy
2015–1/2018 Maj. Gen. Trần Duy Giang
1/2015–4/2020 Maj. Gen. Doãn Thái Đức
4/2020–12/2021 Maj. Gen. Đỗ Minh Xương
12/2021–11/2023 Maj. Gen. Trương Mạnh Dũng

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Quân đoàn 1, khai mạc Hội thao Thể dục, thể thao năm 2023
  2. ^ "Lãnh đạo Quân ủy Trung ương, Bộ Quốc phòng dự lễ công bố Quyết định thành lập Quân đoàn 12". People's Army Newspaper (Vietnam). 2 December 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Portal of the Ministry of Defence – 1st Corps". Archived from the original on 26 August 2014.
  4. ^ "Báo Quân đội nhân dân". www.qdnd.vn. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  5. ^ "The 1st Corps practiced crossing the river close to the actual battle". Archived from the original on 23 August 2014.
  6. ^ a b "History of the 1st Corps (1973–2003)". Archived from the original on 19 April 2008.
  7. ^ a b c "Quân đoàn 1". Từ điển Bách khoa toàn thư Việt Nam (in Vietnamese). Archived from the original on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  8. ^ History of the 1st Corps (1973–2003). p. 131.
  9. ^ "Tiếp nhận nguyên trạng các cơ quan, đơn vị thuộc Quân đoàn 1, Quân đoàn 2 và Phân viện 5 (Bệnh viện 7, Quân khu 3) về Quân đoàn 12". People's Army Newspaper (Vietnam). 29 November 2023. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  10. ^ "Đồng chí Bí thư Huyện uỷ Bá Thước Phạm Đình Minh dự Lễ tuyên thệ chiến sĩ mới năm 2023 tại Bộ Tham mưu – Quân Đoàn 1". Trang thông tin điện tử uyện Bá Thước. 1 June 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  11. ^ "Quân đoàn 12: Công bố quyết định thành lập Trung đoàn Thông tin 140". People's Army Newspaper (Vietnam). 29 December 2023. Archived from the original on 29 December 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  12. ^ "Công bố quyết định của Bộ Quốc phòng về thành lập Trung đoàn Vận tải 752, Kho Hậu cần - Kỹ thuật 569 và Bệnh viện Quân y 5". Cổng thông tin điện tử tỉnh Ninh Bình. 28 December 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  13. ^ "Sư đoàn Quân Tiên Phong – 70 năm kiên trung, bất khuất". People's Army Newspaper (Vietnam). 26 August 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  14. ^ "Trung đoàn 102 tham gia thi kỹ thuật tăng thiết giáp toàn quân năm 2022". People's Army Newspaper (Vietnam). 6 September 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  15. ^ "Ngày 12-12-1953: Bác căn dặn đồng bào và cán bộ phải "Đoàn kết thân ái giúp đỡ lẫn nhau"". People's Army Newspaper (Vietnam). 12 December 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  16. ^ "Ống kính bạn đọc: Huấn luyện vận tải thô sơ". People's Army Newspaper (Vietnam). 31 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  17. ^ "Tăng cường kiểm tra, kịp thời xóa kém". Thái Nguyên TV. 1 July 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  18. ^ "Xứng với danh hiệu "Trung đoàn Quyết thắng" được Bác khen tặng". People's Army Newspaper (Vietnam). 20 January 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
  19. ^ "Bí quyết luyện quân ở Lữ đoàn Phòng không 241". People's Army Newspaper (Vietnam). 21 January 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  20. ^ "Lữ đoàn Pháo binh 368 "Chân đồng vai sắt, đánh giỏi, bắn trúng"". People's Army Newspaper (Vietnam). 15 June 2022. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  21. ^ "Những "cánh tay" công binh". Hà Nội Mới. 2 March 2015. Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  22. ^ "Phương châm huấn luyện phù hợp với từng mô hình đào tạo". People's Army Newspaper (Vietnam). 8 November 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  • History of the 1st Corps (in Vietnamese). Hanoi: People's Army Publishing House. 2003.
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