127th Mechanized Infantry Division (People's Republic of China)

127th Combined Arms Brigade
Shield of The 127th Combined Arms Brigade "The Iron Army"
Active	Before Wuchang Uprising 12th November 1924 - 1st July 1925 (as The Cantonese Nation Building Army 建国粤军, of Sun Yat-sen's Army and Navy Marshal stronghold of the Republic of China) 1st July 1925 - 1st August 1927 (As 25th Division, 4th Army of the National Revolutionary Army under the First United Front and the Nationalist government) 國民革命軍第四軍第二十五師 After Wuchang Uprising 1st July 1925 - 1st August 1927 (As 25th Division, 11th Army, National Revolutionary Army of the Left Kuomintang) 國民革命軍第十一軍第二十五師 October 1927 - January 1928 (As Fifth Column, National Revolutionary Army of the Left Kuomintang) 國民革命軍第五縱隊 January 1928 - 28th April 1928, (As 1st Division of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army) 中國工農革命軍第一師 January 1928 - 28th April 1928, (As 4th Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army) 中國工農革命軍第四軍 25th May 1928 - June 1933, (As 4th Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army) 中國工農紅軍第四軍 June 1933 - August 1937, (As 2nd Division, 1st Corps of the Chinese Central Red Army) 紅一方面軍第一軍團第二師 August 1937 - February 1941, (As The 685th Regiment of the Eighth Route Army) 八路軍第六八五團 February 1941 - October 1946, (As 7th Brigade of the New Fourth Army) 新四軍第七旅 October 1946 - November 1948, (As 16th Division of the Northeast Democratic Alliance Army) 東北民主聯軍第十六師 After formation of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) November 1948 - August 1961, (As 127th Division, 43rd Army of the PLA) 中國人民解放軍第四十三軍第一二七師 August 1961 - August 1968, (As Independent Division in the Guangzhou Military Region of the PLA Ground Force) 廣州軍區獨立師 August 1968 - April 1985, (As The 127th Division of the PLA Ground Force) 陸軍第一二七師 April 1985 - June 1998, (As 127th Infantry Division of the PLA Ground Force) 步兵第一二七師 June 1998 - April 2017, (As 127th Mechanized Infantry Division of the PLA Ground Force) 機械化步兵第一二七師 April 2017 - Now, (As 2nd Division, 127th Combined Arms Brigade of the PLA Ground Force) 合成第一二七旅
Country	China
Branch	People's Liberation Army Ground Force
Type	Army
Role	Combined arms operations
Part of	83rd Group Army
Garrison/HQ	Henan, Luoyang, Central Theater Command Ground Force
Nickname(s)	The Iron Division “鐵軍”
Patron	Ye Ting Fourth Army (National Revolutionary Army)
March	Invincible Iron Fist “無敵的鐵拳”
Commanders
Notable commanders	Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Chen Yi, Lin Biao, Su Yu, Wang Kaixiang, Yang Chengwu, Yang Dezhi, Liang Xingchu, Zhang Wannian, Ye Ting

The 127th Combined Arms Brigade is the primary maneuver element of the 82nd Group Army in the Central Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and is its sole infantry division as of present.

The 127th Combined Arms Brigade is one of the most famous and best-equipped PLA formations. Its three main regiments, the 371st, 379th, and 380th, are all Red Army Infantry Regiments. The 379th regiment is the famed Ye Ting independent regiment, a nationalist armored train unit that was once commanded by Dr Sun Yat-Sen, with Zhou Enlai as its political commissar during the 1911 Xinhai Revolution. The "Iron Army" title was an honor for its Armored Train roots. The 379th is also the regiment who formed the basis of the forces that fought KMT allies in the victory in the 1935 Battle of Luding Bridge.

See also

• Republic of China Marine Corps, where the 77th Marine Brigade and the 99th Marine Brigade also claims legacy to the NRA Fourth Army with the nicknames "Iron Vanguard" (Chinese: 鐵衛) and "Iron Army/Iron Force" (Chinese: 鐵軍) respectively.

External links

• http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/china/127mid.htm