60th Army (People's Republic of China)

60th Army (People's Republic Of China)

The 60th Army was a military formation of the People's Volunteer Army (Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) or Chinese Communist Forces (CCF)) III Army Group, during the Korean War. It comprised at least the 180th Division.

During what the Chinese call the 5th campaign (May, 1950), the CPV suffered its largest loss: the 180th Division of the 60th Army was totally destroyed. Roughly 3,000 men escaped earlier (including the division commander and other high-ranking officers), but the majority of the division were killed or captured. During the final days of the 5th campaign, the main body of the 180th Division was encircled during a UN counterattack, and after days of hard fighting, the division is fragmented, and regiments flee in all directions. Soldiers either desert or are abandoned bytheir officers during failed attempts to wage guerilla warfare without support from locals. Finally, out of ammunition and food, some five thousand soldiers are captured, including the Division Commissar Pei Shan. The division commander and other officers who escaped were subsequently investigated and demoted back in China.