until the Liberation War,

▲ The PLA Armoured reconnaissance enter Taiyuan

Although the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Armoured reconnaissance were not established until the Liberation War, our army began to reserve and educate relevant talents before the comprehensive war of resistance. In the autumn of 1936, our army organized a training class of over 40 people to study in the Soviet Union. This training class "not only learns about cars, but also artillery and tank techniques and tactics", learning about tanks in a villa southeast of Moscow.

Captured Japanese tanks

In the later stage of the Liberation War, a large number of Japanese tanks of the Nationalist Army were captured by the People's Liberation Army

After the victory of the Anti Japanese War in 1945, our army sent personnel to Northeast China and began to collect weapons and equipment left by the Japanese army in Northeast China. The task of collecting Japanese tanks fell on the shoulders of Gao Ke, a cadre of the Northeast People's Autonomous Army Command. After some investigation, Gao Ke discovered that there were still several Japanese tanks left behind in a tank repair shop in Shenyang. He first dispatched his own security guard, Dong Lai, who was proficient in Japanese, to help infiltrate the repair shop as a mechanical repairman. Gao Ke personally led several soldiers to rush into the repair shop and seize the tanks. In the end, he successfully captured a Japanese made Type 97 Medium tank, which was later the "Meritorious Officer".

▲ The same model of "Gongchen" - Japanese made 97 type Medium tank

After successfully capturing a tank, Gao Ke's team successfully collected two armored vehicles, two tractor vehicles, and one vehicle in Shenyang a few days later. On November 13th, after receiving intelligence about Japanese tanks left behind in the Siping area, cadre Huo Shuting led a group of technical personnel to Siping and successfully collected four tanks, one car, and some tank parts and fuel. At the end of the same year, the Northeast Tank Brigade was officially established. By July 1946, after extensive collection, the Tank Brigade had owned 20 tanks of various types, 10 tractors, and a total of 30 cars and armored vehicles. The entire brigade had over 400 soldiers.

▲ Japanese made 97 type tank, the main tank model of the early Armoured reconnaissance of the People's Liberation Army

Although the Northeast Tank Brigade was established at the end of 1945, it is interesting that the "battlefield debut" of the People's Liberation Army tanks was not completed by the Tank Brigade. In April 1946, the Northeast Democratic Alliance Army discovered the remains of a group of Japanese tanks that had been blown up by the Soviet army during their evacuation from Northeast China in Mengjiatun, a suburb of Changchun. The coalition invited Jiang Zemin, who had studied tank science at the Eastern University of the Soviet Union, to search for tanks that could be repaired. Jiang Zemin led 10 tank maintenance personnel to repeatedly search and found two repairable tanks in the ruins. After about 8 days of repairs, a tank was successfully repaired on April 12th.

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▲ Type 97 Tank Dual View

At that time, the Northeast People's Autonomous Army was attacking Changchun, which was occupied by the puppet army. This puppet army was originally the remnants of the "Iron Stone" army of the puppet Manchukuo. After Surrender of Japan, it incorporated many remnants of Manchukuo and local bandits, with a total of more than 30000 people. The puppet army relied on the buildings in Changchun City to defend themselves, causing considerable trouble to the Northeast People's Autonomous Army. So, after Jiang Zemin and his team repaired the tank, they quickly drove the tank to the front line in Changchun