| New 1st Army | |
|---|---|
Parade of US equipped Chinese Army in India. |
|
| Active | 1927—1928 1943—1949 |
| Country | Republic of China |
| Type | Field Army |
| Size | New 38th Division New 22nd Division New 30th Division |
| Part of | Kuomintang |
| Garrison/HQ | Kuomintang |
| Nickname | 1st Army Under the Heaven |
| Equipment | M1A1Thompson submachine gun M116 howitzer M2 mortar M1 carbine |
| Engagements | Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) Chinese Civil War |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Sun Li-jen |
New 1st Army (simplified Chinese: 新一军; traditional Chinese: 新一軍) was reputed as the most elite Chinese military unit of the Kuomintang. Nicknamed the "1st [Best] Army Under the Heaven" (simplified Chinese: 天下第一军; traditional Chinese: 天下第一軍) during the Chinese Civil War, it caused the most Japanese Army casualties during the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945).
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Formed from the Chinese Army in India, particularly the New 38th Division, the New 1st Army was among the top five nationalist crack units (The other four included New 6th Army, Reorganized 11th Division (army-sized, formerly known as the 18th Army and later reverted to its original designation), Reorganized 74th Division (army sized, formerly known as the 74th Army), and the 5th Army.
After the New 38th Division under Sun Li-jen and New 22nd Division under Liao Yao-hsiang retreated to India from Burma in the first phase of the Burma Campaign, the two divisions obtained American equipment and training at Ramgarh, India.
The New 1st Army was formed in February 1943 at Ramgarh with the three divisions: the New 38th, the New 22nd and the New 30th. General Qiu Qingquan was appointed its commander, but was soon replaced by general Cheng Tung-kuo. Sun Li-jen served as the deputy commander but had taken over tactical controls since the beginning of the second phase of the Burma Campaign.
During the Chinese Civil War, the New 1st Army was deployed in Manchuria to fight against Communist Party of China military units under Lin Biao and saw much successes in the early battles.[1] However, after some time, Sun Li-jen made enemies with important members of the KMT party and was dismissed as commander. This dealt a huge blow to the New 1st army and begin suffered heavy losses. The N1A saw their last action in effort to relieve the KMT controlled city of Jinzhou in which the entire army was literally wiped out. Due to this army's group uneasy history with both the KMT and communist party of China, their successes are rarely talked about both on the China mainland and Taiwan.