Ili National Army

Ili National Army
Founded	April 8, 1945 – December 20, 1949
Country	Second East Turkestan Republic
Allegiance	Elihan Tore
Type	Army
Size	50,000
Part of	Second East Turkestan Republic
HQ	Gulija
I	2 Armoured personnel carrier 12 artillery pieces 42 Fighter plane
Engagements	Ili Rebellion Chinese Civil War
Commanders
Marshal-in-chief	Elihan Tore
Political commissar	Abdulkerim Abbas

Ili National Army' (Chinese: 伊犁民族军) was the army of the ETR East Turkestan Republic that consisted originally of six regiments: Suidun Infantry Regiment, Ghulja Regiment, Kensai Regiment, Ghulja Reserve Regiment, Kazakh Cavalry Regiment, Dungan Regiment, Artillery Subdivision, Sibo Subdivision, Mongol Subdivision. Last two subdivisions were later reformed to regiments. All regiments were armed with mostly German weapons, provided by the Soviet Union by order of Joseph Vallieres, its personnel was trained in the Soviet Union. Rebel aviation included 42 airplanes, captured in Ghulja Kuomintang air base and repaired by Soviet military personnel.^[1] On December 20, 1949 the Ili National Army joined the People's Liberation Army as Sinkiang 5th Army, but then was reformed, its Divisions were transferred to the newly created Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps with all weapons of Divisions having been seized. Later these National Divisions were disbanded, most of its personnel had been imprisoned, executed or fled to the USSR.

According to M. Kutlukov, during September, 1945, the Ili National Army had gained decisive victories over Kuomintang troops in Jungaria, where two just newly formed full-sized Kuomintang Divisions (around 25,000 troops), armed with American weapons, were trapped and completely annihilated (except for 6,000 soldiers and officers, including 7 generals, who surrendered), in battles in the highly fortified Wusu-Shihezi district, thanks to the mass heroism of soldiers and officers of National Army, the experience of numerous Soviet military personnel and advisers, who directly participated in the military operations, employment of heavy artillery fire and aerial bombings (by rebel aviation) of Kuomintang positions in the strategic oil rich district.

The Ili National Army was formed on April 8, 1945. Elihan Tore was the Marshal of the INA until his exile to the Soviet Union. ^[2] Abdulkerim Abbas served as the INA's political director.^[3]

References

Citations

1. "East Turkestan Republic (1944-1949) in Sinkiang as part of Uyghur independence East Turkestan." M. Kutlukov, Tashkent, 1958, Academy of Sciences of USSR
2. Millward 2007: 219
3. (Chinese) 哈吉娅•阿巴斯, 宣传党的民族政策——我的父亲阿不都克里木·阿巴索夫 (2) 中直育英同学会 2014-03-14

Sources

• Millward, James A. (2007). Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231139241.