Compared to the previous ones, the scale of the National Day military parade of 1959 was larger and its preparation work started relatively earlier.
At that time, Tiananmen Square had already been rebuilt and expanded by 2.5 times to a total size of 400,000 square meters. The grand Tiananmen Rostrum was at the north of the square, while the Museum of Chinese History and the Great Hall of the People were at the east and west respectively, while the Monument to the People's Heroes towered over the due south of the square, making the scenes of this parade more grandiose and magnificent.
Mao Zedong personally examined and approved the parade plan. The divisions including a motor tricycle division, a ground artillery division and an anti-craft gun division with a caliber of less than 100mm were excluded from this parade, while the number of soldiers in each row in divisions on foot increased from 20 to 24, with the total reviewed soldiers increasing by one-third. The reviewed troops consisted of 15 divisions formed by various soldiers on foot, 14 vehicle divisions and 6 flight echelons.
The divisions formed by soldiers on foot included those formed by military colleges such as the PLA Military College, Shijiazhuang Infantry School, Zhengzhou Artillery School, Nanjing Engineer School, No. 1 Tank School, Shijiazhuang Railway School, Shenyang Aviation School and Dalian Navy Commanding School. The divisions formed by soldiers on foot also included a marine division formed by soldiers from the navy Changshan fortress command, and an infantry division formed by soldiers from three field armies of Beijing Military Area Command.
(China.org.cn, CCTV August 13, 2009)
