Huaihai Campaign

Huaihai Campaign Part of the Chinese Civil War PLA troops, supported by M5 Stuart light tanks, engage ROC army lines Date 6 November 1948 – 10 January 1949 Location Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan Result Decisive Communist victory Territorial changes Communists occupy areas north of Yangtse River Belligerents Republic of China Republic of China Army Communist Party Second Field Army Third Field Army Commanders and leaders Liu Chih Du Yuming Huang Wei Huang Baitao Qiu Qingquan Hu Lien Li Mi Liu Bocheng Deng Xiaoping Su Yu Tan Zhenlin Chen Yi Strength 800,000 combatants 6,510,000 combatants 660,000 regulars,[1] 400,000 irregulars[2] 5,450,000 armed peasants[3] Casualties and losses ~555,000 (including non-combat losses; 327,000 of which surrendered) 134,000

Chinese Civil War Major engagements in bold April 12 incident Uprisings Autumn Harvest Baise Guangzhou Nanchang Encirclement Campaigns First Jiangxi Hubei-Henan-Anhui Honghu Hubei-Henan-Shaanxi Shaanxi-Gansu Soviet Second Jiangxi Hubei-Henan-Anhui Honghu Hubei-Henan-Shaanxi Shaanxi-Gansu Soviet Third Jiangxi Hubei-Henan-Anhui Honghu Hubei-Henan-Shaanxi Shaanxi-Gansu Soviet Fourth Jiangxi Hubei-Henan-Anhui Honghu Soviet Fifth v. Jiangxi Soviet Hubei-Henan-Anhui Long March Luding Bridge Intermission Wannan Opening Campaign Yetaishan S. Jiangsu Baoying Yongjiazhen Tianmen Linyi Wuhe Yinji Huaiyin-Huai'an Xinghua Dazhongji Lingbi Zhucheng Lishi Pingdu Taixing Shangdang Wuli Xiangshuikou Rugao Weiguangnuan Shicun Operation Beleaguer Houmajia Handan Pacification of NE China Shaobo Gaoyou Tangguo Houma 1st Siping 2nd Siping North China Plain S. Tongpu Railway Datong Jining Longhai Dapu Ruhuang Dingtao Linfu Zhengtai Datong-Puzhou Huaiyin–Huai'an Yan'an Kalgan Lüliang Linjiang Guanzhong Beitashan S. Baoding Niangziguan Tang'erli Menglianggu Summer 1947, NE China Heshui 3rd Siping N. Baoding Nanlin Meridian Ridge N. Daqing River Autumn 1947, NE China Mt. Funiu Winter 1947, NE China Gongzhutun Phoenix Peak W. Tai'an Jingzhong Linfen Zhouzhang Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Yanzhou Shangcai Liaoshen Changchun Jinzhou Tashan Jinan Taiyuan Huaihai Shuangduiji Jiulianshan Pingjin Tianjin Bandits Suppression N.China C.S.China E.China Dabieshan NW.China Wupin SW.China Longquan N.Canton NE.Guizhou Hunan-Hubei-Sichuan W.Hunan Shiwandashan Liuwandashan W.Guangxi Shanghai Lanzhou Ningxia Nanchuan Guangxi Bobai Chengdu Jianmengguan Bamianshan Tianquan Yiwu KMT Insurgency 1950-58 Burma-China border Island campaigns Quemoy Denbu Nan'ao Hainan Island Dongshan Wanshan Nanpeng Nanri Nanpeng Dalushan Dongshan Yijiangshan Dachen Dong-Yin

Huaihai Campaign (Chinese: 淮海戰役; pinyin: HuáihǎiZhànyì) or Battle of Hsupeng (simplified Chinese: 徐蚌会战; traditional Chinese: 徐蚌會戰; pinyin: XúbèngHuìzhàn, also Battle of Xu-Beng) was a military action during 1948 and 1949 that was the decisive battle of the Chinese Civil War. It was one of the few conventional battles of the war. 550,000 troops of the Republic of China (led by Kuomintang) were surrounded in Xuzhou (Hsuchow) and destroyed by the communist People's Liberation Army (PLA). This campaign is one of the three campaigns that marked the end of Nationalist dominance in northern China, the other two campaigns being Liaoshen and Pingjin.

ROC army deployment

After [4]

PLA strategy

[4] The Huaihai campaign had begun.

The three phases of the battle

Communist forces' campaigns during November 1948 up to January 1949, the northern one being the Ping-Jin Campaign, and the southern one being the Huai-Hai Campaign.

The Huaihai Campaign is usually divided into three main phases.

Phase 1

As ROC 6th and 7th armies started retreating to Xuzhou by crossing the grand canal, they were behind their original schedule. Lieutenant General [4]

Phase 2: 23 November to 6 January

With the 7th army gone, east of [4]

Phase 3

On December 15, the day which the 12th army was wiped out, the 16th army under General [4]

Aftermath and consequences

Because the majority of Chiang Kai-shek's Whampoa troops were lost during this campaign, his position in the ROC government was greatly weakened. Chiang's old political rivals such as Vice President Li Zongren and Defense Minister Bai Chongxi attacked him on his policies and forced him to resign 11 days later. The military strength of the communists were now dominant in North and Central China, and poised to conquer the entire country; the loss of ROC government's best troops and majority of their American equipment meant that they could no longer effectively defend the Yangtze river delta from further communist attacks. The American government under President Harry S. Truman completely lost faith in the corrupt ROC government, therefore refused to give any further military and financial aid, and hastened the collapse of ROC regime on the mainland.

Casualties

Some experts say the actual casualty of communist army definitely surpasses the official number of 133,000; the names of a lot of soldiers killed in action were not recorded in Huaihai Campaign Museum, which has only some 30,000 names. One veteran launched a personal investigation into the casualty count after he discovered the official martyr number of his village was reduced to 40 in 1996 from 59 in 1995. He eventually discovered 83 soldiers killed in action from his village.^[5]

Films

In the 1980s, the CCP made three epic war movies called the Three Great Campaigns to commemorate their victories and propagate the view that they created a new China based on communism. The 2007 film Assembly was also based on the Huaihai Campaign. More recently the Shanghai Film Studio (上海电影制片厂) ^[6] made the 2009 film, The Founding of a Republic to commemorate the 60th year of the CCP; there was a scene dedicated to this campaign.

See also

• List of Battles of Chinese Civil War
• National Revolutionary Army
• History of the People's Liberation Army
• Chinese Civil War

References

External links

• http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-4/mswv4_43.htm
• 粟裕與淮海戰役