- Autumn Offensive of 1947 in Northeast China
Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Autumn Offensive of1947 inNortheast China
partof=theChinese Civil War
place=Northeast China
date=September 14 ,1947 -November 5 ,1947
result=Communist victory
combatant1=
combatant2=
commander1=
commander2=flagicon|China|armyLin Biao
flagicon|China|armyLuo Ronghuan
strength1= 500,000
strength2= 510,000
casualties1= 69,000
casualties2= ?|The Autumn Offensive of 1947 in
Northeast China (东北1947年秋季攻势) was a series of battles initiated by thecommunist s against the nationalists during theChinese Civil War afterWorld War II .Prelude
After the defeats of the
Summer Offensive of 1947 in Northeast China ,Chiang Kai-shek removed the nationalist political leader Xiong Shihui (熊式辉) and the military nationalistsDu Yuming in1947 , and put thechief of the general staff Chen Cheng in charge ofnortheast China . With the arrival of the 49th Army fromChina proper , the total nationalist strength innortheast China numbered half a million, numbering forty-five divisions belonging to ten armies, which in turn, belonged to four corpses.Chen Cheng deployed his troops in major cities such asChangchun ,Siping (city) ,Shenyang ,Jinzhou and along the railways linking these cities, and planned to attack thecommunist s when more troops arrived fromChina proper .In
northeast China , meanwhile, thecommunist s had twenty-seven Divisions belonging to nine columns, and twelve independent divisions (including two cavalry divisions), and local garrison totaled 510,000 troops, slightly above its nationalist opponent, and thecommunist s mainly occupied regions in westernLiaoning , and regions along the railways fromChangchun to Greater Stone Bridge (Dashiqiao, 大石桥), and fromShenyang toJilin . Thecommunist s planned to launch an offensive in late September by first attacking the southern front of the nationalists where the defense was the weakest, and then annihilate large amount of the nationalist force by ambushing the nationalist reinforcement from north. However, onSeptember 6 ,1947 , to secure the railway communication line, three nationalist Divisions begun their push toward Jianchang (建昌) fromXingcheng ,Suizhong andJinxi , and thecommunist s consequently adjusted their schedule accordingly by launching the offensive early onSeptember 14 ,1947 .Order of battle
Nationalist order of battle
*The Newly Organized 1st Army
*The Newly Organized 6th Army
*The 3rd Cavalry Army
*The 49th Army
*The 52nd Army
*The 53rd Army
*The 60th Army
*The 71st Army
*The 207th Division of the Youth Army
*Six divisions fromChina proper in the latter stage of the offensiveCommunist order of battle
In order to achieve their objective, the
communist s established three commands:
*The 1st frontline command headed by commander Xiao Jinguang (萧劲光) and politicalcommissar Xiao Hua (萧华), which was tasked to attack nationalist troops in the region betweenLiaoyang and Greater Stone Bridge (Dashiqiao, 大石桥), and the region betweenTieling and Changtu (昌图). This command included:
**The 3rd Column
**The 4th Column
**Three independent divisions
*The 2nd frontline command headed by commander and politicalcommissar Cheng Zihua (程子华), which was tasked to fight the nationalists defending the railways fromShanhai Pass toJinzhou and fromChengde toJinzhou . This command included:
**The 8th Column
**The 9th Column
**Four independent Divisions
*The high command headed by commanderLin Biao and politicalcommissar Luo Ronghuan , which was tasked to annihilate enemy in the regions betweenSiping (city) andChangchun . This command included:
**The 1st Column
** The 2nd Column
** The 6th Column
** The 7th Column
** The 10th Column
**Three independent divisionsFirst Stage
On
September 14 ,1947 , the nationalist westward push was met head on with stiffcommunist resistance. At dawn, the nationalist 50th Division at the left front was badly mauled by thecommunist 8th Column and the 1st Independent Division at the Pear Tree Ditch Gate (Lishu Gou Men, 梨树沟门) region, and was forced to turn back. Thecommunist force did not pursuit the retreating remnant of 50th Division, but instead, turned to the nationalist 22nd Division at the central front, wiping out the enemy at the region between Yang’s Family’s Pole (Yangjia Zhangzi, 杨家杖子) and Old Gate (Jiu Men 旧门). The nationalist 60th Division at the right front immediately withdrew after learning the news of the annihilation of forces at the other two fronts and after failing to catch up with the retreating enemy, thecommunist s withdrew to the west for rest and regroup. In the meantime, thecommunist 9th Column were order to theJinxi and Yang’s Family’s Pole (Yangjia Zhangzi, 杨家杖子) for reinforcement to face the renewed nationalist attack that was certain to come.Three days later on
September 17 ,1947 , the expected renewed nationalist attack resumed as the nationalist 49th Army begun its push toward Jianchang (建昌) fromJinzhou . When the nationalist 49th Army reached Yang’s Family’s Pole (Yangjia Zhangzi, 杨家杖子), it was surrounded by the waitingcommunist 8th Column and the 1st Independent Division. The nationalists sent out twobrigade s totaling sixregiment s to reinforce their besieged 49th Army, but they were stopped by thecommunist 24th Division of the 8th Column and thecommunist 26th Division of the 9th Column at the region of Hongluojian (虹螺岘), west ofJinxi and the region of Senior Border (Lao Bian, 老边), northwest ofJinxi . OnSeptember 22 ,1947 , the nationalist 49th Army attempted to breakout and flee south, but was completely annihilated at the region of Senior Border (Lao Bian, 老边). Thecommunist 2nd frontline command then directed all of its resources to destruct the railway fromJinzhou toShanhai Pass , which was completed successfully, thus greatly reduced the nationalist transportation capacity.econd Stage
The continuous defeats forced
Chen Cheng to sent the Newly Organized 6th Army fromTieling to reinforceJinzhou , leaving the region betweenSiping (city) andTieling vulnerable. Thecommunist s decided to take this advantage by concentrating three columns totaling eight Divisions to attack Xifeng (西丰)、Changtu (昌图),Kaiyuan , and annihilate the nationalist 53rd Army in the process. However, ascommunist s were massing their troops onSeptember 29 ,1947 , those regrouped at Xifeng (西丰) were revealed by the nationalist aerial reconnaissance and the nationalist garrisons at Xifeng (西丰) and adjacent regions immediately withdrew to safety, thus avoiding being surrounded by the enemy.communist s then changed their strategy by ordering the 1st Column, 2nd Column, 6th Column, and the 10th Column to be deployed to the regions to the north and south ofSiping (city) , and to Jiangmi Peak (Jiangmi Feng, 江密峰) located to the northeast ofJilin City , so that the nationalist Newly Organized 1st Army, the 60th Army and the 71st Army would be tied up. In the morning ofOctober 1 ,1947 , thecommunist 1st Division of the 1st Column and thecommunist 3rd Column had succeeded in surrounding the 116th Division of the nationalist 53rd Army at Weiyuan Bunker (Weiyuan Bao, 威远堡) southwest of Xifeng (西丰), and after nineteen hours of fierce battle, the 116th Division was completely annihilated.To the south of Xifeng (西丰), the nationalist 130th Division of the 53rd Army was defeated by the
communist 10th Division and the 12th Division of the 4th Column, losing an entire regiment at regions between Sable Skin Village (Diaopi Tun, 貂皮屯) and Eight Trees (Bakeshu, 八棵树). Meanwhile, with the help of thecommunist 1st Independent Division, thecommunist 11th Division of the 4th Column penetrated into the region betweenLiaoyang and Greater Stone Bridge (Dashiqiao, 大石桥), taking Greater Stone Bridge (Dashiqiao, 大石桥), and Haicheng, threateningAnshan andLiaoyang . The nationalist 25th Division of the 52nd Army was defeated by thecommunist 1st Independent Division at regions between Ox Village (Niuzhuang, 牛庄) and Haicheng, and was forced to retreat after losing an entire regiment. After marching 80km by foot in one day, thecommunist 21st Division of the 7th Column suddenly besieged Faku (法库), and completely annihilated local garrison outside the city, the nationalist 7th Security Regiment after two hours of fierce fighting onOctober 1 ,1947 . The 19th Division of thecommunist 7th Column, in the meantime, tookZhangwu after completely annihilated the local garrison, a regiment of the nationalist 57th Division.The continuous
communist offensives in the regions to the east and west ofKaiyuan had forced the Newly Organized 1st Army to divert from its original objective to reinforceKaiyuan instead, and the Newly Organized 6th Army had to return toTieling , while the nationalist main forces ofGongzhuling and Village of the Fan Family (Fanjia Tun, 范家屯) were ordered toSiping (city) to strengthen the defense of the city. Well aware that the fortified strongholds were difficult to take, thecommunist s turned their attention to destroying the railways to further hamper the nationalist transportation capacity.Third Stage
In order to reverse the nationalist situation in
northeast China ,Chiang Kai-shek personally flew toShenyang onOctober 8 ,1947 to provide guidelines for the new strategy. In addition, new nationalist reinforcement totaling six divisions were drawn fromChina proper , including:
*The 21st Division of the 92nd Army
*The 43rd Division of the 94th Army
*The 10th Division of the 3rd Army
*The 11th Division of the 3rd Army
*The 4thCavalry Division
* The 54th Division of the 13th ArmyThecommunist s, in turn, planned to deploy six columns to lure out the enemy from their fortified positions and then annihilate them in the open field where they are most vulnerable by faking the assaults onJilin City andKaiyuan , while another three columns were deployed to stop the nationalist reinforcement fromChina proper .On
October 9 ,1947 , thecommunist 7th Column attackedXinlitun , badly mauling the local nationalist garrison, the 57th Division. FromOctober 10 –October 12 ,1947 , thecommunist 8th Column and the 9th Column secured most of the regions betweenJinzhou andXingcheng (with a few exception of strongholds to the west ofJinzhou ), killing more than 1,200 nationalist troops in the process. OnOctober 15 ,1947 , Yi County (Yi Xian, 义县) was besieged by thecommunist s. ByOctober 17 ,1947 ,Fuxin had fallen into thecommunist hands after the attackingcommunist 7th Column had completely annihilated the local nationalist garrison, a brigade and a regiment of the nationalist 51st Division. The success of thecommunist 7th Column, 8th Column and the 9th Column had prevented any nationalist reinforcement from reaching north ofShenyang .With the newly arrived reinforcement, the nationalists launched a counteroffensive headed by the 21st Division from Haizhou (海州), the 43rd Division from Heishan (黑山), and the 195th Division and 22nd Division from
Xinmin , which resulted in retakingFuxin ,Zhangwu , andXinlitun byOctober 22 ,1947 . Unbeknown to the nationalists, thecommunist s was setting up a trap by giving up more land in order to make the nationalist spread thin, and the primary objective of thecommunist s were to annihilate the nationalist 21st Division and the 43rd Division. In order to further draw the nationalist to the west, thecommunist 9th Column tookChaoyang onOctober 23 ,1947 , after wiping out the local nationalist garrison, a regiment of the 53rd Division and a detachment of the 3rd Cavalry Army. The nationalist 21st Division and the 43rd Division were therefore lured westward to reinforce the local nationalist garrison, and onOctober 29 ,1947 , both divisions were surrounded by the enemy four times of their size at regions bordered byChaoyang Temple (Chaoyang Si, 朝阳寺)、Nine Pass Stage Gate (Jiu Guan Tai Men, 九关台门)、and Daiguan Bunker (Daiguan Bao, 代官堡). ByNovember 2 ,1947 , the eightcommunist divisions succeeded in badly mauling the two nationalist divisions and onNovember 4 ,1947 , the nationalist local garrison of Yi County (Yi Xian, 义县), the 4th Security Regiment, abandoned the town and retreated, but was completely annihilated on the way.In western
Liaoning , thecommunist launched another round of offensive, taking Huapichang (桦皮厂)、Jiuzhan (九站)、Kouqian (口前)、Wulajie (乌拉街)、Jiutai 、Nong’an , andDehui , after wiping out a regiment of the nationalist 53rd Division, two regiments of the Newly Organized 1st Army, a security regiment, and badly mauling the 182th Division of the 60th Army. In addition, an entire regiment of the nationalist 207th Division of the Youth Army was also lost to the enemy east ofFushun . Thecommunist victories threatenedJilin (city) andChangchun .In order to strengthen the defense of
Changchun andJilin City ,Chen Cheng ordered part of the nationalist force to be airlifted toChangchun fromShenyang , and the Newly Organized 1st Army also turned toChangchun to reinforce the defense of the city. Knowing that it was nearly impossible to take the fortified strongholds with huge defending forces, thecommunist wisely concluded the autumn offensive onNovember 5 ,1947 .Outcome
The
communist offensive succeeded in taking fifteen cities and towns from the nationalists and inflicting more than 69,000 casualties on the enemy. The nationalist redeployment of six divisions fromChina proper tonortheast China weakened the nationalist strength in the battlefront in other part ofChina so thus thecommunist s offensive innortheast China had succeeded in reducing the nationalist pressure oncommunist s inChina proper . Thecommunist s victory also provided the fundation of their next offensive, theWinter Offensive of 1947 in Northeast China . The nationalist commanderChen Cheng had already suggested to abandonnortheast China a year ago in1946 , so troops could be freed to fight in the other regions inChina proper where nationalists would have better chance for victories, and when the situation had improved, the nationalist would then be able to retakenortheast China . However, this correct suggestion was ignored because the political fallout of abandoning the resource rich and industrialnortheast China was simply perceived as too great to be carried out. As a result,Chen Cheng was tasked with an impossible job and therefore should not be blamed for nationalist failure innortheast China , because probably nobody else could perform any better under the same uncompromising belief, including thecommunist commanders, had their positions had been exchanged with the nationalists.ee also
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*National Revolutionary Army
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