Battle of Shantou (1927)
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Shantou was an incident in the first phase of the Chinese Civil War
.
-Chaozhou
border hills.
under Jiang KaiShek
, well-entrenched and -supplied blocking the march of the Nanchang mutineers
, led by ComIntern
advisors and Communist Party of China
members, toward resupply at Shantou
by Soviet ship with the ultimate aim of seizing Guangzhou
for the emergent Left-Kuomintang govt then established in Hankou
, HuB.
After the rigours of the two-month Little Long March, there were only 5000 troops remaining to this ComIntern mission. Ye Ting
and He Long
had most of the force. Zhu De
's section was charged with protecting the march's north flank.
CPC founding member Zhang Tailei
arrived from Hong Kong
with a new ComIntern directive: there would be no arms shipment coming into Shantou. The troops were to avoid combat and retreat into the hills south and west of that port, there to proclaim the Haifeng Soviet.
. He Long was troopless and barely escaped; Zhu De led his survivors northwest into Hunan
, He long's old bandit-ground.
With Right-KMT-allied warlord troops closing in, CPC leaders Zhou
, Li
and Zhang
slipped out of the now-hopeless Shantou port area and eventually returned to Shanghai
, the latter two by way of Hong Kong.
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
.
Time & Place
From the morning of September 30 to the evening of October 1, 1927, about Tangkeng town in the MeizhouMeizhou
-Administration:The municipal government, Intermediate Court and CPC and PSB bureaux are housed in the district of Jiangnan , on the right bank of Meijiang River.A second district of Meizhou is Jiangbei , on the left bank...
-Chaozhou
Chaozhou
Chaozhou is a city in eastern Guangdong province of the People's Republic of China. It borders Shantou to the south, Jieyang to the southwest, Meizhou to the northwest, the province of Fujian to the east, and the South China Sea to the southeast...
border hills.
Opponents
15 000 Guangdong warlord forces allied with the emergent Right-KuomintangKuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
under Jiang KaiShek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
, well-entrenched and -supplied blocking the march of the Nanchang mutineers
Nanchang Uprising
The Nanchang Uprising was the first major Kuomintang-Communist engagement of the Chinese Civil War, in order to counter the anti-communist purges by the Nationalist Party of China....
, led by ComIntern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
advisors and Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
members, toward resupply at Shantou
Shantou
Shantou , historically known as Swatow or Suátao, is a prefecture-level city on the eastern coast of Guangdong province, People's Republic of China, with a total population of 5,391,028 as of 2010 and an administrative area of...
by Soviet ship with the ultimate aim of seizing Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
for the emergent Left-Kuomintang govt then established in Hankou
Hankou
Hankou was one of the three cities whose merging formed modern-day Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers where the Han falls into the Yangtze...
, HuB.
After the rigours of the two-month Little Long March, there were only 5000 troops remaining to this ComIntern mission. Ye Ting
Ye Ting
Ye Ting , born in Huiyang, Guangdong, was a Chinese military leader. He started out nationalist and went to the communists....
and He Long
He Long
He Long was a Chinese military leader. He rose to the rank of Marshal and Vice Premier after the founding of the People's Republic of China.-Early life:He Long was a member of the Tujia ethnic group...
had most of the force. Zhu De
Zhu De
Zhu De was a Chinese militarist, politician, revolutionary, and one of the pioneers of the Chinese Communist Party. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, in 1955 Zhu became one of the Ten Marshals of the People's Liberation Army, of which he is regarded as the founder.-Early...
's section was charged with protecting the march's north flank.
CPC founding member Zhang Tailei
Zhang Tailei
Zhang Tailei was the leader of the 1927 Guangzhou Uprising, during which he was killed.In 1921 Zhang was sent to the Russian Far East to make a report to the Comintern for the Communist Party of China. Zhang then studied in Moscow for a few years...
arrived from Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
with a new ComIntern directive: there would be no arms shipment coming into Shantou. The troops were to avoid combat and retreat into the hills south and west of that port, there to proclaim the Haifeng Soviet.
Outcome
40% of the Left-KMT troops were KIA in the two days' fighting. Ye Ting took his surviving troops to Haifeng where they enforced the return to local power of Peng PaiPeng Pai
Peng Pai born in Haifeng County , Guangdong Province, China, was a pioneerIn the Preface, the author called Peng Pai "the father of Chinese rural communism"...
. He Long was troopless and barely escaped; Zhu De led his survivors northwest into Hunan
Hunan
' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...
, He long's old bandit-ground.
With Right-KMT-allied warlord troops closing in, CPC leaders Zhou
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976...
, Li
Li Lisan
Lǐ Lìsān was an early leader of the Chinese communists, and the top leader of the Chinese Communist Party from 1928 to 1930, member of Polit Bureau, and later member of Central Committee.-Early years:...
and Zhang
Zhang Guotao
Zhang Guotao was a founding member and important leader of the Chinese Communist Party and bitter rival to Mao Zedong. During the 1920s he studied in the Soviet Union and became a key contact with the Comintern and organized the CCP labor movement in the United Front with the Guomindang...
slipped out of the now-hopeless Shantou port area and eventually returned to Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, the latter two by way of Hong Kong.