Campaign to the North of Nanchuan County

The Campaign to the North of Nanchuan County (南川县北战役), Sichuan, was part of the Campaign in Southwestern China launched by the communists against the nationalists

Kuomintang

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...

in the region to the north of Nanchuan (南川) County during the Chinese Civil War

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...

in the post World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

era, and resulted in communist victory.

Order of battle
Order of battle
In modern use, the order of battle is the identification, command structure, strength, and disposition of personnel, equipment, and units of an armed force participating in field operations. Various abbreviations are in use, including OOB, O/B, or OB, while ORBAT remains the most common in the...

Defenders: nationalist

Kuomintang

order of battle

Order of battle

In modern use, the order of battle is the identification, command structure, strength, and disposition of personnel, equipment, and units of an armed force participating in field operations. Various abbreviations are in use, including OOB, O/B, or OB, while ORBAT remains the most common in the...

The XIV Corps
The XV Corps
The XX Corps

Attackers: communist order of battle

Order of battle

The III Corps of the Second Field Army under Chen Xilian (commander) and Zhang Linzhi (political commissar)
The V Corps of the Second Field Army under Yang Yong (commander) and Su Zhenhua (political commissar)
The 47th Army of the Fourth Field Army under Cao Lihuai (commander) and Zhou Chiping (political commissar)

Campaign

The Campaign to the North of Nanchuan (南川) County begun on November 1, 1949 when the communists launched the Campaign in Southwestern China in multiple fronts against their nationalist

Kuomintang

adversary. By mid November, 1949, one of the communist attacks on the nationalist

Kuomintang

XIV Corps and XX Corps had succeeded in breaching the nationalist

Kuomintang

defense on both flanks, resulting in Youyang (酉阳), Xiushan

Xiushan

Xiushan Tujia and Miao Autonomous County, or Xiushan County for short is located in southeastern Chongqing Municipality, China.* Area: 2,450 km²* Population: 620,000 - External links :*...

and Enshi

Enshi

Enshi may refer to:*Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, in Hubei, China*Enshi City, in Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hubei, China...

falling into the enemy hands. By November 21, 1949, 4 divisions

Division (military)

A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...

of the nationalist

Kuomintang

XIV Corps in the regions to the east of Salty Abundance (Xian Feng, 咸丰) in Hubei

Hubei

' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...

were completely annihilated by the enemy. The remaining nationalists

Kuomintang

was forced to retreat westward by crossing the Black River (Wu Jiang, 乌江). The communist III Corps and the 47th Army then turned their attention to the nationalist

Kuomintang

XV Corps and the XX Corps retreated to the region north of Nanchuan (南川) County by respectively crossing the Black River (Wu Jiang, 乌江) at regions including Gong’s Beaches (Gong Tan, 龚滩), White Horse (Bai Ma, 白马), Tukan (土坎), and north of Peng’s Waters (Peng Shui, 彭水). The major escape route to Qijiang (綦江) in the west for the nationalists

Kuomintang

were severed.

Chiang Kai-shek

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....

in Chongqing

Chongqing

Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the...

had realized the enemy’s intention of besieging Chengdu

Chengdu

Chengdu , formerly transliterated Chengtu, is the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status...

and Chongqing

Chongqing

by striking behind the nationalist

Kuomintang

line from western 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...

and western Hubei

Hubei

' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...

via Sichuan

Sichuan

' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...

and Guizhou

Guizhou

' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.- History :...

, and thus immediately ordered Hu Zongnan

Hu Zongnan

Hu Zongnan , courtesy name Shoushan , native of Zhenhai, Ningbo, born May 16, 1896. A general in the National Revolutionary Army and then the Republic of China Army. Together with Chen Cheng and Tang Enbo, he formed the triumvirate of Chiang Kai-shek's most trusted generals during the Second...

to conclude Qinling Campaign by withdrawing from the Qinling defensive line, and enter Sichuan

Sichuan

' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...

from Qinling and Greater Ba Mountain (Da Ba Shan, 大巴山) to avoid being isolated and surrounded by the enemy. The nationalist

Kuomintang

XV Corps and the XX Corps were redeployed to strengthen the defense of Nanchuan (南川) county and the region to its east to secure the retreat of Hu Zongnan

Hu Zongnan

’s troops. To counter the nationalist

Kuomintang

move, Liu Bocheng

Liu Bocheng

Liu Bocheng was a Chinese Communist military commander and Marshal of the People's Liberation Army.Liu is known as one of the "Three and A Half" Strategists of China in modern history...

and Deng Xiaoping

Deng Xiaoping

Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese politician, statesman, and diplomat. As leader of the Communist Party of China, Deng was a reformer who led China towards a market economy...

ordered the communist V Corps and the 10th Army to push toward Luzhou

Luzhou

-History:The history of Luzhou dates back to Xia and Shang Dynasties. Luzhou became a prefecture level city in 1983.-History of Luzhou:...

and Yibin

Yibin

-Administrative divisions:-Economy:The city's industry focuses on electronics, food products, and power generation. It also produces paper, silk, and leather products...

from southwestern Guizhou

Guizhou

' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.- History :...

, while the communist III Corps and the 47th Army to cross the Black River (Wu Jiang, 乌江) to push toward Nanchuan (南川) county and help other communist forces to besiege and annihilate the nationalist

Kuomintang

XV Corps and XX Corps. By October 28, 1949, the communist forces had fulfilled their tasks by badly mauling the two nationalist

Kuomintang

corpses in the region to the north of the county, thus successfully concluded the Campaign to the North of Nanchuan (南川) County.

Outcome

This campaign of was a part of the Campaign in Southwestern China, and the nationalists

Kuomintang

were defeated, losing around 30,000 in the process. The nationalist

Kuomintang

termination of the Qinling Campaign by withdrawing Hu Zongnan

Hu Zongnan

’s troops from Qinling defensive line meant that the nationalists

Kuomintang

had lost a natural geographical barrier in the northern front, while the southeastern front was not improved either. As a result, the situation for the nationalists

Kuomintang

further worsened in the Campaign in Southwestern China.

Campaign

Outcome

See also