Shuangduiji Campaign
Encyclopedia
The Shuangduiji Campaign (双堆集战役) was a major campaign fought between the nationalists
and the communists
during the Chinese Civil War
in the post-World War II
era, resulting in a communist victory. The campaign was part of the Huaihai Campaign
.
's (:zh:黃百韜) 7th Army was completely annihilated, the communists were divided on deciding the next target. After a heated debate, it was finally decided on November 22, 1948, that the next target should be the nationalist 12th Army commanded by Lieutenant General
Huang Wei
(:zh:黃維). A total of 7 columns (the equivalent of a corps
) of the communist Central China Field Army (the equivalent of an army group
) and 2 columns of the communist Eastern China Field Army would be tasked to annihilate the nationalist 12th Army in the region to the south of Kuai River(:zh:澮河), while the main force of the communist Eastern China Field Army would be tasked to prevent any nationalist troops in Xuzhou
and Bangbu (:zh:蚌埠) from reinforcing the nationalist 12th Army.
The nationalists, on the other hand, had a much more solid objective of reestablishing the line of communication and transportation between Xuzhou
and Bangbu by eradicating the communist forces in the region. To achieve this, the nationalists would launch a pincer movement from both south and north, with Lieutenant General Qiu Qingquan
's (:zh:邱清泉) 2nd Army and General Sun Yuanliang
's (:zh:孫元良) 16th Army in the north, and Lieutenant General Li Yannian
's (:zh:李延年) 6th Army and 12th Army in the south, with 12th Army attacking toward Xiu County(:zh:宿縣) from Mengcheng.
Communists
Li Yannian (:zh:李延年) in Hu's Ditch Village (Hugouji, 胡溝集) and Solid Town (Gujeng, 固鎮) by traveling along the southern shore of the Kuai River. Once the two nationalist armies, the 6th and the 12th, had joined together, they would travel northward along the Tianjin-Pukou Railway.
At dusk on November 24, 1948, the communists launched their full scale attack in three fronts. In the western front, the 3rd Column of the communist Central China Field Army attacked from Sunding Village (Sundingji, 孫町集), the 1st Column of the communist Central China Field Army attacked from Five Ditch Village (Wugouji, 五溝集), the 2nd Column of the communist Central China Field Army attacked from White Sand Village (Baishaji, 白沙集), and the 6th Column of the communist Central China Field Army attacked from Cao's Market Village (Caoshiji, 曹市集). In the eastern front, the 11th Column of the communist Central China Field Army attacked from Jin County Village (Jinxianji, 靳縣集). In the northern front, the 4th Column of the communist Central China Field Army attacked from the region of Wu Family's Lake (Wujiahu, 伍家湖), and the 9th Column of the communist Central China Field Army attacked from the region of Shao's House with Roof Tiles (Shaowafang, 邵瓦房). By the early morning of November 25, 1948, the nationalist 12th Army was surrounded in a 7.5 km wide region centered at Shuangdui Village (Shuangduiji, 雙堆集).
Chiang Kai-shek
gave permission to breakout toward the southeast before the enemy's encirclement was fully completed. Huang Wei ordered four divisions: the 11th Division and the 118th Division of the nationalist 18th Corps, the 18th Division of the nationalist 10th Corps and the 110th Division of the nationalist 85th Corps, to attack the enemy position held by the communist 12th Brigade of the Southern Shaanxi
Military District and the 6th Column of communist Central China Field Army. Despite support by tanks and air cover, the nationalists were repeatedly beaten back by the stubborn enemy resistance.
The commander of the 110th Division of the nationalist 85th Corps, Major General
Liao Yunzhou (廖運周) suggested to Huang Wei that four divisions going together would create too big a target that was obvious for the enemy to converge on. Since the enemy had not mustered enough forces to complete the encirclement and must deploy their force as a mobile strike force, it would be unlikely for the enemy to bother to stop smaller nationalist forces attempting to breakout. Therefore, the breakout attempt should be led by a single division instead, so that the enemy would be fooled into believing such breakout was only attempted by a small unit as a decoy, and would not bother to waste their strength, saving their efforts to stop the perceived large scale breakout attempt. Once the single division had slipped through the opening, other units would follow, and when the enemy had finally realized the consecutive attempts of smaller nationalist forces were in fact, the breakdown of a larger attempt, hopefully it would be probably too late and most of the nationalists would have succeeded in breaking out.
Facing with previous setbacks, Huang Wei felt that Liao's suggestion appeared to be possible and granted this proposal, and Liao Yunzhou volunteered to lead his 110th Division of the nationalist 85th Corps as the vanguard of such attempt. However, unbeknown to Huang Wei, Liao Yunzhou was actually a secret member of the Chinese Communist Party, and led his 110th Division to defect to the communist side after the latter allowed his division to pass through safely. Witnessing what they believed to be a successful breakthrough, other nationalist divisions followed, but they were immediately ambushed by the waiting enemy and were forced to turn back.
Chiang Kai-shek
ordered Huang Wei to hold his position and wait for reinforcement. Huang Wei made the following new plans to consolidate his positions: the nationalist 18th Corps was deployed to guard the regions of Gudui (谷堆) and Jiangu (尖谷堆), the nationalist 85th Corps was deployed in the west to guard the region from Yaozhouwei (腰周圍) to Lizhuang (李莊), the nationalist 14th Corps was deployed in the east to guard the regions of Zhanweizi (張圍子) and Yangsimazi (楊四麻子), and the nationalist 10th Corps was deployed in the south to guard the region from Maweizi (馬圍子) to Yangzhuang (楊莊) and Lizhuang (李莊). Huang's 12th Armpy headquarter was setup in Xiaomazhuang (小馬莊) to the north of Shuangduiji (雙堆集).
To counter the nationalist defense tactic that depended on bunkers and other fortifications, the communists adopted what they called the 「Bunkers to bunkers and trenches to trenches」 tactic to breach the nationalist defense: the communists would build their own bunkers and trenches to protect themselves as they approach the nationalist positions and fight the defenders in close-quarter combat. By early December, 1948, the nationalist defense sector was further shrunk, and with the exception of only seven or eight regiments that were still capable of fighting, all other nationalist units were only capable of static defense.
– Anhui
– Jiangsu
Military District. The western front consisted of the 1st Column and the 3rd Column of the communist Central China Field Army, augmented by the 13th Column and the remaining artillery units of communist Eastern China Field Army. The southern front was consisted of the 6th Column of communist Central China Field Army, augmented by the 7th Column communist Eastern China Field Army and the 12th Brigade of communist Southern Shaanxi
Military District. The fighting was extremely brutal and bloody, and the communists were able to gradually gain more ground.
By December 13, 1948, nationalist forces under the command of Huang Wei only held a small area of 1.5 km across. Liu Bocheng
and Chen Yi
issued an ultimatum to Huang Wei, demanding his immediate surrender, but Huang Wei refused and organized the last but futile attempt to breakout. The nationalists put up a gallant fight which was not expected by their enemy, and as result, the communists had to reinforce their southern front by deploying additional troops of the 3rd Column and 13th Column of the communist Eastern China Field Army. However, the end was inevitable and luck was not on the nationalist side: as Huang Wei
attempted to breakout, his tank broke down and he was captured alive, and his 12th Army was totally annihilated by dusk on December 15, 1948. Only his deputy commander Hu Lian
was able to break out with eight thousand soldiers and escape back to Nanjing.
, and the victory at Shuangdui Village (Shuangduiji, 雙堆集) resulted in killing more than 46,000 nationalists and capturing over 50,000, including Huang Wei, the commanding general officer of the nationalist 12th Army. A huge quantity of hardware was also captured by the communists, including 870 pieces of artillery, 15 tanks, and over 300 motor vehicles, and large amounts of munitions, all of which were immediately used against their former nationalist owners. The communists suffered 36,000 casualties, with the 4th Column of the Central China Field Army
suffering the most casualties: 6,827 wounded and 1,853 killed.
This campaign was very significant for the Chinese communists, particularly the communist Central China Field Army which faced absolute technical inferiority due to the lack of artillery and other heavy weapons. The communist victory in the Shuangduiji Campaign not only annihilated a significant portion of nationalist troops deployed in the Huaihai Campaign
, thus ensuring final victory, but also provided the communist Central China Field Army with much needed heavy weapons.
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...
and the communists
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...
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, resulting in a communist victory. The campaign was part of the Huaihai Campaign
Huaihai Campaign
Huaihai Campaign or Battle of Hsupeng was a military action during 1948 and 1949 that was the determining 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 were surrounded in Xuzhou and destroyed by the communist...
.
Strategies
After the Nianzhuangwei Campaign, in which the nationalist commander Huang BaitaoHuang Baitao
Huang Baitao was a Nationalist general active in the Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War, for which he was twice awarded the Order of Blue Sky and White Sun, the highest honor a Chinese commander can achieve.-Early years and career:...
's (:zh:黃百韜) 7th Army was completely annihilated, the communists were divided on deciding the next target. After a heated debate, it was finally decided on November 22, 1948, that the next target should be the nationalist 12th Army commanded by Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
Huang Wei
Huang Wei
Huang Wei was a Chinese Nationalist military general who fought in the Encirclement Campaigns, Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War.-Early life and career:...
(:zh:黃維). A total of 7 columns (the equivalent of a corps
Corps
A corps is either a large formation, or an administrative grouping of troops within an armed force with a common function such as Artillery or Signals representing an arm of service...
) of the communist Central China Field Army (the equivalent of an army group
Army group
An army group is a military organization consisting of several field armies, which is self-sufficient for indefinite periods. It is usually responsible for a particular geographic area...
) and 2 columns of the communist Eastern China Field Army would be tasked to annihilate the nationalist 12th Army in the region to the south of Kuai River(:zh:澮河), while the main force of the communist Eastern China Field Army would be tasked to prevent any nationalist troops in Xuzhou
Xuzhou
Xuzhou , otherwise known as Pengcheng in ancient times, is a major city in and the fourth largest prefecture-level city of Jiangsu province, People's Republic of China...
and Bangbu (:zh:蚌埠) from reinforcing the nationalist 12th Army.
The nationalists, on the other hand, had a much more solid objective of reestablishing the line of communication and transportation between Xuzhou
Xuzhou
Xuzhou , otherwise known as Pengcheng in ancient times, is a major city in and the fourth largest prefecture-level city of Jiangsu province, People's Republic of China...
and Bangbu by eradicating the communist forces in the region. To achieve this, the nationalists would launch a pincer movement from both south and north, with Lieutenant General Qiu Qingquan
Qiu Qingquan
Qiu Qinquan , was a Kuomintang general who excelled himself in Northern Expedition, anti-communist Encirclement Campaigns, Second Sino-Japanese War, and Chinese Civil War...
's (:zh:邱清泉) 2nd Army and General Sun Yuanliang
Sun Yuanliang
Sun Yuanliang was a Chinese military general of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China. Sun was the last surviving member of the first graduating class of the Whampoa Military Academy, as well as the last surviving army-level commander of the Second Sino-Japanese War...
's (:zh:孫元良) 16th Army in the north, and Lieutenant General Li Yannian
Li Yannian
Li Yannian was a Chinese musician during Han Dynasty. Born into a musical family, he became a court musician during Emperor Wu's reign. Later he was sentenced to castration after committing a crime....
's (:zh:李延年) 6th Army and 12th Army in the south, with 12th Army attacking toward Xiu County(:zh:宿縣) from Mengcheng.
Order of Battle
Nationalists- The 12th Army commanded by Huang WeiHuang WeiHuang Wei was a Chinese Nationalist military general who fought in the Encirclement Campaigns, Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War.-Early life and career:...
(:zh:黃維)- 10th Corps
- 14th Corps
- 18th Corps
- 85th Corps
Communists
- Central China Field Army commanded by Liu BochengLiu BochengLiu 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...
- 1st Column
- 2nd Column
- 3rd Column
- 4th Column
- 6th Column
- 9th Column
- 11th Column
- Eastern China Field Army commanded by Su YuSu YuSu Yu was a Chinese Communist military leader. He was considered by many to be among the best commanders of the PLA only next to Lin Biao and Liu Bocheng. Su Yu fought in the Sino-Japanese War and in the Chinese Civil War...
- 3rd Column
- 7th Column
- 13th Column
- Artillery units
- Independent Brigade of the HenanHenanHenan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...
– AnhuiAnhuiAnhui is a province in the People's Republic of China. Located in eastern China across the basins of the Yangtze River and the Huai River, it borders Jiangsu to the east, Zhejiang to the southeast, Jiangxi to the south, Hubei to the southwest, Henan to the northwest, and Shandong for a tiny...
– JiangsuJiangsu' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...
Military District - 12th Brigade of the Southern ShaanxiShaanxi' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province...
Military District
Initial deployment
On November 23, 1948, the nationalist 12th Army began its attack on Nanping Village (Nanpingji, 南坪集) on the southern bank of the Kuai River(澮河) by deploying the 10th Corps to the left, the 14th Corps to the right, the 18th Corps in the center and the 85th Corps behind the 18th Corps. The 4th Column of the communist Central China Field Army engaged the advancing nationalists, retreating gradually to lure the nationalists toward the communist trap by eventually abandoning Nanping Village in the evening of November 23, 1948. On the morning of November 24, 1948, the nationalist 12th Army crossed the Kuai River, and entered the trap the communists had set up in the regions of Dongpine Village (Dongpingji, 東坪集), Ren Family's Village (Renjiaji, 任家集), Seven Miles Bridge, (Qiliqiao, 七里橋), Red Mouth (Zhukou, 朱口). Realizing that his forces were trapped, Huang Wei ordered his troops to retreat southward, planning to join another nationalist 6th Army commanded by Lieutenant GeneralLieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
Li Yannian (:zh:李延年) in Hu's Ditch Village (Hugouji, 胡溝集) and Solid Town (Gujeng, 固鎮) by traveling along the southern shore of the Kuai River. Once the two nationalist armies, the 6th and the 12th, had joined together, they would travel northward along the Tianjin-Pukou Railway.
At dusk on November 24, 1948, the communists launched their full scale attack in three fronts. In the western front, the 3rd Column of the communist Central China Field Army attacked from Sunding Village (Sundingji, 孫町集), the 1st Column of the communist Central China Field Army attacked from Five Ditch Village (Wugouji, 五溝集), the 2nd Column of the communist Central China Field Army attacked from White Sand Village (Baishaji, 白沙集), and the 6th Column of the communist Central China Field Army attacked from Cao's Market Village (Caoshiji, 曹市集). In the eastern front, the 11th Column of the communist Central China Field Army attacked from Jin County Village (Jinxianji, 靳縣集). In the northern front, the 4th Column of the communist Central China Field Army attacked from the region of Wu Family's Lake (Wujiahu, 伍家湖), and the 9th Column of the communist Central China Field Army attacked from the region of Shao's House with Roof Tiles (Shaowafang, 邵瓦房). By the early morning of November 25, 1948, the nationalist 12th Army was surrounded in a 7.5 km wide region centered at Shuangdui Village (Shuangduiji, 雙堆集).
Breakout attempt
On November 26, 1948, GeneralissimoGeneralissimo
Generalissimo and Generalissimus are military ranks of the highest degree, superior to Field Marshal and other five-star ranks.-Usage:...
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....
gave permission to breakout toward the southeast before the enemy's encirclement was fully completed. Huang Wei ordered four divisions: the 11th Division and the 118th Division of the nationalist 18th Corps, the 18th Division of the nationalist 10th Corps and the 110th Division of the nationalist 85th Corps, to attack the enemy position held by the communist 12th Brigade of the Southern Shaanxi
Shaanxi
' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province...
Military District and the 6th Column of communist Central China Field Army. Despite support by tanks and air cover, the nationalists were repeatedly beaten back by the stubborn enemy resistance.
The commander of the 110th Division of the nationalist 85th Corps, Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
Liao Yunzhou (廖運周) suggested to Huang Wei that four divisions going together would create too big a target that was obvious for the enemy to converge on. Since the enemy had not mustered enough forces to complete the encirclement and must deploy their force as a mobile strike force, it would be unlikely for the enemy to bother to stop smaller nationalist forces attempting to breakout. Therefore, the breakout attempt should be led by a single division instead, so that the enemy would be fooled into believing such breakout was only attempted by a small unit as a decoy, and would not bother to waste their strength, saving their efforts to stop the perceived large scale breakout attempt. Once the single division had slipped through the opening, other units would follow, and when the enemy had finally realized the consecutive attempts of smaller nationalist forces were in fact, the breakdown of a larger attempt, hopefully it would be probably too late and most of the nationalists would have succeeded in breaking out.
Facing with previous setbacks, Huang Wei felt that Liao's suggestion appeared to be possible and granted this proposal, and Liao Yunzhou volunteered to lead his 110th Division of the nationalist 85th Corps as the vanguard of such attempt. However, unbeknown to Huang Wei, Liao Yunzhou was actually a secret member of the Chinese Communist Party, and led his 110th Division to defect to the communist side after the latter allowed his division to pass through safely. Witnessing what they believed to be a successful breakthrough, other nationalist divisions followed, but they were immediately ambushed by the waiting enemy and were forced to turn back.
Redeployment
After the failed attempt to breakout, GeneralissimoGeneralissimo
Generalissimo and Generalissimus are military ranks of the highest degree, superior to Field Marshal and other five-star ranks.-Usage:...
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....
ordered Huang Wei to hold his position and wait for reinforcement. Huang Wei made the following new plans to consolidate his positions: the nationalist 18th Corps was deployed to guard the regions of Gudui (谷堆) and Jiangu (尖谷堆), the nationalist 85th Corps was deployed in the west to guard the region from Yaozhouwei (腰周圍) to Lizhuang (李莊), the nationalist 14th Corps was deployed in the east to guard the regions of Zhanweizi (張圍子) and Yangsimazi (楊四麻子), and the nationalist 10th Corps was deployed in the south to guard the region from Maweizi (馬圍子) to Yangzhuang (楊莊) and Lizhuang (李莊). Huang's 12th Armpy headquarter was setup in Xiaomazhuang (小馬莊) to the north of Shuangduiji (雙堆集).
To counter the nationalist defense tactic that depended on bunkers and other fortifications, the communists adopted what they called the 「Bunkers to bunkers and trenches to trenches」 tactic to breach the nationalist defense: the communists would build their own bunkers and trenches to protect themselves as they approach the nationalist positions and fight the defenders in close-quarter combat. By early December, 1948, the nationalist defense sector was further shrunk, and with the exception of only seven or eight regiments that were still capable of fighting, all other nationalist units were only capable of static defense.
The end
At 4:30 PM on December 6, 1948, the communist Central China Field Army launched its final assault on the besieged nationalists in three fronts: the eastern front was consisted of the 4th Column, the 9th Column, and the 11th Column of communist Central China Field Army, augmented by most of the artillery units of communist Eastern China Field Army and the Independent Brigade of the communist HenanHenan
Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...
– Anhui
Anhui
Anhui is a province in the People's Republic of China. Located in eastern China across the basins of the Yangtze River and the Huai River, it borders Jiangsu to the east, Zhejiang to the southeast, Jiangxi to the south, Hubei to the southwest, Henan to the northwest, and Shandong for a tiny...
– Jiangsu
Jiangsu
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...
Military District. The western front consisted of the 1st Column and the 3rd Column of the communist Central China Field Army, augmented by the 13th Column and the remaining artillery units of communist Eastern China Field Army. The southern front was consisted of the 6th Column of communist Central China Field Army, augmented by the 7th Column communist Eastern China Field Army and the 12th Brigade of communist Southern Shaanxi
Shaanxi
' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province...
Military District. The fighting was extremely brutal and bloody, and the communists were able to gradually gain more ground.
By December 13, 1948, nationalist forces under the command of Huang Wei only held a small area of 1.5 km across. 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 Chen Yi
Chen Yi (communist)
Chen Yi was a Chinese communist military commander and politician. He served as the 2nd Mayor of Shanghai and the 2nd Foreign Minister of China.-Biography:Chen was born in Lezhi, near Chengdu, Sichuan, into a moderately wealthy magistrate's family....
issued an ultimatum to Huang Wei, demanding his immediate surrender, but Huang Wei refused and organized the last but futile attempt to breakout. The nationalists put up a gallant fight which was not expected by their enemy, and as result, the communists had to reinforce their southern front by deploying additional troops of the 3rd Column and 13th Column of the communist Eastern China Field Army. However, the end was inevitable and luck was not on the nationalist side: as Huang Wei
Huang Wei
Huang Wei was a Chinese Nationalist military general who fought in the Encirclement Campaigns, Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War.-Early life and career:...
attempted to breakout, his tank broke down and he was captured alive, and his 12th Army was totally annihilated by dusk on December 15, 1948. Only his deputy commander Hu Lian
Hu Lian
Hu Lian was a Chinese Nationalist general, he participated the Northern Expedition, anti-communist Encirclement Campaigns, Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War.- Whampoa Military Academy :...
was able to break out with eight thousand soldiers and escape back to Nanjing.
Outcome
The communist victory of the Shuangduiji Campaign (雙堆集戰役) further ensured their victory in the Huaihai CampaignHuaihai Campaign
Huaihai Campaign or Battle of Hsupeng was a military action during 1948 and 1949 that was the determining 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 were surrounded in Xuzhou and destroyed by the communist...
, and the victory at Shuangdui Village (Shuangduiji, 雙堆集) resulted in killing more than 46,000 nationalists and capturing over 50,000, including Huang Wei, the commanding general officer of the nationalist 12th Army. A huge quantity of hardware was also captured by the communists, including 870 pieces of artillery, 15 tanks, and over 300 motor vehicles, and large amounts of munitions, all of which were immediately used against their former nationalist owners. The communists suffered 36,000 casualties, with the 4th Column of the Central China Field Army
Field army
A Field Army, or Area Army, usually referred to simply as an Army, is a term used by many national military forces for a military formation superior to a corps and beneath an army group....
suffering the most casualties: 6,827 wounded and 1,853 killed.
This campaign was very significant for the Chinese communists, particularly the communist Central China Field Army which faced absolute technical inferiority due to the lack of artillery and other heavy weapons. The communist victory in the Shuangduiji Campaign not only annihilated a significant portion of nationalist troops deployed in the Huaihai Campaign
Huaihai Campaign
Huaihai Campaign or Battle of Hsupeng was a military action during 1948 and 1949 that was the determining 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 were surrounded in Xuzhou and destroyed by the communist...
, thus ensuring final victory, but also provided the communist Central China Field Army with much needed heavy weapons.
See also
- List of battles of the Chinese Civil War
- National Revolutionary ArmyNational Revolutionary ArmyThe National Revolutionary Army , pre-1928 sometimes shortened to 革命軍 or Revolutionary Army and between 1928-1947 as 國軍 or National Army was the Military Arm of the Kuomintang from 1925 until 1947, as well as the national army of the Republic of China during the KMT's period of party rule...
- History of the People's Liberation ArmyHistory of the People's Liberation ArmyThe history of the People's Liberation Army began in 1927 with the start of the Chinese Civil War and spans to the present, having developed from a peasant guerrilla force into the largest armed force in the world.-Historical background:...
- Chinese Civil WarChinese Civil WarThe 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...