After World War II,

Hu Zongnan Hu Zongnan (; 16 May 1896 – 14 February 1962), courtesy name Shoushan (壽山), was a Chinese general in the National Revolutionary Army and then the Republic of China Army. Together with Chen Cheng and Tang Enbo, Hu, a native of Z ...

battled the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

and in the early stage of the struggle, was successful in the Battle of Yan'an capturing

Yan'an Yan'an (; ), alternatively spelled as Yenan is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several counties, including Zhidan (formerly Bao'an ...

, the capital of the communist base in

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

. Yan'an became the capital of the

after the

Xian Incident The Xi'an Incident, previously romanized as the Sian Incident, was a political crisis that took place in Xi'an, Shaanxi in 1936. Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Nationalist government of China, was detained by his subordinate generals Chang H ...

in 1936.Mao Tse Tung Ruler of Red China by Robert Payne, p.175 It became famous in this role during the Sino-Japanese War and throughout World War II, until its capture in 1947. (Before taking over Yan'an, Mao had been based at Bao'an.) In 1947, there was only minimal communist resistance, as most of the communists had already fled in advance in a strategic withdrawal to lure Hu to the

Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

. With the outbreak of full-scale

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

between the Communists and Nationalists in early 1947, Xi Zhongxun remained in northwestern China to coordinate the protection and then recapture of the Yan'an Soviet Area. As political commissar, Xi and commander

Zhang Zongxun Zhang Zongxun (; 7 February 1908 – 14 September 1998) was a general of the People's Liberation Army of China. Career Zhang was born in Weinan, Shaanxi Province on 7 February 1908. He was enrolled in Whampoa Military Academy in 1926, and join ...

defeated the Nationalists west of Yan'an at the

Battle of Xihuachi A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

in March 1947. After Yan'an fell to Hu Zongnan on March 19, 1947, Xi worked on the staff of Peng Dehuai in the battles to retake Yan'an and capture northwest China. Many high-level Communist leaders were forced to flee their lost capital, and

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

declared final victory.

KMT The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Taiw ...

forces were only able to hold Yan'an for about a week, and PLA forces rapidly recaptured it. The KMT commitment to conventional-style warfare with a focus on capturing fixed political capitals as objectives, immobilized a large KMT army in the useless Northwest front, making them impotent for the more important mobile campaigns in the East. The famous picture of Mao, often erroneously attributed to the Long March, is actually of Mao leading the march to Northern Shaanxi in 1947. Long march Mao

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yanan, Battle of Conflicts in 1946 Conflicts in 1947 Battles of the Chinese Civil War 1946 in China 1947 in China

See also

References