Linjiang Campaign (

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

: 临江战役), also known by the communists as the Campaign of Going South of the

River A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

for Three time to Guard

Linjiang Linjiang (; listed as Linkiang on old maps) is a county-level city in southern Jilin province, People's Republic of China, located to the east of Tonghua, and not far from the border with North Korea. It is a county-level city under the administr ...

for Four Times (San Xia Jiang Nan, Si Bao Linjiang Zhanyi, 三下江南四保临江战役), was a series of four failed offensives launched by the

nationalists Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

in an attempt to eliminate the communist base south of the

Songhua River The Songhua or Sunghwa River (also Haixi or Xingal, russian: Сунгари ''Sungari'') is one of the primary rivers of China, and the longest tributary of the Amur. It flows about from the Changbai Mountains on the China–North Korea bo ...

during the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

Prelude

The

had lost three divisions to the enemy by October, 1946 in

northeast China Northeast China or Northeastern China () is a geographical region of China, which is often referred to as "Manchuria" or "Inner Manchuria" by surrounding countries and the West. It usually corresponds specifically to the three provinces east of ...

, and the local

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

commander,

Du Yuming Du Yuming (; 28 November 1904 – 7 May 1981), was a Kuomintang field commander. He was a graduate of the first class of Whampoa Academy, took part in Chiang's Northern Expedition, and was active in southern China and in the Burma theatre of the ...

adjusted the strategy by planning to eradicate the enemy in a gradual but firm manner, instead of attempting to eliminate the enemy rapidly by a decisive engagement, which the enemy had refused to do. The heart of this new strategy called for the elimination of the enemy base south of the

, headquartered at

. After the enemy had been eradicated in the south, the

would then advance northward across the

and eliminate the enemy forces there. In response to the

strategy, the communist commander of

Lin Biao ) , serviceyears = 1925–1971 , branch = People's Liberation Army , rank = Marshal of the People's Republic of China Lieutenant general of the National Revolutionary Army, Republic of China , commands ...

, and his followers accurately concluded that the communist base south of the

must be maintained at all costs, because it served to distract the enemy and if it were lost, the enemy could then devote its entire assets to pressure the communists north of the

, and the communists in

would then be endangered, and possibly face total annihilation. The communists decided to concentrate three columns with a total of nine divisions to stop the

offensives, along with the help of three independent divisions.

Order of battle

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

order of battle In modern use, the order of battle of an armed force participating in a military operation or campaign shows the hierarchical organization, command structure, strength, disposition of personnel, and equipment of units and formations of the arme ...

*The Newly Organized 1st Army **The Newly Organized 22nd

Division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

**The Newly Organized 30th

*The Newly Organized 6th Army *The 52nd Army **The 2nd

**The 195th

*The 60th Army *The 91st

of the 71st Army *The 21st

*The 87th

*The 88th

*The 89th

*The 207th

*The 54th

of the 13th Army Communist

*The 3rd Column *The 4th Column *The 6th Column *The 1st Independent

*The 2nd Independent

*The 3rd Independent

First stage

On December 17, 1946, the

sent out six divisions, including the 2nd

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

, the 195th

of the 52nd Army, the 91st

of the 71st Army, one

from each of the Newly Organized 1st Army, the Newly Organized 6th Army, and the 60th Army to launch the first offensive against the communist base south of

, and two more Divisions were deployed as reserves. The initial

objective was to linkup

Tonghua Tonghua () is a prefecture-level city in the south of Jilin province, People's Republic of China. It borders North Korea's Chagang Province to the south and southeast, Baishan to the east, Jilin City to the north, Liaoyuan to the northwest, and ...

with

Ji'an Ji'an () is a prefecture-level city situated in the central region of Jiangxi province of the People's Republic of China while bordering Hunan province to the west. It has an area of and as of the 2020 census, had a population of 4,469,176, of ...

(集安) so that the enemy could be further squeezed into the mountain. In response, on December 18, 1946, the communist 4th Column struck the regions between

Fushun Fushun (, formerly romanised as ''Fouchouen'', using French spelling, also as Fuxi ()) is a prefecture level city in Liaoning province, China, about east of Shenyang, with a total area of , of which is the city proper. Situated on the Hun Rive ...

Huanren Huanren Manchu Autonomous County (, Manchu: ; Mölendroff: huwanren manju beye dasangga siyan), formerly Huairen County (), is a county under the administration of Benxi City, in eastern Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, bordering Jil ...

and

Benxi Benxi (, ) is a prefecture-level city located in the east of Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, south-southeast of the provincial capital Shenyang. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,326,018 (1,709,538 in 2010) whom 809,655 ...

behind the enemy lines, and after more than a dozen days of fighting, succeeded in taking over more than twenty positions from the

, including the critical ones at Alkaline Factory (Jian Chang, 碱厂) and Master Field (Tian Shifu, 田师付), and killing more than 3,000

troops in the process. The

91st

of the 71st Army was forced to withdraw to reinforce the rear, and this weakened the

thrust by exposing the two divisions of the

52nd Army, which were ultimately badly mauled by the enemy who seized the opportunity and attacked with great efficiency and speed, resulting in the regions south of

newly taken by the

earlier in the initial stage of the offensive falling back into the enemy hands. In the north, the communists massed three columns and three independent divisions to cross the

and on January 5, 1947, to besiege the

strategic location of Pagoda Wood (Tamu, 塔木), forced the

offensive into a complete halt and then redeploying two attacking divisions to reinforce Pagoda Wood (Tamu, 塔木). However, when the

reinforcements reached the region between Zhangmazi Ditch (Zhangmazi Gou, 张麻子沟) and the Jiao Family's Ridge (Jiajia Ling, 焦家岭), they learned that Pagoda Wood (Tamu, 塔木) had already fallen into enemy hands, with the entire garrison consisting of a security force regiment and two regiments of the Newly Organized 1st Army being completely annihilated by the enemy. The enemy consequently returned to north of the

on January 19, 1947. Achieving their objectives when the

stopped their assault on

, the communists withdrew to their original bases and the

could not pursuit the enemy anymore due to the sudden change of the weather when the temperature suddenly dropped to forty degrees below zero.

Second stage

The

correctly assessed that they must avoid fighting at the two fronts and thus attacks on the communist base in the south must continue in order to eliminate the enemy. On January 30, 1947, a second offensive was launched with four divisions: the 21st

, the 2nd

, the 195th

of the 52nd Army, and the 207th

. The communists in turn, deployed the 3rd Column and the 10th

of the 4th Column to stop the

offensive and on February 5, 1947, the weakest

, the 195th

of the 52nd Army was ambushed at Gaolichengzi (高力城子), and suffered more than 2,000 fatalities. On February 6, 1947, a regiment of the advance guard of the

207th

was annihilated at Sanyuanpu (三源浦) by dusk, and after the setback, the commander of the

207th

wisely chose to stop and withdraw. Meanwhile, the communist 4th Column once again struck the regions between

(抚顺),

(桓仁) and

(本溪) deep behind the

lines to capture numerous

strongholds, and when combined with communist victories elsewhere, eventually succeeded in forcing the second

offensive to a complete stop again, and the

were forced to give up the newly conquered lands when one

was redeployed to reinforce the rear and other begun their withdraw.

Third Stage

Just a week after the failure of the second offensive, the

launched their third offensive against the enemy by deploying the 2nd

, the 195th

of the 52nd Army, the 91st

of the 71st Army, the Newly Organized 22nd

of the Newly Organized 1st Army and the 21st

to attack in four fronts on February 13, 1947. A detachment of the communist 4th Column again played the same trick that was effective in the previous two counteroffensives: struck the regions between

and

deep behind the

line again and attracting three

divisions so that they could not be used to attack the communist base south of

, while in the meantime, the communist 3rd Column and the 4th Column first annihilated an entire regiment of the

21st

at Tonggou (通沟), and then annihilated another regiment of the

91st

of the 71st Army at Daibeicha (大北岔), forcing the two

Divisions to withdraw on February 22, 1947. The newly gained territory/towns in the

third offensive such as Huinan (辉南), Golden River (Jinchuan, 金川), Willow River (Liuhe, 柳河) and Ji'an (集安) therefore fell back into the enemy hands. On the other front, the communist force crossed the

on February 21, 1947, and attacked regions surrounding Changchun to distract the

. After annihilating an entire regiment of the Newly Organized 30th

of the Newly Organized 1st Army at the town of Chengzi Street (Chengzi Jie, 城子街), the communist 6th Column turned north and linked up with the communist 2nd Independent

to besiege

Dehui Dehui () is a county-level city of Jilin Province, Northeast China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Changchun, located in the middle of the Songliao Plain. It has a total population of 906,000 and a rural population ...

(德惠) in order to draw

forces away from the communist base. The plan succeeded and the

redeployed the Newly Organized 1st Army (including its Newly Organized 22nd

), the 87th

, and the 88th

to reinforce their besieged comrades-in-arms. The enemy force wisely chose to withdraw back to the north of

on March 2, 1947, before the

reinforcement could reach

. The

were determined not to let the enemy to get away so they continued their push northward, but in doing so, the

forces were severely overstretched. Seizing the opportunity, the enemy crossed the

again on March 8, 1947, for the third time to attack, and the

commanders had no choice but to order a general retreat. However, the retreating

force was caught up by the pursuing enemy and the

88th

was annihilated at the Village of the Mountain of Guo (Guo-shan Tun, 郭山屯), and the

87th

was badly mauled at the Village Next to the Mountain (Kao-shan Tun, 靠山屯). On March 12, 1947, Nong'an (农安) was besieged and the

were forced to redeploy the Newly Organized 1st Army (including its Newly Organized 22nd

) and the 54th

of the 13th Army from Rehe (热河) to reinforce their besieged comrades-in-arms again. Succeeding in distracting the

who had to stop their third offensives, the enemy withdrew to the north of

Fourth Stage

Not wanting to admitting defeat, the

launched their fourth offensive against the communist base south of

on March 26, 1947, with a total strength of twenty regiments attacking in three fronts. The enemy, in response, targeted the central front headed by the

89th

, who was dangerously exposed because its push was much too fast. While other enemy units resisted the

left and right fronts, the main body of the enemy force ambushed the 89th

of the

central front on April 1, 1947, annihilating the entire

. Hearing the news of the annihilation of the

89th

, the

on the other two fronts immediately withdrew. The failure of the

fourth offensive marked the end of campaign because the units deployed were the same ones that participated in earlier offensives, and thus were gravely overworked and overstretched. The

could not afford to expend anymore valuable troops and must reserve their strength to defend the territory currently under their control.

Outcome

The

Campaign marked the turning point of the battlefield in

: after this communist victory, the

were forced to be on the defensive, and could no longer launch any offensives, while in contrast, the communists would be on the offensive from then on. It must be said, however, the

were still quite capable of knocking out the entire communist force in

if the right tactics were applied, such as concentrating on annihilating the enemy force instead of gaining and holding on to more land, as suggested by many local

commanders, but their correct suggestion was overridden by Chiang Kai-shek infatuation with conquering more land. Furthermore, even if the

were unable to annihilate the enemy at the time, they could still reserve their strength by giving up

and saving troops, and had the situation improved, the

would be able to retake

, as suggested by

Chen Cheng Chen Cheng (; ; January 4, 1898 – March 5, 1965) was a Chinese political and military leader, and one of the main commanders of the National Revolutionary Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War. After moving ...

in 1946. Again, this alternative would also contradicting with Chiang's uncompromising stand, which ultimately doomed the

References

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Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

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Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...

People's Publishing House in Shijiazhuang, 1990, (set) *Literary and Historical Research Committee of the

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

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People's Publishing House in Hefei, 1987, *Li, Zuomin, ''Heroic Division and Iron Horse: Records of the Liberation War'', 1st Edition,

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

Party History Publishing House in

, 2004, *Wang, Xingsheng, and Zhang, Jingshan, ''Chinese Liberation War'', 1st Edition, People's Liberation Army Literature and Art Publishing House in

, 2001, (set) *Huang, Youlan, ''History of the Chinese People's Liberation War'', 1st Edition, Archives Publishing House in

, 1992, *Liu Wusheng, ''From

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) ...

: A Collection of Military Records and Research Publications of Important Campaigns in the Liberation War'', 1st Edition, Central Literary Publishing House in

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, 1993 – 1997, {{ISBN, 7-80021-719-1 (Volum 1), 7800219615 (Volum 2), 7800219631 (Volum 3), 7801370937 (Volum 4), and 7801370953 (Volum 5) Conflicts in 1946 Conflicts in 1947 Campaigns of the Chinese Civil War 1946 in China 1947 in China

Prelude

Order of battle

First stage

Second stage

Third Stage

Fourth Stage

Outcome

See also

References