The Battle of Tianquan was a battle fought between the

communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

and 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 ...

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 ...

in the post

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

era and resulted in communist victory. It is also called "The Battle to Defend Tianquan" (Tianquan Baoweizhan, 天全保卫战) by the communists. Order of Battle *Nationalists (3,000+) **Southwestern (China) Anticommunist National Salvation Army **Local bandits *Communists (100+) **A company of the 555th Regiment On February 14, 1950, Cheng Zhiwu (程志武) the nationalist commander of the Southwestern (China) National Revolutionary Army Region negotiated with local bandits headed by Li Yuanheng (李元亨) to ally with him in an assault on the town of Tianquan County (天全) in

Xikang Xikang (also Sikang or Hsikang) was a nominal province formed by the Republic of China in 1939 on the initiative of prominent Sichuan warlord Liu Wenhui and continued by the early People's Republic of China. Thei idea was to form a single unif ...

(Present day

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

). The Nationalist forces expected an easy victory as the town was guarded by a single communist company of the 555th Regiment. The

Nationalist Revolutionary Army The National Revolutionary Army (NRA; ), sometimes shortened to Revolutionary Army () before 1928, and as National Army () after 1928, was the military arm of the Kuomintang (KMT, or the Chinese Nationalist Party) from 1925 until 1947 in China ...

besieged the town on the same day, severing all communications. The garrison was eventually overwhelmed by the Nationalist forces. On the February 15, 1950, over a hundred National Revolutionary Army successfully penetrated into the town via the Western Pass (Xi Guan, 西关) under cover of heavy fire. The Peoples Liberation Army managed to outflank and rout the attackers. This demoralized the National Revolutionary Army who were forced into a stalemate. However, the situation facing the Peoples Liberation Army defenders was one of short supply and low morale. The final assault which occurred on the February 20, 1950, with over a hundred National Revolutionary Army soldiers successfully taking over a bunker in the Tianquan. The defending company of the 555th Regiment then counterattacked and besieged the bunker. The successful dynamiting of the bunker by the Peoples Liberation Army resulted in a military

rout A rout is a panicked, disorderly and undisciplined retreat of troops from a battlefield, following a collapse in a given unit's command authority, unit cohesion and combat morale (''esprit de corps''). History Historically, lightly-e ...

for the National Revolutionary Army. The Cheng Zhiwu was unable to stop his fleeing troops, forcing a complete withdraw. Given the opportunity, the Peoples Liberation Army counterattacked, inflicting further casualties on the National Revolutionary Army and taking over a hundred prisoners. The National Revolutionary Army's failure was due to the reliance on poorly trained bandits. The bandits themselves were poorly organised and unwilling to fight. The few dedicated anticommunists under Cheng Zhiwu were not able to change the tide of the battle.

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 ...

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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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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 ...

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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) ...

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, 1993 – 1997, (Volum 1), 7800219615 (Volum 2), 7800219631 (Volum 3), 7801370937 (Volum 4), and 7801370953 (Volum 5) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tianquan 1950 in China Battles of the Chinese Civil War Conflicts in 1950 February 1950 events in Asia Military history of Fujian

See also

References