Chengdu Campaign
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The Chengdu campaign was a campaign fought between the Communists and the Nationalists 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 opposin ...
era and resulted in Communist victory and capture of
Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...
, national capital of the
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
and provincial capital of the southwestern Chinese province of
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 campaign was part of the Southwestern China campaign.


Battle of Jianmenguan

Jianmen Pass (Jianmen Guan, 剑门关) was one of the key gateways of
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 ...
. There are 72 peaks in the range and the only road going through the mountains was 50 metres wide. Whoever controlled this 2 km long stretch of the road controlled the gateway of
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 ...
, and the Nationalists had built an elaborate system of bunkers in the area to strengthen its defense against the expected communist invasion. After taking the city of Guangyuan on December 14, 1949, the communists decided that Jianmen Pass (Jianmen Guan, 剑门关) must be taken. The 540th Regiment of the 180th Division of
60th Army The Red Army's 60th Army was a Soviet field army during the Second World War. It was first formed in reserve in the Moscow Military District in October 1941, but soon was disbanded. It was formed a second time in July 1942, and continued in servic ...
of the communist 18th Army Group was tasked with this job and after three days of forced march of more than 40 km in the mountain, the communist 540th Regiment reached Jianmen Pass. The communist 540th Regiment immediately launched its assault on the pass by first completely annihilating a company from the retreating nationalist 55th Division tasked to strengthen the defense. Later, one of the battalions of the communist regiment was sent to outflank the defenders by traversing mountain terrain which was considered impossible by the local populace, including the defenders. The other two battalions of the communist regiment crawled forward along the ravine under the cover of darkness, and by 10:00 PM, they were within 50 metres of the pass. The attackers then launched their assault in darkness under the cover of heavy fire, and with the help of the battalion that outflanked the defenders, they were able to cross the last ravine via a log and overwhelmed the defenders. With Jianmen Pass falling into enemy hands, the Nationalists had no choice but to retreat and abandon the town of Jiange (剑阁) in the afternoon of December 18, 1949. The Communists managed to capture over 300 prisoners-of-war and had all the remaining people killed in the fierce battle, and more importantly, the taking of Jianmen Pass (Jianmen Guan, 剑门关) secured the passage for the communists to invade deeper into the heart of
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 ...
.


Order of battle

* Nationalists ** A regiment of local garrison ** A company from the retreating 55th Division * Communists ** The 540th Regiment of the 180th Division of 60th Army of the XVIII Corps


Strength

*Nationalists: 1000 *Communists: 800


Casualties

*Nationalists: 500 killed, 300 captured *Communists: Unknown


See also

*
List of battles of the Chinese Civil War The following is a list of Chinese wars and battles, organized by date.Xiaobing Li, ''China at War: An Encyclopedia.'' (ABC-CLIO, 2012).excerpt/ref> Ancient China Imperial China Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE) Han dynasty (206 BCE – ...
*
National 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 ...
* History of the People's Liberation Army *
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 ...


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