The first encirclement campaign against the Shaanxi–Gansu Soviet was an encirclement campaign launched by the Chinese Nationalist Government that was intended to destroy the communist

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

– Gansu Soviet and its

Chinese Red Army The Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army or Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, commonly known as the Chinese Red Army or simply the Red Army, are the armed forces of the Chinese Communist Party. It was formed when Communis ...

in the local region. It was responded by the Communists' first counter- encirclement campaign at

– Gansu Soviet (), also called by the communists as the first counter- encirclement campaign at

– Gansu Revolutionary Base (), in which the local

successfully defended their soviet republic in

and Gansu provinces against the

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 ...

attacks from March 1934 to 26 August 1934.

Prelude

In February, 1934, nationalists decided to launch an encirclement campaign to eliminate communist

– Gansu Soviet by deploying troops from various units, with the nationalist 86th Division being the principle fighting unit. Majority of the nationalist troops totaling over ten thousands would be deployed to attack the communist base in the border region of

and Gansu

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

s, while the bulk of the nationalist 86th Division would attack the other communist base of

– Gansu Soviet in northern

with the help of nationalist security regiment by taking regions including Stability (Anding, 安定), Yanchuan (延川), Suide (绥德), Clear Ravine (Qingjian, 清涧), Jia (葭) county, Wubao (Wubao, 吴堡), Celestial Wood (Shenmu, 神木) and Prefecture Valley (Fugu, 府谷). Communists, in turn, decided to counter the nationalist encirclement campaign and defend their bases of the

– Gansu Soviet.

Order of battle

Nationalists (12,500+ total) *2 regiments of the 2nd Regiment of the Garrison 2nd Cavalry

Brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. B ...

of the 17th Route Army stationed in eastern Gansu *2 regiments of

Garrison Cavalry

stationed at Jingbian (靖边), Dingbian (定边), and Anbian (安边) regions *A regiment of the nationalist 42nd Division stationed at Wealthy (Fu, 富) County *Nationalist 86th Division stationed at

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) ...

Guerrilla

Regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...

*2 Security Regiments Communists (7,000+ total) *42nd Division of the 26th Army *Guerrillas

Shaanxi–Gansu border region

In March, 1934, the communist 42nd Division and guerrilla under the command of Liu Zhidan (刘志丹) left the Southern Ridge (Nanliang 南梁) region and went northward behind the enemy line, and reached Triple River (Sandaochuan, 三道川) region of Wuqi (吴起) County, directly behind the 2nd Regiment of the Eastern Gansu 2nd Garrison

of the nationalist 17th Route Army. The communists subsequently launched their assaults on the unsuspecting nationalist regiment and after a series battles fought in the regions of Lan Family's Stone Probe (Lanjiabian, 蔺家砭) and Li Family's Ridge (Lijialiang, 李家梁), the surprised nationalists lost four companies and the nationalist security regiment was also badly mauled. Before the nationalists could regroup and avenge their defeat, the communists quickly turned south to disengage and seek new opportunities. The communists did not need to wait long for another opportunity. On 11 April 1934, the communist 42nd Division annihilated the 5th Regiment of the nationalist Eastern Gansu 2nd Garrison Brigade, killing over 700 nationalist troops in the region of Xihuachi (西华池). In early May, 1935, communists completely annihilated two companies of the nationalist

Guerrilla

in the region of Three Miles Source (Sanliyuan, 三里源) of Chunhua (淳化) County, and the nationalists were forced to deploy eight regiments for another round of offensives after suffering a series of defeats. The communists decided not to engage the superior enemy force and returned to the Southern Ridge (Nanliang 南梁) region in the north to wait for other opportunities to annihilate their nationalist adversary. In June, 1934, a detachment of communist 42nd Division went northward to Bao'an (Shaanxi), and defeated a battalion of the 514th Regiment of the nationalist 86th Division, killing more than a hundred nationalist troops in the process in the region of Horse River (Mazichuan, 马子川). After this engagement, the nationalists gave up their attempt to eliminate the communist base in the border region of

– Gansu and concede their defeat. The communist 42nd Division and guerrillas fought over thirty battles and annihilated over three thousand nationalist troops and successfully secured their base in the region.

Northern Shaanxi

While the battles were raging on in the border region of

and Gansu provinces in the south, in northern

, local communist guerrillas under the command of Xie Zichang (谢子长), the communist

military envoy and commander-in-chief of guerrilla in

shocked the nationalists by taking the town of Stability (Anding, 安定) on 17 July 1934 and then linked up with the communist 42nd Division went south, with Xie Zichang (谢子长) became the political commissar of the communist 42nd Division. The taking of the town by the poorly equipped communist guerrilla caused the nationalists to redeploy their troops to take back the town, thus opening the way for the communists to escape by removing nationalist troops originally stationed along the way. Taking the opportunity, the communists withdrew northward, with Xie Zichang (谢子长) leading the communist guerrillas and 3rd Regiment of the communist 42nd Division. On 15 August 1934, the communists once again was in Anding (安定) region, and begun to launch their assaults on the nationalists. From 18 August 1934 thru 26 August 1934, three battles were fought in the regions of Jingwujiata (井吴家塌) of Stability (Anding, 安定) County, Zhang Family's Earth Platform (Zhangjiaketai, 张家圪台) of Clear Ravine (Qingjian, 清涧) County, and River Mouth (Hekou 河口) Town, and communists scored victory for all of them, completely annihilating two companies of the 515th Regiment of the nationalist 86th Division and badly mauling the nationalist security regiment in the battles. Meanwhile, a battalion of the 514th Regiment of the nationalist 86th Division was also badly mauled by the communists in the regions of Celestial Wood (Shenmu, 神木) and Prefecture Valley (Fugu, 府谷). After suffering a continuous series of defeat, the nationalists were forced to withdraw and called off their first encirclement campaign against

– Gansu Soviet, and the communists declared their victory.

Prelude

Order of battle

Shaanxi–Gansu border region

Northern Shaanxi

See also