Huaihai offensive
The Huaihai Offensive was a military operation by the People's Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War . The operation began with an offensive against the strategically important city of Xuzhou on the Great Canal on November 6, 1948. The operation ended on January 10, 1949 with the achievement of the north bank of the Yangtze . The Huaihai Offensive was one of three major military operations of the civil war that sealed the defeat of the nationalists.
The name of the operation comes from the geographical boundaries of the operation area. This was limited in the west by the Huai He and in the east by the Yellow Sea (Chinese Huang Hai ).
background
After the communist victory in the Liaoshen offensive in Manchuria , the communist side retained the initiative in the civil war. The next destination of the communist military leadership was the city of Xuzhou, which, due to its location on the Great Canal and as an important railway junction, represented a strategically important destination. The nationalists who remained on the defensive under Chiang Kai-shek reinforced the region to around 920,000 soldiers. Chiang Kai-shek appointed General Liu Zhi as the defense commander in the Huaihai area. On the communist side, the Central Military Committee decided to launch an offensive by the Eastern China Field Army under Su Yu and the Central China Field Army under Liu Bocheng . The target of the offensive was initially the 7th Guomindang Army, which was stationed around Lianyungang . The offensive was gradually extended to the entire Huaihai area. The communists deployed around 600,000 regular soldiers, 600,000 militiamen and around one million workers for the operation. The communist side had an information advantage through high-ranking informers in the GMD military, including the deputy chief of staff Liu Fei and the chief of the war planning staff Guo Ruhuai. Chiang toyed with the idea of giving up the capital Beijing for the defense of Xuzhou , but could not prevail with his generals.
course
The offensive began on November 6, 1948 with the attack of 300,000 soldiers of the East China Field Army against Lianyungan. On November 7th, the commander of the attacked 7th Army, Huang Baitao , ordered his forces to withdraw. The following day, Generals He Jifeng and Zhang Kexia mutinied and went over to the communists with around 23,000 soldiers. The 7th Army was then included. Due to the worsening situation, Chiang called General Du Yuming back from Manchuria to organize the supreme command of the defense of Xuzhou. The 7th Army was crushed by November 23, 1948 in the pocket formed by the communists. Commander-in-chief Huang Baitao committed suicide. The nationalist leadership was unable to agree on a coherent counter-offensive. An attempt at relief for the 7th Army failed due to the defense of the communist troops. On November 30th, Chiang Kai-shek ordered a limited retreat south to keep the 12th Army from being trapped. However, the operation failed and the army was encircled by the East China Field Army and smashed by December 15, 1948. In view of the difficult situation, the commander of the 16th Guomindang Army had already begun to withdraw his forces without any orders from above. On January 6th, the communist troops at the front launched a general attack and reached the north bank of the Yangtze.
consequences
The nationalist armed forces lost around half a million soldiers. The majority of them were captured by the communists after desertion. The communists published a list of losses of around 134,000.
The Huaihai campaign was a disastrous defeat for the nationalists, as China fell to the communists as a result of the offensive north of the Yangtze River. This meant that they were in a position to threaten the nationalist capital Nanjing . In addition to the extensive loss of territory, the GMD army lost large amounts of soldiers and war material. Popular General Du Yuming was captured during the defeat. Vice President of the Republic of China Li Zongren and General Bai Chongxi forced Chiang to resign as a result of the defeat on January 31, 1949.