User:Scyz/Eastern Henan Campaign

Eastern Henan Campaign

Eastern Henan Campaign (豫东战役） was a major military campaign during the Chinese Civil War in 1948. It's fought between the government troops of the Republic of China (under the Kuomintang) and the communist People's Liberation Army (PLA) in the areas of Kaifeng (simplified Chinese: 开封; traditional Chinese: 開封; pinyin: Kāifēng; Wade-Giles: K'ai-feng; Postal map spelling: Kaifeng) and Suixian (睢县) and Qixian (杞县) in eastern Henan province. Therefore, it's also called Kaifeng Campaign and Suiqi Campaign, which are actually two phases of the same campaign. It marked the end of the attacking phase in the operational level by the Kuomintang army in the Civil War, and the PLA gained the initiative.

Situation Before the Campaign

Starting from July, 1947, the central plain of China became the main battle field of the Civil War. Relying the geography and the railway transportation, the Kuomintang forces in the area were divided into two categories, one (consisting 13 reorganized divisions (30 brigades)) for defending the major cities and transport links, such as the Longhai railroad, the rest (12 reorganized divisions (27 brigades) and 4 rapid columns) organized into several mobile armies. The main task of the mobile armies was to locate and fight a decisive battle against the PLA force to the south of the Yellow River in the central plain and at the same time keep track of the PLA force to the north of the Yellow River.

On the communist side, the Eastern China Field Army (ECFA), with the support role played by some units of the Central Plain Field Army (CPFA), participated the campaign. The forces under Su Yu's command were located in several areas, the 3rd and 8th columns of the ECFA near Xuchang (许昌), the 1st, 4th, 6th, Liangguang, and special type columns in Puyang (濮阳), the 11th column of the CPFA in Dingtao (定陶） and Chengwu (城武) area in southwestern Shangdong province, and the rest on the Jinpo railroad (the 7th, 9th, and 13th columns) and northern Jiangsu province (the 2nd, 11th, and 12th columns) respectively. Also, the 10th column of ECFA and 2 other columns of CPFA were near Shangcai (上蔡) and the 9th columns of CPFA was to the southwest of Zhengzhou. The 11th column of the CPFA was under Su Yu's command, and the rest of the CPFA forces were under the command of Liu Bocheng, Deng Xiaoping, and Chen Yi.

PLA Strategy

In the second year of the Civil War (July, 1947 to June 1948), the Chinese Communist Party sent 3 armies to the central plain and surrounding areas in the attempt to break the concentrated attacks in northern Shaanxi province and eastern China (mainly in Shandong province). The army led by Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping advanced to the Dabieshan area, the army led by Chen Geng and Xie Fuzhi to western Henan province, and the army led by Chen Yi and Su Yu to southwestern Shandong province and eastern Henan province. Having learned its lessons from the fighting in the first year of the Civil War and taking advantage of its mobility, the Kuomintang forces became more concentrated in order to avoid defeats by isolated units. Therefore the fight in the central plain became more or less a standstill, and the Communists believed no major fights could be fought successfully in this area.

In order to break the standstill, after some serious consideration by Mao Zedong, in early 1948, Su Yu was ordered to make the preparations to lead the 3 elite columns (1st, 4th, and 6th) of the Eastern China Field Army to cross the Yangtze River in Hubei (湖北) province and advance to the heartland of southeastern China with the purpose of drawing part of the Kuomintang forces from the central plain. Su Yu brought the 3 columns to Puyang (濮阳) area to prepare for the task. During that time, Su Yu carefully analyzed the situation, and decided that this would not be a good move. On April 18, 1948, Su Yu sent a long telegraph to the Communist Party Central Military Committee detailing his thinking. This caused Mao Zedong and other senior leaders by surprise because the decision was made after long considerations and Su Yu, as the deputy commander of the Eastern China Field Army, didn't have the authority to make such suggestions. Su Yu was asked to report to the senior leaders in person in the headquarters, where he detailed his rationale. Drawing from experience in southeastern China from his earlier military career, he doubted that move could draw the enemy's main mobile armies from the central plan, since the landscape in southeastern China was not suitable for such forces. He was approved to postpone crossing the Yangtze River, but tasked with annihilating 5-12 brigades of the Kuomintang force in the central plain in the next 4 to 8 months with the help of the rest of the Eastern China Field Army and the PLA Central Plain Field Army， the main target was the 5th Corps of the Kuomintang force. During the meeting, Su Yu became the acting commander and acting commissar of the Eastern China Field Army and Chen Yi, the commander of ECFA, was sent to join the CPFA as deputy commander.

The Yudong Campaign

Phase 1

The 5th Corps of the Kuomintang force was located in Shangqiu on the Longhai railroad. Om May 24, Su Yu ordered the 3rd and 8th columns to move from Xuchang to Huaiyang (淮阳) area to draw the 5th Corps south. The communist forces in the Puyang area crossed the Yellow River on May 30 and May 31 in order to draw the 5th Corps back north. The plan was to attack it from both the north and south (3rd, 8th columns of ECFA and 11th column of CPFA) in southwestern Shandong province.

To fight a decisive battle against the communist force in outhwestern Shandong province, the commander of the 5th Corps Qiu Qingquan （邱清泉） ordered his troops and the 75th reorganized division turned back north, to fight the communist forces just crossing the river with other Kuomintang forces, the 83rd reorganized division, the 25th division, and a brigade from the 63rd division.

However, Su Yu had the full understanding of the shortcoming of his original plan. Since the 5th Corps was one of the main units of the Kuomintang forces, the reinforcement would be quick and strong, he didn't have enough force to block all of them to accomplish his main task. Therefore, he began to execute his backup plan: to first attack Kaifeng, the capital of Henan province and then attack the reinforcement. At this point, the 3rd and 8th columns led by Chen Shiju (陈士榘）and Tang Liang （唐亮） were in the area of Tongxu （通许), Suixian, and Qixian area, pretty close to Kaifeng, which was defended by the 66th division and other forces, totaling more than 30, 000.

On June 17, the attack of Kaifeng started, after fierce fighting, most of the city was taken by the communist forces by midnight, June 20.

At the same time, the 9th column of the CPFA moved to between Zhengzhou and Kaifeng to block relieving forces from Zhengzhou (郑州), the 1st, 4th, and 6th columns of ECFA to Dingtao (定陶), Caoxian (曹县), Minquan (民权) area to block the 5th Corps, and the 10th column of the ECFA blocked the 18th Corps, another of Kuomintang main forces, in the Shangcai (上蔡) area (Battle of Shangcai). Also the other ECFA columns in Shandong encircled Yanzhou (兖州), an important city on the Jinpo railroad, the columns in northern Jiangsu attacked the Longhai railroad in northern Jiangsu province.

In the morning of June 22, the remaining positions of the Kuomintang were taken and the commander of the 66th division Li Zhongxin (李仲辛） was killed in battle, and the communist forces took the whole city. The governor of Henan province Liu Maoen (刘茂恩）escaped. In this phase, total of over 40,000 Kuomintang forces were destroyed (including the battles outside of the city).

Phase 2

After the fall the Kaifeng, Qiu Qingquan （邱清泉） was ordered to retake Kaifeng from east. Ou Shounian (区寿年), commanding reorganized 72th Division, reorganized 75th Division, and new 21st Brigade, to attack Kaifeng via the area of Minquan (民权),Suixian, and Qixian. Su Yu decided to seek the opportunity to destroy Ou's force, which was weaker. Four columns (1st, 4th, 6th from ECFA and 11th column from CPFA) were deployed in the area of Suixian, Qixian, Taikang, and Minquan to attack from north and south. The 3rd and 8th columns withdrew from Kaifeng to Tongxu area, then built up a defense line with the 10th and Liangguang columns between Qiu and Ou's forces. Also regional communist forces were ordered to destroy the railroad between Xuzhou and Minquan to slow down possible reinforcement from east. As mentioned above, the rest of the ECFA columns continued their actions in Shangdong and northern Jiansu provinces to tie down the Kuomintang forces there. To the south, part of the CPFA forces tried to block the 19th Corps, the other main Kuomintang force in the area.

After 3rd and 8th columns abandoned Keifeng on June 26, 1948, Qiu quickly followed to the south. However the slowing down of Ou's force left a gap of 40 kilometers between them. Su immediately ordered the attacking columns to encircle Ou's force. On the morning of June 29, Ou's headquarters along with reorganized 75th division and new 21th brigade were besieged in Longwangdian (龙王店) area, and reorganized 72th division in the Tiefosi (铁佛寺) area. On the same day, Hu Baitao was relieved of the task of saving Yanzhou and was ordered to command his reorganized 25th division, the 3rd rapid column, and other forces to relieve Ou's forces.

On July 1, 1948, the 6th brigade of the reorganized 75th division and new 21th brigade were destroyed; Huang's Corps reached the Diqiudian (帝丘店) area, only 10 kilometers from Tiefosi (铁佛寺). In the serious situation, Su decided he still had enough time and strength to fully eliminate the remainder of Ou's forces. With the 11th column of CPFA and part of 1st and 6th columns blocking Huang's Corps, Su ordered general attack against Ou's forces. On July 2, the communist forces took Longwangdian (龙王店); Ou and Shen Chengnian (沈澄年), the commander of the reorganized 75th division, were captured.

Ou knew Su more than 20 years ago and he advised Su that Qiu's Corps (5th) from west, Hu Lian's Corps (18th) from south, and Huang's Corps from east were merging in the area (with Yellow River to the north), the best course for Su would be to withdraw immediately in order to avoid being encircled himself. While Su was considering to get out of the battle field safely, he also decided he might still have just enough to remainder of the reorganized 72th division and Huang's Corps. However, the quick advance of the 18th Corps forced him to give this up; also with new reinforcement from Liu Ruming, Qiu was skirting the communist's defensive line. Su decided to mount a fierce attack on Huang before withdrawing to the east safely.

Aftermath and Consequences

This compaign had significant consequences. Shortly afterward, Mao Zedong said the most difficult phase of the war was over for the Communist forces. The Department of Defense of the Kuomintang government summarized the campaign in this way: the Communist forces behaved especially well in three areas: dared to fight large scale battles; dared to attack a big fortified city; and dared to fight for key points in a battleground repeatedly. Huang Baitao said that the war "entered a dire stage". After the war, Huang Baitao was awarded the Order of Blue Sky and White Sun, the highest award for a military officer. In contrast, Qiu Qingquan （邱清泉） was reprimanded for his effort. This development caused rift between them. Later in the Huaihai Campaign, Qiu was accused of not trying hard enough to relieve Huang, whose forces were destroyed and Qiu was killed later in the Huaihai Campaign.

Shortly after this campaign, the 7th, 9th, and 13th columns of the ECFA attacked and seized Yanzhou on the Jinpo railroad, an important city between Jinan and Xuzhou. This was facilitated by the Eastern Henan Campaign. Huang was originally asked to relieve Yanzhou, but then ordered to take part in the Eastern Henan Campaign. The loss of Yanzhou put Jinan, the capital of Shandong province, in isolation. Two months later (September, 1948), the communist forces took Jinan in Jinan campaign, during which the relieving forces (3 armies) of the Kuomintang government from Xuzhou couldn't mount any serious threat to the rival. Jinan campaign led directly to the Huaihai Campaign, in which Kuomintang government lost its final main forces to the north of the Yangtze River, and eventually loss of the mainland.

External links

• Su Yu's memoir on his war days [1]