The three major battles refer to the strategic decisive battle between the China People's Liberation Army and the Kuomintang army from1September 1948 to1June 1949, including the three major strategic battles of Liaoshen, Huaihai and Ping Jin.

background

After two years of heroic fighting, by the autumn of 1948, the balance of forces between the enemy and ourselves had further changed to be beneficial to the revolution and not to the counter-revolution. First of all, the contrast between the enemy and our military forces has changed. At this time, the People's Liberation Army has increased to 2.8 million, and the total front-line forces have surpassed the enemy. Through the new army consolidation movement, the political quality and combat effectiveness of the officers and men of the whole army have also been greatly improved. At this time, the overall defense and regional defense of the Kuomintang army went bankrupt. In order to avoid total annihilation, Chiang Kai-shek decided to implement key defense. In fact, he has lost a complete front and lacks strategic mobile forces. Therefore, militarily, the time is ripe for a decisive battle. Secondly, the Kuomintang has been politically isolated as never before. Not only the people in the Kuomintang-ruled areas are increasingly seeing the counter-revolutionary nature of Chiang Kai-shek's counter-revolutionary clique's civil war and dictatorship, but the Kuomintang is also in a dilemma of disintegration. Economically, the Kuomintang-ruled areas are also in chaos, with inflation and soaring prices, and the whole economy is on the verge of collapse. At this time, the political and economic situation in the liberated areas is booming. At that time, the major liberated areas had been linked together, covering an area of 2.355 million square kilometers, accounting for 24.5% of the country's total area and a population of 654.38+68 billion, accounting for 35.3% of the country's total population. Moreover, after the land reform, the peasants' enthusiasm for revolution and production in the liberated areas was unprecedentedly high, and the rear areas of the People's Liberation Army were further consolidated.

These circumstances show that the time is ripe for the People's Liberation Army to engage in a strategic decisive battle with the Kuomintang army. The Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) made a military plan for the third year and decided to launch an offensive in Northeast China, North China, Northwest China, East China and other places, and conducted several major battles to lead the war to the Kuomintang-ruled areas.

In strategic operations, we must implement the policy of destroying the enemy in batches. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to choose the first target of annihilation in the northeast battlefield.

Liaoxi-Shenyang Campaign

Fighting time: 1948 September 12 to 1 1.2.

Strength comparison: 700,000: 500,000. The main forces of the Northeast Field Army are all the 2nd Corps Command, 12 infantry column, 1 special forces column, 1 railway column and local troops of the Northeast Military Region. The northeast "general suppression" headquarters of the Kuomintang army, 1 Corps 2 troops, 6 Corps 4 troops, 8 Corps 2 troops, 9 Corps 6 troops and 17 Corps 3 troops assisted the enemy, etc.

Number of enemies wiped out: more than 472,000 people were wiped out, including the Northeast "General Suppression" Command, Jinzhou Command, the 4th Corps Department, 1 1 Army Department, the 33rd Division and irregulars.

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In the first stage, the main force of the Northeast Field Army went south. In June, 10, 15, Jinzhou was captured, and the enemy was wiped out by 10, and Fan, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Northeast "anti-bandits" general command, was captured. Truncated the Beining Line and closed the land passage between Northeast China and North China. Changchun was shaken on the defensive, rebelled and rebelled, and Changchun was successfully liberated. In the second stage, 10 year 10, from October 20 to 28, the battle of western Liaoning, the Northeast Field Army annihilated more than 65,438+10,000 Liao Yaoxiang Corps who tried to recapture Jinzhou and fled south. The third stage, 654381October 29th to 1654381October 2nd, the Northeast Field Army liberated Shenyang and Yingkou, and the whole Northeast was liberated. Liaoshen Campaign wiped out 470,000 enemies and liberated the whole Northeast. Coupled with victories in other battlefields, the PLA rose to 3 million, and the Kuomintang army fell to 2.9 million. The national military situation has taken a new turn. Since then, the China People's Liberation Army has gained advantages not only in quality, but also in quantity. The victory of Liaoshen Campaign gave the People's Liberation Army a solid strategic rear with a certain industrial base. The Northeast Field Army, a strategic reserve force of nearly one million people, created favorable conditions for the future liberation of Peiping, Tianjin and North China. As Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out, "this is a sign that the victory of the China revolution and the realization of peace in China are coming."

Comments:

Lin Biao has developed into a 700,000-strong Northeast Field Army from 6,543,800+3,000 when it first entered the Northeast. At that time, Lin Biao cancelled the decisive battle with the enemy's main force in Jinzhou and its surrounding areas, and voluntarily withdrew from Siping, which changed the operational policy of the Central Military Commission to the Northeast in the early days of the Liberation War. Practice has proved that it has great strategic significance, and its importance is no less than our army's internal warfare policy. Since the 1947 summer offensive, especially after the autumn and winter offensive, our Northeast Army has taken an absolute advantage, with a field force of 700,000. The northeast Kuomintang army is completely in a passive position. 14 troops have 550,000 troops, but the main force is less than 400,000, and most of them are expanded by local security forces, which are relatively isolated in several big cities. It was definitely better to play Changchun first than Jinzhou. Mao Zedong considered "beating dogs behind closed doors" from a strategic perspective, while Lin Biao judged from a military perspective that Jinzhou played a decisive role in the whole Northeast. Lin Biao's move of "returning to Changchun", which was criticized later, is actually understandable. The enemy's surge in Jinxi and Huludao really posed a threat to our army. Lin Biao's hesitation is related to his unsociable and selfish personality, including his previous request that the Yang Chengwu Corps of North China should act first, and the main force could not enter the customs. However, in actual combat, Jinzhou was conquered in only 3 1 hour, "creating a brilliant example for our army to fight hard and quickly." Liao Yaoxiang Corps was highly mobile, boldly infiltrated, was disrupted and divided into encirclement and suppression, and was annihilated in just two days and nights. The short time and great achievements are unprecedented in the history of our army's war. Mao Zedong asked our army to follow this tactic on the front line in Hai Huai. The organization of Liaoshen Campaign is superb, and Lin Biao's military command level has reached perfection.

the Huaihai Campaign

Fighting time:1948165438+1October 6 to 1949 65438+ 10.

Strength comparison: 600,000: 800,000. All the main forces of the East China Field Army are 15 column and 1 special forces column, the 35th Army (Wu Department), local troops of the East China Military Region, all the main forces of the Central Plains Field Army and local troops of the Central Plains Military Region, etc. The "General Suppression" Command and Forward Command of the Kuomintang Army in Xuzhou, with 5 troops in the 2nd Corps, 4 troops in the 6th Corps, 5 troops in the 7th Corps, 2 troops in the 8th Corps, 4 troops in the 12 Corps, 3 troops in the 13 Corps, 2 troops in the 16 Corps and 5 troops in the 1 appeasement area.

Number of Enemies Destroyed: Xuzhou "General Suppression" Forward Command, 5 Corps Departments, 22 Military Departments and 56 Divisions wiped out more than 555,000 enemies.

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The first phase165438+1October 6-22. The main force of the East China Field Army was in Nianzhuang, east of Xuzhou, surrounded the enemy Yellow Corps and killed the commander Huang. He Jifeng and Zhang Kexia, deputy commanders of the enemy's third appeasement area and underground members of the Chinese Communist Party, led 23,000 people to revolt in Jiawang and Taierzhuang. 165438+1October 23rd to 65438+February 65438+May, which was the second stage of Huaihai Campaign. The main operational goal is to annihilate the Huangwei Corps that came from southern Henan to reinforce and attack alone. With the cooperation of the East China Field Army, the Central Plains Field Army annihilated the enemy's 12th Corps and captured Huang Wei, commander of the Corps, in Shuangduiji area. During this period, Du Fu, deputy commander-in-chief of the Kuomintang Xuzhou "Suppression General", led a group of Qiu Qingquan, Sun San out of Xuzhou, and was encircled by the main force of the East China Field Army in the Chenguanzhuang area, and Sun Corps was completely annihilated. The third stage is from 65438+February 16 to 1949 65438+ 10. The People's Liberation Army launched a general assault, annihilated Qiu Qingquan and two corps, and killed Qiu Qingquan, commander of the corps, and Du, deputy commander of the corps. At this point, the Huaihai Campaign ended successfully. The campaign wiped out 555,000 enemy troops and liberated a vast area north of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Beijing and Shanghai, the heartland of Kuomintang rule, are completely exposed to the attacks of the People's Liberation Army.

Comments:

Huaihai Campaign is different from Liaoshen Campaign and Pingjin Campaign. From the beginning of the campaign to the expansion of the scale of the campaign, Mao Zedong and the frontline commanders made wise decisions according to the rapidly changing battlefield situation, so the results of the campaign greatly exceeded the initial expectations. Su Yu put forward three suggestions at the critical moment when the Huaihai Campaign ("Little Sea Huai") evolved into "Big Sea Huai", which was undoubtedly the crowning touch of the Huaihai Campaign. 1948 On September 24th, the first day of the end of Jinan Campaign, Su Yu put forward the proposal of Huaihai Campaign; On June 365438+1October 3 1 day, Su Yu analyzed the battlefield situation, foresaw that the two field armies in East China and Central Plains would develop from strategic coordinated operations to campaign coordinated operations, and took the initiative to suggest to the Military Commission that "this campaign is very large, please ask Chen and Deng for unified command" (Liu Bocheng is still in western Henan), thus solving the problem of unified command of the two field armies; 165438+ On the third day after the launch of the Huaihai Campaign, Su Yu issued the famous "Chen Qidian" to the Military Commission according to the new situation of the liberation of the whole Northeast, and put forward the idea of keeping the enemy's main force north of the Yangtze River (Xuzhou and its vicinity) and even thinking about how our army would fight after crossing the river, which was adopted by the Military Commission and was determined to develop the Huaihai Campaign into a strategic decisive battle on the southern line. The first stage of the Huaihai Campaign was very difficult. The Yellow Corps has more than 65,438 people in five armies and more than 200,000 people. It is the corps with the largest number of body count in Huaihai battlefield. My main force in Hua Ye is only over 360,000. Six main columns were used to panic in the Yellow River, and seven columns were used to rescue Qiu and Li Corps in Xu Dong. The strength is not obvious, and with Huang's desperate struggle, the battle is extremely tragic. In the most critical second stage of the Huai Hai Campaign, Su Yu reached the limit in the use of troops and energy overdraft. Hua Ye bears a triple burden. Although stevie hoang Corps was surrounded by Nakano, Hua Ye sent troops to participate in the panic. The northern Du Tuan was not besieged, and the southern Liu Ruming Corps was also hit. Du Buqiu's three regiments were besieged, and the successful interception of the corps was a turning point in the Huaihai Campaign. At this time, Su Yu proposed to transfer three columns of Hua Ye (plus two columns that have been transferred, including a special one, and transferred five columns altogether), and Chen Shiju led them to participate in the main attack on stevie hoang Corps. At that time, although Nakano had 6.5438+0.5 million troops, the fourth and sixth columns were the most effective. Du Group was instructed to "boldly intervene among the enemy forces and take advantage of their movements to annihilate them one by one" as Liao Yaoxiang Corps was annihilated, but the specific implementation is hard to say! At that time, Hua Ye's strength was only slightly better than that of Du Group, which was more than four times that of Dongye's absolute superiority in panic in Liao Yaoxiang. The Huaihai Campaign was more difficult and meaningful.

Beiping-Tianjin campaign

Fighting time:1948165438+1October 29th to1949 65438+1October 30th.

Strength comparison: 900,000: 600,000. The main force of the Northeast Field Army is the 2nd Corps Command of North China Military Region, 12 infantry column, 1 special forces column, 1 railway column, 3 columns of 2nd Corps and 4 columns of 3rd Corps, plus some local troops of Northeast Military Region and North China Military Region. The "General Suppression" Command of the Kuomintang Army in North China, 2 armies of the 4th Corps and 5 armies of the 9th Corps plus 1 new jockey, etc. 1 1 Corps plus 1 Independent Division and 3 cavalry brigades, 17 Corps plus 4 troops 1.

Number of enemy troops wiped out: the Kuomintang army's new security forces, Zhangjiakou, Tianjin and Tanggu defended the enemy, killing more than 260,000 people, and Peiping reorganized and defended more than 250,000 people.

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The first stage of the battle of Ping Jin was from1948165438+129 October to 65438+20 February. According to the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC)'s operational policy of encircling Ping Jin and Zhangping without fighting, the People's Liberation Army completed its strategic encirclement and suppression of Ping Jin and Zhangping, which made the enemy lose the south. In the second stage, 65438+ February 2 1 to1949 65438+1October 15, the People's Liberation Army, in accordance with the operational policy of fighting at both ends first and then taking the middle, first wiped out two divisions of the enemy of the new security guard, and then smashed through seven divisions of the enemy of Zhangjiakou. In the third stage, from 65438+1October 16 to 3 1, Fu led more than 250,000 people to accept peaceful adaptation. With the vigorous promotion of the underground party organization of the Communist Party of China and patriots without party affiliation in Beiping, Beiping was peacefully liberated. During the entire Ping Jin campaign, 520,000 enemy troops were annihilated and reorganized, and North China was basically liberated, completely connecting the two liberated areas of North China and Northeast China.

Comments:

The Battle of Ping Jin is a decisive battle with overwhelming superiority to the Kuomintang army since the Liberation War. In this campaign, the main force of the Northeast Field Army (more than 700,000) and the 2 nd and 3 rd Corps of the North China Military Region (more than 200,000) totaled 900,000, and the number of local troops participating in the war reached 1 10,000. The total strength of the enemy's North China war zone is less than 600,000, of which the regular army is only over 300,000. Most of the others were adapted from local security forces, and the number of combat troops was small. They are isolated in several cities, and the use of troops is stretched. Compared with the Huaihai and Liaoshen campaigns, the military confrontation and stimulation are relatively weak, the suspense of victory or defeat in the campaign is small, and the victory in the political field is far greater than the military victory. Although the peaceful liberation of Peiping has the essence of "conquering the enemy without fighting", there are several inevitable factors that cannot be denied: 1, Fu was not originally Chiang Kai-shek's direct line, but he was reused by Chiang Kai-shek because of his good fighting skills. As a contemporary Zeng Guofan, Jiang has high hopes for "rejuvenating China". Fu is flattered, but he has other plans in his heart. 2. Fu used more than 500,000 troops to deal with Nie's more than 400,000 troops in North China. Although he was at loggerheads, coupled with the powerful northeast Lin Biao army, Fu would not take too much chances. 3. The downfall of Xuzhou Group, the Kuomintang army, also made Fu completely give up his fantasy and lose confidence in the fate of the Kuomintang. If you stubbornly resist to the end, you will make yourself a historical sinner who destroyed the capital. However, according to the development of the battlefield situation, Lin Biao's proposal to suspend the attack on Tanggu and Dagu Lake and take Tianjin first (and then resolutely give up the attack on Tanggu and Dagu Lake and concentrate on taking Tianjin) is undoubtedly correct. The quickness and neatness of conquering Tianjin made Fu and others tremble with fear, which also became a key to speeding up the settlement of the Peiping issue.

abstract

The victory of the three major battles enabled the people to successfully complete the strategic decisive battle with the enemy's main force. The three major campaigns lasted 142 days and wiped out 173 divisions, with a total of 1.54 million people. Together with the operations in other areas during this period, the People's Liberation Army wiped out a total of 654.38+0.82 million enemies. This means that the main military forces that the Kuomintang relied on to maintain its reactionary rule have basically been eliminated. The victory of the three major battles laid a solid foundation for the victory of the national people's liberation war.