Zhengtai Campaign - Campaign

Campaign

On April 8, 1947, communists begun their 1st stage offensive by attacking nationalist strongholds outside Shijiazhuang in a pincer movement. The outnumbered nationalist garrisons had no choice but to abandon over 90 strongholds and quickly withdrew into the major cities. By April 12, 1947, all nationalist strongholds fell into the communist hands and in addition, two major counties, Zhengding and Luancheng, also fell into the enemy. However, the rapid nationalist retreat had prevented the major loss of troops: only two nationalist regiments were lost during the first stage.

On April 14, 1947, communist forces launched their 2nd stage offensive by taking Niangzi (娘子) Pass and Jingin (井陉). Important nationalist strongholds to the north of Yangquan including White Earth Slope (Baitupo, 白土坡), Upper Yinying (Shangyinying 上荫莹), and Lower Yinying (Xiayinying, 下荫莹) subsequently fell in a domino effect. After losing nearly four dozen local strongholds, Pingding County and Yangquan were both seriously threatened by the communists, who besieged the last two remaining nationalist strongholds on April 25, 1947. On April 24, 1947, Yan Xishan ordered the nationalist 33rd Army stationed in Taiyuan and Qi (祁) County eastward to reinforce the local nationalist garrison via railway, and reached Yangquan the next day. The defense of Yangquan was further enhanced by the arrival of the nationalist 8th and 10th Division on April 28, 1947. In response, the communists redeployed part of their force to the west to surround the nationalists by taking regions including Qinquan (芹泉), Yu (盂) County, and Ceshiyi (测石驿), thus completely sealing off the retreating routes of the nationalist reinforcement. On April 29, 1947, the main force of the nationalist 33rd Army retreated westward, but they were stopped by the communist forces at the Ceshiyi (测石驿) region.

Meanwhile, on the northern bank of Great Clearity River (Da Qin He 大清河) in Shengfang (胜芳) region, the Independent 7th Brigade of communist Central Hebei Military District and local garrison of the communist 10th Military Sub-district successfully beaten back repeated attacks of the nationalist reinforcement. However, the communist victory was largely due to the lack of corporations among nationalists themselves: out of a total of seven divisions, only 13 regiments actually participated in the assaults on the communist positions, less than half of the total. The reason was that Yan Xishan, the nationalist commander-in-chief and the warlord of Shanxi was not willing to sacrifice his own troops for Chiang Kai-shek and other warlords allied with Chiang, which resulted in further disasters for the nationalists: after beaten back the nationalist attacks, the Independent 7th Brigade of communist Central Hebei Military Sub-region and local garrison of the communist 10th Military Sub-district further expanded their victories by taken nationalist strongholds including Tang’erli (堂二里) township of Ba (霸) County, Anci (安次) county, and the region of Xushengkou (徐胜口) on April 27, 1947.

By May 1, 1947, it was obvious to the nationalists that Yangquan could not be held any longer. Yan Xishan ordered most of the defenders, including the 46th Division of the 33rd Army and the Independent 10th Division to retreat westward, while the 5th Group, consisted of 500 former Japanese troops enlisted in Yan’s army were ordered to stay behind to guard Lion Brain Mountain (Shi Nao Shan, 狮脑山) to cover the general retreat. However, the retreating nationalist main force met stubborn enemy resistance and was stopped surrounded by the enemy at the regions of Zhaiyu (寨鱼) and Ceshiyi (测石驿). On May 3, 1947, under the communist's overwhelming political offensive, the 500 member strong nationalist 5th Group surrendered to the communists. On May 4, 1947, nationalist defenders at Zhaiyu (寨鱼) and Ceshiyi (测石驿) region could no longer holdout and attempted to breakout, but unfortunately, they were ambushed on their retreat and most were killed. On the same day, nationalist defenders at Shouyang (寿阳) abandoned their posts under communist's overwhelming pressure and fled to Yuci. The communists did not end the campaign until they chased the retreating nationalist force all the way to the suburb of Yuci.