Campaign along the Southern Section of the Datong-Puzhou Railway (同蒲路南段战役) was a campaign fought between the

nationalists 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: The ...

and the communists during the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

in the post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

era and resulted in the communist victory.

Prelude

In early July 1946,

Hu Zongnan Hu Zongnan (; 16 May 1896 – 14 February 1962), courtesy name Shoushan (壽山), was a Chinese general in the National Revolutionary Army and then the Republic of China Army. Together with Chen Cheng and Tang Enbo, Hu, a native of Z ...

, the nationalist commander-in-chief of the 1st War Zone sent the nationalist Reorganized 1st

Division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

and the Reorganized 27th Division northward to link up with the nationalist force from

Linfen Linfen is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Shanxi province, China, bordering Shaanxi province to the west. It is situated along the banks of the Fen River. It has an area of and according to the 2020 Census, a population of 3,976, ...

and Jiexiu (介休) under the command of

Yan Xishan Yan Xishan (; 8 October 1883 – 22 July 1960, ) was a Chinese warlord who served in the government of the Republic of China. He effectively controlled the province of Shanxi from the 1911 Xinhai Revolution to the 1949 Communist victory in ...

, the nationalist commander-in-chief of the 2nd War Zone, hoping that the nationalist would dislodge the communists controlling the southern section of the Datong-Puzhou Railway. The communists under the command of Chen Geng and his political commissar

Xie Fuzhi Xie Fuzhi (; 26 September 1909 – 26 March 1972) was a Chinese Communist Party military commander, political commissar, and national security specialist. He was born in 1909 in Hong'an County, Hubei and died in Beijing in 1972. Xie was known ...

in turn, planned to annihilate the nationalists before they could link up with each other. The communist 4th Column of the Shanxi-

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...

- Shandong-

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

(晋冀鲁豫) Military Region was tasked with this job with the help of units of the communist Taiyue (太岳) Military Region.

Order of battle

Nationalists: *Reorganized 1st Division *Reorganized 27th Division *The 39th Division *The 69th Division Communists: *The 4th Column of the Shanxi-

- Shandong-

Military Region *Units of the communist Taiyue (太岳) Military Region

Campaign

On June 12, 1946, the nationalist Reorganized 27th Division and two brigades of the nationalist Reorganized 1st Division had pushed to Wenxi (闻喜), Water Head Town (Shui Tou Zhen, 水头镇), Embankment Palm Town (Yan Zhang Zhen, 堰掌镇), and Summer (Xia, 夏) County, and the nationalist advance guard had penetrated over 70 km into the communist dominated areas. On July 13, 1946, the communist 4th Column of the Shanxi-

- Shandong-

Military Region concentrated two brigades to besiege the 31st Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 27th Division, while the rest of the troops were deployed to stop the nationalist reinforcement. By July 14, 1946, the 31st Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 27th Division was completely annihilated at Embankment Palm Town (Yan Zhang Zhen, 堰掌镇) and the Town of Hu and Zhang (Hu Zhang Zhen, 胡张镇) regions. In the meantime, the nationalist reinforcement of the nationalist Reorganized 1st Division from Wenxi (闻喜) and Water Head Town (Shui Tou Zhen, 水头镇) to reinforce their besieged comrades-in-arms was also ambushed on its way and was forced to retreat. After suffering the defeat, the nationalist force under the command of

was forced out of action and had to regroup by withdrawing to the Wenxi (闻喜),

Xia County, Shanxi Xia County or Xiaxian () is a county in the southwest of Shanxi province, People's Republic of China, bordering Henan province to the southeast. It is under the jurisdiction of Yuncheng City. History In ancient China, it served as the previous ...

and Anyi (安邑) regions. However, the nationalist force under the command of

was still on the move to the north in order to reinforce the nationalists in northern Shanxi participating in the Northern Shanxi Campaign. As the majority of the nationalist force was sent to the north, the regions along the Datong–Puzhou Railway from Lingshi (灵石) to Hongtong was only defended by the nationalist 39th Division, 69th Division, and local security regiments. Taking the opportunity, the communist 4th Column of the Shanxi-

- Shandong-

Military Region and units of the communist Taiyue (太岳) Military Region joined their forces and launched another round of assaults on August 9, 1946, taking Hongtong, City of Zhao (Zhao Cheng, 赵城), Huo (霍) County, Lingshi (灵石) and Fenxi (汾西). The campaign finally concluded on September 1, 1946, when the communists took the region of Wealthy Family's Beach (Fu Jia Tan, 富家滩).

Outcome

The nationalists had suffered over 15,000 casualties in their defeat, and not only they had failed to achieve their original objective of linking up with their comrades-in-arms, but the original gap in the nationalist defense had greatly increased as the result of the nationalist defeat. In contrast, the communist victory had completely severed the link between the nationalist force under the command of

in the south and the nationalist force under the command of

in the north. The original gap between the two groups of the nationalist forces was greatly increased that there was no chance for the nationalists to link up again because a vast area along the 100 km southern section of the Datong-Puzhou Railway had fallen into communist hands.

References

*Zhu, Zongzhen and Wang, Chaoguang, ''Liberation War History'', 1st Edition, Social Scientific Literary Publishing House in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, 2000, (set) *Zhang, Ping, ''History of the Liberation War'', 1st Edition, Chinese Youth Publishing House in

, 1987, (pbk.) *Jie, Lifu, ''Records of the Liberation War: The Decisive Battle of Two Kinds of Fates'', 1st Edition,

People's Publishing House in Shijiazhuang, 1990, (set) *Literary and Historical Research Committee of the

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, ''Liberation War'', 1st Edition,

People's Publishing House in Hefei, 1987, *Li, Zuomin, ''Heroic Division and Iron Horse: Records of the Liberation War'', 1st Edition,

Chinese Communist The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

Party History Publishing House in

, 2004, *Wang, Xingsheng, and Zhang, Jingshan, ''Chinese Liberation War'', 1st Edition, People's Liberation Army Literature and Art Publishing House in

, 2001, (set) *Huang, Youlan, ''History of the Chinese People's Liberation War'', 1st Edition, Archives Publishing House in

, 1992, *Liu Wusheng, ''From

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) ...

: A Collection of Military Records and Research Publications of Important Campaigns in the Liberation War'', 1st Edition, Central Literary Publishing House in

, 1993, *Tang, Yilu and Bi, Jianzhong, ''History of Chinese People's Liberation Army in Chinese Liberation War'', 1st Edition, Military Scientific Publishing House in

, 1993 – 1997, (Volum 1), 7800219615 (Volum 2), 7800219631 (Volum 3), 7801370937 (Volum 4), and 7801370953 (Volum 5) {{DEFAULTSORT:Datong-Puzhou Conflicts in 1946 Datong-Puzhou Railway, Southern Section 1946 in China Military history of Shanxi

Prelude

Order of battle

Campaign

Outcome

See also

References