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Handan Campaign ( zh, c=邯郸战役), also known as Pinghan Campaign (平汉战役), short for Beiping-Hankou Campaign (北平汉口战役), is one of the largest clashes between
Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
and
Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...
(KMT) forces immediately after the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. It resulted in Communist victory.


Nationalist strategy

During the Shangdang Campaign, Communist units of the
Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...
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Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...
-
Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...
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Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...
Military Region succeeded in taking control over a 200 km section of the railway from
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
to
Hankou Hankou, alternately romanized as Hankow (), was one of the three towns (the other two were Wuchang and Hanyang) merged to become modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers w ...
, and the adjacent regions along this section. The Kuomintang was determined to dislodge the Communists from their newly gained territory and planned an offensive that would significantly boost the KMT's bargaining chips in peace negotiations. Their plan aimed to bring the Communist-occupied territory in northern
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
firmly back under their control and secure passage to
northeast China Northeast China () is a geographical region of China, consisting officially of three provinces Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The heartland of the region is the Northeast China Plain, the largest plain in China with an area of over . The regi ...
. The commander of the 40th Army, , was also the commander-in-chief of the 11th War Zone, while the commander of the New 8th Army, Gao Shuxun, was also the deputy commander-in-chief of the 11th War Zone, and they were in charge of the entire operation. The KMT deployed around 145,000 troops in two echelons. The first echelon was planned to strike northward from
Xinxiang Xinxiang ( zh, s= , t= , p=Xīnxiāng ; Postal romanization, postal: Sinsiang) is a prefecture-level city in northern Henan provinces of China, province, China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to its southwest, Kaifeng to its sou ...
. It consisted of three armies divided from the 11th War Zone between two fronts: the left front consisted of the New 8th Army and the 30th Army, while the right front consisted of the 40th Army and the 9th Combat Engineering Regiment. The second echelon also consisted of two fronts. In the south, the 32nd Army of the 11th War Zone would follow the 40th Army to
Anyang Anyang ( zh, s=安阳, t=安陽; ) is a prefecture-level city in Henan, China. Geographical coordinates are 35° 41'~ 36° 21' north latitude and 113° 38'~ 114° 59' east longitude. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the eas ...
, and then would continue and linkup with the 3rd Army and the 16th Army of the 1st War Zone at
Shijiazhuang Shijiazhuang; Mandarin: ; formerly known as Shimen and romanized as Shihkiachwang is the capital and most populous city of China's Hebei Province. A prefecture-level city southwest of Beijing, it administers eight districts, three county-le ...
. Once the three armies had joined their forces, they would continue push northward and linkup with the 92nd Army and 94th Army, which would strike southward from Beijing, where these two KMT armies had previously been airlifted into by the American Operation Beleaguer. The New 8th Army was the most capable KMT unit and was thus tasked to bear the brunt of the fighting. However, this provoked resentment among the officers and soldiers of the New 8th Army. They had begun as a warlord army under the
Guominjun The Guominjun (), also known as the Kuominchun, abbreviated as GMJ and KMC, was a military faction founded by Feng Yuxiang, Hu Jingyi and Sun Yue during China's Warlord Era. The KMC had control of much of Northwest China, including Shaanxi ...
clique and had later defected to Chiang Kai-shek. Since then, they had been under Chiang's direct control (rather than answering to a KMT-allied warlord clique, like many of Chiang's other forces). During the
Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...
, they had remained loyal to Chiang unlike many former warlord armies that defected to the Japanese. They felt that their loyalty was not being properly rewarded, and that they were being used as cannon fodder. Such resentment against Chiang and his regime was exploited to the maximum by the Communists in the latter stage of the
Handan Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shando ...
Campaign, resulting in their defection. This proved to be a significant factor that contributed to the KMT failure. To complete their plan, many Communist agents had already infiltrated the New 8th Army prior to the campaign.


Communist strategy

The Communist plan was to concentrate a total of 60,000 regular troops from the 1st Column, the 2nd Column, the 3rd Column, and units of the Taihang (太行) Military Region,
Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...
-
Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...
-
Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...
Military Region, and Southern
Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...
Military Region, along with 100,000 Communist militia. They planned to annihilate the KMT in the Fuyang (滏阳) region north the
Zhang River The Zhang River is a tributary of the Wei River in China. The river commences at the confluence of the rivers Qingzhang (or Clear Zhang, 清漳河) and Zhuozhang (or Turbid Zhang, 浊漳河), where between She county of Hebei and Linzhou of ...
and south of
Handan Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shando ...
. The strategy was to proceed in several phases: First, Communist units would destroy railways from the north of
Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...
to
Anyang Anyang ( zh, s=安阳, t=安陽; ) is a prefecture-level city in Henan, China. Geographical coordinates are 35° 41'~ 36° 21' north latitude and 113° 38'~ 114° 59' east longitude. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the eas ...
, and harass the enemy and buy time. After the KMT has crossed the Zhang River, a Communist detachment would immediately take control the river crossing point and divide the KMT forces. The KMT units that had crossed the Zhang River would then be lured into the Fuyang region to be ambushed in a pre-selected spot. The ambush would be a pincer movement: the eastern pincer would consist of the 1st Column and units of Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region, while the western pincer would consist of the 2nd Column, 3rd Column, units from Taihang Military Region and Southern Hebei Military Region.


Order of battle

Kuomintang
order of battle Order of battle of an armed force participating in a military operation or campaign shows the hierarchical organization, command structure, strength, disposition of personnel, and equipment of units and formations of the armed force. Various abbr ...
1st Echelon: 7 Divisions with 45,000 troops *New 8th Army deployed at
Xinxiang Xinxiang ( zh, s= , t= , p=Xīnxiāng ; Postal romanization, postal: Sinsiang) is a prefecture-level city in northern Henan provinces of China, province, China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to its southwest, Kaifeng to its sou ...
*The 30th Army deployed at Xinxiang *The 40th Army deployed at Xinxiang 2nd Echelon: 100,000 troops *The 3rd Army deployed at
Shijiazhuang Shijiazhuang; Mandarin: ; formerly known as Shimen and romanized as Shihkiachwang is the capital and most populous city of China's Hebei Province. A prefecture-level city southwest of Beijing, it administers eight districts, three county-le ...
*The 16th Army deployed at Shijiazhuang *The 32nd Army deployed at
Anyang Anyang ( zh, s=安阳, t=安陽; ) is a prefecture-level city in Henan, China. Geographical coordinates are 35° 41'~ 36° 21' north latitude and 113° 38'~ 114° 59' east longitude. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the eas ...
*The 92nd Army deployed at
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
*The 94th Army deployed at Beijing Communist order of battle 60,000 regulars: *The 1st Column *The 2nd Column *The 3rd Column *Units of Taihang Military Region *Units of
Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...
-
Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...
-
Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...
(Jiluyu, 冀鲁豫) Military Region *Units of Southern
Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...
(Jinan, 冀南) Military Region Another 100,000 militia


First stage

The Kuomintang begun their push on October 14, 1945. By October 20, 1945, the KMT advance guards had occupied the positions at shore of Zhang River, providing cover to the troops building the bridges at the crossing point. On October 22, 1945, the KMT force crossed the Zhang River, where they were met head on with the Communist 1st Column deployed south of
Handan Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shando ...
, and the first shot of the campaign had been fired. By October 24, 1945, all three KMT armies had cross the Zhang River, and under the heavy artillery bombardment, the 106th Division of the KMT 40th Army assaulted the position of the 1st Brigade of the Communist 1st Column, succeeding in breaking through after a day of fierce fighting, penetrating the Communist defense at region between Cuiqu (崔曲), Jiati (夹堤), and by the evening, had successfully pushed to the Gaozhuang (高庄)—Nanpozi (南泊子) line. Unbeknown to the KMT force, the Communists were luring them into their trap, and northern group and the southern group had already begun to encircle the enemy from three directions: south of Handan, west of
Ci County Ci County or Cixian () is a county of Hebei, China. It is under the administration of Handan City. Administrative Divisions Towns: * Cizhou (), Xiguanglu (), Gaoyu (), Yuecheng (), Guantai (), Lintan (), Huangsha (), Baitu (), Jiangwucheng ...
and east of Matouzhen (马头镇). When the KMT force had reached Ci County and Matouzhen, the Communist encirclement was complete, while at the same time, the river crossing of Zhang River had also fallen into the Communist hands. Realizing that they were surrounded, the besieged KMT force retreated toward North and South Zuoliang (左良) and Cuiqu, and directly appealed to Chiang Kai-shek for help via radio. Chiang, in turn, ordered the entire second echelon to be mobilized to help the besieged first echelon. However, the KMT commanders of the second echelon were reluctant to help and unable to commit all of their forces. Instead, they only sent small detachments. On October 26, 1945, a portion of the KMT's 16th Army were sent from Shijiazhuang, but they were stopped by the Communist units of the Taihang Military Region and other local militia units at Gaoyi (高邑). Meanwhile, the KMT 32nd Army at Anyang sent out a detachment to reinforce their besieged comrade-in-arms, but this reinforcement from the south was also stopped by the Communist force at the Zhang River.


Second stage

At dusk on October 28, 1945, the full-scale attack on the besieged KMT force begun. The Communist northern group targeted the KMT 40th Army while avoiding direct confrontation with the New 8th Army. By October 30, 1945, the 106th Division of the 40th Army was nearly wiped out, and the KMT's 30th Army was also badly mauled. Meanwhile, the Communist
chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...
Li Da personally went to the New 8th Army headquarters and convinced its commander Gao Shuxun to defect to the Communist side. The defection of their most capable fighting unit struck a devastating blow to KMT morale and worsened the situation for the remaining besieged units. Communist commander Liu Bocheng ordered the 1st Column and 3rd Column to open up the southern front and set a new trap along the road to lure out the besieged units from their strongholds. On October 31, 1945, the KMT force attempted to escape thru the opening in the south exactly as Liu Bocheng had expected. Communist units of the Taihang Military Region and units of Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region stopped them at the northern shore of Zhang River. The KMT units were again besieged in the region along the line of the villages Qigan Zhang (旗杆漳), Xin Zhuang (辛庄), and Ma Ying (马营). On November 1, 1945, a detachment of the Communist 1st Column took the headquarters of the KMT 40th Army at Qigan Zhang, capturing the KMT commander-in-chief Ma Fawu alive. Kuomintang resistance ceased completely by the next day, while the KMT reinforcements on the road immediately withdraw back to their fortified positions behind the city walls upon hearing the news. The campaign ended on the November 2, 1945.


Outcome

The Communist victory in the Handan Campaign reinforced their victory in the Shangdang Campaign, and strengthened the Communist position in the peace negotiations. It significantly slowed the KMT's deployment along the railway from Beijing to Hankou and thus provided cover for other Communist forces to seize
northeast China Northeast China () is a geographical region of China, consisting officially of three provinces Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The heartland of the region is the Northeast China Plain, the largest plain in China with an area of over . The regi ...
.


Reasons for the Communist victory

The most obvious KMT mistake was Chiang Kai-shek's attempt to reduce the power of the warlord armies by using them to eradicate the Communists. This directly caused the New 8th Army to defect to the Communists. However, Chiang was faced with a dilemma: these troops earned their living by serving in the armed forces, and if they were discharged in peacetime, they would be forced to join the Communists for survival anyway when they were out of jobs, as they did later in northeast China. The KMT also launched the offensive too early with insufficient strength. As Chiang had soon painfully realized, the Nationalist Government regime did not have enough resources to deploy its troops in a very short time span over the vast regions of China. When the surrounding countryside was dominated by the Communists, launching an offensive of the scale of Handan Campaign was overambitious. The KMT's second echelon failed to rescue their besieged comrade-in-arms because they were too far away, and the reinforcement sent by the 92nd and 94th Armies from
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
did not even meet any enemy before the campaign was finished. They ignored Chiang's command to commit their full force, but they were already dangerously overstretched and overcommitting their forces risked letting the Communists seize the cities and destroy the KMT forces while they were on the road. Therefore, by disobeying Chiang's orders the commanders of the second echelon succeeded in preserving their forces. The successful preservation of the force, in turn, would later help the KMT buy time for troop deployment and strengthening their positions.


See also

* Outline of the Chinese Civil War *
National Revolutionary Army The National Revolutionary Army (NRA; zh, labels=no, t=國民革命軍) served as the military arm of the Kuomintang, Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, or KMT) from 1924 until 1947. From 1928, it functioned as the regular army, de facto ...
* History of the People's Liberation Army


References

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Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
, 2000, (set) *Zhang, Ping, ''History of the Liberation War'', 1st Edition, Chinese Youth Publishing House in
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
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Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...
People's Publishing House in
Shijiazhuang Shijiazhuang; Mandarin: ; formerly known as Shimen and romanized as Shihkiachwang is the capital and most populous city of China's Hebei Province. A prefecture-level city southwest of Beijing, it administers eight districts, three county-le ...
, 1990, (set) *Literary and Historical Research Committee of the
Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...
Committee of the
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s United front (China), united front system. Its members adv ...
, ''Liberation War'', 1st Edition,
Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...
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Hefei Hefei is the Capital city, capital of Anhui, China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural center of Anhui. Its population was 9,369,881 as of the 2020 census. Its built-up (or ''metro'') area is made up of four u ...
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, 2004, *Wang, Xingsheng, and Zhang, Jingshan, ''Chinese Liberation War'', 1st Edition,
People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...
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Yan'an Yan'an; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternatively spelled as Yenan is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi Province of China, province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several c ...
to
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Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
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People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...
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Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
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