Linjiang Campaign ( Chinese: 临江战役), also known by the

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 ...

s as the Campaign of Going South of the River for Three time to Guard Linjiang for Four Times (San Xia Jiang Nan, Si Bao Linjiang Zhanyi, 三下江南四保临江战役), was a series of four failed offensives launched by the nationalists in an attempt to eliminate the

base south of the Songhua River during the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...

Prelude

The nationalists had lost three

divisions Division 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 of 10,000 t ...

to the enemy by October, 1946 in

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 ...

, and the local

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

commander, Du Yuming adjusted the strategy by planning to eradicate the enemy in a gradual but firm manner, instead of attempting to eliminate the enemy rapidly by a decisive engagement, which the enemy had refused to do. The heart of this new strategy called for the elimination of the enemy base south of the Songhua River, headquartered at Linjiang. After the enemy had been eradicated in the south, the nationalists would then advance northward across the Songhua River and eliminate the enemy forces there. In response to the

strategy, the

commander of

Lin Biao Lin Biao ( zh, 林彪; 5 December 1907 – 13 September 1971) was a Chinese politician and Marshal of the People's Republic of China who was pivotal in the Chinese Communist Party, Communist Chinese Communist Revolution, victory during the Chines ...

, and his followers accurately concluded that the

base south of the Songhua River must be maintained at all costs, because it served to distract the enemy and if it were lost, the enemy could then devote its entire assets to pressure the

s north of the Songhua River, and the

s in

would then be endangered, and possibly face total annihilation. The

s decided to concentrate three columns with a total of nine

to stop the

offensives, along with the help of three independent

Order of battle

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

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 ...

*The Newly Organized 1st Army **The Newly Organized 22nd Division **The Newly Organized 30th Division *The Newly Organized 6th Army *The 52nd Army **The 2nd Division **The 195th Division *The 60th Army *The 91st Division of the 71st Army *The 21st Division *The 87th Division *The 88th Division *The 89th Division *The 207th Division *The 54th Division of the 13th Army

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 ...

*The 3rd Column *The 4th Column *The 6th Column *The 1st Independent Division *The 2nd Independent Division *The 3rd Independent Division

First stage

On December 17, 1946, the nationalists sent out six

, including the 2nd division, the 195th Division of the 52nd Army, the 91st Division of the 71st Army, one Division from each of the Newly Organized 1st Army, the Newly Organized 6th Army, and the 60th Army to launch the first offensive against the

base south of Songhua River, and two more

Divisions Division 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 of 10,000 t ...

were deployed as reserves. The initial

objective was to linkup

Tonghua Tonghua ( zh, s=通化 , p=Tōnghuà) is a prefecture-level city in the south of Jilin province, People's Republic of China. It borders North Korea's Chagang Province to the south and southeast, Baishan to the east, Jilin City to the north, ...

with Ji'an (集安) so that the enemy could be further squeezed into the mountain. In response, on December 18, 1946, the

4th Column struck the regions between

Fushun Fushun ( zh, s=, t=, p=Fǔshùn, historically Fuxi ()) is a prefecture level city in Liaoning province, China, about east of Shenyang, with a total area of , of which is the city proper. Situated on the Hun River ("muddy river"), it is one o ...

, Huanren and Benxi behind the enemy lines, and after more than a dozen days of fighting, succeeded in taking over more than twenty positions from the nationalists, including the critical ones at Alkaline Factory (Jian Chang, 碱厂) and Master Field (Tian Shifu, 田师付), and killing more than 3,000

troops in the process. The

91st Division of the 71st Army was forced to withdraw to reinforce the rear, and this weakened the

thrust by exposing the two

of the

52nd Army, which were ultimately badly mauled by the enemy who seized the opportunity and attacked with great efficiency and speed, resulting in the regions south of

newly taken by the nationalists earlier in the initial stage of the offensive falling back into the enemy hands. In the north, the

s massed three columns and three independent

to cross the Songhua River and on January 5, 1947, to besiege the

strategic location of Pagoda Wood (Tamu, 塔木), forced the

offensive into a complete halt and then redeploying two attacking

to reinforce Pagoda Wood (Tamu, 塔木). However, when the

reinforcements reached the region between Zhangmazi Ditch (Zhangmazi Gou, 张麻子沟) and the Jiao Family's Ridge (Jiajia Ling, 焦家岭), they learned that Pagoda Wood (Tamu, 塔木) had already fallen into enemy hands, with the entire garrison consisting of a security force regiment and two regiments of the Newly Organized 1st Army being completely annihilated by the enemy. The enemy consequently returned to north of the Songhua River on January 19, 1947. Achieving their objectives when the nationalists stopped their assault on Linjiang, the

s withdrew to their original bases and the nationalists could not pursuit the enemy anymore due to the sudden change of the weather when the temperature suddenly dropped to forty degrees below zero.

Second stage

The nationalists correctly assessed that they must avoid fighting at the two fronts and thus attacks on the

base in the south must continue in order to eliminate the enemy. On January 30, 1947, a second offensive was launched with four

: the 21st Division, the 2nd Division, the 195th Division of the 52nd Army, and the 207th Division. The

s in turn, deployed the 3rd Column and the 10th Division of the 4th Column to stop the

offensive and on February 5, 1947, the weakest

division, the 195th Division of the 52nd Army was ambushed at Gaolichengzi (高力城子), and suffered more than 2,000 fatalities. On February 6, 1947, a regiment of the advance guard of the

207th Division was annihilated at Sanyuanpu (三源浦) by dusk, and after the setback, the commander of the

207th Division wisely chose to stop and withdraw. Meanwhile, the

4th Column once again struck the regions between

(抚顺), Huanren (桓仁) and Benxi (本溪) deep behind the

lines to capture numerous

strongholds, and when combined with

victories elsewhere, eventually succeeded in forcing the second

offensive to a complete stop again, and the nationalists were forced to give up the newly conquered lands when one division was redeployed to reinforce the rear and other begun their withdraw.

Third Stage

Just a week after the failure of the second offensive, the nationalists launched their third offensive against the enemy by deploying the 2nd Division, the 195th Division of the 52nd Army, the 91st Division of the 71st Army, the Newly Organized 22nd Division of the Newly Organized 1st Army and the 21st Division to attack in four fronts on February 13, 1947. A detachment of the

4th Column again played the same trick that was effective in the previous two counteroffensives: struck the regions between

, Huanren and Benxi deep behind the

line again and attracting three

so that they could not be used to attack the

base south of Songhua River, while in the meantime, the communist 3rd Column and the 4th Column first annihilated an entire regiment of the

21st Division at Tonggou (通沟), and then annihilated another regiment of the

91st Division of the 71st Army at Daibeicha (大北岔), forcing the two

to withdraw on February 22, 1947. The newly gained territory/towns in the

third offensive such as Huinan (辉南), Golden River (Jinchuan, 金川), Willow River (Liuhe, 柳河) and Ji'an (集安) therefore fell back into the enemy hands. On the other front, the

force crossed the Songhua River on February 21, 1947, and attacked regions surrounding

Changchun Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin, Jilin Province, China, on the Songliao Plain. Changchun is administered as a , comprising seven districts, one county and three county-level cities. At the 2020 census of China, Changchun ha ...

to distract the nationalists. After annihilating an entire regiment of the Newly Organized 30th Division of the Newly Organized 1st Army at the town of Chengzi Street (Chengzi Jie, 城子街), the

6th Column turned north and linked up with the

2nd Independent Division to besiege Dehui (德惠) in order to draw

forces away from the

base. The plan succeeded and the nationalists redeployed the Newly Organized 1st Army (including its Newly Organized 22nd Division), the 87th Division, and the 88th Division to reinforce their besieged comrades-in-arms. The enemy force wisely chose to withdraw back to the north of Songhua River on March 2, 1947, before the

reinforcement could reach Dehui. The nationalists were determined not to let the enemy to get away so they continued their push northward, but in doing so, the

forces were severely overstretched. Seizing the opportunity, the enemy crossed the Songhua River again on March 8, 1947, for the third time to attack, and the

commanders had no choice but to order a general retreat. However, the retreating

force was caught up by the pursuing enemy and the

88th Division was annihilated at the Village of the Mountain of Guo (Guo-shan Tun, 郭山屯), and the

87th Division was badly mauled at the Village Next to the Mountain (Kao-shan Tun, 靠山屯). On March 12, 1947, Nong'an (农安) was besieged and the nationalists were forced to redeploy the Newly Organized 1st Army (including its Newly Organized 22nd Division) and the 54th Division of the 13th Army from Rehe (热河) to reinforce their besieged comrades-in-arms again. Succeeding in distracting the nationalists who had to stop their third offensives, the enemy withdrew to the north of Songhua River.

Fourth Stage

Not wanting to admitting defeat, the nationalists launched their fourth offensive against the

base south of Songhua River on March 26, 1947, with a total strength of twenty regiments attacking in three fronts. The enemy, in response, targeted the central front headed by the

89th Division, who was dangerously exposed because its push was much too fast. While other enemy units resisted the

left and right fronts, the main body of the enemy force ambushed the 89th Division of the

central front on April 1, 1947, annihilating the entire Division. Hearing the news of the annihilation of the

89th Division, the nationalists on the other two fronts immediately withdrew. The failure of the

fourth offensive marked the end of campaign because the units deployed were the same ones that participated in earlier offensives, and thus were gravely overworked and overstretched. The nationalists could not afford to expend anymore valuable troops and must reserve their strength to defend the territory currently under their control.

Outcome

The Linjiang Campaign marked the turning point of the battlefield in

: after this

victory, the nationalists in

were forced to be on the defensive, and could no longer launch any offensives, while in contrast, the

s would be on the offensive from then on. It must be said, however, the nationalists were still quite capable of knocking out the entire

force in

if the right tactics were applied, such as concentrating on annihilating the enemy force instead of gaining and holding on to more land, as suggested by many local

commanders, but their correct suggestion was overridden by Chiang Kai-shek infatuation with conquering more land. Furthermore, even if the nationalists were unable to annihilate the enemy at the time, they could still reserve their strength by giving up

and saving troops, and had the situation improved, the nationalists would be able to retake

, as suggested by

Chen Cheng Chen Cheng (; ; January 4, 1898 – March 5, 1965), courtesy name Tsi-siou (), was a Chinese political and military leader, and one of the main commanders of the National Revolutionary Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese C ...

in 1946. Again, this alternative would also contradicting with Chiang's uncompromising stand, which ultimately doomed the nationalists.

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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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