Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Western Hunan

Last updated
Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Western Hunan
Part of the Chinese Civil War
DateOctober 15, 1950 – December 1950
Location
Western Hunan, China
Result Communist victory
Belligerents
Flag of the National Revolutionary Army Flag of the Republic of China Army.svg
Flag of the National Revolutionary Army
PLA People's Liberation Army Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg
PLA
Commanders and leaders
Flag of the ROC Flag of the Republic of China.svg
Flag of the ROC
Jiang Xieqin 蒋燮琴
Flag of the PRC Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg
Flag of the PRC
Cao Lihuai 曹里怀
Liu Xianquan 刘贤权
Strength
23,000+ 40,000
Casualties and losses
23,000+ Minor

Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Western Hunan was a counter-guerrilla / counterinsurgency campaign the communists fought against the Kuomintang guerrilla left behind after the nationalist regime withdrew from mainland China. The campaign was fought during the Chinese Civil War in the post-World War II era in western Hunan Province, and resulted in a PLA victory. This campaign was part of Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Central and Southern China.

Contents

Prelude

After most part of Hunan had fallen into communist hands, the surviving nationalist troops joined bandits in the period from June 1950 September 1950 in western Hunan to continue their anticommunist struggles and reorganized into the Anticommunist National Salvation Army totaling more than 23,000 troops, controlling regions with more than a million population.

After communists secured central Hunan, they turned their attention to western Hunan and begun to plan the complete eradication of bandits in the region. A total of more than 40,000 troops were mobilized, mostly from the Hunan Military District of the communist Central and Southern China Military Region. Troops of the communist 47th Army, 136th Division, and other communist detachments in the adjacent provinces including that of Sichuan, Hubei and Guizhou were assigned to two commands, the northern command and the southern command, respectively commanded by the communist Western Hunan Military District commander-in-chief Cao Lihuai (曹里怀) and deputy commander-in-chief Liu Xianquan (刘贤权).

Campaign

The campaign was fought in two stages, with the first stage lasting from October 15, 1950, to November 15, 1950. The communists amassed a total of ten regiments to first attack bandits in northern region of western Hunan based in the Dragon (Long, 龙) Mountains. After ten days of continuous attacks, the local bandits were completely annihilated. A half-month-long mop-up operation continued, finally resulting in the annihilation of over four thousand bandits. In the south, on October 20, 1950, communists took the town of Suining (绥宁) and Jing (靖) County occupied by the bandits and surrounded over six thousands bandits by cutting off their escape route to the north. After fierce battles which ended on November 15, 1950, over 5,500 bandits were annihilated, and Jiang Xieqin (蒋燮琴), the local nationalist commander-in-chief of the Third Front Army of the Southern China Anticommunist National Salvation Army, was captured alive.

The second stage of the campaign begun in mid-November 1950. Communists deployed a total of eleven regiments, seven of which were assigned to conduct local mopping up operations. Another four communist regiments attacked and took regions including Nine Dragons Mountain (Jiulongshan, 九龙山), Phoenix (凤凰), Mayang, (麻阳), Huang (晃) County, and Passage (Tongdao, 通道), and by the end of December 1950, the local bandits were completely annihilated. The campaign concluded with communist victory and the complete elimination of the problem of bandits that plagued western Hunan for several centuries.

See also

Related Research Articles

The Yanzhou campaign, also known as the campaign at the central section of the Tianjin-Pukou Railway, was a series of battles fought between the nationalists and the communists for the control of the town Yanzhou (兖州), which is today under the administration of Jining, and the region to the north of the town in Shandong, China during the Chinese Civil War in the post World War II era, and resulted in communist victory.

The Campaign to the North of Nanchuan County, Sichuan, was part of the Campaign in Southwestern China launched by the communists against the nationalists in the region to the north of Nanchuan (南川) County during the Chinese Civil War in the post World War II era, and resulted in communist victory.

Lüliang campaign (吕梁战役), also called Southwestern Shanxi campaign (晋西南战役), was a series of battles fought between the nationalists and the communists in Lüliang region in southwestern Shanxi during the Chinese Civil War in the post World War II era, and resulted in the communist victory.

The Zhoucun–Zhangdian Campaign (周张战役), short for the Campaign of Zhou's Village and Zhang's Hotel, consisted of two major battles and a series of smaller battles that followed, fought between the Communists and the Nationalists in Shandong during the Chinese Civil War in the post–World War II era. The outcome was a Communist victory. This campaign is also called the Campaign at the Western Section of the Qingdao–Jinan Railway (胶济路西段战役).

Campaign along the Southern Section of the Datong-Puzhou Railway (同蒲路南段战役) was a campaign fought between the nationalists and the communists during the Chinese Civil War in the post-World War II era and resulted in the communist victory.

The Battle of Tianquan was fought between the communists and the nationalists during the Chinese Civil War in the post World War II era and resulted in communist victory. It is also called "The Battle to Defend Tianquan" by the communists.

The Battle of Bamianshan (八面山战斗) took place between the Nationalists and the Communists during the Chinese Civil War in the post-World War II era and resulted in communist victory.

Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Liuwandashan was a counter-guerrilla / counterinsurgency campaign the communists fought against the nationalist guerrilla that was mostly consisted of bandits and nationalist regular troops left behind after the nationalist regime withdrew from mainland China. The campaign was fought during the Chinese Civil War in the post-World War II era in the region of Liuwandashan in Guangxi and resulted in communist victory. This campaign is part of Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Guangxi, which in turn, was part of Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Central and Southern China.

The Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Shiwandashan was a counter-guerrilla / counterinsurgency campaign the communists fought against the Kuomintang guerrilla left behind after the nationalist regime withdrew from mainland China. The campaign was fought during the Chinese Civil War in the post-World War II era in the region of Shiwandashan in Guangxi at the China-Vietnam border and resulted in communist victory. This campaign is part of Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Guangxi, which in turn, was part of Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Central and Southern China.

Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Dabieshan was a counter-guerrilla / counterinsurgency campaign the communists fought against the nationalist guerrilla that was mostly consisted of bandits and nationalist regular troops left behind after the nationalist regime withdrew from mainland China. The campaign was fought during the Chinese Civil War in the post-World War II era in the region of Dabieshan and resulted in communist victory. This campaign was part of Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Central and Southern China.

Campaign to Suppress Nationalists in Northeastern Guizhou (黔东北剿匪) was a counter-guerrilla / counterinsurgency campaign the communists fought against the nationalist guerrilla that was mostly consisted of bandits and nationalist regular troops left behind after the nationalist regime withdrew from mainland China. The campaign was part of the Chinese Civil War in the post–World War II era fought in northeastern Guizhou, and resulted in communist victory. This campaign is a major part of Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Southwestern China during the Chinese Civil War in the post–World War II era.

Datong–Puzhou campaign (同蒲战役) was a campaign that communists fought against the nationalist during the Chinese Civil War in the post-World War II era in Shanxi, and resulted in communist victory.

Campaign to Suppress Bandits in the border region of the Hubei-Hunan-Sichuan (湘鄂川边剿匪) was a counter-guerrilla / counterinsurgency campaign the communists fought against the Kuomintang guerrilla left behind after the nationalist government withdrew from mainland China. The campaign was actually fought after the Chinese Civil War was declared over by the PRC in Beijing a year earlier, and took place in the border regions of the following three Chinese provinces: Hubei, Hunan, and Sichuan, and resulted in communist victory. This campaign was part of Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Central and Southern China.

The Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Central and Southern China (中南剿匪) was a counter-guerrilla / counterinsurgency campaign the communists fought against the Nationalist guerrillas that mostly consisted of anti-Communist irregular forces and Nationalist regular troops left behind after the Nationalist government withdrew from mainland China. The campaign was fought during the Chinese Civil War in the post-World War II era in six Chinese provinces: Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangdong and Guangxi, and resulted in a Communist victory.

The Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Northwestern China was a counter-insurgency campaign the People's Liberation Army (PLA) fought against the remaining Nationalist forces in mainland China.

The Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Guangxi was a counter-guerrilla / counterinsurgency campaign the communists fought against the nationalist guerrilla force that mostly consisted of bandits and nationalist regular troops left behind after the nationalist government withdrew from mainland China. This campaign is the last stage of the Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Guangxi, after which the last nationalist force left in Guangxi was annihilated. The campaign was fought during the Chinese Civil War in the post-World War II era in the western Guangxi, and resulted in communist victory.

The Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Eastern China was a counter-guerrilla / counterinsurgency campaign the communists fought against the nationalist guerrilla that was mostly consisted of bandits and nationalist regular troops left behind after the nationalist government withdrew from mainland China. The campaign resulted in communist victory.

The Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Northern China was a counter-insurgency campaign in Northern China conducted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) against the Nationalist guerrilla movement during the Chinese Civil War. The Nationalist guerrilla movement, which mostly consisted of bandits and nationalist regular troops, was left behind after the nationalist government withdrew from mainland China. The campaign was fought during the Chinese Civil War in the post-World War II era and resulted in a CCP victory.

The Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Northern Guangdong was a counter-guerrilla / counterinsurgency campaign the communists fought against the nationalist guerrilla that was mostly consisted of bandits and nationalist regular troops left behind after the nationalist government withdrew from mainland China. The campaign was fought during the Chinese Civil War in the post-World War II era, and resulted in communist victory. This campaign is part of the Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Guangdong.

The campaign to suppress bandits in southwestern China was a counterinsurgency campaign waged by the forces of the Chinese Communist Party against the Chinese Nationalist guerrillas, mostly consisting of bandits and regular nationalist forces not withdrawn from mainland China during the transfer of the nationalist government to Taiwan. The campaign occurred after the conclusion of World War II during the Chinese Civil War in Southwest China. The Communist counterinsurgency campaign was ultimately successful.

References