Chengdu campaign

Chengdu campaign
Part of the Cross-Strait conflict and Chinese Civil War
Date December 11–27, 1949 Location Chengdu, Sichuan Province Result Communists capture Chengdu
Belligerents
Republic of China	People's Republic of China
Commanders and leaders
Hu Zongnan	Liu Bocheng Deng Xiaoping He Long
Strength
ROCA 55th Division	180th Division of PLA 60th Army

The Chengdu campaign was the capture of Chengdu by the People's Republic of China (Communists) in December 1949 during the Chinese Civil War. The city was the national capital of the Republic of China (Nationalists) and provincial capital of the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan. The campaign was part of the Southwestern China campaign.^{[ citation needed ]}

Battle of Jianmenguan

Jianmen Pass (Jianmen Guan, 剑门关) is a key 50-meter wide mountain pass between Shaanxi and Sichuan. The ROC fortified the pass with bunkers during the Civil War in preparation for a PRC attack. The PRC captured nearby Guangyuan on December 14, 1949. The PRC's 540th Regiment (of 180th Division, 60th Army, 18th Army Group) was assigned to take the pass, which it reached after a 40 km three day forced march through the mountains. The initial attack destroyed a company of the defending ROC 55th Division. Two of the 540th Regiment's battalions approached under the cover of darkness to 50 meters of the pass 10:00 PM; the remaining battalion outflanked the defenses by moving through the mountains. The attackers crossed a final ravine with a log and overwhelmed the defenders. The PRC captured 300 prisoners.^{[ citation needed ]}

The ROC retreated and abandoned Jiange in the afternoon of December 18, 1949. The way was cleared for the PRC to push deeper into Sichuan.^{[ citation needed ]}

See also

• National Revolutionary Army
• History of the People's Liberation Army

References

• Zhu, Zongzhen and Wang, Chaoguang, Liberation War History, 1st Ed., Social Scientific Literary Publishing House in Beijing, 2000, ISBN   7-80149-207-2 (set)
• Zhang, Ping, History of the Liberation War, 1st Ed., Chinese Youth Publishing House in Beijing, 1987, ISBN   7-5006-0081-X (pbk.)
• Jie, Lifu, Records of the Liberation War: The Decisive Battle of Two Kinds of Fates, 1st Ed., Hebei People's Publishing House in Shijiazhuang, 1990, ISBN   7-202-00733-9 (set)
• Literary and Historical Research Committee of the Anhui Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Liberation War, 1st Ed., Anhui People's Publishing House in Hefei, 1987, ISBN   7-212-00007-8
• Li, Zuomin, Heroic Division and Iron Horse: Records of the Liberation War, 1st Ed., Chinese Communist Party History Publishing House in Beijing, 2004, ISBN   7-80199-029-3
• Wang, Xingsheng, and Zhang, Jingshan, Chinese Liberation War, 1st Ed., People's Liberation Army Literature and Art Publishing House in Beijing, 2001, ISBN   7-5033-1351-X (set)
• Huang, Youlan, History of the Chinese People's Liberation War, 1st Ed., Archives Publishing House in Beijing, 1992, ISBN   7-80019-338-1
• Liu Wusheng, From Yan'an to Beijing: A Collection of Military Records and Research Publications of Important Campaigns in the Liberation War, 1st Ed., Central Literary Publishing House in Beijing, 1993, ISBN   7-5073-0074-9
• Tang, Yilu and Bi, Jianzhong, History of Chinese People's Liberation Army in Chinese Liberation War, 1st Ed., Military Scientific Publishing House in Beijing, 1993 – 1997, ISBN   7-80021-719-1 (Vol. 1), 7800219615 (Vol. 2), 7800219631 (Vol. 3), 7801370937 (Vol. 4), and 7801370953 (Vol. 5)