Saturday, October 11, 2008

Siege of Jicheng

The Siege of Jicheng was apart of the many battles Ma Chao fought after his defeat at the Battle of Tong Pass during the prelude to the Three Kingdoms era in China.

Background


After Ma Chao's defeat at the Battle of Tong Pass. Ma Chao took the remainder of his army and fled to Lantian where he would make his final stand against Cao Cao. In a number of battles he was defeated by Cao Cao's officer Xiahou Yuan, his rival for sometime now. Ma Chao then went and gathered up troops from the Qiang tribe and others. Zhang Lu also sent troops under general Yang Ang to help him. He then decided to go conquer all counties west of Long Mountain. he succeeded in every battle he went too. The only battle where there was any decent resistance was when Ma Chao besieged Ji.

Siege


In 213 Ma Chao decided to besiege Ji, but it proved to be slightly difficult. One day in the middle of the night Ma Chao's bodyguards caught a spy named Yan Wen who wanted to get reinforcements from Xiahou Yuan. Ma Chao tried to use this man by telling him to go to the front of his army and tell the defenders that they were doomed. He lied and told them a grand force from the east is coming keep holding until they arrive. For this Ma Chao had this man executed. Finally Ma Chao capitulated Ji.

Xiahou Yuan's Reinforcements


Xiahou Yuan thought that spies had found out that Ma Chao had trouble taking Ji. So he came with a relief force to take back Ji. Of course though Ma Chao had already conquered Ji. He met Xiahou Yuan 200 outside of Ji. Xiahou Yuan's troops were outmatched so they retreated back to Chang'an. This time it was Ma Chao who came out on top.

Aftermath


Ma Chao's feat greatly impressed King Qianwan, leader of the Di tribe, and allied with Ma Chao. He gained more followers, named himself General Who Conquers The West, became the the governor of Bingzhou, and in charge of the military affairs of Liang. He had also gained some security by successfully capturing a base from which to command from. But Ma Chao's successes would not last long. Jiang Xu, Zhao Ang, Yin Feng, Li Jun, Liang Kun, Zhao Qu, and Yang Fu , and Ma Chao, Pang De, and his cousin Ma Dai went and took refuge under Zhang Lu

In Popular Culture


The Siege on Jicheng appears in ''Dynasty Warriors 5 Xtreme legends'' and is called Battle of Ji Castle.

Second Encirclement Campaign against Shaanxi-Gansu Soviet

The Second Encirclement Campaign against Shaanxi-Gansu Soviet was an launched by the Chinese Nationalist Government that was intended to destroy Shaanxi-Gansu Soviet and its Chinese Red Army in the local region. It was responded by the Communists’ Second Counter- at Shaanxi-Gansu Soviet , also called by the communists as the Second Counter- at Shaanxi-Gansu Revolutionary Base , in which the local Chinese Red Army successfully defended their soviet republic in the border region of Shaanxi and Gansu provinces against the attacks from April 1935 to July, 1935.

Beginning in October, 1934, Chiang Kai-shek mobilized more than 40,000 troops of of Shaanxi, Shanxi, Ningxia and Gansu to launch the Second Encirclement Campaign against Shaanxi-Gansu Soviet aimed to eradicate the local communists. However, the effort was doomed from the start: none of the were willing to sacrifice their own troops and a unified command could not be formed because all were afraid of that the one in charge would sacrifice others. As a result, Chiang Kai-shek at the distant south hundreds or even thousands miles away had to take the command, and due to other affairs that needed to be taken care of, as well as the ’s lack of enthusiasm and cooperation, Chiang was obviously incapable to command effectively. It would took half a year since the first mobilization for the nationalists to finally launch their first assault and the disconnection between the battlefields of the high command had also prevented any timely decision to be made in real time, which would inevitably lead to the eventual nationalist failure of the campaign.

In contrast, the communists adopted the correct strategy by concentrating their forces and fought in northern Shaanxi under a unified command. After the 42nd Division and the 84th Division of the Chinese Red Army had met up in Anding county, a unified command was formed under the name of Northwestern Military Committee Frontline Command. Li Zhidan was named as the commander-in-chief while Gao Gang was named as the political commissar.

In late April, 1935, the nationalists finally begun their uncoordinated and disorganized attacks, which were easily defeated by the communists. After more than two months of fighting, nationalists not only failed their original objective, but also lost half a dozen towns including Anding , Yanchang , Yanchuan , Ansai , Jingbian and Bao'an . After suffering more than three thousands casualties, the decided that they’d had enough and called off the any further military operations, and the campaign resulted in communist victory. As a result of their victory, the previous two separate communist bases of the Shaanxi-Gansu Soviet, the one at the border region of Shaanxi and Gansu and the other in northern Shaanxi had been linked up to become a new one with larger size.

Meridian Ridge Campaign

Meridian Ridge Campaign is a series of battles fought between the and the during Chinese Civil War in the post World War II era, and resulted in the nationalist victory.

Prelude


The three hundred kilometer long Meridian Ridge covered with dense forest was a strategically important position in Guanzhong because it was a natural barrier in the southwest for the communist base in northwest China. To the east, it overlooked the – Xianyang Highway, and to the west, it overlooked Xi'an – Lanzhou Highway, along which Xi'an could be reached within two days. The region was a dagger in the belly of nationalist domain to the north of Wei River and it had been a communist base since late 1920’s. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the communist 385th Division led by commander Wang Hongshen stationed in this region, and was surrounded by the nationalist force several times of it strength. Clashes between the two sides were inevitable and after World War II, such clashes finally developed into full scale battle in the Chinese Civil War.

In August, 1947, nationalists deployed two divisions totaling six brigades to launch an encirclement and eradication campaign against the communists in their base at the Meridian Ridge . The communist local forces including the 1st and the 3rd Garrison brigades, and the headquarter of the communist 4th Column of communist regular field army with its lightly armed 6th Cavalry Division disengaged the pursuing nationalists by retreating separately northward, and then returned to Guanzhong region once more by reaching the region surrounding the Nine Steep Hills Town in heart of the Meridian Ridge .

Order of battle


Nationalist :
*Reorganized 82nd Division commanded by General Ma Jiyuan
**Reorganized 100th Brigade commanded by General Tan Chengxiang
**Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade commanded by General Ma Buluan
**Independent 5th Cavalry Regiment commanded by General Ma Bukang
Communist :
*2nd Regiment of the 1st Garrison Brigade commanded by Wang Shitai , who was also in charge of overall command
*3rd Regiment of the 1st Garrison Brigade commanded by Wang Bingxiang
*5th Regiment of the 3rd Garrison Brigade commanded by Huang Luobin
*6th Cavalry Division of the communist 4th Column
*Gao Xuewen Independent Battalion commanded by Gao Xuewen
*Northern Wei Column commanded by Yao Pengfei

Commanders


The nationalist frontline commander was General Ma Jiyuan , Ma Bufang’s only son. Awarded with the rank of colonel of tender age of 16 to become a deputy regimental commander, Ma Jiyuan was one of Ma Bufang’s favorite field commanders. By the ago of 20, Ma Jiyuan was awarded the rank of major general and attended training courses for generals at the . Just barely two months ago, Ma Jiyuan had led his nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division into victory against another main communist force, the communist 2nd Column led by Wang Zhen in Heshui Campaign and the young nationalist general who was only 28-year old at the time was still immersed in the previous victory and was determined to achieve another victory of similar or great scale.

The communist commander of the regular troops Wang Shitai was not as familiarized with the local situation as the local communists, but he was assisted by a brilliant local communist commander, Wang Wang Bingxiang , who first joined the in 1934. In 1935, the four communist guerrilla forces operating in Xinning region were annihilated by the nationalists, with the First Squadron of the Third Group suffering the most: in less than a year, six guerrilla commanders were killed in battles consecutively. In 1936, the 20 year old Wang Bingxiang became the commander, and within six months, the guerrilla originally was just going to finally collapse had its fortune completely reversed: not only it survived, its rank boosted to over 200 and became the only communist guerrilla force survived in the region. Due to his excellent record, Wang Bingxiang was promoted to several posts at the same time: he was both the political commissar of the 1st Regiment of the communist 1st Garrison Brigade and the political commissar of the communist western Guanzhong command, the communist party secretary of the Xinning county, and the communist propaganda minister. However, Wang Bingxiang was suffering from typhus, but he nonetheless fought at the frontline in this campaign, and on August 15, 1947, he was among the first to discover the massive nationalist troop deployment at Golden Village Temple region.

Strategies


As the communist 4th Column headquarter with its 6th Cavalry Division entered the Nine Steep Hills Town in the heart of the Meridian Ridge , they were detected by the nationalist scouts in the western part of the mountain. Nationalist response was immediate: once the intelligence from the scouts was received on August 13, 1947, the nationalists sprung into action to exterminate the enemy. The nationalist strategy planned by Ma Jiyuan was to first encircle the enemy within 24 hours, and then annihilate the enemy within the encirclement. Ma Jiyuan would personally lead the campaign. In order to achieve the objective, the entire nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division was mobilized in the following manner:
*The nationalist Independent 5th Cavalry Regiment would be the vanguard in the center
*The nationalist Reorganized 100th Brigade would be at the right flank
*The nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade would be at the left flank
* Ma Jiyuan would personally lead 4 battalions following the main forces
Once the pincer movement was completed, encirclement of the enemy was achieved and it would only be a matter of time before the enemy would be completely annihilated. The nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division begun its move on August 13, 1947.

The original communist strategy was to disengage the enemy and not to fight, because after Yulin Campaign, the communist 4th Column was tasked to penetrate behind the enemy line to cut off the Lanzhou – Xining Highway, thus threatening the nationalist flank in the rear so that the nationalist force there would be tied down and could not be deployed against communists in other areas. After the communist scouts first discovered the nationalist troops camping at the regions of Teeth Village and Golden Village Temple , the commander of the communist 4th Column, Wang Shitai originally planned to follow his order by disengaging the nationalists by retreating, but the strong opposition of local communists forced him to change his mind. Following the defeat of communists in Heshui Campaign, the victorious nationalists immediately launched eradication operations against the local communists and their bases in the Meridian Ridge. In the two months long struggles, the local communists had suffered greatly in the hand of nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division. Local communists strongly wanted the field commanders to organize a counteroffensive against the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division to avenge the death of their comrades. Communists such as the deputy communist party secretary of the Guanzhong region, Zhao Boping claimed that they could not left the civilian behind, and consequently, Wang Shitai sent out scout to check out the enemy strength.

However, the communist scouts had made a grave error in that they mistakenly believed advance guard of the nationalist vanguard, the Independent 5th Cavalry regiment was the entire nationalist force deployed, not realizing that the entire nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division was soon to follow, and reported back that the enemy strength was only a regiment strong. Based on this erroneous report, Wang Shitai the communist commander was confident that with the current communist strength, they were able to annihilate the enemy and made plans accordingly to ambush the nationalists to the west of Nine Steep Hills Town:
*The 2nd Regiment of the communist 1st Garrison Brigade was deployed to the west of Nine Steep Hills Town.
*The 3rd Regiment of the communist 1st Garrison Brigade was deployed to New Village
*The 5th Regiment of the communist 3rd Garrison Brigade was to outflank the enemy from the north of Nine Steep Hills Town and cutting off the escaping route of the enemy
*The 6th Cavalry Division of the communist 4th Column was deployed to Peach Tree Village act as reserve
The communists begun their deployment in the early morning of August 15, 1947.

First battle


After Xihuachi Campaign, the nationalists adjusted their deployment and the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division of Ma clique was tasked to encircle the communist base in the Meridian Ridge with other nationalist units commanded by Hu Zongnan. The Reorganized 100th Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division was stationed at Ning County, the Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division stationed at Qingyang, and the brigade-strength Independent 5th Cavalry Regiment of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division stationed at Zhengning . General Ma Jiyuan ’s plan would require the entire division to complete, but the bad weather had prevented the nationalists from taking full advantage of their cavalry. The heavy rain severely slowed down the marching of the nationalist formation, and it took an entire day to for the nationalist force to reach its designated position.

On August 14, 1947, the heavy rain in eastern Gansu had finally stopped. The nationalist advanced guard consisted of the nationalist Independent 5th Cavalry Regiment and the 2nd Regiment of the nationalist Reorganized 100th Brigade made contact with the enemy at regions of Golden Village Temple and Dou Family’s Ridge near Nine Steep Hills Town. The communist local garrison Gao Xuewen Independent Regiment fought a delay action while gradually retreating eastward, finally disengaged the enemy, but the nationalists were not able to resume their rapid push by taking advantage of the good weather as they had hoped, because they were further blocked by another communist guerrilla force, the Northern Wei Column at Fu Family’s Village . Although the nationalists managed to driven the enemy from their positions and severely wounding the communist guerrilla commander Yao Pengfei , the blocking actions fought by these communist units had provided the much needed times for the communists to evacuate and redeploy.

Change of plans


By the morning of August 15, 1947, the nationalist Reorganized 100th Brigade and the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade in the north was finally detected by the communist agents. The communist party secretary of Heshui County, Li Ke , the first high ranking communist who received the information, immediately went to the communist headquarter at Nine Steep Hills Town to inform his comrades that the enemy they faced was not just merely the nationalist Independent 5th Cavalry Regiment, but the entire nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division. This important piece of intelligence shocked the communist command, which immediately changed the plan from the original ambush to blocking actions to cover an emergency retreat, because the communists were well aware that the enemy enjoyed absolute technical superiority and the communists themselves did not have absolute numerical superiority either. Though the communists attempted to disengage, it was simply impossible. The terrain favored the nationalist cavalry and limited the speed of communist withdraw. The same terrain also prevented the communist runners from reaching the units in the field in time due to the lack of radio communication equipments on the communist side. When the communist units in the field had received the order to retreat, they were already in contact with the enemy, so blocking actions had to be fought. The communist commander Wang Shitai had to redeploy his units by assigning the 2nd Regiment of the communist 1st Garrison Brigade to hold the Nine Steep Hills Town, the 3rd Regiment of the communist 1st Garrison Brigade was deployed on the slope of mountain to the west of the town, the communist 6th Cavalry Division was deployed to the valley to the west of Peach Tree Village , and the 5th Regiment of the communist 3rd Garrison Brigade originally planned to be deployed behind the enemy lines to encircle the enemy became the reserve.

The original nationalist plan also failed to materialize. The nationalist frontline commander-in-chief Ma Jiyuan was furious that the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade lead by commander Ma Buluan tasked with outflanking the enemy from the left was nowhere near the battlefield. After radio communication, Ma Jiyuan learned that heavy rain and mud slides had prevented the cavalries from reaching its top speed and it would be the evening for the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade to reach the battlefield. The nationalists simply could not wait that long and Ma Jiyuan decided to begin the assault on the enemy before the encirclement was completed: the nationalist Independent 5th Regiment led by commander Ma Bukang was at the right, the 2nd Regiment of the nationalist Reorganized 100th Brigade was at the left, and the 1st Regiment of the nationalist Reorganized 100th Brigade was the general reserve. The general attack would be launched at 10:00 AM on August 15, 1947.

2nd battle


At 10:00 AM, the nationalist cavalry launched their attack on the enemy positions held by the communist 3rd Regiment of the 1st Garrison Brigade by first bombarding the enemy. The defenders managed to repeatedly beat back nationalists assaults but suffered heavy casualties in the process: the crack troop of the regiment, Mu Chengguang Platoon, a heroic platoon named after its platoon commander Mu Chengguang , was completed annihilated with every member in the platoon killed. The fight last until the afternoon when the communist 3rd Regiment of the 1st Garrison Brigade finally received the order to retreat which was first issued before the battle had started, and the defenders gradually retreated eastward.

The 1st Company of the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Regiment of the communist 1st Garrison Brigade defending the most northwestern position did not receive the order to retreat in time, and was totally surrounded by the attacking nationalist cavalries. Most of the members including the deputy company commander Yang Zhankui were killed, and the company commander Wang Sanxu jumped off the cliff after exhausted the last round of ammunition, but he was lucky that he survived, and after he was recovered from his severe injury weeks later, he returned to his original post. By 4:00 PM, the 3rd Regiment of the communist 1st Garrison Brigade successfully retreated and disengaged the enemy, while the 5th Regiment of the communist 3rd Garrison Brigade took over to continue the fight of delaying actions with the pursuing nationalists. At the same time, the 2nd Regiment of the communist 1st Garrison Brigade and the 6th Cavalry Division at the flanks also engaged the nationalists in their fights to delay the enemy, and the communist force soon disengaged the pursuing nationalists and begun their planned retreat.

Communist retreat


The organized retreat planned by the communists did not turn out as expected because the road was congested with large numbers of donkeys carrying supplies, thus preventing communist units from reaching their predestinated positions. In the afternoon of August 15, 1947, while on his way from the Nine Steep Hills Town to the local communist headquarter located at the region of Black Wind Bump , political commissar Wang Bingxiang discovered that the nationalist cavalry was outflanking the communists by moving toward the region of Northern Firewood Bridge from the region of Yang Family’s Plateau . In the meantime, another nationalist cavalry force outflanked the communists from the other direction by moving toward Peach Tree Village , from the region of Papaya Plateau , in an attempt to cut off the escaping route of the communists. By this time, the main communist force, the 4th Column, had already withdrawn from the battlefield and disengaged the enemy. The remaining local communist garrison was in danger being annihilated.

On his returning trip, the communist political commissar Wang Bingxiang met the retreating remnant of the 3rd Regiment of the communist 1st Garrison by chance and realized that the situation was desperate for the communists. By this time, the communist order of general retreat finally reached every communist unit in the field and everyone was to disengage the enemy by 3:00 PM, and then retreat eastward at night in different groups. By the evening, all remaining communist units had successful disengaged the enemy and successfully escaped eastward, joining the main communist force that retreated from the battlefield earlier. The commander of the communist 4th Column, Wang Shitai handed the wounded and the sick to the local communist units, and told the local communists that the 4th Column would continue to retreat southeastward to Red Water , and Xunyi regions, where they would finally meet after continuing retreating in separate ways.

Nationalist pursuit


The rapid communist retreat made the nationalists very suspicious, fearing that it was just another trap to lure them into yet another ambush. By 3:00 PM on August 15, 1947, the firepower of resisting communists subsided but the cautious nationalists did not move forward. After another hour, the nationalist Reorganized 100th Brigade launched a cavalry charge at the enemy, and realized that the enemy had already retreated. Carefully, the nationalist moved forward and by 6:00 PM, they took every position abandoned by the enemy to the west of Nine Steep Hills Town. By this time, the nationalist Reorganized 8th Brigade under the command of Ma Buluan finally arrived after being delayed by heavy rain for nearly 12 hours. Consequently, Ma Jiyuan was very unhappy because his original plan of encircling the enemy failed due to the delay. After a conference, the nationalist decided to pursuit the enemy at night.

At night of August 15, 1947, the communist force divided into two, with one portion consisted of the 3rd Regiment of the communist 1st Garrison Brigade with high ranking local cadres , and this smaller force successfully evaded the pursuing nationalists by moving southward. Majority of the communist force continued its eastward retreat along the valley of Meridian Ridge. The local communists had drafted many donkeys to help to carry the supplies, and this had jammed the road, thus seriously slowed the speed, with the fleeing communists only moved 20 km for the entire night.

The slow speed of fleeing communists was equally matched by the equally slow if not slower speed of pursuing nationalist cavalries. By midnight, the nationalist scouts reported to their commander-in-chief Ma Jiyuan that the terrain ahead was extremely difficult for cavalries and there were dense forest that was perfectly for the enemy to lay an ambush. After being continuously harassed by the enemy ambushes, the cautious nationalists decided to stop completely to camp, and then continue the pursuit in the morning. In deed, the darkness had helped the communists, and Wang Bingxiang with his communist forces successfully reached the safety at Kang Family’s Plateau in the night of August 15, 1947 by going northwestward.

3rd battle


In the morning of August 16, 1947, the vanguard of the nationalist force, the nationalist Independent 5th Cavalry Regiment caught up with the slowing moving communist 4th Column, whose retreat was bogged down with enormous supplies it carried. The battle broke out around 10:00 AM, between the nationalist Independent 5th Cavalry Regiment and the communist rear guard, the 5th Regiment of the communist 3rd Brigade, which immediately occupied the peaks of the mountains as the position of the blocking action, covering the main communist force to continue their retreat eastward. As the battle ensued, the nationalist commander-in-chief Ma Jiyuan ordered scouts to be dispatched to find out the exact strength of the enemy.

By noon, nationalist heavy weaponry had arrived. Ma Jiyuan ordered the Reorganized 100th Brigade to attack the enemy positions but the nationalist assaults were repeatedly beaten back. After an hour futile efforts, Ma Jiyuan then changed his tactic by ordering the 1st Regiment of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade and the Independent 5th Cavalry Brigade to outflank the enemy, while the 2nd Regiment of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade would bypass the enemy position to continue the pursuit of the main enemy force in retreat. At 1:00 PM, the nationalists launched another round of offensive with their new tactic.

Huang Luobing , the commander of the communist 3rd Garrison Brigade leading the communist 5th Regiment, realized that the blocking action was no longer meaningful since nationalist cavalries had begun to bypass the communist positions to pursuit the main communist force in retreat. He also realized that the nationalists were encircling his troops, which were in danger of being wiped out. Commander Huang Luobing immediately ordered his troops to retreat northward to Locust Tree Village , and the former-guerilla soldiers acted so swiftly that by 4:00 PM, they had completely shaken off the nationalists in pursuit. However, they had withdrawn too fast, that not only the enemy lost contact with them, but their comrades in other communist units lost contact with them as well. Compounding the problem, the retreating 5th Regiment of the communist 3rd Brigade did not even bother to make contact with other communist units after reaching safety, which resulted in disastrous consequence: the communist main force led by Wang Shitai in retreat was later caught up by the pursuing nationalist cavalries.

Further retreat


Leading two battalions, large number of civilian cadres, and burdened with tremendous supplies, Wang Shitai continued the retreat until the evening, when the fleeing communists were finally able to have their first break, and held a conference regarding their next move. In order to avoid being annihilated by the enemy together, the communists decided to disengage the pursuing enemy in small groups. Majority of the communist force would go southeastward toward Construction Village , and the remaining communist force would be personally lead by Wang Shitai to go northward to Zheng Ning county, where the local nationalist garrison, the Independent 5th Cavalry Regiment had already left long ago to become the vanguard of nationalists chasing the fleeing communists. Taking advantage of dark night, the communist force broke up and begun their march at night of in rain. The bulk of the communist force including the communist 6th Cavalry Division, part of the communist 1st Garrison Brigade and all of civilian cadres under the command of Gao Jinchun made a successful retreat after abandoning most equipment and supplies, and finally reached the safety of Yijun county of Shaanxi after crossing the Meridian Ridge.

The smaller communist force led by Wang Shitai was far less fortunate. After the breakup of his force, Wang Shitai led his formation southwestward, in an attempt to disengage the pursuing nationalists by going behind the enemy line. However, the rapid response of the nationalist cavalry ruined his plan by following closely, and by the afternoon of August 17, 1947, Wang Shitai still could not shake off the nationalists when they reached the Eagle’s Feather’s Pass at the border of Shaanxi and Gansu. Seeing his troops had not had any rest in two days and two nights straight, Wang Shitai devised a new plan. The commander of the communist 3rd Garrison Regiment, Ge Haizhou , would lead the 1st Battalion of the communist 3rd Garrison Regiment to engage the pursuing nationalists and lead them northward, away from the 2nd and the 3rd Battalion of the communist 3rd Garrison Regiment. Luck was on the communist side as the nationalists were lured away and the communists at the Eagle’s Feather’s Pass were able to get the rest they desperately needed. Luck proved to be once again on the communist side when the heavy rain and dark nights had enabled the 1st Battalion of the communist 3rd Garrison Regiment to successfully evade the pursuing nationalist cavalries.

Final decisions


On August 17, 1947, Wang Shitai held another conference after dark at the Eagle’s Feather’s Pass , and decided to sent two officers, Niu Shushen and Liu Yinggon to make contact with the communist 2nd Garrison Regiment that stayed behind to cover the retreat. Once the contact was reestablished, they would rejoin the communist 3rd Garrison Regiment to return to Guanzhong for the desperately needed rest. Wang Shitai and his staff officer Gao Weisong would lead the headquarter staff of the communist 3rd Garrison Regiment to return to eastern Gansu to look for the 5th Regiment of the communist 3rd Garrison Regiment. Wang Shitai believed that the pursuing nationalists had already penetrated deep into the Meridian Ridge following him, and if he and his force could cut behind the enemy line, the unexpected move would ensure their safety. Unfortunately, he was totally wrong this time.

By the evening of August 17, 1947, Ma Jiyuan was a little depressed because after last engagement with the enemy on the day before, the enemy main force was nowhere to be found. Furthermore, the search and destroy operation became increasingly difficult because the thick forest and mountainous terrain had greatly reduced the effectiveness of cavalry. Ma Jiyuan voiced his concern to his father Ma Bufang at Xining via radio, and the latter immediately order the general retreat by claiming that the nationalist force was in danger of being ambushed in the enemy’s heartland where even Hu Zongnan dared not to venture this far. Ma Jiyuan realized the potential danger his force would face, especially when the main force of the enemy was not heard from since Yulin Campaign, and had it being hiding nearby for an ambush, the nationalist force deep in the heartland of enemy would be in danger of being wiped out. As a result, Ma Jiyuan ordered a general retreat to be carried out the next day at dawn. This meant that the communist and the nationalist paths would met, a situation the communists desperately attempt to avoid.

Conclusion


The nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division retreated toward , Heshui , and Qingyang via the same route it entered the heart of the communist base. The 2nd Regiment of the Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division was the nationalist unit that struck the deepest blow into the enemy’s heartland, and it was at most eastward position when received the general retreat order. By the afternoon of August 18, 1947, the nationalist regiment made its way back to the Peach Tree Village of near Nine Steep Hills Town, and met the small retreating headquarter force of the communist 4th Column led by its commander Wang Shitai . A short battle ensued and both side chose not to continue to engage the enemy.

After retreating to the safety at the Papaya Plateau , Wang Bingxiang heard gunshots in the direction of Peach Tree Village , and he immediately lead his guerrilla to the direction of gunshots to reinforce their comrades. However, before they could join the battle, the gunshots stopped when they had just reached Gao Family’s Col . Wang Bingxiang and his guerrilla observed that there were several dozen communist cavalries retreating along the mountain ridge. Several days later, Wang Bingxian and his guerrilla fighters learnt that those retreating communists cavalries were actually the members of the headquarter staff of the communist 4th Column, including their superior Wang Shitai . Ma Fushou , the commander of the second Regiment of the Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division had ready received order to withdraw, and was on his way retreating toward the region of Golden Village Temple , thus did not pursuit the fleeing enemy. Had the nationalists known that the group included the highest communist commander of Guanzhong, they would certainly give a chase and Wang Shitai and his staff would not be able to escape for sure.

Aftermath


At night of August 18, 1947, heavy rain poured down. Wang Bingxiang led his troops in retreat without any provisions. Out of desperation, many of his soldiers took cotton out of their uniform and soaked the cotton in lubricants of the rifle, and used the makeshift torch for warmth. Due to the insufficient camp ground, many of the soldiers slept in the rain. Other communist units fared no better: an acting company commander named Liang Manping of the 3rd Regiment of the communist 1st Garrison Brigade lead his remaining troops spent days in a yaodong, and being the first time on his own to independently leading a formation, he was afraid of something bad happened and did not sleep for three days and three nights. When Wang Bingxiang and his unit found Liang Manping and his troops in the morning of August 19, 1947, Liang Manping was so happy that he shouted:”I was worried to death, and it was so good to find you! I would no longer harbor any individualism and I would never want to be an officer again!” Before anyone could answer, Liang Manping dropped down and fell into deep sleep that he had to be carried away on a stretcher because nobody could wake him up.

Other communist commanders were less fortunate. Wan Sanxu , the commander of the 1st Company of the 1st Battalion of the communist 3rd Garrison Regiment managed to survive and recover after jumping off the cliff, and then returned to command his unit, but the casualties his company suffered was so high that over 70% of the soldiers in his company was consisted former-nationalist prisoner-of-war. The morale of the new soldiers was low, their loyalty was uncertain, and their capability was inadequate, all of which was proved soon, at the cost of Wan Sanxu ’s life. Four months later during Yichuan Campaign, in a battle at the Southern Pagoda Ridge at White Water region of Shaanxi, Wan Sanxu was shot and killed while leading a retreat by his own soldiers, who were former-nationalist prisoners-of-war. Wan Sanxu was 44 years old.

On August 22, 1947, Wang Shitai , the commander of the communist 4th Column found the 5th Regiment of the 3rd Garrison Brigade lead by Huang Luobing at Locust Tree Village , the communists regrouped at Xihuaichi region of the Heshui county and rested for ten days. The communist 1st Garrison Brigade rested at Yijun county of Shaanxi. Local communist units from Guanzhong were incorporated into the communist 2nd and the 3rd Garrison Regiments to make up the combat loss. Two months later, the communist 1st and 3rd Brigades were reassigned to the 4th Column to strength the communist column.

The nationalist victory was incomplete because Ma Jiyuan was too prudent. Fearing enemy ambush in the heart of communist territory , and not knowing the truth strength of the enemy, the nationalists withdrew too quickly and did not bother to destroy the supplies and weaponry the fleeing enemy abandoned, majority of which was recovered by the communists within several days immediately after the nationalist withdraw. The 6th Cavalry Division of the communist 4th Column abandoned three mountain guns in its retreat and the nationalists captured them and as symbolic gesture, they were sent to Xi'an as exhibits of their Meridian Ridge Victory exhibition.

Outcome


The communist defeat had exposed it main problem: the guerrilla was still heavily influenced by its guerilla tactics and did not adjust well to modern conventional warfare. The 5th Regiment of the communist 3rd Garrison Brigade performed poorly due to its guerrilla practice, and when it withdrew from the battle without permission, other communist units were endangered. Furthermore, after withdrawing to Locust Tree Village , none of the commanders and soldiers of the 5th Regiment of the communist 3rd Garrison Brigade made any attempt to contact their superior or other communist units during their entire six-day long stay at the village. A communist since 1929, Huang Luobing , the commander of the communist 3rd Garrison Brigade was an expert in guerilla warfare, and he rose in ranks from an ordinary guerrilla soldier thru his excellence. However, the only experience in conventional warfare Huang had was as the commander-in-chief of the eastern sub-district of Northern Shaanxi Military District and as the chief-of-staff of the Security Headquarter of the communist base in northwestern China, but he had never directed any conventional battles. However, communists had obviously not learnt anything from their defeat and thus paid a heavy price in later conflicts:

In 1948, during the Western Shaanxi-Eastern Gansu Campaign, the communist 3rd Garrison Brigade was tasked to protect the right flank of the attacking communist force but it was unable to stop the nationalist counterattack lead by the nationalist general Pei Changhui and the former-guerilla turned regular unit withdrew into Linyou mountains, exposing the Peng Dehuai’s headquarter and the communist main force at Baoji. Had not been the New 4th Brigade of the communist 6th Column fought hard to stop the nationalists, Peng Dehuai would have been killed and the headquarter of the communist First Field Army would have been totally destroyed.

Peng Dehuai and his headquarter of the communist First Field Army would meet similar danger several days later when the communist 3rd Garrison Brigade once again made the same debacle: when the attacking communists withdrew to Northern Shaanxi via Eastern Gansu, Peng Dehuai ordered the 5th Regiment of the communist 3rd Garrison Brigade to guard the region from Duzi town to Xiaojing to secure the safe passage for the headquarter and the communist 1st, 4th and 6th columns. When the communist 3rd Garrison Brigade approached the Duzi town, it discovered that town was already occupied by its nemesis: the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division. Without asking the permission and reporting the discovery, the 5th Regiment of the communist 3rd Garrison Brigade withdrew southward to Taiping Town. As a result, the divisional headquarter of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division lead by Ma Jiyuan met head on with the headquarter of the communist First Field Army led by Peng Dehuai, who was unaware of the situation. Both sides were extremely cautious in the battle because neither knew the strength of the other, and had the nationalist unit not commanded by Ma Jiyuan , but any other lower ranking officers who would attack aggressively, Peng Dehuai would have been killed once again and the headquarter of the communist First Field Army would have been totally destroyed for sure.

After the Western Shaanxi-Eastern Gansu Campaign, Peng Dehuai angrily criticized Huang Luobing , claiming that the mistake he had made would be sufficient to have him executed. As a result, Huang Luobing was kicked out of military and transferred to a job as civilian administer. Had the communists learned the problem of the former-guerillas earlier during the Meridian Ridge Campaign and remedied the problem back then, they would not have to face the danger later on in Western Shaanxi-Eastern Gansu Campaign. The nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division of Ma clique once again dealt a heavy blow to its long term adversary, the units of the communist First Field Army, just as it had done earlier in Heshui Campaign. Had Ma Bufang not interfered with the command at the last stage and the nationalists continued their offensive, the nationalist victory would have been much bigger and the communists would have suffered much greater loss.

Lanzhou Campaign

Lanzhou Campaign was a series battle fought between the s and the communists for the control of the largest city in northwestern China during the Chinese Civil War in the post World War II era, and resulted in the communist victory.

Prelude


After the defeat of Fufeng-Meixian Campaign in July, 1949, the s under the command of Hu Zongnan were forced to withdraw to the south of . As Hu Zongnan’s force withdrew to western China, the Ma clique’s force became the major force responsible for the defense of the northwestern China. Lanzhou, the largest city in northwestern China was critical to the security of the entire northwestern China and on the northwestern China joint defense conference held in Guangzhou, the defenders planned to defeat the enemy at the gate of the city of Lanzhou with the help from their comrades-in-arms from southern Shaanxi, southern Gansu and Ningxia.

Order of battle


Defenders: order of battle:
*Shaanxi-Gansu Corps
**The 82nd Army
**The 129th Army
**The 8th Cavalry
** The 14th Cavalry
**1 Security Brigade
*The 81st Army
*The 91st Army
*The 120th Army
*The Cavalry Army

Attackers: communist order of battle:
*I Corps
*II Corps
*XIX Corps

Strategies


The strategy was to station the 82nd Army and the 129th Army of the Shaanxi-Gansu Corps, 2 cavalry s, and a security brigade totaling 50,000 in Lanzhou to defend the city itself. The 81st Army under the command of Ma Hongkui and the 91st Army and 120th Army totaling 30,000 troops would guard the left flank of Lanzhou by defending Jingtai , Jingyuang and Dalachi regions. The Cavalry Army totaling 20,000 would be stationed at Linzhao and Taishi regions to guard the right flank of Lanzhou. The main defense of the city would be the Southern Mountain line outside the city and the overall defense of the city was commanded by Ma Bufang’s only son, Ma Jiyuan , the of the Shaanxi-Gansu Corps

The communist strategy became clear on August 4, 1949, when the communist of the 1st Peng Dehuai issued the order to take Lanzhou and Xining by concentrating majority of its force. The plan was to have the communist 7th Army and the XVIII Corps to stay in Baoji and Tianshui to face force under Hu Zongnan’s command to secure the left flank and the rear of the communist main force, and the 64th Army of the XIX Corps would push toward Guyuan and Haiyuan regions to face force Ma Hongkui’s command to secure the right flank for the communist main force. The communist I Corps and the 62nd Army of the XVIII Corps would push toward Longxi , Lintao , Linxia , Xunhua regions and then cross the Yellow River to attack Xining, thus cutting off the s’ escape route from the rear. The communist main force consisted of the II Corps and the XIX Corps without its 64th Army totaling 5 armies near 150,000 troops would push toward Lanzhou from Xi'an via Xi'an-Lanzhou highway in two fronts, the northern front and the southern front.

First stage


On August 9, 1949, the communist 1st begun its attack toward Lanzhou and Xining from eastern Gansu. On August 14, 1949, the communist XIX Corps took Dingxi , while on August 16, 1949, the communist II Corps took Yuzhong and the communist I Corps took Lintao , forcing Ma Bufang’s Cavalry Army to flee westward. On August 20, 1949, the communist I Corps took Kangle , threatening Linxia , and the communist II Corps and XIX Corps reached the outskirt of Lanzhou. On August 21, 1949, a total of nine regiments from the communist II Corps and XIX Corps attacked the stronghold at Southern Mountain outside the city, but was beaten back with heavy losses after two days of fierce fighting.

The communist commander Peng Dehuai decided to call off the attack and regroup so lessons gained in the fighting could be learned and utilized for the following assaults. On August 22, 1949, the communist I Corps took Linxia , completely annihilating Ma Bufang’s Cavalry Army in the process. As the defenders of Lanzhou were threatened from rear and right flank, Ma Bufang was force to withdraw the 8th Cavalry and the 14th Cavalry stationed in the northern bank of the Yellow River back to Xining to strength the defense of the provincial capital of Qinghai. The defense of Lanzhou was further weakened as a result.

Second stage


After thorough preparation, the communist II and XIX Corpses attacked the city again on August 25, 1949 at dawn, and by dusk, the stronghold at Southern Mountain outside the city fell into the enemy hands. After suffering heavy casualties, the morale collapsed and the defenders outside the city fled inside and Ma Jiyuan , the of the Shaanxi-Gansu Corps fled to Xining in the evening, abandoning most of his troops. In the morning of August 26, 1949, a detachment of the communist 3rd Army took Western Pass of the city and then took the Iron Bridge on the Yellow River, thus successfully cutting off the only escape route of the defenders, while other enemy detachments also managed to successfully breaching the defense of the city and begun fierce street fights with the remaining garrison. By 11:00 AM, the communist 4th Army took White Pagoda Mountain on the northern bank of the Yellow River and an hour later, the last resistance within the city wall was eliminated and the city was firmly in the enemy hands. After the completion of the mop up operations in the suburb on the next day, the enemy formally declared the city was secured on August 27, 1949.

In order to relieve the besieged city, the s organized several futile reinforcement attempts: commander Hu Zongnan ordered four armies to launch an offensive on August 27, 1949 from southern Gansu toward regions including Xihe , Ceremony County in Gansu, and Baoji, Duo Town in Shaanxi in the hope of taking Baoji and Tianshui, thus forcing the enemy to stop the attack on Lanzhou and reinforce these regions. However, as the news of the fall of Lanzhou was learned, the offensive fell apart as the morale immediately collapsed, and the futile offensive was beaten back by the communist XVIII Corps on the same day it was launched. Learning the news of the fall of Lanzhou, other reinforcement also immediately withdrew: Ma Hongkui’s 81st Army withdrew back to Ningxia and Ma Bufang’s 91st Army and the 120th Army retreated to Hexi Corridor.

Outcome


The fall of Lanzhou cost the s more than 42,000 troops, nearly half of the total force in the northwestern China. The fall of the largest city in northwestern China into the enemy hands completely demoralized the s and triggered a disastrous domino effect: after taking Lanzhou, the 62nd Army of the XVIII Corps and the communist I Corps without its 7th Army continued its push toward Xining, and from August 28, 1949 thru September 5, 1949, the communist I Corps had crossed the Yellow River at Yongjing in Gansu and Xunhua in Qinghai, and took , and Hualong , threatening Xining. Ma Bufang and his only son Ma Jiyuan fled to Chongqing by air, and Xining fell into the enemy hands on September 5, 1949. The remaining 2,000 survivors of Ma Bufang’s troops surrendered to the enemy after fled to Huangzhong and Haiyan regions, and the entire Qinghai province fell into the enemy hands by the mid of September, 1949.

For decades, the communists have willfully decreased their number of losses by agreeing with their adversary’s claim of inflicting more than 8,700 casualties on the communists in Lanzhou Campaign. It was not until the late 1990’s did the communists finally begun to admit their real loss which is higher than they had originally claimed by publicizing the Peng Dehuai’s telegram to Wang Zhen on August 28, 1949, in which the real communist losses were given when Peng Dehuai asked Wang Zhen to inform He Long that the communist casualties was in fact just below 11,000. However, the communist victory did open the gateway to Ningxia and Xinjiang, and paved the way for the following victories in the northwestern China.

Hexi Corridor

Hexi Corridor or Gansu Corridor refers to the historical route in Gansu province of China. As part of the Northern Silk Road running northwest from the bank of the Yellow River, it used to be the most important passage from ancient China to Xinjiang and Central Asia for traders and the military. As early as the first millennium silk goods began appearing in Siberia having traveled over the Northern Silk Road including the Hexi Corridor segment. The ancient trackway formerly passed through Haidong, Xining and the environs of Juyan Lake, serving an effective area of about 215,000 km?. It was an area where mountain and desert limited caravan traffic to a narrow trackway where fortification could control who passed.

More specifically, Hexi is a long narrow passage stretching for about 1000 from the steep Wushaolin hillside near the modern city of Lanzhou to the Jade Gate at the border of Gansu and Xinjiang. There are many fertile oases along the path. The strikingly inhospitable environment surrounds them: the vast expanse of the Gobi desert, the snow-capped Qilian Mountains to the south, the Beishan mountainous area, and the Alashan Plateau to the north.

Heshui Campaign

Heshui Campaign is consisted of several fierce battles fought between the communists and the Ma clique’s force mostly consisted of cavalry. The campaign was fought in the post-World War II era in the eastern Gansu province in northwestern China during the Chinese Civil War and it was one of the few conflicts that the nationalists emerged as the victor.

Prelude


After Panlong Campaign, the communist force under the command of Peng Dehuai in northwest China had scored three victories continuously against its adversary, and had forced the nationalists in northwestern China to cease further offensives. Both sides took rest and the communists held a celebration at Ansai region during this break. Zhou Enlai personally went to join the celebration on Mao Zedong’s behalf and suggested that Peng’s force should take the opportunity to take a much needed break while the nationalists were resting, but Peng Dehuai disagreed because Ansai region was a very poor region lacked any resources and thus could not support his large army numbered over twenty thousands. Instead, Peng Dehuai suggested that his force should strike toward eastern Gansu while the local nationalist force under the command Hu Zongnan was resting, so that the communists could replenish themselves in the newly conquered area in eastern Gansu. When Peng’s suggestion was finally telegraphed to Mao Zedong on May 14, 1947, Mao replied in the same day and agreed. Peng Dehuai also hoped that taking eastern Gansu would force the Ma clique to redeploy its forces and thus provide an opportunity for another communist victory, as he and Xi Zhongxun had told Mao in their telegraph on May 28. Little did the communists know how wrong they were.

On May 21, 1947, the communists started their push toward eastern Gansu in three fronts from Ansai region under the personal command of Peng Dehuai: the communist 1st Column was at the right, and the Newly Organized 4th Brigade was at the central, while the 2nd Column under the command of Wang Zhen was at the left. The town of Heshui in the nationalist hands was selected as the primary target due to the following reasons: the region was originally an area of active communist guerilla activities before World War II and at the end of Long March, its was the place where Mao Zedong’s force met with local Chinese Red Army commanded by Xie Zichang and Liu Zhidan . During World War II, the region was granted by the nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek to the communists as their area of control, so that the communists were legally allowed to station its 358th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army under the command of Wang Hongqian in the region and turn it into a communist base. The communist 358th Brigade headquartered at Qingyang while the communist 770th Regiment under the command of Zhang Caiqian was stationed at Heshui . It was only after World War II were the nationalists finally able to retake the region from the communists and the communists had hoped that they would be able to take the region again from the nationalists.

First Stage


After the 48th Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 17th was annihilated by the enemy in the Battle of Xihuachi, the nationalists lacked sufficient troops to fill the new gaps in their defense. As a result, the remaining nationalist garrison was gravely overstretched and the nationalist northern flank was dangerously exposed. In order to boost local defense, the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division was deployed to Pingliang in eastern Gansu in early 1947. To strengthen the defense of the triangular region bordered by regions of Western Peak , Ning County, and Zhenyuan , the Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division was deployed to Qingyang . The 1st Regiment of the Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division was deployed to Red City , southeast of Qingyang . The Heavy Weaponry Battalion of the Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division was tasked to defend Heshui with the help of the Gansu 2nd Security Regiment. The Independent 5th Cavalry Regiment of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division was deployed to Zhengning . The 1st Regiment of the Reorganized 100th Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division was deployed to Ning County, and the 2nd Regiment of the Reorganized 100th Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division was deployed to the town of Early Victory , and the 3rd Regiment of the Reorganized 100th Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division was deployed to the town of Zhenyuan . Qinghai 1st Security Cavalry Regiment was deployed to Jingchuan , while Qinghai 2nd Security Cavalry Regiment was tasked to defend Pingliang with the help of 2nd of the 2nd Regiment of the Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division. The 2nd Regiment of the Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade and other units of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division including the field hospital, the engineering battalion, the communication battalion, the transportation company, the garrison group and others were deployed to Western Peak and Xiaojing regions.

After the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division had pushed toward eastern Gansu, the nationalists had successfully driven the local communist guerillas into the mountains of Meridian Ridge in four weeks by taking advantage of their cavalry and the adaptation of their own guerilla tactic against communist guerillas. Although the nationalists were expecting the enemy would attack in great numbers eventually, they had not anticipated the assault by the enemy main force would come so soon, and thus initially believed it was just the enemy guerillas grouped together for a counterattack, instead of the main force of the regular communist army. The defenders of Heshui , nonetheless, was well armed to take care themselves: the Heavy Weaponry Battalion of the Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division at Heshui included an infantry support gun company, an company, a heavy machine gun company and a communication platoon, and the battalion is one of the best unit among Ma clique’s forces that were experts in urban defense. The Heavy Weaponry Battalion of the Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division was further assisted by the Gansu 2nd Security Regiment whose troops were all locals who were very familiar with local terrain. The nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division Ma Jiyuan had so much confident in this urban defense garrison of 1,300 men that he deployed them in the exposed town of Heshui , and history would later prove that he was right and his men would not disappoint him.

Order of battle


Defenders: nationalist order of battle
* Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division
*Garrison Group of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division
*Gansu 2nd Security Regiment
Attackers: communist order of battle
*359th Brigade of the communist 2nd Column
*Independent 4th Brigade of the communist 2nd Column
*Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column

Second Stage


The detachments of communist 2nd Column under the command of Wang Zhen crossed Meridian Ridge and approached the town of Heshui . The 359th Brigade of the communist 2nd Column was assigned to take the town while the Instructional Brigade and the Independent 4th Brigade of the communist 2nd Column were tasked to ambush the reinforcement. As the 1st Regiment of the Instructional Brigade reached the Wormwood Grass Shop area of Luo Er Plateau region 10 km away from Heshui , the communist scouts ahead was ambushed by the local nationalist cavalry on patrol. In a brief but fierce battle, a communist scout was captured alive by the nationalist cavalry. The communists feared that their plan was to be compromised, and attempted to rescue the captured scout, but Luo Er Plateau was a place extremely difficult to take but very easy to defend due to its terrain, and the 1st Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column was forced to abort their futile attempts and moved to the planned destination. The attackers therefore lost the element of surprise. At 4:00 AM on May 28, 1947, the 717th Regiment of the 359th Brigade made contact with nationalist garrison of Heshui to the northwest of the town, and all nationalists outside the town soon retreated behind the city wall. The commander of the Heavy Weaponry Battalion of the Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division, Ma Shengzhi , radioed the headquarter of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division at the town of Western Peak claiming that the battle had already been raged on. By the evening of May 28, 1947, Ma Shengzhi radioed for help again, claiming that large enemy force was approaching the town of Heshui .

The enemy attackers were headed by Guo Peng , the commander of the 359th Brigade of the communist 2nd Column. The 12th Regiment of the Independent 4th Brigade of the communist 2nd Column was also sent to join the assault on the town. The 717th Regiment of the 359th Brigade of the communist 2nd Column attack the town from northwest, while the 718th Regiment of the 359th Brigade and the 12th Regiment of the Independent 4th Brigade of the communist 2nd Column attacked the town from the east, and the 719th Regiment of the 359th Brigade of the communist 2nd Column was kept as reserve. However, the attacking communists were prevented from approaching the city wall, and it was not until the morning when the attacking enemy discovered why: the city wall extended toward a plateau to the northwest of the town, and defenders atop of the city wall on this plateau had perfect firing positions that could effectively block any attackers’ advance toward the town. The defenders had deployed not only and , but several heavy machine guns as well. After futile attacks that lasted for an entire day and night, the attackers finally realized that this extension must be taken but with the current strength they had, they were simply unable to achieve this impossible task, and Guo Peng , the commander of the 359th Brigade of the communist 2nd Column, who was in the southwestern suburb of the town directing the battle, and he had no choice but to deploy the reserve, the 719th Regiment of the 359th Brigade of the communist 2nd Column ahead of schedule to attack the extension. By the noon of May 29, 1947, the 718th Regiment of the 359th Brigade and the 12th Regiment of the Independent 4th Brigade of the communist 2nd Column were able to take nationalist strongholds in the east and south just outside the city wall, and Eastern Pass of the town fell into the 718th Regiment of the 359th Brigade of the communist 2nd Column by the afternoon. After preparation, the 719th Regiment of the 359th Brigade of the communist 2nd Column launched its assault on the northwestern extension of the nationalist defense, but the defenders would not let them to succeed: while the enemy was busy attacking, the defenders sent out a large force via underground tunnels to counterattack the attacking enemy from behind, and inflicting heavy casualties on the communist attackers, which was forced to halt their attack.

The stubborn and successful nationalist defense of the town of Heshui was completed unexpected by the enemy who was hoping for an easy victory, and Wang Zhen, the commander of the communist 2nd Column had to went to the frontline to direct the combat himself. By the evening, the battle mainly continued at the southern sections of the city wall and enemy artillery heavily shelled the nationalist positions in the night. By midnight, the attacking enemy managed to blown away all of obstacles outside, but failed to blow up the gate and a section of city wall as they had hoped, and the charging enemy force discovered that there was no gaps they could utilize after reaching the city wall. Taking the advantage, the defenders mobilized everyone including cooks and medics to launch an all out counterattack, again inflicting heavy casualties on the trapped enemy at the foot of the city wall, especially the 718th Regiment of the 359th Brigade and the 12th Regiment of the Independent 4th Brigade of the communist 2nd Column. After more than two hours of fierce fighting, the defenders had successfully beaten back the enemy once again. The defenders suffered heavily in the counterattack, with the commander of the nationalist Gansu 2nd Security Regiment, Li Hongxuan badly wounded in the battle. The attackers would later learn after the campaign that the same extension of the urban defense that prevented them from taking the town had also prevented Li Zicheng from doing so three hundred years ago for three times, and it was only after the extension was neutralized, did Li Zicheng and his peasantry army was able to finally succeed in taking the town of Heshui .

Third Stage


On May 29, 1947, the news of the enemy besieging the town of Heshui had finally struck the commander of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division guarding the town of Western Peak , Ma Jiyuan , who realized this was not a concentration of enemy guerillas attempting to harassing the local garrison, so he ordered the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade at Qingyang to reinforce the besieged town, under the leadership of its brigade commander Ma Buluan , with the 1st Regiment of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade as the advance guard. The 1st Regiment of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade was originally the nationalist 1st Cavalry Division which was later renamed as the 8th Cavalry Division during the Second Sino-Japanese War, and it was stationed in eastern Henan, fighting countless battles with the Japanese invaders who grew to respect the nationalist cavalry unit, calling it “Ma’s Islamic Division”. After World War II, the unit returned to Qinghai from Xuzhou and was subsequently reorganized as the 1st Regiment of the Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division. When the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division was deployed to eastern Gansu during the Chinese Civil War, the 1st Regiment of the Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division was deployed to the town of Red City 15 km southeast of Qingyang . However, units of the Independent Brigade of the communist 2nd Column had already infiltrated into regions south of Qingyang , and unaware of the enemy strength, the nationalists did not want to risk being ambushed on the way, so they decided to concentrate their forces by going to Qingyang after leaving Red City . As a result, when the nationalist reinforcement finally begun their march toward Heshui , it was already late in the evening. In order to save time, the nationalists took a route in a valley 15 km to the east of Qingyang without sending out scouts ahead.

Around the same time the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade left Qingyang to reinforce Heshui on May 29, 1947, the 1st Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column reached Cypress Plateau, the chokepoint of the traffic to Heshui . The exhausted communists did not even bother to build any temporary fortifications. Luo Shaowei , the commander of the 1st Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column deployed the 3rd Battalion of the regiment to the south of the road, while the 2nd Battalion was deployed atop Northern Plateau in the north, while the 1st Battalion acted as reserve. With the exception of a single platoon on guard, the rest of the exhausted communists camped in the open and went to sleep. At 5:00 AM on May 30, 1947, the nationalist reinforcement approached the communist camp, and made contact with the communist platoon on guard. Once hearing the gunshots, the communists immediately jumped to their feet and 3rd Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column was the first one to act. Zhang Peiran , and Qiu Deshan , the commander and the political commissar of the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column immediately organized their troops and directed machine gun and crew to fire at the nationalists. Zhu Zhongxin , the political commissar of the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column was just getting up to urinate when the battle broke out, and he immediately woke up his troops and with the help of Zhang Shunguo , the battalion commander, led their battalion to reinforce their comrades.

The sudden contact with the enemy was equally unexpected by and surprising the nationalists when they were moving fast in the valley. Ma Buluan , the commander of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade immediately ordered his troops to take the high ground on both sides to avoid being pinned down by the enemy. The advance guard of the nationalist reinforcement lead by the company commander Ma Guochen climbed to the top of Southern Plateau , while the rest of the nationalists climbed to the top of Northern Plateau . At the dawn, the nationalist main force atop Northern Plateau had beaten back the attack by the 3rd Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column, and the nationalist advance guards atop Southern Plateau originally appeared to be also successful in beating back the attack of the Garrison Platoon of the 1st Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column. However, the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column reached in time and helped their comrades to counterattack, surrounding the nationalist advance guards in three sides. The nationalist main force atop Northern Plateau could not provide fire support to their comrades-in-arms because the two sides were engaged in close quarter combats, and Lieutenant Colonel Suo Shijun lead a team of three dozen men charged the enemy, successfully disrupted the enemy’s counterattack and thus allowed the besieged nationalist advance guards to escape. However, by this time, one third of the 400+ strong nationalist advance guards had already been lost, and the company commander Ma Guochen who led the nationalist advance guards lost both his legs due to enemy fire. The nationalists was forced to a temporary retreat and headed back to Qingyang .

Fourth Stage


At Heshui , the 719th Regiment of the 359th Brigade of the communist 2nd Column spent a day and a night to attack the town without any success. The political commissar of the communist 2nd Column, Wang Enmao reached the positions held by the 359th Brigade of the communist 2nd Column in person in order to discuss the next move with Guo Peng , the commander of the communist 359th Brigade in the morning of May 30, 1947. One suggestion was to take concentrate all available force to take the town first and then attack the hill to the north, but this suggestion was turned down by Guo Peng , the commander of the communist 359th Brigade, because if the strategic position of Northern Hill was not taken, the communists would be driven out of the town even if the town had been taken. The dispute reached Wang Zhen, the commander of the communist 2nd Column and he telephoned back that he agreed with Guo Peng , giving his permission to attack the Northern Hill to at the northern edge of the town. After an entire day of preparation, the communists renewed their assault on the town in the evening with the 717th Regiment of the 359th Brigade of the communist 2nd Column as the main attacker, assisted by a detachment of the 719th Regiment of the 359th Brigade of the communist 2nd Column. However, heavy rain had helped the defenders to beaten back numerous assaults launched by the attackers, inflicting heavy casualties on the attackers.

The political commissar of the communist 2nd Column, Wang Enmao wrote in his diary later to record the blunders committed by the attacking communists which resulted in failure and the first was the uncompromising doctrine strictly followed: once the proved to be ineffective, nobody thought about changing the tactic, instead, the ineffective tactic was continued. Once reaching the enemy, no temporary fortifications were built and personnel were exposed under direct fire. During the assault, nobody crawled, thus providing defenders with excellent target in the standing up position, and nobody had hit the dirty when the defenders had thrown hand grenades among the attackers. The communist artillery shelling was disorganized and could not coordinate with infantry. There was a general lack of knowledge of taking cover in favorable terrain and thus the defenders had easy time of targeting and aiming. The communist casualty was so high that even an experienced veteran like the political commissar of the communist 2nd Column, Wang Enmao who had been in many fierce battles and campaigns was shocked. Behind the city wall, the defenders considered that they had suffered equally bad. The Heavy Weaponry Battalion of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade alone suffered more than three hundred casualties, including many company level and platoon level commanders. Both the commander and the deputy commander of the company were severely wounded by the enemy shelling, losing their legs. The regimental commander of the nationalist Gansu 2nd Security Regiment, Li Hongxuan , was also wounded. The most serious setback for the defenders, however, was that the only radio in the town was destroyed in the battle so the besieged town lost contact with other nationalist units.

Fifth Stage


After retreating to Qingyang , the nationalists regrouped, and planned for another attempt to reinforce the besieged town of Heshui . Ma Buluan , the commander of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade had a new plan for the next move and his plan was supported by Ma Jiyuan , the commander of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division. Ma Buluan was very happy that his new plan was approved and immediately ordered his troops to set out again at noon on May 30, 1947, after reaching Qingyang merely two hours ago, and this time the nationalists were better prepared: Tan Shilin , the local security chief of Qingyang and other locals went along as guides, and the nationalists found trails that lead to Heshui from Qingyang via the Willow Ditch area of Northern Plateau region. The 1st Company and the 2nd Company of the 1st Regiment of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade were the advanced guards. In the mean time, the enemy also made new deployment: the Independent 4th Brigade of the communist 2nd Column was ordered to immediately join the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column who had beaten back the first nationalist reinforcement attempt and both communist brigades set up a defense at Vesper Col region in order to check the advance of the nationalist reinforcement for a second time. On May 30, 1947, Hu Zongnan sent an airplane from Xi'an at noon to check if the nationalists were still fighting in Heshui . After confirming that the town was still firmly in the nationalist hands, the sole airplane dropped the few bombs on the enemy positions outside the city wall, though all of them had missed their targets because the pilot was force to pull up to the high altitude in order to avoid enemy ground fire.

The nationalist reinforcement was sent in three fronts, and the main force of 2,000 was consisted of the 2nd Regiment of the Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division and the Garrison Group of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division. The 2nd Regiment of the Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division was originally organized as the 2nd Cavalry Division during the Second Sino-Japanese War to be sent to central China to fight the Japanese invaders, but they were sent in Shaanxi by Hu Zongnan to blockade communist base. After the end of World War II, the nationalist 2nd Cavalry Division returned to Qinghai, along with nationalist 8th Cavalry Division returning from Xuzhou. The nationalist 2nd Cavalry Division was subsequently reorganized as 2nd Regiment of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade, and in May, 1947, the unit was selected to reinforce the besieged town of Heshui . The nationalist commander of the campaign, Ma Jiyuan , the commander of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division selected his uncle, Ma Bufang’s brother-in-law, Lieutenant General Ma Quanyi , the deputy commander of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division to be in charge of the all of the nationalist reinforcement forces, and his assistant was the divisional staff officer Han Youlu , who was the original regimental commander of the 2nd Regiment of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade. One reason why Han Youlu was also sent was because Li Wenbin , his replacement after his promotion was selected by the Ma Buluan , the commander of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade, but Li Wenbin , the new regimental commander of the 2nd Regiment of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade was not a Muslim and thus might have difficulties in commanding the Muslim troops who were subordinates of Han Youlu , the former regimental commander.

Sixth Stage


The nationalist reinforcement of the central front under the direct command of the deputy commander of the Reorganized 82nd Division, Lieutenant General Ma Quanyi left the town of Western Peak , then passed the Relay Station Horse Pass , and three hours after the 1st Regiment of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade under the command of the brigade commander Ma Buluan left Qingyang for the second time, the nationalist reinforcement of the central front also reached town. After a brief stop, the nationalist reinforcement of the central front continued its push toward Heshui by taking the road from Qingyang to Ning County. In order to avoid mistakes made by Ma Buluan , Lieutenant General Ma Quanyi ordered his troops to proceed along the mountain ridge after passing Banqiao . By 6:00 PM, the nationalist reinforcement had reached the Vesper Col region, which was guarded by the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column. At the evening, the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column at the Southern Plateau on the left flank made contact with the advancing nationalist cavalry. The 1st Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column had defeated the 1st Regiment of the Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade in the morning and thus was eager to score another victory. Cui Yongchen , the commander of the 7th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column ordered to have the advance guard of the nationalist cavalry machined, and the nationalist cavalry behind consequently retreated. As the 2nd Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column at the Northern Plateau heard the gun shots and immediately move joined the battle, blocking the passage of the nationalists. As the prudent Lieutenant General Ma Quanyi who was in command of the nationalist reinforcement discovered that there were enemy in three directions of the Vesper Col region in the east, south, and north, he ordered Li Wenbin , the regimental commander of the 2nd Regiment of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade to take charge of the nationalist force in the south, and Han Youlu , the deputy commander in charge of the nationalist reinforcement to take charge of the nationalist force in the north to check the enemy’s attack. However, the communist attack was simply too ferocious and the nationalist cavalries were forced into a disorganized retreat. Lieutenant General Ma Quanyi personally led the Garrison Squadron to launch a counterattack, but he was shot in the leg, and was hurriedly carried away by his bodyguards, and thus was forced out of action for the rest of the campaign.

At the Southern Plateau are of the Vesper Col region, the 7th Company and the 8th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column had successfully besieged the nationalist cavalries and seeing there was no way to escape, the nationalists deployed a fake surrender tactic by laying down their arms and raised their hands while kneeing down beside their horses after dismounted. Wu Baoliang , the company commander of the 8th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column ordered the communists to cease fire and approached the kneeing nationalists to accept the surrender, while Luo Shaowei and Xiong Guangyan , the commander and the deputy commander of the 1st Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column also approached the nationalists with regimental staff officers to observe the acceptance of the supposed surrender. However, as the communist soldiers approached, the kneeing nationalists suddenly picked up their weapons and opened up on the unsuspecting communists, and as the communists were mauled down, the nationalists quickly jumped up their horses and taking the advantage they inflicted on the enemy, charged out of the siege in chaos, successfully escaped. As soon as the nationalists had opened up on the approaching communists, Luo Shaowei , the commander of the 1st Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column immediately ordered his staff officers behind him to take cover, but he was struck by a bullet fired by the nationalist, and the bullet penetrated his body, continued on, striking Xiong Guangyan , the deputy commander of the 1st Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column behind him, severely wounding both of them. Several hours later, after Luo Shaowei was carried away for medical treatment, he met Luo Yuanfa , the commander of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column, and the communist commander of the 1st Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column vexedly told his brigade commander:”These bastards were so slick that one shot from them took two of us out!”.

Seventh Stage


The 2nd Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column was also fooled by the fake surrender tactic adopted by another group of nationalists. Over two hundred cavalries from the 2nd Regiment of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade had hidden in a large Yaodong with several troops waving white flags just outside the door. The 1st Company of the 2nd Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column believed the nationalists and the entire company went forward to accept the supposed surrender, but they were ambushed as two hundred cavalries suddenly charged out the large Yaodong and attacked the unsuspecting communist, and over thirty troops, including He Dadao , the company commander were killed and the rest of the communist company was scattered. Taking advantage of the successful surprise attack, the nationalist cavalries continued to charge the communist positions which were dangerously undermanned as a result of loss the 1st Company of the 2nd Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column. The political commissar of the 2nd Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column, Guan Shengzhi took a pistol from his bodyguard and shouted:”Counterattack! Nobody is allowed to retreat!” while firing pistols in both hands, charging the enemy, followed by his comrades. In the meantime, the deputy political commissar of the 2nd Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column, Wang Shi , ordered the heavy weaponry company of the regiment to concentrate its fire on the attacking nationalist cavalry. Under the command of Ma Huiyuan , the commander of the heavy weaponry company of the 2nd Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column, the communist defenders managed to inflict heavy casualties on the attacking nationalist cavalries but before completely stopping the attacking nationalists, the ammunition ran out. The communist defenders were forced into close quarter battles with the attacking nationalists and both Ma Huiyuan , the commander of the heavy weaponry company of the 2nd Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column and Li Fengming , the commander of the 8th Company of the 2nd Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column were wounded, but the nationalist attack was beaten back once again, and the position was still firmly in the communist hands.

After the retreat, the nationalists of the central front regrouped and launched another round of attack, still targeting the enemy position held by the 2nd Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column while the nationalist forces on the other two fronts moved toward the flanks of the target respectively held by the 1st Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column and the Independent 4th Brigade of the communist 2nd Column. The situation was critical and the political commissar of the communist Instructional Brigade, Yao Zhengxi personally went to the front to the 2nd Regiment of the Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column to command. The 8th Company of the 2nd Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column was at the most forward position and its commander, Li Fengming was severely wounded an hour ago in battle, and Zhang Shengke , the political commissar of the company had to takeover, and held a political conference to boost morale. During the next nationalist cavalry charge, the communist defenders were initially successful in inflicting heavy casualties on the attacking nationalists under the command of the political commissar of the 2nd Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column, Guan Shengzhi . In the ensuing battle, when the political commissar was observing the enemy movements via binoculars, he was positively identified by the nationalist snipers and consequently was shot in the right arm. However, the communists were able to quickly send the political commissar back for medical treatment and replace him with a new commander, because the Luo Yuanfa , the commander of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column had just reached the defenders in time to take over. Wei Zhiming , the political commissar of the 1st Regiment of the communist Instructional Brigade noticed that the position of the communist 2nd Regiment was in danger of being overrun, and thus personally led several companies to reinforce their comrades by charging the left flank of the attacking nationalist cavalries. The charge was successful and nationalists were unable to launch anymore attacks but the communists were equal worn out. By the evening, a heavy rain provided the a badly needed break for both sides, and it also prevented the communists from engaging the nationalist reinforcement in another front: the nationalist Reorganized 100th Brigade was also ordered by Ma Jiyuan , the commander of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division to reinforce the besieged Heshui . The nationalist Reorganized 100th Brigade moved out from its base in Ning County at noon on May 30, 1947, and by the evening, heavy rain prevented it from going any further and Tan Chengxiang , the commander of the nationalist Reorganized 100th Brigade ordered his soaked troops to stop and camp at Banqiao , 10 km away from Heshui . Despite the sound of guns could be heard, the cautious nationalists were careful not to proceed any further and avoided possible night fighting, a favorite tactic of the enemy.

Eighth Stage


On May 30, 1947, the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade went to reinforce Heshui again from Qingyang . Ma Buluan , the commander of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade found a local resident as a guide, eventually reached the first line of the communist defense to the north of Heshui via Willow Ditch area of Northern Plateau region. The enemy position was manned by the 13th Regiment of the communist Independent 4th Brigade, and advanced guard of the nationalist reinforcement, the 1st Regiment of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade had already sent out its 1st Company and 2nd Company on foot toward the flanks of the enemy position under the cover of the dense foliage of the wheat field that had not been harvested yet. Ma Buluan , the commander of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade discovered that a there was a portion of enemy position on top of a stretch of cliff of 4 meters to 5 meters tall, and decided to hide an assault team under the cliff to launch a surprise attack under the cover of heavy artillery shelling. Under the command of Ma Fushou , the staff officer sent from the headquarter of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division to help Ma Buluan , the commander of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade, the 1st Company and the 2nd Company of the 1st Regiment of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade crawled to the bottom of the cliff under the cover of smoke from artillery shelling and then climbed up the cliff in two places. As the nationalist shelling had stopped, the troopers of the 1st Company and the 2nd Company of the 1st Regiment of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade charged into the enemy and started a fierce close quarter combat. In the mean time, the nationalist cavalry immediately charged the enemy position from different side in support of their comrades-in-arm. The communists could not stop the nationalist assault and were forced into retreat after abandoning their positions. The nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade chased the retreating enemy all the way until the nightfall, and then Ma Buluan , the commander of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade ordered his exhausted troops to stop and camp, despite the fierce battle was still raging on at Heshui .

The communists attacking Heshui did not take any break and Wang Zhen, the commander-in-chief of the communist 2nd Column still wanted to take the city. Three regiments of the communist 359th Brigade and the 12th Regiment of the communist 4th Independent Brigade attacked the city for three times, but all failed due to heavy rain. The communist 718th Regiment planned to join the fight by 8:00 PM on the same day, but this was also delayed due to heavy rain. The headquarter of the communist 2nd Column informed its Instructional Brigade and Independent 4th Brigade that the 1st Regiment of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade had approached Heshui , and the two communist brigades launched a huge assault on the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade that lasted well into the night, but fierce battle had worn out both sides. Han Youlu , the nationalist deputy commander in charge of the overall reinforcement operation took control of the 2nd Regiment of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade because Li Wenbin , the regimental commander of the 2nd Regiment of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade was absent, accurately deducted that something happened at Heshui , and the enemy would withdrew. Surely enough, by next morning, the nationalists discovered that under the cover of darkness and rain, the communists had withdrawn, and the cautious nationalists did not pursuit for fearing enemy ambush. In contrast to the combatant in the fierce battle, the nationalist Reorganized 100th Brigade at Banqiao to the west of the 2nd Regiment of the nationalist Reorganized Cavalry 8th Brigade was able to finally rest comfortably for a night and enjoyed their breakfast in the morning of May 31, 1947. At 10:00 AM, under the brigade commander Tan Chengxiang , the entire brigade begun their move toward Heshui , and on its way, they were joined by the Garrison Group of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division and then continued prudently to reinforce the Heshui .

Ninth Stage


In the morning of May 31, 1947, the rain was not as heavy as the previous day and the communist 359th Brigade resumed its assault on the city. The commander-in-chief of the communist 2nd Column, Wang Zhen, personally directed the 718th Regiment of the 359th Brigade of the communist 2nd Column to attack the southern gate of the city. The communist 718th Regiment had assaulted the southern gate several times without any success on May 29, 1947, and although the last attack in the morning on May 30, 1947 was successful in eliminating all of the obstacles, the attackers’ attempt to blow up the gate itself was not successful. On their renewed attack on May 31, 1947, the communist attackers learned from past experience and assaulted the southern gate of the city in two places simultaneously: one team climbed the ladder to the top of the city wall in the rain to distract the defenders while the other team attempted to blow up the gate on the same time. The tactic worked and the communists were finally able to breach the city wall after an hour of fierce battle. The 718th Regiment of the communist 359th Brigade and a battalion of the 12th Regiment of the communist Independent 4th Brigade charged into the city via the gap. After two hours of fierce fighting and suffering heavy casualties, the communist attackers were finally able to force the defenders into northern section of the city. Wang Zhen, the commander of communist 2nd Column telephoned the political commissar of the communist 2nd Column, Wang Enmao who was at the headquarter of the communist 359th Brigade in the northwestern suburb of the city to return to the headquarter of the communist 2nd Column located in the eastern suburb of the city and told the political commissar that the communists still planned to take the city by the morning. However, this was not to be and things had turned for the worse for the communist attackers.

The 1st Regiment of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade suddenly appeared in the northern suburb of Heshui , which was totally unexpected by the communists attacking the city. Guo Peng , the commander of the communist 359th Brigade who was in charge of taking the city immediately ordered a company from the 717th Regiment and another from the 718th Regiment to check the advance of the nationalist reinforcement, but it was already too late. There were no suitable positions for the two communist companies and the best position hastily selected was within the range of defenders’ heavy machine gun setup on the city wall. Once the nationalist reinforcement started its charge on the communist positions, it was notice by the defenders on the city wall, who immediately opened up on the communists in attempt to help the nationalist cavalry outside the city wall. The two communist companies were incapable of stopping the nationalist reinforcement when attacked from both the front and back, and not only they lost their positions, most of the troops were killed as well. To the northwest of the city, Guo Peng , the commander of the communist 359th Brigade who was in charge of taking the city, hastily ordered the last communist reserve, the 3rd Battalion of the 717th Regiment of the communist 359th Brigade to stop the nationalist reinforcement, but before the communist 3rd battalion had reached its designated position, the nationalist cavalry reinforcing the city met the battalion head on while in march. The nationalist cavalry immediately launched an attack on its communist enemy and attempted to charge the communist headquarter. After heavy casualties, the communist 3rd battalion was finally able to stop the nationalist cavalry charge. Although the 3rd Battalion of the 717th Regiment of the communist 359th Brigade managed to stop the nationalist cavalry charge to the communist headquarter, it was incapable of stopping the nationalist reinforcement from reaching the city wall. The defenders opened the northern gate and the heavy machine gun company of the heavy weaponry battalion of the nationalist Reorganized 8th Brigade charged out of the city wall from their defensive positions and successfully linked up with over three hundred cavalries, the advance guard of the nationalist reinforcement. Guo Peng , the commander of the communist 359th Brigade was anxious to cut the link between the nationalist defenders of the city and their reinforcement and decided to personally lead the counterattack on the nationalist reinforcement. However, as soon as he stepped out of the shelter, he was struck in the arm by a heavy machine gun bullet fired by the defenders on the city wall, severing the artery and knocked him out cold. As a result, not only the planned counterattack did not materialize, the attackers also lost their command and resulted in chaos.

With the enemy in chaos and reinforcement pouring in from the north gate, the defenders’ morale was instantly boosted and a large scale counterattack was immediately launched. The communist force consisted of a battalion of the 12th Regiment of the communist Independent 4th Brigade and the 718th Regiment of the communist 359th Brigade inside the city was annihilated by the renewed counterattack by the defenders. The highest ranked commanders for both communists units, Wu Huamin , the of the 12th Regiment of the communist 4th Brigade and Wu Xidu , the deputy of the 718th Regiment of the communist 359th Brigade were both killed in action as the communists inside the city attempted to . The communists outside the city wall had completely ran out any reserve by this time and could not stop the slaughter of their comrades inside the city. At the same time, the communist 2nd Column learned that the nationalist Reorganized 100th Brigade had left Banqiao and approached Heshui fast, and thus was forced to abandon its effort to take the town. The 12th Regiment of the communist Independent 4th Brigade held the position at Southern Temple Yuan to the south of Heshui while the 718th Regiment of the 359th Brigade held the position at Elang Mountain to cover the communist to the northwest of Heshui . After the complete withdrew, the nationalist Reorganized 100th Brigade reached the region in the afternoon, and finding no enemy, the 2nd Regiment of the nationalist Reorganized 100th Brigade took over the defense of the city while the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade withdrew to Western Peak region to regroup and re-supply. Ma Zhongfu , a nationalist officer who was the youngest brother of Ma Zhongying was named as the mayor and the commander-in-chief of the urban defense. The campaign concluded with nationalist victory.

Outcome


On May 31, 1947, as Peng Dehuai learned the news of the defeat of the communist 2nd Column, he immediately changed his target of his next battle by telegraphing Mao Zedong on the same day with the local communist party boss Xi Zhongxun, claiming that:”The 82nd Division of the Ma clique in Qinghai was very tough and our force had concentrated in preparation for first annihilating the 81st Division of Ma clique in Ningxia, and then to strike the 82nd Division.” Half a month later, the communist scored a victory in Huan county against the nationalist 81st Division of Ma clique in Ningxia, but it was not until the Xifu Campaign in 1948 did Peng Dehuai was able to fulfill his wish of engaging the nationalist 82nd Division of the Ma clique in Qinghai, but once again, the communist was defeated. Also on May 31, 1947, the political commissar of the communist 2nd Column, Wang Enmao wrote in his diary admitting that the defeat with extreme heavy casualties, which caused the delay of the Eastern Gansu Campaign planned by the communists. On June 1, 1947, Wang Zhen telegraphed Peng Dehuai and Xi Zhongxun to report that the campaign was lost and Wang Zhen himself was responsible, claiming that the forces of Ma clique in Qinghai was very capable, and they acted swiftly and bravely in battles, and this was not an exaggeration to make any excuses. The communist 359th Brigade along suffered over 800 fatalities and had exhausted most of the ammunition, and thus had to retreat to a different region for several days to regroup and re-supply.

On June 1, 1947, the political commissar of the communist 2nd Column, Wang Enmao wrote in his diary that the 22nd Regiment of the 8th Cavalry Brigade of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division was ill equipped in comparison to other nationalist units and lacked heavy weaponry. However, these nationalist troops were extremely tough and very combat capable. Once their unit was defeated, they could still fight on individually and launch counterattacks, and refused to lay down their arms. Unlike other nationalist units which often ignored the plea of their comrades-in-arms for reinforcement, the forces of the Ma clique in Qinghai not only would reinforce their comrades-in-arms for sure, but they would reinforce their comrades-in-arms multiple times. The communists had gravely underestimated their nationalist opponents in this campaign. The political commissar in his diary concluded that under no circumstance should the enemy be underestimated. The second realization was that the main enemy’s position must be taken for the battle to conclude, otherwise, the defenders could launch counterattacks and driven the attackers from the city. The third point was there must be reserves. The fourth was the effectiveness of the artillery bombardment, but one could not solely depend on artillery bombardment, and the fifth point was the need to be always prepared for the enemy’s counterattacks. Peng Dehuai instructed the communist 2nd Column to rest of ten days and to use the time to find the mistakes that caused the defeat. Wang Zhen admitted that since he had joined the communist revolution, he fought several hundred battles and there were both victories and defeats, but none of them as bad as in this campaign. Peng Dehuai concluded in late October, 1947 on a conference included commanders of battalion level and above that the main reason of the communist defeat was underestimating the enemy, claiming that branching out in three fronts to attack Ma clique in both Qinghai and Ningxia was a blunder. In his work titled “Combat Evaluations in Shaanxi for the Past Nine Months”, Peng Dehuai further admitted that launching another new campaign just thirteen days after the end of Panlong Campaign was also a blunder in that the communists troops were exhausted and had not had the time needed to rest and regroup.

In contrast, the nationalists celebrated the victory in grand scale. After learning the news of the successful beating back the enemy’s attack, Ma Bufang ordered the Guo Xueli , the provincial interior minister to organize a large delegation that included the members of Qinghai provincial dance studio to visit the troops participated in the campaign. The delegation visited cities and towns included Western Peak , Qingyang , and Heshui to hold numerous celebrations, and the nationalist central government also issued medals and other rewards to the nationalist troops excelled in the campaign. Ma Jiyuan , the nationalist commander in this campaign also made special trips to Lanzhou and Xining to report on the campaign to Hu Zongnan and Ma Bufang, and the experience gained in this campaign would help the nationalists to defeat their communist enemy once again in Xifu Campaign in 1948.