Battle of Jinzhou

Battle of Jinzhou
Part of the Chinese Civil War
People's Liberation Army launches final strike on Jinzhou
Date October 7–15, 1948 Location Jinzhou and proximity Result Fall of Jinzhou for the Nationalist Government
Belligerents
National Revolutionary Army	People's Liberation Army Northeast Field Army
Commanders and leaders
Fan Hanjie	Lin Biao Luo Ronghuan Liu Yalou
Strength
~150,000	250,000
Casualties and losses
20,000 deaths, 80,000 captured	24,000

Battle of Jinzhou (simplified Chinese: 锦州之战; traditional Chinese: 錦州之戰; pinyin: Jînzhou Zhīzhàn) was a battle between the Communist People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the Kuomintang's National Revolutionary Army (NRA) during the Chinese Civil War. It was one of the most decisive battles during the war in Manchuria; literally an epitome of the Liaoshen Campaign.

Background

Jinzhou is where the main route from central China through Shanhai Pass enters Manchuria, and is a key strategic point. The fall of Jinzhou to the Communists would allow the Communist to drive into the North China Plain. Mao Zedong addressed the importance of capturing Jinzhou in a telegram to the Communist commanders in the Northeast, saying that the key to the success of the entire Liaoshen Campaign is "to strive to capture Jinzhou in one week."

Outside the city

To attack Jinzhou, it was necessary for the PLA to clear away the Nationalist positions in the outskirts of Jinzhou. Between October 8 to October 13, the Communists captured all the Nationalist strongholds outside Jinzhou, which set up the final assault on October 14. In the meantime, in the Battle of Tashan nine PLA divisions defeated eleven NRA divisions attempting to reinforce Jinzhou.

Final assault

The PLA massed 900 artillery pieces, and launched the final assault on Jinzhou on October 14, 1948. The entire defensive line of Jinzhou was broken through soon after. Nationalist resistance ended the next day on October 15.

References

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

See also

• List of Battles of Chinese Civil War
• National Revolutionary Army
• People's Liberation Army
• History of the People's Liberation Army
• Chinese Civil War