Linfen-Fushan Campaign - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Linfen–Fushan Campaign (临浮战役) was a series battles fought in regions between Linfen

Linfen

-Administrative divisions:The prefecture-level city of Linfen is divided in one district, two cities and fourteen counties. The information here presented uses the metric system and data from 2010 Census.-Pollution:...

and Floating Mountain (Fushan, 浮山) in Shanxi

Shanxi

' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....

, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

between the nationalists

Kuomintang

The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...

and the communists during the Chinese Civil War

Chinese Civil War

The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...

and resulted in communist victory.

Prelude

In the mid August 1946, the nationalists

Kuomintang

planned to redeploy four brigade

Brigade

A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...

s from Shaanxi

Shaanxi

' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province...

to Wing City (Yi Cheng, 翼城) and Linfen

Linfen

in southern Shanxi

Shanxi

' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....

to push northward along the railroad in coordination with nationalists

Kuomintang

pushing southward from Pingyao

Pingyao

Pingyao is a Chinese city and county in central Shanxi province, China. It lies about 715 km from Beijing and 80 km from the provincial capital, Taiyuan. During the Qing Dynasty, Pingyao was a financial center of China...

and Jiexiu (介休), thus annihilating the communists in between at the Flooding Hole (Hong Dong, 洪洞) and Zhao’s City (Zhao Cheng, 赵城) regions. The communists, in turn, deployed the 24th Brigade

Brigade

of the Taiyue (太岳) Military Region to the north of Lingshi (灵石) to stop the nationalists

Kuomintang

from the north, while the communist main force was prepared to ambush the nationalists

Kuomintang

from the south in regions between Linfen

Linfen

and Floating Mountain (Fushan, 浮山).

Order of battle
Order of battle
In modern use, the order of battle is the identification, command structure, strength, and disposition of personnel, equipment, and units of an armed force participating in field operations. Various abbreviations are in use, including OOB, O/B, or OB, while ORBAT remains the most common in the...

The nationalist

Kuomintang

order of battle

Order of battle

In modern use, the order of battle is the identification, command structure, strength, and disposition of personnel, equipment, and units of an armed force participating in field operations. Various abbreviations are in use, including OOB, O/B, or OB, while ORBAT remains the most common in the...

: 5 Brigade

Brigade

s totaling 11,500:

The Reorganized 30th Division
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...
The 1st Brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...

of the Reorganized 1st Division
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...
The 167th Brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...

of the Reorganized 1st Division
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...

The communist order of battle

Order of battle

: 4 Brigade

Brigade

s totaling 8,800:

The 10th Brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...

of the 4th Column
The 11th Brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...

of the 4th Column
The 13th Brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...

of the 4th Column
The 24th Brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...

of the Taiyue (太岳) Military Region

Campaign

On September 22, 1946, the nationalist

Kuomintang

167th Brigade

Brigade

of the Reorganized 1st Division

Division (military)

A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...

and the nationalist

Kuomintang

27th Brigade

Brigade

of the Reorganized 30th Division

Division (military)

took Floating Mountain (Fushan, 浮山), and the nationalist

Kuomintang

2nd Regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

of the 1st Brigade

Brigade

of the 1st Division

Division (military)

pushed eastward along the road from Floating Mountain (Fushan, 浮山) to Linfen

Linfen

. A portion of the communist 13th Brigade

Brigade

of the 4th Column faked attack on Floating Mountain (Fushan, 浮山), while its main force, along with the communist 11th Brigade

Brigade

of the 4th Column suddenly surrounded the nationalist

Kuomintang

2nd Regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

of the 1st Brigade

Brigade

of the 1st Division

Division (military)

at the Official Sparrow Village (Guan Que Cun, 官雀村) region between Floating Mountain (Fushan, 浮山) and Linfen

Linfen

. After dark, the enemy launched their assault under the cover of darkness on the besieged nationalists

Kuomintang

, and the nationalist

Kuomintang

2nd Regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

of the 1st Brigade

Brigade

of the 1st Division

Division (military)

was subsequently wiped out.

Unaware that their besieged comrades-in-arms had already been annihilated by the enemy at the Official Sparrow Village (Guan Que Cun, 官雀村) region, on September 23, 1946, the nationalist

Kuomintang

167th Brigade

Brigade

of the Reorganized 1st Division

Division (military)

and the nationalist

Kuomintang

27th Brigade

Brigade

of the Reorganized 30th Division

Division (military)

abandoned Floating Mountain (Fushan, 浮山) to reinforce their besieged comrades-in-arms from the east, while the nationalist

Kuomintang

1st Brigade

Brigade

of the Reorganized 1st Division

Division (military)

attempted to reinforce their besieged comrades-in-arms from Linfen

Linfen

. The communist 13th Brigade

Brigade

of the 4th Column managed to stop the nationalist

Kuomintang

reinforcement from the east, while the communist 10th Brigade

Brigade

of the 4th Column besieged the nationalist

Kuomintang

reinforcement from the west at the Chen’s Levee Village (Chen Yan Cun, 陈堰村) region. After the arrival of the main force of the communist 4th Column and the communist 24 Brigade

Brigade

of the Taiyue (太岳) Military Region, the final assault begun at the dusk on September 23, 1946. After a fierce battle that lasted the entire night, the nationalist

Kuomintang

1st Brigade

Brigade

of the Reorganized 1st Division

Division (military)

was completely annihilated by next morning. Hearing the news of the defeat, the nationalist

Kuomintang

167th Brigade

Brigade

of the Reorganized 1st Division

Division (military)

and the nationalist

Kuomintang

27th Brigade

Brigade

of the Reorganized 30th Division

Division (military)

immediately gave up the fight and retreated to Linfen

Linfen

while the communist 13th Brigade

Brigade

of the 4th Column wisely chose not to pursuit, and the campaign was concluded.

Outcome

The nationalist

Kuomintang

defeat cost more than 5,000 casualties, and the original nationalist

Kuomintang

hope of eliminate the enemy by attacking simultaneously from the north and the south was crashed. However, the political and psychological impact was much more greater than the military defeat: the Nationalist Reorganized 1st Brigade, or nicknamed the "1st [Best] Brigade Under the Heaven" (天下第一旅), was completely annihilated, with its commander lieutenant general

Lieutenant General

Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....

Huang Zhengcheng (黄正诚) captured alive by the communist enemy. After the campaign, the nationalist adopted the correct tactics of not engaging the enemy and hold on the strongholds behind the city walls, but although such tactics reduced loss, it had left vast rural area to the communists.

Prelude

Campaign

Outcome

See also