Campaign To Suppress Bandits in Northeast China - Main Phase

Main Phase

After communists were forced to give up large cities including Siping, Changchun and Jilin City, the surviving thirty thousand bandits behind the communist frontline had their hope up again and increased their strikes against the communists in the rear. However, due to the rapid military success, the regular nationalist army was even less enthusiastic in cooperating and joining forces with bandits because they felt that the communists could be defeated without the help from bandits, whom would only be a burden to the regular nationalist army for tarnishing their image due to the bandits’ notoriety. Seizing on the opportunity, the communists were quick to exploiting the internal division among nationalist forces and planned another round of offensives. According to the communist, the main phase of the campaign was period from June 1946 to April 1947. The surviving 30,000 strong bandits were divided into six groups, active in six regions behind the communist frontline:

• 5,000+ bandits in the region to the south of Harbin and along the Songhua River often struck places including Shuangcheng, Wuchang, Heilongjiang, Bin (宾) County, Elm Tree (Yu Shu, 榆树), and Hulan (呼兰).
• 5,000+ bandits in the region to the west of Liaoyang, often struck places including Daze (大责), Qian’an (乾安) and Forward Flag (Qian Bu Qi, 前部旗). This is only group that actually cooperated with regular nationalist army, acting as the scouts of the latter.
• 5,000+ bandits active in Nenjiang (province)
• 5,000+ bandits active in regions to the east of Changchun
• In Hejiang, over 40 bands of bandits totaling more than 8,000 had successfully severed the railway from Mudanjiang to Jiamusi by taking counties including Dongning (东宁), Dong’an (东安), Luobei (萝北) and Tongjiang. Most high ranking commanders of bandits belonged to this group, including Li Huatang (李华堂), Xie Wendong (谢文东), Zhang Yuxin (张雨新), and Sun Rongjiu (孙荣久).

The communist high command in Northeast China decided on June 1946 that it was critical to secure the rear area behind their frontline to concentrate on fighting the regular nationalist army in the front, so the communist force was redeployed to exterminate bandits by concentrating on the major groups first, and then the smaller ones. In Hejiang, six thousand mobile strike force would first exterminate bandits in the regions of Tongjiang, Luobei (萝北), Fujin (富锦), Yilan (依兰), Peace Town (Tai Ping Zheng, 太平镇) and the regions to the north and the east of Boli (勃利). Afterward, they would attack bandits in Baoqing (宝清) region in a pincer movement from both the east and the west. Communist force in Mudanjiang was responsible for exterminating bandits in Dong’an (东安), Mishan, (密山), Muling (穆棱) and Dongning (东宁). Communist force in Harbin was responsible for exterminating bandits in regions including Yanshou (延寿), Muohe (沫河), Weihe (苇河), Tonghe (通河), and Fangzheng (方正). The communists planned their offensive in three stages.

During the first stage of their offensive that lasted from June 1946 through the end of August 1946, communists deployed the 717th Regiment and the 719th Regiment of the 359th Brigade to support the local communist force from Hejiang and Mudanjiang Military Regions to attack bandits headed by Xie Wendong (谢文东) in three fronts in the regions of Dong’an (东安) and Mishan, (密山). After two battles, over six thousand bandits were killed while the surviving bandits fled to the region of Baoqing (宝清) and Fujin (富锦). By the end of June, bandits in Dongning (东宁) region headed by Wang Laolin (王老林) were also annihilated. The communists continued their attack eastward from Dong’an (东安) toward Tiger Forest (Hulin, 虎林) and Rao (饶) River regions, annihilating local bandits. Meanwhile, another communist force cross the Wanda (完达) Mountain and with the help of communist force in Hejiang, attacked bandits fled to Baoqing (宝清). On 1 July 1946, in the region of Youtou (尤头) Bridge and Toudaihezi (头道河子), the surviving bandits headed by Xie Wendong (谢文东) was once again defeated. On 3 July 1946, communist Hejiang mobile strike force attacked northward to pursue the 1,400 strong bandit force that fled to the regions of Huachuan (桦川) and Fujin (富锦) and joined the local bandits. After eight days, the bandits were annihilated and by 12 July 1946, 972 bandits were captured alive. Communist subsequently launched intensive political / psychological / propaganda offensives and over 800 surviving surrendered. Huachuan (桦川) and Fujin (富锦) regions were cleared and by the end of August 1946, near ten thousand bandits were killed. In Songjiang (province), communists in Harbin uncovered a nationalist underground intelligence directly controlled by the bandits and the bandit chiefs including Jiang Pengfei (姜朋飞), Li Mingxin (李明信) and Cui Dagang (崔大刚) were all arrested.

The second stage covers the period from September 1946 through the end of December 1946. After suffering defeats, the surviving 1,500 bandits headed by Li Huatang (李华堂), Xie Wendong (谢文东), and Zhang Yuxin (张雨新) fled to the region of Yilan (依兰), Boli (勃利), and Linkou (林口) bordered by Songhua River in the north, and Mudanjiang in the west. Communist 359th Brigade and Hejiang and Mudanjiang forces surrounded the above region and after battles at Zi’erlazi (子尔拉子) and Cold Spring (Han He, 寒春) River, over 140 bandits were killed, 654 bandits surrendered and 121 bandits captured. The communists also captured 738 guns, 110 horses, but the biggest gain was the capture of the bandit chiefs: on 20 November 1946, Xie Wendong (谢文东) was captured by the communist and soon after, Zhang Yuxin (张雨新) was captured. On 2 December 1946, Li Huatang (李华堂) was captured in the forest in the region to northwest of Diaoling (刁翎). In Songjiang (province), over four thousands bandits were annihilated from early October through 22 November 1946. In the region to the west of Changchun, five thousand bandits headed by Wang Naikang (王乃康) were annihilated by mid December. In the region to the east of Changchun, after 600 bandits were killed, sixteen groups of bandits surrendered to the communists without a fight.

The third and last stage in the main phase of the campaign covers the period from January 1947 through April 1947, during which the bandit chief Sun Jiurong (孙荣久) was captured on 26 March 1947 in Hejiang. In March and April 1947, communist force in Longjiang took the last four bandit strongholds at Huma (呼玛), Oupu (欧浦) Black Cloud (Wuyun, 乌云), and Muohe (漠河). Over seven thousand bandits were killed, including their chiefs Zhang Bojun (张伯钧) and Liu Shandong (刘山东). By April 1947, the communist victory was complete and the area behind the frontline was cleared of bandits. As a result of their victory, communists had firmly established themselves in Northeast China when their bases in the rear area there were secured and strengthened, which was critical in the victory in Northeast China.