Meridian Ridge Campaign - Change of Plans

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 (合水) County, Li Ke (李科), the first high ranking communist who received the information, immediately went to the communist headquarter at Nine Steep Hills (Jiu Xian 九岘) 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 (王世泰) had to redeploy his units by assigning the 2nd Regiment of the communist 1st Garrison Brigade to hold the Nine Steep Hills (Jiu Xian 九岘) 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 (Tao Shu Zhuang, 桃树庄), 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 (马继援) was furious that the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade led by commander Ma Buluan (马步銮) tasked with outflanking the enemy from the left was nowhere near the battlefield. After radio communication, Ma Jiyuan (马继援) 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 (马继援) decided to begin the assault on the enemy before the encirclement was completed: the nationalist Independent 5th Regiment led by commander Ma Bukang (马步康) 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.