Meridian Ridge Campaign - Outcome

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 (Huai Shu Zhuang, 槐树庄), 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 (黄罗斌), 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 led by the nationalist general Pei Changhui (裴昌会) and the former-guerilla turned regular unit withdrew into Linyou (麟游) 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 headquarters of the communist First Field Army would meet a 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 (屯字) town to Xiaojing (萧金) 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 (屯字) 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 (太平) Town. As a result, the divisional headquarter of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division led by Ma Jiyuan (马继援) 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 (马继援), 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 (黄罗斌), claiming that the mistake he had made would be sufficient to have him executed. As a result, Huang Luobing (黄罗斌) 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.