Autumn Offensive of 1947 in Northeast China - Outcome

Outcome

The communist offensive succeeded in taking fifteen cities and towns from the nationalists and inflicting more than 69,000 casualties on the enemy. The nationalist redeployment of six divisions from China proper to northeast China weakened the nationalist strength in the battlefront in other part of China so thus the communists offensive in northeast China had succeeded in reducing the nationalist pressure on communists in China proper. The communists victory also provided the foundation of their next offensive, the Winter Offensive of 1947 in Northeast China. The nationalist commander Chen Cheng had already suggested to abandon northeast China a year ago in 1946, so troops could be freed to fight in the other regions in China proper where nationalists would have better chance for victories, and when the situation had improved, the nationalist would then be able to retake northeast China. However, this correct suggestion was ignored because the political fallout of abandoning the resource rich and industrial northeast China was simply perceived as too great to be carried out. As a result, Chen Cheng was tasked with an impossible job and therefore should not be blamed for nationalist failure in northeast China, because probably nobody else could perform any better under the same uncompromising belief, including the communist commanders, had their positions had been exchanged with the nationalists.