Autumn Offensive of 1947 in Northeast China - Third Stage

Third Stage

To reverse the nationalist situation in northeast China, Chiang Kai-shek personally flew to Shenyang on October 8, to provide guidelines for the new strategy. In addition, new nationalist reinforcement totaling six divisions were drawn from China proper, including:

• The 21st Division of the 92nd Army
• The 43rd Division of the 94th Army
• The 10th Division of the 3rd Army
• The 11th Division of the 3rd Army
• The 4th Cavalry Division
• The 54th Division of the 13th Army

The communists, in turn, planned to deploy six columns to lure out the enemy from their fortified positions and then annihilate them in the open field where they are most vulnerable by faking the assaults on Jilin City and Kaiyuan, while another three columns were deployed to stop the nationalist reinforcement from China proper.

On October 9, 1947, the communist 7th Column attacked Xinlitun, badly mauling the local nationalist garrison, the 57th Division. From October 10 – 12, the communist 8th Column and the 9th Column secured most of the regions between Jinzhou and Xingcheng (with a few exception of strongholds to the west of Jinzhou ), killing more than 1,200 nationalist troops in the process. On October 15, 1947, Yi County (Yi Xian, 义县) was besieged by the communists. By October 17, Fuxin had fallen into the communist hands after the attacking communist 7th Column had completely annihilated the local nationalist garrison, a brigade and a regiment of the nationalist 51st Division. The success of the communist 7th Column, 8th Column and the 9th Column had prevented any nationalist reinforcement from reaching north of Shenyang.

With the newly arrived reinforcement, the nationalists launched a counteroffensive headed by the 21st Division from Haizhou (海州), the 43rd Division from Heishan (黑山), and the 195th Division and 22nd Division from Xinmin, which resulted in retaking Fuxin, Zhangwu, and Xinlitun by October 22. Unbeknown to the nationalists, the communists set a trap by giving up more land to spread the nationalist thin. The primary objective of the communists was to annihilate the nationalist 21st Division and the 43rd Division. To draw the nationalist farther to the west, the communist 9th Column took Chaoyang on October 23 after wiping out the local nationalist garrison, a regiment of the 53rd Division and a detachment of the 3rd Cavalry Army. The nationalist 21st Division and the 43rd Division were therefore lured westward to reinforce the local nationalist garrison, and on October 29, 1947, both divisions were surrounded by the enemy four times of their size at regions bordered by Chaoyang Temple (Chaoyang Si, 朝阳寺)、Nine Pass Stage Gate (Jiu Guan Tai Men, 九关台门)、and Daiguan Bunker (Daiguan Bao, 代官堡). By November 2, the eight communist divisions succeeded in badly mauling the two nationalist divisions and on November 4, the nationalist local garrison of Yi County (Yi Xian, 义县), the 4th Security Regiment, abandoned the town and retreated, but was completely annihilated on the way.

In western Liaoning, the communist launched another round of offensive, taking Huapichang (桦皮厂)、Jiuzhan (九站)、Kouqian (口前)、Wulajie (乌拉街)、Jiutai、Nong’an, and Dehui, after wiping out a regiment of the nationalist 53rd Division, two regiments of the Newly Organized 1st Army, a security regiment, and badly mauling the 182nd Division of the 60th Army. In addition, an entire regiment of the nationalist 207th Division of the Youth Army was also lost to the enemy east of Fushun. The communist victories threatened Jilin (city) and Changchun.

To strengthen the defense of Changchun and Jilin City, Chen Cheng ordered part of the nationalist force to be airlifted to Changchun from Shenyang, and the Newly Organized 1st Army also turned to Changchun to reinforce the defense of the city. Knowing that it was nearly impossible to take the fortified strongholds with huge defending forces, the communist wisely concluded the autumn offensive on November 5, 1947.