Campaign of The North China Plain Pocket - Left Route

Left Route

On June 25, 1946, the communist Left Route force left the Pobo (泼陂) River and White Sparrow Garden (Baique Yuan, 白雀园) regions of Light Mountain (Guangshan, 光山) counties to march in southwestern direction. However, once reached Yangping Pass (Yangping Kou, 阳平口) to the west of the Gift Mountain (Li Shan, 礼山), their path was blocked by the nationalist 554th Regiment of the 185th Brigade of the 66th Division, the communists thus turned westward instead, begun their crossing of the Beijing – Hankou railroad at the section between Wang’s Family’s Hotel (Wang Jia Dian, 王家店) and Wei’s Family’s Hotel (Wei Jia Dian, 魏家店). While fighting off the 6th Brigade of the nationalist 75th Division and the bulk of the 185th Brigade of the nationalist 66th Division that attempted to stop them, the nationalist 11th Division at Xiaogan sent out its 18th Brigade to reinforce their nationalist comrades-in-arms with armor and air supports on June 30, 1946. However, the technical superiority was successfully negated by the enemy by fighting in close quarters at night, and before the dawn of July 1, 1946, the entire enemy force had successfully crossed the Beijing – Hankou railroad, reaching Anlu (安陆) and Ying Mountain (Ying Shan, 应山) regions.

The communists of the Left Route had not escaped danger yet, and they still had to cross the Xiang (襄) River southeast of Xuan City (Xuan Cheng, 宣城). Once the communist Left Route force reached the crossing points at Yakou (垭口) and Flowing Water Ditch (Liu Shui Gou, 流水沟) on July 11, 1946, they discovered that local communist force of the Jianghan (江汉) Military District had already crossed the river and the nationalists had destroyed most of the ships. The communists managed to found seven ships and begun the crossing immediately, and the 7th Regiment and the 9th Regiment of the communist 3rd Brigade successfully crossed the river at Yakou (垭口) crossing point. The 4th Regiment of the communist 2nd Brigade at Flowing Water Ditch (Liu Shui Gou, 流水沟) crossing point was in the process of crossing when the nationalist 16th Brigade of the 75th Division reached the crossing point, but under the cover of the 8th Regiment of the communist 3rd Brigade on the eastern bank, the 4th Regiment of the communist 2nd Brigade was able to complete the crossing. The remaining communists on the eastern bank, however, were cut off by the dawn of July 11, 1946.

However, such setback turned out to be a blessing for the communists who were cut off on the eastern bank of Xiang (襄) River, because the nationalists were putting emphasis on the communist main force that had already crossed, and thus did not deploy enough troops to stop those communists remained on the eastern bank of the Xiang (襄) River. The communist units that were cut off on the eastern bank of Xiang (襄) River included the 8th Regiment of the communist 3rd Brigade and the 6th Regiment of the communist 2nd Brigade, and portions of the Garrison Regiment and the 15th Brigade totaling 3,500. Under the command of the deputy brigade commander of the communist 3rd Brigade, Min Xuesheng (闵学胜), this group of communists turned north, passing Zaoyang, Xinye, and Tanghe (唐河) county to reach the alternative destination, the communist guerrilla bases in the Funiu Mountains, thus achieving successful breakout before the main force.

The main communist force of the Left Route Force consisted of units that had successfully crossed the Xiang (襄) River and was not too far behind either in that they only face one more obstacle, the last nationalist defense line manned by the 185th Brigade of the nationalist 66th Division and the 64th Brigade of the nationalist 15th Division. With the earlier failures of stopping the enemy by the nationalist units with much superior strength and the reinforcement nowhere in sight, nationalists manning the last defensive line were well aware that the enemy was unstoppable. After suffering a thousand or so casualties, the nationalists had had enough and the nationalist commanders decided to save the surviving troops instead of wasting lives on the futile attempts to stop the enemy. On July 21, 1946, the nationalists abandoned their last defensive line in a hasty retreat that left over 300 cadavers of their fallen comrades-in-arms, and thus allowing the communist Left Route force to successfully escape the encirclement. After another failed nationalist attempt to eliminate the enemy which resulted in the successful link-up between the communist Left Route force and the communist units of Jianghan (江汉) Military District in Wudang Mountains, the communist Left Route force successfully established a new base: the Northwestern Hubei Guerrilla Base by August 27, 1946.