The Right Route
On June 26, 1946, the communist Right Route force departed from Xuanhua Hotel (Xuanhua Dian, 宣化店) region to secretly group in the regions of Se Harbor (Se Gang, 涩港) and Nine Miles Pass (Jiu Li Guang九里关), south of Xinyang. At the night of June 29, 1946, the communist launched a surprise attack on the nationalist 135th Brigade of the 15th Division at He Family’s Hotel (He Jian Dian, 贺 家店) and after losing two companies, the nationalists withdrew. The communists subsequently took Willow Grove (Liu Lin, 柳林) train station and crossed Beijing – Hankou railroad. By July 1, 1946, the communist Right Route Force had reached regions of Spring Hotel (Quankou Dian, 泉口店), Wu Family’s Hotel (Wu Jia Dian, 吴家 店), and Jiang Creek Hotel (Jiang Creek Hotel, 浆溪店) north of Ying Mountain (Ying Shan, 应山) regions.
On July 3, 1946, the nationalist order the 3rd Brigade of the 3rd Division and the 41st Division to the regions of Li Mountain (Li Shan, 厉山), High City (Gao Cheng, 高城), Sky River Mouth (Tian He Kou, 天河口) north of Sui (随) County. However, before the last gap of the nationalist trap at Sky River Mouth (Tian He Kou, 天河口) was completed, the enemy already managed to escape to Deer Head (鹿头) Town northeast of Zaoyang. Undeterred, the nationalist attempted to set up a second encirclement by ordering the 3rd Division stationed at Zaoyang, the 41st Division, and the 15th Division to Cangtai (苍苔) region along with air support, hoping to eliminate the enemy in a second trap. However, after a forced march of 90 km in a single day, the enemy had already passed the town of Cangtai (苍苔), Tang River (Tang He, 唐河) and White River (Bai He, 白河) counties, and thus escaping the second trap planned by the nationalists, reaching the region of Teacher’s Hill (Shi Gang, 师岗) south of Inner Township County (Nei Xiang, 内乡) in southwestern Henan on July 11, 1946.
To distract the nationalists, the enemy decided to split into two columns. The left column consisted of the 45th Regiment of the 15th Brigade and the 13th Brigade of the communist 2nd Column totaling 7,000 people, and would march toward the region of Nanhua Pound (Nan Hua Tang, 南化塘) via the town of Xichuan (淅川). The right column under the command of Wang Zhen consisted of 359th Brigade and the Cadres Brigade would take the town of Xichuan (淅川) and Jingzi Pass (Jingzi Guang, 荆紫关) in advance for the main force, and then continued to its destinations at Mountain Sun (Shan Yang, 山阳) and Zuoshui (柞水) regions in southern Shaanxi after the left column had passed Nanhua Pound (Nan Hua Tang, 南化塘) region.
In the meantime, the nationalists made new plans for setting up a third trap for the enemy by deploying the 3rd Division, 15th Division, 41st Division, and the 47th Division in regions south of Nanyang, Henan, Zhenping (镇平), Inner Township County (Nei Xiang, 内乡), regions along the Dan River (Dan Jiang, 丹江), and regions to the north and to the east of Xichuan (淅川) and Deng (邓) County. The 61st Brigade of the nationalist 90th stationed at Shan (陕) County and the 1st Brigade of the nationalist 1st stationed at Guanzhong were deployed to Jingzi Pass (Jingzi Guang, 荆紫关), the chokepoint of the traffic linking Hubei, Henan, and Shaanxi provinces to complete the trap, and the nationalist plan was to eliminate the enemy on the eastern bank of the Dan River (Dan Jiang, 丹江). The communists in turn, was determined to avoid this fate planned by their adversary by crossing the Dan River (Dan Jiang, 丹江) and continue westward, eventually entering Shaanxi.
Read more about this topic: Campaign Of The North China Plain Pocket
Famous quotes containing the word route:
“A route differs from a road not only because it is solely intended for vehicles, but also because it is merely a line that connects one point with another. A route has no meaning in itself; its meaning derives entirely from the two points that it connects. A road is a tribute to space. Every stretch of road has meaning in itself and invites us to stop. A route is the triumphant devaluation of space, which thanks to it has been reduced to a mere obstacle to human movement and a waste of time.”
—Milan Kundera (b. 1929)