Prelude
In the early August, 1946, over a dozen army-sized nationalist (reorganized) divisions were tied down in western Henan and southern Shaanxi in the Campaign of the North China Plain Pocket, and thus causing the offensives against the Communists in other theaters to fail due to insufficient strength. Only three nationalist armies were deployed to guard a vast area covering the region along the section of Longhai (Lanzhou – Lianyungang) Railway from Kaifeng to Xuzhou, and the region to the south of this section bordered by the northern shore of the Yellow River. Nationalists were not worried, however, because they were already to deploy additional troops for a preemptive strike to wipe out the Communists in the area. Unbeknown to the nationalists, the Communists were planning a preemptive strike of their own, before the much greater nationalist reinforcement could be ready, thus forcing the nationalist reinforcement to remain in the region after the campaign, hence relieving the pressure faced by the Communists in other campaigns.
Read more about this topic: Longhai Campaign
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