- Linfen Campaign
Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Linfen Campaign
partof=Chinese Civil War
place=Linfen ,Shanxi ,China
date=March 7 ,1948 -May 18 ,1948
result=Communist victory
combatant1=
combatant2=
commander1= Liang Peihuang 梁培璜
commander2=
strength1= 25,000
strength2= 53,000
casualties1= 25,000
casualties2= 15,000|Linfen Campaign (临汾战役) was a series of battles fought between the
communist s and the nationalists during theChinese Civil War to control the city ofLinfen , and resulted in thecommunist victory.Prelude
After the
Yuncheng Campaign (运城战役),Linfen was the only nationalist stronghold left in southernShanxi .Linfen was ideal to defend: the city wall was 15metre tall and 10metre wide at the top, 25 – 30metre s wide at the bottom, and at the section of the Eastern Pass (Dong Guan, 东关), there was a second wall of the same size, providing additional protection. There were a total of 31 clusters of bunkers around the city and additional strongholds within 3 – 7km range in the outskirt. There were deep ditches both outside and inside city wall, and fortifications within the city. Located on the eastern bank ofFen River , the east, north and south directions were wide open, with little cover for the attacking enemy to hide.The nationalist strategy was to hold on until reinforcement arrived and then counterattack, while the
communist strategy was to take the city primarily using under ground tunnels since thecommunist s lacked heavy artillery pieces.Order of battle Defenders totaling 25,000: nationalist
order of battle :
*The 66th Division deployed in positions outside the city
*The 30thBrigade
*Theartillery battalion of the 27thBrigade
*Two SecurityBrigade s
*Two TrainingRegiment s
*Security forces of adjacent 15 counties withdrew into the city ofLinfen Attackers totaling 53,000:communist order of battle :
*The 8th Column
*The 13th Column
*Units of the Taiyue (太岳) Military DistrictFirst Stage
The nationalists begun to airlift the 30th
Brigade to Luochuan (洛川) fromLinfen onMarch 6 ,1948 to strengthen the nationalist force in northwesternChina . In order to prevent this, thecommunist s decided to launch the campaign early and onMarch 7 ,1948 , thecommunist 24thBrigade of the 8th Column took the airfield south ofLinfen after destroying two aircraft, thus cutoff the aerial link of the city. The nationalists were forced to give up the airlift plan and the city was attacked by the enemy from three sides: east, north and south. The nationalist strongholds in the outskirt ofLinfen including Cui Family’s Bump (Cui Jia Geda, 崔家疙瘩), Train Station (Huoche Zhan, 火车站), High River Hotel (Gao He Dian, 高河店) and Official Yao’s Temple (Yao Guan Miao, 尧官庙) fell into the enemy hands, and the nationalist futile attempt to counterattack and retake these strongholds were beaten back for more than thirty times. Afterward, the enemy approached the outer city ofLinfen , the Eastern Pass (Dong Guan, 东关), which was the barrier forLinfen , and the nationalists desperately attempted to hold on this critical defensive stronghold.From
March 23 ,1948 –March 27 ,1948 , the nationalist defenders twice successfully beaten back the attacks on Eastern Pass (Dong Guan, 东关) by thecommunist 13th Column. OnApril 1 ,1948 , the enemy adjusted tactic and thecommunist 37thBrigade of the 13th Column attacked from southeast and thecommunist 23rdBrigade of the 8th Column attacked from northeast simlutaneously, while the 4 underground tunnels were dug toward the city wall. OnApril 10 ,1948 , three of the four tunnels were filled with explosives and detonated simultaneously, succeeding in collapsing the city wall of the Eastern Pass (Dong Guan, 东关) section, and attackingcommunist 37thBrigade of the 13th Column and thecommunist 23rdBrigade of the 8th Column were able to swiftly taking the Eastern Pass (Dong Guan, 东关), the outer city ofLinfen , badly mauling the local defenders, the nationalist 66th Division.econd Stage
On
April 16 ,1948 , the battle mostly had switched to underground when thecommunist 8th Column and Taiyue (太岳) Military District at eastern outskirt ofLinfen and the 13th Column at southern outskirt ofLinfen begun to dig 15 tunnels toward the city wall and an additional 40+ tunnels for cover. Taking the lesson learned from the loss of Eastern Pass (Dong Guan, 东关), the defenders also begun to dig tunnels to counter the underground threat. In addition, under the cover of shelling with incendiary rounds and gas attacks, the nationalist 30thBrigade counterattacked the enemy with air cover. Although the nationalist counterattack was beaten back the enemy, and the nationalists did succeed in destroying most of the enemy tunnels.On
May 1 ,1948 , theXu Xiangqian changed their tactic by deploying thecommunist 13th Column to the east of the city to assist thecommunist 8th Column to attack the city, while the 22ndBrigade of thecommunist 8th Column and the 39thBrigade of thecommunist 13th Column were deployed to assist thecommunist regiment of the Taiyue (太岳) Military District on the western bank of theFen River to blockade the escape route of the fleeing enemy. OnMay 16 ,1948 , the 23rdBrigade of the 8th Column succeeded in extending two 110metre -long tunnels directly under the city wall, filling one with 6,000kg black dynamite and the other with 3,500kg dynamite. OnMay 15 ,1948 at 7:50 PM, the dynamites were detonated, blowing up two 50metre wide gaps in the city wall and the assault team of the 69thRegiment of thecommunist 23rdBrigade was the first to ventured into the city and othercommunist units soon followed under the cover of heavy artillery fire. After fierce street fights, the battle ended after midnight when all of the defenders were either killed or captured, and the campaign concluded.Outcome
The entire nationalist garrison of
Linfen was lost, including the Commander-in-chief, Liang Peihuang 梁培璜, who was captured alive by the enemy. The fall ofLinfen meant that the last nationalist stronghold in southernShanxi was finally eliminated. Thecommunist victory ofLinfen Campaign resulted in the liniking up of theLüliang communist base and Taiyue (太岳)communist base, and the entire southernShanxi region falling into thecommunist hands. Thecommunist 23rdBrigade of the 8th Column played a significant role in the taking ofLinfen and was honored asLinfen Brigade after the campaign.ee also
*List of battles of the Chinese Civil War
*National Revolutionary Army
*History of the People's Liberation Army
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