Tianjin Campaign

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Tianjin Campaign
partof=the Chinese Civil War
place=Tianjin, China
date=January 3, 1949 - January 15, 1949
result=Communist victory
combatant1=

combatant2=

commander1= Chen Changjie 陈长捷
commander2= Liu Yalou 刘亚楼
strength1= 130,000
strength2= 340,000
casualties1= all killed or captured
casualties2= minimal|

The Tianjin Campaign was the epitome of the Pingjin Campaign, and it was fought between the nationalists and the communists during the Chinese Civil War in the post-World War II era. The result of the Tianjin Campaign helped to determine the outcome of Pingjin Campaign.

The original communist plan was to take Tanggu first to cut off the nationalist escape route via ocean and then force the nationalists in Beijing and Tianjin to surrender, in order to save the two historical cities from the destruction of the war. However, the nationalist resolve to defend the cities to the end was strong and reconnaissance had revealed the sounding regions of Tanggu was not suitable for building fortifications and deploying assaulting forces, and the region strongly favored defenders. The communists were forced to change their plan by attacking Tianjin first. According to the geography of Tianjin, which was characterized in its long span in the north-south direction and short span in the east-west direction, the communists made a plan of simultaneously attacking from the east and west, cutting off the city in the middle, and then first taking the southern portion of the city, and afterward taking the northern portion of the city.

From January 3, 1949 through to January 12, 1949, the communists cleared all 18 nationalist strongholds outside the city, and the defenders were forced to take refuge behind the city wall. After the nationalists behind the city wall had refused to surrender for three times when asked, the communists launched their final offensive on the city on January 14, 1949 at 10:00 AM. After 29 hours of fierce fighting, the entire besieged nationalist garrison of the city totaling more than 130,000 was completely annihilated, and Chen Changjjie (陈长捷), the nationalist commander-in-chief of the defense, was captured alive along with many of his subordinates. With the exception of the 7th Chinese Textile Factory, which was completely destroyed in the final offensive, most of the rest of the infrastructure of Tianjin was captured intact.

Outcome

The immediate consequence of the nationalist defeat in Tianjin Campaign was that the nationalist garrison of Tanggu, consisting of the 17th Army Group and five divisions from the 87th Army, had been completely isolated and had to withdraw via ocean, which in turn, worsened the overall situation for the nationalists during the Pingjin Campaign. The nationalist defeat in the Tianjin Campaign was also one of the most important factors forcing Fu Zuoyi to surrender to the communists, which resulted in the conclusion of the Pingjin Campaign.

ee also

*List of battles of the Chinese Civil War
*National Revolutionary Army
*History of the People's Liberation Army
*Chinese Civil War

References

*Zhu, Zongzhen and Wang, Chaoguang, "Liberation War History", 1st Edition, Social Scientific Literary Publishing House in Beijing, 2000, ISBN 7801492072 (set)
*Zhang, Ping, "History of the Liberation War", 1st Edition, Chinese Youth Publishing House in Beijing, 1987, ISBN 750060081X (pbk.)
*Jie, Lifu, "Records of the Libration War: The Decisive Battle of Two Kinds of Fates", 1st Edition, Hebei People's Publishing House in Shijiazhuang, 1990, ISBN 7202007339 (set)
*Literary and Historical Research Committee of the Anhui Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, "Liberation War", 1st Edition, Anhui People's Publishing House in Hefei, 1987, ISBN 7212000078
*Li, Zuomin, "Heroic Division and Iron Horse: Records of the Liberation War", 1st Edition, Chinese Communist Party History Publishing House in Beijing, 2004, ISBN 7801990293
*Wang, Xingsheng, and Zhang, Jingshan, "Chinese Liberation War", 1st Edition, People's Liberation Army Literature and Art Publishing House in Beijing, 2001, ISBN 750331351X (set)
*Huang, Youlan, "History of the Chinese People's Liberation War", 1st Edition, Archives Publishing House in Beijing, 1992, ISBN 7800193381
*Liu Wusheng, "From Yan'an to Beijing: A Collection of Military Records and Research Publications of Important Campaigns in the Liberation War", 1st Edition, Central Literary Publishing House in Beijing, 1993, ISBN 7507300749
*Tang, Yilu and Bi, Jianzhong, "History of Chinese People's Liberation Army in Chinese Liberation War", 1st Edition, Military Scientific Publishing House in Beijing, 1993 – 1997, ISBN 7800217191 (Volum 1), 7800219615 (Volum 2), 7800219631 (Volum 3), 7801370937 (Volum 4), and 7801370953 (Volum 5)