 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Pingjin campaign" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Pingjin campaign | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theChinese Civil War | |||||||||
 People's Liberation Army entersBeiping | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
 Fu Zuoyi  Chen Changjie (POW)Guo Jingyun [zh] † |  Lin BiaoLuo RonghuanNie Rongzhen | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 600,000[citation needed] | 1,000,000[citation needed] | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| ~520,000[citation needed] (including non-combat losses) | 39,000 (PRC sources)[citation needed] | ||||||||
ThePingjin campaign (simplified Chinese:平津战役;traditional Chinese:平津戰役;pinyin:Píngjīn Zhànyì), also known as theBattle of Pingjin and also officially known in Chinese Communist historiography as theLiberation of Beijing and Tianjin[1] was part of the three major campaigns launched by thePeople's Liberation Army during the late stage of theChinese Civil War against theGovernment of the Republic of China. It began on 29 November 1948 and ended on 31 January 1949, lasting a total of 64 days. This campaign marked the end of Nationalist dominance in theNorth China Plain. The term Pingjin refers to the citiesBeiping (nowBeijing) andTianjin.
By the winter of 1948, the balance of power in Northern China was shifting in favor of thePeople's Liberation Army. As the CommunistFourth Field Army led byLin Biao andLuo Ronghuan entered the North China Plain after the conclusion of theLiaoshen campaign,Fu Zuoyi and the Nationalist government in Nanjing decided to abandonChengde,Baoding,Shanhai Pass andQinhuangdao collectively and withdraw the remaining Nationalist troops toBeiping,Tianjin andZhangjiakou and consolidate the defense in these garrisons. The Nationalists were hoping to preserve their strength and reinforceXuzhou whereanother major campaign was under its way, or alternatively to retreat to the nearbySuiyuan Province if necessary.
In preparations for the campaign, the People's Liberation Army halted the advance ofFirst Field Army towardTaiyuan. The attack onHohhot were also held back as theThird Field Army was being deployed fromJining District toward Beiping.
On 23 November 1948, Lin Biao's army gained control of Shanhaiguan and severed the Beijing-Tianjin railroad.[2]: 58
Nie Rongzhen deployed the Second Army (commanded byYang Dezhi) and the Third Army (commanded byYang Chengwu) to attackZhangjiakou.[2]: 58
On 29 November 1948, the People's Liberation Army launched an assault on Zhangjiakou. Fu Zuoyi ordered the Nationalist 35th Corps in Beiping relieve the city.[2]: 58 On 2 December, the PLA Second Field Army began to approachZhuolu. The PLA Fourth Field Army capturedMiyun on 5 December and advanced toward Huailai. Meanwhile, the Second Field Army advanced to the south of Zhuolu. As Beiping was at risk of being encircled, Fu recalled both the 35th Army and the 104th Army from Zhangjiakou to return and support the defense of Beiping before being "surrounded and destroyed" by the PLA.[3]
The Third Army trapped the 35th Corps at Xinbao'an.[2]: 58 Nationalist reinforcements from Beiping were intercepted by the Communist forces and were unable to reach the city.
Fu Zuoyi ordered the Nationalist forces to stay in place, believing that other Communists forces were far away.[2]: 58 In fact, most of Lin Biao's army had already reached its planned positions on 12 December.[2]: 58
The Communists had surrounded and isolated the major strong points of the Nationalist defenses.[2]: 58 The Communists began secret talks with Fu in an effort to convince him to surrender.[2]: 58 His daughterFu Dong, an underground member of the Communist party, facilitated the talks.[2]: 58 On 19 December, the talks reached impasse.[2]: 58
The PLA then launched an assault against the city on 21 December and captured the city the next evening. Commander of the 35th CorpsGuo Jingyun committed suicide as the Communist forces broke into the city, and remaining Nationalist forces were destroyed as they attempted to retreat back to Zhangjiakou.
After capturing both Zhangjiakou and Xinbao'an, the PLA began to amass troops around the Tianjin area beginning on 2 January 1949. Immediately after the conclusion ofHuaihai campaign in the south, the PLA launched the final assault on Tianjin on 14 January. After 29 hours of fighting, the Nationalist 62nd Army and 86th Army and a total of 130,000 men in ten divisions were either killed or captured, including the Nationalist commanderChen Changjie. Remainder of the Nationalist troops from the 17th Army Group and the 87th Army that participated in the battle retreated south on 17 January by sea.
After the fall of Tianjin to the Communist forces, the Nationalist garrison in Beiping was effectively isolated. Fu Zuoyi came to the decision to negotiate a peace settlement on 21 January. On 22 January, Fu left the city.[2]: 58 His army was integrated into the Communist forces.[2]: 58 On 31 January, the PLA'sFourth Field Army entered Beiping to take over the city which marked the conclusion of the campaign.[citation needed]
The KMT's defeat in the Pingjin campaign ended its ability to be an effective fighting force on the mainland.[2]: 58
The Chinese drama, New World (新世界) is set inside besieged Beiping.
.svg)
