The Yangtze River Crossing Campaign

After suffering resounding defeats in the Liaoxi-Shenyang, Huai-Hai and Beiping-Tianjin campaigns, the KMT government faced in political, economic and military collapse. To win some breathing-space for a comeback, Chiang Kai-shek attempted to use the Yangtze River as barrier to halt the southward advance of the PLA.

To end the war as soon as possible and bring peace, Mao Zedong presented eight terms for peace negotiations with the KMT government, and the PLA held back from crossing the Yangtze. After talks, KMT and CPC representatives reached an Agreement on Internal Peace, but the Nanjing-based KMT government refused to sign the agreement. As a result, Mao Zedong, chairman of the Chinese People's Revolutionary Military Commission, and Zhu De, commander-in-chief of the PLA, issued an order on April 21, 1949 to the army for a country-wide advance.

On the nights of April 20 and 21, the Second and Third Field Armies started the south crossing campaign, the largest of its kind in Chinese history. The battle line stretched for more than 500 km, from Hukou in the west to Jiangyin in the east. The PLA troops built up huge momentum and broke the KMT defense line along the Yangtze. On April 23, the PLA captured Nanjing, the KMT capital. This event announced the downfall of a reactionary regime that had lasted for 22 years.

From April 27 to May 6, the Third Field Army wiped out five enemy armies in the Langxi and Guangde regions, which had just fled Nanjing and Zhenjiang, and on May 3, they seized Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province. At the same time, the Second Field Army marched southward and liberated the cities of Jiujiang and Nanchang and cut the contacts between the KMT group armies led by Tang Enbo (1900-1954) and Bai Chongxi (1893-1966). They liberated Wuhan on May 17, occupied Shanghai on May 27, and took Chongming Island on June 2.

Over the 42-day campaign, the PLA inflicted more than 430,000 casualties and suffered 60,000, and liberated the major cities of Nanjing, Shanghai and Wuhan, the whole provinces of Jiangsu and Anhui, and parts of the provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei and Fujian. This laid good foundations for liberating the whole of East, South and Southwest China.

渡江戰(zhàn)役

在遼沈、淮海、平津三大戰(zhàn)役的沉重打擊下，國(guó)民黨政治、經(jīng)濟(jì)、軍事陷入了總崩潰。蔣介石為了贏得時(shí)間，伺機(jī)卷土重來(lái)，企圖依托長(zhǎng)江天險(xiǎn)阻止人民解放軍渡江南進(jìn)。

為了早日結(jié)束戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)，實(shí)現(xiàn)真正的和平，毛澤東提出了與國(guó)民黨政府進(jìn)行和平談判的八項(xiàng)條件，人民解放軍為此多次推遲渡江南進(jìn)的時(shí)間。當(dāng)南京國(guó)民黨政府拒絕在國(guó)共雙方已達(dá)成的《國(guó)內(nèi)和平協(xié)定》上簽字后，中國(guó)人民革命軍事委員會(huì)主席毛澤東、中國(guó)人民解放軍總司令朱德于1949年4月21日發(fā)布了向全國(guó)進(jìn)軍的命令。

4月20日晚至21日晚，中國(guó)人民解放軍第二、第三野戰(zhàn)軍，發(fā)起了中國(guó)歷史上規(guī)模空前的渡江戰(zhàn)役。在西起湖口東至江陰的千里戰(zhàn)線上，人民解放軍以排山倒海之勢(shì)，一舉突破了國(guó)民黨陸、海、空組成的長(zhǎng)江防線。4月23日，人民解放軍占領(lǐng)南京，宣告了國(guó)民黨22年反動(dòng)統(tǒng)治的滅亡。4月27日至5月6日，第三野戰(zhàn)軍又在郎溪、廣德地區(qū)圍殲?zāi)暇㈡?zhèn)江逃敵五個(gè)軍，并于5月3日占領(lǐng)浙江省會(huì)杭州。與此同時(shí)，由第二野戰(zhàn)軍組成的西集團(tuán)軍渡江后向南疾進(jìn)，先后解放了九江、南昌，斬?cái)嗔苏阙M路，隔斷了湯恩伯與白崇禧兩集團(tuán)軍的聯(lián)系。5月17日解放了武漢三鎮(zhèn)。5月27日，完全攻占了上海。6月2日，解放了崇明島，至此，渡江戰(zhàn)役宣告勝利結(jié)束。

歷時(shí)42天的渡江戰(zhàn)役，人民解放軍以傷亡6萬(wàn)余人的代價(jià)，殲滅國(guó)民黨軍43萬(wàn)余人，解放了南京、上海、武漢等大城市以及江蘇、安徽兩省全境和浙江、江西、湖北、福建等部分地區(qū)，為之后解放華東全境和向華南、西南地區(qū)進(jìn)軍創(chuàng)造了重要條件。