Battle of Tianquan

Dongshan Island Campaign
Part of Chinese Civil War
Date February 14, 1950 - February 20, 1950 Standort Dongshan Island, Fujian, China Result Communist victory
Belligerents
National Revolutionary Army	PLA People's Liberation Army
Commanders and leaders
Cheng Zhiwu 程志武 Li Yuanheng 李元亨	?
Strength
3,000+	100
Casualties and losses
300+ killed 100+ captured alive	Minor

The Battle of Tianquan was a battle fought between the communists and the nationalists during the Chinese Civil War in the post World War II era and resulted in communist victory. It is also called “The Battle to Defend Tianquan (Tianquan Baoweizhan, 天全保卫战) by the communists.

Order of Battle

• Nationalists (3,000+)
  • Southwestern (China) Anticommunist National Salvation Army
  • Local bandits
• Communists (100+)
  • A company of the 555th Regiments

On February 14, 1950, Cheng Zhiwu (程志武) the nationalist commander of the Southwestern (China) Anticommunist National Salvation Army managed to convince the local bandits headed by Li Yuanheng (李元亨) to ally with him to attack the town of Tianquan (天全) in Xikang. The attackers expected an immediate success because the town was guarded only by a single communist company of the 555th Regiment and as the attackers besieged the town on the same day, all communications to the outside was severed. However, the defenders decided to die with the town and put up a hard fight, despite their numerical and technical advantages.

On February 15, 1950, over a hundred attackers successfully penetrated into the town via Western Pass (Xi Guan, 西关) under the cover of heavy fire, but he defenders outflanked and routed the attackers, killing everyone. As a result, the attackers were gravely demoralized, and the battle reached a stalemate. Realizing that they were short on supply and low on morale, the nationalists attempted another and final assault on the town on February 20, 1950, with over a hundred attackers penetrated into the town and took a large bunker. The defenders, however, besieged the large bunker and blew it up with dynamite, killing everyone inside. Hearing the news, the attackers’ resolve to fight completely collapsed and everyone abandoned his post and fled. The nationalist commanders were unable to stop their fleeing troops and had to withdraw, and taking the opportunity, the defenders counterattacked, inflicting further casualties on the enemy and taking more than a hundred prisoners.

The nationalist failure to take the town was mainly due to their reliance on bandits who had no training on the conventional warfare, and could not effectively utilizing their numerical and technical advantages. Neither did the bandits have any resolve to fight to the end like their enemy defending the town, because were only interested in keeping their own strength and saving their own lives so they could not be depended on in the heat of battle. The few dedicated anticommunists in the nationalist rank was too few to make a difference for the attacking force and thus the nationalist attack resulted in the inevitable failure.

See 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)