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Mao's declaration on the fall of Japan
Mao declared, a day after the Soviet entry into the war, that the collapse of Japan was in sight and the the hour had arrived for the CCP to mount a general offensive. -
PLA seizure of all towns, cities and communication centers under Japanese occupation
Chu Teh, commander-in-chief of the People's Liberation army (PLA), ordered his troops to seize all towns, cities and communication centers, and to recieve the enemy's surrender and military supplies. Within two weeks of the Japanese surrender the Communists expanded their territory from 116 to 175 counties. -
Chiang requests American help
To overcome the strength of the Communist geographical advance, Chiang had to request American help to airlift and sealift all his troops to the occupied areas. -
CCP facilitated entry into Manchuria
The Soviet advance did not stop with the Japanese surrender, nor did it halt at the geographical limit of Manchuria. This faciliated the entry of the CCP forces into Manchuria, where the Soviets turned over to them considerable quantaties of surrended Japanese arms. -
Communists in control of liberated areas
Following the collapse of Japan, after two atomic shocks, the Communists were in control of 18 "liberated areas" in the North,South and Central China, with a population of one million. -
Failed Nationalist takeover of Manchuria
General Wedemeyer, doubting the Nationalist capacity to take Manchuria, had advised Chinag to first consolidate other areas. Rejecting this counsel, Chiange committed nearly half a million of his best equipped troops to Manchuria- a decision he would later regret. Nationalist forces entered into an area, which by then, the CCP forces had almost completely dominated the vast countryside of these pockets, thus confronting the Nationalists with an untenable position. -
CCP occupation of Changchun
The CCP forces dealt a crushing blow to the Nationalist army and occupied the strategic city of Changcun on April 18, 1946. -
Mid-1947 Turning point in the fighting- Communists
In contrast to the Nationalist's downfall, the Communist army had been expanding steadily, reaching 1.95 million in June 1947 as compared with the KMT's 3.75 million. -
Mid-1947 Turning point in the fighting- Nationalists
Mid-1947 seemed to mark a turning point in the fighting. The victory-laden Nationalist military machine began to sputter, partly because of of increased assignment of soldiers to garrison duties in reconquered areas, with a corresponding reduction in the actual fighting force. -
General Communist offensive
The Communists went on a general offensive in the second half of 1947, scoring victories in Honan and Northern Hopeh. -
Nationalist blow- Manchuria, Christmas 1947
By far the severest blow to the Nationalists occured in Manchuria. Within three months of Christmas 1947, Lin Piao's army had inflicted losses of 150,000 on the crack Nationalist army. The remainder were pressed into a small triangle area between Mukden, Changchun and Chinchow, which represented less than 1% of Manchuria. -
Shantung conquered
Operating simulataneously with the Manchurian battles, another Communist field army under Ch'en Yi conquered Shantung after fierce fighting at Tsinan on September 26,1948. -
Defected Nationalist Divisions
No sooner had the Battle at Huai-Hai begun in October 1948 than two entire Nationalist divisions had defected. -
Chinchow conquered
By mid-1948 Lin had so tightened the encirclement that he practically smothered the Nationalist defenders. Having destroyed 100,000 government troops, he conquered Chinchow on October 14. -
Changchun conquered
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Mukden conquered- mortal blow
The Manchurian campaign cost Chiang 470,000 of his best troops and dealt a mortal blow to the morale of the entire army. In the opinion of General David Barr, it 'spelled the beginning of the end' for the Nationalist cause. -
Destroyed government troops
From November 11 to 22, 100,000 government troops were destroyed. -
Hsuchow fell
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The Battle of Huai-Hai
By the time the battle of Huai-Hai was over in January 1949, the Nationalists had lost no less than 200,000 men and two well known commanders, who were captured by the enemy. Flushed with success, Mao confiedntly predicted victory in one year. -
General Fu, and 200,000 troops, surronder to the Communists
The Nationalist defender, General Fu Tso-yi, had 500,00 men under his command. But all expectations of a resistance to Lin Piao's 800,000-man army evaporated when his defense plans were stolen by a Communist agent operating in his headquarters. The garrisons of Tientsin and Peiping capulated on January 15 and 23, 1949, respectively. General Fu himself, and 200,000 troops, surronded. -
Chiang forced to resign
Chiang was forced by the peace faction within his party to resign on January 21, 1949, and Vice-President Li Tsung-jen took over the reins of government as acting president. -
Communist conquest of Mainland China complete
When the Nationalist government fled from Canton to Chungking on October 13 and to Tawain on December 8, the Communist conquest of Mainland China was complete. After twenty-eight years (1921-49) of struggle, Mao rose to the pinnacle of power.