▲ A million troops crossed the Yangtze River
▲Liberation of Nanjing
On April 21, 1949, the Second and Third Field Armies of the People's Liberation Army and the Advance Corps of the Fourth Field Army forcibly crossed the Yangtze River and quickly destroyed the Kuomintang army's so-called "impregnable" Yangtze River defense line with the momentum of autumn wind sweeping away the fallen leaves. On the 23rd, the core of the Kuomintang rule, Nanjing City, was liberated, and in the early morning of the next day, the red flag was planted on the gate tower of the presidential palace, announcing the overthrow of the 22-year-long reactionary rule of the Chiang Kai-shek regime, and using this as a symbol to begin a great pursuit of the remnants of the Kuomintang.
▲ Chiang Kai-shek and Hu Zongnan
Hu Zongnan's clique decided to withdraw south into Sichuan
At this time, only the Kuomintang troops on the northwest battlefield in the whole country still had the advantage in numbers, and Hu Zongnan, director of the Xi'an Appeasement Office, ruled over the northwestern provinces and once commanded more than 400,000 troops, at this time, although only 7 mutilated army turtles were left in the Guanzhong area, the total strength was still more than 200,000 troops. In order to preserve this last bit of pitiful family foundation, Hu Zongnan decided to carry out a strategic retreat, concentrating his troops from the marginal areas of the Guanzhong Plain to Sanyuan, Jingyang, Xianyang, Gaoling, Lintong, and other places, forming an arc-shaped defensive zone across the Jing River and the Wei River, which could be coordinated with the Qinghai warlord Ma Bufang and the Ningxia warlord Ma Hongkui to prevent the PEOPLE's Liberation Army from advancing westward and ensuring the northwest; the retreat could cross the Qinling Mountains into Sichuan and ensure the southwest half of the wall.
As a result, the necessity of defending Xi'an, the largest city in the northwest, was greatly reduced. But xi'an is, after all, the political, economic, and cultural center of the northwest region, from the Western Zhou, Qin, Han to the sui and Tang dynasties, there have been 11 dynasties to build the capital here, which has a huge impact at home and abroad; after the Red Army's Long March arrived in northern Shaanxi, it was an important base for the Kuomintang army to blockade the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, hoarding a large amount of materials, and it is a pity to give up easily. However, Hu Zongnan was reluctant to invest in the elite defense, so he ordered Yang Deliang, commander of the 17th Army, to lead his troops into Xi'an and take over the city defense.
▲ The People's Liberation Army broke through the Weihe River defense line
The improvised Xi'an garrison fled
The 17th Army had suffered repeated heavy losses, and had suffered a devastating blow in the Battle of Libei in October 1948, and had just been rebuilt, and was still in the period of reorganization, and the full battalion was either recruited by force or a defeated soldier who had fled back after being captured, and its combat strength was weak, and even if it was eliminated, it was not painful. In order to make up for the shortage of troops, Hu Zongnan also painstakingly ordered Dong Zhao, chairman of the Shaanxi Provincial Government, to come forward and set up a local security team with self-financing and firearms to dig trenches and build bunkers around Xi'an in the name of the Xi'an Municipal People's Self-Defense Corps. However, in fact, the main force of Hu Zongnan's group had already retreated in its entirety, and the 1st Army, the 38th Army, the 65th Army, and the 90th Army were gathered in the area of Fengxiang and Baoji; the 17th Army simply retreated to Qinling to deploy defenses and arrange passages for the whole army to enter Sichuan.
On May 18, the 6th Army of the First Field Army of the People's Liberation Army was ordered to march to Xi'an, and quickly crossed the undefended Jing River, and then broke through the Weihe River defense line in the early morning of the 20th, annihilating 4 battalions of the defenders and directly approaching xi'an City. The defenders in Xi'an city panicked, and Yang Deliang, commander of the 17th Army and commander of the Xi'an garrison, hurriedly ordered the People's Self-Defense Corps to take over the city defenses, so he led his troops to flee out of the city, and due to the lack of time, even the 1 regiment that served as a cover for the military headquarters failed to keep up in time.
The People's Self-Defense Corps took the initiative to open the city gates
As soon as the 17th Army left on its front foot, the People's Self-Defense Corps, which had only more than 2,000 men, took the initiative to contact the underground party and, as required, focused its main energy on protecting the city's organs, factories and archives, strengthening guard patrols, and preventing secret agents from sabotaging and causing trouble. At 11:00 a.m. on the morning of the 20th, the 49th Regiment of the 16th Division of the 6th Army arrived at the west gate of Xi'an as the vanguard, and the People's Self-Defense Corps immediately withdrew from the city defense and opened the city gate to greet it. By 2 p.m., the 6th Army had taken full control of the City of West Safety; the next day, the 6th Army held a grand ceremony to enter the city, and hundreds of thousands of residents poured into the streets, beating gongs and drums to celebrate liberation.
▲ Reports on the liberation of Xi'an