On the evening of April 20, 1949, the Second and Third Field Armies of the People's Liberation Army successively launched the Campaign to Cross the River in accordance with the orders of the Central Military Commission and the Outline for the Implementation of the Beijing-Shanghai-Hangzhou Campaign. With the support and cooperation of artillery and engineers, they forcibly crossed the Yangtze River on the Thousand Mile Front from Hukou in the west to the Jingjiang River in the east, quickly broke through the Kuomintang army's river defenses, occupied Guichi, Tongling, Wuhu, Changzhou, Wuxi, Zhenjiang, and other cities, and completely destroyed the Kuomintang army's Yangtze River defense line. It can be said that the soldiers were invincible, and in less than 3 days, they liberated Nanjing, where the Kuomintang reactionaries had been entrenched for 22 years.
This is all to be expected. Because as early as January 31, 1949, with the end of the Battle of Pingjin, it marked the total victory of the three major battles of the Liberation War. The elite Kuomintang troops have now been completely annihilated, the Kuomintang army's heart has long been broken, and the military soul has been lost. After fighting the Yangtze River, as long as the People's Liberation Army is willing, it seems to be able to do it at any time.
However, the battle of crossing the river that seems to be captured by hand, why did we delay from the end of January to the day of April 20th? After all, the three major battles together, it was only 4 and a half months.
Political risk: opposition from the United States and the Soviet Union!
At that time, both the United States and the Soviet Union hoped that China, like North Korea, would split into two regimes, facilitate the administration of the United States and the Soviet Union, and eventually become a vassal state of the United States and the Soviet Union. Such a divided China is in the best interests of the United States and the Soviet Union.
But china is divided, what is the point of the war of liberation?
On November 9, 1948, shortly after the liaoshen campaign, the liberation war entered a turning point. Chiang Kai-shek hurriedly asked the United States for military assistance, which Was directly rejected by Truman:
"Joke! If you want to be able to unify yourself, then forget it, if you want me to help you unify, not only will the cost be great for me, but when I am stupid!? "
This was what the Americans meant at the time. But Chiang Kai-shek was not dead hearted.
So in December of the same year, the United States directly made it clear: you (Chiang Kai-shek) either give up your idea of unifying the whole country, sign a peace agreement, and rule with the Communist Party; or abdicate and give way, and we will support Li Zongren to take your place.
In this regard, Chiang Kai-shek's reply:
We must not "rule by paddling the river!" China has been a unified country since ancient times, and if a southern and northern dynasties appear in my hands, I Jiang Someone will be a great sinner.
On the other hand, the Soviet Union also proposed to Mao Zedong that "China should divide the north and south." He stressed that if the Communists crossed the Yangtze River, the United States would certainly intervene by force. If the United States were to intervene, then I would not care, lest the United States and the Soviet Union duel lead to World War III. To put it bluntly, the Soviet Union meant that the two Chinese governments were more conducive to world peace (the interests of the Soviet Union).
Therefore, this proposal was rejected by Mao Zedong without hesitation:
"Comrade Stalin told us to rule by drawing a river, is this possible?" We are not warlords, we are the People's Liberation Army, and we want to liberate all of China. If you look at our history, even the warlords are committed to unifying all of China and the whole world, and they will never be in a corner of peace. If we really rule by river, it is not as good as a warlord. "
Will China be divided again? Who wants to be a sinner of this nation, who dares to be a sinner of this nation!?
As early as the beginning of June 1948, the ratio of troop strength between the Kuomintang and the Communists had gone from 3.14:1 at the beginning to 1.3:1 at the beginning, and judging by the combat effectiveness of the Communist Party and the Kuomintang, the PLA was undoubtedly victorious in such a ratio of troop strength. Logically, the three major battles should have been fought long ago, so why did they drag on to the end of the fight?
The reason is simple, because neither the United States nor the Soviet Union wants to see China reunified, and in this case, the time is not ripe to launch a great armageddon. As long as there is a war, it will attract the armed intervention of the United States and the Soviet Union. The People's Liberation Army was able to win the battle against Chiang Kai-shek, but in the face of the most powerful United States in the world at that time, the People's Liberation Army really could not be tough. Because neither the United States nor the Soviet Union wanted to see such a huge China completely fall to the other side, armed intervention was inevitable, which was a huge strategic hidden danger.
But China absolutely cannot be divided, Mao Zedong will not allow it, and the hundreds of millions of chinese people will not allow it!
Luckily, the turnaround came.
The Berlin crisis broke out
On June 24, 1948, the Soviet Union blocked the railway and the passage to the west of Berlin, and the Berlin Crisis broke out! The United States and the Soviet Union gathered hundreds of thousands of troops and confronted each other in Berlin, and both sides began to urgently transfer strategic materials and mobilize troops. World War III seemed to be on the verge of breaking out, and in this case, both the United States and the Soviet Union were extremely nervous and did not dare to be distracted, and their deployment of troops was greatly affected at this time.
Chairman Mao knew that the opportunity had come! Do it!
It was this incomparably accurate judgment and decision that allowed the PLA to seize the favorable opportunity, mobilize all its forces, and engage in a strategic decisive battle with the Kuomintang. In the end, it took only more than three months to eliminate all the elite of the Kuomintang, and the three major battles were completely won. Even if the United States and the Soviet Union had the intention to intervene, the situation in Germany did not allow them to draw any troops.
In January 1949, Chiang Kai-shek carried out a strategy to slow down the army and proposed peace talks. After more than 3 months of talking, there was no result, and Mao Zedong stopped talking.
On April 12, 1949, the Communist Party demanded that Zhang Zhizhong sign the Draft Internal Peace Agreement by April 20, or cross the river immediately.
On the night of April 20, 1949, a million troops of the People's Liberation Army crossed the Yangtze River and broke the Yangtze River defense line that Chiang Kai-shek had painstakingly operated for 3 and a half months under the strategy of slowing down the army.
On April 23, 1949, Nanjing was liberated and the Nationalist government collapsed.
Half a month later, the Berlin crisis ended, lasting a total of 11 months, the United States and the Soviet Union ended the confrontation, and the two sides regained their freedom of forces. However, at this time, the city of Nanjing had long been liberated, and the Nationalist government had already fled to Taiwan, and it was impossible to send troops to intervene at this time. The United States and the Soviet Union could only give verbal warnings and did not take any more practical action.
The time given to China's reunification, in fact, is only 11 months, which can be described as a speed of life and death. Even if you take the wrong step, what China's future will look like is still unknown.
Fortunately, China produced a great man: Mao Zedong, Chairman Mao.