Zhengtai Campaign Zhengtai Campaign ( 正太战役 ) was a series of battles fought between the nationalists and the communists during Chinese Civil War in the post World War II era , and resulted in the communist victory . Strategies . After the Campaign to the South of Baoding , nationalist redeployed their forces totaling 26 divisions in 9 armies . The nationalist forces in North China concentrated on protecting important regions including : the Beijing – Shijiazhuang section of Beijing – Hankou Railway , the Beijing – Zhangjiakou section of Beijing – Suiyuan Railway , Northern section of Tatong – Fengling Crossing Railway , Beijing – Shanhaiguan section of Beijing – Shenyang Railway , and the iron triangular region of Beijing – Baoding – Tianjin region . However , the nationalist strategy was seriously flawed in that in order to strengthen the northern defense in the regions mentioned above , it sacrificed the southern defense : the vast region along Zhengding – Taiyuan Railway in the south were only guarded by three divisions and local militia garrisons , and this flaw was to be exploited to the maximum by the Communists . The commander - in - chief and political commissar of the communist Shanxi – Chahar – Hebei Military Region , Nie Rongzhen , decided to concentrate his force to first clear the nationalists from their strongholds outside Shijiazhuang , and then annihilate any nationalist reinforcement sent along the Zhengding – Taiyuan Railway . Order of Battle . Nationalist order of battle : 15 divisions totaling 100 , 000 troops , commanded by Yan Xishan , including those from : Communists order of battle : 100 , 000 troops commanded by Nie Rongzhen , including those from : Campaign . On April 8 , 1947 , communists begun their 1st stage offensive by attacking nationalist strongholds outside Shijiazhuang in a pincer movement . The outnumbered nationalist garrisons had no choice but to abandon over 90 strongholds and quickly withdrew into the major cities . By April 12 , 1947 , all nationalist strongholds fell into the communist hands and in addition , two major counties , Zhengding and Luancheng , also fell into the enemy . However , the rapid nationalist retreat had prevented the major loss of troops : only two nationalist regiments were lost during the first stage . On April 14 , 1947 , communist forces launched their 2nd stage offensive by taking Niangzi ( 娘子 ) Pass and Jingin ( 井陉 ) . Important nationalist strongholds to the north of Yangquan including White Earth Slope ( Baitupo , 白土坡 ) , Upper Yinying ( Shangyinying 上荫莹 ) , and Lower Yinying ( Xiayinying , 下荫莹 ) subsequently fell in a domino effect . After losing nearly four dozen local strongholds , Pingding County and Yangquan were both seriously threatened by the communists , who besieged the last two remaining nationalist strongholds on April 25 , 1947 . On April 24 , 1947 , Yan Xishan ordered the nationalist 33rd Army stationed in Taiyuan and Qi ( 祁 ) County eastward to reinforce the local nationalist garrison via railway , and reached Yangquan the next day . The defense of Yangquan was further enhanced by the arrival of the nationalist 8th and 10th Division on April 28 , 1947 . In response , the communists redeployed part of their force to the west to surround the nationalists by taking regions including Qinquan ( 芹泉 ) , Yu ( 盂 ) County , and Ceshiyi ( 测石驿 ) , thus completely sealing off the retreating routes of the nationalist reinforcement . On April 29 , 1947 , the main force of the nationalist 33rd Army retreated westward , but they were stopped by the communist forces at the Ceshiyi ( 测石驿 ) region . Meanwhile , on the northern bank of Great Clearity River ( Da Qin He 大清河 ) in Shengfang ( 胜芳 ) region , the Independent 7th Brigade of communist Central Hebei Military District and local garrison of the communist 10th Military Sub - district successfully beaten back repeated attacks of the nationalist reinforcement . However , the communist victory was largely due to the lack of corporations among nationalists themselves : out of a total of seven divisions , only 13 regiments actually participated in the assaults on the communist positions , less than half of the total . The reason was that Yan Xishan , the nationalist commander - in - chief and the warlord of Shanxi was not willing to sacrifice his own troops for Chiang Kai - shek and other warlords allied with Chiang , which resulted in further disasters for the nationalists : after beaten back the nationalist attacks , the Independent 7th Brigade of communist Central Hebei Military Sub - region and local garrison of the communist 10th Military Sub - district further expanded their victories by taken nationalist strongholds including Tang ’ erli ( 堂二里 ) township of Ba ( 霸 ) County , Anci ( 安次 ) county , and the region of Xushengkou ( 徐胜口 ) on April 27 , 1947 . By May 1 , 1947 , it was obvious to the nationalists that Yangquan could not be held any longer . Yan Xishan ordered most of the defenders , including the 46th Division of the 33rd Army and the Independent 10th Division to retreat westward , while the 5th Group , consisted of 500 former Japanese troops enlisted in Yan ’ s army were ordered to stay behind to guard Lion Brain Mountain ( Shi Nao Shan , 狮脑山 ) to cover the general retreat . However , the retreating nationalist main force met stubborn enemy resistance and was stopped surrounded by the enemy at the regions of Zhaiyu ( 寨鱼 ) and Ceshiyi ( 测石驿 ) . On May 3 , 1947 , under the communist ' s overwhelming political offensive , the 500 member strong nationalist 5th Group surrendered to the communists . On May 4 , 1947 , nationalist defenders at Zhaiyu ( 寨鱼 ) and Ceshiyi ( 测石驿 ) region could no longer holdout and attempted to breakout , but unfortunately , they were ambushed on their retreat and most were killed . On the same day , nationalist defenders at Shouyang ( 寿阳 ) abandoned their posts under communist ' s overwhelming pressure and fled to Yuci . The communists did not end the campaign until they chased the retreating nationalist force all the way to the suburb of Yuci . Outcome . The internal power struggle and the lack of corporation contributed to the nationalist defeat at least as much as the enemy pressure if not greater . Yan Xishan , the nationalist commander - in - chief and the warlord of Shanxi was not willing to sacrifice his own troops to help Fu Zuoyi , the nationalist commander and warlord who controlled Hebei . The personal relationship between the two nationalist commanders were strained due to history : prior to the Second Sino - Japanese War , Fu Zuoyi was originally a trusted officer of Yan Xishan but later defected from Yan ’ s clique in the wars among warlords , and eventually became a rival of Yan . Although both came under Chiang Kai - shek ’ s nationalist government ’ s rule after World War II , the distrust among the two still ran deep . As a more capable commander , Fu Zuoyi was not happy to see the overall command was given to Yan Xishan , who in turn , was not willing to make a full commitment to fight communists outside his own turf for somebody else , especially somebody who betrayed him before , so the corporation among the two was half hearted at the best . The result was that although an impressive force totaling more than 100 , 000 with technical superiority was deployed , but they were not concentrated in offensives against communist forces and thus was not effective at all in thwarting the enemy ’ s advance , which inevitably led to the loss of more than a third of troops deployed in the campaign , as well as territories , and initiatives on the battlefield . For the communists , their victory included taking seven cities / town , three important mineral rich regions including Huangdangou ( 黄丹沟 ) , Jingin ( 井陉 ) and Yangquan . A vast region along the 180 km stretch railway from Huolu ( 获鹿 ) to Yuci had fallen under Reds ’ control , and Shijiazhuang , the provincial capital of Hebei was isolated . The Zhengtai Campaign proved to be pivotal for Reds because it turned the tide in North China : after the defeat , the nationalists were forced to be on the defensive and were never able to launch large offensives against the communists like they used to do , and a stalemate was reached . The initiatives changed hands to the communist side , which changed their defensive posture to an offensive posture by gradually stepped up their own offensives against the nationalists as time goes by .