The Menglianggu campaign (Chinese: 孟良崮戰役) was fought between the nationalists and the communists during the Chinese Civil War in the post-World War II era. The battle resulted in the encirclement and destruction of the nationalist corps-sized 74th Reorganized Division, one of the most elite forces of their side, and a significant communist victory. The campaign was later used by the communists as a specific battle example in their military science and history. The battle mainly took place in Menglianggu of Linyi region in Shandong Province.
Prelude
From March 1947 the Nationalists had abandoned their original plan of all-out assault on every communist position; instead, they adjusted their strategy to a much more realistic one: concentrating on attacking the communists in northern Shanxi and Shandong. In the Shandong theater of war, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek named Gu Zhutong, the commander-in-chief of the National Revolutionary Army, as the commander-in-chief at the front line, setting up his headquarters in Xuzhou. Gu Zhutong had 24 army-sized reorganized divisions totaling more than 60 division-sized reorganized brigades at his command, totaling 450,000+ troops. Out of that number, over 330,000 were in 17 army-sized reorganized divisions totaling more than 43 division-sized reorganized brigades, deployed on the first line, organized into three corps: the I, II and III. These were spearheaded by three crack units of the nationalist forces: the 11th Reorganized Division, the 74th Reorganized Division and the 5th Army. Out of the three corps, the I commanded by Tang Enbo was the largest and strongest, with almost 200,000 troops in eight army-sized reorganized divisions totaling more than 20 division-sized reorganized brigades; this unit was tasked with the main assaults on the communists. From late March to mid April 1947, nationalists succeeded in taking control of the regions along the section of the Jinpu railway from Xuzhou to Jinan and the entire southern Shandong region.
The overconfident nationalists subsequently attacked the mountainous region in central Shandong in late April 1947 but suffered a setback for their carelessness in Tai'an-Mengyin campaign, losing over 24,000 troops. However, such a setback was, in the overall scheme of things, considered a rather minor that could be ignored: a mere 5% out of the total force. The nationalists continued their original plan of pushing the arc-shaped front line continuously deeper into central Shandong and force the local communist force—the East China Field Army—into a decisive battle in which it would be annihilated; if the communists chose not to engage, then they would be forced to cross the Yellow River to flee north. The nationalist I Corps would attack toward the Yishui (沂水) and Tanbu (坦埠) regions, then join forces with the II and III corps to attack northward and eastward, destroying the communist base in Shandong. Five nationalist armies were deployed in the region border by the Qingdao–Jinan railway, Jinpu railway, and Tai'an in the south to support the three nationalist corps. Another two army-sized reorganized divisions were deployed in Yi (峄) County and Zaozhuang respectively as reserves.
Order of battle
The nationalists totaled three corps with more than 600,000 troops, while the communists totaled 10 columns (armies) with almost 200,000 troops.
Nationalist order of battle
- The 5th Army
- The 7th Army
- The army-sized 11th Reorganized Division
- The army-sized 20th Reorganized Division
- The army-sized 25th Reorganized Division
- The army-sized 48th Reorganized Division
- The army-sized 65th Reorganized Division
- The army-sized 74th Reorganized Division
- The division-sized 51st Reorganized Brigade
- The division-sized 57th Reorganized Brigade
- The division-sized 58th Reorganized Brigade
- The army-sized 83rd Reorganized Division
- Other various units
Communist order of battle
- The 1st column (army) of the East China Field Army
- The 2nd column (army) of the East China Field Army
- The 3rd column (army) of the East China Field Army
- The 4th column (army) of the East China Field Army
- The 6th column (army) of the East China Field Army
- The 7th column (army) of the East China Field Army
- The 8th column (army) of the East China Field Army
- The 9th column (army) of the East China Field Army
- The 10th column (army) of the East China Field Army
- The specialized column (army) of the East China Field Army (unit with armor, trucks and artillery)
- Other local garrison units
Commanders
Commanders from Nationalist side included:
- Supreme Commander: Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (Stationed in Nanjing)
- Frontline Commander-in-chief: Gu Zhutong (Stationed in Xuzhou)
- Corps Commander-in-chief: Tang Enbo
- Hu Lien (胡琏): Commander of the 11th Reorganized Division
- Huang Baitao (黄伯韬): Commander of the 25th Reorganized Division
- Zhang Lingfu: Commander of the 74th Reorganized Division
- Li Tianxia: Commander of the 83rd Reorganized Division (Replaced by Zhou Zhidao)
Commanders from Communist side included:
- Chen Yi (陈毅): Commander-in-chief and Commissar of the East China Field Army
- Su Yu: Deputy Commander-in-chief of the East China Field Army, the actual architect of the campaign
- Tan Zhenlin (谭震林): Deputy Commissar of the East China Field Army
- Wang Bicheng (王必成): commander-in-chief of the 6th Column (army) of the East China Field Army
Strategies
The strategies of both sides had changed from their original versions as the battles progressed.
Nationalist strategy
After the destruction of the entire 72nd Reorganized Division in late April 1947 in the Tai'an-Mengyin Campaign, the nationalists became very cautious and concentrated their forces in their movements afterward. On May 4, 1947, the communist high command radioed the East China Field Army that since it was impossible to fight large nationalist formations because the nationalists had concentrated their forces, the current tactic of waiting for an appropriate opportunity was to be maintained As long as they were patient, there would always be the opportunity to annihilate the enemy. Two days later the communist high command once again radioed the East China Field Army to instruct local communists on several important points: Never be impatient and never separate the concentrated forces, because as long as the concentrated force are ready to be mobilized, there would always be the opportunity to destroy the enemy. Local communist commanders redeployed their forces in early May 1947 by withdrawing their main force eastward to the region east of Laiwu and Xintai, while the communist 2nd and 7th Columns, originally planned to be deployed to central China, were instead withdrawn to Ju (莒) County, and the communist 6th Column was withdrawn to Pingyi (平邑) in southern Shandong. The communists were waiting to ambush the nationalists at the proper moment.
Nationalist commander Gen. Chiang Kai-shek had erroneously believed that the communist retreat was a sign of weakness and that they were no longer able to fight any decisive battles, so on May 10 he gave the order to pursue and eradicate them. Gen. Gu Zhutong subsequently ordered the three nationalist corps under his command to give chase toward Boshan and Yishui. Gen. Tang Enbo, the commander-in-chief of the nationalist I Corps at the right flank, abandoned the previously proven tactics of prudently pushing the enemy and acted on his own without coordinating with the II Corps and III Corps; he ordered the 74th Reorganized Division to advance toward Tanbu on May 11 from Tao Xu (桃墟) and Duo (垛) Village in an attempt to take control of the region along the highway from Yishui to Mengyin (蒙阴). To protect his flanks, he ordered the 7th Army and 48th Reorganized Division to advance toward Yishui in the north, and the nationalist 65th Reorganized Division to guard Mengyin. The resulting advance dangerously overexposed the nationalist units.
Communist strategy
On May 11 the communists learned that the nationalist 5th Army and 48th Reorganized Division had taken regions including Mia Family's Bent (Miao Jia Qu, 苗家曲) and Border Lake (Jie Hu, 界湖) by venturing out from Riverine Sunny and was advancing toward Yishui, leaving them dangerously exposed. The communists decided to ambush these units and, if possible, also any reinforcing units. After the order was given, new intelligence revealed Tang Enbo's plan and that the nationalist 74th Reorganized Division was advancing toward Tanbu. Communist commanders of the East China Field Army analyzed the situation and decided that it would be better to first annihilate the 74th Reorganized Division because it was the most dangerously exposed, and the gap between it and other nationalist units were the largest, making it easier to surround and destroy it. The commander of the nationalist 74th Reorganized Division, Gen. Zhang Lingfu, was regarded by many other nationalist commanders as arrogant because he was a favorite of Chiang Kai-shek and so was not on good terms with them, especially with Li Tianxia, the commander of the 83rd Reorganized Division. His relationship with his direct superior Tang Enbo was also quite rocky, so the communists believed that if Lingfu's 74th Reorganized Division was under attack, other nationalist commanders would not be too enthusiastic about saving it. The rugged terrain would limit the mobility of the mechanized nationalist force, while the communists could take advantage of it to hide and move their troops. The 74th Reorganized Division was one of the top five crack units of the nationalist forces, and once it was completely destroyed it would be a huge psychological blow to the nationalist morale and good propaganda for the communists. Another reason they had for destroying Lingfu's forces was personal: he had openly and often proclaimed that his goal was to feed Communist commander Chen Yi "to the fishes by driving he and his followers into the East China Sea. The communists were therefore determined to destroy their nemesis.
After the communists had changed their mind on their targets, the communists ordered a redeployment of their forces on the morning of May 12: they would concentrate at least five columns (armies) to destroy the 74th Reorganized Division in the region bordered by the Menglianggu (孟良崮) Mountains in the north and Tanbu in the south. Communist forces on their eastward march were ordered to immediately march in the opposite direction to the east of Mengyin. The Communist 1st, 4th, 6th, 8th, 9th and the Specialized Columns (armies) were assigned to attack the 74th Reorganized Division, while the communist 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 10th Columns (armies) and local militias were to prevent nationalist units, including the 5th and 7th Army and 11th, 25th, 48th, 65th and 83rd Reorganized Divisions from reinforcing the 74th Reorganized Division by blocking them in the regions of Xintai, Laiwu, Linyi, Lintai (临泰) and Riverine Sunny regions.