Yangtze River Detachment


Yangtze River Detachment of the People's Liberation Army, referred to as the Changjiang Detachment, Yangtze River Detachment, was a southern expeditionary force formed by the Chinese Communist Party in March 1949, predominantly consisting of cadres from the former liberated regions of Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region. The objective was to assist the People's Liberation Army in advancing southward over the Yangtze River to secure newly freed territories. Upon arriving in Fujian on August 11, 1949, the southern expeditionary operation concluded, and the Yangtze River Detachment was dissolved, with its original members reassigned to the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.

History

Background

In August 1947, the Liu-Deng Forces progressed into the Dabie Mountains; nevertheless, the lack of cooperation from local administrations hindered the assurance of logistics and supply support. Consequently, Liu and Deng were compelled to reallocate more than 20,000 people from their field forces to bolster the local governments in the Dabie Mountains Liberated Area, thereby ensuring efficient logistical support. On August 24, 1948, Deng Xiaoping, then First Secretary of the Central Plains Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, proposed in a telegraph to the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party that preparations be made for the transfer of cadres to assume control of the liberated provinces. Liu Bocheng subsequently reaffirmed Deng Xiaoping's perspective in his report.
In October 1948, Mao Zedong and the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party issued directives mandating the freed regions to organize the rotation, training, and selection of cadres at all levels in preparation for deployment to the south. On October 29, the resolved to form a southern regional party committee from the liberated territories of Taihang and, to assign cadres for the administration of a newly liberated provincial-level region. On March 21, 1949, personnel from the Taihang and Taiyue regions convened in Wu'an and officially formed the Yangtze River Detachment of the People's Liberation Army, departing southward on April 24.

Progress

On April 24, 1949, the Yangtze River Detachment embarked from Wu'an, initially proceeding on foot to Tangyin, followed by a train journey from to Kaifeng. Upon arriving at the Huai River, the detachment was compelled to traverse a pontoon bridge to access Bengbu, as the Huai River Bridge had been obliterated by Du Yuming during the Huaihai Campaign. They thereafter boarded a train to Mingguang and continued through Chuxian to Pukou. On May 12, the contingent traversed the Yangtze River via ferry from the northern bank at Pukou and reached Nanjing City. They left for Suzhou on May 23.
The initial objective of forming the Yangtze River Detachment was to seize southern Jiangsu; however, on April 27, when southern Jiangsu was liberated, the detachment remained in Anyang. The East China Bureau subsequently designated cadres from Shandong to assume control, resulting in the Yangtze River Detachment, which had reached Suzhou, lacking directives to execute. In June, Chen Geng participated in the Second Field Army's General Headquarters Meeting in Nanjing and intended for the Yangtze River Detachment to accompany the Third and Fourth Corps to the southwest. Nevertheless, following Zhang Dingcheng's suggestion, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party ultimately resolved to direct the Yangtze River Detachment to advance southward and seize Fujian. The forces left Suzhou on July 13, arrived in Pucheng on August 1, and reached Jian'ou on the August 10.
On August 11, Zhang Dingcheng, Zeng Jingbing, and others held a reunion conference in Jian'ou. The was dismantled, and the Yangtze River Detachment was officially dissolved. All entities and individuals within the initial framework were subordinated to the authority of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.

Organization

The members of the Party Committee of the Yangtze River Detachment are:
Organizational structure of the major units of the Yangtze River Detachment:
BrigadesStrengthFromTarget AreaSecretary of the Regional CommitteeDeputy SecretaryDirectorVice-directorOrganization MinisterPublicity MinisterMilitary District Deputy CommanderSecretary-General
First Brigade840Taihang Zhang Ping
Second Brigade639TaiyueZhang Yi
Second Brigade639Taiyue
Third Brigade668TaihangJia JiuminLiu Jianfu Jia Jiumin
Fourth Brigade659TaiyueShang Zhi
Fifth Brigade817TaihangLi WeiMa XingyuanLuo Jing
Sixth Brigade624TaiyueLiu Zhe-