View source for Battle of Bamianshan

{{Short description|1950 Chinese Civil War battle}}
{{Infobox military conflict
|conflict=Battle of Bamianshan
|partof=[[Chinese Civil War]]
|place=[[Hunan]], [[China]]
|date=January 19–31, 1950
|result=[[People's Republic of China|Communist]] victory
|combatant1={{flag|Republic of China}}
|combatant2={{flagicon|China}} [[Chinese Communist Party]]
|commander1={{flagicon|Republic of China}} Chen Zixian<br>{{flagicon|Republic of China}} Shi Xingzhou
|commander2={{flagicon|China}} Unknown
|strength1= 4,000
|strength2= 7,000
|casualties1= 3,000
|casualties2= Minor
|}}
{{Campaignbox Chinese Civil War}}
The '''Battle of Bamianshan''' (八面山战斗) took place between the [[Kuomintang|Nationalists]] and the [[Communist Party of China|Communists]] during the [[Chinese Civil War]] in the post-[[World War II]] era and resulted in [[communist]] victory.

Order of battle:
*Nationalists: Temporarily Organized 1st Army (4,000+)
*Communists: 141st Division of the communist 47th Army (7000+)

Bamianshan (八面山), meaning Eight Sided Mountain literally, is located 10&nbsp;km to the north of the town of [[Liye]] (里耶) in the border region of [[Hunan]], [[Sichuan]] and [[Hubei]]. The difficult terrain made it ideal as a hideout for bandits, who had plagued the local region for more than a century. By the end of 1949 the bandits were led by Shi Xingzhou (师兴周). In late December 1949 the Nationalist Temporarily Organized 1st Army led by its commander Chen Zixian (陈子贤) withdrew to the mountains and convinced the local bandits to join them, fighting the communists together. The Nationalists planned to use the mountain as a guerilla base to launch operations against their Communist enemy.

In mid-January 1950 the 141st Division of the communist 47th Army was tasked with the extermination of the Nationalist guerrillas and the division began its intensive training in [[mountain warfare]]. Two regiments of the 141st Division of the 47th Army were deployed in the regions of Neixipeng (内夕棚), Greater Rocky Gate (Dayanmen, 小岩门) and Lesser Rocky Gate (Xiaoyanmen, 小岩门), thus completing the encirclement of the Eight Sided Mountain (Bamianshan, 八面山).

The battle erupted on January 19, 1950, when a detachment of Communist troops secretly climbed up the southern cliff of the mountain and dispersed the Nationalist guerrillas in a surprise attack. The defenders were overwhelmed by the rapid and decisive surprise attack and were completely demoralized; they abandoned their posts and began to flee. The commanders were unable to rally their troops for an effective counterattack and the guerrilla headquarters located in the Swallow Cave (Yanzidong, 燕子洞) fell, with a huge amount of weapons captured by the attacking enemy. After the main engagement the Communists began to eradicate the surviving Nationalist guerrillas by fighting in small teams, and by the end of January 1950 the battle concluded with over 3,000 Nationalist guerrillas killed or captured. The Nationalist plan of long-term guerrilla and insurgency warfare had been crushed.

The Communist victory, however, was incomplete: around 1,000 Nationalist guerrilla fighters successfully escaped to fight for another day at different locations, including their commander Chen Zixian (陈子贤). Most of the escaped Nationalist guerrillas retreated to [[Sichuan]].

==See also==
* [[Outline of the Chinese Civil War]]
* [[Outline of the military history of the People's Republic of China]]
*[[National Revolutionary Army]]
*[[History of the People's Liberation Army]]

==References==
{{no footnotes|date=September 2014}}
*Zhu, Zongzhen and Wang, Chaoguang, ''Liberation War History'', 1st Edition, Social Scientific Literary Publishing House in [[Beijing]], 2000, {{ISBN|7-80149-207-2}} (set)
*Zhang, Ping, ''History of the Liberation War'', 1st Edition, Chinese Youth Publishing House in [[Beijing]], 1987, {{ISBN|7-5006-0081-X}} (pbk.)
*Jie, Lifu, ''Records of the Liberation War: The Decisive Battle of Two Kinds of Fates'', 1st Edition, [[Hebei]] People's Publishing House in [[Shijiazhuang]], 1990, {{ISBN|7-202-00733-9}} (set)
*Literary and Historical Research Committee of the [[Anhui]] Committee of the [[Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference]], ''Liberation War'', 1st Edition, [[Anhui]] People's Publishing House in [[Hefei]], 1987, {{ISBN|7-212-00007-8}}
*Li, Zuomin, ''Heroic Division and Iron Horse: Records of the Liberation War'', 1st Edition, [[Communist Party of China|Chinese Communist]] Party History Publishing House in [[Beijing]], 2004, {{ISBN|7-80199-029-3}}
*Wang, Xingsheng, and Zhang, Jingshan, ''Chinese Liberation War'', 1st Edition, [[People's Liberation Army]] Literature and Art Publishing House in [[Beijing]], 2001, {{ISBN|7-5033-1351-X}} (set)
*Huang, Youlan, ''History of the Chinese People's Liberation War'', 1st Edition, Archives Publishing House in [[Beijing]], 1992, {{ISBN|7-80019-338-1}}
*Liu Wusheng, ''From [[Yan'an]] to [[Beijing]]: A Collection of Military Records and Research Publications of Important Campaigns in the Liberation War'', 1st Edition, Central Literary Publishing House in [[Beijing]], 1993, {{ISBN|7-5073-0074-9}}
*Tang, Yilu and Bi, Jianzhong, ''History of Chinese [[People's Liberation Army]] in Chinese Liberation War'', 1st Edition, Military Scientific Publishing House in [[Beijing]], 1993 &ndash; 1997, {{ISBN|7-80021-719-1}} (Volum 1), 7800219615 (Volum 2), 7800219631 (Volum 3), 7801370937 (Volum 4), and 7801370953 (Volum 5)

{{Chinese Civil War}}

{{Coord|28.86271|N|109.26035|E|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bamianshan}}
[[Category:Battles of the Chinese Civil War]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1950]]
[[Category:1950 in China]]
[[Category:Military history of Hunan]]
[[Category:January 1950 in Asia]]