Siege of Changchun

000 Siege of Changchun

Siege of Changchun
1947	Communist victory
The siege of Changchun was a military blockade undertaken by the People's Liberation Army against Changchun between May and October 1948, the largest city in Manchuria at the time, and one of the headquarters of the Republic of China Army in Northeast China. It was one of the longest campaigns in the Liaoshen Campaign of the Chinese Civil War. For the Nationalist government, the fall of Changchun made it clear that the KMT was no longer able to hold on to Manchuria. The city of Shenyang and the rest of Manchuria were quickly defeated by the PLA. The siege warfares employed by the CCP throughout the campaigns in the Northeast were highly successful, which reduced a significant number of KMT troops and altered the balance of power. Numbers of civilian deaths have been estimated at around 150,000. The CCP prevented the civilians from leaving the city to exhaust the food supply of the KMT defenders, which resulted in people starving to death. The CCP continued to prevent civilian refugees from leaving the city until early August. In the end, around 150,000 refugees successfully left Changchun, although some of these were sent back into the city as agents or spies to counter the claim that the Communists were deliberately starving the civilian population. Changchun being not politically connected to either the KMT or the CCP was arguably one of the reasons behind the poor treatment of civilians.

Siege of Changchun

1947

Communist victory

The siege of Changchun was a military blockade undertaken by the People's Liberation Army against Changchun between May and October 1948, the largest city in Manchuria at the time, and one of the headquarters of the Republic of China Army in Northeast China. It was one of the longest campaigns in the Liaoshen Campaign of the Chinese Civil War.

For the Nationalist government, the fall of Changchun made it clear that the KMT was no longer able to hold on to Manchuria. The city of Shenyang and the rest of Manchuria were quickly defeated by the PLA. The siege warfares employed by the CCP throughout the campaigns in the Northeast were highly successful, which reduced a significant number of KMT troops and altered the balance of power.

Numbers of civilian deaths have been estimated at around 150,000. The CCP prevented the civilians from leaving the city to exhaust the food supply of the KMT defenders, which resulted in people starving to death. The CCP continued to prevent civilian refugees from leaving the city until early August. In the end, around 150,000 refugees successfully left Changchun, although some of these were sent back into the city as agents or spies to counter the claim that the Communists were deliberately starving the civilian population. Changchun being not politically connected to either the KMT or the CCP was arguably one of the reasons behind the poor treatment of civilians.