Meridian Ridge Campaign

The Meridian Ridge Campaign (Chinese: 子午嶺戰役) was a series of battles fought between the nationalists and the communists in the Shaanxi province of northwest China during the Chinese Civil War in the post World War II era, resulting in a nationalist victory.

The 300-km-long Meridian Ridge (Ziwuling), covered with dense forest, was a strategically important position in Guanzhong because it was a natural barrier in the southwest for the communist base in northwest China. To the east, it overlooked the Yulin – Xianyang Highway, and to the west, it overlooked the Xi'an – Lanzhou Highway, along which Xi'an could be reached within two days. The region was a dagger in the belly of the nationalist domain to the north of the Wei River and it had been a communist base since the late 1920s. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the communist 385th Division led by commander Wang Hongshen was stationed in this region, and was surrounded by nationalist forces several times its strength. Clashes between the two sides were inevitable and after World War II such clashes finally developed into full-scale battle in the Chinese Civil War.

In August 1947 nationalists deployed two divisions totaling six brigades to launch an encirclement and eradication campaign against the communists in their base at the Meridian Ridge. The communist local forces including the 1st and the 3rd Garrison brigades, and the headquarters of the communist 4th Column of communist regular field army with its lightly armed 6th Cavalry Division disengaged the pursuing nationalists by retreating separately northward, and then returned to Guanzhong region once more by reaching the region surrounding the Nine Steep Hills (Jiu Xian 九岘) Town in heart of the Meridian Ridge (Zi Wu Ling, 子午岭).

Nationalist (eight regiments totaling 6,000):

Communist (three regiments and a cavalry division totaling 9,500):

The nationalist frontline commander was General Ma Jiyuan (马继援), Ma Bufang's only son. Awarded with the rank of colonel at the age of 16 to become a deputy regimental commander, Ma Jiyuan (马继援) was one of Ma Bufang's favorite field commanders. By the ago of 20, Ma Jiyuan (马继援) was awarded the rank of major general and attended training courses for generals at the Nationalist Party of China Army Officer Academy. Just barely two months ago, Ma Jiyuan (马继援) had led his nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division into victory against another main communist force, the communist 2nd Column led by Wang Zhen in Heshui Campaign and the young nationalist general who was only 28 years old at the time was still immersed in the previous victory and was determined to achieve another victory of similar or great scale.

The communist commander of the regular troops Wang Shitai (王世泰) was not as familiarized with the local situation as the local communists, but he was assisted by a brilliant local communist commander, Wang Wang Bingxiang (王秉祥), who first joined the communists in 1934. In 1935, the four communist guerrilla forces operating in Xinning (新宁) region were annihilated by the nationalists, with the First Squadron of the Third Group suffering the most: in less than a year, six guerrilla commanders were killed in battles consecutively. In 1936, the 20-year-old Wang Bingxiang (王秉祥) became the commander, and within six months, the guerrilla originally was just going to finally collapse had its fortune completely reversed: not only it survived, its rank boosted to over 200 and became the only communist guerrilla force survived in the region. Due to his excellent record, Wang Bingxiang (王秉祥) was promoted to several posts at the same time: he was both the political commissar of the 1st Regiment of the communist 1st Garrison Brigade and the political commissar of the communist western Guanzhong command, the communist party secretary of the Xinning (新宁) county, and the communist propaganda minister. However, Wang Bingxiang (王秉祥) was suffering from typhus, but he nonetheless fought at the frontline in this campaign, and on August 15, 1947, he was among the first to discover the massive nationalist troop deployment at Golden Village Temple (Jin Cun Miao, 金村庙) region.

As the communist 4th Column headquarters with its 6th Cavalry Division entered the Nine Steep Hills (Jiu Xian 九岘) Town in the heart of the Meridian Ridge (Zi Wu Ling, 子午岭), they were detected by the nationalist scouts in the western part of the mountain. Nationalist response was immediate: once the intelligence from the scouts was received on August 13, 1947, the nationalists sprung into action to exterminate the enemy. The nationalist strategy planned by Ma Jiyuan (马继援) was to first encircle the enemy within 24 hours, and then annihilate the enemy within the encirclement. Ma Jiyuan (马继援) would personally lead the campaign. In order to achieve the objective, the entire nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division was mobilized in the following manner: