蒋桂南撤之争与解放军战略大追击

Chiang Kai-Shek’s Dispute with the Guangxi Clique over the Southward Retreat and the People’s Liberation Army’s Strategic Pursuit

1949年,蒋介石、桂系双方在败退之际产生南撤之争。蒋介石计划退往台湾;桂系企图撤退入粤割据两广,迫不得已时退守海南岛。桂系的战略导向是防守湘桂粤边一线并与解放军进行湘南决战,因之要求蒋介石调其嫡系军队参战,以便桂系军队入粤。蒋介石则通过加强广州部署阻止桂系入粤。其后,白崇禧部拟经滇黔进取云南并相机撤入缅甸或越南,但蒋介石通过布兵黔东和云南设阻使白崇禧的计划再次落空。中共中央军委利用蒋桂之间矛盾,根据战场形势变化,指挥解放军南线部队采取大迂回大包围战略,接连进行衡宝战役、广州战役、粤桂边战役,并在桂越边展开大追击。在蒋介石的掣肘和解放军的战场打击下,桂系军队最终覆灭,国民党军华南防线瓦解。解放军顺利达成华南大追击的战略目标,并一举奠定解放海南岛的基础。

In 1949, Chiang Kai-Shek and the Guangxi clique clashed over their defeated forces’ southward retreat. Chiang planned to retreat to Taiwan, while the Guangxi clique was attempting to retreat to Guangdong and take over Guangdong and Guangxi, or, if this was unsuccessful, to hold out on Hainan Island. Their strategic direction was to defend the borders of Hunan, Guangxi and Guangdong and fight a decisive battle in the south of Hunan. They therefore asked Chiang Kai-Shek to facilitate their move into Guangdong by shifting the troops under his direct command to take part in the fighting. However, Chiang prevented them from entering Guangdong by strengthening his forces in Guangzhou. Bai Chongxi’s group then planned to take over Yunnan through troop movements in Yunnan and Guizhou and wait there for an opportunity to withdraw into Burma or Vietnam. However, this plan was again foiled, as Chiang deployed his troops in eastern Guizhou and Yunnan. The Chinese Communist Party’s Central Military Committee took advantage of the conflict between the two sides;in accordance with the situation in the field, they ordered the PLA’s southern front to adopt an outflanking and encirclement strategy. Successive battles were fought at Hengyang and Baoqing(in Hunan province), Guangzhou, and the Guangdong-Guangxi border, and a major pursuit was set in motion on the Guangxi-Vietnam border. Chiang’s obstruction and their battlefield reverses at the hands of the PLA finally eliminated the Guangxi clique. The KMT army’s South China defense line collapsed, and the PLA achieved the strategic goal of its South China pursuit. In a single step, the foundation was laid for the liberation of Hainan Island.