The Three Major Campaigns Against the KMT Rule
In the autumn of 1948, the War of Liberation reached a decisive stage. Based on an in-depth analysis of the situation, the CPC Central Committee headed by Mao Zedong recognized that the time was right to launch campaigns on three battlefields, and took advantage of the opportunity with well-conceived strategies. The three major campaigns – Liaoxi-Shenyang, Huai-Hai and Beiping-Tianjin – provided a firm foundation for nationwide victory in the War of Liberation.
In September 1948, Lin Biao and Luo Ronghuan (1902-1963), commanding 1.03 million troops of the Northeast Field Army and the local armed forces, launched a campaign against the 550,000-strong KMT forces that had been isolated in the cities of Jinzhou, Changchun and Shenyang. The campaign lasted 52 days before the whole of Northeast China was liberated. The victory expanded the Northeast Field Army into a powerful force, and created favorable conditions for the liberation of the cities of Beiping and Tianjin and the whole of North China. Northeast China became a strategic rear area with strong industrial foundations for the War of Liberation.
In November, following the success of the campaign in Northeast China, the General Front Committee, with Deng Xiaoping as secretary, commanding more than 600,000 troops of the East China Field Army, the Central Plains Field Army and some local armed forces, launched a campaign in a vast region centering on the city of Xuzhou, extending from Haizhou in the east to Shangqiu in the west, from Lincheng (today's Xuecheng) in the north to the Huaihe River in the south. The campaign lasted 66 days and created the conditions necessary for the PLA to cross the Yangtze River and liberate the centers of KMT governance in Nanjing and Shanghai.
At the end of November 1948, under the leadership of the General Front Committee composed of Lin Biao, Luo Ronghuan and Nie Rongzhen, the PLA started a campaign in a region extending from Zhangjiakou in the west to the coastal cities of Tanggu and Tangshan in the east, including Beiping and Tianjin. This campaign concluded after 64 days, with Beiping being liberated peacefully on January 31, 1949, and the whole of North China had thereby been liberated.
Through these three major campaigns, the PLA eliminated KMT forces of 1.54 million, including their crack troops, thus accelerating the pace toward a nationwide victory. The general population also played a great role in the decisive battles. Almost 9 million peasants supported the fighting at the front lines, providing more than 360,000 stretchers and transporting goods and materials with more than one million carts.
Victory in these three major campaigns demonstrated the strength of Mao Zedong thought on the military, and represented a critical turning point in the War of Liberation.
三大戰役
1948年秋，人民解放戰爭進入奪取全國勝利的戰略決戰階段。以毛澤東為核心的中共中央科學地分析戰爭形勢，正確把握戰略決戰的時機，選定決戰方向，并針對不同戰場的特點制定作戰方針，連續組織遼沈、淮海、平津三大戰役，并使三大戰役各個戰役的各個階段之間環環相扣，推動人民解放戰爭從勝利走向勝利。
1948年9月，林彪、羅榮桓指揮東北野戰軍主力和地方武裝共103萬人，在東北人民的支援下，向分割在錦州、長春、沈陽等地的55萬國民黨軍發起遼沈戰役。這次戰役歷時52天勝利結束，解放了東北全境，使東北野戰軍成為一支強大的戰略后備隊，為解放平津和全華北創造了有利條件，并為解放戰爭提供了一個鞏固的、具有一定工業基礎的戰略后方。
1948年11月遼沈戰役結束后，以鄧小平為書記的總前委統一指揮華東野戰軍、中原野戰軍及部分地方武裝約60余萬人，以徐州為中心，在東起海州、西至商丘、北起臨城（今薛城）、南達淮河的廣闊地區，發起規模巨大的淮海戰役。這次戰役歷時66天勝利結束，為解放軍渡江作戰，進而解放國民黨反動統治的中心地帶南京、上海創造了極為有利的條件。
1948年11月底，人民解放軍在由林彪、羅榮桓、聶榮臻組成的平津前線總前委領導下，在西起張家口、東至塘沽、唐山，包括北平、天津在內的地區，發起平津戰役。1949年1月31日，北平和平解放。這次戰役歷時64天，基本上解放了華北全境。
遼沈、淮海、平津三大戰役，共殲敵154萬余人，使國民黨的主要軍事力量基本上被摧毀，大大加快了解放戰爭在全國勝利的進程。人民群眾在戰略決戰中發揮了巨大的作用，支援前線民工達886萬人，出動擔架36萬余副，大小車100萬余輛。以三大戰役為標志的戰略決戰的勝利，是毛澤東軍事思想和人民戰爭的偉大勝利，是中國人民解放戰爭史上一座光輝的里程碑。
