The Central Plains Breakthrough
Shortly after victory over the Japanese, Chiang Kai-shek gathered more than 20 divisions to encircle and "nibble away" at the Central Plains Liberated Area (a large area between the Yangtze and the Yellow rivers) in an attempt to wipe out the Communist troops and open the passages to East, North and Northeast China.
Despite a truce agreed between the KMT government and the CPC in January 1946, the KMT troops continued their attacks on this region. On June 26, Chiang Kai-shek tore up the truce agreement and launched massive attacks on the Central Plains Liberated Area with more than 300,000 troops in 10 divisions, heralding the start of an all-out civil war.
Following the Central Committee's instruction to "break through the siege immediately, with survival as the top goal," the Central Plains Military Command ordered the main forces to transfer westward along two routes, while leaving some local forces to fight the enemy in situ, and disguising a brigade as the main force moving eastward to confuse the enemy.
The 15,000 troops on the north route, led by Commander Li Xiannian (1909-1992), Political Commissar Zheng Weisan (1902-1975) and Deputy Commander Wang Zhen (1908-1993), broke through the encirclement and reached southern Shaanxi in late July, where they joined local guerillas to form the Hubei-Henan-Shaanxi Military Command in early August. Then Wang Zhen led his 359th Brigade northward and reached the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Liberated Area in late August.
The 10,000 troops on the south route, led by Deputy Commander Wang Shusheng (1905-1974), also broke through the enemy siege. They came to the Wudang Mountains in northwest Hubei Province and formed a local military command by late August.
The First Brigade of the First Column led by Pi Dingjun (1914-1976), which undertook the task of misleading and pinning down the enemy, escaped the enemy siege and traveled some 500 km eastward to reach the Jiangsu-Anhui Liberated Area in less than one month.
The Central Plains Breakthrough was the prelude to the War of Liberation (1946-1949). This strategic transfer resulted in pinning down some 30 KMT brigades, preserving the main forces, and building two large base areas. The small number of troops left behind in the Central Plains area to continue their fight coordinated their efforts well with the fight on other battlefields, benefiting the later strategic counter-offensive and the ultimate victory nationwide. This won high praises from the Central Committee and the Central Military Commission.
中原突圍
抗日戰爭勝利后，蔣介石調集20多個師的部隊，包圍和蠶食中原解放區，企圖消滅中原解放區部隊，打通向華東、華北、東北的進軍道路。1946年1月，國民黨政府和中國共產黨雙方代表簽署停戰協定后，國民黨軍仍繼續增調兵力包圍和進攻這一地區。6月26日，蔣介石撕毀國共雙方達成的《停戰協定》，調動10個整編師共30余萬人的兵力，首先對中原軍區部隊發起大規模進攻，致使全面內戰爆發。
中原軍區遵照中共中央“立即突圍，愈快愈好，不要有任何顧慮，生存第一，勝利第一”的指示，除留部分地方部隊在原地堅持斗爭，以一個旅偽裝主力向東轉移迷惑國民黨軍隊外，主力分南北兩路向西轉移。
北路約1.5萬人，在中原軍區司令員李先念、政委鄭位三和副司令員王震的率領下，突破了國民黨軍隊重重截擊合圍，于7月下旬進入陜南，同陜南游擊隊會合，并于8月初組成鄂豫陜軍區。其中王震率領三五九旅繼續北進，于8月底進入陜甘寧解放區。
南路約1萬余人，在軍區副司令員王樹聲率領下，沖破國民黨軍隊的圍追堵截，進入鄂西北的武當山地區，于8月下旬組成鄂西北軍區。
擔負迷惑和牽制敵軍任務向東轉移的第一縱隊第一旅，在旅長皮定均的指揮下，在成功迷惑敵人后，迅速跳出包圍圈，揮師東進，轉戰20余天，跋涉千里，進入蘇皖解放區。
中原突圍，揭開了解放戰爭的序幕。它是一次偉大的戰略轉移，牽制了國民黨軍隊30個旅的兵力，保存了主力，建立了兩塊根據地，并留下小部分兵力堅持原地斗爭，有力地配合了其他戰場的作戰，對以后的戰略反攻和奪取解放戰爭的全國勝利發揮了重要作用，受到中共中央和中央軍委的充分肯定和高度贊揚。
