Key Facts
- Duration
- 52 days (September–November 1948)
- Region contested
- Manchuria
- Major cities lost by Nationalists
- Jinzhou, Changchun, Shenyang
- Campaign sequence
- First of three major PLA campaigns (1948–49)
Strategic Narrative Overview
The PLA, under overall Communist command, struck first at Jinzhou in late September 1948, cutting Nationalist supply and retreat routes. The fall of Jinzhou trapped large Nationalist formations. Changchun, already under prolonged siege, surrendered shortly after. Nationalist attempts to relieve Jinzhou and counterattack failed in the Liaoxi corridor. The campaign unfolded rapidly over 52 days as one city after another fell to Communist forces advancing through Manchuria.
01 / The Origins
By 1948, the Chinese Civil War had entered a decisive phase. The Kuomintang Nationalist government held Manchuria with large but increasingly isolated garrisons. The Chinese Communist Party's People's Liberation Army, having consolidated its base areas and built up numerical strength in the northeast, launched the Liaoshen Campaign to seize Manchuria before Nationalist forces could withdraw or regroup, aiming to shift the overall balance of power in the civil war.
03 / The Outcome
The campaign concluded in early November 1948 with the fall of Shenyang, completing Communist control of all Manchuria. Nationalist forces suffered sweeping defeats across the region. The victory gave the PLA a strategic numerical superiority over the Nationalists for the first time, fundamentally altering the trajectory of the Civil War and setting the stage for the subsequent Huaihai and Pingjin campaigns.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Side B
1 belligerent
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.