The third encirclement campaign () against Jiangxi Soviet was the third campaign launched by the Chinese Nationalist Government in the hope of destroying the Red Army in Jiangxi. It was launched less than a month after the previous campaign failed. However, this encirclement was repelled by the Red Army's third counter-encirclement campaign at the Central Soviet (), also called as the third counter-encirclement campaign at the Central Revolutionary Base ().
Strategy
Merely three weeks after the defeat of the second encirclement campaign, Chiang Kai-shek reached Nanchang on June 21, 1931 with his foreign military advisory delegations including military advisors from Great Britain, Germany and Japan. The nationalists planned to launch another encirclement campaign in very short time so that their communist enemy would not have enough time to regroup and prepare for the upcoming battles, and Chiang himself became the commander-in-chief of the nationalist force consisting of twenty-four divisions totaling more than three hundred thousand troops. The attacking nationalist forces were divided into two army groups, with the He Yingqing named as the commander-in-chief of the left flank army group, and Chen Mingshu as the commander-in-chief as the right flank army group.
Order of battle
Nationalist order of battle (300,000+ total) Left flank army group commanded by He Yingqing would attack from Nancheng (南城) 5th Division commanded by Zhou Hunyuan (周浑元) 6th Division commanded by Zhao Guantao (赵观涛) 8th Division commanded by Mao Bingwen (毛炳文) 9th Division commanded by Jiang Dingwen 11th Division commanded by Luo Zhuoying 14th Division commanded by Chen Cheng 24th Division commanded by Xu Kexiang (许克祥) Right flank army group commanded by Chen Mingshu would attack from Ji'an, Yongfeng (永丰), Yue'an (乐安) 25th Division commanded by Sun Lianzhong 27th Division commanded by Gao Shuxun (高树勋) 47th Division commanded by Shangguan Yunxiang (上官云相) 52nd Division commanded by Han Deqin 54th Division commanded by Hao Mengling 60th Division commanded by Cai Tingkai 61st Division commanded by Dai Ji (戴戟) General Reserve 10th Division commanded by Wei Lihuang Urban Assault Brigade commanded by Li Yannian (general) 53rd Division commanded by Li Yunheng (李韫珩) would station at Ji'an Western Flank along the Gan River: 28th Division commanded by Gong Bingpan (公秉藩) 77th Division commanded by Luo Lin (罗霖) 34th Brigade of the 12th Division commanded by Ma Kun (马昆) Eastern Flank at the border region of Fujian-Jiangxi-Guangdong provinces: 49th Division commanded by Zhang Zhen (张贞) 56th Division commanded by Liu Heding (刘和鼎) Newly Organized 14th Brigade commanded by Zhou Zhiqun (周志群) Counterguerrilla garrisons in the regions including Zhangshu, Fuzhou, Jiangxi, Yihuang (宜黄), Nancheng, (南城), Lichuan (黎川): 1st Cavalry Division commanded by Guan Shuren (关树人) 23rd Division commanded by Li Yunjie (李云杰) 79th Division commanded by Lu Xiaochen (路孝忱) 5 wing of RoCAF: 1st wing 3rd wing 4th wing 5th wing 7th wing Other nationalist forces mobilized as the second line units. Communist order of battle: (30,000+ total) First Front Army of Chinese Red Army
Campaign
On July 1, 1931, the nationalists began their offensive. The communists had not fully recovered yet from the last encirclement campaign and Wang Ming's protégés including Xiang Ying had to agree with Mao Zedong's decision to adopt the proven strategies in the earlier campaigns by letting the nationalists penetrate deep into the communist base and then to counterattack individual isolated enemy formations as they were dispersed. On July 10, 1931, the communist main force left western Fujian and traveled more than five hundred kilometers back to Xingguo in southern Jiangxi and waited their opportunities to counterattack. By the end of July 1931, nationalists had discovered that the communist main force had withdrawn to Xingguo, and Chiang Kai-shek immediately ordered his troops to simultaneously attack southward from north and westward from east, so that communists would be forced onto the eastern bank of Gan River and annihilated. The communists, in turn, decided to avoid direct clash with main nationalist force but instead, attack the weaker ones by outflanking the nationalists.