The Battle of Tashan () was a battle during the Chinese Civil War fought in the western part of Northeast China, between forces of the Kuomintang National Revolutionary Army (NRA) and the communist People's Liberation Army (PLA), and resulted in a PLA victory. The battle was critical in determining the outcome of the Battle of Jinzhou and, consequently, that of the entire Liaoshen Campaign. The battle is more commonly known as the blocking battle at Tashan (), and is widely regarded by the communists as the first of the three most crucial blocking operations (along with the Battle of Heishan a week later and the Battle of Xudong from the Huaihai Campaign) during the Chinese Civil War.
The name "Tashan" (), literally translated to "Pagoda Mountain", was short for Tashanbao (, meaning "Pagoda Mountain fort"). Contrary to its name, there were neither pagoda nor mountains and the only defensive bunkers were the ones hastily built by the communists temporarily for the upcoming battle. The place was actually a village of 100 or so households, some 30 km away from Jinzhou, with the main road to Jinzhou passing directly through the center of the village.
Prelude
After encircling Jinzhou, the communists were facing an incoming Nationalist reinforcement of a total of 11 divisions (not counting the Nationalist air and naval assets), and were well aware of the importance of stopping Nationalist reinforcements from reaching Jinzhou. The PLA deployed a total of eight divisions and an artillery brigade at Tashan, with Cheng Zihua (), the commander of the Northeast Field Army's 2nd Corps, in charge. In order to better assist local commanders, Luo Ronghuan got approval from Lin Biao to send Su Jing (), a senior staff officer at general headquarters of the communist force in Northeast China, to Tashan.
However, the local communist commanders, especially those of 4th Column, resented Luo Ronghuan’s decision to send Su Jing. After he arrived at the headquarters of 4th Column, they jokingly referred to him as the equivalent of an ancient Chinese imperial army overseer, feeling that Luo Ronghuan and Lin Biao were doubtful they were competent enough to accomplish their assigned mission. Luckily, the excellent work of the political commissar of the 4th Column, Mo Wenhua (), was able to resolve the issue and the communists avoided the kind of factional disputes that existed in the nationalist camp.
Order of battle
Attackers: National Revolutionary Army (Nationalist) order of battle: The 54th Army (3 divisions) The 62nd Army (3 divisions) 2 divisions from the 39th Army 21st Division of the 92nd Army The 62nd Division The Independent 95th Division Naval and air assets Defenders: People's Liberation Army (Communist) order of battle: The 4th Column (3 divisions) The 11th Column (3 divisions) Rehe Independent 4th Division Rehe Independent 6th Division An artillery brigade
Battle
The battle started before dawn on October 10, 1948, at 3:00 AM, with the Nationalists successfully launching a surprise attack with numerical and technical superiority, taking the Fishing Mountain (Da Yu Shan,)Island at low tide. Da Yu Shan Island was a critical position, in that whoever controlled the islands would threaten the flank of Tashan. The grave danger was realized by the commander of the communist 4th Column, Wu Kehua (), who immediately ordered a counterattack to retake the island. The mission was successfully accomplished, and the island remained firmly in communist hands for the remainder of the battle.
Although Nationalist aircraft dropped over 5,000 heavy bombs on communist positions—which were also pounded by Nationalist naval shelling—the attack was not well coordinated because Nationalist commanders on the ground lacked the authority to command air and naval assets, which were under the direct control of Chiang Kai-shek and his high command. As a result, the communists were able to dig in underground without suffering significant casualties, despite most of their fortifications above the ground being demolished by Nationalist attacks from air and sea. Despite Nationalist encouragements including a half-million-dollar incentive reward for each troop, repeated Nationalist charges against communist positions were beaten back—the communists even at one point used Nationalist corpses to improvise temporary fortifications, which proved to be a psychological shock to the attacking Nationalist troops. As a result, the Nationalists were unable to advance any further towards Jinzhou.