The second encirclement campaign against the Honghu Soviet was an encirclement campaign launched by the Chinese Nationalist Government that was intended to destroy Communist Honghu Soviet and its Chinese Red Army. The Red Army successfully defended their soviet republic against Nationalist attacks from 1 March, 1931 to early June, 1931.
Prelude
After their defeat in the first encirclement campaign against the Honghu Soviet in early February 1931 and the subsequent forced withdraw to regroup, Nationalist forces launched the second encirclement campaign against the Communist base in Honghu on 1 March 1931. The Nationalists believed that the poorly supplied Communists had not had sufficient time to recover from the last encirclement campaign, so they wanted to strike quickly. The Nationalist commander-in-chief was the same one who had led the first campaign, 10th Army commander Xu Yuanquan. The 10th Army was not deployed directly in the campaign, but instead, deployed some distance away from the battlefield as strategic reserve. The brunt of the fighting was to be carried out mostly by troops of regional warlords who were nominally loyal Chiang Kai-shek.
The Communists were not jubilant after their victory achieved in first encirclement campaign, because they were fully aware the Nationalist withdraw was only temporary and it was only matter of time before the Nationalists resume their assault. To better prepare the defense of their base, the Communists restructured their organization. In the early March 1931, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CCoCPC) sent Xia Xi to the Honghu Soviet for restructuring. To better coordinate administrative activities, CPC Hunan–Western Hubei Bureau was formed, and to better coordinate political activities, CPC provisional Hunan–Western Hubei provincial committee was formed. To better coordinate military affairs, Revolutionary military committee was formed, and Xia Xi was named as the CPC party secretary of the Hunan–Western Hubei Bureau, and the chairman of the revolutionary military committee. Cui Mei (崔玫) was named as the party secretary of the CPC provisional Hunan–Western Hubei provincial committee, and he was later succeeded by Yang Guanghua (杨光华). This restructure of Communist Party apparatus was proven to be catastrophic later on, when Xia Xi carried out huge purges on local Communist ranks, resulting in causing more damage than the military actions taken by their Nationalist enemy.
Order of battle
Nationalists: Newly Organized 11th Division 19th Division 44th Brigade of the 15th Division 2 Brigades (including the 142nd Brigade) of the 48th Division Newly Organized 2nd Brigade Newly Organized 3rd Brigade
Communists: 9th Division (Brigade-sized) Independent Regiment 26th Regiment Hunan–Western Hubei Garrison Regiment Mianyang Independent Regiment Training Regiment Independent battalions of guerrillas
First stage
On 1 March 1931, the Nationalist Newly Organized 11th Division and a brigade of the Nationalist 48th Division crossed the Yangtze River and attacked the Communist base on the southern bank. The local Communist force was unable to repel the numerically and technically superior Nationalist force, and was forced to fall back. The Nationalists took Ouchi (藕池) and Shishou (石首) as a result.
Communists were fully aware that they were no match for the enemy and reasoned that if they were to concentrate their forces and face off the enemy, they would be annihilated. Instead, the Communists decided to split their forces into two, operating on both banks of the Yangtze River, and once the Nationalists were stretched out too thin, the Communists would counterattack. The primary objectives of Communists were to defend their base on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, and to reestablish their base in the northern bank of the Yangtze River when possible, and if the enemy was overstretched and provided the needed opportunity, the Communist would establish new bases if possible. Under the command of Duan Dechang, the Communist Independent Regiment and CPC party apparatus crossed the Yangtze River, and began guerrilla warfare in the regions of Qianjiang, Mianyang (沔阳) and Jianli, deep behind the Nationalist line in the heart of the Nationalist-controlled area. Under the command Zhou Yiqun, the Communist force on the southern bank of the Yangtze River also began guerrilla warfare, and at the same time, a portion of the force penetrated deep into the regions around the Dongting Lake, while another portion of the force escorted the local populace to the Dongshan (东山) region.