Battle of Jinan

As the third domestic revolutionary war entered its second year, our army had transitioned to strategic offensives. In 1948, after successively occupying small and medium-sized cities in Shandong, our East China Field Army was determined to capture the key heavily defended city of Jinan, held by Chiang Kai-shek. Led by Ding Yaodong, the Taishan Column, along with other brother units, was ordered to advance towards Jinan. The enemy's Jinan Second Pacification Zone commander, Wang Yaowu, wanted to hold Jinan by relying on the natural defenses of the Yellow River and the mountainous barriers, along with strong fortifications, in order to bog down our army and then destroy us with the combined forces of reinforcements from Xuzhou from the inside and outside, realizing Chiang Kai-shek's dream of the so-called 'Battle of Jinan.' Column commander Ding Yaodong, adhering to Chairman Mao's specific policy of 'attacking cities and cutting off reinforcements, dividing labor and cooperating,' analyzed the enemy's situation and made combat deployments. In the battles at Donggu and the Xijiao Airport, Ding Yaodong boldly took advantage of Wang Yaowu's misjudgment, skillfully maneuvering the enemy's elite 19th Army around and then seizing the opportunity to swiftly capture the easily defensible Donggu Mountain. While our army mounted a powerful military offensive against the enemy, our underground party closely cooperated with the assault units to strengthen political work on the enemy's garrison commander at the Xijiao Airport, Wu Huawen, ultimately making him realize the situation and leading his troops to revolt. The resolution at Xijiao Airport cut off the enemy's air support...