The Three Major Campaigns Against the KMT Rule
In the autumn of 1948, the War of Liberation reached a decisive stage. Based on an in-depth analysis of the situation, the CPC Central Committee headed by Mao Zedong recognized that the time was right to launch campaigns on three battlefields, and took advantage of the opportunity with well-conceived strategies. The three major campaigns – Liaoxi-Shenyang, Huai-Hai and Beiping-Tianjin – provided a firm foundation for nationwide victory in the War of Liberation.
In September 1948, Lin Biao and Luo Ronghuan (1902-1963), commanding 1.03 million troops of the Northeast Field Army and the local armed forces, launched a campaign against the 550,000-strong KMT forces that had been isolated in the cities of Jinzhou, Changchun and Shenyang. The campaign lasted 52 days before the whole of Northeast China was liberated. The victory expanded the Northeast Field Army into a powerful force, and created favorable conditions for the liberation of the cities of Beiping and Tianjin and the whole of North China. Northeast China became a strategic rear area with strong industrial foundations for the War of Liberation.
In November, following the success of the campaign in Northeast China, the General Front Committee, with Deng Xiaoping as secretary, commanding more than 600,000 troops of the East China Field Army, the Central Plains Field Army and some local armed forces, launched a campaign in a vast region centering on the city of Xuzhou, extending from Haizhou in the east to Shangqiu in the west, from Lincheng (today's Xuecheng) in the north to the Huaihe River in the south. The campaign lasted 66 days and created the conditions necessary for the PLA to cross the Yangtze River and liberate the centers of KMT governance in Nanjing and Shanghai.
At the end of November 1948, under the leadership of the General Front Committee composed of Lin Biao, Luo Ronghuan and Nie Rongzhen, the PLA started a campaign in a region extending from Zhangjiakou in the west to the coastal cities of Tanggu and Tangshan in the east, including Beiping and Tianjin. This campaign concluded after 64 days, with Beiping being liberated peacefully on January 31, 1949, and the whole of North China had thereby been liberated.
Through these three major campaigns, the PLA eliminated KMT forces of 1.54 million, including their crack troops, thus accelerating the pace toward a nationwide victory. The general population also played a great role in the decisive battles. Almost 9 million peasants supported the fighting at the front lines, providing more than 360,000 stretchers and transporting goods and materials with more than one million carts.
Victory in these three major campaigns demonstrated the strength of Mao Zedong thought on the military, and represented a critical turning point in the War of Liberation.
三大战役
1948年秋，人民解放战争进入夺取全国胜利的战略决战阶段。以毛泽东为核心的中共中央科学地分析战争形势，正确把握战略决战的时机，选定决战方向，并针对不同战场的特点制定作战方针，连续组织辽沈、淮海、平津三大战役，并使三大战役各个战役的各个阶段之间环环相扣，推动人民解放战争从胜利走向胜利。
1948年9月，林彪、罗荣桓指挥东北野战军主力和地方武装共103万人，在东北人民的支援下，向分割在锦州、长春、沈阳等地的55万国民党军发起辽沈战役。这次战役历时52天胜利结束，解放了东北全境，使东北野战军成为一支强大的战略后备队，为解放平津和全华北创造了有利条件，并为解放战争提供了一个巩固的、具有一定工业基础的战略后方。
1948年11月辽沈战役结束后，以邓小平为书记的总前委统一指挥华东野战军、中原野战军及部分地方武装约60余万人，以徐州为中心，在东起海州、西至商丘、北起临城（今薛城）、南达淮河的广阔地区，发起规模巨大的淮海战役。这次战役历时66天胜利结束，为解放军渡江作战，进而解放国民党反动统治的中心地带南京、上海创造了极为有利的条件。
1948年11月底，人民解放军在由林彪、罗荣桓、聂荣臻组成的平津前线总前委领导下，在西起张家口、东至塘沽、唐山，包括北平、天津在内的地区，发起平津战役。1949年1月31日，北平和平解放。这次战役历时64天，基本上解放了华北全境。
辽沈、淮海、平津三大战役，共歼敌154万余人，使国民党的主要军事力量基本上被摧毁，大大加快了解放战争在全国胜利的进程。人民群众在战略决战中发挥了巨大的作用，支援前线民工达886万人，出动担架36万余副，大小车100万余辆。以三大战役为标志的战略决战的胜利，是毛泽东军事思想和人民战争的伟大胜利，是中国人民解放战争史上一座光辉的里程碑。