Huai-Hai, Battle of

Decisive campaign 1948-49 in the Chinese Civil War (1946-49). The name is derived from the two main defensive positions held by the nationalist Guomindang force: the Huang (Huai) River in Shandong and Jiangsu provinces, and the Lung Hai railway. Communist forces from the east and west captured Suzhou (Soochow), a key railway junction, on 1 December 1948. On 6 January 1949 they secured a crushing victory at Yungchung to the southwest, facilitating an advance on Shanghai, which fell in the spring of 1949.