Crossing of the Yangtze River
The PLA's crossing of the Yangtze River in April 1949 shattered the Nationalist government's last major defensive line and opened the path to the capture of Nanjing, the Nationalist capital, effectively ending organised Nationalist resistance on the mainland.
Strategic Context
After the three great campaigns of late 1948 and early 1949, the Yangtze River represented the Nationalists' last credible defensive barrier. The river — up to two kilometres wide in places — had historically separated northern and southern China. Chiang Kai-shek's government hoped that foreign intervention or the natural barrier would allow time for regrouping.
PLA Commander-in-Chief Zhu De issued the Order to Advance on the Entire Front on 21 April 1949, directing over one million soldiers to cross the river simultaneously along a front stretching nearly 500 kilometres.
The Crossing
In the early hours of 21 April, PLA forces crossed the Yangtze in wooden junks, fishing boats, and commandeered steamers under heavy fire. Within 24 hours, the Nationalist defensive line had collapsed across virtually its entire length.
A notable episode was the encounter with the British warship HMS Amethyst, which was caught in the crossfire and sustained heavy casualties — an incident that signalled the end of Western gunboat diplomacy on Chinese inland waters.
Fall of Nanjing
Nanjing, the Nationalist capital, fell on 23 April 1949 — just two days after the crossing began. PLA soldiers famously raised the red flag over the Presidential Palace. The Nationalist government fled first to Guangzhou, then to Chongqing, and ultimately to Taiwan.
The crossing of the Yangtze effectively ended the Chinese Civil War on the mainland, though scattered resistance continued for months in the southwest and northwest.