Battle of Kalgan

Part of the Chinese Civil War

Date	October 10, 1946 – October 20, 1946
Location	Zhangjiakou, China
Result	Nationalist victory

Belligerents

National Revolutionary Army

Chinese Red Army

Commanders and leaders

Fu Zuoyi

He Long

Nie Rongzhen

Strength

3 corps
4 divisions
1 brigade

14 brigades

Casualties and losses

12,000

100,000

The Battle of Kalgan was a battle occurring during the off and on mediation of a cease fire between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China by George Marshall. It was fought in the renamed city of Zhangjiakou, China.

Around September 1946, Chiang Kai-shek was prepared to propose another cease fire agreement, as the Nationalist armies were within Kalgan, with the Communists to George Marshall, as long as the Communists agreed to the proposal of the National Assembly.Zhou Enlai responded that the cease fire must occur at once. According to Zhou, if Kalgan falls into the Nationalist hands, there would be a "total national split." Marshall told Chiang that if the attack was called off, Mao Zedong would consider the cease fire and that the Communists would also be willing to join the National Assembly or the coalition of Nationalist and Communist troops.

Chiang knew the strategic location of Kalgan as the "gateway" for both armies movement in and out of Manchuria. Its importance was that it helped secure the area south of the Great Wall.

Marshall rejected the idea of the attack on Kalgan and threatened to send a message to President Truman to have himself recalled back to the US. On October 4, Chiang tried to persuade to Marshall that he always have treated him very well and not to leave. Upon hearing that Marshall had indeed sent a radiogram to Washington D.C., Chiang proposed a ten-day truce. Marshall rescinded his decision and stayed.

With a diplomatic package, proposing Communist delegates to the National Assembly and the amalgamation of the Communist armies into the Nationalist armies as suggested by Chiang, and agreed upon by Marshall and Ambassador John Stuart, Zhou rejected it, saying that it was as equivalent to ask the Communists to surrender. Zhou sent a plan to Marshall, which he became "more impatient with Zhou than at any time during the year." Marshall told Zhou that there were no other reason to continue on with the talks.

On October 10, 1946, General Fu Zuoyi attacked the city of Kalgan. The battle lasted to October 20.

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