Like similar clashes following World War II between the communists and the nationalists in
China, the Xinghua Campaign stemmed from
Chiang Kai-shek's realization that his nationalist regime had neither sufficient troops nor adequate transportation to move his army into the Japanese-occupied regions of China. Chiang feared that the communists, who already dominated much of rural China, would further expand their territories by being the first Chinese faction to accept the official Japanese surrender, thus adding the regions occupied by Japan to the area controlled by the communists. Chiang Kai-shek ordered the Japanese and their wartime puppet regime not to surrender to the communists, and furthermore to quell unrest and fight off the communists until the eventual arrival of the nationalist troops. One result of the Xinghua Campaign was that most of the members of the Japanese-installed puppet regime rejoined the nationalists, whom they had deserted following the earlier Japanese victory over the nationalist army. These former nationalists consisted mostly of Chinese
warlords and their private armies, only nominally under Chiang Kai-shek's control before and after World War II. The warlords felt no loyalty to a cause greater than their own, and had defected to the Japanese side when Japanese invaders offered to let them keep some of their former power in exchange for their collaboration. Although the warlords' lack of loyalty and independence from the nationalist power structure posed a great threat to Chiang, he recognised that they needed to be handled with delicacy. Moving against the warlords would alienate other factions within the nationalist ranks and would deprive Chiang of soldiers who could garrison nationalist territory. These manned garrisons would allow Chiang's own troops to fight the communists.
The Nationalists' Strategy In accordance with his strategy to simultaneously solve the
warlord problem that had plagued China for so long and exterminate communism, Chiang Kai-shek and his followers had hoped that these former Japanese puppet regime's warlords who rejoined the nationalists would be able to hold on to the regions long enough for Chiang to deploy his own troops to hold off the communists. If the communists were victorious in such conflicts, however, the result would still benefit to Chiang and China because the power of these warlords would be reduced as their military forces were smashed by the communists, and the warlord problem that plagued China for so long could thus be greatly reduced; at the same time, communists would be weakened by the fights, and Chiang's own troops would have an easier time taking control.
Warlord armies' honor The former nationalist forces had no problem following Chiang Kai-shek's orders, as they were eager to prove themselves. These warlords and their troops were well aware that due to their collaboration with the Japanese invaders during the
Second Sino-Japanese War, they were very hated by China's general population, especially by those nationalists who had refused to surrender to the enemy and had fought the enemy until the eventual victory. The warlords and their armies would certainly be disarmed and discharged, at best, and possibly eliminated. Thus, they saw Chiang Kai-shek's order for them to fight the communists as a way for them to legitimize themselves and retain their power.
Communists' strategy The communists' strategy was much simpler than that of the nationalists because there were no significant division within the communist ranks, as there were with the nationalist ranks. The communists had already earned considerable popular support by being the only remaining regional Chinese force to continue fighting the Japanese invaders and their puppet regime after the nationalists withdrew. Further, because the communist-established bases in rural regions were more prosperous, compared to those of Japanese-occupied regions, the general Chinese populace agreed that the communists better deserved to represent China and to regain control over the regions formerly occupied by the invaders. ==Campaign==