ABSTRACT
The immediate fallout of the Strong Point Offensive was to create a situation in north China that held certain parallels to World War II. The GMD now possessed the coastline and all of the major cities and railroads from Shaanxi to Shandong. However, by capturing this extensive stretch of territory, they made it more difficult for their armies to engage the mobile Communist armies. Most of the GMD soldiers were now tied up in garrison duty, either in the cities or on the rail lines. For instance, Communist intelligence calculated that despite the fact that Chiang had 30 divisions in the SCH Military District, he could muster only two corps at any given time.1 The same was true for Du Yuming, who had to abandon entire areas of Manchuria to lift the siege of Siping. Even in areas where the Strong Point Offensive took place, i.e. Shaanxi and Shandong, GMD generals had to take creative measures to generate sufficient combat power, often stripping defenses from other regions to do so.
