1949年,蔣介石、桂系雙方在敗退之際產生南撤之爭。蔣介石計劃退往臺灣;桂系企圖撤退入粵割據兩廣,迫不得已時退守海南島。桂系的戰略導向是防守湘桂粵邊一線并與解放軍進行湘南決戰,因之要求蔣介石調其嫡系軍隊參戰,以便桂系軍隊入粵。蔣介石則通過加強廣州部署阻止桂系入粵。其后,白崇禧部擬經滇黔進取云南并相機撤入緬甸或越南,但蔣介石通過布兵黔東和云南設阻使白崇禧的計劃再次落空。中共中央軍委利用蔣桂之間矛盾,根據戰場形勢變化,指揮解放軍南線部隊采取大迂回大包圍戰略,接連進行衡寶戰役、廣州戰役、粵桂邊戰役,并在桂越邊展開大追擊。在蔣介石的掣肘和解放軍的戰場打擊下,桂系軍隊最終覆滅,國民黨軍華南防線瓦解。解放軍順利達成華南大追擊的戰略目標,并一舉奠定解放海南島的基礎。

In 1949,Chiang Kai-Shek and the Guangxi clique clashed over their defeated forces’ southward retreat.Chiang planned to retreat to Taiwan,while the Guangxi clique was attempting to retreat to Guangdong and take over Guangdong and Guangxi,or,if this was unsuccessful,to hold out on Hainan Island.Their strategic direction was to defend the borders of Hunan,Guangxi and Guangdong and fight a decisive battle in the south of Hunan.They therefore asked Chiang Kai-Shek to facilitate their move into Guangdong by shifting the troops under his direct command to take part in the fighting.However,Chiang prevented them from entering Guangdong by strengthening his forces in Guangzhou.Bai Chongxi’s group then planned to take over Yunnan through troop movements in Yunnan and Guizhou and wait there for an opportunity to withdraw into Burma or Vietnam.However,this plan was again foiled,as Chiang deployed his troops in eastern Guizhou and Yunnan.The Chinese Communist Party’s Central Military Committee took advantage of the conflict between the two sides;in accordance with the situation in the field,they ordered the PLA’s southern front to adopt an outflanking and encirclement strategy.Successive battles were fought at Hengyang and Baoqing(in Hunan province),Guangzhou,and the Guangdong-Guangxi border,and a major pursuit was set in motion on the Guangxi-Vietnam border.Chiang’s obstruction and their battlefield reverses at the hands of the PLA finally eliminated the Guangxi clique.The KMT army’s South China defense line collapsed,and the PLA achieved the strategic goal of its South China pursuit.In a single step,the foundation was laid for the liberation of Hainan Island.