Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Southwestern China

The majority of the insurgents were former members of Ma Bufang's Republic of China Army (Ma clique). Several of them were prominent generals, such as Ma Hushan, who had earlier fought against the Soviet Union in Xinjiang. Others had fought against the Japanese in the Second Sino-Japanese War, including General Ma Yuanxiang, who fought under the command of General Ma Biao and was wounded in action at the Battle of Huaiyang, where the Japanese were defeated.

Ma Bufang, Ma Hushan, and the other leaders who led the revolt were all former National Revolutionary Army soldiers and Kuomintang members. Many of the involved insurgents were veterans of the Soviet invasion of Xinjiang, Sino-Tibetan War, the Second Sino-Japanese War, Ili Rebellion, and the Chinese Civil War. The Muslim insurgents were reported to consist of Hui people, Salar people, or Dongxiang people. ^{[citation needed]}

Ma Bufang and Ma Chengxiang's forces were stationed across Qinghai and Xinjiang along with Ospan Batyr's men, which were originally battling Soviet backed Uyghur rebels in the Ili Rebellion and the Mongols and Russians at the Battle of Baitag Bogd before the Communist victory in the Civil War and subsequent incorporation of Xinjiang into the People's Republic of China. The anti-separatist, pro-Kuomintang Uyghur Yulbars Khan fought a final action at the Battle of Yiwu before fleeing to Taiwan.

After the Chengdu campaign concluded in December 1949, retreating Nationalist military units joined forces with locals to continue fighting against the Communists.

Beginning in February 1950, the Communists launched attacks on Nationalist forces in wealthier areas and regions adjacent to nearby communication/transportation lines, gradually expanding into more remote regions. The Communist 3rd Corps, IV Corps, V Corps, XVIII Corps and the 7th Army of the I Corps, totaling seventeen armies, were deployed for the campaign. From March 1953 onward, the Communists first targeted larger groups of Nationalist forces. Due to heavy Nationalist activity in Sichuan, the planned deployment of Communist troops in Tibet was postponed. The 11th Army and the 12th Army, totaling six divisions of the Communist III Corps, were assigned to eastern Sichuan. Eight divisions from the 10th, 18th, and 15th Armies of the Communist southern Sichuan Military Region were assigned to southern Sichuan. Seven divisions of the 60th Army, 62nd Army, and 7th Army of the Western Sichuan Military Region were assigned to western Sichuan. The 61st Army was assigned to northern Sichuan, and the 62nd Army was assigned to Xikang. The 13th Army, 14th Army, and units of the 15th Army of the Communist IV Corps were tasked to eradicate Nationalists in Yunnan. The 16th Army of III Corps was assigned to Guizhou. After ten months of fighting, large groups of Nationalists were reported dead by the end of 1950, with 900,000 Nationalists presumed to be killed.

By the end of 1953, all Nationalist forces in southwestern China had been reported to have been killed, with an unconfirmed total of 1,160,000 personnel killed, over 700 artillery pieces captured or destroyed, and over 600,000 rifles captured.^{[citation needed]} A contributing factor to the Nationalist defeat was infighting between newer members and senior members.

• Outline of the Chinese Civil War
• History of the People's Liberation Army