Shenyang (Mukden) had been lost, and the northeast with it. Lin’s troops of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) drove on further, taking north China, and were poised for the conquest of central China too. During the first half of 1949 Chiang transferred his naval and air force headquarters to the island of Taiwan; many civilians followed suit. In May Chiang set sail for Taiwan. He would never return to the mainland. The war continued through the summer, but Chiang knew that the game was up and all sides expected a Communist victory, as cities fell one by one—Nanjing, Shanghai, and Chongqing. On
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