Following the instructions of the CPC Central Committee, Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping led the main force of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army to cross the Yellow River in southwest Shandong at dusk on June 30, 1947. The movement was the prelude to the strategic offensive by the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Shown here are PLA troops crossing the Yellow River at night.