Chapter 33 2. The Battle of Jinzhong killed more than 100,000 enemy troops

June 18. The Battle of Jinzhong officially started. The 8th and 13th Columns of Xu Qianqian Corps successively launched attacks on the enemy from Jiexiu to Qi County, successively captured more than a dozen villages and towns including Pusa Village, Yuantai, and Dongxiquan, and approached the Tongpu Railway, cutting off the enemy's The escape route to the north caused the enemy to be in disarray. After the Luliang troops got rid of the enemy's siege, they surrounded the enemy's 70th Division in a ravine with two regiments. After a day of fierce fighting, the enemy lost more than half, and the division commander Hou Fujun was killed on the spot.

Yan Xishan, who was in Taiyuan, learned that Xu Xiangqian's main force had entered the hinterland of Jinzhong, and ordered the "Flash Corps" to advance to Yuci and Taigu, and started a decisive battle with the People's Liberation Army. The two armies fought fiercely for five days, and the so-called "iron army" and personal trainers Yan Xishan painstakingly managed were almost completely wiped out, and the enemy's reinforcements fled after hearing the news. Yan Xishan was restless. In less than a week, he had lost more than 10,000 people. Especially after the "iron army" was annihilated, he was deeply saddened.

His "Iron Army" also has a history of nearly ten years.Its main founder was his loyal confidant Wang Jingguo, who was Yan Xishan's right-hand man at that time, and he was very capable of running the army.Let us go back and understand his situation. He and Xu Xiangqian were from the same village. He was born in Xinhe Village, Wutai in 1893. He lost his father in his early years and lived with his widowed mother since childhood.After finishing private school with the help of the villagers, he was admitted to Taiyuan Junjun Primary School.After the Revolution of 1911, he followed the Shanxi New Army uprising, and later transferred to the infantry department of Baoding Military Academy, where he was a classmate with Fu Zuoyi.

After graduating in 1918, he returned to Shanxi to serve as the company commander of the mixed brigade. In 1924, he served as battalion commander. Promoted to division commander in 1927. Promoted to army commander in 1930. After he made his fortune, he did some good deeds for his hometown. He personally funded a primary school in the village. Every time he returned to his hometown, he would subsidize the school with a scholarship.According to relevant records, he once sponsored many poor children who went to college in Beiping, Tianjin, Taiyuan and other places. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, he led the whole army to participate in the Yanmen Pass and Pingxing Pass battles.

In September 1939, according to Yan Xishan's will, Wang Jingguo called a dozen pre-selected army and division-level officers to Yan's mansion for a secret meeting. Yan Xishan sat there expressionless, his image was extremely scary, Wang Jingguo turned his head carefully and said to him: "Commander-in-Chief, all the personnel are here, please speak to me, old man." Yan Xishan stared at everyone, patted the table with his clumsy big palm and said, "Do you know why I invited everyone here today?" People glanced at each other, and no one dared to take the lead in speaking.

Two flamboyant women with big braids, a little fat, came out of the back room shaking their plump buttocks to beat Yan Xishan's back and pinch his legs.The posture is coquettish, and the face is charming. Yan Xishan groaned after being pinched comfortably. The two women beside him seemed to be comforted by the sound and worked harder.Yan Xishan straightened his waist, raised his right hand and waved it back a few times, a bit like chasing away flies or mosquitoes. The two women understood and left automatically. The room was still lonely and silent, Yan Xishan let out a deep breath, looked at everyone and said: "I watched many of you grow up, and I have high hopes for you, but you are too unfulfilling, causing trouble everywhere , always suffer losses, let me down!"

His tone contained obvious accusations. These so-called elites all lowered their heads, like frost-beaten eggplants, wilted and without military temperament. Then Yan Xishan continued to preach in a sad tone: "You don't live up to expectations, you don't know how to organize, and you don't know how to fight against the Communist Party and the 'Tongmenghui'. These decades of learning from me are in vain..." Wang Jingguo couldn't sit still anymore, he said reverently: "Our mistake, please teach me, Commander." Yan Xishan waved his hands and said, "Let's all talk about it!"

Sitting behind Wang Jingguo, Chief of Staff of the Cavalry Army Wen Huaiguang glanced at everyone and said: "We are soldiers, and we absolutely obey the commander. The commander asked us to organize, and we will be able to organize better, and we will live and die together with the commander, and share weal and woe." Yan Xishan's facial expression improved. Therefore, everyone continued to express their determination, and the words were full of generosity. The more Yan Xishan listened, the happier he became. Finally, he said to everyone: "I believe that you have the ability to deal with various organizations like the Communist Party that oppose us. I hope you will study it together and come up with countermeasures."

Wang Jingguo became active again, and he said to Yan Xishan: "Should we also establish some kind of organization? Only in this way will it be convenient for us to act." Yan Xishan said with a smile: "This idea is very good. This organization should have a military nature. It is best to have all members composed of soldiers." "It's still the Commander's opinion." "Then it's settled like this, brother Yasukuni, how about you handle this matter?" "Resolutely obey orders." A few days later, Wang Jingguo sent the organizational plan to Yan Xishan for approval.

After reading it, Yan Xishan said: "The ancients often used the twenty-eight mansions to discuss affairs. We adopted the righteousness of the twenty-eight mansions, carefully selected senior military officers, including a dozen or so people who had participated in the preparations, and a total of 28 people were the initiators to build an organization." Wang Jingguo said, "The commander is still wise." "Stop flattering, this is all learned from books." "It is a great man who can learn and use it alive." "The word great man can't be used casually..."

Although he said this, it sounded modest, but judging from his expression, he certainly liked hearing such words very much. Wang Jingguo felt deeply that this flattery had already been paid off, so he pretended to be a primary school student and asked, "I would like your instructions on the selection of candidates for this organization." "I think the representatives of the various factions of the Jinsui Army should be taken into account in determining the selected personnel. How to control this ratio is up to you to decide." Yan Xishan's iron army organization began to form. Wang Jingguo did not completely follow Yan Xishan's will. In terms of candidates, in fact, most of them were people who were closely related to him.As Yan Xishan's agent, he was not among the twenty-eight people, which further highlighted his status in this organization.The development form of the Iron Army organization stipulates that one person introduces three people, and develops step by step.It is divided into layers horizontally, with 28 people as the first layer.According to the agreement, "iron and blood rule justice, everyone is like one person, sharing life and death, sharing property with children", each with 20 characters.The first layer is the "iron" layer.Vertically divided into departments, according to the twenty-eight persons dormitory is twenty-eight departments.The iron army organization was named "San San Iron and Blood Group" because of its development form, which also means "mountain and mountain" where Yan Xishan ruled Shanxi.But this name is kept strictly secret, generally only called the Iron Army organization. On a moonlit night in the winter of that year, the Iron Army Organization held an inauguration ceremony. When Wang Jingguo asked Yan Xishan to speak, he stood up and said to the people: "From today onwards, our army will take on the important task of revitalizing Shanxi. My personal safety is tied to our army, that is to say, to everyone. Select you elites from the hundreds of thousands of Jin troops. , The formation of the Iron Army is of great significance. This shows that you are the characters among the characters and the backbone of our Jin army. I believe that you will not disappoint me, and you will definitely achieve results..." The loud applause drowned out Yan Xishan's rough voice. This is a large courtyard, dozens of soldiers are like wooden pegs, motionless. The moon above the head does not move, it seems to have a kind of moisture, it is not so bright, the light is dim, and it falls on the courtyard, adding a lot of mystery invisibly. After Yan Xishan finished his speech, Wang Jingguo led everyone to kneel on the ground suddenly, expressing their loyalty to Yan Xishan together. Then they made a blood alliance, each pricked their fingers, wrote blood on the white silk prepared by one party to abide by the agreement, and then took the sponsor's oath. The person making the oath, Wang Jingguo, knelt down in front of Yan Xishan and swore to give his life to the organization, to live and die with the organization, and to be absolutely loyal to Yan Xishan.And read the following organizational disciplines: Any one of the following shall be punished with death: 1. Leaving the organization and betraying the organizer; 2. Conspiring to sabotage the organizer; 3. Disobeying the organization's resolutions and instructions; 4. Leaking the organization's secrets; 5. Slandering Commander Yan's words and actions; Unity; 7. Those who do not actively work hard to organize work, causing serious damage to the organization; 8. Those who commit smoking, gambling, stealing, and bullying. Since its establishment, the Iron Army Organization has been directly controlled by Wang Jingguo.The public name to the outside world was originally called the Whole Army Association. In the summer of 1940, Wang Jingguo crossed the Yellow River with Yan Xishan.Later, a supervisory and training section was added to the training department of the Taiyuan Appeasement Office, with his confidant Wang Fengshan as the section chief, under Wang's direct leadership, specializing in the organization of the Iron Army. In 1941, Yan Xishan ordered Yang Aiyuan, Sun Chu, Zhao Chengshou, Wang Jingguo, Chu Xichun, Guo Zongfen, Yang Chengyuan, Peng Yubin and others to form an army committee to take charge of the iron army organization work in order to ease the generals' dissatisfaction with Wang's monopoly on the iron army organization.As a result, Yang Aiyuan and others other than Wang Jingguo also joined the Iron Army organization and became super high-level with more than 28 people.Yan Xishan named it the special group, with Yang Aiyuan as the director of the special committee, and the rest were special committees. In 1943, the Army Reorganization Association was changed to the Army Construction Association, but no matter how the organization and form changed, it did not change the essence of Wang Jingguo's single-handed control of the Iron Army Organization. It aroused the dissatisfaction of Sun Chu and Zhao Chengshou. Of course, people like Wang Jingguo also have certain organizational skills.He is scheming, good at guessing Yan Xishan's intentions, and put forward suggestions in time, so as to win Yan's respect, like a left and right hand.Sun Chu and Zhao Chengshou were dissatisfied with the king's words and deeds, and the king noticed it. It is said that he often said this to his confidants: "To be full of losses, to be humble and to benefit, one should be good at dealing with others. Sun and Zhao are better than me, and I will take care of them as elders. When they are at the end of a team, they dare not move forward, they are not arrogant when they are favored, and they are not arrogant in power, so they can be self-sufficient. .” In 1941, Yan Xishan conspired to use the secret social organization Qinghong Gang to carry out activities in enemy-occupied areas.He also claimed to be the leader of the same mountain with the people, so Wang Jingguo changed his name to Wang Mengfei as the deputy mountain leader. In 1943, in order to strengthen the construction of his army, Yan Xishan ordered Wang Jingguo to formulate an army training plan based on his ideas of building an army first, building a company first, building a company first, and building an organization first, building cadres.In the autumn of the same year, Yan Xishan moved to the bank of Xiaohe in Jixian County to personally conduct the pilot training of army building.Wang Jingguo assumed overall responsibility as a committee member and director of the office.After the establishment of the army in Jixian County and the end of the spring of 1944, the experience was summed up, and in order to take care of the defense of each army, the division was carried out nearby.Wang Jingguo went to Sang'e Town of Ji County and Huang County successively to build an army.During this period, he also served as a high-ranking cadre in the leading group of the North District, and also took charge of the special districts, county groups, politics, economics, and education in the area. In April 1945, Yan Xishan saw that Japan's defeat was not far away.In order to prepare to take over Taiyuan as soon as possible, they drove in from Jixian County, mobilized more than a thousand cadres from various departments, and held "rescue training".The main purpose is to train cadres to use the secret organizational relationship of the Qinghong Gang to go deep into enemy-occupied areas to subdue them secretly and establish an underground regime.Waiting for the surrender of the Japanese army, organize forces to meet Yan Jun.Wang Jingguo is the deputy head of Minmin Mountain of the Hong Gang. He was ordered by Yan to co-chair the training with Liang Huazhi, the leader of the Comrade Association, Fu Cunhuai, the leader of the Youth Gang, and Bo Yuxiang, the leader of the Soldiers and Farmers.After Japan surrendered, Wang Jingguo was ordered by Yan to be stationed in Linfen, taking the opportunity to extend his power to the liberated areas. On January 10, 1946, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party signed an armistice agreement.He Yingqin, Army Commander-in-Chief of the Chongqing Government, informed Yan Xishan that Shanxi should gain a favorable position before the ceasefire at 12 o'clock on the night of January 13.In order to open up the South Tongpu railway line, Yan Xishan secretly ordered Wang Jingguo to personally command the 61st Army and a part of the advancing column to attack Houma in the Liberated Area, and ordered to capture Houma Station before midnight on the 13th.Wang Ling's troops were dispatched at midnight, taking advantage of the convenient railway transportation, moving quickly, and with the support of Quwo and Xinjiang Yan Jun, they were determined to win.Unexpectedly, he was hit head-on by the Eighth Route Army, and the Wang Ministry had to retreat to Linfen. Wang Jingguo stole the limelight at the time, and Hu Zongnan sent people to have a secret meeting to convey Chiang Kai-shek's will, planning to transfer him to Henan to take on a heavy responsibility and ask for his opinions.Wang reported the matter to Yan Xishan, and Yan sent the king back to Taiyuan quickly.The Linfen military handed over Liang Peihuang, commander of the 61st Army, and promoted Wang to the deputy commander-in-chief of the 13th Army. From then on, Wang Jingguo worked even harder for Yan Xishan. At this time, the War of Liberation was in full swing, and the railway line from Linfen to Taiyuan was cut off, so Wang was ordered to turn to Taiyuan.As the director, Wang Jingguo personally went to Shouyang, Xin, Ding and other places to supervise the collection of summer grain.After finishing the work, Xiang Yan proposed to organize a struggle group to go deep into the liberated areas.He also focused on the experience of Zhao Junyi, head of the 1st Regiment of the 49th Division, mobilizing the landlords and rich peasants who fled from the liberated areas to organize, ration weapons, and let them return to their hometowns for revenge.After hearing this, Yan Xishan greatly appreciated it, and after discussing it with Wang Jingguo and others, he perfected it and became the so-called three-step method of "self-cleaning, self-defense, and self-government" to expand to the liberated areas, and all departments of the army followed suit. Winter of 1947. The land of Shanxi seems to be colder than ever, but the people seem to be immersed in the spring season. This is because they have been looking forward to the light, and the People's Liberation Army has launched a campaign to attack Yan Xishan. At this time, Yan Xishan was the saddest in his heart. He had a hard time thinking about it, reviewed his strategic mistakes in front of senior military officers, and put forward the slogan of defending Shanxi.At that time, Wang Jingguo followed Yan Xishan's instruction that in order to build the army into an iron army with a foundation and solidarity, we must start from the grassroots and develop iron army organizations in squads and platoons, and proposed the plan of "organizing and training the core of the iron army" to consolidate the grassroots organizations of the army.After the high-level meeting decided, Wang Jingguo was appointed to be in charge.After Wang was appointed, he formed the Iron Army Basic Training Committee with him as the chairman.The training objects are "loyal and reliable" squad leaders and soldiers selected from each unit in units of regiments, and are absorbed into the Iron Army organization after training and investigation.During the training, the trainees were required to fight to the death on the battlefield, not to be prisoners, and to kill those who advocated surrender on the spot; to unite soldiers in the squad, and to discover the camouflage (referring to the Communist Party), and the trainees returned to the army to serve as squad leaders and deputy squad leaders. Yan Xishan called them "Tie Liang" and "Tie Erliang", and those who were not squad leaders were called "Iron Zhuzi". He expected them to share life and death with him and serve as the iron foundation of his army.During the training, Wang Jingguo exclaimed: "To live and die together has two meanings. One is that you have joined the organization, that is, you have become brothers in life and death with Commander Yan and me. We must share life and death together and be loyal to the organization; The four words "to live and die together" are the destiny's decision, that is, God has instructed us that the comrades must live and the Communist Party must die. You must have this confidence..." However, his iron army was still dispersed by Xu Xiangqian's team.At that time, Wang Jingguo was criticized, so he had no choice but to avoid the pursuit of the People's Liberation Army with his remnant soldiers.In the Battle of Jinzhong, Yan Jun suffered heavy losses. Chiang Kai-shek urgently ordered Yan Xishan to crush Xu Xiangqian's troops in Jinzhong and wipe them out. Under Chiang Kai-shek's instigation, Yan Xishan made up his mind to hold a large-scale decisive battle with the People's Liberation Army in Jinzhong.He said to Zhao Chengshou, commander-in-chief of the Seventh Army: "Wang Jingguo's ineffective command caused Xu Qianqian's troops to go straight into the Jinzhong Plain. I have already sent an army into it. You know, Li Youtang, the chief of staff of the 19th Army, was also captured by them. Chairman Jiang told us this time. The army is extremely dissatisfied with the temporary defeat, and ordered us to defend Jinzhong at all costs. I want to send you to command the southern front, do you have any objections?" Zhao Chengshou is a person who has tasted the power of Xu Qianqian Corps. From the bottom of his heart, he is unwilling to drive his group army to the front line and see it being eaten by the People's Liberation Army, but he still expresses his willingness to be the commander-in-chief of the southern front. He said to Yan Xishan: "The battle line in Jinzhong is too long. I ask the other armies to move closer to Jinzhong. If they can form a group advantage and lead the main force of the Communist army to the Pingyao area, then they can be completely encircled and wiped out." Yan Xishan, who was smoking with his eyes closed, put down the two-jin pure copper hookah pot, looked at Zhao Chengshou and said, "Don't worry, I will send reinforcements." After Zhao Chengshou moved his troops to the southern front, Yan Xishan readjusted his combat deployment. Two divisions of the 34th Army were urgently ordered to go north from Pingyao. Shen Rui led two divisions of the 33rd Army and went south from Qi County. Japanese officer Jin Shude led the 10th Corps from Yuci to Dongguan in an attempt to fight us in Qixian County and the area east of Pingyao. After Xu Xiangqian learned that Yan Xishan had adjusted the strategic deployment, he also made the following adjustments to the strategic deployment: (1) The 13th vertical is located in Zhongliang to monitor the enemy in Dongguan. (2) Taiyue troops intervened between Hongshan and Pingyao to monitor the enemy in Pingyao. (3) The first part of the 8th vertical was deployed between Hongshan and Qixian to block and fight for aid, while the main force attacked from the north of Dongshan Mountain in Pingyao and the south of Jianzheng. (4) The Luliang troops are located on the east bank of the Fen River to control Changshou and Xujiaqiao, attack from behind, and cooperate with the main force of the 8th vertical to cut and wipe out the enemy. (5) Xiao Wenjiu's troops were active in the area south of Yuci and cooperated in operations. From the 26th, the two enemy divisions launched a fierce attack on Qixian and Hongshan. In addition, the enemy's 33rd Army also tried its best to move closer to the 34th Army.After our Luliang troops crossed the Fen River, we took on the task of cutting off the closeness of the two armies, so as to cooperate with the main force to eliminate the 34th Army. But the three regiments of the enemy's 33rd Army and a part of the 34th Army launched a fierce attack on our Luliang troops from three sides, and our army had to withdraw from the position automatically and retreat to Hexi. At that time, Xu Qianqian Corps' 8th Column moved slowly and did not attack in time, causing the two enemy armies to come together and build fortifications.Xu Xiangqian originally planned to lure the enemy's 34th Army into a deep encirclement and implement various defeat tactics, but this plan is difficult to realize. The enemy's strength is getting stronger and stronger. A forced attack will inevitably cause heavy casualties. Xu Xiangqian thought again and again in the command post. Still ordered the troops to withdraw from the position temporarily. So far, the first phase of the Jinzhong Campaign has come to an end. Our army successively wiped out more than 17,000 enemies and suffered more than 4,000 casualties. The summer in Jinzhong is extremely hot. This is a battle of the final contest between the enemy and ourselves. After several days of fighting, although both sides temporarily ceased fire, the smoke of the decisive battle has not receded.At this time, the battle situation was still quite complicated. Xu Xiangqian's Corps and Yan Xishan's 33rd and 34th armies had already formed a confrontation in the Ping and Qi areas. It was impossible to end the battle in a short period of time without readjusting their deployment. Xu Xiangqian's mood became even heavier. In a shack-like front-line command post, several young officers in shabby military uniforms were punctuating a map, while Xu Xiangqian, Zhou Shidi, Chen Manyuan, Hu Yaobang and others were studying the next battle strategy. Xu Xiangqian looked at everyone and said: "The Battle of Jinzhong has entered a critical moment. Now that the enemy has formed a certain threat to me, we have to change our combat policy in the past. Enemy, to end the Jinzhong campaign as soon as possible, we should try to mobilize the enemy and adopt various strategies to defeat them." Zhou Shidi said: "I agree with Commander Xu's opinion." Xu Xiangqian said: "In the Yuci, Taigu, Xugou, and Qixian areas in the north, the enemy's defenses are weak, the battlefield is wide, and the wheat harvest is in progress. Our main force should go north to defend the wheat harvest in this area, cut off the enemy's food sources, and lure The enemy moves." After some discussions, finally Chief of Staff Chen Manyuan announced the specific combat deployment: (1) The Taiyue troops and the Xiao Wenjiu Group encircled and wiped out Taigu and defended the enemy, and attacked the Yutai Railway; (2) the Lvliang troops attacked Xugou; (3) the main force of the 8th vertical controlled the area south of the Qitai Railway, and attacked and wiped out Dongguan with one Defend the enemy; (4) The main force of the 13th vertical gathered in the area south of Dongguan, and attacked the Qitai Railway with one part; (6) If Zhao Chengshou's group goes from Ping and Qi to Taigu for reinforcements or returns to Taiyuan, I will concentrate the strength of nine brigades from the 8th, 13th, Luliang troops, and Taiyue troops to the Qitai Army. Eliminate them in the north and south areas of the railway; (7) The combat time is scheduled to start at dusk on July 1st. The weather in June, the sun is shining brightly, and the battlefield is like fire. After receiving the order, the troops immediately marched towards the designated location.At that time, the soldiers marched and fought at the same time, sweating profusely, exhausted a lot of physical strength, and lost a lot of staff. As the commander-in-chief, Xu Xiangqian was very clear about this matter.He also loves his subordinates very much, and hopes that everyone will take a good rest for a few days and gather enough energy to fight again, but this is a march to fight a war.He said to Hu Yaobang, the young director of the Political Department: "Currently all the troops are suffering from excessive physical exertion and a lot of downsizing. From the bottom of my heart, I really want our frontline commanders and fighters to take a good rest, but in order to create combat opportunities, we have to buy time. Do you understand this? " Hu Yaobang said: "I understand, time is victory!" "You're right. The morale of each unit depends on you. Political work must keep up!" "Commander, please rest assured." "Your political departments must play a role at this juncture. You must strengthen political and ideological work, and call on all troops to carry forward the spirit of enduring hardships and enduring hard work, overcome all difficulties, and act according to the established deployment." As a result, a vigorous political and ideological work was quickly launched in various units. One evening three days later. Xu Xiangqian was sitting under a walnut tree in the courtyard of the command post, closing his eyes and resting his mind. Suddenly, a combat staff officer ran out of the room and said to him, "Commander-in-Chief, please answer the phone." He turned around and asked, "Where did you come from?" "It's Commander 8 Zong Wang Xinting calling." Xu Xiangqian stood up and walked into the room, picked up the microphone and said, "I'm Xu Xiangqian, please speak." "Hi Commander, I'm Wang Xinting." "How's the situation there?" "Report to the commander-in-chief, the temperature is too high, and the non-combat loss of personnel is too large. We really can't walk anymore. Can we rest for two days and take a break before walking?" Xu Xiangqian said in a very stern tone: "This is absolutely impossible. If you can't walk or climb, you have to climb to the designated position. If you delay the fighter, I'm asking you!" Wang Xinting seemed to have something to explain, but Xu Xiangqian continued: "Now is a critical moment. We are fighting against the enemy for time, and if we are late, the enemy will slip away." "Time is victory. If you take your time and look forward and backward, how can you catch a chance and win?" Regarding the combat situation of the Corps at this critical moment, Xu Shuai later described in his memoirs: "Destroying the enemy's traffic is an effective means to delay the enemy and prevent the enemy from fleeing northward. It is also an important part of our army's gaining time and creating a battlefield. The Jinzhong Plain is narrow and long, with the Tongpu Railway running straight from north to south in the middle. The enemy occupies a series of counties. And the strongholds along the railway line can not only hold firm, but also facilitate the movement to gather. If you can't beat us, you can escape and go back to Taiyuan within a day and night. In this case, vigorously attack the railway and control the important strongholds along the line. It became a decisive link in the entire battle situation. On July 2, our Taiyue troops marched rapidly all day and night, inserted between Taigu and Yuci, and cooperated with Xiao Wenjiu's group to launch a large-scale railway attack. Going north and forcing the enemy into our preset battlefield played an important role. "Zhao Chengshou discovered that our main force was moving north. On June 30, he ordered his troops to stop the offensive in the Hongshan area and prepare to return to the north. On July 2, the main force of the 33rd enemy army entered the Taigu area. The 34th army and the 10th army The corps also gathered in Qixian County. In Pingyao and Jiexiu counties, only a few new regiments and local stubborn troops were left to defend. In the Jiaocheng, Wenshui, Fenyang, and Xiaoyi areas west of the Fenhe River, there were still 69th and 70th troops defending the enemy. teacher. "We decided to first concentrate our forces to wipe out the main force of the enemy, and then return to the division to sweep the enemies on the east and west banks of the Fen River. Immediately ordered the 8th Zong to firmly bite the enemy's 34th Army in Qi County, and captured Xugou with one part; Taiyue troops and Xiao Group Withstood the attack of the enemy of Taigu; 13 Zhandongguan Town was attacked vertically, striving to force the enemy into the triangle area between Xugou, Taigu and Yuci, and surrounded and wiped it out. Luliang troops were placed in Hexi to block the enemy's first The 69th and 70th divisions crossed the river to aid. "From July 3rd to 6th, the most critical part of the battle was the Taiyue troops and the Xiao Group on the front line. They successively attacked railways, bridges, and strongholds between Yuci and Taigu, and quickly controlled Beiqi. Dongyang Town, south to Dongcun, cut off the enemy's escape route to Taiyuan. At the same time, the Corps learned that a part of the enemy in Xinzhou was trying to flee back to Taiyuan, and ordered the Sun and Zhang Group to ambush to the north of Taiyuan and wiped out the enemy. The enemy was extremely Shocking, starting from July 3, with the strength of 9 regiments including the 9th Corps, all of the 71st Division, 1 regiment of the 46th Division, and 9 regiments of the 10th Corps, it was equipped with 3 armored vehicles, more than 30 mountain artillery pieces, and more than 40 light and heavy mortars. Under the cover of several planes, they bombarded Dong Village in turn. The enemy Zhao Chengshou's 33rd Army Commander Shen Rui personally took command of the town. Yuci also dispatched two infantry regiments and one machine artillery regiment to Dongyang Town to the south to attack me. The group's position was violently attacked. This was a very fierce battle for position. The enemy attacked and we defended, and fought for three days and three nights. The enemy's firepower was strong, and they desperately wanted to break through our army's position and flee to Taiyuan. I gave Liu Zhong and Xiao Wenjiu When the order to die is given, no matter how tired you are or how many casualties you have, you must be "nailed" there, stick to it to the end, and never let the enemy run away! The troops are really good, with one as ten, one hundred as thousands, people in the position, and the enemy Repeated struggles and hand-to-hand combat. The 41st Taiyue Regiment, which stood firm in Dong Village, repelled multiple attacks by the superior enemy, killing and injuring more than a thousand enemies. One company fought with only 9 people left, and the position stood still. The regiment After the war, it was awarded the honorable title of 'Stable as Mount Tai'. "Our army guarded like a reef, shattering Zhao Chengshou's dream of fleeing north along the railway. On the night of July 6, the enemy was forced to leave the railway, trying to take the road between Yuci and Xugou and flee northward. This has entered our army's presupposition Battlefield. I used the 13th vertical and the 8th vertical to pursue the enemy's 34th army, and inserted into the area east of Xugou, south of Ziya River, and east of Yaocheng Town first, and cut off the enemy's return; Taiyue troops and Xiao Wenjiu Group went west Pass the 13th vertical; use the main force of Luliang to cross the river east and enter the Yongkang area in the southwest of Yuci to block and fight for aid; order the main force of the 8th vertical to capture Qixian on the 7th, wipe out the enemy's 37th division and two regiments, and go north to the southeast of Xugou on the 8th to encircle Enemies. So far, more than 30,000 enemies have been completely surrounded by me. "The corps command post of Zhou Shidi and I was set up in Zhangjiazhuang, south of Xugou. I went there on a stretcher because of my poor health. The most troublesome thing for us was the lack of troops, for fear that the enemy would break through and flee. At that time, I The army braved the scorching sun and continued to march and fight. It was extremely exhausted and the number of personnel was greatly reduced. The prisoners captured were added to the army before training and education. There are only 27 people. The 13th and 36th brigades are the largest troops. There are only two companies in each battalion, two platoons in each company, and two squads in each row. Our firepower weapons are far inferior to the enemy. If the enemy concentrates its forces If we attack a little bit more and organize a breakout, it will be very difficult for us to achieve the goal of completely annihilating them." According to Marshal Xu Xiangqian's recollection, the reason why he was able to win at that time was related to the command error of the enemy commander Zhao Chengxuan, who used his troops improperly at that time. One is the dispersion of troops. It was a hot night, and one of Yan Xishan's troops was resting in several small towns. The army commander Zhao Chengshou took several division commanders, regimental commanders and some ostentatious prostitutes to dance. They did not expect that the People's Liberation Army had rushed to their position in the night. It was dawn in the east and the enemy army was still sleeping soundly. Zhao Chengshou returned to the Ahead, a staff officer on duty reported to him: "The communist army has already surrounded us." "What did you say?" "According to the report of the scouts, Xu Xiangqian's main force has already reached the periphery of our army's northern front position." Only then did Zhao Chengshou get a little flustered.He bulged his eyes and said, "Why didn't you report earlier?" The tall staff officer standing in front of him said with fear: "This news was reported after dawn. I was very anxious at the time, but I couldn't find you..." "Don't talk about it, everyone is nothing." Zhao Chengshou was terrified. The staff officer turned to leave, but Zhao Chengshou waved his hand and said, "Immediately notify the division commanders to run to the meeting." Because one of his troops was drawing too long a front line, although the division commanders were ordered to go to the army command post on horseback, everyone arrived after the sun went down. Seeing that the flames of war were burning to his ass, Zhao Chengshou changed his old procrastination style and had no choice but to make a long story short and directly assign tasks to the troops. The second is hesitation. Zhao Chengshou is fatuous and incompetent, with poor determination.Although he felt that the situation was precarious, he could not make up his mind, and it was all at the mercy of Yuan Quanfu.Yuan Quanfu was a Japanese, very proud, looked down on the "Tubalu" and thought it unnecessary to break through, so he was determined to "fight to the death with the Communist Army" on the spot.In this way, the enemy first divided his troops into three groups, attacked once, and then withdrew his troops to defend if he could not attack, trying to rely on superior firepower and field fortifications to fight against me.We took the opportunity to adjust our deployment, with the 13th Column in the north and northwest, the 8th Column in the southwest, the Xiao Group in the northeast, and the Taiyue Army in the east and southeast. The Zhao Chengshou Group is completely surrounded by me.At this time, the fighter plane is to fight quickly and make a quick decision to wipe out the enemy cleanly, completely and completely in one go.Xu Xiangqian decided to launch a general offensive immediately, from west to east, capturing village by village, dividing and annihilating the enemy. 8 Zong asked to postpone the time of the general attack because the heavy artillery had not yet been deployed, but Xu Xiangqian did not agree. At dawn on July 10, the horn of the general offensive sounded. Our 8th and 13th verticals took the lead, launching fierce attacks on the enemy from the two main directions of southwest and northwest respectively.The Taiyue troops and the Xiao Group located in the southeast and northeast are responsible for assisting tasks.The villages in the Jinzhong Plain are surrounded by solid walls, with dense houses and multi-brick structures. The enemy is stubbornly defending and struggling.Our army uses mountain artillery and field artillery as the backbone, equipped with flat-fired mortars, violently destroys the enemy's villages along the firepower points, opens up breakthroughs, covers the infantry's intrusion, rampages, breaks through the bases and destroys the enemy.After two days and one night of fierce fighting, "San Liqing" and Dongxijia Village, Dachang Town, Nanzhuang and other places were all conquered by us. Most of the enemy's 34th Army was wiped out, more than half of the enemy's casualties, and the remnants of the enemy fled to Xifan.During this period, Zhao Chengshou ordered a part of the 34th Army to rush towards our position in Wangcun.The commanders and fighters of the Xiao Group fought tenaciously against the enemy and repelled the enemy's seven charges in one day on the tenth; the enemy once broke into the village, and we fought for farmhouses with the enemy for several hours. The enemy had no results at all, but lost more than 300 soldiers. Morale was getting lower and lower. Only then did Zhao Chengshou realize the seriousness of the problem. He had no choice but to change his plan and temporarily withdraw his troops. The soldiers, including some middle and lower-level officers, were very resentful towards Zhao Chengshou's command mistakes. But he threatened: "Temporary failure means nothing. We can rely on our superior firepower and field fortifications to fight the Communist army here. Xu Xiangqian's troops are all dirt roads. There is nothing terrible. As long as everyone persists God, if we drag them down, Taiyuan will send a plane to help us, and by then Xu Xiangqian will have three heads and six arms, and he won't be able to escape our grasp..." Yan Xishan once made a wish to Zhao Chengshou to send a plane to help in the war, but this was just a blank check. The 30,000 soldiers and horses of Zhao Chengshou's group have been completely surrounded by Xu Xiangqian's corps. Another day passed. There is no war on the front lines. Zhao Chengshou did not dare to do anything easily, and there was no food to eat, so many soldiers entered the village to grab food. Xu Xiangqian said to the people in the command post: "Now is the time. If Zhao Chengshou doesn't move, we will move. The most important thing is to make a quick decision and go all out. We should use the enemy's respite to launch an attack and wipe them out cleanly, completely, and completely. To Jin The Sino-Japanese War draws a beautiful end." At this time, the chief of staff said: "8 Zong Wang Xinting called to say that their heavy artillery has not been deployed yet, and asked to postpone the time of the general attack." Xu Xiangqian said in a strong tone: "The general offensive should be launched immediately, from west to east, capturing villages one by one, dividing and annihilating the enemy. As for the problem that the 8th Zong has not yet been adjusted due to heavy artillery fire, let them figure out their own way. The time for the general offensive cannot be postponed." At this time, Yan Xishan, who was far away in Taiyuan, was panicked. He didn't expect Xu Xiangqian to eat one of his troops. He sat in the mansion and cursed Xu Xiang for a while, then issued an order in a panic: Ordered the 45th Division, 49th Division, and a part of the 40th Division to form the "South Aid Corps", marching from Taiyuan to the southwest of Yuci to meet Zhao Chengshou's troops to break through; ordered the troops of the counties in central Shanxi to concentrate on Taiyuan. 12 nights. Xu Xiangqian adjusted the strategic deployment decisively at the front command post. The deployment of the troops is as follows: With the 13th vertical and the main force of Taiyue troops continuing to encircle and annihilate the remnants of Zhao Chengshou, all the troops were used to chase and intercept the enemy who was trying to flee north. Use the 23rd Brigade of the 8th Vertical and the two regiments of Taiyue, and the 1st Regiment of the 7th Brigade of Luliang to the east to block and annihilate the 9th Corps of the enemy who fled Taigu; use the 24th Brigade of the 8th Vertical and the Luliang troops to form the "Fenxi Group" and cross the Fen River to the west. Attack Hexi to flee the enemy; use Xiao Wenjiu's group to drive from Wangcun to Wangxiang and Neibai villages, block and defeat the enemy's "South Aid Corps";... On the 13th, our East Road troops wiped out the enemy's 9th Corps in the Zhucun area, And then occupied Taigu County. On the 14th, our "Fenxi Group" intercepted more than 20,000 enemies in Hexi in Taiyuan and Jiaocheng, and wiped out more than 8,000 enemies in one fell swoop. On the 16th, Xiaochang Village, the last stronghold of the Zhao Chengshou Group, was attacked by us, and more than ten thousand enemies were all wiped out. On the 21st, the participating troops completed the siege of Taiyuan. So far, the Battle of Jinzhong has ended victoriously. The main captured enemy generals are: Lieutenant General Zhao Chengshou, Commander of the 7th Army, and Yang Cheng, Chief of Staff of the Lieutenant General. General Shen Rui of the 33rd Army, Major General Cao Jinqian, Chief of Staff. Xu Xiangqian was very happy when he learned that Zhao Chengshou had been captured. He smiled and said to Zhou Shidi: "This man is also from my hometown in Wutai. Our two families are very close. We went to school together when we were young." Zhou Shidi said: "It's very interesting to meet classmates on the battlefield. Do you want to meet him?" "We must see you. This person's stay will be useful for us to liberate Taiyuan in the future." "Then I'll have someone send him here." “送来，我要见见这几个人，将我军的政策向他们讲清楚，可以利用他们去做做工作，争取在攻打太原时少流血。” 徐向前说的这个老同学赵承绶是阎锡山手下的一个得力干将。 他生于五台县槐阴村。18岁考入太原陆军小学。辛亥革命时曾参加过山西新军起义。后来又考入保定陆军军官学校第五期骑兵科。曾任排长、连长、营长、旅长、骑兵司令、军长等职。 当他成为解放军的俘虏后，心情很不平静。他担心徐向前会杀了他。有一天，徐向前突然会见他时，望着他问： “你还认识我吗？” “你是子敬（徐向前的字）吧！” “老同学的眼力还是不错嘛！分手这么多年，你发福了。” “说来惭愧啊！” “哈，有点'英雄'气概嘛，是不是还想为蒋介石、阎锡山不成功，则成仁呢？” “不是这个意思。我对不起你哩。” “晋中决战，你我双方伤亡几万人，已经不是老同学之间谁对不起谁的问题了……” “我有罪。” “知道这一点就好，我们共产党是讲政策的，只要你放下屠刀，立地成佛，为人民做有益的事，我们就欢迎。” “我一定痛改前非，重新做人。” “有这个想法更好，你有何打算？” “我是历史的罪人，准备学习反省。” “我们下一步就要向太原进攻，你愿不愿意为我们做点事情？” “只要用得上，我会尽力。” “那好，你就留在我们这里和与你一起来的那几个将官组成一个军事工作组，向阎锡山等人做工作，希望我们能用和平的方法解决太原问题。你的旧部很多，有不少人都在带兵，也许他们还会听你的话哩。” “我一定努力去做。” 被俘的高级将领赵承绶等人被留了下来。 在这次战役中，我人民解放军共歼敌正规军7万余人，另俘虏2万余人，总计歼敌10万余人。俘敌赵承绶以下将官16人，毙敌师以上军官9人，阎军主力第七集团军总部及5个军部、9个整师、2个总队全部就歼，击落敌机3架，缴获各种炮3704门、步机枪3万余支、火车头15个、车皮207节，其他军用物资及粮食无数。晋中的灵石、平遥、介休、祁县、太谷、榆次、汾阳、孝义、文水、交城、清源、晋源、徐沟、忻县等14座县城，全部解放。 党中央为此发来贺电，祝贺晋中大捷： 聂荣臻、薄一波、徐向前、滕代远、肖克、贺龙、李井泉、周士第诸同志及华北和晋绥人民解放军全体同志们： 庆祝你们继临汾大捷后，在晋中地区歼灭敌一个总部、五个军部、九个师、两个总队及解放十一座县城（按：至中央发电时，榆次、晋源、忻县三座县城尚未解放）的伟大胜利。晋中战役在向前、士第两同志直接指挥下，由于全军奋战，人民拥护，后方努力生产支前，及各战场的胜利配合，仅仅一个月中，获得如此辉煌战绩，对于整个战局帮助极大。现在我军已临太原城下，最后地结束阎锡山反动统治的时机业已到来。希望你们继续努力，再接再厉，为夺取太原，解放太原人民而战！