Chapter 44 2. Peng Dehuai commanded three corps to pursue the remnants of the enemy

The decisive battle in Lanzhou ended successfully, annihilating the most powerful, stubborn and reactionary Ma Bufang army in the Northwest in one fell swoop.Since then, the Kuomintang troops entrenched in several other cities have lost the ability to conduct large-scale decisive battles like the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, while Peng Dehuai's army has advanced to various regions with overwhelming momentum.At this time, there is no artillery fire in the Great Northwest. As our army continues to complete the task of liberating the entire Northwest, as Mao Zedong predicted, it is only a matter of walking to take over.

The more than 300,000 troops of the First Field Army rested in Lanzhou City for a few days, and then began to march forward, continuing to encircle and wipe out the Kuomintang remnants in various areas. Peng Dehuai issued combat orders to Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang at the meetings of the various corps. Wang Zhen's 1st Corps marched towards Qinghai. Xu Guangda's 2nd Corps marched towards the Hexi Corridor in Gansu. Yang Dezhi's 19th Corps marched towards Ningxia. The 1st Corps was the 1st Army that entered Xining City first.He Bingyan, the commander of the army, and Liao Hansheng, the political commissar, set off from Lanzhou, and ran straight to Ma Bufang's lair through wind and rain.At that time, some remnant bandits were still resisting. After encountering our army, they were attacked by the People's Liberation Army, and most of them put down their weapons.

It was already autumn at this time, and the wind and moon were cold on the northwest plateau, which caused great difficulties for the long-distance march, but our soldiers were full of energy, high in fighting spirit, and sang along the way. To be honest, our commanders and fighters have worked too hard. For more than half a year, they have spent time on the battlefield full of gunpowder and gunfire. They really need to rest, but the Republic is about to be established. How can they sit down and rest. Dawn on September 6. The city of Xining was silent. The 1st Army, the vanguard of Wang Zhen's Corps, has arrived in the suburbs of Xining, the provincial capital of Qinghai.General Wang Zhen, who was walking behind with the army, received a report from the front and learned that there were no enemy guards in the city.

He smiled and said to political commissar Liao Hansheng: "Is the enemy playing some conspiracy?" "Impossible, Ma Bufang and his son have already fled, and whoever wants to work hard for the remaining soldiers." "Could it be that this is an empty city?" "It's entirely possible." "Let the troops prepare for battle, don't take it lightly!" "The reconnaissance team has entered the city, and the other divisions are building fortifications outside the city." "Very well, we will go to town at dawn." After walking for another hour, it was already dawn, and General Wang Zhen received another report that there were no enemies in the city, and the people were preparing to line the streets to welcome them.

In this way, without firing a single shot, Qinghai was declared liberated. Inspired by the wise policy of the Communist Party of China, about 3,000 to 4,000 people from Ma Bufang's 82nd Army, 129th Army, and the New Cavalry Army voluntarily surrendered, withdrew from various pastoral areas, and returned to their homes. Since the end of the Lanzhou Campaign, both the former Northwest Administrative Office and the Kuomintang Central Army took the opportunity to flee to the Zhangye area in the Hexi Corridor to prepare for resistance. Later, this group of people fled to the Wuwei area. At this time, the Northwest Military and Political Chief's Office had become an empty shelf. Liu Ren, the deputy chief, had only the three central armies of the former Longnan Corps. The nearby Huang Zuxun's 91st Army and Zhou Jiabin's 120th Army entered the decisive battle, but because of Liu Ren's obstruction, these two armies fled towards the Hexi Corridor without participating in the battle.

At this time, the 119th Army of Wang Zhiqi of the Longnan Corps fled to Wudu. However, the two armies in front of Liu Ren were also difficult to control. One army from the Xu Guangda Corps and Wang Zhen Corps of the People's Liberation Army had already moved towards them. The vanguard fought several small battles on a small scale, and the People's Liberation Army took the initiative to slow down its march. Conflicts arose within the Kuomintang army, and many people strongly advocated an uprising. However, Commander Huang Zuxun firmly opposed it. He said to Commander Zhou Jiabin: "Now that we have come to this point, although the future is not bright, my surname Huang, as a party-state soldier, will never take the initiative to lay down my arms."

Zhou Jiabin was in a very bad state of mind. He said: "The overall situation has been settled. The Communist Party has won the world. Who will the Nationalist government take care of us? For more than half a year, we have come to the depths of this desert and survived so hard. How can we fight this battle with the military expenses that are divided into money? So many people want to eat, and if they don’t surrender or revolt, what is the way out for everyone?” "There is still a way out. We can persist here for a while. If Xinjiang is safe, we will go there." "How can Xinjiang be safe? Can Peng Dehuai's troops sit still in Lanzhou City?"

At this time, Liu Ren also came in. He was a person who tried his best to fight the battle, but he became a bare-bones commander, and his deputy commander was a vain one. He could only rely on these two army commanders. He sat down and said, "Don't be afraid, the problem won't be that serious!" Zhou Jiabin asked back: "Didn't you say that Ma Bufang and his son can persist in Lanzhou for about three months? How about it? It will be over in less than two days." "If the Qing and Ning horses work together, Lanzhou will not be lost so quickly. The key is that they have conflicts."

"Then what shall we do?" "Now that the communist army has captured Lanzhou, it is impossible to move westward. Ningxia and Xinjiang are still in our hands." "As far as I know, Peng Dehuai brought three corps this time to solve the Northwest issue." "The communist army has suffered losses in the Hexi Corridor in the past. To enter Xinjiang and Ningxia, they have to cross the Gobi desert. The actual difficulties are many, and they will not take this risk." "Then what do you think they'll do next..." "The next step is to go south to pursue Hu Zongnan, and then march to Sichuan."

Huang Zuxun went on to say: "Deputy Chief Liu is right. It is impossible for the communist army to pursue us, even with a small force. We can persist in the Hexi Corridor." Liu Ren seemed to be emotionally moved. He handed them both cigarettes, took a long puff himself, and said earnestly: "You two are the pillars of the party and the country. In the decisive battle in Lanzhou, Ma Bufang wanted you to take the lead and take the opportunity to eliminate them. You guys, I did a lot of work to prevent you from confronting the communist army head-on. Ma Jiyuan was still cursing you when he left. I saved my hand at the beginning, thinking that after Lanzhou lost, we came here together to fight again. This opportunity It's finally here!"

Huang Zuxun stated on the spot: "That's right, we can't surrender to the Communist army." Zhou Jiabin didn't make a clear statement, just sat there with his head bowed and smoking. At this time, they had heard that Xinjiang would take the road of peaceful uprising. Zhou Jiabin immediately sent people to Xinjiang to report their situation in Hexi to Commander Tao Zhiyue, and expressed support for his uprising. Of course, this matter was behind Liu Ren and Huang Zuxun's back. A few days later, a regiment of Wang Zhen's corps had come down from Xining, and it was almost at Wuwei, and Xu Guangda's vanguard also came over. The Cavalry Regiment directly under Huang Zuxun's 91st Army and the Cavalry Regiment of the 246th Division have declared an uprising on the front line. Huang Zuxun was terrified. Liu Ren pointed at him and scolded him, but he didn't dare to speak. Liu Ren said to him: "Now the communist army is chasing you again, and your army is in trouble again, which affects the morale of the army. What do you think we should do?" "I never thought that these two regiments would defect to the Communist Army." "If we don't live together, the responsibility is not entirely on me. Let's discuss how to act!" "The communist army attacked us in two ways. If we can't resist, we should continue to retreat. Let's talk about Linze and Gaotai." "we can only do this." The two armies hurriedly withdrew to Gaotai County, and Liu Ren ordered the deployment of defenses, in an attempt to fight a decisive battle with the People's Liberation Army here. Zhou Jiabin, the commander of the 120th Army, was originally the son-in-law of General Zhang Zhizhong. He was very peaceful and sincere. He once discussed with Peng Mingding, the deputy chief of staff of the Chief Executive's Office, about leading the army to revolt. That night he fled to Jiuquan. When he got there, he called Peng Mingding privately. Peng Mingding was surprised, he picked up the phone and asked, "Where are you?" "I've arrived at Jiuquan Airport." "what?" "Sorry, I don't want to do it anymore, I'm going to go." "You're gone, what about the big things we discussed?" "You do it alone." "You should come back." "No, I have to get on the plane." The phone was cut off, Peng Mingding was very angry, Zhou Jiabin left, Liu Ren and Huang Zuxun had already embraced the plan to fight the PLA to the end, and it would be more difficult to lead the army to revolt alone. Xu Guangda's troops and Wang Zhen's troops have already attacked them. Realizing that the situation was not good, Liu Ren and Huang Zuxun fled to Jiuquan overnight, and handed over the command of Gaotai to Peng Mingding. Before the two sides exchanged fire, Commander Wang Zhen sent someone to send a letter to Peng Mingding, hoping to revolt as soon as possible. Peng Mingding read the letter and immediately said to the messenger: "I will order the troops to withdraw from the battle now and drive to Jiuquan to accept the uprising. Please tell Commander Wang to let them come to Jiuquan quickly." The next day, these remnants withdrew from the high platform and retreated to Jiuquan. Liu Ren was injured in a car accident on the way to Jiuquan. He Yifu, the commander of Jiuquan's city defense, is Peng Mingding's confidant. He fully agrees with the uprising. He personally arranged all the defenses here. , you should take me to see the deployment situation." He Yifu said: "Please don't worry, I will be responsible for the defense of the city with a battalion, and I will deploy a battalion on the tower of Jiayuguan. I have blocked the way for the remnants to flee to Yumen to destroy the oil field. In addition, the east and west gates of Jiuquan City Each deployed a battalion of troops, and left a company as a reserve." "You are very thoughtful. You should take me to various city gates to have a look. I am not familiar with this place." After seeing the city defense fortifications and deployment of troops, Peng Mingding asked He Yifu: "What activities do Liu Ren and Huang Zuxun have?" He Yifu said: "Liu Ren, an old fellow, was hit by a car and was injured. He is resting at home. I only saw Huang Zuxun once, so I don't know where he lives." "Liu Ren and Huang Zuxun opposed our uprising. Now the problem lies with Liu Ren. Huang Zuxun has been promoted to deputy chief and commander of the Hexi garrison. He has no military power in his hands. The division commanders of his army are no longer under his command. We have an advantage." "Let's try to kill these two." "No, the time is not yet ripe." That night, Peng Mingding went to Liu Ren's home to visit him. Liu Ren was lying on the bed. He was discussing with a secret agent about the secret murder of Peng Mingding, but unexpectedly he came.Liu Ren said hypocritically: "Deputy Chief of Staff Peng has worked hard. He just came back from the high platform and came to see me. How is the situation of the troops now?" "Everyone has a lot of grievances, they don't have any combat capabilities, and people's hearts are unstable!" "The communist army has driven us to nowhere, but don't be afraid." "I'm not afraid, but with so many people, it's hard to get together." "What are your personal plans?" "Just arrived here, haven't thought about it yet." "Well, let's go back to Chongqing together, there is a plane tomorrow." "Well, I'll go back and pack up and go with you. How is your injury? If it's inconvenient, you can treat it for a few days before leaving." "It's okay, it's not a big problem." The next day, Liu Ren left secretly. When he came to the airport, the missing Huang Zuxun suddenly appeared in front of him, climbed out from under the plane, hugged Liu Ren's leg and said: "Mr. Liu, please take me with you." Liu Ren was very angry and said: "You are the commander-in-chief of this area, you can't leave, I will go back and report the situation and come back." Huang still hugged his thigh tightly, Liu Ren said with a smile: "Well, you go and call someone to deliver your things, and I will wait for you for a while." Huang Zuxun hurried to the airport command post to make a call, but at this time Liu Ren ordered the plane to take off. Seeing that the plane had left the runway, Huang Zuxun raised his pistol and gestured in the air a few times, but without firing a shot, he walked out of the airport cursing and returned to the city. He was a stubborn reactionary officer. After entering the city, he could no longer control the army, and he did not give up. He instigated the troops to create chaos in the city, shot everywhere, and even sent someone to secretly burn the warehouse of the 91st Army. Xinjiang has made preparations for a peaceful uprising. The remnants of the Kuomintang soldiers who retreated to Jiuquan, under the pressure of soldiers, also began to contact the representatives of the People's Liberation Army with the efforts of Peng Mingding, planning to revolt. Of course, there are still a small number of diehards who are resolutely opposed to the uprising. Under such circumstances, Peng Mingding stepped forward and stood up to do the work.He once said at a military meeting: "Now that we have reached this point, all the senior members of the Nationalist government have fled, and who will take care of us? I have to think about the future of the brothers. In the past few decades, everyone has seen it with their own eyes. Why do hundreds of people in our Kuomintang Thousands of troops, defeated by the Communist Party? The reason is that the Kuomintang is corrupt and incompetent, and can only kill itself. All our troops in Jiuquan must cooperate with the Communist Party to have a way out. The uprising is an unshakable thing. Everyone must obey. From now on, all troops Stay where you are, and be responsible for maintaining social order, and if you find someone who destroys people’s property, you must be severely punished by military law.” The meeting was very effective, and the overwhelming majority of the people were in favor of the uprising.However, there are still some people who object, and Peng Yuexiang, the deputy chief of the Civil Administration Office, is one of them. He is Liu Ren's confidant. Liu Ren escaped, but he still did not change his original intention and planned to continue to be an enemy of the people. It is not easy for so many people to uprising. Peng Mingding was very anxious. On the evening of September 22, he notified several senior military officers to come to Zeng Zhenwu's home for a meeting. Those who participated in the meeting were all figures who could influence the army at that time.they are: Tang Zutan, Chief of Staff of the Hexi Garrison Headquarters; Shen Zhisheng, Commander of the 246th Division; Li Huannan, Commander of the 173rd Division; Zheng Zhuanghuai, Chief of Staff of the 81st Army; Lai Yaohua, Chief of Staff of the 120th Army; Because Huang Zuxun and Liu Mantian, commander of the 245th Division, opposed the meeting, they did not attend. Peng Mingding was the highest official. He presided over the meeting and said: "Today we are all sitting here discussing the major issues of the uprising. We can each express our views. Everyone's fate is linked together. I don't want to say more. I'd like to invite you to talk." The atmosphere at the venue was very bad from the beginning. Although their doomsday was coming, these people had followed Chiang Kai-shek for many years and felt that surrendering to the Communist Party was a shameful thing, and they were very unconvinced. Li Huannan first said: "You all don't want to talk, let me talk about it first, and now everyone is like a grasshopper tied to a rope, you should think about it together. We have fought against the Communist Party for so many years, and we have killed each of us. We have helped many of them, and now we cooperate with them, what will happen in the future, it is hard to say!" Zeng Zhenwu explained: "I have dealt with the Communist Party, and they mean what they say. How old are we compared to Fu Zuoyi in Beiping? Bing, this is a fact, there should be no worries.” Li Huannan turned around and said, "This is just in front of me. Anyway, I don't advocate an uprising." Peng Mingding asked: "Mr. Li does not approve of the uprising, so what do you think we should do?" "We still have an army in our hands, we should fight to the end, and we will talk about it when we fight it out." "How can this work?" Li Huannan was downcast and kept smoking. No one spoke anymore, Peng Mingding pointed to Tang Zutan, chief of staff of the Hexi Police Headquarters sitting opposite him, and said: "Old Tang, what are your plans?" Tang Zutan raised his head, looked at him and said, "We can continue to retreat westward. Xinjiang is so big that it is impossible for the communist army to take care of it all. We can develop there." As soon as the words fell, the teacher Shen Zhisheng who was sitting next to him suddenly stood up, raised his fist and said: "I object to that opinion." Everyone looked at him, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense. The two big-faced women who came to deliver the water hurriedly retreated. When the fat man with shawl hair turned around, he accidentally knocked over a teacup in front of Li Huannan. The water splashed all over Li Huannan, he bulged his eyes and cursed: "What a loser!" The woman bent down, picked up the broken glass on the ground, and went out blushing. Shen Zhisheng, who lost his temper, went on to say, "We can't change our minds. The opportunity is not lost. The time will never come again. A few days ago, we appointed Brother Zeng Zhenwu to exchange views with the leaders of the Communist Army. The two sides have basically reached a peace clause. The few requests we made were all verbally agreed to, so why continue the fight?" Li Huannan also said: "It's not fighting, but retreating to Xinjiang to avoid the Communist army." "What are you doing there? Commander Tao Zhiyue has agreed to the uprising." "Whether it is an uprising or not, there is no further text." "Then we can't retreat anymore. If we want to surrender, we will surrender here. No one can leave anymore. You have to think about the future. Anyway, our troops won't leave. If someone wants to leave, then don't blame me for not leaving." Be polite, if you are in a hurry, I will kill indiscriminately, and everyone will be finished together." Zeng Zhenwu persuaded him: "Mr. Shen can't be arrogant, and we can discuss things if we have something to say. We have lived and died together for decades. At this time, we still have to talk about unity." Those who disagreed with the uprising stopped speaking. Finally Peng Mingding stood up and said, "It's good to have a quarrel. There is a process of ideological change. We only follow the path of peace. Everyone should think together and believe in the Communist Party. Of course, if someone does not want to work with us, they can also leave the army. Travel expenses I take care of it, but there is one thing, you can't take the troops away." The next morning, the vanguard of Wang Zhen's corps had already entered Jiuquan City.The uprising of the remnants of the Kuomintang was basically ready, and Huang Zuxun hurriedly fled with a deputy division commander and a few followers disguised as businessmen. He climbed over the snow-covered Qilian Mountains all the year round, and later fled to Lijiang, Yunnan, where he was captured alive by our troops going south. The telegram for the uprising has been drawn up, and all officers above the division and regiment have signed their signatures. Only Liu Mantian, the commander of the 235th Division, refused to uprising. Call, let him try to prevent Liu Mantian from escaping, and persuade him to obey the overall situation. He Xinmin blocked the regiment he was leading, first persuaded the regiment leader, and then went to Liu Mantian and said, "Mr. Liu, you can't go anymore. Commander Peng invites you to go back and revolt with everyone." Liu Mantian hung his face and said, "What are you going back for? I don't want to surrender." "Then you can leave by yourself. No one in the regiment you lead is willing to leave with you. I have already incorporated it." "What did you say? It's impossible." "If you don't believe me, just ask your team leader." The head of the group who came with He Xinmin was Zheng Guangzhan. He kept silent and stood there smoking.Because it was in Liu Mantian's temporary home, he didn't sit down, and the head of the regiment was of course standing. Liu Mantian looked at him and asked, "Head Zheng, is this true?" "Yes, there is no future now. Our regiment only has three or four hundred people and has no combat effectiveness at all. The soldiers are unwilling to leave." Only then did Liu Mantian suddenly realize that he was besieged by He Xinmin.He stared and scolded Captain Zheng: "You betrayed me. In the future, Chairman Jiang will be beheaded, and you will not be able to escape." Head Zheng smiled and said: "Mr. Liu, there is no future. Chairman Jiang has already run away!" "You people! You are forcing me to sign the Uprising Telegram." He Xinmin explained: "It forces you to go to the light!" Liu Mantian didn't say anything more, just sat in the chair and pondered for a while, and finally said: "It's come to this point, I have no choice but to agree to the uprising, you tell Commander Peng, I'll go back to Jiuquan right now." In the afternoon of the same day, more than 30,000 remnant soldiers of the Kuomintang in Hexi officially electrified the uprising. Since then, at the foot of the ancient Jiayuguan Great Wall, there is no more war. Amidst the cheers of the people, Wang Zhen and General Xu Guangda led a large army into Jiuquan City with red faces.So far, the entire territory of Gansu has been liberated, and the people of all ethnic groups have returned to the embrace of the Communist Party.