Chapter 56 4. The army going south awakened Chiang Kai-shek's dream

When Chiang Kai-shek pretended to step down in 1949, he made a meaningful arrangement for the defense of South China.At that time, he had already announced his official abdication, but he was still manipulating the army behind his back. In Nanjing, he summoned He Yingqin, Minister of National Defense, Gu Zhutong, Chief of Staff, and Tang Enbo, Commander-in-Chief of the Beijing-Shanghai-Hangzhou Garrison, to the mansion to arrange defense policies.At this time, he no longer has any military spirit, and the glorious time has passed, but he still does not change the old habit of many years, loves to point fingers in front of his subordinates, and shows his prestige.

It was winter, and the wind was blowing outside. He was wearing a black robe like a rich man in the country, sitting around the stove to keep warm. He said: "It is reasonable to say that I am already a commoner, but our more than 2 million troops are the cornerstone of the party-state. They cannot be collapsed and must be cherished. Now that the Communist bandits want to negotiate peace with us, let Li Zongren do it, but you all You are a soldier, remember, you can’t believe in peace, you should step up your preparations for war.” The chubby He Yingqin moved most of his body forward, looked at Chiang Kai-shek and asked, "The danger of war still exists now. It would be better if there is peace. I wonder what the president thinks about the peace talks?"

Chiang Kai-shek seemed to have fallen asleep. He leaned back on the recliner and said: "Is it so easy to talk about? The Communist Party's asking price must be very high, so there is no hope." Gu Zhutong put down his cigarette and said, "Now that the communist army has gained the upper hand, peace talks are certainly not easy, but it is not easy for them to cross the river. We still have a powerful army, air force, and navy." Chiang Kai-shek said: "You are right. Our southern China cannot be surrendered to them. The peace talks should be based on this. If we can do this, we can take a breath and seek help from the United States. Once World War III breaks out, there will be The Communist Party’s drama? Without it, we can recover the lost ground in the north.”

"Does the CEO think the communist army will go south to cross the river?" Gu Zhutong asked. "Well," Chiang Kai-shek stretched out his hand and put it on the stove. "If the peace talks fail, they will have to cross the south of the Yangtze River. This is Mao Zedong's position. It will happen sooner or later. Therefore, you must guard the Yangtze River." Tang Enbo leaned forward and said, "President, rest assured, we will never let the communist army cross the river." Chiang Kai-shek smiled slightly and said: "Very good, very good. I think the defense line along the Yangtze River should be divided into two major areas. The west of Hukou is under the command of Bai Chongxi, and the east of Hukou is under your command. How about it?"

Tang Enbo nodded: "Okay, I will definitely guard this place." "You have a lot of troops, what are your considerations in terms of combat policy?" "Have." "What do you think." "President, the natural danger of the Yangtze River is good for defense, not good for offense. I plan to place the army along the Yangtze River to fight positional warfare. In addition, let the navy strengthen the defense on the river. If the Communist army invades, we will fight it with a quick battle." "This is fine, but it is not suitable to use quick tactics. You should use the Yangtze River defense line as the periphery, focus on the Shanghai-Hangzhou triangle area, and use Songhu as the core. When fighting together, you must adopt a long-term defensive strategy, stick to these areas, and Taiwan. Echo. Remember, once the communist army breaks through the Yangtze River, it is not acceptable to adopt a quick battle."

"Yes, I see." Gu Zhutong said: "The president is wise. It is easier to defend Songhu than the entire Yangtze River. We have a strong navy and air force. It is not easy for the Communist Party to gain a firm foothold in the Yangtze River." Tang Enbo still has concerns. He knows that Jiang Fang is not easy to defend, and it is hard to say whether Bai Chongxi can cooperate with him.He Yingqin saw what he was thinking, and cheered up: "Don't worry about Commander Tang. As long as you defend Songhu, World War III may break out. At that time, the United States must support us, and we will organize the war again." There's nothing wrong with counterattacking."

Tang Enbo asked Chiang Kai-shek: "Will the United States really support us by then?" Chiang Kai-shek took a sip of tea and said: "It will definitely. Now the US government is doing mobilization work. MacArthur once said that as long as we persist for one year from now, they will definitely come to help us." The meeting was short-lived. Chiang Kai-shek had other activities. He heard that he was going to meet with an American friend, so he asked them to go back. Before leaving, Chiang Kai-shek said to them: "The three of you will study it again. If you have any good ideas, you can tell me at any time. I suggest that you hold a meeting of senior officers and arrange the Jiang defense mission."

At that time, because Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi played the sign of peace talks with the Communist Party, Chiang Kai-shek's lecture was not implemented in time.Two months later, that is, after the peace negotiators sent by Li Zongren arrived in Peiping.Chiang Kai-shek was still commanding the army behind his back, and the People's Liberation Army had already moved southward to cross the river. Tang Enbo, He Yingqin, and Gu Zhutong held a meeting of senior cadres above the military level in Nanjing. Tang Enbo looked at everyone and said: "The communist army has already begun to move south, crossing the river is only a matter of time. Today I invite you to study the situation of river defense together. Next, Minister He will speak."

Although there were not many people welcoming him, He Yingqin stood up energetically and said, "It is of great significance to attend this meeting today. As you all know, although Chairman Jiang has retired, he is still the president of our party and state." , He misses you very much, and asked me to say hello to you, he hopes that you will actively prepare for war, stick to the defense line of the Yangtze River, and wait for the outbreak of the third world war." Gu Zhutong took the lead in clapping his hands, but there were very few responders. For unknown reasons, many people in this army had objections to He Yingqin's appointment as Minister of Defense, including Tang Enbo himself.

Before Tang Enbo could speak, Gu Zhutong, chief of staff, said: "As long as we hold the Yangtze River, the problem will be solved. It is not easy for the Communist army to cross the Yangtze River. They will not be able to fight in the south. Your future is bright. The Communist Party There is no need to be afraid of the little army coming!" A senior cadre asked: "Didn't the government send people to negotiate peace now? Is this war going to continue?" He Yingqin said: "Yes, but the peace talks have not yet come to fruition. Our first condition is to ask the communist army not to cross the river. If the communist army insists on crossing the river, it means war, so we can't believe in peace."

The people in the audience began to discuss and talk about crossing the river with the Communist army. Tang Enbo knocked on the table and said: "It is rumored that peace is not credible. We are soldiers. We must not believe in peace. We should strengthen our preparations. The Yangtze River has been a natural danger since ancient times. Can the Communist army fly over? No, we must have a strong determination to share It is said that they are planning to cross the river in April, and we must prepare for a counterattack. But we also have many problems in river defense. If you have any good strategies, please feel free to tell us, and we will study combat strategies together." There are more and more smokers in the venue, and few people take the initiative to express their opinions. He Yingqin fixed his eyes on Ding Zhipan, the commander of the first appeasement zone, and said, "Commander Ding, tell me, you have been defending here for a long time, and you are very experienced!" Ding Zhipan said: "I am confident that I will fight the Communist Army here, and I am sure to defeat the Communist Army." Tang Enbo went on to say, "Please be more specific." "Okay, let me tell you. If the communist army dares to forcibly cross the Yangtze River, they will die in the belly of fish. I don't think there is any need to worry about the 200,000 or 300,000 communist troops, because we have a strong air force and navy, and we can cut off the way out. And mobilize the motorized force within an hour of the battle to completely wipe it out." Gu Zhutong was very satisfied with his speech. He said with a smile: "Commander Ding deserves to be a soldier of the party and country. He is very courageous. We need this kind of spirit to fight against the Communist army. We cannot be intimidated by the enemy and run away without firing a few shots. How can such a person win a battle?" Tang Enbo said: "My army will not be like this, but I think that although the Yangtze River is a natural danger, no capable army can do without people who are good at commanding. Horses are good at walking, and Mongolian horses are fierce. If there are no people who are good at riding You can’t make use of the strengths of these horses. No matter how wide the Yangtze River is and how fast the current is, it won’t work if there are no elite soldiers guarding it. Today is a critical moment for all of us, and the troops guarding the river must not be careless. That’s all right, in short, I feel relieved for everyone.” At this time, Zhang Yaoming, the commander-in-chief of the capital garrison, stood up and said: "I completely agree with Commander-in-Chief Tang's point of view. The reason why our army was defeated in the north was the incompetence of the commander. Could it be that the Communist army is strong? No. .Which one of us here is not more knowledgeable than the commanders of the Communist Army? Most of them have little education, and few of them have attended regular military schools. Winning the battle, this question is worth pondering!" He Yingqin didn't win any battles, so he didn't want to hear these words. At this time, he said: "In the battle at the front, the commander is of course important, but sometimes our junior officers are very disappointing and can run faster than us." Zhang Yaoming went on to say: "I remember that the president once instructed us: The reason why our officers and soldiers are always defeated is that we pay too little attention to military appearance and discipline. The troops walking around on Nanjing Street carrying straws, pulling horse manure everywhere, so that foreigners look down on us, and the troops who change defense in the future are not allowed to pass through the streets. Our officers and soldiers are too unsatisfactory. I am worried that if this continues, we will not If you say you have beaten the Communist Party, you may perish in the future.” He mobilized everyone's emotions at once. An army commander waved his hand and said, "Commander Zhang is right. There is something more serious than this. Underground personnel from the Communist Army have also mixed into our ranks." Another army commander also waved his hand and said: "Don't say too much, these problems are just isolated phenomena. What we will try to solve in the future is to ask you to talk about Jiang Fang." So everyone studied Jiangfang again. The armored commander sitting on the left side of He Yingqin smoked and said, "I want to report a piece of news to you. My hometown is on the other side of the river. You may know that a few days ago, one of my brothers-in-law came here." Look at what I said, the communist army has entered the village and is making preparations for crossing the river. They have collected many chamber pots from the people, and they say they put them on the boat for lighting." People laughed. Naval Commander Gui Yongqing looked at everyone and said: "Our navy is not afraid of their lights, but of their smuggling. The Communist Army has many tricks." He Yingqin said: "It's not that I'm afraid. The Yangtze River has been dangerous since ancient times. Even Cao Cao couldn't cross it. The Communist Army is not a heavenly soldier or general." Gu Zhutong said: "Now we need to adjust the deployment of our troops along the Yangtze River. Each division of Commander Tang's troops has no more than three to five thousand people, and one third can be directly equipped and deployed in the forward positions with heavy firepower to prevent the Communists from attacking. army to cross over, and the rest as a reserve.” Tang Enbo said: "That's my plan." He Yingqin shook his head and said, "It's not appropriate to deploy defenses like this." Tang Enbo asked, "Why?" He said: "With a large number of troops deployed at the forefront, how many can actually be used to defend the ports and wharfs along the river? I am worried that we will not be able to defend them." "There is no problem. We can adopt direct deployment in non-key directions, because these places have fewer troops and these places have a wide defense area." "Then how to equip the key directions such as Nanjing and other places?" "It can be equipped indirectly, leaving a part of the reserve team on standby. We have to figure out the main attack direction of the communist army, and the deployment of troops is easy." Several directors of the Ministry of National Defense were present, so Gu Zhutong said: "Where is the Communist Army mainly attacking? Is there any intelligence?" Director Cai Wenzhi said: "According to intelligence judgments, the Communist Army's main attack direction may be in Digang, not Guazhou. That is to say, it is upstream of Nanjing, not downstream." Tang Enbo asked, "How do you see it?" "Because Digang is easy to cross the river, and after crossing the river, we can go straight from Fanchang and Xuancheng to Changxing and Jiaxing, and push the main force of our army to the triangle area of ​​Chang, Jia and Shanghai. This is beneficial to the enemy, but not to us. If this is the case, the main force of our army will be besieged, and the Jiangxi and Zhejiang areas will lose their defensive capabilities, and the communist army can drive straight in. I suggest that our army control the main force in the areas of Wuhu and Xuancheng, and then retreat to the Zhejiang-Jiangxi railway line according to the battle situation to prevent the communist army. The army goes deep." Tang Enbo has 21 armies, two fleets, three air brigades, and security forces, with a total strength of more than 700,000.Thinking that he is strong, he didn't pay attention to the People's Liberation Army going south. In the end, he assigned the defense zones of each unit based on his personal opinion. Liu Ruming's 8th Corps has jurisdiction over the 55th Army, 68th Army, and 96th Army, and its task is to undertake the defense of the section from Guichi to Jiujiang and Hukou; Zhang Shixi's 7th Appeasement Area has jurisdiction over the 20th Army, 66th Army, and 88th Army Army, whose task is to undertake the defense of the Tongjing to Tongling area; Zhang Yaoming's Capital Garrison Headquarters, which governs the 45th Army and the 28th Army, whose task is to undertake operations in Nanjing and cooperate with other troops; Shi Jue's Songhu Defense Command, which governs the No. The 37th Army, the 52nd Army, and the 75th Army are tasked with defending Shanghai; the Mobile Corps, which governs the 54th Army and the 99th Army, is commanded by Tang Enbo; the Air Force has 3 bases along the Yangtze River and 4 brigades stationed in Nanjing, with a total of aircraft 161 aircraft, 2 brigades garrisoned in Shanghai, with a total of 86 aircraft, 1 brigade garrisoned in Hankou, with 38 aircrafts, mainly supporting the army to undertake the task of river defense; the navy is distributed along the Yangtze River, with a total of 45 warships and 81 boats, forming the river defense The coastal defense fleet will be jointly responsible for maritime defense.