Chapter 58 Six, a million soldiers cross the river

Before crossing the river, the Jiangyin Fortress, which the enemy claims to be "impregnable as gold", was the main target of our army's attack. At that time, it was estimated that we would have to pay a high price here, but I did not expect that this position, which is called the natural danger of the Yangtze River, could be overcome without attacking. The uprising of the Tang brothers in the army played a great role in the smooth crossing of the PLA. Of course, this is worthy of capitalizing with heavy pen and ink, but later when people commented on this stage of history, there were many disputes, and it was difficult to unify opinions. There is a saying that surrender is not recognized as an uprising, and another saying is, If there hadn't been an uprising in the Jiangyin Fortress, the 10th Corps of the People's Liberation Army would not have been able to cross the Yangtze River.

General Ye Fei once said in his recollection article: When evaluating history, one should seek truth from facts. The Jiangyin Fortress Uprising is a historical fact and cannot be denied.But it cannot be said that without the Jiangyin Fortress Uprising, our army would not be able to cross the Yangtze River from Jiangyin... The Jiangyin Fortress Uprising enabled our army to cross the river smoothly, land quickly, and seize the Jiangyin Fortress, opening up a major defense line for the Kuomintang in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. gap. No matter what people say about this period of history, let us go back to the Jiangyin Fortress in April 1949 to review the real situation at that time!

This is the narrowest place on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, only 1,500 meters wide, known as the Jiangfang Gateway.Historically, after the troops of the Song Dynasty went south, they set up camp here and sent heavy troops to guard it; in the Ming Dynasty, it was the main battlefield to encircle and suppress Japanese pirates, and the Japanese army captured this place at all costs during the Anti-Japanese War. After the People's Liberation Army went south, Chiang Kai-shek would of course send heavy troops to guard this place. According to relevant records, the Kuomintang army also spent a lot of effort to defend here at that time. The main force configuration is as follows:

1. Artillery positions: There are Artillery Corps and Guerrilla Artillery Regiment, with more than 100 artillery pieces of various kinds, under the command of Tang Binglin. 2. Infantry defense position: a garrison corps, composed of engineers, communications, radar, surveying and mapping and other synthetic units, with about a thousand people, the commander in chief is Wu Guangwen. 3. The command post of the fortress has several units directly under it, and the commander is Dai Rongguang. It can be seen that the defense here is very tight, the fortifications are strong, the terrain is dangerous, and it is easy to defend but difficult to attack.General Ye Fei, the commander of the 10th Corps, later said in his memoirs that they chose this place to cross the river at that time. Nanjing is too close.From the geographical point of view, the most ideal is Jiangyin.Once our army has mastered this fortress, it will have a positive effect on the entire operation of our army.

General Ye Fei only explained the reason in terms of tactics. There is another reason he did not explain clearly, that is, the main real power of the Kuomintang army in this position was already in the hands of the Communists. In addition to Dai Rongguang, Tang Binglin, the head of the station, Wang Derong, the head of the artillery regiment, and Wu Guangwen, the head of the garrison, are all members of the Communist Party. In fact, our party's instigation of the Jiangyin Fortress began in the spring of 1947. At that time, Tang Jianhua from North Jiangsu, sent by the Central China Workers Committee, brought his whole family to Jiangyin County as fugitive landlords to engage in underground work.Tang Jianhua was the nephew of Tang Binglin, the director of the Jiangyin Fortress, and Tang Bingyu, the engineer battalion commander. It was obvious that he could gain a foothold there, and some of the five Tang brothers also worked in the liberated areas.Tang Bingwen was an underground party member sent by our party to the Kuomintang in the early days, but lost contact later.

Since Tang Jianhua came here, the party organization quickly recovered, and more than a dozen party members were recruited. Wu Guangwen developed at this time. Of course, his joining the party was related to the two brothers Tang Binglin, because he was related to them as aunts and cousins. Before crossing the river, Ye Fei sent several cadres to the fort secretly through the underground relationship of the Communist Party, and they were here in various identities to take charge of the preparations for the uprising. Ye Fei confessed: "You went to tell the party branch of the fortress that the task remains unchanged, no guns, no cannons, welcome our army to land, and prepare for an uprising."

The people sent quickly caught up with Tang Binglin and the others. In the middle of the night on April 20, when Ye Fei's troops crossed the river from the front, Tang Binglin did not fire a single shot. At this time, the 145th Division of the 21st Army of the Kuomintang along the coast of Jiangyin suffered heavy losses from the firepower of the People's Liberation Army at the bridgehead of Bawei Port. "Mr. Tang, the communist army has fired artillery at our position in Jiangbei, please support us by firing artillery!" Tang Binglin said: "The situation is unclear now, and it is not clear where to hit the target. We cannot fire blindly."

"The artillery has an obligation to support us, how can we not move?" "It's not that I don't move, but that I can't shoot at night!" "That has to be fought!" "What do you know about the communist army crossing the river?" "Still unclear." "The situation is unknown, how can I shoot?" "If the situation is unknown, we should hit a few times. You should help us cheer!" "Okay, we support, and the target is provided by you." Tang Binglin did not refer to the values ​​provided by them at all, but deliberately reduced the range of each gun by 400 meters, and fired more than 20 rounds forward. These shells happened to land on the position of the division's command post.

At this time, the teacher yelled at Tang Binglin on the intercom: "Bastards! Don't fight any more, they are all on our ground! How did this happen?" "Is that so? I said you can't fire. If you don't do it, the target is not accurate. You are responsible for the casualties, and you should be responsible." The incident was reported to Commander-in-Chief Dai Rongguang, who called Tang Binglin and asked, "What's going on? They filed a complaint." Tang Binglin had an idea, and explained: "They themselves pointed the target wrong, dropped a few shells, but scolded us, how can we fight this battle, who do we listen to?"

"Scattering shells is a common thing. Their infantry don't understand. You can't fight any more. You have to follow my command." "It's up to you to decide." At this time, Dai Rongguang was nothing more than a polished commander. The fortress troops had been controlled by the Communist Party. He was still kept in the dark, and he still believed in Tang Binglin and others. This man was born in the Artillery Department of the Whampoa Military Academy. He is not very capable in fighting, but he has a good way of making a fortune.Since he became the commander of this fortress, he has used his power to search for people's wealth everywhere, becoming a rare upstart here.He is said to have made his fortune chiefly by:

One is to set up a checkpoint at Huangtian Port, and use the Yangtze River to exchange goods between the north and the south, and forcibly expropriate money; the second is to own all the reeds along the coast of Jiangyin; the third is to open various mines; the fourth is to own hundreds of acres of fertile land along the river The fifth is to use his authority to collude with speculators and set up a sand factory in Jiangyin to distribute dividends; the sixth is to use the military funds allocated by the government to conduct speculative business in Shanghai; At that time, the reason why the Communist Party and underground personnel were able to gain a firm foothold under his nose was to take advantage of his wealth-rich characteristics. Tang Binglin and others supported him vigorously on the surface, and tried every means to satisfy his selfish desires.As a result, he basically didn't ask about the military, but handed it over to a few of his subordinates, all of whom were members of the Communist Party. The People's Liberation Army called, but Dai Rongguang was still sleeping at home with his lover in his arms. When Tang Bingwen came to his home, he was still having sex with that young lover. At this time, four or five regiments of the People's Liberation Army had already crossed the river. In the early morning of the next day, he was woken up again by the phone ringing from the 145th Division of the 21st Army. When he went to the command post of the fortress wearing a windbreaker, he found that there were PLA boats crossing the river everywhere on the Mengmeng River. He was frightened by this formation up. Putting down the binoculars, he said to the staff: "His grandma, where is Tang Binglin? The communist army has already crossed the river, why doesn't he fire?" The staff officer replied: "Commander-in-Chief, didn't you say that you can't fire without your order?" "Now is the time!" "Visibility is not good right now, let's call again at dawn." "No, hurry up and pass on orders, let Tang Binglin fire at the river!" Tang Binglin's voice came from the intercom, and he said that the second battery would fire immediately. Dozens of shells shot past, the flames turned half of the sky red, the river was rolling with waves, and the water column soared into the sky, but no explosion was heard.It turned out that Tang Binglin had sent someone to tamper with the fired shells in advance, and there was no fuze at all, so they would not explode. At this time, Dai Rongguang seemed to be aware of it. He stomped his feet and cursed: "You are all bastards! Why haven't you installed a fuse yet? What kind of gun was fired, let Tang Binglin come out and talk to me." At this time, Tang Binglin no longer talked to him, but aimed all the guns of the fortress at the position of the 21st Army and started firing. The vanguard of the People's Liberation Army has arrived under the fort. A gunner ran to Tang Binglin and said, "Chief Commander, the communist army has already reached our feet. Let the brothers fight with them with guns?" "Bastard! What are you going to do? Go to die?" The people he sent have contacted the People's Liberation Army.It was already dawn, and Tang Binglin discussed with the representatives of the People's Liberation Army for a while, and said: "It's time, we can now uprising." Li Gan, a representative of the People's Liberation Army, said: "We have surrounded Dai Rongguang's command post. You should send someone to persuade him to surrender." "However, let Wu Ming talk to Dai Rongguang on the spot on behalf of the Communist Party. I will be in charge here." Wu Ming, Li Gan and others were all sent by Ye Fei before crossing the river.They walked into Dai Rongguang's command post accompanied by several Communist Party members including Tang Binglin. All the guns were aimed at Dai Rongguang who was sitting there in a daze.He said, "What's the matter? What do you want?" Tang Binglin pointed a gun at him with one hand, pointed at Wu Ming who was standing beside him with the other, and said, "I'm sorry, Commander Dai, he was sent by the Communist Party to persuade you to surrender." Dai felt a little bewildered, and his legs trembled.Wu Ming said: "Now all the Kuomintang troops in Jiangyin Fortress have declared an uprising. If you don't surrender, we will not be polite." "What's going on? I have never fought against your army, and I have always been friendly to you!" "We understand your situation. For your safety, we will take you to a place." "Okay then, I surrender." After he handed over the pistol, Wu Ming took him away. At this time, more than 7,000 people in Jiangyin Fortress all revolted. These uprising officers and soldiers began to chase after the remnants of the 21st Army of the Kuomintang. All the cannons turned around and became the strength of the People's Liberation Army. The People's Liberation Army has crossed the river in full force, and the Kuomintang Second Fleet did not dare to resist in the face of such a powerful formation. When the troops were overwhelmed and Jiangyin fell, this fleet, led by Major General Lin Zun, also declared an uprising. At this time, the coast of Jiangyin was completely controlled by the People's Liberation Army. The connection between Tang Enbo and Bai Chongxi has been severed by the People's Liberation Army. On the afternoon of April 22, he had no choice but to order all Jiangfang troops to retreat in the direction of Shanghai and Hangzhou. Nanjing became the main target of the People's Liberation Army's attack, and Li Zongren fled in a hurry by plane. Nanjing has been the capital of the Kuomintang government for 14 years.As early as 1948, Chiang Kai-shek began to formulate a city defense battle plan.The defense situation at that time was roughly divided into two lines of defense. One was to place heavy troops on the outskirts of Nanjing, that is, the triangle area of ​​Pukou, Puzhen, and Jiangpu, with one army from the 28th Army guarding it.The fortifications at this time were of course very strong, built many times, with bright and dark forts criss-crossing, and the firepower configuration was very strong.The second is to set up key defense areas in Nanjing City and send heavy troops to guard them. Compared with Taiyuan and Lanzhou, the defense system of this city is even worse.The attack mission was carried out by the 8th Corps.Chen Shiju, the commander of the corps, gave clear instructions to the troops when they issued tasks: "Our army's capture of Nanjing should be divided into two steps. The first step is for Wu Huawen's 35th Army and He Jifeng's 34th Army to first break through the 'Sanpu', pin down the enemy, and ensure that the large forces cross the river; the second step is when our main force successfully crosses the river. , The 34th Army is still feigning an attack in Yizheng, and the rest of the troops will focus on attacking 'Mipu', and then capture Nanjing." This battle plan was successful. In less than a day, the troops completed the goal of the pre-attack. On the evening of the 23rd, they attacked Nanjing City and opened the red gate of the Presidential Palace. This is another piece of encouraging news. On the morning of April 24, when Mao Zedong came out of the War Room of the Military Commission and returned to Shuangqing Villa, Li Yinqiao smiled and handed him a copy of "People's Daily" and said: "Chairman, our army has occupied Nanjing!" Mao Zedong took the newspaper, sat on the wooden chair in the yard, lit most of the cigarettes, and read it very seriously. The Nanjing government collapsed, and this was an epoch-making moment. At this time, the photographer came over quietly, clicked, and pressed the shutter, leaving this precious shot. Mao Zedong smiled and said to Li Yinqiao: "Nanjing has been liberated. I don't want to be happy alone. Everyone is happy. Come on, let's take pictures together." After finishing speaking, he took a group photo with several staff members.That night, Mao Zedong could not sleep, and wrote the brilliant poem "Seven Laws. The People's Liberation Army Occupies Nanjing" at Shuangqing Villa in Xiangshan. The wind and rain turned pale and yellow in Zhongshan, and millions of soldiers crossed the river. The tiger dominates the dragon, the present is better than the past, and the world is turned upside down and generous. It is advisable to use the remaining courage to chase the poor, and not to be known as the overlord. If the sky is loving, the sky is also old, and the right way in the world is vicissitudes. Our army has won a great victory in the battle of crossing the river.During the entire process of crossing the river, more than 100,000 Kuomintang defenders were wiped out successively, but our army suffered very little loss, which was completely beyond Mao Zedong's expectations. The Party Central Committee immediately sent a telegram to the General Committee to congratulate the victory, saying in the telegram: "Our People's Liberation Army's second, third, and two major field armies carried out the orders of the People's Liberation Army Headquarters, marched forward bravely, crossed the Yangtze River, the enemy army was invincible, Nanjing was quickly liberated, and the rule of the Kuomintang reactionaries came to an end. , Encouragement around the world." On April 27, the organs of the General Front Committee were successfully moved from Hefei to Nanjing.Then the Nanjing Municipal Military Control Commission was established.Liu Bocheng is the director and Song Renqiong is the deputy director. Several other general committee members have come, but Liu Bocheng is still on his way.When he arrived outside Nanjing by ferry, he said happily: "The Kuomintang government has finally been defeated by us!" Liu Bocheng entered the city without notifying other people in advance. The driver pulled him to the street and looked at the crowd who didn't know where to drive. He asked, "Where should the car drive in such a big Nanjing city?" Sitting behind him, Liu Bocheng adjusted his glasses and said with a smile, "You little brat, you can't find the door when you get to the door!" The car was still driving aimlessly on the street, Liu Bocheng smiled and said: "Go straight to the 'Presidential Palace', it will be easy when we get there, they are all waiting for us." The tall red door of the presidential palace was opened. After Liu Bocheng came in, he met Chen Yi, and the two shook hands and talked happily.Boss Chen smiled and said, "I never thought you, the mayor of Nanjing, took office by car..." Liu Bocheng said: "I found this place after walking around wildly." "Sorry, sorry!" Liu Bocheng, the new mayor of Nanjing, said in a speech at the Second Army General Assembly: "Now the acting president of the Kuomintang, Li Zongren, has run away, and Chiang Kai-shek has disappeared. The 22-year reactionary rule of the Kuomintang has finally been overthrown by our Communist Party, and the Chinese people have longed for it. The day has come! This is just as Chairman Mao Zedong said, 'This is only the first step in the Long March'. We must carry the revolution to the end, and we must work hard to build a new Nanjing for the people." The takeover and construction of Nanjing began.The war was not over yet. Our People's Liberation Army was inspired by Mao Zedong's spirit of "It is better to pursue the poor with the brave, and not to be famous for learning to be the overlord", and marched towards other cities along the Yangtze River. Still echoes in the fertile land...