Chapter 36 Chapter Five Breakthrough of the Central Plains: Played a Great Strategic Role

The Central Plains area of ​​the Communist Party of China in the War of Liberation consisted of three base areas: Jianghan, Hubei, and Henan.It connects North China in the north, East China in the east, Huguang in the south, Sichuan and Shaanxi in the west, strangles the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and controls the middle section of the railway from Beiping to Guangzhou, the main north-south traffic artery in my country. Its strategic position is extremely important. In the spring and summer of 1944, in order to open up the line of communication from mainland China to Vietnam, the Japanese invaders pushed the Kuomintang troops back to the northwest and southwest inland. Henan and advance to the Guangdong, Jiangxi and Hunan borders. On September 3, 1945, the Emperor of Japan announced his surrender. In order to avoid the outbreak of the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China, the 359th Brigade of Wang Zhen's 120th Division, the 3 detachments of Wang Shusheng's 129th Division and the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region advanced to Yang Yong's 115th Division in the west of the Yellow River Flooding Area. The 8th Regiment of the 3rd Brigade and other units were defeated by the Kuomintang army. According to the order of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, they quickly assembled to the relatively stable base established by the 5th Division of the New Fourth Army by Li Xiannian.

According to the strategic policy of "defense to the south and develop to the north" decided by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the combat mission of Li Xiannian, Wang Shusheng, Wang Zhen and other departments is to contain hundreds of thousands of troops in the 1st, 5th, and 6th theaters of the Kuomintang Army in the Central Plains, so as to benefit the Eighth Route Army. , The New Fourth Army stopped Jiang's army from going deep into North China, and covered the main force of the Communist Party of China's strategy in the Northeast. For this reason, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China upgraded the Central Bureau of Hubei, Henan and Anhui to the Central Plains Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in late October, with Zheng Weisan acting secretary and Li Xiannian as deputy secretary.The Central Plains Military Region was established, with Li Xiannian as commander, Zheng Weisan as political commissar, and Wang Shusheng and Wang Zhen as deputy commanders.In addition to governing the two secondary military regions of Henan, Jianghan, and Eastern Hubei, the main force was organized into two field columns, and the other three independent brigades and the 359th brigade.

The development of the Central Plains Military Region in the Tongbai mountain area after the reorganization of the troops has aroused great attention from the Kuomintang authorities.Chiang Kai-shek dispatched troops and generals, and ordered the 5th and 6th theaters to "purge" the Central Plains Communist Army within November.In the north, Liu Zhi, commander of the 5th theater, transferred eight divisions of the 69th, 41st, and 47th armies to advance southward from Wuyang, Fangcheng, Nanyang, and Queshan; in the south, Cheng Qian, commander of the 6th theater, transferred the 59th The 6 divisions of the 1st, 75th, and 77th armies went northward from the line of Hanyang, Yingcheng, and Zhongxiang in an attempt to pinch the north and south and compress our army in the Central Plains to be wiped out in the Tongbai mountain area.

In order to gain the initiative, the Central Plains Military Region began the second phase of the Tongbai Campaign on November 9.In the first battle, Zaoyang County was captured, more than 300 enemies were captured, and a batch of weapons were seized.Subsequent battles will not go smoothly.Wang Enmao wrote in his diary on December 16: "The enemy attacking us has more than 8 armies and 20 divisions, and we are surrounded by the enemy. In order to maneuver and fight, we jumped outside the enemy's encirclement to attack the enemy and created In the new position, the head of the military region is determined to carry out the transfer of the campaign, not to fight in the existing area, and is preparing to transfer to the Huainan area of ​​​​the road area." ("Wang Enmao's Diary")

The Party Central Committee is extremely concerned about the fate of our army in the Central Plains. On December 19, Zheng Weisan, Li Xiannian, and Wang Zhen jointly asked the Central Committee for instructions: "It is indeed important to cooperate with North China, but it is indeed disadvantageous to hold on to the time with huge casualties and downsizing. Therefore, it is proposed to move the main force closer to the military headquarters (the New Fourth Army in Huaibei) Military Headquarters——Author’s Note), 5,000 to 10,000 people (forces insist on) guerrilla warfare are left here." (Chapter 1 of "Central Plains Breakthrough History")

The Central Committee considered the request of the Central Plains Bureau. On the 20th, Liu Shaoqi replied to Zheng Li, saying that the Central Committee was negotiating with the Kuomintang and there was hope for a truce. Therefore, it was hoped that the transfer of troops from the Central Plains Military Region would be best within a month. "Due to various reasons, the concentration of your troops cannot destroy the enemy, so it is better to disperse and persist. However, you don't need so many main forces and cadres if you disperse and persist. Therefore, the central government agrees to transfer your main force eastward to the military headquarters area, and stay there for a while. The main force of the Ministry will carry more radio stations, and cooperate with the local guerrillas to disperse and persist in the Hubei and Henan areas. I hope you will make such preparations."

Regarding the issue of transfer, there are different opinions within the Central Plains Military Region.Zheng Weisan and Li Xiannian were unwilling to leave the base area, but were willing to stay and persevere.Wang Shusheng and Dai Jiying sent two consecutive telegrams to the central government on January 1 and 2, 1946, saying that there were several ferries to go north to Hebei, Shandong and Henan, and it was not easy to pass. It was suggested to go south to the Dabie Mountains first, and then transfer to eastern Anhui.Wang Zhen explained to Wang Enmao and other leading cadres on December 30 that the 359th brigade was going to move to the headquarters of the New Fourth Army, and then go to the northeast to join the follow-up troops (referring to the Liu Zhuanlian and Yan Fusheng departments already in the northeast). Just send the cadres to the northeast.

The final result of the discussion was: 1st vertical was transferred, and the 13th, 14th, 15th and 359th brigades of the 2nd vertical stayed and insisted, but most of the cadres of the 359th brigade were also transferred.Considering the stability of the troops, we will not inform the cadres below the regiment for the time being before we take action. ("Wang Enmao Diary") On January 4, 1946, the troops of the 359th Brigade occupied Xuanhuadian, the government resident of Lishan County, Hubei.This is a market town formed by commercial docks, without city walls, and the economic situation is relatively good in this area.Later, Zheng and Li led the Central Plains Bureau to station here. On January 8, the 1st and 2nd Columns of the Central Plains Military Region met at the Hubei-Henan border west of Guangshan and Jingfu (now Xinxian County, Henan).In addition to retaining a part of the troops in the Tongbai Mountains, the main force of the Central Plains completed the task of transferring to the Dabie Mountains and temporarily got rid of the siege of the Kuomintang army.

Li Xiannian recalled: "If it wasn't for the purpose of containing the enemy, after we ended the Tongbai Battle, the troops would have been heading east, and they would have reached the Jiangsu-Anhui Liberated Areas in at most five days. At that time, there was only one Kuomintang army following us. There is no problem." (Li Xiannian: "Correctly Evaluate the Breakthrough of the Central Plains") But the Central Plains troops did not leave, but stayed and continued to persevere.Because the peace talks between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party have made progress, an armistice agreement will be signed soon. On January 8, the Central Plains Bureau called the Central Committee: "Because the armistice is very likely in the near future, and because the three routes to North China and East China with part of the main force are not sure to go through, we have decided to stay where we are. Most of the guerrillas scattered and assembled temporarily. Four brigades are engaged in guerrilla mobile warfare." Liu Shaoqi replied the next day: "The armistice negotiations have been concluded, and the order may be issued within a few days. If there are no major changes in the middle, a new stage of peace may begin. But you still have to prepare for the Kuomintang You changed your mind halfway and continued the war. It is right for you to stop your plans to advance eastward and northward, and to stick to where you are. I hope that you plan to control a larger area and several towns in the next week, so that when the armistice arrives, you will have a larger regional foothold and survival." (Ren Zhibin: "A Few Issues Concerning the Breakthrough of the Central Plains")

After the armistice order was issued on January 10, the Kuomintang army still did not stop its operations.The troops chasing behind quickly spread out around our army, and the enemy's 47th Army seized Guangshan County before the ceasefire time limit, forming a situation of encircling our army in the Central Plains.Although peace was temporarily achieved, the Central Plains troops were tasked with containing the Kuomintang army and were under severe pressure all the time.Comrade Ren Zhibin recalled the situation of this transfer process and said: "After the three main forces joined forces, major battles such as Huyang, Shuanggou, and Qiyi were carried out. Because these few battles did not achieve the expected goal of completely annihilating our enemies , the Kuomintang army was arrogant and pressed me step by step, which gradually reduced our base area and made our finances increasingly difficult. In order to get rid of this predicament, the central government once agreed to implement a strategic transfer of the main force of the Central Plains army, and send most of the main force to the east of Anhui. The Central Plains Military Region at that time It is confirmed that the 3 brigades and the 359th brigade of Wang Shusheng's department will be transferred to eastern Anhui to join the 2nd division of the New Fourth Army. At the same time, Comrade Wang Zhen, Comrade Zhou Zhijian and I will take the 13th brigade to escort them. They will return if they can, and stay in eastern Anhui if they cannot. The remaining troops of the 5th Division were led by Comrade Xiannian, Wei Lao, and Sister Chen (Chen Shaomin) to stay in the Central Plains. We arrived at the east of Pinghan Road and had just captured Guangshan. The Party Central Committee sent a report on January 10, 1946 The truce order stated that the Kuomintang and the Communist Party had signed an agreement on an on-the-spot truce. So, the old man sent us a telegram asking us to go to Xuanhuadian to hold a meeting of the Central Plains Bureau. At the meeting, everyone said in unison that we could not leave. The reason for this is that on the one hand, it is to implement the orders of the central government, and on the other hand, it is reluctant to leave the old base areas." (Ren Zhibin: "A Few Issues Concerning the Breakthrough of the Central Plains")