Chapter 38 3. The Central Plains Military Region carefully chooses a breakout plan

A civil war will inevitably break out. In order to appeal to the whole country to stop the civil war, the Central Plains Military Region of the Communist Party of China solemnly declares: The Kuomintang reactionaries’ long-planned plan to “encircle and wipe out” our troops in the Central Plains Military Region is on the verge of breaking out.The Kuomintang is besieging and preparing to participate in the "encirclement and annihilation" of our troops, including the 75th Army, 76th Army, 72nd Army, 66th Army, 18th Army, 15th Army, 10th Army, 41st Army, and 47th Army. Army, 69th Army, 84th Army, 11 regular armies, a total of 22 divisions, about 300,000 people.The attackers who have recently dispatched to our fringe areas include the New 15th Division, the New 13th Division, the 118th Division, the 185th Division, the 13th Division, the 199th Division, and the 6th Division.The offensive on the west of Pinghanlu began in mid-April.On the east side of the road, the new 13th division poured 1 division into it. On April 25th, it violently captured our Xiaojieling (150 miles northeast of Macheng), and then attacked our area south of Huangpi and Huang'an on the 28th.The preparations for combat supplies for the above-mentioned Kuomintang troops have been completed.Most of the front-line troops are ready to carry food for 3 days, and senior general command posts have been set up in Huayuan, Huangchuan, and shopping malls.According to the above signs, the Central Plains War may break out within a few days, and the situation is extremely serious.

The statement pointed out: "The outbreak of the civil war in the Central Plains will definitely become the starting point of a full-scale civil war. Since then, the reactionaries have completely torn up the armistice agreement, announcing the end of national peace and the beginning of a full-scale civil war." (Yan'an "Liberation Daily", May 1946 6) We never want to use arms when it is possible for us to defend the peace and strive for existence in other ways, but we will not hesitate to take up arms for self-defense once the guns are on our heads Resolutely defend the peace and fight for your own survival.We advise "reactionary gentlemen to be more sober" (Yan'an "Liberation Daily", May 6, 1946). If you rekindle the fire of civil war, then you will be the first to suffer the consequences of "playing with fire and self-immolation".

At the end of the statement, three hopes were put forward: (1) The Kuomintang authorities were required to take into account the overall situation and rein in the precipice. (2) Require KMT officers and soldiers to refuse to participate in the civil war. (3) The peace-loving people throughout the country and friends abroad are required to pay attention to the current serious situation and work hard to prevent the outbreak of this civil war. (Yan'an "Liberation Daily", May 6, 1946) In addition to encircling and cannibalizing our army in the Central Plains militarily, the Kuomintang reactionaries also carried out a strict economic blockade. In order to overcome the financial and economic difficulties caused by the enemy's economic blockade, our Central Plains Military Region decided to demobilize more than 10,000 old and weak people on the spot; Some cadres disguised themselves and transferred to other liberated areas; at the same time, the troops planted vegetables, fished, and dug wild vegetables by themselves, thus overcoming difficulties and making the troops more capable.

Facing the siege of enemies with multiple advantages, how to break out of the siege?Before the Central Plains Field Army made the specific deployment of the breakout, it had repeatedly planned and planned the specific plan for the breakout. At that time, three plans were drawn up: One is to go east and enter Wuhe in Anhui. The advantage of this case is that it is relatively close to our main force in East China, close to the main force, passing through a rich area, and easy to solve for supplies; Once I break out of the encirclement to the east, the enemy will inevitably encircle and block me when I advance east.

The second is to go north, that is, to move from south to north along the Ping-Han Railway. The advantage of this case is that Liu Deng's army can respond from north to south; Not easy to get rid of. The third is to go west, that is, cross the Ping-Han line westward, reach the Wudang Mountains in northwestern Hubei and southern Shaanxi, enter the Sichuan-Shanxi area, cooperate with the local guerrilla forces, and establish a base area. The advantage of this case is that the enemy deployed in this direction. There are fewer troops, and the preparations for intercepting us are worse than those in other directions. The disadvantage is that there is no support from our other troops in this direction, and we cannot directly enter other liberated areas.

The above three cases have their own advantages and disadvantages, but from the perspective of the overall strategy, the situation is different. If I break through the encirclement to the east or north, the enemy's 300,000 troops will surely follow. With so many enemies, it is bound to create a very serious situation. Breaking through to the west can, on the one hand, disperse the enemy forces in the Hubei, Henan, and Shaanxi areas behind them, keeping them away from the front line of the civil war; Under the pressure of the liberated areas in northern Shaanxi and Shanxi, in the case of a passive breakout, focusing on the overall strategic situation, it is indeed a very wise decision to break out westward.

The Central Plains Field Army reported the three cases to the central government, and put forward a tendency to implement the third plan.Immediately, the central government called for approval, agreeing to the third plan and instructing to break through immediately, the sooner the better, don't have any worries, survival first, victory first.For future actions, everything is up to you to decide, do not ask for instructions, so as not to delay the opportunity... Our army in the Central Plains is determined to move eastward with a small number of troops while the enemy is attacking, to confuse and restrain the enemy, and the main force to break through westward.Its specific deployment: the Central Plains Bureau and the Central Plains Military Region led the second column to break out of the North Road, break out in the northwest direction, cross the Pinghan Road, pass through the Tongbai Mountains, and go straight to southern Shaanxi. Depending on the enemy's situation, Wang Zhen led the 359th Brigade and The cadre brigade rushed to the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region. Among them, the 15th Brigade (belonging to the 45th Regiment) first covered the South Road breakout troops and crossed the Pinghan Road, and then returned to the organizational system when they entered Nanqiyi Town, Tanghe County; the 1st Column (belonging to the 45th Regiment) The 1st Brigade) is the breakout force on the South Road, breaks out westward, crosses Pinghan Road, and turns to the west of Henan; the 1st Brigade moves eastward before and after the main force breaks through to attract the enemy, and then breaks out after the main force breaks through, and the direction of the breakout is determined by itself (1st Brigade After research, it was decided to rush to the Liberated Areas of Jiangsu and Anhui); the troops of the Eastern Hubei Military Region and the Henan Military Region dispersed and insisted on fighting in situ after covering the main force to break through; the troops of the Jianghan Military Region, except for a few remaining to persist in fighting in situ, the rest entered the area west of the Hanshui River for activities .