Chapter 90 Chapter 11 Battle of Giant Goldfish: A Model of Flexible Use of Soldiers

The Battle of Hua County disrupted Chiang Kai-shek's plan to open up the Anyang and Yuanshi sections of Pinghan Road in November and seize Handan, the capital of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Liberated Area.Chiang Kai-shek was afraid that the People's Liberation Army would take advantage of the victory and go south to attack Kaifeng, which would shake the Central Plains, so he had to urgently dispatch the 5th Army to assist Hua County in the west and return to defend Dongming.The two brigades in Hua County were wiped out, making the deployment of Kuomintang troops in the Hebei-Shandong-Henan area even more stretched.

After the Battle of Hua County, Gu Zhutong discovered that Liu Bocheng's troops had no intention of attacking Kaifeng, so he ordered Wang Jingjiu and Wang Zhonglian to continue to implement the battle plan of attacking Daming, seeking Liu Bocheng's main force to fight decisively, and open up the Pinghan Road. On November 28, 3 divisions of the 5th Army of the Wang Jingjiu Group reorganized 2 brigades of the 75th Division, starting from Yuncheng, Juancheng, and Dongming areas to attack northward, and occupying Puyang on the 30th.The Wang Zhonglian Group reorganized the 85th Division and reorganized the 4 brigades of the 32nd Division, moving eastward from Lin County and Anyang, pointing to Daming.

On December 1, the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China sent a telegram to Liu and Deng: "Your past two battles (referring to the Battle of Juancheng and the Battle of Huaxian) have put Gu Zhutong in a passive position, while I have taken the initiative. Now the enemy's 5th Army, 85 The division and the 75th Division's northward attack is based on retaliation, and it is still forced. As long as we fight well, it is still very beneficial to me. I hope that one part can monitor the enemy, the main force will gather and rest, and annihilate one part at a favorable time and place. , it is best to fight the weaker part first, and prepare to fight several battles within a month or two, and the overall situation will be better if the army is wiped out." ("Mao Zedong Military Works" Vol. 3, p. 569)

The Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region, in accordance with the instructions of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, gathered all the main four columns in the Guancheng area, and waited for the enemy's fifth army to enter Nanle to annihilate one of its divisions.However, the 5th Army moved cautiously, and the ministries advanced steadily in a dense formation.Liu Deng could not find a chance to fight, and reported to the Military Commission on the 16th: "We deeply feel that the situation in Central China is not optimistic. If Central China is unfavorable, it will have a great impact on Shandong and Hebei, Shandong and Henan. According to the current situation in Hebei, Shandong and Henan, we do not have much difficulty. If we can find an opportunity to eliminate one or two divisions of the 5th Army, the battle situation can be greatly expanded, and we can effectively cooperate with Central China and Shandong. Recently, the 5th Army marched north from Puyang. Due to the bad terrain, water networks are intertwined everywhere. , failed to hit; it is planned to wipe out the enemy in Nanle, and the army has suspended its northward advance, and when the 5th Army is stationed, it is not suitable to attack him. Now our army has more soldiers and good morale, which is beneficial to the enemy. It would be a pity for the 5th Army to spend it on secondary enemies. Therefore, apart from taking Liaocheng with a brigade in coordination with the military region, the main force is still on the spot and is strengthening reconnaissance in other areas so as not to defeat the 5th Army Time for a new maneuver.”

Liu Deng pointed out: "In the past five months of fighting, although I have begun to gain the initiative, I should prevent blind optimism and relax myself. Because we have not really opened up the situation except for a few areas (such as Luliang). As for several war zones Generally speaking, the enemy has the ability to concentrate its forces to attack a little bit. We feel that in future operations, strategic maneuvers must concentrate the maximum force and open a front first, so as to better change the situation, gain the real initiative, and expand the results of the battle.” At this time, Chen Su's main force won the first victory since the two field armies joined forces in the Battle of Subei. On December 18, Mao Zedong instructed Liu Deng: "If your enemy in the west is not easy to fight, it is better to go south to find and annihilate the 88th Division, restore Jia, Ju, Jin, Yu, Cheng, and Dan, and mobilize Qiu Qingquan to the east to annihilate it. Favorable." ("Mao Zedong State Affairs Anthology" Volume III) According to Mao Zedong's instructions, Liu Deng led the main force of the field army to start the Battle of Giant Goldfish, which threatened Xuzhou's Longhai Road and cooperated with northern Jiangsu.

On December 20, Liu Deng issued a basic order for the Battle of Giant Goldfish: attack Liaocheng with 7 verticals (less than 1 brigade) and the armed forces of the Southern Hebei Military Region before the start of the battle, and prepare for the Kuomintang army to release water to the old course of the Yellow River to maintain the rear passage of our army.Attack Juye and Jiaxiang with 3 verticals, attack Chengwu with 20 brigades with 6 and 7 verticals, and contain Wang Jingjiu's group with 2 verticals and troops from the Southern Hebei Military Region at Puxian, Guancheng, Nanle, and Daming.The 1st Column, which was originally going to be transferred to the northeast, was returning. Liu Deng ordered the 1st Column to rush to the Guangping area to contain Wang Zhonglian's department.In order to prevent the Kuomintang army from attacking northward, the Handan area carried out extensive mobilization. The masses fortified the walls and cleared the fields, and made preparations to temporarily abandon Handan and conduct guerrilla warfare.