Chapter 98 2. The chief of staff sent a report to the central government over the commander

While the Battle of Subei was still going on, Chen Yi, commander and political commissar of the Shandong Field Army, and Su Yu, commander of the Central China Field Army, planned to organize a new campaign.Facing the battlefield situation at that time, from the perspective of the overall strategy, where will the situation be opened after the victory of the Battle of Subei?At that time, there were three possibilities: first, the main force went north to southern Shandong to seek and annihilate the reorganized 26th Division; one was to go south to Lianshui to seek and annihilate the reorganized 74th Division;

Between September and October, Chen Yi and the leaders of the Central China Branch of the Communist Party of China repeatedly contemplated plans to cross the canal to the west, restore Huaibei, approach Jinpu Road and Xuzhou, mobilize the enemy, and look for opportunities to annihilate the enemy during the campaign.The day before the end of the Battle of Subei (December 18), Chen Yi and Su Yu reported to the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China: After the end of this battle, we plan to cross the canal westward and restore The situation in Huaibei approached Jinpu Road and Xuzhou, forcing the enemy in southern Shandong to retreat, and the enemies in Huaihe and Huaihe returned to help.Tan Zhenlin led the 1st and 6th divisions and the 7th vertical (5th brigade and 19th brigade combined) and the 6th brigade two regiments, still staying east of Lianshui to attack the 74th division and other troops eastward, or attacking them back to Huaibei .

At this time, the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China also called Chen Yi and Su Yu: "First, celebrate the great victory on the front line of Sushu, and hope that all the meritorious officers and soldiers will be rewarded. It can be recovered in the future, and it must be recovered. However, in the second step of the operation, it is planned to concentrate the main force to annihilate the enemy in southern Shandong, and take advantage of the opportunity to recover Zaoyi Platform, so that southern Shandong can be consolidated, and then develop southward without any worries, and gradually recover the north. , All lost ground in the Soviet Union." ("Mao Zedong Military Anthology" Vol. 3, p. 581)

However, the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China respected the opinions of the theater commanders, and immediately replied: If you think this is beneficial, you can do so. Continuous operations near Jinpu and Xuzhou. However, not all leaders agreed to fight the 74th Division. Li Yu and Zhang Yunyi in Linyi immediately telegraphed the central government, requesting the main force to return to Lunan.Chen Shiju, Chief of Staff of Shanye, and Tang Liang, Director of the Political Department, jointly sent a long telegram to the Central Committee on December 22, requesting that the 1st and 8th Divisions, the main force of Shanye, be transferred back to help South Shandong. Annihilate the enemy in northern Jiangsu.While sending the report, Chen Shiju made a phone call to report to Chen Yi.

Chen Yi was very dissatisfied with the chief of staff sending a report to the Central Committee, bypassing him as a commander, and lost his temper on the phone: "You have a radio station, you can send a report, and you report my case to the Party Central Committee!" Seeing that the boss was angry, Chen Shiju quickly explained that he did it out of consideration of the overall situation, not out of personal opinion. (Chen Shiju: "Three Years in which Heaven and Earth Turned Upside Down", Chapter 2, Section 2) Although Chen Yi got angry, he calmed down and discussed the situation with Su Yu.I have been waiting for a few days, but the 74th Division has not seen any movement.And the enemy in southern Shandong advanced again, approaching Linyi and Tancheng, in an attempt to cut off the connection between the main force of our army and the liberated area in southern Shandong.

Chen Yi and Su Yu made a quick decision and decided to change their minds. On December 24, they asked the Central Committee for instructions: "In order to deal with the future Sulu enemy's north-south pincer attack, I must break through one side first, so I will not wait for the 74th Division to advance, and I will concentrate on completely annihilating southern Lunan." The enemy, capture the lines of Tai, Zao, and Yi." At the same time, they telegraphed Zhang Yunyi and Li Yu in Shandong: "The 74th Division is late, I will give up the annihilation, and keep the troops in check, and the army will return to Lunan." Chen Yi and Su Yu ordered 1 Zong All went north that night, and Tao Yong's 1st Division went west.Chen Yi, Zhang Dingcheng, and Deng Zihui returned to Linyi, Zhang Yunyi organized Shandong troops to block the enemy and defend Linyi, Chen Shiju and Tang Liang went to Xin'an Town to command the 1st and 8th Divisions to attack Feng Zhi'an's Department.

The ministries received the order and immediately began to act separately.