Chapter 102 6. The enemy's reorganized 26 divisions went deep alone

On New Year's Day in 1947, the participating units of the People's Liberation Army preparing to participate in the Lunan Campaign arrived at the starting position of the attack. On the evening of January 2, all participating troops launched a full-scale attack on the 26th Division reorganized by the Kuomintang.At this time, Ma Liwu, the commander of the enemy's 26th Division, was still celebrating the New Year in Yi County. He was unaware of this major combat operation of the PLA, and his troops had to rush into the battle without preparation. The 26th Division of the forward reorganization of the Yilin Corps (attached to the 1st Rapid Column) is an elite lineage of the Kuomintang army, known as the "elite of the national army", and is equipped with all American weapons. In September 1946, they were transferred to the southern Shandong battlefield, and cooperated with the reorganized 52nd Division to attack the Yizao Line in the north, and occupied Yi County, Zaozhuang, Guoliji and other places; Abnormal, mighty.

The 1st Rapid Column was formerly known as the 80th Division of the India-Myanmar Expeditionary Force during the Anti-Japanese War. Its tank battalion was allocated by the 1st Tank Regiment headed by Jiang Weiguo. It was one of the only two rapid columns of Chiang Kai-shek. On December 12, the division committed crimes from the east of Yi County. Under the continuous resistance of the People's Liberation Army in southern Shandong, it successively occupied Pingshan, Shichenggu, Shilongshan, and Xiangcheng. The forward arrived at Bianzhuang (now Cangshan County, 60 miles southwest of Linyi) .

The reorganized 77th Division successively captured Lanling, Xiaoliangbi, Sihu, and the Great Wall.When the reorganized 69th Division was wiped out in Subei, it stopped attacking.The reorganized 26th Division started from Fushankou in the west and went to Bianzhuang in the east, lined up along the Yilin Highway for 50 miles, and temporarily turned to defense. The enemy's reorganized 26th Division went deep into the liberated areas and fought very hard. During the day, the attack was stubbornly resisted by the PLA, and at night, the camp was constantly attacked by militia guerrillas. There was no peace, and the rear communication lines were frequently attacked.Especially after hearing that the reorganized 69th Division was wiped out, the officers and soldiers were even more uneasy.

Ma Liwu, the commander of the 26th Division of the enemy, recalled his mood at this time and said: "I heard that Dai Zhiqi's troops were wiped out and Dai Zhiqi was killed. This news shocked me and made me uneasy for a long time." (Ma Liwu: " Chiang Kai-shek's 26th Division Ma Liwu Department Yizaozhuang was wiped out", "Selected Literature and History Materials" No. 28, pp. 77-78) When the reorganized 26th Division captured Xiangcheng, Ma Liwu felt that it was inappropriate for the lone army to go deep. He sent a telegram to Xue Yue to ask for instructions, and Xue Yue sent a telegram to continue to advance eastward.Ma Liwu later recalled:

After the 25th, I found that the main force of the New Fourth Army had shifted to our side, and there was an attempt to encircle our army. I sent a report to Xue Yue and suggested that we should advance quickly and retreat quickly, and withdraw our army to an appropriate position. Falling into a heavy siege, he revealed for a long time that the division was in the hinterland of the New Fourth Army, and asked the deputy director Feng Zhi'an to report to Xue Yue on his behalf and change the combat policy.However, the stubborn Xue Yue refused to reply, thinking that the main force of the New Fourth Army was still in northern Jiangsu and had not moved to southern Shandong.I was only asked to withdraw the forward 1 regiment east of Majiazhuang later, and the main force was to build a guard near Majiazhuang, constantly sending teams to search the situation, and camera progress.As of the 31st, our side has detected that the New Fourth Army has transferred to our side as many as 11 division units. It is judged that the main force of the New Fourth Army will be transferred to the north, and our side must be in danger of being encircled and destroyed.But Xue Yue did not accept my suggestion. At that time, I thought that the situation had come to an end, so I had to fight alone. I also held an impromptu military meeting and made a combat deployment determined to fight on: that is, the 44th Brigade would stick to the west of Majiazhuang and the north and south areas to form a A stronghold, which maintains contact with the Majiazhuang division headquarters; the 169 brigade sticks to the east and north of Majiazhuang as a stronghold; The southwestern area of ​​Zhuangzhuang constitutes a central defensive area, and all units should strengthen fortifications and secondary defense facilities.This deployment is actually fragile, equal to a long snake array, weak everywhere.I judge that the New Fourth Army must be a preset encirclement circle around our army.I said to the cadres above the regiment: This is a life-and-death situation. We have to fight hard, or we can survive.Encourage them to deal with this crisis with one heart and one mind, and think that there will be a big fight on December 30th and 31st, so all parties put up the frame of being beaten, and look forward to the coming of the battle. (Ma Liwu: "Jiang Jieshi's 26th Division Ma Liwu Division Was Annihilated", "Selected Literature and History Materials" Vol. 28, pp. 77-78)

On New Year's Day in 1947, Ma Liwu felt that he had made a mistake in his judgment, thinking that the war might not happen until a few days later, so he held a New Year's Day celebration and dinner at the division headquarters in the morning.After obtaining the consent of Li Yutang, the commander of the Corps, over the phone, he handed over the forward command tasks to Cao Yuxing, the deputy division commander, and Zheng Fuzeng, the chief of staff. Then he returned to Yi County by car to discuss the combat deployment with Li Yutang face to face, and congratulated him on the New Year.