Chapter 106 10. Gongyi County Kezaozhuang

According to the new deployment, the People's Liberation Army surrounded Yi County on the 8th and Qicun, Zaozhuang, and Guoliji on the 9th, and began peripheral battles. The Yi County garrison has reorganized 2 regiments of the 114th Brigade of the 51st Division, reorganized the 98th Regiment of the 52nd Division (one battalion has been wiped out), reorganized the remnants of the 26th Division and local armed forces, a total of more than 5,000 people, under the unified command of Ma Liwu.Li Yutang has led the Yilin Corps command post back to Hanzhuang.The garrison of Zaozhuang City consisted of the reorganized 51st Division headquarters, one regiment each of the 113th and 114th brigades, one battalion each of the artillery and engineers, one regiment of the 113th brigade headquartered to guard Qi Village, and the other regiment guarded Guoliji .

The Xuzhou Appeasement Administration ordered the reorganized 11th Division to move from Suqian County to Nianzhuangxu to assemble and stand by in response to the battle in the Yizao area.The reorganized 64th Division moved from Longchi to Hanzhuang to gather and stand by. On the night of January 9, the People's Liberation Army launched an attack on Yi County. After fierce competition, it captured the commanding heights of Tanshan in the northeast of the city. Captured Nanguan before dusk on the 10th, and the ministries began to attack the city after dusk.The 22nd Regiment of the 8th Division, under the cover of artillery, blasted continuously. At 20:00, it blasted open the south gate to capture the tower, and developed eastward along the city wall. At 23:00, part of the 9th Division broke in from the east gate.At dawn on the 11th, the defenders in Yixian County were wiped out, and more than 4,000 people including Lieutenant General Ma Liwu, commander of the 26th Division, Li Buqing and Cui Huisheng, major generals and deputy commanders of the 114th Brigade, were captured.After the battle, the troops quickly withdrew to gather and rest near Lanling.

On the 11th, Guo Liji's defenders suffered heavy casualties under the powerful offensive of the People's Liberation Army.The Zaozhuang Kuomintang army was compressed to the periphery of the urban area, defending the strong fortifications and resisting. On the 13th, the 11th Division and the 64th Division of the Kuomintang Reorganization entered the front line of Taierzhuang and Hanzhuang, preparing to relieve the siege of Zaozhuang.Su Yu transferred the 1st Brigade of the 1st Column to attack Qicun, and the 1st Division attacked Zaozhuang with all its strength. On the 16th, the 1st Brigade conquered Qi Village, wiped out the defenders, and captured more than 1,500 people under Li Yutang and Li Puquan, the chief and deputy brigade commanders of the 113th Brigade.

On the 17th, the Zaozhuang Kuomintang army retreated to the core fortifications in the urban area, standing still and waiting for help.In order to finally solve the Zaozhuang defenders, Chen Yi and Su Yu, in addition to carefully arranging resistance, added the 1st Brigade of the 1st Column and the 4th Regiment of the 2nd Brigade and the 8th Division to cooperate with the 1st Division to besiege Zaozhuang.The general offensive began on the evening of the 18th, and all battles ended on the 20th, and the defenders were wiped out.More than 8,000 officers and soldiers under Lieutenant General Zhou Yuying of the 51st Division were captured and reorganized.

During the 10 days of the siege of Zaozhuang, the Xuzhou Appeasement Administration did not provide full support, and all reinforcements were delayed. Only a part of the East Aid in Lincheng came into contact with the 10th Division of the People's Liberation Army and then withdrew.As a result, "as of 2 o'clock on the 20th, our defenders had exhausted all their ammunition and aid, and there was no way to turn the crisis, so Zaozhuang did not defend." (Edited by Xie Shengyi and others: "Records of Appeasement", p. 106) The second phase of the Lunan Campaign ended with the complete victory of the People's Liberation Army.