Chapter 137 6. Qinghuabian cleverly set up a pocket array

On the evening of March 21, the radio station of the Field Army intercepted and deciphered the telegram sent by Hu Zongnan to the 31st Brigade.In order to seize the opportunity, Peng Dehuai went to the combat duty room with Xi Zhongxun, Zhang Wenzhou, and Xu Liqing to check the map and analyze and study the enemy's situation regardless of the fact that it was midnight.After ascertaining the enemy's movement, Peng Dehuai decided to adopt ambush tactics to annihilate the enemy's 31st brigade on the flank, and fight the first battle after withdrawing from Yan'an. On the morning of March 22, Peng Dehuai and Xi Zhongxun reported to the Central Military Commission one after another: Hu Zongnan ordered the 31st Brigade to cross Yanshui via Chuankou on the 21st, and enter Qinghuabian to defend the building, and arrived on the 24th. "Our army intends to ambush or take advantage of its unstable foothold to completely annihilate the enemy."At the same time, the columns and brigades of the field corps were ordered to assemble in secret at designated locations on the evening of the 22nd and before dawn on the 23rd, keeping an eye on the terrain and blocking news.

Peng Dehuai deployed his troops on the east and west sides of Panlongchuan near Qinghuabian and in the north.The 1st column is in the west mountain of Sichuan, the 2nd column and the teaching brigade are in the east mountain of Sichuan, and the new 4th brigade in the north is in the northeast of Qinghuabian.The cloth became a pocket formation that opened its mouth to the enemy's northward advance along the Xianyu Highway.After the enemy's rear tail passed the Fangjia Bridge, tighten the bag mouth, cut off the enemy's retreat, and carry out flanking attacks on both sides.In addition, the 1st Brigade is used as a reserve team to monitor the enemies in the direction of Ansai and Yan'an.

In order to ensure victory in the first battle, Peng Dehuai, Xi Zhongxun, Zhang Wenzhou, Xu Liqing and other brigade commanders went to Qinghuabian to inspect the terrain, assigned combat tasks on the spot, and deployed troops in detail. Qinghuabian is located more than 50 miles northeast of Yan'an, in a north-south Panlong River that is more than 40 miles long.Xianyu Highway goes up Dachuan and passes through Qinghuabian.On both sides of the road are rolling mountains, which are convenient for concealed troops to attack, and are ideal battlefields for ambushes.After watching the terrain, the commanders all admired Peng Dehuai's formation.It is believed that as long as the 31st Brigade gets into the "pocket", what awaits them is the fate of destruction.But the mountains in this area are all bare, and it is not easy to hide well. Peng Dehuai repeatedly explained: "Be sure to pay attention to concealment. When the enemy comes, kill it recklessly! Be sudden, be fierce, and wipe out the enemy on this ditch road in one go. Come on." He said while waving his hands in a gesture of encirclement.

Before dawn on the 24th, the brigades of the field army entered the ambush position.At that time, the mountains of the northern Shaanxi plateau had not completely thawed, and the spring was cold and cold.The commanders and fighters lay down on the icy mountains, holding steel guns tightly, watching the river closely, ready to attack at any time.However, there was no trace of the enemy from dawn to 5 pm.Peng Dehuai ordered the ministries to withdraw from their positions to rest after 6 pm. The commanders and fighters lay in ambush for a day but the enemy did not come, and the planned plan to wipe out the enemy failed to come true.All of a sudden, there was a lot of discussion. Some people were worried that the news would be leaked so close to Yan'an; some people were impatient and doubted the reliability of the information;How can it be so accurate, the enemy obeys your command!

Peng Dehuai understood these emotions and said: The people in the old base area will not inform the enemy, and the information will not be wrong.The enemy is sure to come.It doesn't matter if the ambush fails today, just treat it as a drill for us.Tell everyone to be patient.He analyzed: You must master the enemy's psychology!Although Hu Zongnan is an idiot, after his main force goes northward from Yan'an to Ansai, he needs to send troops to ensure the safety of its flanks. He still has military common sense for this, otherwise how could he be hired as an army general?What's more, he has cannons, tanks, and cars, and he wants to capture my main force. Can he not take the only road in northern Shaanxi?So, he must come.

That night, Peng Dehuai and Xi Zhongxun reported to Mao Zedong and the Central Military Commission that the enemy's 31st Brigade arrived at Guaimao on the 24th and stopped advancing, possibly because of food supplies (note: I learned afterwards that the 31st Brigade camped in Chuankou for supplies).We will still deploy the 31st Brigade on standby tomorrow as planned.At the same time, a telegram was sent to the heads of the various brigades: "Tomorrow our army will still be in an ambush, and we will resolutely carry out the ambush according to the deployment on the 24th. We must patiently and carefully arrange, and do not relax our combat preparations because the enemy does not come once or twice." Peng Dehuai repeatedly emphasized: Strictly do a good job in disguise and secrecy.

At around 4:00 a.m. on March 25, the cold stars flickered and the mountains were gray.The main force of the Northwest Field Corps entered the original area and set up an ambush.At 6 o'clock in the morning, the 31st Brigade of the Hu Army marched from Chuankou and Guaimao along the road to Qinghuabian. Its aerial reconnaissance and ground fire search did not find the ambush troops of the Field Corps.So they walked forward in a big way, with machine guns and small cannons wrapped in gun jackets and gun jackets, and tied to the pack. At around 10 o'clock, its vanguard marched near Qinghuabian, the rear guard crossed Fangjiaqiao, and the entire marching column completely entered the ambush circle set up by Peng Dehuai.After the signal gun was fired, the Northwest Field Corps was deployed as scheduled, tightly sealed the mouth of the bag in Shiyanggou, blocked the head and cut off the tail, and the troops on the east and west sides fiercely pinched the enemy with overwhelming momentum.Quickly crush the enemy into a gully less than 7 kilometers long and only two to three hundred meters wide.The enemy army couldn't look at each other from head to tail, and completely lost command before deploying its forces, and it was in chaos in an instant.After more than an hour of fierce fighting, more than 2,900 people directly under the 31st Brigade and the 92nd Regiment were all wiped out, and the brigade commander Li Jiyun was captured.The whole battle was fought very quickly, neatly, with less bullet consumption and more captured. It was called "one of the model battles" by Xinhua News Agency at that time.

After the battle, Peng Dehuai said excitedly: "The enemy is fierce, but on this small battlefield in front of us, we overwhelmed it with an absolute superiority of troops. In a specific battle, we have to use a sledgehammer to kill chickens!" Peng Dehuai highly praised the role of the masses in the border areas, saying: "When the ancients wrote letters, the word 'like a bottle' was written on the envelope. The masses in the border areas are really tight-lipped about the enemy, and they will not tell you the truth if they are not their own. , if it were not in northern Shaanxi, it would be very difficult to fight."