Chapter 151 4. Chen Su issued combat missions

The reorganized 74th Division is a piece of fat with bones. To "gnaw" it off and implement the tactic of "tiger digging out its heart", the key is to "take out" the entire 74th Division from the formation set up by Gu Zhutong and Tang Enbo, Only by creating a favorable situation can it be effective. For this reason, at 7 o'clock on May 12, Huaye officially issued a combat order to annihilate the enemy's reorganized 74th Division and 25th Division, and reported to the Central Military Commission the next day.In the order, Chen Yi and Su Yu decided to use 5 columns for the task of encircling and annihilating, and 4 columns for the task of blocking and aiding the enemy.The specific deployment is:

First, take the 1st, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 9th columns as the main offensive tasks.Among them, the 1st and 8th columns detoured from the east and west wings of the 74th Division, cut off its connection with the 25th and 83rd Divisions on the left and right, and seized Huangdouding Mountain, Beitaoxu, Jiepai, Duozhuang and Yiyi. Wenzhuang, Leishishan and other key points; use the 6th column to advance eastward from the Tongshi Starry Night, seize Duozhuang, and block the retreat of the 74th Division to the Linmeng Highway; After the flank, they quickly attacked from Tanbu and the area north of it from north to south, and from northeast to southwest, and joined forces with the 1st, 6th, and 8th columns to encircle and wipe out the entire 74th Division.

Second, use the 2nd, 3rd, 7th, and 10th columns to contain and block the nearby Kuomintang troops in the original situation. Third, in addition to the howitzer regiment attached to the 7th column of the special forces column, the main force moved westward to the lower southeast of Tanbu after the start of the battle, and was on standby to participate in the battle. Fourth, the local armed forces of the Southern Shandong Military Region followed the right side of the 6th Column and attacked to the rear of the 83rd Division, cutting off the road from Qingtuo Temple to Linyi, and harassing the suburbs of Linyi with one part to contain the enemy.

After the combat mission was issued, the morale of the East China Field Army was high, and the officers and soldiers raised a resounding slogan: "Annihilate the 74th Division and capture Zhang Lingfu alive." Ye Fei, the commander of the 1st Column, heard that there was a battle, and immediately rushed to the Huaye Command Accept the task.Su Yu explained the interspersed mission and route to Ye Fei. Ye Fei expressed his willingness to undertake the mission, but the troops were indeed too tired and not mentally prepared.Chen Yi said: "Your task is very difficult and the responsibility is heavy. If you cannot complete the task, the entire campaign deployment will not be completed. We will transfer the independent division to strengthen the 1st vertical, and you will have the strength of 4 divisions. 1st vertical battle His style of work is good and he is trustworthy." Ye Fei returned to the army after accepting the mission without further ado. (Chapter 28 of "Ye Fei's Memoirs")

Wang Bicheng's 6th Column was hiding in Tongshi Town, Feixian County, a hundred miles away at the time. After receiving the order from the field army headquarters, the 6th Column's cadres and soldiers immediately became excited. The Political Department of the 6th Vertical said during mobilization: "The 74th Division is our deadly enemy. We did not know how many wrong roads we went to annihilate him. Last year, we arranged to beat him because the situation changed and made him cheaper. We came to Shandong, he has also rushed over. Today is 'enemies meet, very jealous', he came to the door by himself, if we don't take care of him, when will we wait? Today is our chance to avenge our hatred!" Quan Zong set off overnight , rushed to Duozhuang, the rear base of the 74th Division, at a rapid march.