Chapter 166 8. Victory over Wolf Mountain and Fuyang Mountain

The gunfire of the annihilation battle of the Sixth Battalion had just ended when the 2nd and 3rd columns launched an attack on the enemy's reorganized 66th Division in Yangshanji.Yangshanji is a large village with thousands of families, located in the low-lying area of ​​Jinxiang County, west of Weishan Lake. To the north of Zhuangzi is a hill protruding from the flat ground, which is shaped like a big ram sitting on the northwest and southeast, with its head held high and curled up. .The "sheep's head" in the east and the "sheep's body" in the north are cliffs of varying heights.On the south side of the mountain is a street from west to east.

The enemy army used the natural terrain to build solid fortifications, coupled with continuous heavy rain and surrounded by water on three sides, the 2nd and 3rd columns did not carefully reconnaissance the terrain in advance, that is, they attacked on the 15th and 16th.As a result, under the fire suppression of the enemy's commanding heights, the casualties were not small, and it failed to work. On July 19, Chiang Kai-shek hurriedly flew to Kaifeng to personally command, and adjusted the 40th Division, 10th Division, and 1st Cavalry Brigade from Anyang, Xi'an, and Tongguan, and transferred the 206th Division from Luoyang to Wang Zhonglian's 4th Corps.The 52nd Division was reorganized from Henan, Anhui and Su, and the main forces of the 7th, 48th, 85th, and 5th Divisions were drawn from Shandong to help Yangshanji.At the same time, Wang Jingjiu was strictly ordered to command the reorganized 58th Division and the reorganized 66th Division's 199th Brigade nearby, and immediately cross the Wanfu River north to break the siege of Yangshan.Upon hearing the news, Liu Bocheng arranged another pocket formation, waiting for the enemy to sneak in.He ordered the troops of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region to stop the attack on the north bank of the Wanfu River first, kill and injure the enemy of the Northern Aid, leave a gap in the front, lure the enemy's 199th brigade to cross the river, cut off its connection with the reorganized 58th Division, and annihilate them during the movement .

On the 20th, the enemy's 199th Brigade crossed the Wanfu River and marched northward, and the Yangshanji garrison also sent a regiment to meet the brigade southward.The 3rd Column and the troops of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region braved the downpour and suddenly surrounded the enemy in the field. After two hours of fierce fighting on the 22nd, the 199th Brigade and a regiment sent by Yangshanji were wiped out.Wang Shiqiao, commander of the 199th brigade, was captured alive.Covered in mud and water, he raised his hands high and said seriously, "I did a fortune-telling last night, and I know today is unlucky!"

The destruction of the 199th Brigade made the enemy's reinforcements shrink back.Wang Zhonglian, the commander of the 4th Corps, led his troops to wander in the Ranguji and Chengwu areas for days on the pretext of muddy roads. On the 23rd, the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China and Mao Zedong ordered: "In order to rapidly expand the initiative that has been obtained, we should immediately take a short-term rest and make a quick leap towards the Dabie Mountains. If the enemy of Yangshan Mountain can be wiped out quickly, then we will annihilate them; otherwise, we will go to rest and reorganization." "

After research, Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping believed that the aid of the enemy from various sources was still on the way, and the enemy in Jinxiang was no longer able to assist the north.The main force can be fully concentrated, and it is completely sure to quickly annihilate the Yangshan defending enemy, so it is decided to continue to attack and wipe out the reorganized 66th Division defending Yangshan.They instructed the attacking force to reorganize the reconnaissance and adjusted the deployment. Part of the 2nd column attacked from west to east, the 7th brigade of the 3rd column and the 16th brigade of the 6th column attacked from north to south, and part of the 3rd column attacked from east to west. west attack.The ministries stepped up artillery fire, focusing on seizing the commanding heights.In terms of military strength, we have achieved a ten to three advantage over our enemy.

After the deployment was completed, Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping went to the front line of Yangshanji, conveyed the spirit of the instructions of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China to the leaders of the column, and then asked them if they had checked the terrain at the front line?Several column commanders said no.Liu Bocheng said: The more victorious you must be, the more careful you must be, and you must not be negligent, let alone impatient.You have to go to the front to see the terrain in person, understand why you can't attack, and study how to fight with the commanders and fighters below.In short, there is no longer any delay, and the enemies in Yangshanji must be wiped out as soon as possible.The commanders of each column went as ordered.Chen Zaidao, commander of the 2nd column, and Chen Xilian, commander of the 3rd column, went directly to the front of the position to investigate.Chen Xilian jumped into the chest-deep trench at once, measured the width and depth of the trench, arranged for troops to prepare equipment for crossing the trench, and formulated a specific attack plan.

After careful preparations, on the evening of the 27th a general attack was launched against the enemy of Yangshan.Fighting fiercely for a day and night, on the evening of the 28th, the 66th Division of the Yangshan Defending Enemy Reorganization was wiped out. So far, the main force of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army has fought continuously for 28 days in southwest Shandong, annihilating 4 reorganized divisions and 9 and a half brigades of the Kuomintang Army, with a total of more than 56,000 people.More than 43,000 people including Song Ruike, Commander of the 66th Division, Chen Yiding, Commander of the 70th Division, and Li Mingya, Deputy Commander of the 32nd Division, recaptured the Liberated Area in Southwest Shandong and opened the door to the Dabie Mountains.

The news of the fall of Yangshanji reached Kaifeng, and Chiang Kai-shek was very angry.In order to shirk his responsibility, he sentenced Wang Zhonglian, the commander of the 4th Corps, to 8 years in prison for the crime of "slow action, delaying military opportunities, harming the enemy and harming the people, and framing friendly troops", and Luo Guangwen took over his post. Gu Zhutong, the commander-in-chief of the army who rushed to Shangqiu on the 26th, also retreated to the Xuzhou general headquarters in despair. Liu Bocheng, who fought day and night for 28 days, wrote his famous poem full of joy and pride of victory:

Wolf Mountain wins the battle against Yang Mountain, and the artillery fire thunders and smokes. Tens of thousands of residents clapped their hands together, delighted to see their children win the city pass.