Chapter 171 3. Chen Geng deploys to the expedition

Chen Geng returned to southern Shanxi in early August, and immediately conveyed the marching order of the Party Central Committee to the entire army. During this period, the troops made full preparations for the expedition across the South. On July 27, in accordance with the order of the Central Military Commission, the 4th Column of the former Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army (under the jurisdiction of the 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th brigades, and the 22nd brigade will be added later), the newly established The 9th Column of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army (administrating the 25th Brigade, 26th Brigade, 27th Brigade and 1 Artillery Battalion), the Glorious Uprising joined the 38th Army of the People's Liberation Army (administrating the 17th Division, 55th Division), a total of More than 80,000 people formed a corps, with Chen Geng as the commander and Xie Fuzhi as the political commissar.The Central Military Commission also instructed the formation of the Front Committee of the Corps, with Chen Geng as the secretary and Xie Fuzhi as the deputy secretary, to carry out the strategic task of forcibly crossing the Yellow River into the Central Plains and establishing the Henan, Shaanxi and Hubei base areas.

In early August, presided over by Chen Geng, an enlarged meeting of the Front Committee of the Corps was held in Yangcheng, the capital of the Taiyue Liberated Area.Comrades in charge of the military and political affairs of each unit attended the meeting. At the meeting, Chen Geng conveyed the spirit of the Central Xiaohe Conference in detail, conveyed the instructions of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, and told the story of "breaking the boat" very vividly. , Only victory is allowed, not failure.He also profoundly analyzed the development of the situation in the War of Liberation over the past year, pointed out the favorable conditions for this operation, and asked everyone to fully estimate the possible difficulties and be prepared to overcome all serious difficulties.After serious discussions at the meeting, a military plan was drawn up to forcibly cross the Yellow River and advance into western Henan, and various policy issues in the newly liberated areas were also studied.Chen Geng emphasized at the meeting that in the newly liberated areas, mobilize the masses and carry out democratic reform movements. When fighting landlords and bullies, we must pay attention to uniting democrats, and when liberating cities and towns, we must protect national industries and commerce, pay attention to uniting patriots from all walks of life, and expand opposition to the Kuomintang. The united front of the reactionaries.

Chen Geng usually has a chic style and is an optimist in life, but he is a conscientious and rigorous person in war.When the war started, I often stayed awake for days and nights, thinking only about this one thing in my mind.He is always very meticulous in commanding battles. He often personally looks at the terrain with the commander of the main attacking force, asks the masses to ask about the situation, and studies plans with cadres, striving to be fully prepared and sure of victory in every battle. Chen Geng was particularly cautious and serious about this military operation of great strategic significance, which was related to the national war situation, and made extremely careful and meticulous pre-war preparations.Originally, before the Yangcheng meeting was held, the commanders of the brigades and regiments of the Corps had already gone to the area along the Yellow River where they were going to cross the Yellow River to conduct detailed reconnaissance. .

However, after the meeting ended, he assigned the heads of the 4th Division, 11th Brigade, and 4th Column Liaison Department of the Taiyue Military Region to immediately set off for Lantian near the bank of the Yellow River to be responsible for understanding the situation of the enemy on the other side.Before leaving, Chen Geng entrusted them with two tasks: first, to have a comprehensive understanding of the situation along the coast; second, to observe whether there is any change in the enemy's situation on the opposite bank every day, and report at any time.The commander of the 4th division, Guo Qingxiang, and others led a small number of staff officers and scouts to Lantian. Every day, they would call or write written reports to him in a timely manner with the information on the enemy's situation, until the eve of crossing the river, when Chen Geng personally led the command post to the front. .

Before crossing the river, the troops carried out political training and pre-war training activities. Through complaint education, the class hatred of the majority of commanders and fighters was aroused; through military exercises, the combat capabilities were improved.At the same time, the policy and discipline education of the new district was carried out in depth and concretely.In order to fully prepare the troops, the CPC Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Central Bureau also made the "Decision on Supporting the Southern Expedition of the Chen-Xie Corps" on August 6. Under the unified leadership of the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Central Bureau and the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region, the Party committees and governments of the Taihang and Taiyue Liberated Areas mobilized more than 8,000 farmers who turned over to replenish the troops; within half a month, the northern bank of the Yellow River The people rushed to build more than 60 large and small boats for the troops to cross the river, and prepared a large number of crossing equipment such as gourds and oilcloth bags, and selected and trained boatmen and sailors who accompanied the army to cross the river.The party, government and military organs of the two liberated areas also mobilized cadres to set up a joint rear headquarters, mobilized more than 30,000 militiamen and migrant workers to cross the river with the army, and raised a certain amount of funds to provide a strong guarantee for this river crossing operation.