Chapter 206 4. Two columns surrounded Yichuan

On February 12, the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 6th Columns of the Northwest Field Army marched from Baoan (now Zhidan), Suide, and Mizhi to Yichuan respectively. On the 16th, they entered Jinsha Town and Gangu Concealed gatherings in Yi and Yanchang areas to prepare for the battle. On February 20, Peng Dehuai, Zhang Zongxun, and Zhao Shoushan, the second deputy commander of the Northwest Field Army, jointly issued the "Jinzi No. 2. The main forces of the 4th column and the 3rd and 6th columns joined forces to fight for aid. On February 22, Xu Guangda, commander of the 3rd column, Sun Zhiyuan, political commissar, Luo Yuanfa, commander of the 6th column, and Xu Liqing, political commissar, led their troops to attack Yichuan.After clearing the enemy's local armed strongholds on the outskirts of Yichuan City on the 23rd, under the cover of the masses, they used the night to secretly advance, and with lightning speed, suddenly surrounded Yichuan City from the east and west on the 24th, uncovering the It marked the prelude to the Northwest Field Army's transformation from inside to outside operations.

At this time, the main force of the Northwest Field Army preparing to fight for aid arrived at the designated area north of Wazi Street on February 23 under the leadership of Commander He Bingyan of the 1st Column, Political Commissar Liao Hansheng, Commander of the 4th Column Wang Shitai, and Political Commissar Zhang Zhongliang. , Standing by for reinforcements, ready to annihilate the enemies that reinforce Yichuan. On February 24, the 3rd and 6th columns completed the siege of Yichuan City, and by the 27th they had compressed the defenders into the city.Peng Dehuai sent a telegram to Xu Guangda and Luo Yuanfa: "Siege the city must be fierce, but the attack cannot be defeated. Call for help by forcing the enemy. The siege is the means, and the aid is the goal. The aid must be invincible. This is the principle of this campaign." (""" Zhang Zongxun's Memoirs) At this time, the 1st and 4th columns had entered the designated area north of Wazi Street to wait; the 2nd column was marching towards the Nangetai Street area in the southwest of Yichuan.

Xu Guangda immediately convened a meeting of cadres above the regiment level, and said, "Why didn't you fight immediately after the encirclement? There is a lot of content in this." He pointed to the map hanging on the wall and said: "Comrades, look, Liu Kan's two reorganization divisions and four brigades are placed on the front line of Luochuan and Huangling. If we draw it out and knock it out with a hammer, think about it, what kind of situation will appear on the Northwest battlefield?! Wild The company placed the main force in the Wazi Street area and told us to attack the city with the 3rd and 6th verticals. I think comrades will understand the reason behind this!"

Speaking of this, he said to Zhang Kaiji, the commander of the 2nd Brigade: "Your 2nd Brigade cooperates with the 6th Vertical to attack the city. If you want to lure out Liu Kan from Luochuan, you can't let one of the enemies in Yichuan escape. Ours The plan is to attack Yichuan violently at first, forcing Zhang Hanchu, who is besieged in Yichuan, to be in a hurry, and as soon as Hu Zongnan's reinforcements are dispatched, he will play a strange trick: when the reinforcements come quickly, they will attack slowly, and when they come slowly, they will attack quickly." Then, Xu Guangda said humorously: "Have you ever heard of the method of catching an old wolf? An experienced hunter will dig a trap in advance, take out the wolf cub first, and beat it until it howls. The old wolf is anxious and desperate to save the cub. , and fell into a trap. If the hunter beats the wolf cub to death with a stick, the old wolf will not come! This is our idea now." ("Wang Zhen Biography")