Chapter 208 6. Liu Kan's reinforcements entered the "iron cage"

Sure enough, Liu Kan was "caught" out.Peng Dehuai issued the "Jinzi No. 2" order on February 28: "This field army decided to launch a general offensive at dawn on tomorrow (29) to annihilate the enemy who came to help." According to the established combat plan, the deployment was appropriately adjusted: 3. One brigade from each of the sixth column continued to besiege Yichuan, concentrating the strength of 9 brigades to quickly seize the highlands on both sides of Wazi Street to Tielong Bay, and encircled and wiped out Liu Kan's reinforcements when they entered.At the same time, the 2nd Column was ordered to gather between Getai Street and Wazi Street, preparing to flank Wazi Street and the east of the enemy from south to north.

On February 28, Liu Kan led reinforcements to continue eastward, attempting to reach Yichuan on the same day.In order to prevent ambushes when passing through the narrow road east of Wazi Street, Liu Kan used the 61st Brigade of the Reorganized 90th Division and the 47th Brigade of the Reorganized 27th Division to search and advance along the mountain ridges on the north and south sides of the road.Due to the difficulty of traveling on the north side of the highway, except for the 61st Brigade, which was marching along the south side of the highway, the rest of the troops were still advancing eastward along the highway in the ditch.

When the vanguard of Liu Kan's reinforcements entered Iron Cage Bay from the east of Wazi Street, Peng Dehuai said humorously: "Liu Kan, you have got into the 'Iron Cage', so don't think about getting out again!" At 10 a.m., as soon as the vanguard of Liu Kan's reinforcements crossed Wazi Street and entered the Renjiawan and Dingjiawan areas, they were blocked by the 5th Independent Brigade of the 3rd Column of the Northwest Field Army and the 2nd Regiment of the Teaching Brigade of the 6th Column. . Liu Kan judged that there was only one column and several thousand soldiers in the blocking force, and he could not stop them from rushing to help, so he ordered the troops to continue attacking and advance, and they were limited to reaching Yichuan on the same day.In this way, even its follow-up troops entered the narrow road east of Wazi Street that day. On the afternoon of the 28th, the sky was cloudy, and it began to drizzle, and then it turned into light snow. At night, heavy snow fell all over the sky.The 1st and 4th Columns and the 3rd and 6th Columns of the Field Army each have a covert contact with the enemy from the pre-ambush area in the rain and snow.

On the morning of February 29, Peng Dehuai called the Central Military Commission: "The enemy's reorganized 29th and 90th divisions have entered the highlands south of Wangjiawan and Renjiawan in the southwest of Yichuan. It snowed a few inches last night, and the enemy has not moved this morning. I have no food. We can't wait, so we decide to attack the enemy." At 2 o'clock in the morning on the same day, the 1st column, which was in charge of making pockets, followed the enemy west of Wazi Street, and captured Wazi Street at 6 o'clock, cutting off the enemy's rear.At this time, He Bingyan, the commander of the 1st column, and Liao Hansheng, the political commissar, found that the 2nd column had not yet occupied the high ground south of Wazi Street due to the long distance and the difficult snow road, and the enemy was gathering there.

If this gap is not blocked quickly, the enemy will have the possibility of breaking out and fleeing.Therefore, after the 1st Brigade and 1st Regiment of the Avant-garde Independent Brigade crossed the road and started to attack, they ordered the 358th Brigade to attack the highland southeast of Wazi Street in order to cut off the enemy's escape route to the south. The 714th Regiment of the 358th Brigade, with one battalion attached to the 715th Regiment, fought hand-to-hand with the enemy's 53rd Brigade and one regiment, defeated the enemy and occupied the position.And developed eastward, together with friendly and neighboring troops, completely cut off the way for the enemy to flee back.

On the same day, the main forces of the 1st and 4th columns and the 3rd and 6th columns repelled the enemy who was trying to seize the road and break through.The second column, which was responsible for attacking the enemy's right flank, also rushed to fight.At dusk, the field army tightened the encirclement and compressed the enemy into a narrow area less than 10 kilometers long from east to west and about 5 kilometers wide from north to south, forming an iron barrel encirclement. .That night, the troops camped in the snow and cold, regardless of fatigue and hunger, and actively prepared for the next day's general offensive.Liu Kan also ordered his brigades to build fortifications overnight and continue to resist.

At dawn on March 1, Peng Dehuai issued a general attack order.The 1st column runs from west to east along the highway and the highlands on both sides, the 2nd column runs from south to north, the 4th column runs from north to south, part of the 6th column runs from southeast to northwest, and part of the 3rd column runs from northeast to southwest, launching a general siege to the enemy .The sound of gunshots, cannons, bugles, and killings shook the heavens and the earth. On this day, the battle across the board was fierce.Liu Kan's reinforcements resisted tenaciously, and repeatedly competed with the Northwest Field Army for the condescending Southeast Mountain on the south side of the road.

Peng Dehuai wrote in a telegram that day: "Every time you attack a mountain, you have to repeat it several times, and you can get it with a bayonet." A typical example of raising class awareness in the entire army. One person stabbed 7 enemies to death, and he himself was stabbed 11 times and was seriously injured. Ren Shihong, head of the 714th regiment, led a special agent company to seize the mountain ridge village where the enemy command post was entrenched, took the lead and sacrificed heroically. Peng Dehuai has been watching the progress of the battle, and is deeply satisfied with the heroic fighting style of the vast number of commanders and fighters in the southeast mountain.He observed from the front-line command post that the enemy was sticking to a hilltop position in Dingjiawan, and our attacking troops were blocked from attacking many times.However, a brigade that was in charge of "blocking the enemy's eastward advance" in the vicinity only cared about blocking the attack, but failed to play by ear and cooperated with the brother troops to attack.Peng Dehuai criticized the brigade commander's slow performance on the phone.The brigade commander immediately led a regiment to attack.Peng Dehuai went straight to the command post of the brigade in the mud again, and said to the brigade chief of staff present: "Set up the machine guns."You lead the regiment down the valley, and then attack the enemy's position on the opposite side.He said to the head of the brigade: "In war, fighter planes are very important. Commanders must have an overall view of the battlefield, be good at coordination, and severely attack the enemy without giving the enemy a chance to breathe."

After days of fierce fighting, until 4 pm on March 1, the Northwest Field Army occupied all positions on both sides of the road, and the headquarters of the reorganized 29th Army was wiped out.All the remnants of the enemy were driven into the ditch, and the wolves rushed to escape.But the PLA is everywhere, and they can't escape anywhere.At 5 o'clock in the afternoon, Hu Zongnan's army that reinforced Yichuan was all wiped out. On March 2, the Northwest Field Army launched a general attack on the troops surrounding Yichuan. At 8 o'clock in the morning on the 3rd, the 24th Brigade defending Yichuan was wiped out. When the brigade commander Zhang Hanchu jumped a mountain to escape, his leg was broken and he was captured.So far, the battles of Yichuan and Wazijie have ended successfully.