Chapter 214 2. Xu Xiangqian issued a military order to conquer Linfen

While Chiang Kai-shek thought of strengthening Linfen's defense, Xu Xiangqian, the first deputy commander of the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region, also thought of Linfen as the next target of the campaign after capturing Yuncheng.If we can take advantage of the victory to organize the Battle of Linfen and conquer the city, it will create many favorable strategic situations for our army: first, we can pull out the last nail left by the Kuomintang in the Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and Henan regions, and liberate all of southern Shanxi. It will be able to connect with Jinsui and Northwest; second, it will clear the way for marching into Jinzhong and Taiyuan, and relieve worries about the future, and will effectively cooperate with the combat operations of our Chenxie Corps on the Northwest battlefield and south of the Yellow River.

In view of the above considerations, Xu Xiangqian suggested to the Central Military Commission to attack Linfen. This proposal was quickly approved by the Central Military Commission. In February 1948, the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region was ordered to form a forward command post (referred to as "Qianzhi") with Xu Xiangqian as the commander, and planned the first campaign of the spring offensive of that year, which was to attack Linfen. After Xu Xiangqian was ordered, although he was in poor health, he was very happy in his heart.Because as early as the late period of the Anti-Japanese War, when he was recuperating in Yan'an, he wrote reports to the Party Central Committee again and again, asking to go out to fight against the devils.

In the early spring of 1948, before the earth thawed, Xu Xiangqian set off for the front line in southern Shanxi.Before leaving, he said to his wife Huang Jie: "If you go out this time, you can't beat Linfen and you won't come back!" When passing through Yangcheng, Xu Xiangqian convened a joint meeting of the party, government and army in Taiyue District to study the issue of attacking Linfen, and made arrangements for the preparations for this battle. The front-line headquarters, unified command of the troops participating in the war. On February 17, Xu Xiangqian called the Central Military Commission and proposed: "Our first battle plan is to attack and annihilate the enemy in Linfen." Because the freeze was not thawed, it was planned to carry out "soil work, continuous blasting, and destruction of foreign land before the start of the battle." Trenches, tunnel operations, attacking bunkers, bunkers, opening the breaches of the city wall, ascending the city with vertical ladders, consolidating the breaches and developing to the two wings, in-depth combat and the coordinated actions of infantry, guns, and workers".Only by proficiently mastering this set of tackling tactics, "can the cost be small and the effect big."

On the 18th, Mao Zedong sent a reply to Xu Xiangqian, saying: "First, I fully agree to do training on tackling tough tactics first. After the thaw, I will attack Linfen. As long as Linfen is conquered, it will be of great help to Peng Zhang. Second, the enemy of Linfen There are two possibilities, one is to stand still, and the other is to abandon the city and go north. Therefore, the training positions of the troops you are leading to attack the city should be placed in a concealed place that is convenient for fighting and fleeing the enemy, and you must make preparations in advance Plan to attack the fleeing enemy, so as to wipe out the possible fleeing enemy without losing the opportunity. Third, Li Zhou should order the Lvliang troops to accept the task of coordinating operations given by Qianqian."

According to this instruction from Mao Zedong, in order to seize the opportunity to wipe out the enemies who might escape, Xu Xiangqian considered the combat deployment for attacking Linfen, and decided: the 20th brigade of the 8th column should be located in the area west of Fushan and Dayang; The area east of Dongdong and Zhaocheng controlled the east side of Tongpu Road; the independent 3rd and 7th Brigades of the Northwest Field Army under the command of the Luliang Military Region hid in the Fenxi area and controlled the west side of Tongpu Road.The main force is assembled in Yicheng and Quwo areas. If the enemy flees, the two brigades on the east side will occupy key points and block the enemy in the area south of Zhaocheng. enemy.In order not to expose the intention of the operation prematurely, when the battle started, the main force marched northward for one and a half days to join the battle. On the 19th, he reported this consideration to the Central Military Commission, which received the approval of the Central Military Commission.Mao Zedong said in the reply: "The deployment is very good."

In the report, Xu Xiangqian also said: "Although there are many enemy regiments in Linfen, Jiang Yan's army has deep contradictions, complex factions, inconsistent command, and generally weak combat effectiveness. After I captured Yuncheng, the officers and soldiers panicked, and the city was at a disadvantage. Defense, as long as we are well-prepared, we can overcome it." This is Xu Xiangqian's military order to the Central Military Commission. After Xu Xiangqian analyzed the strength of the enemy and himself, he believed that "victory is sure."As far as the enemy is concerned, one is, "I have lost confidence in defending the city. The enemy is not united and not united. The enemies in Linfen City include Hu Zongnan's troops, Yan Xishan's troops, and local stubborn troops. They have many internal contradictions. Friction, offset".The second is, "The enemy is isolated and is tightly surrounded by our soldiers and civilians in the Liberated Area. It is more difficult for the enemy to come to help. Only the north is the only direction that can come to help. If the enemy comes to help, it is exactly what we welcome, and we will Hit him and destroy him in the wild."The third is, "the total number of enemies in Linfen City is no more than 25,000, and they have also been attacked by us. The fortifications in Linfen are similar to those in Yuncheng, but the surrounding area of ​​Linfen City is much larger than Yuncheng, which is also convenient for us to break through. of".As far as our side is concerned, "the interior is unified, morale is strong, we have the support of 30 million people in the whole border region, and our military strength is stronger than the enemy."Xu Xiangqian emphasized that the above-mentioned "is only the basis for solving the problem, and the problem can only be solved after fighting." ("Selected Works of Xu Xiangqian Military", PLA Press, 1993 edition, pp. 143-145)