Chapter 223 3. Su Yu made deployments to wipe out the enemy

The idea of ​​annihilation and reorganization of the 5th Army was put forward. After the Central Military Commission issued the instructions, the Huaye 1 Corps was excited, and everyone was gearing up and wanted to fight as soon as possible.At this time, the distribution of forces between the enemy and the enemy is as follows: In addition to the security forces, the enemy has 25 reorganized divisions (57 brigades) of the regular army on the Central Plains battlefield.Among them, 13 reorganized divisions (30 brigades) are responsible for the defense of important point lines; the other 12 reorganized divisions (27 brigades) and 4 fast columns are organized into 4 corps to perform mobile combat missions.Its intention is to control the traffic lines of the eastern section of Longhai Road, Jinpu Road, and Heping Hanzhong South Section, and use Zhengzhou, Xinyang, Bengbu, Kaifeng, Shangqiu, and Xuzhou as bases. When our Huaye troops are training and separating, concentrate all available In order to find our main corps for a decisive battle, at the same time monitor and block our 1st Huaye Corps, which was undergoing training in the Puyang area, to cross the south of the river.

As far as our army is concerned, the main force of the Central Plains Field Army and the 10th Column of the East China Field Army are moving to Nanyang and Queshan after winning the Wan (Nanyang) West Battle; , went north from the Xiangheguan and Chunshui areas on May 10, captured Xuchang on the 14th, wiped out the enemy's independent 21st brigade, and then transferred to rest in Xuchang and Xiangcheng areas; the 1st, 4th and 1st East China Field Army The 6th column and the other two columns and the special forces column carried out military training in accordance with the operational requirements of the reorganized 5th Army after the new army-wide movement in the Puyang area.The 9th Column of the Central Plains Field Army is located in the southwest of Zhengzhou; the 11th Column of the Central Plains Field Army is located in the Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu areas.

On May 23, Su Yu made a combat deployment to seek to wipe out the reorganized 5th Army in southwest Shandong. "That is, first use the 3rd and 8th columns to move from the Xuchang area to Huaiyang, attracting Qiu Qingquan's corps to go south; between Jiufan County) and crossed the Yellow River southward, and entered the Dingtao and Chengwu areas, striving to annihilate a part of the defending enemy in the southwestern part of Shandong, opening up a battlefield, and attracting the Qiu Corps to turn north. The 8th Column and the 11th Column of Nakano followed the enemy and marched northward, and cooperated with our columns crossing the Yellow River to the south to attack the enemy in the southwestern area of ​​Shandong." ("Su Yu's War Memoirs" p. 545)

For this reason, the Front Committee of the East China Field Army issued a "Letter to All Commanders and Fighters for the Annihilation of the Enemy's 5th Army".The letter pointed out: Chiang Kai-shek, with the Fifth Army as the backbone, brought a group of minions to harass the Central Plains desperately, trying to ruin the Central Plains, and then sabotage the construction of the North China Liberated Area.Whether we want to liberate the 40 million people in the Central Plains, consolidate the Central Plains, build North China, go south across the river, or hasten the death of Chiang Kai-shek, we must annihilate the Fifth Army.In order to ensure victory, all commanders and fighters are called on to: resolutely obey orders and obey commands, gain time to collect enemy information, and carry out extensive research; in field battles, we must carry forward the spirit of "Three Violences" and combine bravery with technology; the whole army is closely united , coordinated actions; carry forward the fine tradition of hard work, not afraid of running away, not afraid of starvation; strictly maintain policies, enforce discipline, and return everything seized to the public.Annihilate the 5th Army and make a great contribution to the people!