Chapter 233 5. Wang Jinshan's brilliant move

On July 6, our army began the second phase of the Xiang and Fan operations.Facing the ancient city of Xiangyang, surrounded by mountains and rivers, a series of questions were raised in front of the campaign commanders: Can this battle be fought well, and what method can be used to minimize casualties and wipe out the enemy? At the combat meeting, Wang Jinshan, the commander of the 6th vertical, who was in charge of commanding the second phase of the campaign, made a careful analysis of the enemy's situation based on Commander Liu Bocheng's idea of ​​"developing strengths and avoiding weaknesses, and concentrating on attacking the enemy's vital points": "The enemy's weakness is that Commander Kang Ze didn't know much about military affairs, but he was favored by Chiang Kai-shek and was domineering. Although Guo Xunqi, the deputy commander, had command experience, he was in a situation of relying on others. In addition, the enemy recruited more recruits, and their fighting spirit was not high. Li. Our army has a high fighting spirit and a strong attacking spirit. However, after more than a year of hard struggle in the Dabie Mountains, the troops have been reduced a lot and their equipment has been greatly weakened. There are 4 mountain cannons, and 1 of them is broken."

After talking about the enemy's situation and our situation, Wang Jinshan changed the subject and showed a brilliant strategy for the battle plan: "In terms of tactics, if we follow the traditional method of attacking a city, we must seize the mountain first, which will inevitably make use of the enemy's strengths and expose our weaknesses. We will consume our troops in the battle of fighting for mountains on the periphery, and increase the difficulty of attacking the city later. In addition, the east and south of the city are enemy-occupied areas. If the main attack is carried out from the east and south, the side and back will be more threatened. In the west of Xiangyang City, there is only one narrow passage from Zhangtang to Xiguan. Water, the narrowest part of it is only 1 li, and there is no room for maneuver. It is not conducive to the deployment of our troops. What is particularly difficult is the blockade of the enemy's firepower at Pipa Mountain and Zhenwu Mountain in the south, and the solid defense of Tiefo Temple in the front. However, as Liu The commander once pointed out: "Under certain conditions, the most dangerous place is the most complete." As long as the "three passes" of Pipa Mountain, Zhenwu Mountain, and Tiefo Temple are taken, the west passage of the city will be in the enemy's blind spot of firepower, and the siege The troops can go straight to the Xiguan city. Moreover, after Laohekou and Gucheng are liberated by our army, it is safer to attack the city from the west and the rear."

After various analyzes and judgments, Wang Jinshan decided to adopt the "tiger digging out his heart" tactic advocated by Commander Liu, put aside the main peak of Nanshan Mountain, and choose the main attack direction to the west. Wushan, Tiefo Temple, and then relying on Xiguan, broke through the city wall. When Commander Liu Bocheng saw this battle plan, he couldn't help nodding appreciatively: "Well, this Wang Jinshan is getting more and more intelligent, and he's getting better at fighting." Chief Liu Deng immediately approved the plan, and strictly ordered the troops participating in the war: "We must fight bravely, we must not worry about casualties, we must not negotiate prices, and we must only seek complete victory."

Wang Jinshan handed over the task of "cutting three passes with a knife" to the 17th Brigade, which is capable of fighting. Li Desheng, commander of the 17th brigade, is resourceful and has a profound style.Before the war, he led commanders at all levels to observe the terrain in person and formulate a battle plan; at the same time, he went deep into the company to repeatedly carry out ideological mobilization, and checked the pre-war preparations over and over again. Li Desheng issued a mobilization order to the whole brigade: Overcome all difficulties, not afraid of bloodshed and sacrifice, carry forward the style of bravery, tenacity, and continuous fighting, resolutely break through the "three barriers", take down Xiangyang City, and capture Kang Ze alive!

The battle on the periphery of Xiangyang City has begun. The 17th Brigade first took control of the Wanshan position in the west of the city.The 12th Brigade of Southern Shaanxi and the 3rd Division of Tongbai captured Bianshan, Fenghuangshan, Jianshan Shuangbeiliangzi and Tiemaoshan.The Tongbai 28th Brigade launched an attack on the enemy forces outside Fancheng and wiped out part of the enemy. The 3rd Battalion of the 49th Regiment of the 17th Brigade took Pipa Mountain at dusk on the 9th. The next day, under the threat of fire from three sides, they repelled the enemy's 6 counterattacks, consolidated their positions, and broke through the first "pass". On the night of the 10th, the 2nd Battalion of the 49th Regiment captured Zhenwu Mountain again and opened the second "pass". The 1st Battalion of the 50th Regiment occupied Zhangtang Village in the west of the city, clearing the way for our army to attack Xiguan.

While our army captured Zhenwu Mountain and Phoenix Mountain, the headquarters ordered the 18th Brigade of the 6th Column to bypass Wenbi Peak and approach the Xiangyang Dongguan along the Han River Loop. On the night of the 10th, the 18th Brigade occupied the moat and opened up a siege base in the northeast corner.The Tongbai 28th Brigade immediately liberated Fancheng, went around to Dongjin Bay to cross the Han River, occupied the southeast position of the city, and cooperated with our army in the west of the city to form a horseshoe-shaped offensive against Xiangyang.This move greatly shocked the enemy. Conserton felt weak and weak, and immediately withdrew his troops. On the 9th, all the 164 brigades defending the enemy in Fancheng were withdrawn into Xiangyang City.

In order to concentrate our forces to break through from the west and ensure that the troops reduce casualties during the attack, our headquarters also made the 46th regiment of the 16th brigade and the 52nd regiment of the 18th brigade into two echelons, and adopted the method of approaching operations. traffic ditch. On July 13, the 50th Regiment of the 17th Brigade and the 47th Regiment of the 16th Brigade attacked Xiguan relying on the traffic ditch. The 50th regiment captured Tiefo Temple and Hongtubaozi in one fell swoop, opening the third "pass". The 47th regiment captured Tongji Hospital, took control of Xiguan in Xiangyang, and the army went straight to the city wall.

At this time, the enemies in Yanghu Mountain, Hutou Mountain and other places in the south of the city were isolated and placed in a useless place. Chiang Kai-shek was very concerned about the battle of Xiangyang. He regarded Xiangyang as a nail nailed into the Dabie Mountains to contain Liu Deng's army.In the presidential palace in Nanjing, he thought he was smart, and after studying the map repeatedly, he sent a telegram to Kang Ze on the 13th to "abandon Nanshan and stick to the city wall."Chiang Kai-shek thought that his move would make Xiangyang stand firm until the reinforcements arrived, but unexpectedly it led to the fate of the Kangze Group's final collapse.

After the peripheral battle was over, our headquarters immediately decided to switch to siege operations.Concentrate the main force and attack Xiangyang from the east and west to defend the enemy, focusing on the west.Use all 6 columns to attack from Xiguan to Ximen via Dashiqiao; use the main force of the 12th Brigade in Southern Shaanxi to attack the city from the northeast corner; use the Tongbai 28th Brigade to attack the city from the southeast corner.After the breakthrough, the various ministries will attack the enemy headquarters in Yangjiatang in the city. On the evening of July 15, with a burst of shelling, our army launched a general attack on Xiangyang.The 1st Battalion of the 17th Brigade and the 49th Regiment, which was the main offensive task, bravely passed the Xiguan Dashi Bridge with our concentrated and strict fire support, and climbed onto the city wall in ten minutes. The divisions of the 16th and 18th brigades broke into the city.At the same time, the 28th Brigade of Tongbai and the 12th Brigade of Southern Shaanxi, which made a centripetal assault from Dongguan, also forged through the trenches and entered Xiangyang.

Kang Ze, a war criminal, may treat ordinary people like a wolf, but this battle has proved that he is a complete idiot.The day before the city was broken, Kang Ze was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, and kept going back and forth in the room.He kept muttering: "What can I do? What can I do?" Seeing that the city was about to collapse, Kang Ze still wanted to make a final struggle and used money to lure his subordinates to work for him.He offered a reward to his troops: if he could stick to the bunker for one day, each soldier would be issued 200 yuan in customs coupons, and the officers would double it accordingly.However, how can money save his fate of failure? When our army took down Kang Ze's headquarters, we found that the prisoners' purses were filled with new banknotes; put it there.As for Kang Ze, he had already made preparations and hid in an emergency.

When our army broke through the last bunker, Kang Ze had disappeared without a trace and disappeared.