Chapter 267 4. Preparations for attacking Taiyuan

After the approval of the Central Military Commission, the troops preparing to attack Taiyuan City were transferred to rest. The main tasks of the units of the 1st Corps are: (1) Replenishment and rearrangement of troops; (2) Political training and military training; (3) Preparation of food and ammunition; (4) Reconnaissance of the enemy; Supplementary Finishing Team: Since the Corps had just been established in May 1948, and the 15th column had just been upgraded from local armed forces, the leading institutions at all levels were not sound, and there was only one soldier left in the army.The number of personnel was not sufficient, and there were heavy casualties in the battles of Linfen and Jinzhong, which caused a serious shortage of troops in each unit.There are only 2 regiments with more than 1,000 members in the entire corps, and some regiment-level military and political cadres have only 3 people left. Therefore, the battalion-level cadres stepped up to replenish and reorganize the troops during the rest, striving to reform prisoners, mobilize rehabilitated peasants to join the army, and return the wounded and sick Promote and adjust cadres, improve leading organizations at all levels, and formally establish the Corps Logistics Department; supplement and adjust the weapons and equipment of the troops, basically reaching 90 rifles and 6 light machine guns per company; 6 heavy machine guns per battalion; 82 mortars per regiment 6; 4 mountain guns per brigade, 6 120 heavy mortars; 4 mountain guns, 4 150 heavy mortars per column.

After rest and replenishment, by the end of September 1948, the strength of the 1st Corps reached 77,900 (the "September Strength Report" made by Xu Xiangqian, Zhou Shibei, and Chen Manyuan to the Central Military Commission and the North China Military Region on October 14, 1948).Adding to the other troops under his command, the number of troops participating in the Taiyuan Campaign included 1 corps, 4 columns, 17 infantry brigades, and 1 artillery brigade, with a total of 115,000 people. Conduct political training and military training: On the basis of replenishing and reorganizing the troops, according to the characteristics of Taiyuan's strong urban defense and the ideological reality of the troops, all troops generally carried out situation education and complaint education.By mobilizing soldiers to analyze the situation of the enemy and ourselves, and comparing the human, material and popular sentiments of the enemy and the enemy, everyone realized: "The enemy is a stagnant puddle, and I am a long flowing water." The trapped beast is still fighting.

Through the education of complaining, the majority of commanders and fighters, especially the liberation fighters, have raised their class consciousness and political consciousness. They exposed all kinds of deceptions by Yan Xishan, and expressed that they "worked in the People's Liberation Army", thus reducing fleeing and consolidating the army. At the same time, the troops have started military training since late August, learning and training offensive and defensive tactics, blasting and soil work in combination with the actual enemy situation and terrain.After military training, about 70% of the people in each column learned to blast. The majority of commanders and fighters experienced from the training that reinforced concrete bunkers can be blown down, and soil work can avoid artillery fire, thus improving their confidence in winning the Taiyuan battle.

Prepare food and ammunition: During the rest period, the logistics departments at all levels try their best to improve the life of the troops and restore the physical strength of the soldiers.Each column has set up a medical center, a rest center and a stretcher team.To attack Taiyuan, the North China Military Region dispatched more than 4 million kilograms of ammunition, including more than 835,000 shells of various types, 48.25 million bullets of various types, 786,000 hand grenades, more than 413,000 kilograms of yellow explosives, and more than 66,500 kilograms of black explosives.The army needs a lot of food, and only one item of millet needs 200,000 kilograms per day.

The Front Headquarters of the Jinzhong Military Region organized migrant workers and militiamen to deliver food and ammunition to the front line to ensure the various needs of the troops, and prepared more than 300,000 purlins, 320,000 door panels, and more than 300,000 sacks for the troops to fight. Scouting the enemy: After the training began, the Corps divided the three reconnaissance areas in the south, north, and west, organized the troops and the reconnaissance departments of each district, and all the forces of the Urban Industry Department, the Social Department, and the Enemy Industry Department to conduct a comprehensive reconnaissance of Taiyuan and basically grasp the defenders. The deployment of troops, the distribution of bunkers, and the terrain.Zhao Bingyu, secretary of the party branch of Liugou Village in Dongshan, came out of Yan Jun's defense area and reported to the head of the Corps about the secret trail leading to Niutuo Village.The Corps immediately sent people to reconnaissance and identified this road as a breakthrough in the battle.Later, the 7th Column attacked Zhanniutuo village from this.

Carry out political campaigning work: While preparing for the campaign, the 1st Corps vigorously carried out political struggle.Xu Xiangqian personally approached Zhao Chengshou, the commander-in-chief of Yan Xishan's 7th Army, who was captured in the Battle of Jinzhong, and asked him to go back and persuade Yan to resolve the Taiyuan issue peacefully.But Zhao worried about going back and being killed.Xu Xiangqian had no choice but to let him write to Yan Xishan and the senior generals around him.The North China Military Region sent Wang Shiying, deputy chief of staff, and others to the front of Taiyuan to form a working group. Using various relationships, they tried to negotiate with Yan Xishan in order to strive for the peaceful liberation of Taiyuan.After mobilization, the teacher of Yan Xishan, who was nearly 80 years old, expressed his willingness to go to the city to see Yan Xishan in order to save the people of Taiyuan from the flames of war.However, instead of listening to the advice, Yan Fei killed the teacher instead.Since then, the North China 1st Corps has focused its political struggle work on lower-level officers and soldiers.