Chapter 278 2. Mao Zedong put forward the autumn combat plan

When the Battle of Chenghe was about to end, Mao Zedong and Peng Dehuai began to consider the autumn combat plan of the Northwest Field Army. On August 11, Mao Zedong called Peng Dehuai, pointing out: If you still have spare energy and the reorganized 38th Division and other departments have a chance to wipe out the enemy, you can rest for a few days before fighting another battle, otherwise you should withdraw your troops and rest for a few days, and then go back Look for opportunities to wipe out the enemy in Weibei.He also emphasized: "Weibei is a grain-producing area. It starts from the Yellow River in the east and reaches Chunyao in the west. The front is quite wide. The enemy troops are arranged in a line to facilitate our attack and annihilation. In the north of the Weibei, we specialize in fighting Hu, and the horses in the east of Longdong may not necessarily reinforce them. If the horses are attacked westward, the Hu troops will be reinforced. Annihilating a few Hu troops in the north of the Weibei is another great benefit for keeping the Hu troops in Shaanxi and not attacking the Central Plains. Therefore, we believe that for a relatively long period of time, it is better to To fight the Hu in the north of Wei, when the north of the Wei is largely cleared or when it is not cleared but it is no longer easy to fight, you can concentrate on fighting the horses." ("Mao Zedong Army One Collection" Vol. 4, p. 559)

On the same day, Peng Dehuai replied to Mao Zedong and informed He Long and Xi Zhongxun.The telegram said: After Hu Zongnan sent three reorganized divisions to southern Shaanxi, western Henan, and Taiyuan, the Kuomintang army's garrison in the Weibei area was greatly weakened, which was beneficial to the Northwest Field Army to wipe out the enemy in Weibei.Therefore, the original plan to fight in Longdong was changed.After the Battle of Chenghe, the fighting spirit of the troops was very high, but they had to supplement consumption, digest the prisoners, and take a rest.The weather is currently hot and near summer. "It is planned to add recruits and prisoners to the army, and then train for another month, and start the autumn offensive in late September." At the same time, the work of consolidating the new liberated areas was stepped up.

On August 12, Peng Dehuai, Zhang Zongxun, and Zhao Shoushan issued a one-month (August 15 to September 15) training order for the Northwest Field Army.The order stipulates that the main contents of the training are: supplementing liberation fighters and new fighters; improving and consolidating the will to fight; improving combat skills of combatants such as shooting, bombing, geotechnical blasting, mine clearance and overcoming obstacles; improving cadres' tactical accomplishment and combat command ability, Focus on improving the technical and tactical levels of positional warfare and plain village warfare.And divided the training areas of each column: the first column is located in Wangzhuang and Luojiawa areas; the second column is located in Ganjing and Bailiang town areas; the third column is located in Heyang and Lujing town areas; the fourth column is located in Chengcheng , Yongfeng Town area; the 6th column is located in Huangfuzhuang, Yangjialong line and the area to the east; the field army headquarters is located near Zhaozhuang Town.

In order to further prepare the whole army for the autumn offensive, Peng Dehuai issued an instruction on the 13th to "plan to launch an offensive in early October".Point out: This year's autumn and winter, the field army will continue to fight in Weibei, and strive to eliminate 4 to 6 brigades in the southern part of Hu Zong after the rainy season and before the severe winter, so that Hu's troops are completely passive, so that they can concentrate on seeking to cooperate with Ma Hongkui in Qinghai next spring. Ministry of War.At present, the troops are extremely insufficient, the rainy season marches consume a lot of troops, and the training plan for tackling tough problems has not been completed, so the training will be reorganized for 1 month to 50 days from now on.Fight for captured soldiers and replenish recruits.After the rainy season, the autumn offensive began in late September and early October.In Hancheng, Heyang, and Chengcheng areas, the summer wheat harvests are bumper, and the autumn seedlings are not bad. The cotton production is quite large, which is a major source of public funds.The people are close to our army and easy to mobilize, it is convenient to support Weibei operations, and to reduce the burden of manpower and material resources in the old liberated areas.Peng Dehuai suggested that the Northwest Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China organize the Weibei Work Committee and lead a large number of cadres to carry out local work in the newly liberated area.

On the 15th, the Central Military Commission replied to Peng Dehuai, Zhang Zongxun, and Zhao Shoushan, pointing out: "You can make a one-month rest plan and complete it on September 15th. After September 15th, if the situation permits, it can be extended for a few more days; if the situation requires it, you can fight. There will be wars in all regions of the country starting in September, I hope you can cooperate." Accordingly, the Northwest Field Army conducted autumn training for one and a half months in Chengcheng and Heyang from August 15th. Based on the terrain characteristics of the Weibei area and the defensive deployment of the Kuomintang army, tactical and technical training (such as blasting, overcoming bunkers and street fighting, etc.) was carried out in plain towns and villages.The combat effectiveness of the troops has been greatly enhanced, and full preparations have been made for the autumn offensive.

With the victorious development of the national war situation, the conditions for the People's Liberation Army to conduct a strategic decisive battle with the Kuomintang army are basically ripe. From September 8th to 13th, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held a Politburo meeting in Xibaipo, and proposed the strategic task of fundamentally overthrowing the reactionary Kuomintang rule in about five years (counting from July 1946).The Central Military Commission determined that the center of gravity of the People's Liberation Army's operations in the third year of the war was still north of the Yangtze River, and planned to wipe out about 115 brigades (divisions) of the regular army of the Kuomintang Army throughout the year.Among them, the task assigned to the Northwest Field Army was to annihilate about 12 brigades (divisions) in the south of Hu Zongnan, contain and weaken Hu Zongnan's group, so that it could not implement strategic maneuvers, and required the Northwest Field Army to independently undertake the combat tasks on the Northwest battlefield.

From September 13th to 22nd, the Northwest Field Army Front Committee held the third enlarged meeting of the Front Committee in Leijiazhuang, Heyang County, Shaanxi Province, and decided on the autumn combat policy again.Former Party Secretary Peng Dehuai presided over the meeting and delivered an important speech. Peng Dehuai pointed out in his speech: Regarding the Northwest Field Army's operational policy, it is still the basic method determined in the previous two enlarged meetings and has not changed.This means that we must continue to wipe out the enemy in large numbers and expand the liberated areas.At present, apart from the six brigades in Xinjiang, there are 220,000 people in Hu Zongnan's system, 80,000 people in Ma Hongkui in Qinghai and Ma Bufang in Ningxia, plus the security brigade, etc., the Northwest Kuomintang Army has more than 300,000 troops.Our army has a total of 70,000 people, excluding the 4th Guard Brigade and the local corps.The ratio of forces between the enemy and the enemy is still 4.2:1.Although our army is still at a disadvantage in terms of strength, our army has high morale, strong combat effectiveness, and the support of the people, while the enemy does not have these three conditions.The enemy is the enemy of the people, and there is an enemy everywhere, and there is fear everywhere, and panic in the heart.With these three different factors, I have gained the initiative in war, and I can defeat and destroy the enemy.He also said: This year is the year to continue to eliminate Hu Zongnan. Now we are determined to fight Hu Zongnan in autumn and winter. We are determined not to fight Qingma and Ningma this year. We will fight again in the spring of next year. This year we will basically fight in Weibei.Fighting in this area, the supply of arms and food is relatively convenient.

Regarding the annihilation target of the autumn operation, Peng Dehuai proposed: first fight the reorganized 17th division, and then prepare to fight the reorganized 38th division to help, and try to eliminate the 4 brigades of Hu Zongnan's group.