Chapter 290 8. Gather and annihilate Huang Botao's corps

After Huang Botao's corps was encircled by the People's Liberation Army in the Nianzhuangwei area, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Huang Botao to stand firm and wait for reinforcements.Nianzhuangwei area is located to the west of the canal, on both sides of Longhai Road.With Nianzhuangwei as the center, there are a total of more than a dozen villages.It is surrounded by open plains, low-lying lands and ponds.The roads are wide and the villages are dense.In order to prevent flooding, every village has a fence two feet three inches above the ground.This area was originally the defense line of Li Mi's 3rd Corps, and a relatively complete defensive position has been formed.After Huang Botao's corps retreated to the area, they took advantage of these fortifications and favorable terrain to quickly build a group of bunkers as the backbone, with criss-cross support points, and the villages could support each other with troops and firepower, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack .Taking Nianzhuangwei as the center, Huang Botao deployed the 100th Army in the west, the 44th Army in the south, the 64th Army in the east, and the 25th Army in the north, forming a group-style ring defensive position and implementing solid defense.Among the four armies mentioned above, the combat effectiveness of the 25th and 64th armies is stronger, while that of the 100th and 44th armies is weaker.

Under the tenacious resistance of the PLA's powerful reinforcements, Chiang Kai-shek's various reinforcements had their dream of rendezvous with Huang Botao shattered. The East China Field Army was in charge of encircling and annihilating the six columns of Huang Botao's Corps. Starting from November 11, they launched a fierce attack on the enemy from all directions.The enemy resisted village by village under the cover of the air force.Due to the hasty transition from the pursuit to the village attack, the columns were insufficiently prepared and the artillery did not keep up. As a result, the progress was slow for 3 consecutive days and the casualties were heavy.

On the evening of the 14th, the East China Field Army Headquarters held a combat meeting with the commanders of the six columns (including special columns) and the commanders of the Shandong Corps to sum up experience and study effective measures to annihilate the enemy.The meeting decided on the policy of attacking the weak enemy first and then the strong enemy, and adopted the method of attacking fortified villages.Take the weaker enemies of the 100th and 44th armies as the first assault targets, and then encircle and wipe out the Nianzhuangxu Corps headquarters and the 25th and 64th armies with stronger combat effectiveness.

The specific deployment is: under the unified command of Shandong Corps and political commissar Tan Zhenlin, and deputy commander Wang Jian'an, Nie Fengzhi's 9th column is in the south, Wang Bicheng's 6th column is in the southwest, Zhou Zhijian's 13th column is in the northwest, and Tao Yong's 4th column is in the north. Zhang Renchu's 8th column was in the east, and the special columns (artillery and tanks) entered the positions according to their assignments.In view of the unfavorable conditions such as the open terrain of the plains, the enemy's relying on villages to form a group defense, intensive firepower, and difficulty in approaching, all units are required to seize the time to make preparations for the attack, especially emphasizing that all ministries should carry out soil work and find ways to dig trenches into enemy positions. The front and both sides of the attack target are connected by numerous traffic trenches in order to covertly meet the enemy, and attack and annihilate the defending enemy with relatively small casualties in each battle.

On the evening of the 16th, after two days and nights of soil work and various preparatory work, the main attacking troops of the Huang Botao Corps concentrated their forces and firepower, and launched a fierce attack on the strongholds of villages to the west and south of Nianzhuangwei. The majority of cadres and soldiers Not afraid of sacrifice, brave and tenacious, they fought from village to house. On the 18th, the People's Liberation Army wiped out the 100th Army and the 44th Army of the Kuomintang Army.Yang Shiyun, deputy commander of the 100th Army, and Wang Zejun, commander of the 44th Army, were captured alive.Zhao Biguang, commander of the 150th Division, led more than 2,000 remnants to surrender, and the enemy's 25th Army and 64th Army also suffered heavy casualties.

On the evening of the 19th, various attacking forces launched a general attack on Huang Botao's Corps Headquarters at Nianzhuangwei. After a night of fierce fighting, they captured Nianzhuangxu on the morning of the 20th, annihilating the enemy Corps Headquarters and most of the 25th Army.Huang Botao fled to the headquarters of the 64th Army on the compound, where he was dying. On the evening of the 21st, the People's Liberation Army launched a general attack on the large and small courtyards where the enemy's 64th Army is located and Youjia Lake where the remnants of the 25th Army are located. On the evening of the 22nd, the remnants of the enemy were wiped out, and Liu Zhenxiang, commander of the 64th Army, was captured alive.

Huang Botao and Yang Tingyan, the deputy commander of the 25th Army, broke through from Xiaofei Village in the northeast of Nianzhuang to the west on the 22nd, and reached an independent house under a haystack. Huang committed suicide with a gun.When Huang was about to die, he said regretfully to Yang Tingyan: "I have three puzzles: first, why is it so stupid to wait for the 44th Army in Xin'an Town for two days. Second, I have been waiting in Xin'an Town for two days, why don't I A military bridge was erected on the canal. Third, since Li Mi’s corps will attack eastward to rescue me in the future, why didn’t they cover my westward retreat near Cao Baji at the beginning.” ("Communist Party History Reference Materials", Volume 11, p. )

From November 6th to 22nd, 1948, the East China Field Army and the Central Plains Field Army cooperated to wipe out 1 enemy regiment, 8 armies (including Feng Zhian's uprising, and Sun Liangcheng's surrender), 18 entire divisions ( Including three and a half divisions in the uprising and two divisions who surrendered), they severely damaged the enemy's reinforcements and wiped out more than 178,000 enemy troops.Controlling the strategic hub of Su County, the Liu Zhi Group was divided into two major groups, the North and the South, creating extremely favorable conditions for the complete annihilation of the Group.

On the 23rd, the Central Military Commission called the leaders of the East China and Central Plains field armies to celebrate the great victory of the first phase of the campaign, and pointed out: The reason for this victory is "subjectively because our two major field armies in East China and Central Plains merged to capture Su County, and objectively The principle is that the enemy has only a certain degree of defensive capability (this must not be underestimated), and very little offensive capability (this must be fully understood)." ("Battle of Huaihai", p. 181) and encourage them to do a good job Make full preparations to "wipe out a large number of enemies in the south in the second stage" and strive for new and greater victories.