Chapter 312 11. Chen Changjie swore to live and die with Tianjin

Since Tianjin was besieged, Chen Changjie connected the South Canal with the moat near Sanyuan Village, allowing the river to flow into the moat, which can often be kept at a depth of 3 meters.People are also sent to beat ice on the river every day to prevent freezing.And in the vicinity of Zhaogezhuang and Chenguanzhuang, the channel of the moat leading to the Haihe River was blocked, allowing the river to pour into the vast southwestern suburbs, causing a flooded area to increase the difficulty for the PLA to advance. As the time for the siege approached, Jiang's army became more panicked.Although Chen Changjie was stubborn, after he learned the news that Deng Baoshan flew from Suiyuan to Peiping, he also had problems in his heart.Chen believed that Deng Baoshan was connected with the People's Liberation Army. Deng flew to Beiping to find Fu Zuoyi, indicating that negotiations between the two sides were already underway.At that time, Li Shijie, the chief of staff of Fu's headquarters, repeatedly sent Fu's instructions, always saying, "There is a way if you stick to it."According to Chen Changjie's experience, the meaning of this sentence is: the more stubbornly you can resist, the more you can increase the cost of bargaining. You must be able to fight before you can bargain with the other party.Therefore, he has repeatedly declared that he will fight until the ammunition and food are exhausted, and he will not consider laying down his arms.At that time, Yang Yizhou, Chairman of the Tianjin Municipal Council, and Li Zhuchen, Chairman of the Industrial Association, both asked him about the situation.Chen only said to them: "Fu Zuoyi presides over everything. Pingjin and Tianjin are one, and Fu will not ignore Tianjin."

Although the People's Liberation Army is fully capable of occupying Tianjin by force, it still hopes to liberate Tianjin peacefully in order to reduce the loss of life and property of the people of Tianjin.For this reason, on the eve of launching the general offensive, the People's Liberation Army sent people to send a letter of persuasion into the city.After receiving this letter of persuasion, Chen Changjie summoned the main generals defending Tianjin, Commander Lin Weichou of the 62nd Army, Commander Liu Yunhan of the 86th Army, Deputy Commander of Tianjin Police Qiu Zongding, Mayor Du Jianshi, and others to his office to report the incident. Seal a letter of persuasion written in the names of Lin Biao and Luo Ronghuan, and pass it on to everyone.

Several people discussed for a long time, and finally decided that the best way at present is to delay the time and wait for the success of the Peking peace talks.Therefore, Chen Changjie asked Qiu Zongding to write an ambiguous letter to the People's Liberation Army. Send a representative to negotiate." Liu Yalou saw right away that Chen Changjie and others were playing tricks to delay time, so he ordered the troops to enter the attack position according to the predetermined battle plan, and placed more than 1,000 artillery pieces, large and small, ready to launch an attack. At this time, Chen Changjie received an ultimatum from Liu Yalou in the name of Lin Biao and Luo Ronghuan:

First, our army hopes for a peaceful solution so that Tianjin will not be destroyed. Second, the Tianjin defenders should voluntarily lay down their weapons and ensure that they will not destroy public property, weapons, ammunition, and official files. Third, the army guarantees the safety of life and property of all officers and soldiers who lay down their arms and their families. Fourth, if the defenders are unwilling to lay down their arms and want to resist to the end, the army will take hostile actions. On the day the city is broken, the reactionary leaders of the defenders cannot be captured by the enemy as they did when fighting in small cities and villages. They will be treated the same as other military officers, but their punishment will be increased.

After seeing the ultimatum from the People's Liberation Army, although Chen Changjie was tough in words, he was extremely weak and panicked in his heart.In order to delay time and find out the reality of the People's Liberation Army, Chen Changjie pretended to agree to peace talks and sent several representatives out of the city to have talks with the People's Liberation Army.In the name of peace talks, Chen Changjie actually wanted to use these people to spy on the military intelligence of the People's Liberation Army, especially to find out where the main attack direction of the People's Liberation Army was.

How could Chen Changjie's little tricks be hidden from Liu Yalou's eyes.When the so-called industrial and commercial delegation sent by Chen Changjie arrived at the front-line command post of the PLA in Yangliuqing, a PLA liaison staff officer said to them: "Commander Liu is on his way, please wait a moment, Commander Liu will be there in about 25 minutes." return." In fact, Liu Yalou was right next door to the room where these representatives were. Twenty-five minutes later, Liu Yalou drove out of Yangliuqing through the back door in a jeep, and then made a detour to return from the direction of the power plant north of Tianjin.Liu Yalou's whereabouts were deliberately seen by these representatives in order to give them the illusion that the main attack direction of the People's Liberation Army was in the north.When Liu Yalou walked into the house in a "travelling" manner, none of the representatives sent by Chen Changjie had any doubts about it.Chen Changjie was really fooled. When he learned that the main attack direction of the People's Liberation Army was in the power plant area north of Tianjin, he immediately adjusted his deployment and transferred the 151st Division of the 62nd Army, which has a strong combat effectiveness, to the north of the city. This greatly relieved the pressure on the main attack direction of the People's Liberation Army.After the battle began, the 151st Division basically played no role in the north of the city.