Chapter 322 4. The specific deployment of the combat task of crossing the river

The Party Central Committee, Mao Zedong, and the Central Military Commission assigned the People's Liberation Army the general task of crossing the Yangtze River. If the Nanjing government is unwilling to reach a domestic peace agreement, the People's Liberation Army should fight across the Yangtze River and destroy the old nest of the Kuomintang—liberate Nanjing, liberate Shanghai, and Hangzhou. , Wuhan and other big cities and the vast areas of southern Jiangsu, southern Anhui, and Zhejiang, and then take advantage of the victory to march to the southeastern provinces, and then liberate the whole of China.

In order to ensure the completion of this task, Mao Zedong ordered the General Front Committee with Deng Xiaoping as the secretary to continue to organize and command the main forces of the second field and the third field, as well as the advance corps of the fourth field, namely the 12th Corps, the Jianghan Military Region, the Tongbai Military Region, and the Hubei-Henan Military Region. Military combat.The above-mentioned troops are required to cooperate in operations in accordance with the unified deployment of the General Front Committee. The General Front Committee, with Deng Xiaoping as secretary, sits at the headquarters in Hefei. According to the instructions of the Party Central Committee, Mao Zedong, and the Central Military Commission, combined with the characteristics of the enemy's Jiang defense and the deployment of troops, the "Outline for the Implementation of the Beijing-Shanghai War of Resistance" was drawn up. The "Outline" clearly stipulates the specific combat tasks of our army's participating troops.In order to ensure the realization of the campaign plan, the General Front Committee decided to divide the two field armies into three combat groups, namely the West Group, the Central Group and the East Group.

The West Group consists of 3 Corps of the Second Field and the 12th Corps of the Fourth Field, with a total of more than 350,000 people; the Central Group consists of the 7th and 9th Corps of the Sanye, the 2nd and 4th Regiment of the Howitzer Artillery, and 1 Battalion of the 1st Regiment. There are also cavalry regiments, with a total of more than 300,000 people; the East Group consists of the 8th and 10th corps of the Sanye, the 5th and 6th regiments of the Howitzer Artillery, and 3 guard brigades, coastal defense columns, tank regiments, and artillery reserves of the Subei Military Region. 350,000 people in total (these three combat groups are also called the West Road Army, the Middle Road Army, and the East Road Army.)

The specific deployment of the 3rd Army is roughly as follows: Commanded by Liu Bocheng, commander of the second field, and Deng Xiaoping, political commissar, the West Group crossed the river between Hukou and Zongyang Town. The 3rd Corps crossed the river from Zongyang Town to the east of Anqing, the 5th Corps crossed the river from the west of Anqing to Wangjiang, and the 4th Corps crossed the river from Wangjiang to Hukou. After the three corps cross the river, they must act bravely and resolutely to destroy the enemies along the river.After succeeding, the 3rd Corps first wiped out the enemies in Yinjiahui, then advanced to Shexian County at the fastest speed, cut off the Huihang Highway, and moved eastward to Hangzhou along the Huihang Highway.After crossing the river, the 5th Corps quickly advanced along Jingdezhen and Wuyuan, and occupied the Jiangshan section of the railway in Quxian County.The corps is required to complete this task before the 3rd corps to ensure that the enemy's retreat is cut off.After the 4th Corps crossed the river, it quickly moved eastward along the river to take over the tasks of the 9th Corps, monitor the enemies in Wuhu, and prepare to attack and occupy Nanjing.

The East Group, led by Su Yu and Zhang Zhen, led the Sanye Command to directly command the cross-river operations.The river crossing section is between Huanggang and the port and between Sanjiangying and Jingkou.While launching the operation of crossing the river, order a force to actively feign the enemy at Liangpu to attract the enemy in Nanjing, so as to ensure the success of the operation of crossing the river. After crossing the river, leave a part of the troops to wipe out the enemies along the river, try to gain a firm foothold, adjust the situation, consolidate the position and the rear contact line, and then expand the results of the battle.The main force will quickly advance to the enemy's rear, control the Nanjing-Shanghai Railway, and join forces with the Central Group to encircle the enemies in Nanjing, Zhenjiang, and Wuhu.

The Central Group, organized and commanded by Tan Zhenlin, carried out cross-river operations in the sections from Yuxikou to Yaogou and from Yaogou to Zongyang Town.At the same time, use part of the troops to carry out false crossings in the Wuhu and Hexian areas to contain and confuse the enemies in Wuhu. After crossing the river, some troops were reserved to cooperate with the West Group to eliminate the enemy in front of them, while the main force quickly moved eastward to cut off the Nanjing-Hangzhou Highway, and together with the East Group, they completed the encirclement of the enemy's main force.

The East Group and the Middle Group crossed the river from both sides of Nanjing.After crossing the river, the two groups encircled the enemy in a pincer shape, trying to compress the enemy from the east and the west, encircle the enemy in the area north of Guangde and Changxing, and seize Nanjing.After the victory in this work, we will march to Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Fujian, and cooperate with the Western Group to eliminate the enemy fleeing in depth. The 12th Corps of Siye and more than 200,000 troops from the Jianghan, Tongbai, and Eyu military regions, part of the troops occupied Xishui, Xinchun, Huangmei and other enemy Bai Chongxi Group's defense areas, clamping down on the enemies in Jiujiang and ensuring the West Group's ability to cross the river. The right wing was safe; another part of the troops occupied Huayuan, Xiaogan, and Huangpi, the outer strongholds of Wuhan, creating a situation of attacking and seizing Wuhan and preparing to cross the south of the Yangtze River between Wuhan and Jiujiang.

From Hukou to Zhanghuanggang section above, the ratio of the enemy's total military strength is 1:2.2, and in the forced crossing section from Baxugang (Jiangyin) to the port (Yangzhong), the ratio of enemy's and our military strength is 1:3.In this way, the strength of our army in the main direction of attack is equivalent to 2 to 3 times that of the enemy.In the entire battle across the river, the main force of our army participating in the battle was more than 1.2 million people.This number was unexpected by the enemy.