Chapter 342 Chapter 35 Lanzhou Battle: Ushering in the Liberation of the Great Northwest

In the Longdong Plateau in early autumn, the weather is unpredictable. After the Battle of Fumei, Hu Zongnan's main force was wiped out, and the Kuomintang reactionary group placed more hope on the Qing and Ning Erma (Ma Bufang and Ma Hongkui) to compete with the People's Liberation Army.At this time, seeing that the Erma bandit army had not yet received an annihilating blow, the Kuomintang reactionary clique, in despair, overestimated the Erma's strength, and tried in vain to rely on the Erma to reverse the situation in the Northwest War, so they actively instigated the Erma A decisive battle with the People's Liberation Army in Pingliang, Gansu.They thought that Pingliang, the throat of Gan and Ning, was the place where the People's Liberation Army must pass through when marching into the northwest.

There are deep ravines and cliffs along the Pingliang line, and the Guanshan is dangerous. The two horses of Qinghai and Ningxia have Lanzhou and Yinchuan as the rear, so the supply is relatively convenient; but our army is far away from the rear, and the supply is very difficult.If Hu Zongnan takes the opportunity to cooperate and kill from Qinling again, he will surely fall into a difficult situation for me.They are also planning to instigate ethnic conflicts after I enter the minority areas, making it impossible for me to gain a foothold, and thus wipe out our army in Longshan. But at this time, Qing and Ning Erma, who had retreated hastily, were in a difficult situation to retreat, and they really felt the pressure of our army.They want to fight but feel that it is difficult to resist our 300,000 army, and they are afraid that they will be surrounded and wiped out by me;

Therefore, as late as July 24, under the chairmanship of Liu Ren, the deputy chief of the Northwest Military and Political Office, a military meeting with commanders above the division commander was held in Jingning to discuss the so-called military deployment of "defending Gansu and defending the Northwest". The Qingning Erma Division deployed for the Battle of Pingliang. This emergency military meeting was held in Ma Jiyuan's mansion in Jingning.The meeting stipulated that all members of the Ningxia Corps commanded by Ma Dunjing, the son of Ma Hongkui, the Longdong Corps commanded by Ma Jiyuan, the son of Ma Bufang, and the Longnan Corps commanded by Pei Changhui, must participate.

However, Ma Hongkui did not listen to this at all, and had already gone back to his hometown in Yinchuan, and only sent Lu Zhongliang, commander of the 128th Army, the front-line commander, to attend the Jingning meeting. At the beginning of the meeting, the "Guidance Plan for the Battle of Guanlong" was discussed.This so-called "belly plan" includes three specific combat plans: The first case: Concentrate superior forces and use the Longnan Corps to occupy positions on the front lines of Tianshui and Qin'an.The Longdong Corps commanded by Ma Jiyuan guarded the front line of Liupan Mountain, and the Ningxia Corps commanded by Ma Dunjing took advantage of the favorable terrain in Guyuan to prevent the Communist Army from advancing westward.In order to maintain the initiative and avoid a decisive battle, the various ministries should adopt successive resistance methods to lure the communist army to go deep, seize the opportunity, switch from defense to attack when the opportunity arises, and pinch to win.

The second case: In order to maintain the main force and avoid stalemate, turn to Linxia, ​​Dingxi, and Tongxin if necessary.Take Huajialing as the axis, occupy positions on this line, wait for work at leisure, take turns to attack and wipe out the communist army. The third case: If the Communist army advances westward and is not good for us, we should lure the enemy to go deep, continue to advance towards Lanzhou, occupy the existing positions in the Gaolan Mountain area, control a strong reserve force, cooperate with friendly forces, encircle and annihilate the Communist army, and secure Lanzhou.

After some discussion, at the Jingning meeting, according to Ma Bufang's opinion, and on the basis of the "Guidance Plan for the Guanlong Battle", the Northwest Military and Political Chief Office finally formulated a specific plan for the Pingliang Battle.Its main contents are: ——The 128th Army and the 11th Army of Ningma consisted of 6 divisions, 1 cavalry regiment, and 2 artillery battalions, which were placed in the east and south of Pingliang for defense, from Sishipu, Ankouyao, and Huating The area, with Pingliang as the center, formed an arc-shaped defensive zone from northeast to southwest, which was used to resist and consume the main force of the communist army;

——Tsing Ma's 82nd Army, 129th Army, and 91st Army moved westward from Ankou Kiln to the Liupanshan area west of Pingliang in order to wait for a detour and counterattack from the left to defeat the attack of the Communist Army; ——Hu Zongnan attacked from the Qinling Mountains to the rear of the Communist Army. However, as soon as the so-called "Guidance and Reconciliation Plan for the Battle of Guanlong" formulated under the auspices of Ma Bufang was launched, Ning Ma, who had long been wary of Qingma, immediately realized that Qingma had preserved his strength in the decisive battle of Pingliang, and let Ning Ma The attempt of the horse to play the main battle.According to this plan, even if the decisive battle is won, Ningma will lose its main force, while Qingma can sit back and enjoy the benefits; if the decisive battle fails, Qingma, who retreats westward to Liupanshan and waits for a detour, must take the opportunity to escape and sacrifice Ningma.Especially when Ning Ma saw that our army had placed heavy troops on his right wing, he was even more panicked and deeply felt that he could not escape the doom of being wiped out.

Ma Hongkui, who had long been dissatisfied with Ma Bufang, was even more resentful because Ma Bufang attempted to seize the position of chairman of the Gansu Provincial Government promised to him by the Central Committee of the Kuomintang. Seeing that Qingma had arranged a decisive battle in this way, he immediately sent a telegram to Lu Zhongliang, the temporary commander-in-chief of Ningma: Preserve strength and retreat to Ningxia.As a result, the enemy's plan for a decisive battle in Pingliang was aborted before it could be implemented.