Chapter 346 5. Peng Dehuai decided to play Qingma first

While Ma Bufang was busy with the deployment of the Lanzhou Battle, Peng Dehuai was not idle either.On the combat map of the command post of the First Field Command, the arrows of the attack all point to Lanzhou. Before the battle case, Peng Dehuai was thoroughly analyzing the enemy's psychological state and possible actions: After the Pingliang plan was aborted, there were three roads before the two horses: first surrender, second escape, and third war. Since Ningma (Ningxia Ma Hongkui) has always implemented the policy of preserving strength, he has little confidence in our war, so he tries to use the strategy of delaying troops, playing with peaceful conspiracy, casting air of surrender, and fantasizing about prolonging his fate of overthrow in order to maintain his dominant position.Qingma (Qinghai Ma Bufang) is different from Ningma. He always thinks he is invincible, narrow-minded, and acts rampantly. Determined to react to the end.

Of course, although the two horses are different, neither of them really intends to surrender, and a devastating blow must be dealt before they can talk about peaceful adaptation.The second way is to escape.Where are you fleeing to?Xinjiang is too far away, and the difficulties are too great. If it cannot be defeated, it will be dragged down; if it flees to Gannan and Sichuan to join Hu Zongnan, it will lose the old nest of Northwest rule and will be annexed by Hu; the only way is to flee to Qinghai.The third way is war.But where to fight?How to fight?Pingliang was originally the place for the decisive battle, but the opportunity has been lost; the fortifications of Huajialing and Dachailing are not good; outside Lanzhou, only Wuqiaoling and Xiangtang can fight, but they are not good for them; so only Lanzhou is A good battlefield to fight with me.

Which one should be played first against the two horses of Qing and Ning?Let's fight together?There is another article in it: Erma retreated to Lanzhou and Yinchuan. Although they were isolated, they still had certain strength.If we attack the two horses at the same time, it will be difficult to gather and annihilate our troops; if we seize Ningxia first, it will give Qingma an opportunity to mobilize the enemies in Gansu, Qinghai, and Xinjiang provinces to deploy new lines of defense, delaying the release of the entire Northwest, and may even It is obviously not advisable to let the enemy flee from Lintao and return to Xining, which will cause serious difficulties for our army to fight in the future.There have always been deep conflicts between the two horses, and the green horse is stronger. It regards itself as the overlord of the Northwest and tries to annex Ningma.If I wipe out Qingma first, Ningma may not be able to help.

Because of this, as early as July 6, 1949, that is, before the Battle of Fumei, Mao Zedong pointed out in the instructions "Guidelines for Solving the Enemy Army in the Northwest" that the two horses of Qing and Ning should be treated differently: Ma Bufang should be attacked first.And Ma Hongkui is General Fu Zuoyi's sworn brother, and once sent someone to General Fu Zuoyi to express his intention to ask me for peace.Therefore, Mao Zedong imagined that after Ma Bufang was wiped out, Ma Hongkui could be dealt with politically as much as possible under military strikes.At the same time, in view of Qingma's political dominance and military strength over Ningma, the Northwest issue can be basically resolved by annihilating Qingma.Therefore, Peng Dehuai decided to first concentrate on completely annihilating the Qingma reactionary forces.

Regarding the movement of the Qingma, Peng Dehuai also made a sober judgment: There are two possibilities for the movement of the Qingma.If we retreat to Qinghai, it will cause serious difficulties for us to march and fight, and it will definitely prolong the time for the complete liberation of the Northwest, which will not be good for us.Because Qinghai is its lair, it has a certain social foundation and can make use of certain ethnic prejudices formed in history.Moreover, the terrain of Qinghai is surrounded by mountains on three sides, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. The local population is sparsely populated and food and fodder are scarce, which is not conducive to the combat of our large corps. As far as our army is concerned, although attacking Lanzhou is an arduous battle, the combat conditions are far more favorable than Qinghai, and it is a "bad policy" for Qingma.However, Qingma is confident that he is the military and political officer of the Northwest, the commander of the reactionary armies of Gansu, Ningxia, and Qing, and that Lanzhou is geographically important. It is a battleground for military strategists and has a solid defensive position. .

Therefore, according to Mao Zedong's instructions, Peng Dehuai decided that our army's combat policy is to strive for a decisive battle with Qingma in Lanzhou, and strictly prevent the enemy from fleeing back to Qinghai.At the same time, two preparations were made for the two possibilities.After submitting the battle plan to Mao Zedong for approval, at noon on August 4, Peng Dehuai, Zhang Zongxun, and Yan Kui issued a preparatory order to the corps to march into Lanzhou and Xining and annihilate Qingma: Concentrate the absolutely superior force, first wipe out the Qing and Gansu bandits, and prepare to wipe out the bandits in Xinjiang (Xinjiang) who may come back for help."

Then the specific combat deployment was made: ——The 1st Corps (owed to the 7th Corps) was attached to the 62nd Corps as the Left Corps, which took Wushan, Longxi, Weiyuan, and Lintao, crossed the Tao River, passed through Linxia, ​​and took Xining directly, cutting off the retreat route of Qingma.The main force of the 7th Army controlled Tianshui, and opened up the Tianshui-Baoji Railway with the 18th Corps, and one part controlled Longxi to protect the transportation of the Left Corps. ——The 2nd Corps is the middle route, from Lianhua Town via Tongwei, Maying, Tong'anyi, Neiguan Town, Xinying Town, Maliantan, Taosha, and advances to the south and west of Lanzhou City, preparing for the main force in Lanzhou After crossing the river upstream, proceed eastward along the Xining-Lanzhou Highway to surround Lanzhou and defend the enemy.If the defending enemy retreats to Xining or flees to the north, the Corps should immediately advance westward and cooperate with the 1st Corps to attack Xining, or follow the enemy to pursue north.

——The 19th Corps (owing to the 64th Army) is on the right, the 65th Army is from Longde via Jingning along the Xilan Highway, and the 63rd Army is from Guyuan via Xinglong Town, Huining, and Dingxi, and advances to the east of Lanzhou City.The 64th Army controlled Guyuan and its north, and organized an active defense against Ma Hongkui's troops in Ningxia. ——The mission of the 18th Corps (owed to the 62nd Army) remains unchanged. It is still on the front line of Xi'an and Tianshui, advancing along the Sichuan-Shanxi Highway, and clamping down on Hu Zongnan's remnants. Peng Dehuai asked the corps to complete all combat preparations to attack Lanzhou and Xining before August 9.

Around August 10th, the corps of the First Field Army followed the pursuit of Longdong. Regardless of the scorching heat, they defeated the storm, hail and floods, and marched westward in three routes from the left, middle and right.On the way, the troops were strictly disciplined, and Qiu committed no crimes, and used the gap to do mass work at any time.The masses along the way actively and enthusiastically supported the PLA.The troops encouraged each other: "Heroes, see you in Lanzhou." The 2nd Corps and the 19th Corps successfully entered the suburbs of Lanzhou from the 19th to the 20th, and surrounded Lanzhou from the east, west, and south.