Chapter 348 7. Battle in Lanzhou

Mao Zedong and the Central Military Commission paid great attention to the Battle of Lanzhou.In the ten days before and after the Battle of Lanzhou, Peng Dehuai reported the situation on the front line to the Military Commission and Mao Zedong almost every day, and Mao Zedong also replied to instructions many times. On August 23, Mao Zedong instructed: Ma Bufang is determined to defend Lanzhou, which will help our army wipe out the enemy.In order to annihilate the enemy, it is necessary to concentrate 3 corps to attack Lanzhou.After Wang Zhen's corps crossed the river from the upper reaches, it seemed appropriate to detour behind Lanzhou, that is, to cut off the roads leading to Qinghai and Xinjiang from Lanzhou and participate in the attack.Before the attack, it seems that a week or more is required to restore the fatigue of the troops, to reconnaissance the enemy's situation, terrain and morale in detail, and to make full preparations for battle.And we must be prepared to use two or three attacks to wipe out the horse enemies and capture Lanzhou if we can't open it once.

Seeing Mao Zedong's instructions, Peng Dehuai really had a sense of enlightenment.He immediately adjusted the deployment in accordance with Mao Zedong's instructions, and imagined the most difficult situation that might arise. Then report to Mao Zedong on the 24th: Judging from the current preparations, the siege of the city is 70% to 80% sure, so it is decided to start the attack on the morning of the 25th. In the early morning of August 25, 1949, it rained and the sky cleared.Inside and outside the city of Lanzhou, it was pitch black, dotted with stars, shining brightly in the sky.The gentle breeze blows, making people feel cool.Up and down the Nanshan Mountain, it was extremely quiet, and even the sparse gunshots could not be heard.After several nights of harassment, the enemy is already exhausted, and right now he may be curled up, daydreaming.They never thought that under this quiet Nanshan Mountain, the flames of revenge of thousands of soldiers killing the enemy are burning fiercely!

At 6:30, suddenly, two red flares flew into the air, and the general offensive began!In an instant, the whole earth made a loud noise, and tongues of flame flew towards the enemy's position.Under the cover of artillery fire, all commandos across the board broke through the enemy's forward position in the rain of fire and bullets after a violent charge.The assault force and the demolition team acted in concert, cooperated closely, and advanced while fighting, repelling the enemy's counterattack again and again, and our army advanced step by step. The enemy's strong fortifications were broken one by one.After extremely fierce fighting, the upper and lower Gouwa Mountains on the main position of Shenjialing were first captured by the 4th Army.In the afternoon, the 6th Army captured Sanyingzi, the main position of Panling, the highest peak in Nanshan Mountain; the 63rd Army captured Doujiashan, another main position of the enemy. The 65th Army occupied Guchengling and Majiashan at dusk.

So far, the "keys" of Lanzhou have all been in the hands of the field army.During the battle, the enemy commander supervised the battle with machine guns and broadswords, and continuously launched counterattacks against the field army.The attacking troops captured every trench, climbed every cliff, and seized every position. They all went through arduous battles and repeated struggles, bayonets and hand-to-hand combat with the enemy many times. Yingpanling, the main peak of Gaolan Mountain, has the strongest fortifications of the enemy.When the 50th Regiment of the 17th Division of the 6th Army charged to the first cliff, the breakthrough was not blasted. The enemy desperately resisted with the reinforced concrete bunker, and several blasting and attacks were unsuccessful.At this time, Cao Derong, the instructor of the 7th company, stepped forward, picked up the explosive package, and climbed to the bottom of the cliff while the smoke was rising from the grenade.

The hero who sacrificed his life to blow up the cliff used his own body to open up a passage for advancement.Then the troops broke through two or three cliffs, and with the close cooperation of the 16th Division, they successfully captured the Sanyingzi position and Yingpanling, the main peak of Gaolan Mountain.Later, Peng Dehuai said many times: Fighting Lanzhou was a fierce battle and a tough battle.Some regiments had an organizational system of 1,500 or 600 people, and only a few hundred people remained at the end of the battle.For the cause of the people, these combat heroes smashed their bodies to pieces, and their heroic self-sacrifice spirit is always worth learning and remembering.

During the fierce battle in Lanzhou, the 1st Corps of the Field Army on the Left liberated Linxia on August 22.Ma Bufang felt that the rear was empty and his home was in danger, so he had to transfer the 8th and 14th Cavalry Divisions from Lanzhou back to Xining, and at the same time sent his cronies to Ningxia for help.However, in order to preserve his strength, Ma Hongkui made false claims. Ma Bufang sent an urgent telegram to the Kuomintang government on the 24th: Please quickly dispatch the Shanxi Administration and Ningxia friendly forces to act.And fly back to Xining from Lanzhou on the same day.Before leaving, he told his son Ma Jiyuan: If Ma Hongkui, Hu Zongnan and the Air Force don't come to help, they will quickly withdraw to Qinghai.At this time, the Nanshan positions in Lanzhou were all captured, the Qingma Army suffered heavy casualties, there was no reserve team in the city, and none of the reinforcements from Ningma and Hu Zongnan came.

On the afternoon of the 25th, Ma Jiyuan, the arrogant commander-in-chief of the "Ma Family Army" who vowed to "live and die with Lanzhou", secretly withdrew the main force from the position, and when night fell, he wanted to retreat to the north bank through the iron bridge of the Yellow River. The 7th Division of the 3rd Army of the 2nd Corps first noticed that the enemy began to flee.While reporting to their superiors, they launched a pursuit. In the early morning of the 26th, Xiguan was captured and the iron bridge was seized, blocking the only retreat for the enemy.After street fighting, the field army wiped out the remaining enemies in the city at noon that day, crossed the iron bridge and occupied Baita Mountain, and Lanzhou, which was relied on by the Kuomintang as a golden city, was declared liberated.The largest and most intense urban battle in the history of the Northwest Liberation War, the last major battle on the Northwest battlefield ended successfully.The main force of Qingma was basically eliminated.

The liberation of Lanzhou cut off the connection between the various ministries of the Northwest Kuomintang Army.Peng Dehuai decided not to give the enemy a chance to breathe, and pursued the poor bandits fiercely, annihilating them all.Then deploy the field army to take Xining on the left, Ningxia on the right, Yongdeng on the middle, and liberate Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan and other cities along the Hexi Corridor, and then march on Xinjiang. On September 5, Wang Zhen led the 1st Corps to liberate Xining, the capital of Qinghai Province.Ma Bufang and others fled to Hong Kong.Tsing Ma Group was completely resolved.

The 19th Corps of the Field Army took a break after the liberation of Lanzhou, and then marched northward to Ningxia.