Chapter 354 2. Mao Zedong put forward the combat concept of annihilating Bai Chongxi

The Bai Chongxi Group was the most effective group in the Kuomintang army at that time.Elimination of this group is the top priority of the People's Liberation Army going south. Mao Zedong noticed the movements of the "little Zhuge" Bai Chongxi very early on, and he also thought about how to defeat this "little Zhuge" very early.When Xiao Jinguang led the southward advance troops to approach Hunan, Mao Zedong arranged for Bai Chongxi's "funeral affairs". Mao Zedong said to Lin Biao: "Bai Chongxi has a small capital and will never fight us unless it is absolutely necessary. To fight Bai Chongxi, don't take close Instead, we should adopt the method of long-distance encirclement and detour, occupying his rear and forcing him to fight us."

Mao Zedong also pointed out the place where Bai Chongxi wanted to fight the People's Liberation Army: ——Shunan, Guangxi, and Yunnan.Guangxi is the most likely. On September 9, the Central Military Commission called Lin Biao and Deng Zihui to put forward a plan for the Fourth Field Army and other departments to enter the Central South in a three-way route and to annihilate the Bai Chongxi Group: "About the offensive deployment: first, the Chen Geng and Deng Hua corps first marched into Shaoguan, In the Wengyuan area, the second step is to go straight to Guangzhou, the third step is Deng Bingtuan to stay in Guangdong, and Chen Bingtuan to enter Guangxi, outflanking Bai Chongxi's rear. Chen Bingtuan will not send any troops into Hunan, that is, they will not send troops to Chenzhou, Yizhang, etc. .Secondly, the Cheng Zihua Corps left one army in the Changde area and the other in the Anhua area. The two main armies took the Yuanling and Zhijiang Rivers and went straight down to Liuzhou. The township attacked Huang Jie's bandit troops in Baoqing, and Cheng Zihua's two armies from Zhijiang were placed on a line not far apart. As for Bai Chongxi's troops in Hengyang area, they only sent troops to monitor, and did not make any deployment to attack and wipe out him. Fourth, in this way, Bai Chongxi's troops must quickly retreat to Guilin, and this is our goal. Judging that the Bai troops will never fight us in Hunan, but will be forced to fight us in Guangxi Therefore, the Chen Geng Corps should not send troops out of Chen and Yi. Now our troops in Chaling and Youxian should not deploy to attack and annihilate the Hengyang White Bandits. Then, with the two armies of Zhijiang, they suddenly left Liuzhou in advance and established a base in the Liuzhou area. It is estimated that the three armies of the White Bandit (the 7th army, the 46th army, and the 48th army) and the 58th army of Lu Daoyuan were in In the face of the threat of our main force, we dare not disperse our main force prematurely. Li Pinxian must not have many troops in defense of Liuzhou. Our army (two armies) may be in the area west and north of Liuzhou, namely Rongxian, Luocheng, Tianhe, Yishan, and Si Establish bases in En and Yibei areas, and cut off the railway line from Liuzhou to Guizhou. After occupying Guangzhou, the Chen Geng Corps moved to Binyang and Nanning via Wuzhou, located in the south of Guangxi. My three armies in Baoqing (the main force ) when the White Bandits retreated to Guilin, the enemy marched south. The fifth and above three routes of our army (a total of 8 armies), after entering Guangxi, the first step is not to rush to find the main force of the White Bandits to fight, but to stand firm Heel, find out the situation, contact the masses and combine my guerrillas in Guangxi (both in southern and northern Guangxi). The second step is to annihilate the main force of the white bandits one by one. Bai Chongxi is the first cunning and insidious warlord in China. We believe that unless the above methods are used, he cannot be eliminated. Sixth, Bai Chongxi’s last retreat is Yunnan. He held Lu Daoyuan back with the slogan of returning to Yunnan. Therefore, after Bai and Lu retreated into Guangxi, Lu Daoyuan might be ordered immediately. It may be accompanied by a Guangxi army to enter Yunnan. If this is the case, then we should consider drawing a part (for example, 1 army) from Chen Geng’s corps to go out of Yunnan, and cooperate with my guerrillas in Yunnan to establish a base in Yunnan. "("Mao Zedong Military Anthology" Vol. 5, pp. 667-667)

According to the instructions of the Central Military Commission, on September 11, the leaders of the four fields decided to concentrate the main forces of the four fields and the eight armies of the 4th Corps of the second field to form a three-way army to launch an assault on the enemy's "Hunan-Guangdong joint defense line".Further adjustments and regulations were made to the forward deployment of the 3rd Army. The final deployment is: the 13th, 14th, and 15th Corps of the 4th Corps, the 43rd and 44th Corps of the 15th Corps, a total of 17 divisions and the Guangdong and Guangxi Columns will form the East Route Army. Commanded by Political Commissar Chen Geng, marched into Guangdong; formed the West Route Army with 8 divisions of the 38th and 39th Corps of the 13th Corps, commanded by Corps Commander Cheng Zihua, marched towards Zhijiang and Qianyang, occupied Jingxian County, and cut off the passage. Bai Chongxi withdrew to the Guizhou road, and then prepared to leave Liuzhou suddenly; the 40th, 41st, and 45th armies of the 12th Corps and the 46th and 49th armies that were going to be detained in Hunan formed the Central Route Army, responsible for occupying Baoqing and cutting off Hunan and Guangxi. The task of annihilating Bai Chongxi's 71st Army and other departments along the way; the 18th Army of the Second Field occupied Hengyang when Bai Chongxi's troops retreated, and then continued westward to return to the organizational system; The troops monitored Song Xilian's troops to ensure the safety of our army's flanks and cover the assembly of the Second Field Army before entering Sichuan.

The dispatch time of the 3rd Army: the East Route Army will start operations on September 30; the West Route Army will dispatch on September 13; the Central Route Army should dispatch in late September.