Chapter 363 11. Inventory

During the 33-day continuous battle, our army wiped out the 3 military headquarters of the 7th, 100th, and 122nd armies, and the 171st, 172nd, 176th, 217th, and 62nd divisions at the cost of more than 4,000 casualties. 5 whole divisions, and one each of the 138th, 63rd, 10th, 345th, and 197th divisions, totaling more than 47,500 people, and captured Zhang Shaoxun, commander of the 122nd Army, and Ling Yunshang, deputy commander of the 7th Army. The famous general officer seized 402 various guns, 13,071 various guns, 176 vehicles, 1,116 horses, and more than 1 million rounds of various guns and shells.And liberated the vast areas of southern and western Hunan.

The Battle of Hengbao was a relatively typical mobile battle on the Central South battlefield.In this campaign, the 12th and 13th Corps of the Fourth Field Army and the 5th Corps of the Second Field Army wiped out 4 divisions of the backbone troops on which Bai Chongxi started his career, weakened Bai Chongxi's main force, and smashed Chiang Kai-shek's attempt to prevent us from marching to the southwest. Our army continued to encircle and wipe out the enemies in the Central South region, and then liberated the entire Central South region, creating a favorable situation. An officer of the enemy's 7th Army who was captured after the Huangtupu battle said in the interrogation center with lingering fears: "Our Guangxi army is no one in the Kuomintang army. We have fought for more than 10 years and have not suffered a big loss. At the beginning, we also treated the People's Liberation Army. Don’t take it lightly, but the battle of Huangtupu gave us a real taste of the power of the People’s Liberation Army. No wonder the Kuomintang lost its fortunes. From now on, our Guangxi Army will never dare to compete with the People’s Liberation Army.”

The good news on the Hengbao front spread to Zhongnanhai, and Mao Zedong was so happy that he paced back and forth in the Juxiang Bookstore.He excitedly said to Zhou En: "'Little Zhuge' has finally suffered a big loss! He has lost all his money, let's see what else he can gamble on!" Zhou Enlai: "The destruction of the 7th Army of the Guangxi Clique was a heavy blow to Bai Chongxi. There are 7 elite troops of the Kuomintang, Chiang Kai-shek has the 'five main forces', Fu Zuoyi has the 35th Army, and Bai Chongxi has the 7th Army. So far, all wiped out by us."

Decades later, General Xiao Jinguang talked about the Battle of Hengbao, evaluating it as "the first major battle since our army entered Central South".He said: "In this battle, due to various objective and subjective factors, although there was no major decisive battle, many enemies fled in a hurry. However, the main force of Bai Chongxi's main force was eliminated, which greatly shocked the enemies on all fronts. The army smashed Bai Chongxi's attempt to fight me decisively in Hunan and Guangxi, avoided another major battle in Guangxi in the future, and created conditions for victory in later marching into Guangxi, wiping out Bai Chongxi's clique and liberating South China. The role and influence of this battle are far-reaching. This battle liberated most of southern and western Hunan, and laid a solid foundation for the complete elimination of the remnants of the Kuomintang in Hunan and the opening of various tasks in Hunan. The significance of this aspect is also undeniable. Underestimated." ("Xiao Jinguang's Memoirs", PLA Press, May 1987, p. 438, p. 442-443, p. 448)

"Yangtze River Daily" published an editorial on October 16, thinking that the victory of this battle "is the biggest victory in Central China since our army crossed the river. The front and rear heard the victories. It is actually a grand gift from the frontline commanders and fighters to the Central People's Government at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China. .”