Chapter 382 8. Mao Zedong as Arbitrator

The Guangdong campaign commanded by Chen Geng was part of the Siye's strategy of marching into Central and South China. His guiding ideology for combat must be subordinated to Lin Biao's overall intention to annihilate the Bai Chongxi Group. Lin Biao's absolute authority in the four fields made few of his generals dare to say "no" on military issues.But Chen Geng is an exception. He is a general who dares to despise authority and speaks out.During the entire campaign, it was always difficult for Lin and Chen to coordinate in combat command, and finally had to be arbitrated by Mao Zedong.

Qujiang was declared liberated, and the gates of Guangdong were opened. The PLA troops, like the tide, followed all the roads leading to Guangzhou, chasing the fleeing enemy bravely.Yu Hanmou also wanted to deploy the last line of defense against Guangzhou on the front lines of Qingyuan and Yuantan, but his new deployment has not yet been completed. Qingyuan, known as the "Guangzhou satellite"; the left army is advancing towards Guangzhou from the northeast after liberating Wengyuan on the 6th. At this time, Lin Biao came several times to send a telegram to Chen Geng and reported to the Central Military Commission: Order the main force at the rear of the 4th Corps to stop and stand by on the spot. Stop, and plan to go straight westward from Quwang and Yingde areas to enter Guangxi, in order to reach a coordination with the four fields to solve the Guibai (Chongxi) issue in the Hunan-Guangxi area.

At 23:00 on October 10, the Central Military Commission replied to Siye and informed the 4th Corps of the telegram to the effect that: Agree with this suggestion, the Chen Geng Corps will go straight from Shaoguan, Yingde to Guilin and Liuzhou, cut off the enemy's rear, and cooperate with the main force to gather and wipe out the white bandits . After Chen Geng received the above-mentioned telegram, he was very unhappy. He stood in front of the map and thought for more than ten minutes, and then invited Ye Jianying and others to the meeting. After Ye Jianying read the telegram, they all turned their eyes to Chen Geng's flushed face.Chen Geng is an optimist, joking by nature, and also likes to play pranks.Everyone felt very fresh when they saw this "old urchin" who was laughing and laughing all day, and suddenly blushed.

Chen Geng stood in front of the map and made a high-level statement: "First of all, I express my firm support for the policy of the Military Commission and the Four Fields on annihilating the main force of the White Bandits on the border of Hunan and Jiangxi. However, I have quite a view on giving up the attack on Guangzhou and transferring our corps to Guangxi. We are 1,300 miles away from Guilin in a straight line. In terms of time, we are not as fast as the 18th Army, 46th Army, and 13th Corps. These troops are all closer than us. Why should we choose farther away? If our Corps abandons Guangdong to fight, I am afraid that both ends will be miscalculated. In Guangxi On the one hand, we did not have time to cut off the retreat of the White Bandits to the south; on the Guangdong side, the 15th Corps and other troops were not strong enough to complete the task of liberating the whole province."

After hearing the above analysis, Ye Jianying and others agreed.Chen Geng continued: "It's better to take down Guangzhou first, and then our corps will immediately take Nanning directly from Wuzhou by water." "Comrade Chen Geng's suggestion is very good, and I agree to report it to the Military Commission and the Front Committee of the Four Fields." Ye Jianying considered the issue more comprehensively. He was afraid that Lin Biao would have opinions on this, so he added, "Add a sentence at the end of the telegram. It is our partial view, if the Military Commission and the Front Committee of the Four Fields stand at the height of the overall situation and believe that the Guangdong combat plan should be changed and the 4th Corps transferred to Guangxi, we will resolutely implement it.”

At 21 o'clock that night, the overall situation of the Hengbao battle had been decided. After considering the opinions of Chen Geng and others, Lin Biao called the Military Commission and Chen Geng and others: ...In the case that the enemy in Guangdong does not fight me head-on, we still advocate not seizing it for the time being. Guangzhou, so as not to facilitate the concentration of enemies in Guangdong and Guangxi.At present, only the Deng Hua Corps is staying in Guangdong to fight mobile warfare and wipe out the enemy's vital forces. ...But if the enemy is defending Guangzhou or our army may seek to destroy the enemy's vital forces in or outside Guangzhou, the Chen and Deng Corps will continue to advance to Guangzhou to achieve the goal of destroying the enemy.Before the enemy's attempt to attack Guangdong is confirmed and whether our army can catch the enemy has not been confirmed, the two corps of Chen and Deng are still continuing to advance to Guangzhou according to the original plan.

The disagreement between Lin Biao and Chen Geng made Mao Zedong of Zhongnanhai Juxiang Bookstore momentarily uncertain whose viewpoint he should support. He was concerned about the movements of the main force of Yu Han’s Ministry near Guangzhou. Annihilate the enemy first; if the rest of the troops do not defend Guangzhou, where should they flee? On the night of the 11th, Mao Zedong called Chen Geng and others: "Are the 11 enemy divisions concentrated in the Yingde and Fogang areas still there? Is there any possibility of encirclement and annihilation? If the enemy has retreated, where will it retreat? Please tell me." .”

After the telegram was sent, Mao Zedong took a magnifying glass and compared it to the military map and fell into long-term thinking.He initially supported Lin Biao's proposal to transfer the 4th Corps into Guangxi because the enemy of Guangxi was aided from the north, but now it has been confirmed that the enemy of Guangxi did not aid from the north.Chen Geng's analysis is correct. The 4th Corps' entry into Gui was too far away to stop the Gui enemy from retreating south.In this way, because Bai Chongxi has a way out in the southwest, he is likely to retreat into the two provinces of Yun and Gui.The scope of operation of the four fields is the six provinces in the central and southern regions. Yunnan and Guizhou belong to the combat area of ​​the second field, and the second field has few soldiers, so it is difficult to independently solve the enemy that merges in the southwest and central China.It is necessary for Siye to follow Baibu into the southwest, which will disrupt the entire strategic deployment.

Mao Zedong continued to smoke cigarettes one after another, and the Juxiang Study House was already surrounded by smoke and filled with the pungent smell of tobacco. At 3 a.m. on the 12th, Mao Zedong called Lin Biao: Comrade Lin Biao: Because according to your telegram at 7 o'clock on the 10th, Bai Chongxi fully reinforced the enemy north of Qiyang. Guilin copied the opinions of the enemy's rear.However, according to your telegram at 10 o'clock on the 11th, the enemy's original reinforcements have stopped at the lines of Dong'an, Lengshuitan, and Lingling, and have not moved northward.Like this, no matter whether the enemy in the area north of Qiyang is wiped out or not, Bai Chongxi may cause his main force to retreat to the central, western and northwestern parts of Guangxi, with Yunnan and Guizhou as his back... Therefore, please consider this point, that is, in Guilin and Liuzhou In the north, in the areas south of Qiyang and Baoqing, is the plan to encircle and wipe out the white bandits really sure? If you are sure, then your plan is very good, otherwise our army will fall into a passive position.In order to mature the consideration of the issue, it is advisable for the Chen Geng Corps to stop on standby within a few days.

After the above telegram was sent, Mao Zedong began to deal with some urgent military and political affairs.Soon, the confidential secretary sent Lin Biao's telegram at 21:00 on the 11th. After reading the telegram, Mao Zedong fell into deep thought again. At 6:00 a.m., birds and birds chirped among the flowers in Zhongnanhai, and his thinking finally matured.Comrade Lin Biao, and tell Ye Chen Fang Deng Lai, and Liu Deng Zhang Li: Your opinion in the telegram at 21 o'clock on the 11th is very good, that is, if the enemy is defending Guangzhou or our army may be in Guangzhou or outside Guangzhou, in order to destroy the enemy's vital forces, the Chen and Deng Corps will continue to advance to Guangzhou.But Chen and Deng should be careful to use the necessary force to go directly between Guangzhou and Wuzhou, cut off a section of the Xijiang River, cut off the enemy's escape route to the west, and prevent the Guangzhou enemy from concentrating on Guangxi.If it is found out that the enemies in Guangzhou are fleeing to Guangxi, the Chen Geng Corps will follow them into Guangxi without stopping.If the enemy in Guangzhou does not flee to Guangxi, the Chen and Deng corps will still implement the original plan to occupy Guangzhou unchanged.

In accordance with the spirit of Mao Zedong's above-mentioned telegram, Chen Geng continued to march towards Guangzhou.