Chapter 385 Chapter 39 Battle of Chengdu: The last strategic group of the Kuomintang army on the mainland is wiped out

From the battle of crossing the river to October 1949, the People's Liberation Army successively liberated the whole of North China, the mainland of East China, and most of the northwest and south-central regions. The remnants and defeated generals in China, South China, Taiwan and the coastal islands were all organized, with the Hu and Bai military blocs as the backbone, and established land and sea bases for the final struggle.The only large area that has yet to be liberated is the Southwest.The two major remnants of the Kuomintang in the mainland are concentrated in the southwestern region, including Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Xikang, and Tibet. The mountains lie across and the rivers and valleys intersect. Except for the Sichuan Basin, the rest are mostly mountains and rolling hills. The terrain is complex, Dangerous.

In order to stabilize the situation in the Southwest, on August 24, 1949, Chiang Kai-shek flew from Guangzhou to Chongqing and met Hu Zongnan, Song Xilian and other party, government and military officials. As soon as he got off the plane, Chiang Kai-shek gave a speech, saying: "Today, Chongqing will become the center of anti-aggression and anti-communism, and it will once again shoulder the mission of supporting the hardships of combat." Jiang came to Chongqing and lived in the cave cemetery where he lived during the Anti-Japanese War to show his determination to fight the Communist Party to the end.Hu Zongnan, Song Xilian, Luo Guangwen, He Shaozhou, Liu Bolong and others, the main generals in charge of guarding the Southwest, jointly wrote a letter requesting that Chiang Kai-shek not leave this time, and live in Chongqing for a long time, "making it a base for anti-communist revival."Chiang Kai-shek fully understood the minds of the generals, but only he could know what Chiang Kai-shek was thinking at this time.After reading the letters from the generals, Chiang Kai-shek said: "I founded a revolutionary practice academy in Taiwan, which I will preside over personally. Therefore, I have to live in Taiwan often, instead of staying in Sichuan for a long time."

When Chiang Kai-shek came to Chongqing this time, in order to stabilize the morale of the army, he stayed there for 28 days, held a military meeting, deployed Southwest defense, summoned the main generals to inquire about the situation, and gave face-to-face instructions.But many people already felt that Chiang Kai-shek no longer had the prestige he had before.Afterwards, Song Xilian said: "Chiang Kai-shek repeated his empty words again. To be honest, although I spoke only at the time, I began to think that Chiang Kai-shek's idol was nothing more than that." Luo Guangwen said: "This time when the president came, we thought There must be some new news, new methods, but the result is still the same, can this be sustained in the long run?"

Just before Chiang Kai-shek came to Chongqing, Hu Zongnan and Song Xilian, the "chief generals defending the southwest", talked with Chiang all night in Hanzhong.Hu and Song believed that in order to preserve their strength, they must try to avoid being surrounded and wiped out by the communist army.Before the Communist Army takes large-scale military operations to the southwest, it should try to transfer the main force to the Yunnan-Burma border area.The first step is to control Xikang and southern Sichuan as bases for gradual transfer to the Yunnan-Burma border area.The second step is to immediately transfer the main force to the Baoshan, Tengchong, Longling, and Mangshi areas in the west of Yunnan and Myanmar when the Communist Army begins to march southwest.If oppressed by the communist army again in the future, the main force will retreat into Burma, and part of it will reach the borders of Yunnan, Burma, and Thailand.In order to consider that the Burmese government may take refusal of entry and hostile actions, it is necessary to have the mental preparation and strength to defeat the possible hostile actions of the Burmese government. Therefore, when transferring, we must try our best to preserve the existing heavy weapons such as tanks, heavy artillery, Mountain cannon, etc.

However, Chiang Kai-shek refused to accept the plan proposed by Hu and Song. Chiang believed that it was difficult to maintain the power of Guangdong and Guangxi. After the loss of South China, the southwestern region must be retained on the mainland so that it can cooperate with Taiwan and the coastal islands in the future to carry out counterattacks.If the mainland is completely abandoned, the national government will completely lose its international status.In the southwest region, the situation is dangerous and materials are abundant, especially in Sichuan, where manpower and material resources are abundant, and this region must be maintained.Although Liu Wenhui and others are unreliable, due to the stakes, as long as they don't make trouble in the rear, we should try to win them over.

Chiang Kai-shek was determined to manage the Southwest. For this reason, on the 29th, Chiang Kai-shek convened a meeting of the Southwest Chief Executive's Office. The chairmen of Sichuan, Guizhou, and Kangxi provinces and military generals attended the meeting.The meeting decided: "Take Yunnan and southern Shaanxi as the decisive battle zone, and not deal with the Communist army within the Sichuan border." and Wuling Mountain form the so-called "Great Southwest Line of Defense".In South China, Bai Chongxi's troops prevented the People's Liberation Army from entering Guangdong and Guangxi; in the southwest, Hu Zongnan and other troops guarded the Qinling Mountains and Bashan Mountains to prevent the People's Liberation Army from entering Sichuan from Shaanxi;In addition, in the territory of Chuankang, Yunnan and Guizhou, a number of mobile troops are also deployed.The general strategic policy is: take Chuankang, Yunnan and Guizhou as the rear, separate the southwest, wait for international events, and attempt to make a comeback.

In mid-September, Chiang Kai-shek flew from Chongqing to Chengdu and Kunming successively to deploy troops. On October 12, the Kuomintang government moved from Guangzhou to Chongqing for office.