Chapter 19 fourth quarter

On the eve of the Huaihai War in 1948, Chen Xilian led the 1st and 3rd Columns of the Central Plains Field Army and the 13th Column of the East China Field Army to form the West Front Group, and together with the East, North, and South Front Groups, encircled and wiped out the Kuomintang Huangwei Corps. Since November 23, the Huangwei Corps has been surrounded by our army in a place called Shuangduiji. Shuangduiji is located 40 miles northeast of Mengcheng, Anhui. It is a small town with a hundred families. Shuangduiji is named after a large mound at the east and west ends of the village.The mound is not high, but it is the only commanding height in the surrounding area.Huang Wei set up his regiment headquarters in the village of Shuangduiji, and other troops were crowded in 18 villages around Shuangduiji.

In Shuangduiji, the residences of all families were fortified by the Kuomintang army.There are traffic trenches, ditches and bunkers dug all over the front and back of the street.In the east and south of the village, Huang Wei ordered the troops to pile up all 800 vehicles with soil, forming a novel "vehicle defense line".Outside Shuangduiji, Huang Wei also built a temporary small airport.Huang Wei also ordered the 18th Army to pile up hundreds of Jiang's corpses into a wall, pour muddy water on it, and freeze it into a "human wall", guarded by Huang Wei's main team "Heroes".

Trapped in the encirclement of this so-called "dead city", the Huangwei Corps has taken away everything that ordinary people can eat in their homes, including grain, sweet potatoes, vegetables, chickens, ducks, pigs, cows, sheep, donkeys, dogs, rabbits, cats, All eaten up.In the end, the mules and horses in the army were slaughtered to satisfy their hunger. Everything that could be burned, including furniture, doors and windows, trees, and even the coffin boards buried in the ground, was also burned. The water in the river ponds in each village was almost drained due to the large number of people and horses.The Huangwei Corps has more than 100,000 horses, rations per person per day, fodder for more than 4,000 mules and horses, fuel for more than 1,000 vehicles, shells for more than 1,000 artillery pieces, and countless bullets. These materials cost at least 200 yuan a day. More than tons, once the supply is cut off, panic scrambles immediately.Relying on airdrops by planes every day is just a drop in the bucket. Hundreds of people flock to a package of things, and the soldiers who fall behind and cannot grab them will shoot at those who are rushing with their submachine guns in anger.The dense crowd fell in response.Such an airdrop field has become a slaughterhouse for cannibalism.

Near the temporary airfield of Shuangduiji is the field hospital of the Huangwei Corps.Thousands of wounded soldiers were concentrated here, sleeping in the open field, like a living hell.The groans, shouts, and curses of the wounded soldiers were smashed together, which was unbearable to hear.Every morning when they wake up, there are always many wounded soldiers standing upright and freezing to death.The Huangwei Corps was completely desperate. In order to rescue the Huangwei Corps, on December 6, Chiang Kai-shek held a special military meeting at the Guanghuamenwai Air Force Base in Nanjing to seek countermeasures.The meeting was held in a large room, with a large sand table in the middle, marking the terrain around the double pile and the situation of the two warring parties at a scale of one-fifth of a thousand.This was enlarged and produced by the Kuomintang Air Force after taking pictures over the Shuangduiji area.

When Wang Shuming, deputy commander of the Air Force, was introducing the situation, Chiang Kai-shek had been listening silently, without any energy.When Wang Shuming said that the Kuomintang Air Force has a napalm bomb so powerful that it can reduce every village around Shuangduiji to ashes.Chiang Kai-shek cheered up, and a look of joy appeared on his gloomy face, and he said repeatedly: "Good! Good! We should throw a large number of them, including the villages behind the communist army. In this way, they can be killed and wounded in large numbers, and their supplies will be difficult. .”

So the meeting decided that after the Kuomintang reinforcements arrived, the air force would immediately throw incendiary bombs at Shuangduiji to break Huang Wei's siege. Just when Chiang Kai-shek tried to rescue the Huangwei Corps by all means, the General Front Committee of the Huaihai Front of the People's Liberation Army was also dispatching troops to prepare for the final blow to the Huangwei Corps.On December 10, the General Front Committee adjusted the deployment of troops encircled in the north and south, and decided to temporarily trap the Du Yuming Group in Chenguanzhuang, and concentrate its forces to eat the Huangwei Corps surrounded by Shuangdui.

After the decision of the General Front Committee was made, the two columns of the East China Field Army that had participated in the encirclement of Du Yuming's Group quickly went south and deployed to the south of Shuangduiji. Together with the 6th Column of the East China Field Army and the 4th Column of the Central Plains Field Army, they formed the Southern Group. Cooperate with Chen Xilian's West Group and Chen Geng's East Group to encircle and suppress the Huangwei Corps. In order to save Jiang's officers and soldiers from unnecessary sacrifices, the General Front Committee of the Huaihai Front, in accordance with the instructions of the Central Military Commission, sent a telegram to Huang Wei on December 12 by Liu Bocheng and General Chen Yi, advising Huang Wei to surrender as soon as possible to avoid unnecessary sacrifices by soldiers.The persuasion letter reads:

"General Huang Wei: At present, most of the four armies you belong to have been wiped out. The 85th Army has been wiped out except for a few personnel in the military headquarters. The 14th Army has only 2,000 people left. More than two-thirds of the 10th Army has been wiped out. The 18th Army, the trump card you rely on, has been wiped out more than half. Your 4 armies have all been wiped out in just a few days. And the reinforcement Sun Yuanliang Corps you hoped for has been completely wiped out. Qiu Qingquan, Li The Mi Liang Corps has already fallen into a tight siege, suffered heavy losses, and is unable to protect itself. It will be wiped out. Li Yannian's Corps was blocked by our army, still 80 miles away, unable to move an inch, and suffered heavy casualties. In this case, you and yours Subordinates, if you continue to resist desperately, you will not only have no way out, but will be completely destroyed under the artillery fire of the People's Liberation Army. As the commander of the corps, you should cherish the lives of your subordinates, put down your weapons immediately, and stop letting your officers and soldiers do unnecessary things. Sacrifice. If you accept our warning, please send representatives to the headquarters to negotiate the terms of surrender. The time is urgent, and a decision must be made immediately.”…

Huang Wei read the letter and tore it to pieces.He said angrily: "Liu Bocheng and Chen Yi want me to surrender, it's really fantastic!" Huang Wei's refusal to surrender also made Liu Bocheng and Chen Yi very angry.Liu Bocheng said: "If Huang Wei doesn't surrender, let the troops fight. It seems that he won't cry when he sees the coffin!" The General Front Committee immediately ordered the troops to launch the final attack.On the Eastern Front, Chen Geng led the Nakano 4th, 9th, and 11th Columns and the Huaye Special Column Artillery to launch an attack. On the western front, Chen Xilian led the Zhongye 1st, 3rd and Huaye 13th columns to attack; on the southern front, Chen Shiju led the Zhongye 6th, Huaye 3rd, 7th, and 13th columns, and the 12th Brigade of Southern Shaanxi launched an attack.

The officers and soldiers of the middle field, tempered in the harsh war environment of the Dabie Mountains, fought desperately with the Huangwei Corps, which was fully equipped with American equipment.Li Weizi, Li Shilou, Xiaozhouzhuang, and Songzhuang were shot down one by one, and the small red flags were like balls of bright red blood, stained on the wall chart in the war room of the General Front Committee of Xiaolizhuang. The Xi Group under the command of Chen Xilian successively conquered Jiang's positions such as Ximaweizi, Xiaomazhuang, Zhouzhuang, and Yaozhouzhuang.Qin Daoshan, commander of the 10th Army of the Jiang Army, led his troops to flee to the southern stronghold of Shuangduiji.

So far, several village strongholds to the west of Huang Weishuangduiji have been basically wiped out.When the eastern stronghold was also wiped out, Huang Wei had no choice but to rely on the Jiangudui high ground in front of Shuangduiji to stop the PLA. Jiangudui is the commanding height of Huangwei Corps' position and the backbone of Jiang's entire position. Huangwei's main force, the 18th Army, has built layers of fortifications on it.Huang Wei relied on this commanding height, condescending, and blocked the PLA's attacks several times.The Jiang Army Artillery Observation Station was also set up on it, which is extremely advantageous.Therefore, in order to attack the Shuangduiji Huangwei Corps, after taking down Dawangzhuang, you must take down Jiangudui.As long as Jiangudui is defeated, the Huangwei Corps headquarters and the entire Shuangduiji position will be under the control of PLA artillery fire.By that time, the Huangwei Corps would have no way out except to surrender. Jiangudui was one of the points of final contention between the two armies.Yang Botao, the commander of the 18th Army of the Huangwei Corps, personally took the command. He looked at the Jiangudui, which was only more than 10 meters above the ground, and looked at the arc-shaped fortifications built with corpses that were hundreds of meters long and half a person high. , said to Wei Shisi, the head of the group who had just been promoted: "Go, lose the Jiangudui, and don't come to see me." Wei Shisi went up, and after three rounds, more than half of his regiment suffered casualties, and he himself was shot and wounded.Helpless, he reported to the teacher: "I can't resist it anymore, let's withdraw, so as to save some capital for our teacher." Yang Botao, who heard it from the side, was furious, and ordered Yin Zhongyue, the division commander: "Wei Shisi shakes the morale of the army, pull him out and shoot him!" Wei Shisi took out a pistol, pointed it at his temple, and said, "No need, I will solve it myself. Commander, who are we working so hard for? One day when the troops return to Guangxi, how will we explain to our brothers' parents? "After speaking, he pulled the trigger of the gun... As soon as Huang Wei saw that Jiangudui had fallen, he felt that the situation had come to an end, so he ordered Yang Botao to mobilize his troops desperately. The sharp valley pile desperately hit.However, the condescending artillery fire of the People's Liberation Army knocked Jiang's soldiers who were fighting back against Jiangudui on their backs, and they had to flee in embarrassment. After the People's Liberation Army firmly occupied Jiangudui, all the defensive positions of the entire Shuangduiji Huangwei Corps were under the control of the People's Liberation Army's artillery fire.Huang Wei relied on the 18th Army. At this time, not only the military headquarters was directly threatened by artillery fire, but the fast column equipped by the United States was even worse.The cars, oil trucks, ammunition trucks, repair trucks, and artillery positions of this column are all under the sharp valley pile, and they can't even move.As long as the People's Liberation Army charges, they will all disarm. At this time, all the cannons of the 18th Army were turned into a pile of steel because the shells had been fired, and there was nowhere to move them. Yang Botao ordered these cannons to be pushed into a pile, and the artillerymen took up light weapons and joined the infantry battle. In order to maintain the combat effectiveness of the 18th Army, Huang Wei also took out the last bit of capital. He also allocated the secret service battalion of the Corps Department to the 18th Army and organized it into the 118th Division.In short, Huang Wei used everyone who could hold a gun. By December 13, the relatively strong positions of the Huangwei Corps were left on the east and west sides.On the east side is the field group fortification in the southeast of Shuangduiji.On the west side are the earth temples and earth mound fortifications of Shuangduiji Southwest Creek.These are the last line of defense of the double pile, once broken through, the double pile will have no barrier. In order not to give the enemy a chance to breathe, our army immediately adjusted its strength after laying down the Jiangudui, and continued to storm the last position of the Huangwei Corps from the east and west sides.Chen Xilian commanded the West Group to fight from the west to the east, and the East China Field Army troops to fight from the east to the west, and the meeting point was at Shuangdui. At 4:30 pm on the 14th, the Shenwei artillery of the People's Liberation Army began to shell the group fortifications of the "Tiger Regiment" of the Jiang Army.I saw thousands of shells, large and small, firing at the group fortifications of the "Tiger Regiment".As soon as the artillery fire stopped, the assault unit rushed to the enemy's position.The remnants of the enemy yelled and carried out a counter-charge, and returned fire with grenades. Our soldiers also threw the grenades away, and the two sides launched a fierce grenade battle. The "Tiger Regiment" of the Jiang army guarding the group's fortifications saw that the frontal counterattack was ineffective, so they dispatched a force to detour outside the polder, trying to counterattack from the side and back, and block the breakthrough.This move was already expected by our assault troops, and a company of our army, along the trench outside the polder wall, also circled to the enemy's side and outflanked.I happened to face to face with the enemy who was rounding my gap, and the two sides immediately fought. Jiang Jun's "Tiger Regiment" is considered tenacious.They were able to carry out non-stop counter-charges many times in the dark, even when the bunker was surrounded on all sides, they still carried out crazy counter-attacks.However, the People's Liberation Army, which was already in sight of victory, became more imposing, and soon completely overwhelmed Jiang's army, and quickly advanced in depth. Huang Wei once bragged that the group fortifications of the "Tiger Group" was difficult even for a mouse and a sparrow to pass, and eventually fell apart, and the "Tiger Group" ceased to exist. In the Shuangduiji headquarters, Huang Wei was furious when he heard that the "Tiger Regiment" had been wiped out and lost the field group's fortifications. He pointed a pistol at his head of the guard and shouted: "Take back the position immediately!" The leader took 1 battalion to go, and after a while of fighting, only 1 battalion remained and returned. After fierce fighting until the 15th, the last barriers to the east, west, and south of the Huangwei Corps were all removed. Huang Wei and Hu Lian, who were huddled in the shelter of the Shuangdui Army Regiment Headquarters, watched the bullets whizzing past their heads, and the shells exploded nearby, filled with smoke, and were in danger.Huang and Hu could only look at each other, but could do nothing. At this time, if you want to break out, you can only rely on the help of God.On the one hand, Huang Wei reported to Chiang Kai-shek in Nanjing, requesting to send the air force to bomb the PLA positions after noon on the 15th, so that they could disperse and break through; on the other hand, he summoned Yang Botao, commander of the 18th Army, and Qin Daoshan, commander of the 10th Army, to announce the breakout operation. Huang Wei said: "At present, according to our judgment, the focus of the Communist army's siege is on the south and southeast corners of Shuangduiji. Because the purpose of the Communist army is to block our way to Bengbu. As for the west and north of Shuangduiji, It is the rear of the communist army. Except for the direct siege forces, the communist army's second line of trapezoidal troops will not be many. Therefore, I decided that the main direction of this breakout is to choose the east, west and north to get out of the enemy Unexpectedly, there is hope." Huang Wei then announced the deployment of the troops to break through: The 75th Division and the 114th Division of the 10th Army broke through to the east, and then ran south to Bengbu; The 11th Division of the 18th Army broke through to the west. This route was personally commanded by Huang Wei and Hu Lian. The tanks were assigned to open the way forward, and the infantry rushed forward.Huang Wei, Hu Lian, and Wu Shaozhou each assigned a tank to break out of the encirclement.As long as the gap is opened in front, they will rush out regardless of everything. Yang Botao, commander of the 18th Army, led the 118th Division and all remaining engineers and other remaining troops to break through to the northwest corner.After protruding, go around in a circle to the west, and then run to the south in the direction of Bengbu, Mengcheng. After Huang Wei announced the breakout plan, he ordered all troops to take away all the weapons they could carry, such as light and heavy machine guns, submachine guns, rifles, etc., regardless of whether they were officers or soldiers.All heavy weapons that cannot be taken away, such as mortars, mountain artillery, field artillery, howitzers, etc., shall be destroyed.As for the more than 10,000 wounded soldiers camping in the Shuangduiji field, they had no medical treatment, no medicine, and no food, so they decided to abandon them all. After the breakout order was issued, all the remnants of Jiang's army were panicked and prepared to flee for their lives. At noon on December 15th, Chiang Kai-shek sent 25 bombers, and under the cover of 5 fighter jets, they dropped heavy bombs on Xiaomazhuang, shaking the ground and sending dust to the sky.The soldiers of the People's Liberation Army guarding the Xiaomazhuang position held their positions tightly like iron men. Many soldiers were buried by the flying mud, and then got out of the mud.They looked from one bomb crater to that bomb crater, jumped from one trench to another, and covered holes, and kept a close eye on the actions of the Huangwei Corps in Shuangdui. At dusk, Huang Wei led the remnants in a desperate breakout.Huang Wei's main breakout direction was the west. Chen Xilian commanded the West Group troops to prepare for it, and set up a tight fire net zone on the west side of Shuangduiji.As soon as the breakout tank entered the fire net, all kinds of firearms of our army opened fire together, and immediately became a sea of ​​flames.Even Jiang Jun's tanks couldn't bear the stormy firepower.The five tanks that took the lead in the charge had to turn around and flee eastward under heavy artillery fire.It didn't matter if they turned their heads, the group of infantry following the tank scattered and fled for their lives with a crash, and the enemies who broke through were completely disorganized. At this time, Huang Wei and Hu Lian were hiding in their respective tanks.Riding on the chaos, the two tanks rushed out of the fire net area and rushed forward. There was a fork in the road ahead, the tank driver hesitated, and slowed down to wait for Huang Wei's instructions.Huang Wei pointed forward, and the tank driver ran to the west at full speed.But Hu Lian, who was behind Huang Wei, rushed to the southwest road. After parting ways, Huang Wei went to a dead end, but Hu Lian escaped.In the future, he continued to fight against the People's Liberation Army and became Chiang Kai-shek's most capable general. When Huang Wei and Hu Lian broke through the encirclement, they did not notify Yang Botao, the commander of the 18th Army.When Yang Botao heard gunshots from the west and the voices were chaotic, he knew that Huang Wei and Hu Lian had already left.He hurriedly and Yin Zhongyue, the commander of the 118th Division, personally supervised the team to rush out, but the encircled position of the People's Liberation Army was like a copper wall and an iron wall, bumping back and forth without even a crack. Originally, when preparing to break through, Yang Botao discussed with Yin Zhongyue and chose the bravest battalion commander to charge and open the way.Unexpectedly, the battalion commander was shot dead as soon as he rushed up, and the troops were in chaos as there was no one to command them. Yang Botao and Yin Zhongyue didn't rush out, but the People's Liberation Army rushed into Shuangduiji, and shouts of "hand in your guns and don't kill" were heard everywhere.At the beginning, Jiang Jun fired guns indiscriminately, but after a while, no one dared to shoot anymore.Yang Botao originally broke out to the northwest corner.At this time, seeing that the momentum was not right, he turned due west and fled in the direction of Huang Wei's breakout.However, just after running not far to the west, they were hit head-on by a group of People's Liberation Army coming from the west.Seeing that there was no way out, Yang Botao fled to a small river and jumped into the water in despair, attempting to commit suicide. However, the river was too shallow, and Hades refused to take him in. He almost froze in the freezing water.He reached for his gun, which he had lost long ago.So he climbed to the shore again and became a prisoner of the People's Liberation Army. When three People's Liberation Army soldiers escorted Yang Botao across a small bridge, Yang Botao jumped into the river by surprise, thinking that this time he would be loyal.Unexpectedly, in the dry season, no small river could drown a person, but it made him covered in mud, which only added to his embarrassment.He was extremely frustrated: "I don't deserve to die!" When Chen Xilian heard that Yang Botao committed suicide by jumping into the river, he couldn't help laughing and said, "Why bother? Being a prisoner of the Communist Party is the beginning of your new life." Yin Zhongyue, the commander of the 118th Division who broke through with Yang Botao, broke up with Yang Botao, and fled with the rout for a while, but was also captured by the People's Liberation Army and became a prisoner.This is the end of the Jiang army commanded by Yang Botao who broke through the encirclement. Of the 10th Army headquarters and the remnants of the two divisions under the command of Qin Daoshan who broke through, only Yin Jun, commander of the 18th Division, led hundreds of people and escaped from the northeast corner in the dark.Except for this, the rest became captives.The journey directed by Qin Daoshan also came to an end. Besides, Huang Wei ordered the tank driver to rush forward to break through the siege, but things backfired. The tank broke down after running wildly for a while, and could no longer run.Huang Wei had no choice but to climb out of the tank and escape among the chaotic army.Seeing the People's Liberation Army everywhere, he ran into a ditch in a wheat field to hide, trying to escape the siege in the dark. At this time, various troops of the People's Liberation Army attacking Shuangduiji continued to enter Shuangduiji from trenches and tunnels, cutting Jiang's army trying to break through into countless segments.By the end of the night, the remnants of the Huangwei Corps in Shuangduiji had been dealt with one by one, and the rest were scattered around.However, search teams of the People's Liberation Army and the militia spread all over Shuangduiji dozens of miles away, like a net of heaven and earth, and it was very difficult to escape.As soon as the Shuangduiji was opened, the phones of the units participating in the encirclement and annihilation of the Huangwei Corps kept sending messages, "The enemy has fled! Hurry up and capture the prisoners! Hurry up and capture Huang Wei!" Huang Wei failed to escape in the end and was captured alive by the People's Liberation Army.Xinhua News Agency reported on Huang Wei's capture under the title "Huang Wei's Capture": On the evening of December 15, our army attacked across the board, chasing and annihilating the fleeing enemy.Fan Tianshu, the instructor of a special service battalion, led five soldiers to search the Zhouzhuang area four or five miles southeast of Nanpingji.They found a broken tank parked in the southeast of Dazhouzhuang.Correspondents Sha Xiaoliu and Fan Jieming searched along the tank. In a ditch in a wheat field, they found a black figure with its hands outstretched, its buttocks up, and its head down.At first they thought it was a wild dog, and when they yelled casually, the black figure raised its head in response. It turned out to be a man, and the steel helmet on his head was shining in the moonlight.Sha Xiaoliu and Fan Jieming ran over with guns in hand, and the man immediately raised his hands and stood up. "What are you doing?" Silly Little Six asked.The man said hesitantly, "The 14th Army is the secretary." Sha Xiaoliu and the others brought this "Captain Secretary" back to the prisoner's shelter.When they arrived at the shelter, everyone saw clearly that the "14th Army Captain Secretary" was wearing a grass-green muslin military uniform, and the heavy steel helmet on his head lowered his eyebrows and eyes.After his steel helmet was taken off, he revealed smooth hair, a pale round face, a short beard on his mouth, and a small black mole on his right eye.These are all in line with the characteristics of Huang Wei written by the notice. The comrades in the shelter took out the registration book and asked him to register.He wrote: "Fang Zhengxin, a native of Yiyang, Jiangxi Province, is the secretary of the 14th Army's captain".He said he enlisted from Chosan in October this year. When asked what he did before joining the army, he said that he had been an elementary school teacher for six years and a department member for six years, and then he joined the army.Ask him how much the captain's secretary paid a month, and he replied that it was more than seventy yuan.After all, it was more than seventy yuan, and he couldn't answer it again. Afterwards, he wrote a letter of guarantee that "if the name and title do not match, he is willing to be shot", and said cheekily: "Can I still talk nonsense? Can I still sell my name?" When the photographer came to take pictures of him, his face turned pale, and the muscles on his face were trembling, and he couldn't avoid it even if he wanted to. At this time, a newly liberated soldier from Su County came. When he saw this "Military Secretary", he immediately said: "He is Huang Wei!" The "Captain Secretary" couldn't hide it, his gloomy face turned blue and white, and then he spit out unnaturally: "I am Huang Wei!" and took out a pen to sign such a line in the register: "Huang Wei, commander of the 12th Corps, lieutenant general, 41 years old, from Guixi, Jiangxi, graduated from the first phase of Huangpu." After the Huaihai War, the Central Plains Field Army was renamed the Second Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, under the jurisdiction of the 3rd Regiment, 4th Regiment, 5th Corps and Special Forces Column.Chen Xilian served as the commander of the 3rd Corps.