Chapter 15 Chapter Fourteen Takes Yangcheng Lightly

When the two armies of the four fields, the middle and the west, fought against Hengbao, the army of the east also opened the prelude to the battle of Guangdong. After the pursuit campaign in southwestern Jiangxi, Guangdong's door opened wide.Subsequently, the two corps of Chen Geng and Deng Hua arrived at the border of Guangdong and Jiangxi, with their horses and bows bent, ready to go. On September 7, 1949, Ye Jianying held a combat meeting in Ganzhou, and jointly formulated the combat plan for the liberation of Guangdong with the heads of the Second Corps of Chen and Deng. Ye Jianying served as the Chief of Staff of the Red Army and the Chief of Staff of the Eighth Route Army. After the peaceful liberation of Beiping, he served as the director and mayor of the Beiping Military Management Committee. In August 1949, he was appointed as the first secretary of the South China Branch of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the commander and political commissar of the Guangdong Military Region.He is from Guangdong and has experience in taking over Beiping City. This is an important reason why the central government sent him to work in Guangdong.

At the meeting, Ye Jianying conveyed the instructions of the Central Committee and the combat plan discussed with Lin Biao in Wuhan.After careful research, on September 8, Ye Jianying and Chen Geng jointly called the Central Military Commission, Lin Biao, and Deng Zihui: The campaign was commanded by Chen Geng.According to the combat deployment of the Military Commission and the heads of the four fields, as well as the spirit of the Ganzhou meeting, Chen Geng formulated a specific combat plan and reported it to the Military Commission, Lin Biao, and Deng Zihui on September 29. Chen Geng plans to divide his troops into three routes and march to Guangdong:

Taking the 4th Corps of the Second Field as the right-hand army, they set off on September 30 and attacked Rucheng, Lechang, and Renhua.If the enemy guards the Qujiang, Yingde, and Wengyuan areas, the 14th Army will go along the west bank of the Beijiang River, pass through Yingde and Qingyuan and go straight into Sanshui, cutting off the enemy's westward retreat to Guangxi; The Corps annihilated the enemies of Yingde and Wengyuan, and attacked Guangzhou from the west.If the enemy does not defend Ying and Weng, they will quickly cooperate with the 15th Corps to go south and attack Guangzhou.

With the 15th Corps as the left army, set off on October 1, attack Yingde from the east of Wengyuan, and then go south to the line of Longyandong and Chebei to attack Guangzhou from the northeast. Composed of the Guangdong-Guangzhou Column, the Guangdong-Jiangxi-Hunan Border Column, and the Guangdong-Central Column, the South Route Army marched to Dongguan, broke through the enemy's Shunde and Foshan defense lines, and cut off the Guangzhou defenders' escape route to the south. On October 1, Mao Zedong called Chen Geng and others before the founding ceremony: "I agree with your deployment to attack Guangzhou."

The next day, Chen Geng commanded the three-way army to go south, which opened the prelude to the Guangdong campaign. The Guangdong campaign commanded by Chen Geng was part of the strategy of Siye going south to Guangdong and Guangxi. His operational guiding ideology 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 speak out boldly. The main force of the four fields went straight to southern Hunan, and Bai Chongxi shrank the Guangxi troops to the front line of Hengbao, thus automatically disintegrating the "Hunan-Guangdong joint defense line".Bai Chongxi couldn't take care of himself, and Guangdong's defense could only rely on the Yu Hanmou Group.

At the beginning of 1949, before Chiang Kai-shek stepped down, he transferred Yu Hanmou, the commander-in-chief of the army, to Guangdong to serve as the director of the Appeasement Office.At that time, the elite of Jiang's army had been lost, and it was imperative to train the new army.Yu Hanmou belonged to a Cantonese general, who was formerly part of the Cantonese warlord Chen Jitang's former department, and later fell under Chen's affiliation with Chiang.He was quite influential in the Guangdong Army, which was an important reason why Chiang Kai-shek sent him back to his hometown to preside over military affairs.

Yu Han took great pains in planning to return to Guangdong, wantonly recruiting local troops and remnants of defeated soldiers who had fled to Guangdong.At this time, there were already 3 corps, 11 armies, and 33 divisions under his command. This was almost the same as the establishment of Siye, but it was not worthy of the name. The actual strength was only 150,000 (120,000 regular troops and 30,000 local security forces).The combat effectiveness is even more different. The Fang Tian Corps fled from Jiangxi, and the Hu Lian Corps fled from Fujian, and both were severely hit by the People's Liberation Army.The troops in the other provinces were remnants and defeated generals, while the ones in this province were just indiscriminate. Yu Hanmou knew very well that these troops could not be counted on.He once hoped that the Guangxi army would enter Guangdong, but Chiang Kai-shek obstructed it. When the soldiers of the People's Liberation Army came under pressure, Yu Hanmou had to build three lines of defense and carry out the "tofu dregs project".

The first line of defense is Qujiang, Shixing, Nanxiong, and Lechang, defended by the 39th Army and the 63rd Army. The second line of defense is the Yingde and Wengyuan areas, which are defended by the 4th Corps (under the jurisdiction of the 23rd Army and the 70th Army) who fled from Jiangxi. The third line of defense is the Huaxian and Conghua areas, which are defended by the Liu Anqi Corps (under the jurisdiction of the 32nd Army and the 50th Army) transported from Qingdao. Yu Hanmou laid down three lines of defense to defend Guangzhou.In addition, there are also Hu Lian Corps (under the jurisdiction of the 10th Army and the 18th Army) who fled from Fujian in Guangdong, located in Chao'an and Shantou areas in eastern Guangdong.Xue Yue, chairman of Guangdong Province and commander-in-chief of security, led the 62nd and 64th armies in the area from Zhanjiang to Hainan Island.

Yu Hanmou's intention was to resist for a while, and then fled west to Guangxi to join Bai Chongxi, or to Hainan Island. On October 2, Chen Geng sent his troops into Guangdong, and the vanguard marched southward at a speed of 150 miles a day.The Cantonese army was frightened by the wind and fled south one after another. The first line of defense was useless. On October 6, the 14th Army on the right occupied Lechang, and the 13th Army occupied Renhua.On the same day, the Cantonese army abandoned Qujiang again and continued to flee south. On October 7, the 15th Army occupied Qujiang. On October 9, the 14th Army occupied Yingde.

On October 10, the 15th Army captured Lianjiangkou Station. At this time, the Battle of Hengbao was in full swing. Lin Biao judged that Bai Chongxi would lead his troops back to the north for rescue, given that the central army had seized the four main divisions of the Guangxi clique.So Lin Biao wanted to change the plan of the Guangdong campaign, and transferred Chen Geng's corps into Guangxi to participate in the battle to encircle and wipe out the Bai Chongxi Group. At 7:00 on October 10, Lin Biao called the Military Commission: Mao Zedong was very happy when he heard the news that the four main divisions of the Guangxi clique had been seized and the main force of the Bai army had been lured back to aid.Called Lin Biao and Chen Geng on the same day:

Mao Zedong "completely agreed" with Lin Biao's proposition, based on the premise that "our army may wipe out the main force of the Whites in the Hunan-Guangxi border area".In fact, Bai Chongxi only once wanted to lead the main force to return to the four divisions that were besieged, but he soon gave up this plan. It is impossible to wipe out the main force of the Bai army in the Hunan-Guangxi border area. In the morning of the next day, Lin Biao learned from the intelligence network that the Guangxi army, which was originally planning to aid the north, stopped at the line of Dong'an, Lengshuitan, and Lingling, and did not advance north.Under such circumstances, Lin Biao still advocated not to capture Guangzhou, and insisted that Chen Geng's corps should enter Guangxi from the west.For this reason, he called the Military Commission at 10:00 on October 11 in the name of the Shino Front Committee: Lin Biao stated his reasons for not occupying Guangzhou in this thousand-word telegram.His combat intention was to defeat Guangxi first and then Guangdong, and use Guangzhou, the political and economic center, to attract the Cantonese army, so as to prevent the Cantonese army from retreating to Guangxi. While calling the Military Commission, Lin Biao also ordered the Chen Geng and Deng Hua corps: 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 joking all day suddenly blushing. 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 the battle in Guangdong, I am afraid it will be miscalculated. On the Guangxi side, we had no time to cut off the retreat of the White Bandits; 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 Guangzhou first, and 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 Fourth Corps transferred to Guangxi, we will resolutely implement it.” At 21:00 on the same day, the overall situation of the Battle of Hengbao had been decided. After considering the opinions of Chen Geng and others, Lin Biao called the Military Commission and Chen Geng and others: "...under the condition that the enemy in Guangdong does not fight me head-on, we still advocate not seizing Guangzhou for the time being. to avoid concentrating the enemy in Guangdong and Guangxi. At present, the Deng Hua Corps is only staying in Guangdong to fight mobile warfare and annihilate 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 of Guangzhou, then Chen, The two corps of Deng and Deng continued to advance to Guangzhou to achieve the goal of annihilating the enemy. Until the enemy's plan against 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? At midnight on October 11, Mao Zedong called Chen Geng and others: 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 October 12, Mao Zedong called Lin Biao: After the above telegram was sent, Mao Zedong began to deal with some urgent military and political affairs.Soon, the confidential secretary sent a telegram sent by Lin Biao at 21:00 on the 11th. Mao Zedong read the telegram and fell into deep thought again.At 6 o'clock in the morning, birds and birds were singing among the flowers in Zhongnanhai, and his thinking finally matured. Comrade Lin Biao, and tell Ye Chenfang, Deng Lai, Liu Deng, Zhang Li: In accordance with the spirit of Mao Zedong's above-mentioned telegram, Chen Geng continued to march towards Guangzhou. After the 15th Corps on the left crossed Meiling, the situation was overwhelming, and the Cantonese army fled southward. On October 9, the forward of the 43rd Army arrived in Wengyuan County. At this time, the reconnaissance company of the 127th Division captured two prisoners. After interrogation, it was learned that there was a 307th regiment with American equipment in the Fogang area, with more than 2,000 people, relying on strong fortifications to defend to the death. Division commander Wang Dongbao immediately reported the situation to the military headquarters, and at the same time ordered the troops to run towards Fogang.This road is like a tiger chasing a chicken, the Cantonese army fled, and there was no victory.Now that he encountered a US weapon regiment, Mr. Wang had to be anxious, fearing that the enemy would run away again. He couldn't believe the enemy's "defense". After a 140-mile march in the rain, the division arrived at Fogang at dusk on October 10 and found no sign of the enemy retreating. Commander Wang led the cadres of the regiments to a high ground, inspected the enemy's positions, and immediately issued a combat order: The 379th regiment went straight to the southwest of the city, cutting off the enemy's retreat to Huaxian and Guangzhou. The main force of the 381 regiment penetrated southward, and cooperated with the 379 regiment to surround the enemy. The 380 regiment attacked the enemy's defensive positions frontally.The division guard battalion is the reserve team.The regiments moved quickly and arrived at the designated position overnight to complete the encirclement and division of the enemy. At 9 o'clock the next day, each regiment reported arriving at the designated location. During the night movement, the 379th regiment wiped out one reinforced company, the 381st regiment occupied the old city, and the 380th regiment wiped out one platoon. In view of the fact that the siege had been completed and the enemy could not fly with wings, Commander Wang ordered the regiments to let the soldiers take a good rest to relieve fatigue. The commander made preparations before the general attack and selected the breakthrough and artillery positions. It rained heavily, the roads were muddy, and the artillery fell far behind the ranks.At that time, the division had a mountain artillery battalion. The cannons and the mules used to pull the cannons were all American products, which were captured from the New 1st Army in the Battle of Western Liaoning in the autumn of 1948.The tall foreign mule was panting heavily from exhaustion, and the cannon cart got stuck in the mud from time to time and couldn't move.In order to speed up, the artillerymen unloaded the cannon parts and carried them on their shoulders. The division command post was set up on a hilltop. Commander Wang held up his binoculars to check the enemy's positions for a while, and for a while to see if the artillery from the road to the north was coming.The enemy's fortifications are very strong, and the artillery must play the leading role in this battle. At 10 o'clock in the morning, the heavy convoy of artillerymen finally appeared on the muddy road to the north.Deputy Division Commander Huang Dengbao of Pao Zong and Commander Xu Battalion of the Division Artillery Battalion rode at the forefront. "Finally I'm looking forward to you!" Mr. Wang said while holding Huang Dengbao's hand. "The Paozong's howitzer battalion is too late, too heavy, and the road is difficult to walk. But the Shanpao battalion is enough for the enemy to drink a pot!" Huang Dengbao wiped his smiling face, and said darkly to the battalion and company cadres of the Paoying battalion, Push the cannon up the mountain, ready to fight!" The artillerymen quickly pushed the cannons up several nearby hills, and then lined up from the top of the hill to the foot of the hill, passing the shells up the hill one by one by means of flowing water. "Everything is ready." Battalion Commander Hu reported to the division headquarters. "The attack begins!" Commander Wang ordered. The cannons blasted wildly, and the mountains shook suddenly, and the enemy's position was covered with thick smoke. A few minutes later, the enemy's 60-zero mortars began to return fire, and shells screamed in the air. Deputy Commander Huang shouted: "Suppress shooting, cancel the right to speak of the enemy's artillery!" The enemy artillery position was bombarded violently, and suddenly became dumb. The battle started at 3:00 pm. Under the cover of powerful artillery fire, the 127th Division quickly broke through the enemy's position, and wiped out this beautiful weapon regiment of the Guangdong Army in just two hours. The head of the enemy regiment was killed in the artillery fire, and the deputy head of the regiment wore a woman's clothes and tried to escape in disguise but failed.In this battle, more than 500 enemies were killed and wounded, and more than 1,500 were captured. While the 127th Division was attacking Fogang, Li Zuopeng, commander of the 43rd Army, and Zhang Chiming, political commissar, ordered the 128th Division to bypass Fogang and attack Hua County. At dawn on October 12, the 128th Division captured Hua County and captured more than 200 people from the enemy's security team. The news that the People's Liberation Army was approaching Guangzhou spread like wind throughout Yangcheng, dignitaries fled, and Chennault's airline business was booming. On October 11, Li Zongren convened an emergency meeting to discuss "moving the capital". This was the second time the Kuomintang government moved the capital within half a year.Attending the meeting were Premier Yan Xishan, Chief of Staff Gu Zhutong, Yu Hanmou, Xue Yue and others. "The current situation is serious, and the fall of Guangzhou is imminent. We need to speed up the implementation of the divisional office plan. The presidential palace and the Executive Yuan will be temporarily moved to Chongqing, and the central courts will be moved to Hainan Island." Li Zongren said to Yu Hanmou, "Please command Liu Anqi's corps to cover the evacuation of government agencies. The evacuation of government personnel was completed within two days, and to appease people, Dean Yan and I insisted on leaving Guangzhou until the 20th." Chiang Kai-shek was shocked to hear that he was going to move the capital again, so he flew to Guangzhou on October 12, specifically to dismantle Li Zongren's Taiwan.He asked Yan Xishan to fly to Taiwan instead of Chongqing.Yan Xishan obeyed and went to Taiwan as expected.Li Zongren became a polished commander again. The next day, he ignored his promise to "pacify people's hearts" and left Guangzhou a week early.At Guilin Airport, Bai Chongxi advised him not to be the "acting president" anymore, but to go abroad to treat stomach problems. People from the Presidential Palace and the Executive Yuan all ran away and asked Yu Hanmou to lead his troops to cover him. Yu Hanmou was not that honest. He seemed loyal, but in fact he was extremely cunning. On the evening of the 12th, Yu Hanmou held an emergency military meeting in his mansion, and was discussing pulling troops to Hainan Island, when Gu Zhutong, chief of staff, happened to come. Yu Hanmou said with a bitter face: "The commander-in-chief came just in time. We are so worried that we have no choice. How can we use the broken and incomplete troops to resist the tiger and wolf army? I don't think Guangzhou can keep it." Gu Zhutong grinned and said, "There's no need to guard it! Before boarding the plane, the president ordered all the Guangzhou troops to withdraw to Hainan Island. You should act quickly!" Hearing this, Yu Hanmou felt as if he had received an amnesty, so he immediately spread out the map and planned to flee. "Take away as much military supplies as you can, destroy everything you can't take away, and don't leave a single bullet to the Communist Army!" Gu Zhutong took out a document from his briefcase, threw it on the map, and said, "The president ordered that Baiyun and Tianhe airports, military warehouses in Shijing, Shipai, Huangpu and other places, as well as major roads and railway bridges in the city must be blown up. Important factories and institutions of higher learning must be destroyed if they cannot be transported away!" The next day, Guangzhou was in chaos. The Cantonese army poured out of the barracks like locusts, plundered public property, smashed factories, mines, school equipment, burned warehouses, and bombed bridges. White terror was everywhere.Subsequently, the Cantonese army fled to the southwest one after another. The closest to Guangzhou is the 128th Division of the 43rd Army of the People's Liberation Army. After they occupied Hua County, they seized the Renhexu Highway Bridge. At dawn on October 14, the division received a telegram from Li Zuopeng, the commander of the army, saying that there were a large number of tunnel fortifications in the area of ​​Longyan Cave, which were built by the Japanese during the Anti-Japanese War. There are currently two divisions of the Jiang Army guarding them, so the division should act cautiously and not underestimate the enemy. aggressive. The 128th Division had been chasing for several days and nights, and was very tired, so it ordered to rest in place, and at the same time sent a reconnaissance team to continue southward. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the reconnaissance team came back to report that the enemy troops in the Conghua area were fleeing to Guangzhou. The 382nd Regiment, the leader of the 128th Division, led by Zhang Shijie, quickly pursued along the road from Huaxian to Guangzhou.The group entered the Taiyang Market and found several students waving pennant flags. "Comrade People's Liberation Army!" The students shouted loudly, "The Kuomintang troops have fled, and the citizens are preparing to welcome the People's Liberation Army into the city. Hurry up and stop the sabotage activities of the spies!" Head Zhang heard that the spies blew up bridges, burned warehouses, vandalized and looted, and urgently ordered the troops to run forward. At dusk, the troops arrived at Shahe.In the mountains and forests in that area, two regiments of the Kuomintang army were hiding. They saw the People's Liberation Army running past in front of them, but none of them dared to shoot.The People's Liberation Army only rushed forward, but did not find more than 2,000 enemies ambushed on both sides of the road.It was not until Guangzhou was completely liberated that this group of enemy troops came out to surrender. The 382nd regiment entered the urban area of ​​Guangzhou in two routes: one route was Zhongshan Road; the other route was Yanjiang Road.Head Zhang heard heavy explosions coming from the southeast from time to time, and urgently ordered Chief Huang of the Military Affairs Section to lead a squad to protect Sun Yat-sen University. "Comrades, come on! The enemy is wreaking havoc, and we can reduce the loss by arriving a minute earlier!" Many citizens waved flags and cheered on both sides of Zhongshan Road, and the warm applause lasted for a long time. The CCP’s underground organization has already occupied the radio station. As soon as the PLA enters the city, the broadcasts on the streets in the urban area will broadcast the Anmin Announcement in due time: "Citizens! The Kuomintang army is already fleeing, and the PLA has entered the city..." Head Zhang led his troops into the Guangzhou Police Station, and the police officers who were working stood up one after another. "Reporting Comrade Commander, I am the deputy director. The national army has escaped. We are entrusted by the citizens to continue maintaining order." A middle-aged police officer saluted Commander Zhang and Political Commissar Wang, "Welcome the army to enter the city!" "Okay! You are welcome to assist our army in maintaining social order." Political Commissar Wang said in a calm and slightly orderly tone, "You immediately notify all the police stations in the city, tell them that the PLA headquarters has arrived at the police station, and order them to continue to perform their duties. To protect the lives and properties of the citizens, those who make meritorious deeds will be rewarded, and those who have done wrong will be punished!" The 3rd Battalion marched towards Huifu Road, captured a battalion of the enemy without firing a single shot, and took advantage of the opportunity to occupy Li Zongren's Presidential Palace, Yan Xishan's Executive Yuan, and Baiyun Airport. The 2nd Battalion marched westward along the Pearl River. When they arrived at Shamian, they found a large number of enemy troops boarding at Huangsha Ferry, preparing to escape.Battalion Commander Zhu ordered the troops to divide into two groups and outflank the enemy.After an hour of fighting, 5 ships were sunk and more than 2,000 enemies were captured. At the same time, the 396th Regiment of the 132nd Division of the 44th Army also entered the urban area from the northeastern suburbs.The next day and night, the People's Liberation Army occupied all important targets in the urban area. After the Kuomintang "fallen" in Nanjing, it lost its capital for the second time within half a year. The 40th Division of the 14th Army liberated Sanshui County on the afternoon of October 14 and captured hundreds of enemies.Then it confronted the 103rd Division of the 39th Army of the enemy's 21st Corps across the river. Of the three corps commanded by Yu Hanmou, one fled from Jiangxi and the other fled from Fujian, they were all severely injured by the PLA and under the control of Yu in name, but in fact they had neither combat effectiveness nor reliability.Only Liu Anqi's 21st Corps is truly part of the Guangdong system, which was newly formed with the 39th Army as the backbone.The 39th Army shipped Huludao in October 1948 to join the Hou Jingru Corps that aided Jinzhou, and fought against Siye in Tashan.After the Battle of Liaoshen, he was transferred to Bengbu to participate in the Battle of Huaihai, and survived because he was outside the encirclement.When the Du Yuming Group was annihilated, the army was still a complete semi-mechanized force when it withdrew to Nanjing.All the elites of Jiang's army were wiped out, and the army was able to reach Nanjing safely, so it was valued by Chiang Kai-shek. Before leaving the field, Chiang specially summoned the officers of the army and above.Most of the 103rd Division and 91st Division of this army are from Guizhou. When the Nanjing regime was in turmoil, they witnessed the four major families transferring their wealth to Taiwan. Chiang Kai-shek sent his confidant Chen Cheng to Taiwan as the provincial chairman. Know that Chiang Kai-shek regards Taiwan as a retreat.It is inevitable that fellow villagers in Guizhou get together to plan for their own future. Mou Longguang, Chief of Staff of the 103rd Division, and Li Jishen's secretary, Yu Que, were old friends, so they tried to contact the Communist Party through this relationship, and discussed an uprising once the time was right. In January 1949, the 39th Army was transferred to Qujiang (Shaoguan) in Guangdong to be controlled by Yu Hanmou.Mou Longguang wrote a letter to Yu Que in Hong Kong, expressing in code words that he wanted to wait for an opportunity to revolt.Soon, Yu Que sent someone to Shaoguan to invite Mou Longguang to Hong Kong for talks. During the long season, this group of fellow Guizhou natives chartered a yacht in the name of a spring outing to secretly trade "plans for the future".Zeng Yuansan, Commander of the 103rd Division, Mou Longguang, Chief of Staff, Liu Tiren, Commander of the 91st Division, Qiu Jianzhi, Deputy Commander, and Long Xiang, Chief of Staff attended the secret meeting. Prior to this, they had planned to lead the uprising with the army commander Wang Boxun. At this time, Wang Boxun was transferred to Guizhou as the deputy commander of the 19th Corps.Cheng Peng, the new army commander, is Li Mi's brother, and has deep conflicts with Liu Tiren. Everyone is wary of him. Liu Tiren suggested: "After the uprising, Commander Zeng will be the commander of the army." Zeng Yuansan was still in the stage of hesitation and refused to make a clear statement. In the end, he said: "Long Guang will go to Hong Kong, first cast stones to ask the way, and see the attitude of the Democratic Revolutionary and the Communist Party, and then make a decision later." In mid-May, Mou Longguang went to Hong Kong to meet Yu Que. Yu said: "Mr. Li Jishen has gone to Beiping to prepare for the CPPCC meeting." Zhang Tong was dressed as a gentleman, with elegant demeanor and good conversation.The two sides exchanged some courtesy, and then turned to the topic. "The 39th Army is currently the army with the best equipment and the most sufficient personnel in the Kuomintang Army. The others have collapsed. There are still more than a hundred thousand people in the Guangxi Clan, most of whom were expanded after the Huaihai Campaign. The personnel and equipment are not as good as yours. In Shaoguan Liu Dongcai’s 63rd Army was also supplemented after the Huaihai Campaign, and it has no combat effectiveness.” Zhang Tong took out a diary and showed it to Mou Longguang, saying, “At present, there are many troops joining Hong Kong. Li Mo’an and Jiang Fusheng are here. Qiwei has declared an uprising. The Kuomintang is planning to flee to Taiwan for refuge, and there are basically no major battles to fight on the mainland! We are very happy that you are here, and we attach great importance to your army." Mou Longguang said sincerely: "For the sake of the country and the people, we don't want to fight anymore, and are willing to vote for the Communist Party, so as to end the war as soon as possible and rebuild our homeland." "It is a great event for you to volunteer for the people." Zhang Tong closed his notebook and said, "I heard that you are a student of Whampoa, and Xu Xiangqian, Zhou Shidi, Chen Geng, and Lin Biao are also from Whampoa." "The Communist Party does not engage in factions, but only talks about revolution and not revolution. I understand this truth." "You are waiting in Qujiang, and after the People's Liberation Army goes south to get in touch with you, we will work together to liberate Guangzhou." Zhang Tong confessed, "We will notify the underground party to contact you, and of course we will guarantee your safety. Please tell Zeng, Mr. Liu and others, the CCP sincerely welcomes them to act righteously!" Mou Longguang returned to Qujiang and told Liu Tiren and others the details.Since Zeng Yuansan was still hesitating, and this trip to Hong Kong went beyond "throwing stones and asking for directions", Mou Longguang only said: "I have met with the person in charge of the CCP, and the specifics of what to do have not yet been decided." One day in August, Army Commander Cheng Peng assigned Zeng Yuansan to fly to Chongqing to meet Chiang Kai-shek. After Zeng returned, he didn't mention anything about meeting Chiang, which made Mou Longguang and others uncertain about his attitude. In late September, the People's Liberation Army went south across Dayuling and occupied Nanxiong and Shixing.Yu Hanmou ordered to abandon Qujiang and withdraw. The 39th Army first withdrew to Yingde for defense, and then was ordered to withdraw southward to Zhanjiang to take a boat to Hainan Island.Zeng Yuansan didn't want to go to Hainan Island, so he finally made up his mind to revolt. On the afternoon of October 13, the leading troops of the People's Liberation Army arrived in Sanshui and confronted Zeng Shi across the river.Seeing that the time was ripe, Zeng Yuansan said, "Chief Mou, try to contact them quickly." Mou Longguang immediately wrote a letter and sent Lin Songji and Hou Zusong from the staff office to cross the river overnight to join the PLA. Lin and Hou Guojiang are about to hand over the letter to Wang Yanquan, deputy division commander of the 40th Division of the 14th Army of the People's Liberation Army.The People's Liberation Army stopped fighting and sent Fan Ziming and Lu Yongzhen from the Political Department of the Corps to accompany Lin and Hou to Southwest Township the next day. Fan Ziming met Zeng Yuansan and Mou Longguang and said: "Commander Chen Geng knew that you two loved the country and the people, and sympathized with the Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army. You made great contributions during the War of Resistance, and the people will never forget it!" Zeng Yuansan said: "Thank you, General Chen Geng, for your praise. To be honest, I am determined not to fight! In our division, most of the officers are from Guizhou, and most of the soldiers are from Shandong. I can't bear to drag them into the sea, far away from home." Relatives. I don’t have any demands, it can be counted as an uprising or surrender, and surrendering to the Communist Party is not surrendering to foreigners.” The two sides began formal talks.Fan Ziming said: "We have five demands: first, issue a telegram to announce the uprising; second, in the name of Master Zeng, call back the 309th Regiment, the leader of your division; third, hold the 23rd Army and prevent it from passing through you. Fourth, contact the 91st Division and the 147th Division and try to get them to revolt together; fifth, after your division revolts, cross the river to assemble and reorganize." Zeng Yuansan said: "I cannot agree to holding the 23rd Army. The Communist Party is wise and has good policies. I admire it. Whether it is a surrender or an uprising, just quietly disarm, and I will not fight anyone! I am determined to be a commoner. " Mou Longguang said: "Seizing the 23rd Army is a revolutionary action..." Zeng Yuansan interrupted him and said: "The old man single-handedly promoted us. We don't drink the water in this well, and we can't shit or pee in it! I won't do such immoral things as holding the 23rd Army. Go your own way, I am determined to surrender, and I will not intervene if others surrender or not. The same is true for our division. If the 309th regiment is willing to come back, I welcome it, and if I don’t want to, I will not pursue it.” Deputy division commander Chen Yikuang said: "I'll contact the 309th regiment and try it out." Zeng Yuansan said: "Okay, I will leave this task to you." Mou Longguang said: "The 91st Division and the 147th Division should let us know, let's try it!" Zeng Yuansan said: "Liu Tiren of the 91st Division has negotiated with us and can inform us. The 147th Division has already gone far, so there is no need for it." Due to different opinions, Fan Ziming decided to send Lu Yongzhen across the river to report to the head of the 14th Army for instructions. Li Chengfang, the commander of the army, said after learning about the situation: "There is bound to be a battle if the 23rd Army is held hostage. They don't want to fight, so there is no need to force it. Our requirements are only four: 1. Immediately broadcast the uprising; 2. The division commander Zeng Yuansan first traveled north to Our military headquarters, both sides mobilize ships, and the troops will cross north to Southwest Township to assemble; third, talk to the 91st Division and introduce our people to do the work; fourth, we must call the 309th regiment back.” Lu Yongzhen returned to the Zeng division and told the request made by Commander Li, Zeng Yuansan immediately agreed. On October 16, Zeng Yuansan led a telegram announcing the uprising, and then led his troops across the river by boat. The 309th regiment of the avant-garde division of the 103rd division received an order from the division headquarters: "The division is besieged, and quickly return to help." It returned to Hekou Town, Jiangbian at 1 p.m.At this time, Zeng Yuansan led the main force and had already crossed the river, leaving the deputy commander Chen Yikuang to wait by the river. The head of the regiment, Wang Lucheng, saw that the situation was different, and said to Chen Yikuang: "The division commander lied to us to come back, but in the end he didn't want us, so he took the troops across the river to join the communist army. We can't go with him. Please ask the deputy division commander to take us to the army headquarters. .” Chen Yikuang was moved when he saw that the head of the regiment Wang was in tears, and quickly explained: "The commander didn't mean to abandon you, otherwise he wouldn't have called you back. The communist army has captured Guangzhou, and the whole country is about to be liberated. Can we Fleeing to Zhanjiang and Hainan Island, we couldn’t escape in the end. Last year today, we were still in the Northeast, and now we have retreated to the South China Sea. Everyone knows that the world will eventually belong to the Communist Party. This is God’s will! The people are also thinking about ourselves, and only an uprising is the only way out." After hearing these words, Commander Wang and his battalion and company commanders expressed their willingness to cross the river to join the uprising. About 5,000 people from the 103rd Division revolted in Sanshui. Another regiment was wiped out by the 43rd Army of the Four Fields in the battle of Fogang a few days ago, which was also the fiercest battle in the Guangdong Campaign. The 91st Division withdrew to Heshan and received a telegram from Zeng Yuansan, learning that the 103rd Division had revolted.At this time, the Guangdong Central Column of the People's Liberation Army was blocking the front, and the vanguard reported: "The Guangdong Central Column has sent two representatives to negotiate." The division commander Liu Tiren ordered the chief of staff Long Xiang to negotiate. Long Xiang took a staff officer and two guards to Zhaiwuxu. Officer Guan of the Guangdong Central Column came down from the mountain, and the two sides met on the road. Staff Officer Guan pointed to the nearby hills and said: "Now we are surrounded by our troops. The People's Liberation Army is marching at a speed of 200 miles a day, and has gone around from the sea to your front. The road leading to Hainan Island has been cut off." Long Xiang checked the surrounding situation and knew that the "enemy" in front of him was the "Turkish Communist Party" (local guerrilla forces), not the main force of the People's Liberation Army.He, Liu Tiren, Qiu Jianzhi and others began plotting the uprising as early as the beginning of the year. They were unwilling to abandon their families and leave the mainland. "Chiang Kai-shek has completely collapsed. There is no way out for you to go to Taiwan with him." Staff Officer Guan said, "I hope you will abandon the dark and turn to the bright, otherwise you will be in danger." Long Xiang said: "You just wait here, I will go back and discuss with the teacher, and then I will answer you." After hearing Long Xiang's report, Liu Tiren immediately called a meeting of officers above the battalion. He first stated: "My opinion is to follow the path of the 103rd Division and not go to Hainan Island. Please express your opinions." Qiu Jianzhi, Long Xiang and others expressed their willingness to follow the teacher.Only Feng Zhiyuan, the head of the political work department, burst into tears. He said, "What are you afraid of? Resolutely fight and don't compromise!" Long Xiang hurriedly pulled him aside and warned: "Everyone doesn't want to go to Hainan Island. They want to take the route of the 103rd Division. You should recognize the situation and don't make people angry, otherwise your life will be in danger immediately." Feng Zhiyuan was too frightened to cry. After the meeting, Long Xiang hurried back to Zhaiwuxu and said to Staff Officer Guan: "We agree to follow in the footsteps of the 103rd Division and are determined to revolt." On October 17, more than 2,700 people from the 91st Division gathered at Zhaiwuxu to accept the reorganization of the People's Liberation Army.After approval by the Political Department of the Chen Geng Corps, it was determined that the division had surrendered. The defection of Zeng Yuansan and Liu Tiren enabled Chen Geng to figure out the movement of Yu Hanmou's main force. Except for the 63rd Army and the 109th Army who fled to Guangxi, the rest fled to Yangchun and Yangjiang, with the purpose of fleeing to Hainan Island.Chen Geng ordered his troops to pursue Yangchun and Yangjiang swiftly. On the same day, Mao Zedong called Lin Biao and Ye Jianying and Chen Geng: Lin Biao received the above-mentioned telegram from Mao Zedong, so he had no choice but to let the 4th Corps continue to pursue it, and at the same time, he once again emphasized his concern about the escape of the Cantonese army to Guangxi. At 12 o'clock on October 18, Lin Biao called Ye Jianying, Chen Geng and Mao Zedong: The 4th Corps took action and hoped to implement it in accordance with Chairman Mao's 17th telegram.If you can catch up with the enemy, continue to chase and wipe out the enemy fiercely. If it is really impossible to catch up, you should not pursue, lest the main force of the enemy in Guangdong will easily retreat to Nanning and Yunnan in the future. At that time, the remnants of Yu Hanmou were about two days away from the 4th Corps of the Second Field. Could they catch up with the enemy?Chen Geng was very confident in his troops, and decided that Li Chengfang would coordinate and command the six divisions of the 14th Army, 13th Army, and 15th Army to pursue Yangjiang and Yangchun. According to the location of each unit, Li Chengfang divided the forces of the six divisions into three groups: The west road is the main force of the 42nd Division and the 120th Regiment of the 40th Division. From Sanshui through Gaoyao and Yangchun, it detours to the west of Yangjiang, cutting off the Guangdong enemy's Guangxi route; The middle road is the main force of the 41st Division and the 118th Regiment of the 40th Division, chasing from Sanshui via Gaoming and Enping to Yangjiang; The East Road is the 43rd Division and the 44th Division. From Foshan, through Heshan and Taishan, it goes straight to the south side of the Yangjiang River, cutting off the enemy's escape route to the sea; The 38th Division is the reserve team, advancing westward at the end. The three-way troops carried out a forced march for seven consecutive days and nights according to the predetermined route.At that time, it was raining continuously, the roads were muddy, and in the hilly area, apart from the mountains, there were rice fields criss-crossed by water networks.These difficulties greatly slowed down the marching speed of Yu Hanmou's remnants, but it was nothing to the hard-working People's Liberation Army.Later, Li Chengfang joked: "If it wasn't for God's grace, the enemy might have slipped away if it rained for several days. The Jade Emperor should be credited first." The fastest was the west road, and they made a detour to the enemy's right flank at a speed of 150 miles a day.Some companies only cook one meal for two days, and the soldiers eat dry food while walking.I only sleep for two or three hours a day, and often doze off while walking. The squad leader is afraid that someone will fall behind, so he took out the old method in the Northeast. The whole class leads a rope, and the squad leader leads the rope. Pull the tail of the rope behind.Following a route parallel to the enemy, they gradually overtook the enemy, and on the evening of October 23 they finally overtook the enemy's vanguard and blocked the enemy's westward escape. The next day, the central and eastern troops also entered the Yangjiang area and completed the encirclement of the main force of the Cantonese army. Liu Anqi, the commander of the 21st Corps of the Cantonese Army, realized that he was in a dangerous situation. He could no longer reach Zhanjiang, so he asked Yu Hanmou to send a warship to Hailing Island so that he could board the nearby ship and escape. On October 24, Liu Anqi commanded the Cantonese Army to break through to the west and launched six offensives, all of which were repelled by two regiments of the West Road PLA. At 1 o'clock in the middle of the night on October 25, Li Chengfang divided the forces of the six front-line divisions into two groups, east and west, to attack the enemy from both sides.After dawn, Liu Anqi adjusted her deployment and launched a new offensive against the West Road troops of the Baishawei People's Liberation Army.The Cantonese army is still struggling, getting crazier each time, while the PLA's position stands firm. The 8 offensives were like huge waves hitting the rocks. Although the momentum was scary, it had no effect. When the battle lasted until 2 p.m., Liu Anqi saw that there was no hope of breaking through to the west, so she ordered to turn south to the sea. There is no big port on the sea, and there will not be too many ships.He already understood that this was the last twilight of the 21st Corps, and it counted as much as he could escape. Li Chengfang ordered the East Road troops to advance southward and capture key points on the coast.On the one hand, Liu Anqi ordered the troops who arrived at the beach to board the ship and flee, and on the other hand, she ordered the follow-up troops to cover.While the East Road People's Liberation Army attacked the coast, it blocked the sea with heavy artillery fire.From the dusk of the 25th to the dawn of the next day, nearly 10,000 people were killed or drowned in the offshore, except for Liu Anqi who led a small number of Cantonese troops who escaped by warships.By dawn on the 26th, the People's Liberation Army on the East Road had completely cut off the route for the enemy to flee south to the sea, and the remnants of the enemy were surrounded in a narrow area of ​​only 7 square kilometers north of Pinggangwei. The three-way troops launched a general attack at the same time, and more than a dozen commandos broke into the enemy's formation and quickly interspersed, chopping the enemy into pieces, and the establishment was in chaos.By noon on the day of the battle, all the besieged enemies were wiped out, and the "Eryang Encirclement and Annihilation War" came to an end.The 4th Corps of the Second Field wiped out more than 40,000 people from the 21st Corps and the 4th Corps of the Yu Hanmou Group in one fell swoop. The Guangdong campaign lasted 34 days. Chen Geng commanded the 4th and 15th Corps and other departments to wipe out more than 62,000 people from the Yu Hanmou Group, including more than 41,000 prisoners, and seized 714 artillery pieces, more than 30,000 guns, and more than 150 cars. 38 seats.