Chapter 7 Chapter 6: The Battle Against Meng Lianggu

On March 11, 1947, air defense sirens sounded continuously over Yan'an.Dozens of U.S.-made planes took turns to attack, with the sound of engines, machine guns, and explosions.The whole of Yan'an is burning. On March 13, Hu Zongnan launched a comprehensive siege on the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region.At that time, our Northwest People's Liberation Army had only more than 20,000 troops in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, while the number in the south of Huzong was 230,000, which can be said to be 1:10. On March 15, Chiang Kai-shek ordered to block the gap at the mouth of the Yellow River Garden, forcing the Yellow River to return to its original course, forming a frontal line of defense for the Yellow River about 1,000 kilometers from Xifenglingdu to Jinan, Shandong, so as to cut off the two main battlefields of the People's Liberation Army in Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, Henan and East China. This connection prevents the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army from going south to support the Shandong battlefield, and ensures that it draws troops from the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan battlefield to use on the east and west wings, forming a "dumbbell-shaped" strategic situation on the southern line of defense in the middle and offense on both wings.Its strategic intention is: to oppress the East China Field Army to the central Shandong area and destroy it, or to drive the East China Field Army north across the Yellow River and retreat to North China.After the key offensive is successful, we will attack North China and Northeast China to achieve the goal of defeating the people's revolutionary forces one by one.Chiang Kai-shek regarded the success or failure of this strategic policy and key offensive as a major event "related to the survival of the party and the country".

At noon on March 19, the Kuomintang army occupied Yan'an.Hu Zongnan exchanged 5,200 soldiers for an empty city in Yan'an. In the Shandong Liberated Area, although the Kuomintang had been severely hit by our army, it was still unwilling to fail. It transferred the Wang Jingjiu Group from the Hebei-Shandong-Henan battlefield to Shandong, and together with the original main force on the Shandong battlefield, reorganized into three corps.Including the troops under the jurisdiction of the second and third appeasement areas, the total force used to attack the Shandong liberated area reached 24 reorganized divisions, 60 brigades, and more than 450,000 troops.

In order to smash the key offensive of the Kuomintang, on March 6, the Central Military Commission sent a telegram to Chen Yi, Rao Shushi, Zhang Yunyi, Li Yu, Su Yu, Tan Zhenlin, and Chen Shiju, pointing out that Huaye should use "the five main columns to strive for a rest for more than half a month, which is very necessary." , the next step is to "wait for the development of the enemy's situation before making a decision. However, the criterion for considering actions should be to facilitate the annihilation of the enemy. No matter where, as long as a large number of enemies can be annihilated, it is a threat to the enemy and cooperation with friendly forces, regardless of the distance. Far and near. There is no need to worry about the time to transfer to the outside line."

On March 10, the Central Military Commission instructed: "The whole army should take a complete rest for one month, so as to benefit from fighting later." From March 8th to 11th, the East China Military Region and the East China Field Army held a senior cadre meeting, mainly to convey the instructions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Central Military Commission, summarize the experience of the Laiwu Campaign, and discuss how to implement the policy of "fighting while building".At the same time, the leading organs of the field army also held meetings on political work, staff work, and logistics work to comprehensively summarize experience and deploy work.

The place where this meeting was held was a place called Da Mine Land in the southeast of Zichuan, where the Germans once opened coal mines.After the Battle of Laiwu, Chen Yi and others led the Huaye Command to move here.It is said that this is the hometown of the author Pu Songling.This meeting is also known as the "big mine meeting" in customary practice. On March 13, the leaders of the East China Bureau, the military region, and the field army jointly reported the troop rest plan to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Chairman Mao Zedong.The report said: "We held a meeting in the front to communicate and discuss the central government's instructions on the current situation and tasks. We held a meeting of division and column cadres and agreed to rest the troops until the end of March. The project is to discuss in depth the instructions of the central government and how to complete them. New combat missions this year, rectification of discipline and military drills, and continued staff meetings and political work meetings. Chen, Su, and Tan took time to study and help each column, and Rao, Li, Zhang, and Shu took time to Bohai, Jiaodong arranges work, and at the same time establishes the eighth, ninth, and tenth column establishments. In addition, if it can rest until the end of March, 10,000 recruits can be recruited from Bohai. In early April, 10,000 recruits will also be added to Jiaodong. Grain transported from Bohai 100 million to 300 million catties will be supplied to Lunan. At the same time, 5 local regiments will be drawn from Bohai, Jiaodong, and Luzhong to make up 9 regiments for each column. At this time, if the enemy in the south or Jinpu maintains a relatively scattered state, that is, to wipe out two or three armies within a month, it is relatively guaranteed."

During this period, Huaye's various columns seized the time to carry out a one-month training.Conducted situational education, completed the reorganization of the troops, strengthened military training, and improved the combat effectiveness of the troops. This is the most effective training of the East China Field Army since the War of Liberation. At the end of March 1947, Gu Zhutong commanded three corps of Tang Enbo, Wang Jingjiu, and Ou Zhen to launch a large-scale attack on the Shandong liberated area.The Kuomintang's key attack on Shandong officially began. In this attack, Gu Zhutong, Tang Enbo, Wang Jingjiu, Ou Zhen and others appeared to be cautious. They adopted the new tactics of intensive flat push, steady advance, and not easy division of troops. They did not advance more than 10 kilometers a day, and even advanced only on the slowest day. Two or three kilometers.

In terms of troop deployment, Gu Zhutong continued to adopt the deployment of "hard walnuts" and "rotten grapes", placing the reorganized 74th Division, the 11th Division and the Fifth Army's first-class ace main forces on the front line In the central position, there are several miscellaneous troops and second-rate troops on the left and right wings.They thought that if Huaye wanted to attack one of the ace troops in the middle, the motley troops on the two wings and the other two ace troops would be able to provide reinforcements; ", when Huaye is exhausted, and then use the "hard walnut" trump card to attack with the main force, you can win a complete victory.Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Cheng were very satisfied with this deployment plan, and believed that it was an absolutely safe "safety plan".Chen Cheng even bragged triumphantly: "The communist army can't eat 'hard walnuts', they can only eat 'rotten grapes'. When they eat 'rotten grapes' and lose their appetite, our 'hard walnuts' will definitely choke them to death!" "

At this time, Chen Yi, Su Yu, Tan Zhenlin, Chen Shiju and others planned to enter Tancheng, Matou, and Xin'an Towns with 82,000 people from the second, seventh, and eighth columns, occupy the canal line, and then cross the canal westward, approaching the southern section of Jinpu, and lure The enemy's 74th and 83rd divisions were sent south to aid.Afterwards, either the enemy's 74th or 83rd divisions on the southern front, or the 11th division that was reinforced by swimming to the southeast, or the Fifth Army that was advancing eastward from Dawenkou. On April 20, the enemy's 72nd Division marched northward from the Wenshang and Ningyang areas and occupied Tai'an, which was relatively isolated.Huaye immediately made a plan to encircle Tai'an (An) and encircle Tai'an with three columns and ten columns, attracting the enemy to reorganize the 75th and 85th divisions for northern aid, and prepare to annihilate them during the movement; Waiting to annihilate the enemy who may be aided from the north from Surabaya and Pingyi.

In order to further clarify the plan of the head of Huaye to encircle and aid Thailand, the 3rd and 8th Divisions conducted further discussions based on the instructions of their superiors, the enemy's situation, and the terrain. On the commanding heights of Haoli Mountain and the railway station in the southwest corner, the 24th Regiment cleared out the enemies at the South Gate Xichengguan. On the evening of April 24, the 23rd Regiment launched an attack, and they charged towards the main peak of Haoli Mountain.The enemy blocked it with intensive artillery fire, and then desperately organized a counterattack.Fighting fiercely in the middle of the night, the 23rd Regiment suffered heavy casualties.The assault company of the 24th regiment took down several bunkers west of the south gate, without any casualties.The company commander of this company is Guo Jisheng.The division commander Wang Jiwen immediately asked the chief of the training section to take a staff officer to the 24th regiment to sum up experience.The chief of the training section quickly summed up his experience and found that Guo Jisheng made full use of small group movements in battle, dividing the assault squad into combat groups, and the soldiers in each group covered each other and advanced alternately.As a result, the division leaders immediately went to the troops separately and started a small training before the war.After a day of training, the 23rd Regiment charged towards Mount Haoli again. It took only 30 minutes in total to wipe out a battalion defending the enemy.Then, the 23rd regiment occupied the train station again.The 24th regiment also wiped out the enemies at Chengguan.

At 9 o'clock in the evening on April 25, the 22nd Regiment began to attack the city from the west gate. The commando led by the combat hero Lin Maocheng blasted open the enemy's city gate in only 15 minutes.The 24th regiment and the follow-up troops rushed into the city at once.At the same time, the ten verticals also broke through the east gate.Gunshots rang out in the city, explosives and grenades exploded in the city, and troops marched into the city continuously.At dawn, with the gradually sparse gunfire, 20,000 people from the enemy's reorganized 72nd Division were wiped out, and Yang Wenquan, the commander of the 72nd Division, was also captured alive.

While the troops were cleaning the battlefield, an enemy plane buzzed overhead. Before it could figure out what was going on, it was shot by our soldiers with machine guns and rifles, and fell headlong in front of our command post. . Master Wang Jiwen took a newly handed over camera and said to everyone: "Go 'eating roast chicken'!" Then, everyone laughed and walked towards the burning enemy plane. In this battle, although the enemy forces from all walks of life were afraid of our army's reinforcements, they were still unable to send aid, and the reinforcement plan failed to be realized, but our army wiped out the enemy's vital forces and delayed the enemy's attack. At the beginning of May, Huaye decided to further mobilize and disperse the enemy. He used two columns to go south to Lunan and another column to go south to North Jiangsu, threatening the enemy's rear, attracting the enemy to return to the division or divide their troops, so as to wipe out the enemy in motion.After Huaye reported this plan, on May 4, the Central Military Commission replied with instructions: "The enemy's army is dense and difficult to fight, and it is patient and waiting, and the disposal is very appropriate." At the same time, it instructed, "Move your rear to Jiaodong, Bohai, Navelji The vast area south of the line can lure the enemy to go deep, let the enemy occupy Laiwu, Yishui, and Juxian, and fall into extreme difficulties. Then it is not too late to wipe them out. The only thing is to have great patience; second, to master the maximum force; Three, don't alarm the enemy's rear too early." On May 6, the Central Military Commission telegraphed again: "I learned that Qingtuo Temple wiped out 3,000 enemies, but because I went to Ningyang, it was too late to concentrate forces to fight against the enemy's 74th Division and other departments, and I lost a chance to wipe out the enemy. At present The situation is urgent for the enemy, but not for us. In view of the lessons learned from Qingtuo Temple, it is especially inappropriate to divide the troops. Not only should the first and sixth columns not be separated too early, but the seventh column should also temporarily stay in the coastal area for about a month as a means of containment. Use it, and then go south according to the situation in a month. Therefore, in May and June, you will be divided by seven verticals located outside Binhai, and the rest will be concentrated in Laiwu and Yishui areas for rest and standby. Wait for the enemy to advance or other changes occur, and then the camera Annihilation. First, don't be impatient, and second, don't divide your troops. As long as the main force is in hand, there is always a chance to annihilate the enemy." On the evening of May 6, the Huaye Command located in Xiwangzhuang was brightly lit. According to the instructions of the Central Military Commission, Chen Yi, Su Yu, Tan Zhenlin, Chen Shiju, etc. studied and adjusted the combat deployment overnight, and decided to abandon the plan to use the seventh column to go south to northern Jiangsu and the first column to go to southern Shandong.Order the sixth column, which is already located west of Xintai, to go south to the area south of Pingyi, no longer take the enemy as its main task, do not take active actions, and hide behind the enemy in southern Lunan on standby.Considering that the enemies in Changwei have been building fortifications for a long time, Wang Jingjiu's Corps and the "Second Appeasement Zone" are relatively close to reinforcements, while the enemies in Luzhong have moved forward and are ready to seize opportunities.Therefore, the northern attack on Changwei was suspended, the main force disengaged from the enemy, and gathered in the areas east of Laiwu, Xintai, and Mengyin, setting up a formation and waiting to wipe out the enemy. Su Yu said with a smile: "This action of our army will definitely give the enemy a false impression. Gu Zhutong will think that our main force has been transferred from the Yimeng Highway to the Zichuan and Boshan areas. Nanjing has an 'unprecedented victory' to brag about Already!" Chen Yi went on to say: "Tang Enbo will definitely go crazy, take the lead!" Tan Zhenlin said: "If he does this, he will not be far from his end. He has not been defeated since he attacked Shandong, and he should lose!" Sure enough, afterwards Chiang Kai-shek and Gu Zhutong mistakenly believed that "the communist army suffered heavy casualties and was unable to fight any more, so they were forced to retreat to the Zichuan and Boshan areas." On May 10, Chiang Kai-shek and Gu Zhutong issued a secret order to "follow and pursue, enter and leave the front lines of Juxian, Yishui, Yuezhuang, and Zibo".The three major mobile corps of the Kuomintang, with hundreds of thousands of troops, began to "pursue" eastward and northward in a swarm. Eager to take the lead was Tang Enbo, the commander of the First Corps. He did not wait for Wang Jingjiu on the two wings and the Ouzhen Corps to act in unison. Occupy Miaojia District and Jiehu, and there is a tendency to continue to violate Yishui.Since the enemy is located on the right flank of the enemy and is more exposed, Huaye plans to annihilate it first and send reinforcements depending on the opportunity.But the enemy army on this route is the Guangxi army. They are very cunning and tenacious in fighting. Fighting with them requires hard work and consumption, and it is difficult to capture them. They are not ideal targets. On May 11, various departments of the First Corps began to invade the north.On the evening of the same day, Chief Hua Ye obtained the specific combat deployment of the enemy Tang Enbo Corps from secret materials: the 74th Division was reorganized as the center, and the 25th Division and the 83rd Division were its left and right wings.The 65th Division protected the 25th Division's flank, the 7th Army and the 48th Division protected the 83rd Division's flank, and captured Tanbu on the 12th (later changed to the 14th).At the same time, the 5th Army of Wang Jingjiu's Corps and the 11th Division of Ouzhen Corps have already been dispatched from Laiwu and Xintai to attack the East.On the same day, the Central Military Commission also notified Huaye of the above developments. Su Yu calmly analyzed and pondered the rapidly changing battlefield situation, and believed that based on the situation at that time, it could be judged that the enemy had launched a full-line attack on Huaye.Its deployment is to use the reorganized 74th Division as the main assault force, under the cover of the two wings and the follow-up powerful corps, to implement a central breakthrough against Huaye, and direct the spearhead of the central breakthrough at Tanbu, where the Huaye headquarters is located.In an attempt to attack the Huaye command center in one fell swoop, trap Huaye in chaos and gather and annihilate them, or force Huaye to a corner of Jiaodong or drive across the Yellow River.Su Yu believes that this situation has brought a favorable opportunity for Huaye.Because before this, the enemy army was densely packed, moved cautiously, and would retreat as soon as they were attacked, making it difficult to capture.Now, the enemy has begun to attack across the board, and the 74th Division has implemented a breakthrough in the center, and has entered the front of our main assembly position.Therefore, Huaye should immediately change his plan of attacking the enemy's Seventh Army and Forty-eighth Division first, quickly mobilize several powerful columns nearby, and use the method of "tiger digging out his heart" to enter from the center of the enemy's battle formation. Cut off the connection between the enemy's 74th Division and its friends and neighbors, and wipe them out cleanly and completely. After Su Yu made up his mind, he told Chen Yi about his views and basis.Chen Yi listened very seriously, and then said with certainty: "Okay, we just need to have the courage to take the head of a general from a million troops!" Then, Chen Yi took off his hat and threw it on the table, saying, "I'm not leaving!" At this time, all the columns of Huaye had begun to move towards Yishui, the front echelon of the headquarters had already left, and the rear echelon was ready to go.To maintain confidentiality, radio stations and wireless phones have been shut down, and even the wired telephone lines erected have also been put away.In order to convey the order as soon as possible, the superior decided that Chief of Staff Xia Guang would mobilize the existing staff members of the headquarters, some riding motorcycles, some riding bicycles, some riding horses, some running forward, and separately notifying the first The leaders of the 1st, 4th, 8th, and 9th columns and the special forces column immediately came to the wild division to accept new tasks.All units stopped on standby on the spot and sent a message to Tan Zhenlin who had left Yesi to go to the southern line, asking him to convey and deploy tasks to the second and seventh columns nearby. Su Yu presided over a combat meeting, and decided to use the five columns of the first, fourth, sixth, eighth, and ninth to undertake the task of encircling and annihilating, and the four columns of the second, third, seventh, and tenth to undertake the task of blocking support. The tasks and actions of each column require special forces columns to gather and stand by. Chen Yi emphasized that it is Chairman Mao's consistent military thinking to concentrate superior forces and fight against isolated enemies first.When the enemy's powerful corps is attacking, it is usually advantageous to strike the enemy's flank.However, when the enemy is constantly being attacked by such attacks and is on guard and extremely cautious, and at the same time the enemy in the center is relatively negligent and turns to the fore, and our army has gathered a considerable force in the vicinity of it, we should adopt a one-sided defense against the reinforcements. The tactics of concentrating superior forces on the one hand and storming the enemy in the center can also achieve the goal of winning the battle.The encirclement and annihilation of the enemy's 74th Division this time is the way of fighting, which is called "taking the head of a general from a million troops". The meeting decided that the battle would start at dusk on May 13. At this moment, the troops received two telegrams from the Central Military Commission one after another.The telegram pointed out: The enemy has already invaded, and you can choose the ones that are easy to fight and annihilate one or two armies. On the 13th, Huaye telegraphed to the Central Committee the determination and plan to encircle and wipe out the 74th Division: "First, the 74th Division began to attack Tanbu on the 11th, and the 83rd Division followed up north of the Qingsnake Temple. , the 25th Division is in the southeast of Mengyin as its left-wing unit, and Guijian is in Tangtou and Gegou in the northeast of Linyi. Second, we will assemble the 1st, 4th, 8th, and 9th columns tonight to attack the 74th Division. Complete the encirclement. The battle will take two or three days, and after the 74th division is wiped out, we will expand the results according to the opportunity." The decision to annihilate the enemy's seventy-fourth division was conveyed, which inspired the army's morale.The jingle that was once popular in the Huaye Army was changed to: "Commander Chen's telegram is crackling, our scud is crackling!" The Kuomintang army gathered heavily in the Menglianggu area. On the morning of May 12, the first corps of the Kuomintang army that attacked Tanbu continued to launch an offensive under the command of Tang Enbo.The Seventy-Fourth Division wanted to take the lead, and rushed the fastest. They threw off the two wings of the covering troops, passed through the west foot of Menglianggu from Duozhuang, and headed south of Tanbu to the Xu Shiyou Department of the Ninth Column of the East China Field Army located in Yangjiazhai and Gushan. Launched a fierce attack. The 25th Division and the 65th Division of the Kuomintang Army attacked fiercely on the left flank, while the 83rd Division, the Seventh Army and the 48th Division advanced towards Tanbu on the right flank. In the face of a strong enemy, the three leaders Chen, Su, and Tan decided to use nine columns to fight the 74th Division, of which five columns, namely the first, fourth, sixth, eighth, and ninth columns, were responsible for assault missions; A total of four columns, the second, third, seventh, and tenth, are responsible for the task of blocking aid. Chen Yi and Su Yu also issued specific combat tasks to each column.The first and eighth columns detoured from the left and right flanks of the enemy's reorganized 74th Division, seized Lushan, and joined forces with the sixth column, which was from the south of Shandong and went northward, to cut off the enemy's rear and seal the encirclement; the fourth and ninth columns attacked from the front .The five columns coordinated to encircle and wipe out the enemy.The specific tasks are divided into: the first column (attached with an independent division) uses one division to capture Caozhuang east of Mengyin, block the enemy's 65th division, and the main force is from the junction of the enemy's 74th division and the 25th division Push in, cut off the connection between the two divisions, block the enemy's 25th division, and cooperate with the neighbors' sixth and eighth columns to capture Duozhuang and Lushan, cut off the retreat of the enemy's 74th division, and attack and wipe out the enemy's 74th division from the left. The enemy: the eighth column entered from the junction of the enemy's 74th and 83rd divisions, cut off the connection between the two divisions, and blocked the 83rd division with part of the main force. The main force quickly captured Wanquan Mountain and Lushan Mountain. Communicate with the first column, cooperate with friends and neighbors to attack and annihilate the enemy's 74th Division from the right; the fourth column first controls the mountain area north of Beilou, prevents the enemy from continuing to attack Tanbu, and then seizes Menglianggu, and cooperates with friends and neighbors to attack Lushan Assault, attacking and annihilating the 74th Division from the front; the 9th Column first controlled Tanbu and the mountains to the south, resolutely resisted the 74th Division, and then captured Diaowo, cooperated with friends and neighbors to attack Lushan, and attacked and annihilated the 7th Division from the front. The 14th Division; the sixth column lurking behind the enemy in southern Lunan, took a shortcut and went northward, captured Duozhuang with the cooperation of the first column, cut off the enemy's retreat, and then cooperated with friends and neighbors to attack and annihilate the 74th Division. Use the tenth column to contain the Laiwu enemy's fifth army and prevent its southern aid; the third column advances to the southeast of Xintai to prevent the Xintai enemy's eleventh division from the south; the seventh column is attached to the special column howitzer regiment to prevent the Heyang enemy The Seventh Army and the Forty-eighth Division went north; the second column entered the Jiehu and Zhangzhuangji areas to ensure the safety of the left wing of the eighth column and support the seventh column in operations. The main force of the special column is on standby.The local armed forces of the Southern Shandong Military Region stepped up their harassment and sabotage along the Linyi and Lintai highways. After the task was issued, Chen Yi and Su Yu asked each column to mobilize at all levels, fully promote democracy, and study tactics. We must not be paralyzed and underestimate the enemy, and we must be mentally prepared to fight bad and tough battles! On the evening of May 13, the battle of Menglianggu kicked off. Under heavy artillery fire, Huaye's various units launched an offensive against the enemy's 74th Division.The Fourth Column first attacked Mashan, Foshan, Shanggaohu, Nanshan, Luohanshan and other places held by the 51st Brigade of the 74th Division of the enemy, and wiped out part of the enemy; the Ninth Column captured Ma Muchi and Suijiadian, and approached the Menglianggu and Lushan areas ; under the command of Ye Fei, the first column occupied the northern Sichuan area of ​​Caozhuang that night, captured Huangdoushan, Yaoshan, and Dashanchang, and cut off the road for the enemy's 74th division to retreat to Duozhuang; the eighth column captured Taochang under the command of Wang Jianan. Mountains, Leishi Mountain, Bizi Mountain and other key points cut the connection between the 74th Division and the 83rd Division of the enemy; under the command of Wang Bicheng, the Sixth Column went from Tongshan to Guanmu and Baijiu, 20 kilometers away from Duozhuang, after two nights of rapid march. Bu, captured duozhuang on the 15th.From the fierce battle until dawn on the 15th, the fourth and ninth columns reached the line of Tangjiayuzi and Zhaojiachengzi, the eighth column occupied Wanquan Mountain, and the first, third, and eighth columns got in touch with each other.In this way, the Huaye troops formed an encirclement against the enemy's 74th Division. Zhang Lingfu realized that he had been surrounded by Huaye in the Menglianggu area. Although he was taken aback, he didn't panic.On the one hand, he ordered the troops to climb to the top of Menglianggu Mountain and wait for help. On the other hand, he dictated a telegram to report the situation to Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang Kai-shek received a telegram from Zhang Lingfu, deeply aware of the seriousness of the situation, and knew that if he did not handle it well, the Seventy-Fourth Division would be eaten by Huaye.But he also felt that the 74th Division was equipped with American equipment and had strong combat effectiveness. Huaye was unable to swallow the 74th Division. This might be a good opportunity for the Kuomintang army to fight Chen Su's troops.The opportunity must not be missed, the time never comes, and the fighter in front of us cannot be lost in vain!He ordered Zhang Lingfu of the Seventy-Fourth Division to stand firm and attract the main force of the Communist Army. He also mobilized ten divisions to reinforce the Seventy-Fourth Division. After the telegram was sent, Chiang Kai-shek was still worried.He personally flew to Xuzhou by special plane, sat in the town to supervise the battle, and angrily issued the "Ten Killing Order" of "Fearing the enemy and not moving ahead! Killing those who are weak in combat...".Under the personal command of Chiang Kai-shek and Gu Zhutong, ten reorganized divisions of the Kuomintang Army formed an anti-encirclement against the East China Field Army from the periphery. Although Zhang Lingfu was in a desperate situation, he did not panic.He prided himself on his well-organized system, excellent weapons, officials who can command, and soldiers who can fight. He can hold on to the highlands on the hills, and it is easy to ask for airdrops of ammunition and food.Even if the development of the battle situation is not good for oneself, it is not difficult to get out of danger with so many external reinforcements. On the day of May 15th, the atmosphere in the Huaye headquarters was very tense.Chen Yi and Su Yu's faces were grim. They discovered from the enemy's activities that Chiang Kai-shek was trying to fight a decisive battle in Menglianggu, and the situation was very serious.This battle is a decisive battle between the enemy and us, with the main force against the main force, and offense against offense.The enemy's assault ability is very strong, and the enemy reinforcements are already approaching. If the enemy's 74th Division cannot be eliminated in a short time, our East China troops will fall into a passive position. Not only will they not be able to eat the enemy's 74th Division, but will be surrounded instead.Chen Yi and Su Yu were determined to wipe out the enemy's 74th Division within 24 hours, and they must not allow the enemy's reinforcements to approach the 74th Division.Chen Yi called the columns to encourage them. At 10 o'clock on the 15th, Chen Yi called Ye Fei, the commander of the First Column, and said: "Chiang Kai-shek will fight us to the death. You must take Meng Lianggu down at all costs and wipe out the Seventy-Fourth Division!" , Eighth, and Ninth Column commanders Tao Yong, Wang Bicheng, Wang Jian'an, and Xu Shiyou called and said: "To gather and annihilate the 74th Division, success or failure depends on one action! Your army has been wiped out 1,000 people, I will add 1,000 people to you; your troops If 2,000 people were killed, I will add 2,000 people to you. Whoever captures Meng Lianggu will be a hero!" The commanders of each column promised in unison on the phone: "Please don't worry, commander, we will never let the 74th Division attack you." Let the soldiers run away!" Su Yu asked leaders at all levels to command from the front. When necessary, the division commander should be the commander of the regiment, the commander of the regiment should be the commander of the battalion, and the commander of the battalion should be the commander of the company, so as to completely wipe out the enemy's 74th division. Chen Yi and Su Yu agreed to launch a general offensive on the afternoon of May 15.In order to facilitate close observation and command operations, Su Yu led a frontline command post composed of a small number of staff officers and confidential personnel to move westward from Tanbu, and they went to a "Thousand People Cave" near Zhanglin Village at the foot of Ai Mountain to command operations. Chen Yi also shouted the slogan "Annihilate the 74th Division and capture Zhang Lingfu alive" to the troops.The vast number of commanders and fighters made the oath of "attacking Menglianggu, capturing Zhang Lingfu alive", "destroying the 74th division and making great contributions, and planting the red flag on the highest peak". Commanders at all levels went to the front line to command, and a fierce battle began. Diaowo Mountain is located on the east side of the main peak of Menglianggu. The steep mountain is the only way to Lushan and Menglianggu. The enemy has a battalion to defend it. At dawn on the 15th, the Second Battalion and the Third Battalion of the 76th Regiment of the Ninth Column, supported by artillery, launched a fierce attack on Diaowo Mountain. After more than five hours of fierce fighting, they captured the mountain at 11 o'clock.The defending enemy knew well that Diaowo Mountain was lost and endangered the main peak, so at 12 o'clock, taking advantage of the unstable foothold of the Huaye Nine Columns and Seventy-six Regiment, they organized troops to counterattack and succeeded.Seeing the situation, the leaders of the 76th regiment quickly adjusted their deployment and launched an offensive again at 13:00. After repeated struggles, they finally defeated the defending enemy at 8:00 the next day, reoccupied Diaowo Mountain, and opened up passages for attacking the main peaks of Lushan and Menglianggu. The 540 Highland is the natural barrier of Menglianggu.Yizong went into battle with six regiments.The three regiments of the independent division from the Yangjiazhuang and Yejiagou areas, the first division and the first regiment from the south of the 285 highland, the second division, the fourth regiment, and the sixth regiment from the north of the 285 highland, at 16:00 on the 15th to the 540 Highlands attack.As a result, several attacks failed.Tang Guanghui, director of the political department of the column, saw the situation, went to the front to boost morale, and asked the leaders of the divisions to command from the front.After adjusting the offensive deployment, he led the troops to launch a second attack at 2:00 on May 16.Cao Xiangzuo, the squad leader of the Fifth Squad of the Fourth Regiment and the First Company, was shot in the abdomen. He stuffed his intestines with his left hand, pressed the wound, and threw five grenades at the enemy with his right hand.In the Battle of Laiwu, an outstanding vertical and regiment company, the "First Company of People's Heroes", was established. It used the light of the enemy's flares to aim at the enemy group, showing off the prestige of the platoon grenade, forcing the enemy to retreat step by step. At dawn on the 16th, one vertical and five offensive regiments took advantage of the enemy's defeat, and each quickly climbed up to West 540 Highland with one part. The 6th Company of the 30th Regiment of the 4th Division and the 10th Division and the 2nd Company of the 29th Regiment, after losing contact with their superiors, climbed up from the side of the hillside, secretly met the enemy, and attacked the main peak of West 540 Highland at the same time . In order to retake the 540 Highland, the defending enemy launched a continuous counterattack with the entire battalion and regiment. Under the tenacious resistance of the Huaye 1st Column and the 4th Column, they were forced to flee back to the East 540 Highland. At 13:00 on the 16th, the Fourth Column, with the coordination of the First Column and other troops, succeeded in attacking the 540 Highland after fierce fighting, wiped out most of the 51st Brigade, and forced the remnants of the enemy to flee to the 600 Highland and Menglianggu. The main peak of Lushan Mountain is the crown of all peaks.The 23rd Division of the Huaye Eighth Column and the 49th Regiment of the Sixth Column were responsible for the attack mission. On the morning of the 16th, the 23rd Division launched a fierce attack on Lushan in three groups. The attacking troops quickly destroyed the enemy's first and second outer positions with fierce firepower.The "Anqiu Company" of the 67th Regiment broke into the enemy's position first with lightning speed. "Liu Guangrong Squad" soldier Peng Dezhong pounced on the enemy's machine gunner like a tiger, grabbed the machine gun and swept across the enemy group, making the enemy howl like ghosts and wolves.Subsequently, the "Li Gan Pai" of the 69th Regiment, led by the deputy company commander Zhang Xichun, the combat hero, first rushed to the top of the mountain.Immediately afterwards, the 1st Battalion of the 68th Regiment also rushed to the top under the leadership of Battalion Commander Li Hao. The troops in charge of the main attack of the Sixth Column immediately launched a fierce offensive against the enemy's 74th Division at 3:00 pm on May 15th.The 49th Regiment and 50th Regiment of the 17th Division cooperated with the Eighth Column of You Neighborhood to attack Meng Lianggu's flank.The 53rd and 54th regiments of the 18th Division attacked the enemy 74th Division's outlying positions at Hengshan, Guanshan, and Dashanchang. At about 7 o'clock in the evening, the 54th and 53rd regiments concentrated their forces to attack and wipe out the enemies in Yejiagou and Yangjiazhuang.They first bombarded the enemy's position with a very violent platoon of artillery.Then, under the cover of powerful artillery fire, the attacking troops charged bravely, broke into the enemy's position in one fell swoop, and completely occupied Yejiagou, Yangjiazhuang, and Dashanchang. Seeing that the "Imperial Forest Army" of the Seventy-Fourth Division was in great danger, Chiang Kai-shek was so anxious that he lost his mind and lost all thoughts.He once again issued the most severe warrants to the ten reorganization divisions on the periphery: The main force of the Communist bandits in Shandong has been dispatched to us today. This is the only good opportunity for our army to wipe out the Communist bandits and complete the revolution. Strictly investigate crimes and never tolerate them! Tang Enbo, the commander of the First Corps, also sent an urgent telegram to his ministries: "Master Zhang Lingfu is fighting alone and is in a difficult situation. All ministries must break through the siege of the communist army and save Paoze from danger. We must not wait for death..." Under the strict orders of Chiang Kai-shek and Tang Enbo, the reinforcement troops of the ten reorganized divisions outside the Kuomintang frantically attacked the Menglianggu area, and launched an unprecedented bloody battle with the support troops outside Huaye. After several days of bloody battles, all units of the Jiang army who came to reinforce were blocked from the encirclement.The Fifth Army, known as one of the five main forces, was blocked by the tenth column on the front line of Laiwu, and the reorganized eleventh division, known as one of the five main forces, was blocked by the third column to the north of Mengyin. The enemy's reorganized forty-eighth division was blocked by the second column and the seventh column, and it was difficult to move. The 25th and 83rd divisions reorganized by the enemy were blocked west of Tianma Mountain by the 1st and 6th divisions. When they reached a distance of 5 kilometers from the 74th division, they could no longer advance. Shooting cannons to show support, no other tricks can be used. On the afternoon of May 16th, Su Yu ordered: "The first and fourth columns go south, the ninth column goes southwest, the eighth column goes southeast, and the sixth column goes west, ready to launch the final attack on Menglianggu and 600 Heights. He also ordered the special column howitzer regiment Quickly move into the area east of Yiwenzhuang and Ma Muchi, and get ready for shooting, then we must concentrate our firepower on Menglianggu and 600 Heights regardless of consumption." As the three signal bombs of the Huaye Command took off, artillery from all walks of life poured shells into the highlands where the enemy was densely packed, blowing up the enemy with fear.The enemy's 74th Division, which has always been known as well-trained and effective in combat, lost its command under the attack of Huaye artillery, and the team was out of shape and turned into a mob.When Chen Chuanjun, commander of the 51st Brigade of the enemy, saw this scene, he threw the binoculars on the ground in a hurry, tore up the battle map in anger, and sighed repeatedly: "I'm going to die in the wilderness now!" Huaye's main attacking force pounced on the remnants of Meng Lianggu's 74th Division with bravery and invincibility. Amidst the loud and passionate charging horns, Huaye troops swarmed towards the main peak of Menglianggu from all directions like a tide.The majestic slogan of Huaye troops resounded all over the mountains and plains: "Shoot Meng Lianggu and capture Zhang Lingfu alive!" "Catch Zhang Lingfu alive and kill Ace Tiger!" In a cave on the main peak of Menglianggu, Zhang Lingfu called for help at the top of his voice to Huang Baitao, commander of the 25th Division, and Li Tianxia, ​​commander of the 83rd Division: "Mr. Come on, give me a hand!" Zhang Lingfu, who was usually arrogant and conceited, could not care about his face at this time, and let out a desperate wail! The Sixth Column Special Task Force first broke through to the west of Meng Lianggu, and went straight to the cave occupied by the command post of the enemy's 74th Division. As soon as they hit the main peak of Menglianggu, they were fought back desperately by more than a thousand enemies.Therefore, they concentrated all the light and heavy machine guns and fired violently at the enemy, rushed into the enemy's formation to start hand-to-hand combat, and immediately wiped out the department.Wei Zhencheng, the chief of staff of the enemy who led the remnant counterattack, was captured by Hua Ye. The third company of the secret service team rushed to the entrance of the cave, and more than 20 people from Zhang Lingfu's guard were killed immediately when they were about to show their heads.But at the moment of charging at the entrance of the cave, Shao Zhihan, the instructor of the third company, died heroically. The soldiers swept and threw revenge machine gun bullets and grenades into the cave, and all resistance stopped as the enemies in the cave screamed tragically. They rushed into the cave and found that Zhang Lingfu, the enemy division commander wearing the rank of lieutenant general, had been hit by Huaye's Tommy bullet and fell in a pool of blood. At the same time as Zhang Lingfu was killed by the Huaye spy group in the cave: Cai Renjie, deputy commander of the enemy's 74th division, Lu Xing, commander of the 58th brigade, Ming Can, deputy commander, and Zhou Anyi, commander... Before Zhang Lingfu and his gang were shot dead, they informed Chiang Kai-shek by radio that the friendly army would not save them. He was extremely dissatisfied with Li Tianxia's failure to send troops to cover the right side of the 74th Division, and said that this was the main reason for the failure of the 74th Division. .Later, he reported to Chiang Kai-shek the names of the officers below the deputy division commander and above the regiment commander in the command post, and determined to "commit suicide collectively in order to repay the principal's kindness in nurturing him."After the telegram was sent out, Cai Renjie, the deputy division commander, and Lu Xing, the brigade commander of the 58th brigade, took out photos of their wives and children, weeping and refusing to commit suicide. When our army gathered troops and counted the results of the battle, it was found that the number of people killed and captured was much smaller than that of the 74th Division, so we ordered all departments to search the battlefield so that no enemy would slip through the net.At this time, the sky was covered with dark clouds, the mountains were about to rain, and visibility was extremely low. The search troops found thousands of enemies between Menglianggu and Diaowo Mountain.Su Yu immediately ordered the fourth, eighth, and ninth columns to mobilize, and all were cleared by 5 pm.至此，敌七十四师彻底被歼灭。粟裕打电话向陈毅报告以上情况，陈毅在电话里兴奋地说：“我在电话里向全体将士致敬！” 华野仅用了三天时间，以伤亡1.2万人的代价，全歼了拥有全副美式装备、号称“国军模范”“常胜铁军”“御林军”的国民党王牌主力——整编第七十四师。几天后，陈毅为歌颂指战员血战孟良崮的事迹，特赋诗一首： 敌七十四师全军覆没的消息传到南京后，如同晴天霹雳震动了整个国民党统治中心。蒋介石痛心疾首、老泪纵横，他再三哀叹：“以我绝对优势之革命武力，竟为劣势乌合之匪众所陷害，真是空前大的损失！”七十四师覆灭后不久，国民党政府在南京玄武湖畔为七十四师和张灵甫立了一块纪念碑，上书“杀身成仁”四个血红的大字。蒋介石还特地为张灵甫颁发了第三号“旌忠状”，并下令将山东蒙阴县改名为灵甫县，还将一艘驱逐舰命名为“灵甫号”。 6月9日，华野为在孟良崮战役中放下武器的原敌第七十四师将校军官举行时事座谈会，陈毅和到会者见面，一一握手并致以慰问。当将校们谈到七十四师失败的原因时，陈毅说：“历来国民党军失败均归咎于国防部、归咎于陈诚。我在此替陈诚分辩几句，其实陈诚本人也很难做主，一切都有蒋介石老头子紧紧控制着。”谈到蒋军失败的原因，陈毅说：“蒋介石在北伐中期叛变人民，走上法西斯独裁专政的道路。蒋介石的这一条反人民的错误政治路线，必然产生错误的战略路线。在蒋介石独裁媚外的政策与战略的双重错误下，国民党军队遭受失败是必然的。例如，贵军在抗战中的战功表现很好，战斗力亦堪为国民党军队之冠。可是一到内战战场，仍然逃不脱被歼的命运。各位应深深研究其中的原因。”陈毅又说，“各位此来，我应负责照料大家、爱护大家。贵师长张灵甫、副师长蔡仁杰之牺牲，毫无意义，应该惋惜。对于能够留在解放区内好好研究问题、重新认识问题，各位应视为平生最大幸事。我们能帮助你们的地方，一定尽量帮助你们，绝不为难。” 敌整编第七十四师班长以上官佐，除被击毙和击伤送医者外，都被集中到了俘管处。这就形成了七十四师一个较完整的建制俘虏军官集体。七十四师是蒋军“精锐之精锐”“建军模范”，研究该师就可了解蒋军一般主力部队的轮廓与特点。华野觉得，这不仅有利于对俘虏的审查教育，而且是一个从俘虏中获取重要情报、研究敌军、知彼知己、以战教战的极好机会。华野决定对七十四师的被俘官佐提高一级审俘待遇，班长当尉官、尉官当校官处理，详细审讯与调研。由华野联络部长吴宪同志牵头，并参照缴获的文件资料，分历史沿革、组织编制、官兵成分与素质、官兵训练、新兵补训与残部概况、参谋补给、卫生业务、参加战役经过及检讨、惯用战法、政治情况与“政治”工作共十个专题，经三个星期的突击，写成了一本十万余字的《蒋军七十四师的调查研究》，由钟期光题写书名。朱总司令得悉索要该书。除此之外，俘管处还组织七十四师被俘官兵进行训练、作战表演，让华野官兵来参观；指挥部将《蒋军七十四师的调查研究》下发部队，发动全野战军研究七十四师，洞悉敌军的长处与短处，改进华野的战术技术。这对后来华野的作战胜利产生了良好的影响。