Chapter 2 Chapter Two

October 1945 Handan The ancient road in Handan raises the desert yellow dust.More than a dozen tall horses galloped from the depths of Taihang, carrying the elite command team of the Shanxi-Hebei-Luyu Military Region. Running in the front was a horse with a long chestnut mane and four hooves on the snow. On the horse's back sat the burly Liu Bocheng.Walking almost side by side with him is Deng Xiaoping riding a pure green horse.Deputy Political Commissar Zhang Jichun, Chief of Staff Li Da and his accompanying staff officers and guards followed closely behind.In autumn, the weather is getting cooler, but every galloping horse is sweating profusely, with milky hot air spraying from its nostrils, as if they know their master's urgency.

At this time, the Xinxiang-Handan section of the Ping-Han Line was already covered in clouds of war and billowing in dust and smoke. From the day when the "Double Ten Agreement" was announced, Gao Shuxun and Ma Fawu, the deputy commanders of the 11th theater of the Kuomintang, led a total of seven divisions of the 40th Army, the 30th Army, and the new Eighth Army. , divided into two roads, left and right, from Xinxiang, Henan along Pinghan Road to the north.They attempted to occupy Handan, joined forces with the 3rd and 16th armies that had advanced west along the Shijiazhuang Line and arrived at Shijiazhuang earlier, then continued northward, and joined forces with the 92nd and 94th armies that had been transported to Peiping by air. , and finally achieved the goal of completely controlling Pinghan Road and dividing the two liberated areas of Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei and Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Hebei.

This is a very powerful move!Once Chiang Kai-shek's plot succeeds, it will pose a great threat to the two major liberated areas in North China, affect our army's opportunity to control the Northeast, and affect the implementation of our party's "developing to the north and defending to the south" strategy. The situation in China has reversed, and the "Double 10th Agreement" that is still in ink has become a dead letter. The urgent military situation made Mao Zedong, who had just returned to Yan'an from Chongqing, ignore the fatigue of the journey, and immediately called the responsible comrades of the Central Committee and the Military Commission to discuss countermeasures.On October 12, the second day after returning to Yan'an, Mao Zedong drafted a telegram to send to Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping:

It is currently an important strategic task for us to hinder and delay the northward advance of the stubborn army. ... Our Taihang and Hebei-Shandong-Henan regions can concentrate more than 60,000 main forces, under the unified command of Liu Deng himself, to deal with the stubborn army marching northward on the Pinghan Road, and aim to wipe out one or more of them. After the telegram was sent, Mao Zedong still felt uneasy.Because this battle is really important, if it is not fought well, Chiang Kai-shek's arrogance will become even more arrogant.So, on October 17, he called the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Central Bureau, where Deng Xiaoping was the secretary, and emphasized again:

A victorious Shangdang campaign was fought under your leadership, which made it possible for our army to strive for another equal or greater victory.All forces under your leadership, except Taiyue's all-out efforts to fight on the same Pu line to strive for the victory it deserves, must concentrate all efforts of Taihang and Hebei, Shandong and Henan to strive for victory in the Ping-Han Campaign.The upcoming new Ping-Han campaign is to oppose the attack of the main force of the Kuomintang and to strive for the realization of a peaceful situation.The victory or defeat of this battle is of great significance to the overall situation... Hope to use the experience of the Shangdang Campaign to mobilize the Taihang, Hebei, Shandong and Henan districts with full force, under the personal command of Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping, carefully organize each battle, and win the second Shangdang campaign victory.

For the final arrival of the Ping-Han Battle, Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping had long been prepared.The victory of the Shangdang Campaign has been decided but not yet completely over. On October 10, when the "Double Ten Agreement" was being signed in Chongqing, Liu Deng returned from the front line of the Shangdang to Chi'an Village, where the military region was stationed, and began to deploy in advance, and gave support to the Shangdang. The leaders of the various columns formed in the party campaign issued instructions: "In order to adapt to the organization of the Ping-Han campaign, all troops in southern Hebei, Hebei-Shandong-Henan and Taihang on the Ping-Han line are under the command of Hongkun, Zaidao, and Renqiong. Control with strong troops Tangyin and its two sides, monitor and delay the enemy's northward advance, the main force quickly occupies Linzhaoguan, Zishan and the three cities of Linzhang, Cheng'an, and Feixiang, and prepares to destroy the enemy in the north of Zhangbei. Hebei, Shandong, Henan and southern Hebei should relax the secondary forces Direction, draw out a large army to use in the decisive direction of the Ping-Han line, don't worry about it everywhere, disperse the troops, and make them weak everywhere."

After receiving Mao Zedong's telegram, Liu Deng felt the urgency of the situation and the weight on his shoulders.They know very well that whether this battle can be won is not a matter of a liberated area in Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and Henan. It is related to the situation in the whole country and the struggle between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party.To complete such a major and urgent strategic task, only two words can be used, that is - must win. However, winning is extremely difficult.At this time, the vanguard of the fourth enemy army had arrived at Tangyin. The Fortieth Army and the New Eighth Army marched northward from Qi County on the 16th; Marching north; the 85th Army has taken over the traffic along Xinxiang, Qixian County and Jixian County; the 27th Army and the 38th Army are gathering urgently in Zhengzhou and Kaifeng.Once Haohao's 80,000 soldiers and horses are all overwhelmed, there will be a huge gap with the 60,000 troops that Liu Deng can concentrate and have just completed the Shangdang Campaign and have no time to rest.

The only way to win in difficult situations is to rely on strategy.With 80,000 enemy troops, Liu Deng would naturally not put all of them on the battlefield.They are determined to separate 35,000 of them to the south of the Zhang River and let the guerrillas hold them back; they will divide and encircle the more than 40,000 enemies and annihilate them.This requires an ideal preset battlefield that can accommodate more than 100,000 soldiers and horses of the enemy and ourselves. In those days, Liu Bocheng immersed himself in the map all day long, exchanging opinions with Deng Xiaoping from time to time.Gradually, their eyes focused on the river loop formed by the Zhang River and Fuyang River in the southeast of Handan.This river loop is like a dustpan with its mouth facing northeast. The two corners of the dustpan are connected to Quzhou at one end and Taoguan at the other end.The Dudu of the dustpan is a sandy land area, which contains towns that the enemy must fight for, such as Cixian, Handan, Linzhang, Feixiang, and Matou Town.

Liu Bocheng circled the big "dustpan" on the map with a red pen, stared at it for a while, and then threw the pen away: "Commissioner Deng, do you remember the Weizi mentioned in the ancient books?" Deng Xiaoping smoked a cigarette and said knowingly: "That is the concubine brother of King Zhou of Shang in the Yin and Shang Dynasties." "It is this person. King Zhou had no way and was destroyed by the Western Zhou Dynasty. This is where Wei Zi escaped." "This place was called Chaoge in ancient times. Weizi fled from Chaoge to Shangdang Weizi Town. Unfortunately, now that Shangdang has been recovered by our army, the Kuomintang entered Chaoge and got into their pockets. There is no way to escape. It’s gone.” Deng Xiaoping snuffed out the cigarette and exhaled heavily on the map with the last puff of smoke that was drawn into his mouth.Suddenly, smoke billowed from the "dustpan".

On October 20, Liu Deng led the field army headquarters to leave Chi'an Village at the foot of the Taihang Mountains, and marched to the Fengfeng mining area, which is a short distance from Handan, to implement the command of the Ping-Han Campaign. Less than ten days after the end of the Shangdang Battle, a new war will begin again.Just in these few days, Deng Xiaoping's second daughter, Deng Nan, was born in Chi'an.He didn't have time to savor the joy of being a daughter, let alone leave the father's love in his heart to his newborn daughter, so he hurriedly said goodbye and walked to the new front line.

The speed of the horse team gradually slowed down, and the dust and smoke gradually dissipated.The scenery on the side of the road became clear, and Handan was in sight.Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping believed in the reins, admiring the fields in late autumn, looking at the ancient city of Handan within reach, and the conversation followed. Handan, an ancient city with a history of more than 2,300 years, is located in the central part of North China. It is not unfamiliar to Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping, who once studied in the Soviet Union and France.They talked about the famous historical sites in Handan, such as Lin Xiangru's "Entering Carriage Lane", the "dressing building" and "Zhaomei Pond" of Zhao's court ladies. Located in the northwest corner of the city wall, Congtai of King Wuling of Zhao, which is still majestic to this day, and so on. "There is also a small station on Pinghan Road outside Handan City, which is quite famous!" Liu Bocheng said with a smile. "If I'm not mistaken, you must be referring to the Huangliang station." Deng Xiaoping continued. Liu Bocheng nodded, turned around and asked the accompanying staff officers and guards: "Which one of you knows the allusion and source of this station name?" Everyone knew that Liu Bocheng was going to say "ancient", and this "ancient" must be related to the upcoming battle, so they gathered together and listened to Liu Bocheng tell this story-this is a passage recorded in the book written by Shen Jiji in the Tang Dynasty story.In ancient times, there was a poor scholar named Lu Sheng.In order to make meritorious deeds and become famous, he went to Beijing several times to rush for the exam, but he lost his name to Sun Shan.Later, when he was staying in a post station in Handan, he met Lu Weng and lamented that he was born at an untimely time and that his talents were not met.Lu Weng gave him a celadon pillow and asked him to sleep peacefully for a while while the owner steamed the yellow rice.As soon as Lu Sheng laid his head on the pillow, he soon fell asleep.In his sleep, he married a wife and gave birth to a son, and he was selected as a Jinshi, made military exploits, tired of being an official to Jiedushi, and served as a prime minister for ten years. It wasn't until he woke up that he realized it was a beautiful dream.Looking around, not only Lu Weng is still there, but even the owner's yellow rice is still uncooked in the pot. After Liu Bocheng told the story, he said with a smile: "Chiang Kai-shek wanted to pick the fruits of victory, and he dreamed of opening up the Ping-Han Railway. But who gave him the magic pillow and made him dream of dominating North China and the whole of China?" " "Of course it's Lu Weng, his celadon pillow is the most effective." Deng Xiaoping said seriously, "It's just that Chiang Kai-shek's fate is not as good as that of Lu Sheng. On this Handan Road, I can guarantee that his yellow beams will never die." Not familiar!" "One vertical! One vertical! You must resolutely block the enemy in Cuiqu, Zhaozhuang, and Nanbao at all costs! Don't let him move forward!" "Is it Zhang Yanfa? I'm Li Da. Commander Liu and Political Commissar Deng asked me to tell you that your independent detachment has completed the task of flanking. From now on, move northward one by one, to the west of Fengle and Anyang, and clamp down on the enemy going north. , must not let them join the battlefield!" "Yes, yes, I'm Li Da... No! You can't stay for a minute! On the morning of the 24th, that is, tomorrow morning, you must arrive at the designated location!" In the command post in the Fengfeng mining area, Li Da put down a phone, picked up another phone, and continuously conveyed Liu Deng's determination and orders to all participating troops. Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping leaned over the map, closely watching the situation of the enemy and ourselves and their mutual evolution.What they create for the enemy is a "pocket", or a "dustpan", a pincer-shaped offensive pattern.From the perspective of deployment, this is undoubtedly wonderful; but to realize this wonderful deployment, it still needs to stand the test of time and ever-changing battlefield situations. The first is time.Since the Battle of Shangdang had just ended, the Battle of Ping-Han was launched immediately. As the two "pincers" of the pincer offensive - the third column led by Chen Xilian, the 17th Division and the troops of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region led by Yang Yong, They are still in the middle of centripetal assembly movements towards the Ping-Han battlefield on the east and west sides; and the pocket foundations of the "pocket" tactics-the second column and the first detachment of Taihang are still under the command of Qin Jiwei and Kong Qingde. The battle to eliminate the puppet army was carried out in the area.The main force participating in the battle was only the first column led by Yang Dezhi and Su Zhenhua to cross the Zhanghe River to the north before the enemy, and rushed to the line of Linzhang and Nandongfang on October 20. But the enemy's pace has greatly accelerated. On October 22, all the enemy's vanguard troops crossed the Zhanghe River to the north.With the New Eighth Army led by Gao Shuxun and the Eighth Column of the Hebei Civil Army as the left wing, and the Fortieth Army and Thirty Army led by Ma Fawu as the right wing, they pressed forward with all their strength along both sides of the Ping-Han Railway. Since the "pockets" and "iron pincers" have not yet been formed, the "pocket mouth" and "pincer mouth" had to tighten the "pocket mouth" and bite the "pincer mouth" tightly to block the enemy's advance. Liu Deng sent an emergency telegram to Yang Dezhi and Su Zhenhua: to defend with a large depth of movement, to fight against the front, to consume, delay, and fatigue the enemy; and to continue to restrain the enemy's main force and lead it to the east, so that it can escape from the Ping-Han Railway , Entering the sandy area of ​​Fuyang River and Hetao in the southeast of Handan, which is not conducive to the enemy.On the one hand, the enemy is trapped in unfavorable terrain, and on the other hand, the troops participating in the war are guaranteed to gather and deploy in the predetermined area to complete the deployment of encirclement and pincer attacks against the enemy. In order to realize the plan of the command headquarters, after Yang Dezhi and Su Zhenhua made the preparations for the battle, they led the main force of the column to quickly deploy, forming three lines of defense to block the enemy. At dawn on the 22nd, under the command of head Fu Xuejie, the No. 1 and No. 4 regiments entered the first line of defense and guarded Nandongfang and nearby villages.At ten o'clock in the morning, two regiments of the enemy's 40th Army launched an attack on Nandongfang.After fighting fiercely, the fourth regiment took the initiative to withdraw from the battle after inflicting heavy damage on the enemy, and built a second fortification in the Changxiang camp area, preparing to meet the enemy's attack the next day. At dawn on the 23rd, the main force of the first column reached the third defensive area.Commander Yang Dezhi decided on the spot that the first brigade with the best equipment and the strongest combat effectiveness would take on the task of sniping the enemy head-on.After the second brigade and the third brigade are assembled on the side of the first brigade's position, after the first brigade defeats the enemy's spirit, they will attack the enemy below to ensure that the first brigade consolidates the frontal defense of the position. However, the fortifications of the first brigade had not yet been completed, and the enemy's vanguard launched an attack on the Jiadi, Cuiqu, and Tunzhuang frontline positions defended by the first brigade. The artillery fire was overwhelming, and the bullets were like locusts, crushing a brigade unable to lift their heads. Soldiers fell one by one, and batches of wounded were carried down. The first brigade commander Yang Junsheng, the descendant of the old Red Guards in the Jiangxi Soviet Area, the man whose father was killed by the Kuomintang since childhood, has blood in his eyes.He roared: "I'm bankrupt today! Attention all brigade staff, follow me on the front line!" With a roar from the brigade commander, the sijin government agencies rushed out to replenish the weak areas.While fighting, they built fortifications, repelled an enemy attack, and built a bloody line of defense. Li Da called again to ask about the situation of the battle. Yang Junsheng looked at the enemy swarming up in the dark, and replied very calmly: "Please tell Chief Liu and Deng that if you have Yang Junsheng, you will have a brigade; if you have my brigade, you will have a position!" "What a Yang Junsheng! What a man I am invincible!" In the Fengfeng command post, Liu Bocheng sighed after hearing Li Da's report.This commander who was born and died and fought on the battlefield for decades has experienced this kind of scene. He knows how tragic it is to block the front line of a powerful enemy, and he even prepared the worst for this tragic situation. Sure enough, on the afternoon of the 24th, the enemy broke through the flank positions of the 1st Brigade and 6th Regiment. People's hearts suddenly hung up. At 8 o'clock in the evening, Yang Junsheng called. With the support of the Chaocheng Brigade and the Column Special Service Battalion, the 1st Brigade and the 6th Regiment restored their original positions after repeated attacks. Wars are sometimes like dominoes. When one point is exerted, it will form a chain sensation and cause a fundamental change in the overall situation.Almost at the same time, Li Da received a series of exciting calls: Most of the participating troops assembled in the center had arrived at the scheduled location.The 4th and 6th Brigades of the Second Column, led by Kong Qingde, controlled the Zhangzhuangqiao, Luochengtou, and Chenjiagang areas in southwest Handan; the third column, led by Chen Xilian, concentrated in Cheqiguan and Guanglu Towns The area to the west; Taihang's first detachment and fifth detachment reached the area to the west of Ci County.So far, a pincer situation of encircling the enemy on three sides has been formed! Liu Bocheng sighed heavily, and excitedly said to Deng Xiaoping, Bo Yibo, Zhang Jichun and Li Da: "The situation is very good now! The enemy has got into the horns, and he can't advance or retreat. It's up to me to deal with them one by one. Already!" At this time, two detachments of the Independent Fourth Brigade and the Seventeenth Division under the command of Yang Yong, commander of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region, also rushed to the battlefield.Liu Deng felt that the time was ripe, and immediately issued orders to all troops, preparing to launch a general offensive. The atmosphere of the imminent war immediately enveloped every pre-volt position. Suddenly, a call to stop the attack came to Fengfeng headquarters. The call was made by Wang Dingnan, an underground party member working under Gao Shuxun. Wang Dingnan had joined Gao Shuxun's army since the Anti-Japanese War, and after years of contacts, he has become Gao Shuxun's friend and guest. Since Gao Shuxun and his New Eighth Army belonged to the Northwest Army and were not direct descendants of Chiang Kai-shek, they have been discriminated against and excluded for a long time.After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Chiang Kai-shek not only did not change the policy of discriminating against collateral, but forced them to go to the front line of the civil war and serve as cannon fodder.Gao Shuxun was extremely dissatisfied with this.Before he was ordered to go north this time, he had taken action intentionally and had Wang Dingnan get in touch with the Communist Party.At that time, the Shangdang Campaign was going on, and Wang Dingnan came to Licheng, Shanxi on foot, and reported to Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping.Liu Deng learned of Gao Shuxun's progressive tendency, so he decided to let Wang Dingnan return immediately to mobilize the high-level battlefield to revolt.If this move is successful, it will be absolutely sure that the enemy of the Northern Criminals will be wiped out in the future Ping-Han Campaign. However, the development of the situation has a big gap with the expectation.Gao Shuxun originally planned to lead the New Eighth Army and the Hebei People's Army to the north alone, collect all the Kuomintang soldiers and puppet troops they passed through, and hand them over to the Communist Party together with the towns they stole.Unexpectedly, Chiang Kai-shek's secret order made Gao Shuxun and Ma Fawu's three armies go hand in hand, which disrupted Gao Shuxun's entire plan.Time passed day by day, and the situation became more and more urgent.Today, the field army led by Liu Deng is ready to launch the final general offensive on the Ping-Han line. Wang Dingnan braved stray bullets and rushed to the third column to call Liu Deng, and after obtaining his consent, he went back to the commander's department of the 11th war zone through the line of fire. When Gao Shuxun saw Wang Dingnan, he explained guiltily: "Dingnan, you know that when I was in Xinxiang, I proposed to Sun Lianzhong that I would lead the New Eighth Army and the Hebei People's Army to go north along the Ping-Han line alone. Later, Sun Lianzhong Said that I could not get through alone, so I asked the Forty Army and the Thirty Army to come with me. At that time, I could not tell Sun Lianzhong that I could pass. Look at this..." Wang Dingnan said: "This is because Chiang Kai-shek is worried about you, and Sun Lianzhong made this decision." Gao Shuxun sighed: "I have realized something. But since the three armies are advancing side by side, I have no choice but to take one step at a time." "I'm afraid this is a bit negative." Wang Dingnan looked at Gao Shuxun, "Commander Liu and Political Commissar Deng originally agreed with your plan to go north with one army. But now that three armies are going north, Chairman Mao has already ordered Commander Liu and Political Commissar Deng to go north. The three armies will never be allowed to go north to prevent the Kuomintang from realizing its strategy of attacking our liberated areas throughout the country. Therefore, Chief Liu Deng hopes that you will put the national righteousness first, stage an uprising on the battlefield, and immediately stand on the side of the people." Gao Shuxun was stunned for a moment: "Uprising on the spot?" "Yes. In order to leave time for the uprising, Chief Liu and Deng have agreed to postpone the general offensive." Wang Dingnan showed all his cards, "Now is the critical moment. Now the uprising will make great contributions to you, the people, and the country. " Gao Shuxun paced back and forth in the room, as if talking to Wang Dingnan, but also as if talking to himself: "I want to go to revolution... I am determined... just..." "It's not a long-term solution for you to rely on others like this." Wang Dingnan saw the confusion of Gao Shuxun's inner thoughts, and his words became sharper, "Withdraw from the civil war, and you will be worthy of your compatriots who died; stop the civil war, and you will be able to comfort the fallen soldiers; oppose the civil war Only by doing this can we ensure that the eight-year war of resistance will not be wasted, and the Chinese nation will have the hope of a real revival. Continue to tie your fate to Chiang Kai-shek’s chariot, Mr. Gao, as a miscellaneous name outside the circle, will not escape bad luck in the end!” "I have been deceived by Chairman Jiang for a long time. The 'Party-state thinks it will kill the city' and 'Zhongzheng has high hopes' are nothing more than letting me confront the Eighth Route Army and destroy me by the hands of the Eighth Route Army." Gao Shuxun said angrily, but His expression was still in a daze, "Dingnan, I've thought about these things for a long time, but..." Wang Dingnan said earnestly: "Brother Jianhou, you must make a decisive decision when it comes to big things, and you must not be indecisive! Only extraordinary people can make extraordinary achievements." Gao Shuxun's eyes lit up, and then he sighed again: "My wife who has shared weal and woe with me for many years, and the family members of many officers in our army are all in Xuzhou now. If we declare an uprising immediately, won't the Kuomintang harm them?" Gao Shuxun's worry is reasonable. If this problem is not resolved, the uprising will be difficult to achieve smoothly.Wang Dingnan thought for a while, and said very sincerely: "This is a practical problem. I will immediately ask Commander Liu and Political Commissar Deng to try to solve it." "Good! Good!" Gao Shuxun's mood improved obviously, "I'll wait for your news!" In the early morning of the 28th, Wang Dingnan once again crossed the line of fire and directly arrived at Fengfeng's headquarters. After listening to Wang Dingnan's report, Deng Xiaoping said: "The current uprising by the High Ministry will not only have a great impact on the current situation, but will also have a great impact on future politics. Comrade Dingnan, the timing is very important!" "The opportunity must not be missed, and the time will never come again; when it is stopped, it will be disrupted." Liu Bocheng walked a few steps in the room, and then said, "As for Mrs. Gao's safety issue, we can apply to the central government for resolution. Comrade Dingnan, You draft a telegram first, and I will sign it." An important and complicated matter was resolved decisively and simply in just a few words.Wang Dingnan quickly drafted the telegram and handed it over to Liu Bocheng.Liu Bocheng was very satisfied when he saw that the telegram not only asked for instructions, but also proposed the specific method of "asking Comrade Chen Yi of the New Fourth Army to send someone to Xuzhou Station to pick up Mrs. Gao Shuxun". He signed it immediately and ordered the staff to send it out immediately. Time is running out, Wang Dingnan is ready to say goodbye.Deng Xiaoping shook Wang Dingnan's hand: "Tell General Gao Shuxun to take the overall situation into consideration, cooperate with our army's actions, and make a major contribution to the revolution." On the afternoon of the 29th, Wang Dingnan crossed the line of fire three times and brought news that Gao Shuxun was determined to revolt. The "dominos" of the Battle of Ping-Han fell.The uprising of more than 10,000 people under Gao Shuxun not only quickly changed the balance of military forces between the enemy and ourselves on the Ping-Han battlefield, but also caused a big gap in the deployment of the Kuomintang army, and the morale of the army was also shaken.Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping can pull out their hands and deal with Mafa Wu's Forty and Thirty Armies with all their strength! The overall offensive deployment is as follows: 1. Determined to start the general offensive tomorrow evening.The key point is to eliminate the Fortieth Army, and at the same time seek to annihilate a part of the Thirty Army. 2. Take southern Hebei, all of Hebei, Shandong and Henan, and Taihang Zhishi (Zhiben) detachment and Xiang (Shouzhi) detachment as the northern group, under the unified command of Wang (Hongkun), Chen (Zaidao), and Song (Renqiong) ; all the three columns and the Zhang (Weicheng) detachment and Wei (Jie) detachment of the 17th division are the southern group, all under the command of Chen Xilian. 3. The northern group should focus its attack on eliminating the enemy north of Tunzhuang (the northern section of the 40th Army).Yang (Dezhi), Yang (Yong), and Su (Zhenhua) attacked from the southeast to the northwest, cut the 40th Army into two sections, and cooperated with the southern Hebei and Taihang troops in the northwest to destroy Tunzhuang and the enemy to the north first; The Ji and Taihang troops attacked from the northwest to the southeast, first splitting the enemy, and cooperating with Yang, Yang, and Su to eliminate them one by one. 4. The South Group should use the Wei (Jie) Detachment and Zhang (Weicheng) Detachment on the line of Gaoyu and Baita, and fight from south to north to actively restrain the 30th Army; Fight to cooperate with the North Army to destroy the Fortieth Army. The decisive moment of the Battle of Ping-Han has arrived! Teams of troops and militiamen gathered towards the north bank of the Zhanghe River proudly and proudly gathered from the vast and flat Hebei-Shandong-Henan Great Plains in the east, from the cobbled ravines of Taihang Mountain in the west, and from the winding mountains of Mingguan and Zishan in the north. The undulating hills, like flowing water, converge on this big war stage that accommodates 150,000 enemy troops and supporters. What a grand and magnificent scene and momentum! At nine o'clock in the evening, as if a finger rang the electric bell of the theater, the curtain of the general attack opened.As the thrilling plots were staged one after another, the news of the victory of the war also came one by one. Yang Junsheng on the front line of Cui Qu finally felt proud!For nearly ten days, he and his brigade huddled together to stop the enemy here. Even he himself couldn't count how many times the enemy attacked. Anyway, the layers of corpses in front of the position recorded their glorious battle results.Although Chiefs Liu, Deng, Yang, and Su praised them time and time again, he always felt that they were not stretched enough, and he felt aggrieved, tight and about to cramp all over his body. Yesterday afternoon, the 106th Division of the 40th Army of the enemy retreated after the last counterattack, shrank to Cuiqu Village, and turned from offense to defense.This time, it's time for the enemy to feel aggrieved and cramp. The head of the column found out Yang Junsheng's mind, and handed over the task of attacking Cui Qu to the First Brigade.Yang Dezhi and Su Zhenhua led the cadres of various brigades to visit Cuiqu in person to observe the terrain, study the plan, and learn about the situation in Cuiqu Village from Yang Junsheng. From the first day of the blockade, Yang Junsheng was looking forward to stretching his arms and turning the defense into an offense. He had already felt the topography of the village as familiar as his own kang.As soon as he opened his mouth, he suggested: "There is a large shallow cement depression in the northwest corner of the village, and a small mud depression in the northeast and southeast corners. The attacking troops should try to avoid it so as to break through the wall and the gate of the village and attack the village. Heart attack the enemy in depth." Commander Yang Dezhi nodded his head repeatedly at the sound suggestion, and immediately decided to use the first brigade to launch an attack from the north and northwest of Cuiqu; enemy. At 6:40 p.m., in order to confuse the enemy, the attack was first launched from Cuiqu's North Village Gate. Sure enough, the enemy immediately ignited a large amount of firewood on the north wall with incendiary bombs, and blocked the north of the village with intensive artillery fire. The timing is great.Shi Yuchang, the instructor of the 3rd Battalion and 7th Company, took the opportunity to quickly lead the assault team and secretly approached the wall along the ditch in the northwest corner of the village. It was not until more than ten meters away from the wall that the enemy woke up like a dream and hurriedly opened fire.The light and heavy machine guns assigned to the seventh company immediately suppressed the enemy with fierce firepower, and bundles of grenades were thrown at the wall of the village.The stray bullets from the machine gun and the smoke from the explosion were intertwined. From a distance, the enemies on the wall were dancing and spinning, just like meat dumplings turned up and down in a boiling water pot on New Year's Eve. Zhang Wanjin, the leader of the third platoon, led the whole platoon to take the lead in attacking the wall and opening a breakthrough.The follow-up troops swarmed in, used explosives and pickaxes to break through the walls along the East and West Streets, and started a house-by-house battle with the enemy. Suddenly, a tall courtyard stood in front of the commando.The enemy is condescending, relying on the roof fortifications with brick and tile structure and wide view to block the attack violently with intensive firepower.According to the situation, Qi Xianchu, political commissar of the regiment, and Zhou Dimin, the battalion instructor, judged that this was an enemy battalion stronghold, so they ordered the Seventh Company to use the terrain to approach quickly, and first use firepower to destroy an enemy machine gun platoon on the roof; then the instructor Shi Yuchang led the assault platoon Take advantage of the momentum and rush into the enemy camp; then develop in depth, targeting the enemy regiment and division headquarters. At the same time, the 16th Regiment of the 3rd Brigade broke through from the east of the village, cooperated with the 1st Brigade to attack left and right, and occupied most of Cuiqu. Yang Junsheng immediately ordered an attack on the headquarters of the enemy's 106th Division, and he handed over this task to Fu Xuejie's Fourth Regiment.He knew that in the past ten days, this regiment had retreated from the first defensive position to the last defensive line in the blocking battle, and had long wanted to stretch its muscles and bones. Sure enough, all the warriors of this regiment descended like hungry tigers, roaring and rushing into the enemy's division headquarters.If you run out of bullets, use grenades; if you run out of grenades, fight hand-to-hand with the enemy! The enemy finally wavered, and division commander Li Zhenqing was the first to abandon his troops to break through and flee south.In an instant, the enemies who had lost their command spread across the wilderness like a turbid current that collapsed. Fu Xuejie and the others had a great time. From blocking and counterattacking to chasing and annihilating, they played a comprehensive tactic of full attack, full defense, and defensive counterattack. In the battle of Cuiqu, the enemy's 106th Division was wiped out except for a few people led by division commander Li Zhenqing who escaped. On the map of Fengfeng Command Post, red arrows are extending and developing. Under the command of Wang Hongkun, Chen Zaidao, and Song Renqiong, the Northern Group continued to oppress the enemy from north to south. At the same time, it attacked Zuoliang in the north and Wenzhuang in the south and Wenzhuang in the north and south, and successively conquered more than 20 villages and towns; Under the command of Su Zhenhua, most of the 106th Division of the 40th Army of the enemy has been wiped out, Cuiqu, Nanbao, and Zhaozhuang have been occupied, and a big gap has been opened in the enemy's defense system; Cixian City, Gancaoying, Gaoyu, Zhongmatou, and Yanjiazhan on the banks of the Fuyang River were captured; Matou Town between Zhongmatou and Yanjiazhan was controlled by Gao Shuxun who had already revolted. As the two sides of the Fuyang River south of Handan and north of Cixian were all controlled by our army, the situation of the battle changed drastically.Liu Deng estimated that the enemy would surely retreat. Sure enough, signs of the enemy's retreat appeared. Chen Xilian of the South Group called the headquarters; "The enemy is building fortifications south of the core position, and some troops are mobilizing, and they are in a panic..." Deng Xiaoping put down the phone and said to Liu Bocheng: "The enemy wants to run away, we must take the initiative." At this time, Liu Bocheng had already circled the map, and the plan to wipe out the enemy came out accordingly: "Use the main force of one column and three columns, and start a covert movement at dusk. First, the enemy moves south to the north of the Zhang River to cut off the enemy's retreat; Press down from the front to the south, wait for the enemy to leave the fortification zone, and attack the enemy with a centripetal pincer and a violent round, focusing on the head office and deployment system, and annihilate each one; The base is to block the enemy's retreat, and to arrange a side attack on the south bank of the Zhanghe River to intercept the 32nd Army of the enemy's reinforcements." "Very good." Deng Xiaoping put his hands on the map and clamped it firmly, "One column is moving on the east side of the enemy's retreat road, and the third column is moving on the west side of the enemy's retreat road. This is another pincer attack!" Chen Xilian called again. He found out that the 67th Division of the 30th Army of the enemy had entered and occupied Xiyucao in order to cover the commander's department of the 11th theater and lead the main force to retreat. "What countermeasures do you have?" Deng Xiaoping asked. Chen Xilian replied: "I am going to send Ma Zhongquan to lead the Eighth Brigade to attack and wipe out this group of enemies." Xiyucao Village is located in the east of Ci County and north of Zhanghe River.The enemy in the village is the headquarters of the 67th Division of the 30th Army and the 199th and 200th regiments. Among them, the 199th Regiment is the old foundation of the Chen Chengwei Regiment of Chiang Kai-shek's direct line, and its equipment and tactics are first-class . This is a strong enemy, and Ma Zhongquan's Eighth Brigade was newly formed, and this was the first battle it fought after its formation.The morale of the Eighth Brigade was buoyed up, and what they were looking forward to was to chew on a hard bone and give it a good start. That night, the Eighth Brigade approached Xiyucao, and played vigorously from the beginning. In order to seize the commanding heights in the village, Ma Zhongquan was determined to attack from the west of the village by surprise with the 22nd Regiment; he followed up with the 24th Regiment from the south of the village to disrupt the enemy's position. As soon as the order was issued, Zhang Qinghe, the commander of the 1st Battalion of the 22nd Regiment, led two commandos to quickly attack the sand dunes in the west of the village and took control of the wall.The 24th regiment also broke through the frontier and quickly developed into the village.In the darkness, the enemy ran here and there, in a mess. "The enemy didn't have time to counterattack, we happened to catch the prisoners!" Jin Xiaorui, the commander of the third company, shouted and organized troops to rush into the enemy's barracks, forcing the enemy to have nowhere to hide. The deputy battalion commander of the first battalion, Wu Jindong, was an old Red Army man. He was holding a machine gun, and he was there wherever there was danger.I don't know if he knows that he has been seriously injured in many places, and he shoots wherever he sees the enemy counterattacking.Until the last moment before the sacrifice, he still grabbed a trigger and slammed a series of enemies. In this way, after bloody battles day and night, the Eighth Brigade wiped out the Xiyu Cao Shou enemy, and captured Li Zhengxue, the commander of the enemy's 67th Division. On the afternoon of the 31st, Li Da hung a newly drawn map of the battle situation on the wall of Fengfeng's headquarters.The flat map shows a three-dimensional war picture.The enemy is at the end of its strength, and is adopting the tactics of covering villages one by one, breaking away from the fortification position, and breaking through to the south. In order to break the enemy's plan to flee south, our various armies are stepping up to weave a big net. Yang Dezhi commanded the first column from the east, Chen Xilian commanded the third column and other troops from the west, divided into multiple columns, and fanned the enemy fleeing south; Chen Zaidao and Qin Jiwei commanded the second column and troops from the Southern Hebei Military Region to follow and pursue from north to south ; Yang Yong and Zhang Tingfa commanded troops from the Taihang and Hebei-Shandong-Henan military regions, and went out to the north and south of the Zhanghe River to attack.The enemies in the encirclement are completely engulfed in the flames of the people's war. Up to now, 20,000 people led by Ma Fawu, the deputy commander of the enemy's 11th war zone, have fled to the front and rear flagpole chapters, Huangxinzhuang, The Maying area defended stubbornly and called for help. Enemy reinforcements appeared at the same time! The 32nd Army of the enemy's follow-up unit, blocked by our army on the south bank of the Zhang River, is launching a fierce attack on Zhang Tingfa's independent detachment position extending to the south bank of the Zhang River with its main force in order to relieve the siege of Mafa Wu. "We must open up the situation quickly! Time is running out, and the enemy's 32nd Army must not be added!" Deng Xiaoping said after analyzing the battle situation, "The battle has now entered a decisive stage. Our first task is not to let Ma Fawu escape! " "Shoot people first and shoot horses, and capture thieves first!" Liu Bocheng said immediately, "Pressing fleas with five fingers is not enough, we must concentrate on the first and second columns, and deal with Mafa Wu's officers first!" The reconnaissance information was sent quickly, and Ma Fawu's chief department was located in the former flagpole chapter. Liu Deng immediately decided that the main force of the first column would be from the east, and the main force of the second column would be from the north, and storm the former flagpole chapter. Under the order of the general attack, Yang Dezhi and Su Zhenhua immediately made deployments: the main force of the first brigade and the second brigade attacked Maying from the southeast and northeast of Maying; At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the battle started, and the third battalion of the seventh regiment, which was the main attacker, broke into the horse camp first. 绝境中的敌人拼死对峙，战斗异常惨烈艰苦。 八连指导员徐三泰和营部通信班长等，被敌人包围在一个独立家屋的棉花房内，未能突出，弹尽负伤，被敌人捉住活埋。二十团突击部队攻入前旗杆章东部，激战中伤亡惨重，团长王大顺壮烈牺牲。十六团由东南、十九团由西南突入前旗杆章，但遭村内数倍敌人的顽固阻击，经彻底战斗，仅夺取突破口附近的部分院落，十六团参谋长刘翻身壮烈牺牲。十九团二梯队继而增援，被敌密集火力封锁在突破口外。 突入部队不得已于拂晓撤出战斗，而最先攻入前旗杆章的十六团却被敌人包围在村内，与一纵指挥部失去了联系…… 十一月一日上午，杨得志、苏振华决心放弃对马营和后旗杆章的攻击，集中主力，采用刘伯承惯用的“猛虎掏心”战术，重点攻击前旗杆章，实现首先击灭敌首脑部的计划。 杨得志把突击的任务又一次交给了杨俊生。他命令杨俊生攻入前旗杆章后，迅速与困在村内的十六团取得联系。自白天以来，已听不到前旗杆章村内的枪炮声。杨得志沉默了一会儿，又说：“如果十六团已经被敌人吃掉了，就由你们单独执行攻击敌首脑部的任务。你们肩上的担子很重，全纵队都在看着你们。” 杨俊生刚刚接受命令，一旅那边已经口号震天：“坚决打掉敌人的长官部！”“英勇杀敌，为人民立战功！”…… 下午六时，太阳已经坠落，四野笼罩在静谧的黄昏之中。 没有冲天的红绿信号弹，也没有激昂的军号声。刚刚在崔曲前线旗开得胜的三营教导员周涤民，又一次带着七连隐蔽接近前旗杆章，出敌不意地在西南角打开突破口，迅速向村内扩展。 敌人经过昼夜苦战，已十分疲惫，除了警戒分队和值班火器外，其余都在地堡、工事、战壕内东倒西歪地休息。七连和随之拥入的突击部队如同天降神兵，竟使敌人呆滞了片刻，才仓促进行反抗。而那些来不及反抗的竟边撤边放火引燃沿街房屋，企图用大火阻住攻击部队。在熊熊烈火、浓浓烟雾之中，喊杀声伴着枪声和手榴弹的爆炸声响成一片，把前旗杆章搅得沸沸扬扬。 三营赴汤蹈火攻到马法五长官部驻扎的黄龙庙西侧，遭到猛烈火力袭击。敌人几乎将所有的轻重武器全部集中在这个依托庙宇围墙修筑的工事里，砸锅卖铁，孤注一掷了。 一次次攻击，一次次受阻。倒下一批勇士，又冲上去一批勇士。 教导员周涤民也负伤了，他把七连指导员石玉昌、九连指导员李赞香喊来，喘息着说：“不管有什么困难，你们都要想办法克服……一句话，拼了命也要拿下马法五的长官部！” 石玉昌和李赞香立了军令状：“放心！打不下马法五长官部，我们不来见你！” 决死的战斗开始了！在强大的火力掩护下，石玉昌带领突击队架起长梯，从庙墙东面攀援而上，与扼守的敌人展开白刃格斗。 敌兵在长官的督战下，成群成群地疯狂反扑，先是用机枪、冲锋枪滥行扫射；继而用手榴弹、手雷野蛮投掷；接着又用石块、枪托、滚木、门板、开水，打砸泼洒登梯攀墙的突击勇士。 七连、九连前仆后继，轮番架梯攀登，终于以血的代价打开黄龙庙突破口，首先冲入敌长官部，打乱了敌人的指挥系统。 顽抗的敌人失去了指挥，顿时乱作一团，忽然又像得到什么召唤似的，一窝蜂地朝西南方向仓皇拥去。 原来是马法五带着贴身卫队向那边突围逃窜了。 “绝不能让马法五跑掉！”杨得志一声令下，一旅、二旅、三旅全部出动，漫田漫野追击溃逃的敌人。 真是兵败如山倒。刚刚还气势汹汹像群恶狼的敌人，转眼间互相践踏，争相逃命，成了一群被打断腿、砸断脊梁的丧家之犬。 旗杆章西南几公里的野外，像个围猎场，追击的、截击的、阻击的部队各显神威，用上了十八般武艺。有的战士跑得快，冲到前面把敌人的退路封锁，敌人只好又往回跑，正撞在追击战士的枪口下；有的连队看到敌人不追，抄近道赶到敌人前面潜伏下来，一等敌人来到，轻重武器一齐扫射，像割麦子一样；还有的机枪手，杀开一条路，闯到敌人中央，抱着机关枪转着圈地突突，好像平地里刮起了旋风…… 四连战士孔繁祺是个山西人，脑袋瓜灵活。不知他从哪里弄来辆自行车追击，边蹬车，边用轻机枪点射，弄得像个摩托化部队。光他一个人，就打死打伤和俘虏敌人一百多。 炊事班长汤仁华手中没有武器，抡起了一根大扁担，威风凛凛倒像景阳冈上的武二郎。他左突右闯，少说也捉了十几个敌人。 团政委张向善和团长老贾随同部队追击，早就谈不上什么指挥位置了，除了手里拿的是手枪，别的和战士没什么两样。一次，几十个敌人向他们冲来，他和老贾握紧手枪，心想：敌人冲来，就跟他们拼了。没想到，这伙敌人冲到他们面前，“扑通”一声全部跪倒，把枪举过头顶——原来是来投降的…… 十一月二日中午，一纵三旅二团警卫连传来捷报，他们活捉了国民党第十一战区副司令长官马法五。至此，平汉战役胜利结束。 这一战役，蒋介石共损失了一个战区长官部、三个军、七个师外带一个纵队，总计三万余人。蒋介石不得不再一次回到谈判桌上来，签订了《停战协议》。 平汉战役结束后，晋冀鲁豫军区根据中央的指示，对全区部队进行重新编组，共组成六个野战纵队。 第一纵队：司令员杨得志，政治委员苏振华； 第二纵队：司令员陈再道，政治委员宋任穷； 第三纵队：司令员陈锡联，政治委员彭涛； 第四纵队：司令员陈赓，政治委员谢富治； 第六纵队：司令员王宏坤，政治委员段君毅； 第七纵队：司令员杨勇，政治委员张霖之。 至此，整个晋冀鲁豫野战军和地方部队发展到三十一万余人，武器装备也在上党、平汉两大战役中得到改善，基本完成了从游击战到集中运动战的转变。 十二月底，晋冀鲁豫野战军总部在刘伯承、邓小平的率领下，整队出发，离开了太行山这个八年抗战的根据地，离开了赤岸这个小山村，离开了在阳光下波光粼粼的清漳河。他们以拥有六个纵队的正规野战军的建制，向东迈进，奔向那广袤的华北大平原，去迎接新民主主义革命的胜利和新中国的诞生。