Chapter 4 Chapter 4 The Battle Situation Turns Steeply

November 1946 to March 1947 Southwest Shandong Nanjing Yan'an It was rare for Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping to have such a leisurely time during the one-hundred-day battle in Southwest Shandong. Yesterday, the just-concluded Battle of Hua County wiped out more than 12,000 enemies.Early this morning, Liu and Deng left the village where the headquarters of the field army was stationed, and they both walked towards the field together. At this time, Liu Bocheng was fifty-six years old, and Deng Xiaoping was forty-four years old. The difference between the two Sichuanese who belonged to the dragon was a full circle.Liu Bocheng has a hulking back, while Deng Xiaoping is short and dainty.Although it was the weather of Xiaoyangchun in October, Liu Bocheng was still wearing a gray cloth military uniform with a belt and leggings; Deng Xiaoping wore trouser legs loose and a white shirt, chic and unrestrained.

Southwest Shandong in golden autumn is full of vitality and bright colors.The red ones are sorghum like torches, the white ones are the cotton fields in full bloom, and the yellow ones are the endless ears of grain like wolf tails.A gust of wind blows, gold flows everywhere, and the air is filled with intoxicating fragrance. "What a good harvest!" Liu Bocheng greeted fellow villagers emotionally. The men, women and children who were harvesting the millet stopped their scythes and chattered in a hurry, chatting respectfully and affectionately.An old man rubbed an ear of grain with rough hands, blew the shell off, and held it in front of Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping: "Look, look at how full this grain is! There are almost a thousand grains in one ear." What!" This was the first harvest after the land was returned to the farmers, and it was a good year, and the excitement and gratitude of the farmers were sincere and sincere.

Deng Xiaoping took out his cigarette, struck a match with a hiss, and lit the cigarette.His technique of igniting a fire against the wind is a must.The old man who was blowing the ear of corn hurriedly took out his cigarette pouch and asked Deng Xiaoping for a loan. Deng Xiaoping respectfully lit a cigarette for the old man, and seeing that he was wrinkling his eyes and seemed to have something to say, he asked, "What else is there for the old man?" The old man smiled a little embarrassedly: "I have something... I don't know if I should ask it or not." "Please tell me." Deng Xiaoping took a puff of cigarette.

"It's such a thing. My in-laws live in Juancheng. I heard that the army wiped out thousands of victims there a month ago. Is this true?" Deng Xiaoping smiled and pointed to Liu Bocheng: "You have to ask him this time, he is in charge of fighting." Liu Bocheng also laughed, and said to the old man: "Old man, this matter is serious. Not only did they wipe out thousands of them, but they also captured their brigade commander. I saw it with my own eyes." "Then..." The old man knocked on his cigarette pouch, and simply broke the casserole to ask the end, "Why did the army retreat from Juancheng after the enemy was wiped out?"

"Ah, this question is getting too deep." Uncle Liu admitted, "We have to make a calculation. For example, Chiang Kai-shek takes 150 brigades, and I take 150 cities, one for another. When I take these The one hundred and fifty brigades have been wiped out, and these one hundred and fifty cities are still not mine?!" While listening, the old man counted with his fingers.When Liu Bocheng finished speaking, he also smiled, waved his cigarette pipe, and said to the surrounding crowd: "Do you all understand? This is to wipe out one part of him in the east, and one part in the west. When he has no one to guard the city, Our world will be at peace.”

At this time, Li Pu, a reporter from the "People's Daily" in the Liberated Areas of Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and Henan, came and said that he was instructed by the newspaper to interview Liu Bocheng about the battle situation and situation in the past 100 days. "You are one step late." Deng Xiaoping pointed at the old man with a smile, "This old man has already snatched the headlines." A word made people laugh. "Mr. Liu," Deng Xiaoping said, "since the reporter is here, why don't you just hold a press conference. As for me, I'll go to the army first." After speaking, he walked across the cotton field and walked away.

On the threshing floor, Liu Bocheng sat on the floor with everyone, and the press conference began. Li Pu: "I would like to ask you, as an authoritative military strategist, to talk about Chiang Kai-shek's strategy and tactics, and the development of the war situation in the past 100 days." Liu Bocheng: "Chiang Kai-shek's strategy is nothing more than an all-out attack, and he wants to eat up the liberated areas. His fatal weakness is precisely that what he waged was a war of betraying the motherland and oppressing the people. Now is the era of the people, and this is doomed to his fate." perish.

"As for Chiang Kai-shek's tactics, there are no more than two. One is the so-called step-by-step strategy, and the other is the pursuit of long-term pursuit. Since the civil war, he has used these two sets of tactics to fight us. In the 100 days since August 10 this year, we have fought against him. He fought five battles and wiped out eleven of his brigades. In the first battle of Longhai, he fought every step of the way, and we wiped out two of his brigades; In the third battle of Longguji, he changed to battling every step of the way, and lost nearly a brigade; in the fourth battle of Juancheng, he went on a long chase and lost one and a half brigades. So this time he changed to Step by step, we adopted the so-called strategic offensive and tactical defensive. The result? We lost another 12,000 of his men in Hua County. For this one, sometimes both sets have a little edge. All in all, he is 'turning over the cowhide, turning over the scum'."

Liu Bocheng's words in Sichuan dialect aroused knowing laughter. Li Pu: "Please talk about the main reasons for our army's victory and Jiang's army's defeat." Liu Bocheng: "One of the main reasons for our army's victory is that our army's morale is strong. This is because we are fighting a war of justice and self-defense. The soldiers are all turned people, and they fight to defend the fruits of their turn." "That's right!" The old man smoking a pipe interjected to Li Pu, who was taking notes quickly, "Remember, Comrade (reporter), you don't know that all the daughters-in-law in my village have asked to join the army on behalf of men."

Liu Bocheng nodded with a smile: "Because of this, all our soldiers will go forward bravely in battle, one against ten. If we want to attack, we are invincible; if we want to hold on, we are unbreakable. And Chiang Kai-shek The soldiers here are all recruited from strong men, and they have three fears of us: one is afraid of night battles, the other is afraid of field battles, and the third is afraid of hand-to-hand combat. No matter how good the aircraft and artillery are, they must be taken! If you start a war against the people, who will be your puppet? Soldiers? If you concentrate the troops at the front, what will happen if the rear is empty? What if there is a civil uprising among the common people? Comrade reporter, you have just heard from the old man that we stand for independence, democracy and peace, and implement the policy of land to the tiller The peasants have all risen up and volunteered to serve as soldiers in the war of patriotic self-defense, which is why Jiang's army must be defeated and our army must win."

Li Pu: "Some people don't understand why our army has to give up the cities it has occupied after winning the battle? Please talk about the gains and losses of the cities." Liu Bocheng pointed to the old man again: "The old man has raised this question just now and made it very clear. Isn't it?" "That's right, that's right!" Seeing Liu Bocheng carrying him out one after another, the old man was really proud, and the small cigarette pouch was buzzing. Liu Bocheng continued: "The victory or defeat of a war depends on the preservation or loss of the main force. If you keep people and lose ground, you can still gain land; if you lose people, you will lose all people and land. To stick to a city and a place is tantamount to carrying a burden on yourself. But we threw away these burdens, but Chiang Kai-shek picked them up and carried them on his back. The more he carried, the heavier the burden, the more he couldn’t walk. Therefore, the cities that Chiang’s army temporarily occupied are our best containment troops. , They tightly surrounded Jiang Jun for us, waiting for us to destroy them one by one!" Then, he turned to the old man smoking, "Old man, what did you just say?" "That's right, let's wipe out one strand of it in the east and one strand in the west." The old man shook the pipe seriously, "Eliminate it one strand at a time, and the world will be peaceful." Liu Bocheng laughed and said conclusively: "For more than three months, we have exchanged 17 empty cities in Hebei, Shandong and Henan for more than 60,000 people from Chiang Kai-shek. It is said that Chiang Kai-shek thinks this is a good deal and will continue to do it. Well, let him do it. It won’t take long, as the old man said, he will definitely be able to calculate a general account of the world’s peace!” The warm applause startled the sparrows on the grain stack... The situation of the war is developing as Liu Bocheng said. On the New Year's Day of 1947, the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army launched the Ju (wild) Jin (Xiang) Yu (Taiwan) Battle. At the first hour of the first day of the new year, the fourth column of Henan Security was wiped out. A brigade killed and captured more than 4,000 enemies, and at the same time recovered the three cities of Juye, Liaocheng, and Jiaxiang. The news came that reporter Li Pu was listening to Yan'an Xinhua Radio Station's New Year's message at the newspaper office.When it was mentioned on the radio that our army had wiped out Chiang Kai-shek's forty-six brigades in the past six months, Li Puzhen could not wait to tell him immediately—"add another brigade!" Later, the situation developed even faster. By the end of the victory of the Giant Goldfish Battle on January 16, the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army had wiped out three and a half brigades of the enemy's regular army, together with 14,000 local teams; There are more than 10,000 people under the column commander Zhang Lanfeng. The Battle of Jujinyu and the Battle of Yi (County) Zao (Zhuang) launched by the East China Field Army at the same time, the victory of annihilating more than 53,000 enemies dealt a heavy blow to the Kuomintang.In order to save the crisis, Chiang Kai-shek urgently sent Chen Cheng to Zhengzhou and Xuzhou to deploy the "Lunan Battle", mobilizing 53 brigades with more than 300,000 people, in an attempt to defeat the East China Field Army first, and then turn to attack the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army. This is a sinister and vicious move. If it is not broken as soon as possible, the two liberated areas of Shandong and Hebei, Shandong and Henan will face serious crises at the same time! Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping took a comprehensive view of the overall situation, and ordered a chess piece to the south, to the border region of Henan and Anhui, and to the depths of the enemy-on January 24, the second battle of Longhai was launched. "Looking back on the battle for more than half a year, it is unsatisfactory, very unsatisfactory!" At the military review meeting held in Nanjing, Chiang Kai-shek slapped the table.A glass of boiled water that had just been filled fell to the ground with a "crack", which shocked everyone in the venue.This was the first time that Chiang Kai-shek admitted that the war situation had turned in an unfavorable direction. The people attending the meeting didn't know who he would take his anger on, and everyone lowered their brows and lowered their eyes, not daring to express their anger. Chiang Kai-shek glanced at the expressions of the crowd, and became even more annoyed: "Failing to defeat the communist army is a failure and a great shame! Why did the expected plan not be realized? There are many reasons, and underestimation of the enemy caused many mistakes An important reason for this. First underestimating the enemy, and then overestimating the enemy after being frustrated, from underestimating the enemy to panic. You must know that no matter whether you underestimate or overestimate, you will be punished!" When he said these words, Chiang Kai-shek felt his heart was bleeding.Once upon a time, he vowed to wipe out the communist army in the pass within three to six months.Three months have passed, six months have passed, and eight months have passed. Instead of being wiped out, the Communist Army in the pass has become more and more powerful.With such an embarrassing reality, how can he face the world? Chiang Kai-shek also had great expectations for the "Southern Shandong Great Battle" that started last month.Before the start of the war, he told Chen Cheng: "The Great Battle of Southern Shandong is not just a regional battle. Capture Linyi, annihilate Chen Yi's main force, open the Yimeng Passage, and the Shandong problem will be solved. Not only the Shandong problem, but also the Jiangsu-Anhui problem will be solved. In this way, the powerful corps of Xuzhou and Jinan can be transferred to the Central Plains together with the five armies of Zhengzhou, Xi'an, and Wuhan. War is related to the fate of the party and the country, only success is allowed, and failure is not allowed!" Unexpectedly, before the deployment of the Battle of South Shandong began, Liu Bocheng launched an attack on the border of Henan and Anhui, killing nearly 10,000 defenders in more than a dozen towns in one fell swoop. As a result, Chen Yi concentrated his forces in Shandong to deal with the troops of the Suizhou Department in Xuzhou, and Li Xianzhou, the deputy commander of the Second Suijing District in the Laiwu Campaign, was captured. More than ten thousand people were wiped out. When the news came, the military and political circles were in an uproar, asking Chen Cheng to take the blame and resign.Chiang Kai-shek ordered the abolition of the Xuzhou and Zhengzhou Appeasement Offices, and the establishment of the Xuzhou Command of the Army General Command, which also took charge of the Zhengzhou Command Post, with Gu Zhutong sitting in Xuzhou; Chen Cheng should not intervene in the affairs of the Central Plains. The organization and command system have been adjusted, how will the next battle be fought?Chiang Kai-shek lost his temper, announced a bunch of appointment and dismissal orders, and raised this issue. Those who should be scolded will be scolded, and those who should be spared will be spared. Everyone is relieved.Especially since the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Bai Chongxi, the Minister of National Defense who had been vacant and lost his military power, could not help but feel a little happy when he saw Chen Cheng, who had been favored all the time. The problem is to re-evaluate the enemy's combat power. From this point of view, we can evaluate whether our all-out offensive strategy is realistic and whether it needs to be changed." Bai Chongxi's words were astonishing, and he aimed his sharp edge at the comprehensive offensive strategy formulated by Chiang Kai-shek, which really made the people attending the meeting break out in a cold sweat.The strange thing is that Chiang Kai-shek didn't get angry, but asked calmly: "Jiansheng, what do you think?" "Make some small adjustments." Bai Chongxi pushed his golden glasses, "Change from a comprehensive attack to a focused attack. Of course, the whole country has a national focus, and each war zone has its own focus, so we can't generalize it." Bai Chongxi kept a secret, waiting for Chiang Kai-shek's response. Changing from a full-scale attack to a focused attack, and moving the whole body by pulling a trigger, this small adjustment is simply a major operation. Can Chiang Kai-shek accept it? Chiang Kai-shek was surprisingly calm: "Go on. What do you think is the focus of the whole country?" Bai Chongxi opened the conversation: "I think that Chen Yi was not eliminated in the first two stages of the Lunan Battle. An important reason is that Liu Bocheng supported the Central Plains-this is the first. Second, since ancient times, the Central Plains has been a must for military strategists. This is the so-called 'the one who wins the Central Plains wins the world'. Therefore, the focus of the whole country should be on the Central Plains." "Okay, okay. The Central Plains is the focus of our struggle. It's not bad at all." Chiang Kai-shek couldn't help nodding, but then changed the topic, "However, the focus of our immediate attack is not the Central Plains. Of course Liu Bocheng was defeated in the Battle of Southern Shandong. Coordinating in the Central Plains. On the other hand, Liu Bocheng’s little force was able to scurry around in the Central Plains because of the support of the two wings. When Liu Bocheng moved, Chen Yi in Shandong was ready to move, and Peng Dehuai in northern Shaanxi restrained Hu Zongnan from attacking Liu Bocheng lightly. It can be seen from this that by cutting off the two wings and isolating Liu Bocheng from the Central Plains, he will not be able to fly even if he wants to. Therefore, our next attack should focus on the two wings of the Central Plains—Shandong and Northern Shaanxi, especially to destroy the Communist Party The nerve center of Yan'an!" On February 28, the CCP offices in Nanjing, Shanghai, Chongqing and other places received expulsion orders from the local garrison headquarters.In order to ensure public order, they are restricted to evacuate before March 5th. There are indications that Chiang Kai-shek's attack on Yan'an will be in March. On March 7, Dong Biwu led the staff of the Shanghai office back to Yan'an. On March 9, Wu Yuzhang and other CCP staff who stayed in Chongqing withdrew from Chongqing to Yan'an. On March 11, the US military observation team left Yan'an. Four hours later, Yan'an was bombed by an unprecedented air raid. A week later, on March 19, Chiang Kai-shek received an urgent telegram from Hu Zongnan: That night, Chiang Kai-shek was so excited that he stayed up all night. Northern Shaanxi.Mao Zedong walked on the Yangchang Mountain Road with a willow stick in his hand. Since the voluntary evacuation of Yan'an on March 18, Mao Zedong led the Central Front Enemy Committee - the "Kunlun Column", which has been running around under the guns of Liu Kan's four and a half brigades for dozens of days.Liu Kan found an envelope written "Towards Comrade Li Desheng" in the cave where Mao Zedong lived in Wangjiawan. He confirmed that Li Desheng was Mao Zedong, and he pursued him even more closely. When Liming came to Tianci Bay, the guide said that this is the place where the emperor himself visited. Mao Zedong stood on the cliff, looking at the small village surrounded by mountains. "Since the Emperor Zhenlong once lived there, we will live there too." After walking a few steps, Mao Zedong turned around and said to the guards, "Leave a note for Liu Kan, saying that Mao Zedong is in front." Mao Zedong entered the cave, put down the willow stick and turned on the radio. As usual, the guards immediately took out the military maps of all battlefields across the country.All of a sudden, there were maps hanging on the walls, spread out on the table, and placed on the kang.Usually at this time, the secretary and staff would keep submitting incoming calls from various theaters, and at the same time take away orders and telegrams issued by Mao Zedong.Today the pursuers are not retreating, the enemy's radio direction finder is capturing signals, the radio station cannot be set up, and the cave dwelling is abnormally deserted. Mao Zedong habitually stretched out his hand: "Telegram!" "The radio is still..." Mao Zedong was clearly displeased by his inability to communicate with the theaters.He lit a cigarette, moved one leg heavily onto the kang, and bent down to look at the map. Zhou Enlai walked into the cave: "The enemy is dispatched in this direction, and the distance is twenty miles." Mao Zedong let out a "huh", without taking his eyes off the map, and said: "Chiang Kai-shek has contracted his troops to form two fists, one in Shandong, with 400,000 soldiers; The metaphor is very vivid..." Zhou Enlai picked up the willow stick.Mao Zedong ignored it and waved to Zhou Enlai. "Look! The two ends are thick and the middle is thin. The handle of this 'dumbbell' is the Central Plains where Liu Bocheng is located. Once they attack from the outside and implement a breakthrough in the center, they will definitely disrupt Jiang's key attack. In this way, the whole chess game will come to life. !" Mao Zedong raised his head and asked, "Are they still resting in northern Henan?" "Yes." Zhou Enlai turned the willow stick in his hand, a little anxiously. "I need to contact the army now, and I need to know the situation at Liu Deng's place! When will the radio station be set up?" Ren Bishi hurried into the cave, "We can't stay here anymore, Liu Kan's troops are only fifteen miles away from Tianci Bay." Mao Zedong pushed the map hard, "We can't wait, let's go!" KMT Central Radio News: Radio waves broadcast from the ancient city of Nanjing to the whole country. Chen Geng on the Taihang Mountains, Chen Yi and Su Yu on the battlefield in Shandong, and Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping who were resting in northern Henan all heard this "news". At that time, Liu Bocheng was looking at the map with a magnifying glass. The only healthy eye behind the glass lens stopped his sight from a far place on the map and turned around quickly. Deng Xiaoping was drafting a telegram to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, he threw a pen and stood up. The voice of the Kuomintang radio announcer could be heard from the radio from time to time. Liu Bocheng was silent.Deng Xiaoping was pacing and walking quickly, and suddenly he turned and walked towards the telegraph room.Liu Bocheng also entered the telegraph room. Until the early morning of the next day, there was still no contact with the "Kunlun Column" in northern Shaanxi, the Central Front Enemy Committee led by Mao Zedong. During this period, the Kuomintang's "rumor" radio station has such "news" almost every day, which has disturbed the whole country and even the whole world, and rumors have spread everywhere. When Mao Zedong was forced to "leave the palace" and abandon Yan'an, many people asserted that Chiang Kai-shek had already secured victory, while the Communist Party began to wither like a prematurely withered yellow flower.Even Moscow believed that the decision to evacuate Yan'an was wrong. However, Chiang Kai-shek forgot that his opponent was not only a soldier, but also a philosopher. Mao Zedong walked on the narrow path in northern Shaanxi, took a comprehensive view of the overall situation, moved the chess pieces calmly, and played a dangerous game: breaking through the center of the "clamp hinge" like a tiger's mouth extended by Chiang Kai-shek, and the three-way army advanced into the Central Plains. Thus, the wheels of war turned here, and the track of history turned here. And thus a great twist was born!