Chapter 22 Chapter 22: First Battle in Su County

November 1948 Linhuan Jisu County Nanjing The night in Linhuanji is so quiet, it seems that the war is very far away from it.All the people at the fair were asleep, only the lights of Wenchang Palace stayed on all night, illuminating this small town deep in the Huaibei Plain. Wenchang Palace is the symbol of Linhuanji. Although it is not very eye-catching compared with the Grand Palace, it is an authentic Tang Dynasty building.For thousands of years, dynasties have changed, and Wenchang Palace was once called "Shangshu Palace" and "Book Collection Palace".But no matter how it is changed, its name has always had an inseparable origin and connection with literati, ink writers, and classics and history.However, since the three soldiers moved in a few days ago, the history here has been rewritten to be quite different from its name, and it has become full of masculinity and heroism.

November 10 is too important for both the Communist Party and the Kuomintang. On this day, Mao Zedong sent the telegram to capture Su County, "I want to look forward to it"; Chiang Kai-shek repeatedly ordered the Huangwei Corps to rush to Xu Bang to fight on the front line.On this day, Liu Bocheng arrived at the Huaibei Nakano Headquarters, joined forces with Chen and Deng, and jointly commanded the world-famous Huaihai Campaign; Du Yuming, who was regarded by Chiang Kai-shek as a brawn, also flew to Xuzhou on this day, claiming to turn the crisis around and turn the tide. .On this day, the Central Field Command issued an order for Xu Bang to fight. With the cooperation of Huaye troops, Chen Geng's four verticals attacked Xuzhou from west to north along Jinpu Road; The Corps left Su County and went north to Xuzhou to "escort".Just at this time, Liu Bocheng, Chen Yi, and Deng Xiaoping ordered the Nakano 3rd and 9th columns to occupy Suxian, the gate between Xuzhou and Nanjing at all costs.

When the cock crowed, a group of red-faced middle-aged soldiers walked out of Wenchang Palace.Those who saw them off were the three important figures who lived here a few days ago.The leader is Liu Bocheng, who is tall and wears glasses.Standing beside him was Chen Yi with a fat head and big ears, thick eyebrows and tiger eyes; the other was Deng Xiaoping with a shaved head and a strong and strong body. Those red-faced soldiers are also very important. They are the heads of the various columns-commanders and political commissars.The battle meeting for attacking Su County had just ended, and the smoke from Wenchang Palace was like the dust on the battlefield.

Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping looked stern, and held the hands of Yang Yong, Chen Xilian, Chen Geng, Qin Jiwei and other column leaders one by one, shook them vigorously, and did not speak.But from the strength of the handshake, it is enough for people to appreciate the weight of trust, mission and determination. Liu Changyi, the deputy commander of the third column who served as the front-line commander under the city of Su County, boarded the armored train that had just been seized, and was about to arrive at the city gate to issue a general attack order when the phone rang. "Liu Changyi? Are you attacking Su County now, do you have enough troops?"

As soon as Liu Changyi heard the deafening voice, he knew it was Chen Yi. Liu Changyi was quite moved, but smiled wryly in his heart.In terms of military strength, how can there be enough time?But, Commander Chen, do you still have hairs on your body?The southern line blocked Li Yannian and Liu Ruming; the northern line fought against Qiu Qingquan and Li Mi; the western line pursued and blocked Huang Wei; the eastern line encircled and wiped out Huang Baitao. Which place is rich in troops?On the Huaihai battlefield, our army's 600,000 troops faced the Kuomintang's 800,000 troops. This is obvious.No matter how difficult it is for me, Liu Changyi, I can only stand tall and report to your commander "enough"!

"Should we increase our troops?" Chen Yi was really afraid that Liu Changyi would be polite. "No more." Liu Changyi's tone was unquestionable. "What else do you need? Do you want a cannon?" It seemed that Chen Yi couldn't bear to send his relatives on a long-distance expedition without giving him anything. Liu Changyi had a smile on his face and heart this time, he felt that Chen Yi was really considerate!A year ago, the Nakano soldiers entered the Dabie Mountains with strong horses, and when they came out of the mountains a year later, they almost became a "beggar" army, throwing away all heavy weapons.What is lacking now is cannons, especially for capturing a strong city like Su County, cannons are of course a good thing.But he thought again, we "beggars" can't open our mouths to embarrass the chief; so he sucked his teeth and said, "If there are shells, please ask the commander to dial a few cannons"...

Putting down the phone, Liu Changyi didn't hold out much hope. He knew the "family background" of Linhuanji headquarters.Liu Changyi, who had no hope, opened his mouth wide in surprise. During the general attack, he looked up-oh my god!The cannonballs flying in the sky are like wild geese! It turned out that Chen Yi had already prepared and transferred Huaye's artillery.Su County, also known as "South Xuzhou", is a famous ancient city in Huaibei area.Because it is located in the north-south traffic hub, it has been favored by military strategists of all dynasties.Its city walls are very majestic, wide enough for two cars to run side by side.Under the city, a moat more than ten miles long is surrounded, the river is 20 meters wide, and the water depth is submerged.The east, west, south, and north gates connected by four stone bridges are towering towering towers.In particular, the terrain is complex, and the three-mile-long Dongguan has a barracks built by the Japanese army during the occupation, which is called "Little Tokyo" by the locals. "Little Tokyo" leads directly to the railway station eastward, forming the outer stronghold of Su County.The city wall has been rebuilt, from the foot of the city to the head of the city, with multi-layer perforations and dark forts.The streets in the city are built with sandbags and barbed wire to form defensive positions; and with the streets as the dividing line, shooting holes are opened on tall buildings to form a number of support points that can fight independently and provide fire support.It can be said that the barriers are fortified and impregnable.

However, an artillery fire on the evening of the 15th made this ancient city stand an unprecedented test. The shelling lasted for half an hour, and the fire dragons shot at the target accurately, hitting the city walls and gates with bricks and stones flying across the city, and dust filled the air. However, after the gunfire, the gunpowder smoke drifted away, but the familiar city wall was still standing in the dark in the wilderness, and the numerous scars made it look more desolate and majestic. At sunset, the shelling had just stopped, the ground was still shaking, and the first round of siege battles began.

The commander of the engineer company of the Seventh Brigade stood up facing the gunpowder smoke.Maybe it was the cannon that deafened his ears, and his shout was louder than the cannon: "Demolition team, go!" Under the cover of dense machine guns, the first blasting team rushed up like a gust of wind.The deer village on the open ground was blown up, and the bridgehead blockhouse leading to the east gate collapsed.The second blasting team immediately rushed to the stone bridge.Suddenly, a bunker under the east gate burst into flames.The blasters fell down one by one as if hit by something unexpected.

Before the word "cannon" came out of the company commander's mouth, a "thunder" sounded beside him: "I'm going!" With the shout of "Revenge for the class brothers", a figure shot out like an arrow. "Fourth Squad Leader, Qu Fuming!" The blasters who were hiding in the trench and waiting for orders couldn't help shouting. Qu Fuming is like a deer, sometimes twisting and sometimes rushing in the rain of bullets.Seeing that he was about to approach the bunker, the man jumped up on the bridge, his body stayed in the air for a moment like a big bird gliding, and then he fell heavily on the ground.

"Qu Fuming was shot!" The people in the trench exclaimed. "The fourth blasting team!" The company commander didn't say the word "up", and suddenly Qu Fuming stood up from the bridge again, leaned a few times, and rushed towards the bunker. "Boom—" With the earth-shattering bang, a cloud of pink mist rose from the East City Gate. The main attack on Ximen was the 25th Regiment of the 3rd Vertical and 9th Brigade. Before the general offensive began, they encountered an insurmountable obstacle-the bridge leading to the west gate was blown off by the enemy. Bridge building has become a top priority!At the military democratic meeting before the war, many proposals were put forward, but none of them were ideal.Brigadier Tong Guogui frowned. "Report! We have a solution!" Wu Yinhe, deputy battalion commander of the third battalion, came running with a drenched soldier. "What way?" Brigadier Tong's eyebrows were still furrowed. "Let him say that he came up with the solution." Wu Yinhe pointed at the soldier. The soldier wiped the water from his face: "It's nothing to say. There are two difficulties in building a bridge. First, the span of the broken bridge is large, and the bridge deck is heavy and long. How long is it? I thought, if a bamboo pole is erected first, and then the bridge board is put on it and pushed, wouldn’t it slide over?” Brigadier Tong's eyes lit up: "Then, how long should the bamboo pole and bridge board be?" Wu Yinhe handed over a wet rope: "He has already circled the moat and swam under the bridge to measure it!" Brigadier Tong's eyebrows were completely stretched, staring at the drenched soldier: "What a sliding pole bridge! What's your name?" The soldier blushed, turned and ran away. "Yang Shouye!" Wu Yinhe shouted loudly. Brigadier Tong memorized the name and said to Wu Yinhe: "Give him a great credit!" The general offensive began. A bamboo pole two feet long first came out of the trench, and then a soldier jumped out.Brigadier Tong recognized it, it was that Yang Shouye again. Yang Shouye was like a medieval knight holding a spear, and also like a pole vault athlete, facing the rain of bullets, he flew straight to the bridge. The slider was successfully erected once! Brigadier Tong patted the deputy battalion commander Wu Yinhe on the shoulder: "Give him another credit!" The enemies on the west gate found a bamboo pole stretched across the broken bridge. Although they couldn't figure out what it was for, they knew the power of the communist army's "magic".As a result, all the firepower of bunkers, bunkers, and perforations was concentrated on the bridgehead. Six people from the first bridging group rushed up and fell down. Six people from the second bridging team rushed up and fell down... Five consecutive bridging attempts failed.Under the hail of bullets, the moat set off dense spray.Under the reflection of the setting sun, the moat had bloody ripples. "Damn it! I don't believe it!" Zhang Qinghe, the head of the 25th Regiment, took off his hat and threw it violently, "Brigade Commander, let me bring the bridging team up!" Tong Guogui raised his eyebrows: "Concentrate your firepower and seal off the enemy's perforation!" "Go!" With an order, the sixth support bridge team rushed up again. The bridge is finally erected.The commander of the seventh company responsible for the bridge-building task counted with tears, and there were only sixteen people left in the whole company. The flare went up.The twenty-fifth regiment rushed towards the moat like a flood, and stepped on the bridge paved with flesh and blood by Qilian.Eight companies rushed to the city first. The enemy had a premonition that the doomsday was coming, and barked like a mad dog, and shot down bunches of grenades, incendiary bombs, and mortar shells.Simon became a sea of ​​flames. The platoon leader who rushed to the front fell down; the deputy platoon leader Li Side had just taken over the command and was also injured. "Comrades, follow me!" Squad leader Shen Zhengxi led another row forward.In the bean-like rain of bullets, all of the first row were killed, and all of the second row were killed... Company Commander Gao Yuqi's eyes were bleeding, and he shouted hoarsely: "Comrades, we are the only ones left in the company... We will die on the walls, not on the walls!" Before the words fell, Gao Yuqi was also shot in the neck, and blood gushed out from his shoulder and mouth at the same time.He spat out a mouthful of salty blood, picked up the machine gun with his left hand, and waved the grenade with his right hand: "Avenge your comrades, go!" New soldier Zhou Yuming followed closely with a basket of bombs, and one bullet knocked him down. He lay on the ground and dropped eight bombs on the enemy's bunker; He held the submachine gun in his left hand, and moved forward while shooting like a dancing broom; the platoon leader Gao Duocheng's mouth was cut open, and half of his teeth were blown away. He also woke up from his coma when he heard the company commander's shout. Like a ferocious god, he rushed upwards with a grin. Finally, under the leadership of the company commander Gao Yuqi, fourteen warriors climbed to the top of the city covered with wounds. The sun sets on the horizon and the moon rises high in the sky.Qian Zhuoyan, Colonel and Deputy Commander of the 148th Division of Jiang Jun, was sitting in the command room of the division headquarters. The sound of cannons outside shook the electric lights in the room like a swing.He has the habit of keeping a diary, but today he didn't know how to write. A piece of roof skin collapsed from the roof shaking, and dust fell down one after another.He brushed the dust off the diary and opened the first page, wanting to read it from the beginning and sort out his thoughts. After reading the diary, my thoughts became more and more chaotic, just like the battle situation in the past few days, getting worse every day.What do you remember today?Still these frustrating things.But if I don't remember it, my heart will be even more chaotic.Remember what you see and write what you think of.Qian Zhuoyan was in a trance, and picked up the pen in doubt—— Just as I wrote this, a grenade exploded outside the door; then there was a riot, and the shouts of "hand in the guns and don't kill" and "preferential treatment of prisoners" were already close at hand.Qian Zhuoyan grabbed the plain clothes she had prepared by her side, changed them in a hurry, and fled through the window recklessly. The diary, which can be used for half a year, but only contains 20 days of "sorrow and resentment", is like the self-confession of the Kuomintang army, and it has become a trophy of the People's Liberation Army. The six members of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Company and 9th Squad of the 7th Brigade, 19th Regiment, and the 9th Squadron of the 2nd Company have been holding back their energy for a few days. When arranging the siege task, the regiment decided that the first battalion would be the "Assault Battalion", the second company would be the "Assault Company", and the ninth squad would be the "Assault Squad".They screamed excitedly: "I've wanted to fight a good battle for a long time! An important place like Zhengzhou failed to be fought, and they went to Zhangge to surround the enemy, but his pustule disarmed collectively again! Finally, this round of assault Ban, we can't embarrass Liu Deng's army!" Since breaking through the east gate, they have cut through the pass and seized the pass all the way, rushing to the front. After crossing Chengguan Shizi Street, a church-like house stood in front of him.They didn't know that this was the headquarters of Zhang Jiwu, the deputy commander of the Kuomintang Lieutenant General's road guard and the commander of the first brigade of the traffic police, the Gospel Church. Six people stepped forward to block the door. Hundreds of people in the yard ran around like rats whose nest had been blown up. Xing Si'e hurriedly reported: "Squad leader, there are many enemies—" Squad leader Li Zhengtang interrupted him: "What more? We have more than him. Hit them with hand grenades!" He happened to have two boxes of hand grenades that had just been seized, and the six of them took off the covers and threw them fiercely.Amidst the smoke and sparks, countless black figures jumped up and down, struggling to fight back.Counterattack once, was blown back; counterattack again, was blown back again, and finally had to retreat into the inner courtyard. Li Zhengtang aimed at the inner courtyard and threw two grenades, and the combat team leader Hao Zhanao took advantage of the situation to control the second gate.Just as a guy who looked like an officer was rushing out holding a gun, Hao Zhanao went up and snatched the gun, and put the muzzle against his belly: "Don't move! If you move, I'll kill you!" Li Zhengtang stepped into the gate holding a bundle of grenades: "Who dares to move, I will pull the string!" "Don't, don't! Let's surrender our guns!" Then there was the sound of guns being thrown.Li Zhengtang, Hao Zhanao, Xing Si'e, Li Yaozong, Wang Guoshuang, and Jiang Yongsheng rushed into the yard together.The yard was full of people, all scrambling to hand in their guns, the chaos was overwhelming.Li Zhengtang counted, and he was startled too.Not counting those who were killed, there were more than 150 people who raised their hands and surrendered. In the group of prisoners, a tall, thin man with black and gray smeared on his face would ask everyone he saw, "Will you kill the captive officers?" There was something wrong with this kid at first glance, but when he asked, it was indeed the lieutenant general commander Zhang Jiwu.There was a lot of fighting in Su County, and the common people were busy leading the way for the People's Liberation Army.A telegraph office here, a flour mill there—many "living maps" sprang up all at once.The reason why the six fighters who captured Zhang Jiwu took the lead all the way was thanks to the guidance of fellow villagers. The city is lively, and the outside of the city is also like Chinese New Year.Every household hung up lamps, milled noodles, stretched stretchers.Even the children did not sleep, and ran around the village all night.Listening to the sound of guns in the city and watching the stray bullets in the distance is as enjoyable as lighting firecrackers and fireworks on the 30th and 15th of the first lunar month. Yangjiaxuzi, seven miles away from the city, is a small village with only seventeen families.From the second day after the troops arrived, four carts and seven migrant workers volunteered to join the front team, transporting food and ammunition for the besieging PLA.Because they were afraid of being bombed by planes, they all went on the road at night.The comrades in the army asked them if they were sleepy, and they said, "We have been squatting in the cellar for decades, and finally caught up with the dawn, are we still sleepy?" Yang Huanxuan, an old man in the village, used a donkey in his family to deliver food to the People's Liberation Army.When the car arrived at "Little Tokyo" in the county seat, the donkey called a stray bullet and killed him.He thought to himself that if he died, he would have to pull it down, but unexpectedly, the People's Liberation Army gave him two loads of rice to compensate for the donkey.After he returned to the village, he would say to everyone he met: "Really manage (local dialect: really do, really amazing), there are such things! In the past, I only heard that the People's Liberation Army is good, but this time seeing is believing!" Hearing what he said, even the women in the village came out to support them. Zhongnong Sun Zhengshun's woman and daughter ground more than 60 catties of noodles for the PLA overnight. The troops rushed to the front line late at night, passing through the village one by one.There are not enough people to lead the way, and the eldest girl and the younger daughter-in-law are also on the scene. The whole area is more than ten miles away. The moon went down, and the sun rose brightly. The gunfire has long since ceased in Su County, and the streets and alleys are full of teams of prisoners being escorted. In the headquarters of the Kuomintang in the Gospel Church, the radio station has not been interrupted.Since the battle situation in Su County hadn't been reported yet, Nanjing kept calling: "Please answer, how is the battle situation in your place? How is the battle situation? Please answer..." Liu Changyi, who was busy dealing with prisoners of war and captured materials, was annoyed by the loud and chattering calls, so he grabbed a captured enemy deputy commander, pointed to the radio and ordered: "Go and tell He just said that Su County is under my control." It was really quiet on the radio.Not long after, there was the hum of an airplane in the sky.It turned out that Nanjing believed it was true and sent planes to drop supplies. Liu Changyi temporarily gathered a group of captives and asked them to place a "T" board according to the original contact signal to receive the "gift" from Nanjing.All morning, the planes came in batches, and the parachutes with all kinds of supplies floated down like flowers. Turning Liu Changyi around like a toothache from joy, he kept nagging: "This Chiang Kai-shek is really obedient!" The Su County battle took a total of ten hours.With the cooperation of the Nine Columns, the Three Columns captured 12,964 officers and soldiers under Lieutenant General Commander Zhang Jiwu and Major General Chief of Staff Wei Bian with a force of 16,000, and seized a large number of weapons, ammunition, and military supplies. , liberated the first important town in Anhui, and fought the first beautiful battle of the Central Plains Field Army in the Battle of Huaihai. On this day, it was rumored in Nanjing that the People's Liberation Army had captured Suxian County, Xuzhou had become a shackle, and Bengbu would also face threats, so it was inferred that Nanjing was about to lose its hold.The astonishing news seemed to have wings. For a while, Xiaguan Station and Zhongshan Pier were filled with boiling crowds, which were crowded in a mess.Even the roof of the train was full of people, so that some people fell down and died from time to time while the train was running.Even so, people still have one thought: leave this war-torn place as soon as possible, and flee to Shanghai, Wuhan or even further afield. On this day, the Nanjing Executive Yuan held a regular meeting.The venue with more than 2,000 seats was empty and there were only less than 200 people.Officials and civil servants of various government agencies are busy arranging their places to go. Who wants to go to work and hold meetings?Even the committee members who attended the meeting were not in the mood to discuss proposals, and most of them were holding a private fair to "build a bridge" and "pave the way" for leaving Nanjing. Premier Weng Wenhao has resigned.The temporary convener of the meeting looked at the deserted venue where no one could be hit by throwing a stick, so he had to spread his hands and said "the meeting was adjourned". On this day, in the huge Nanjing, the huge government agencies, I am afraid that only Chiang Kai-shek's "Official Residence Report" can function normally and hold meetings on time according to head count. The news of the fall of Su County undoubtedly cast a huge shadow on the mansion. Those who participated in the "Conference Report" were all dignitaries in the military circles, and they studied strategic issues all day long. Of course, they knew more about Su County's strategic position than ordinary people.The Communist Party seized Su County and cut off the southern section of Jinpu Road, which meant that Xuzhou's "suppressing the general" had fallen into a strategic siege.And not just one Xuzhou, like a sharp knife cutting tofu, it cut the entire Xubeng and the seven Kuomintang corps in the Huaihai area into several pieces that were not connected to each other and whose actions could not be coordinated.This makes this decisive battle, which is related to the survival of the party and the country, in a state of fragmentation from the very beginning. The consequences of this posture are clear.Since Huang Baitao's corps was surrounded by Huaye in the Nianzhuang area on the 6th, the Ministry of National Defense and Xuzhou's "Suppression General" repeatedly ordered Qiu Qingquan and Li Mi's corps to rescue them.However, for ten days, there was no progress other than increasing casualties.Chiang Kai-shek had hoped that the Huangwei Corps would quickly cross the Jinpu Road and reach the war zone in order to break the siege of Nianzhuang; Annihilate Huaye.However, the fall of Su County made all this come to naught. Chiang Kai-shek knew that this situation of taking one step at a time and one step at a time was caused by a wrong decision.In the past, he was too focused on rescuing Huang Baitao, while ignoring that the Communist Party would take the opportunity to seize Su County.Of course, this does not rule out the weightlessness of emotion, although this emotion is essentially derived from his strategy. Huang Baitao is not a direct descendant of Chiang Kai-shek, but his loyalty to Chiang Kai-shek is unmatched by many direct descendants.Therefore, after the civil war began, Chiang Kai-shek pushed Huang Baitao to the fore in almost every battle in the Central Plains to play the leading role.After the Battle of Eastern Henan, Chiang Kai-shek awarded Huang Baitao the Order of the Blue Sky and White Sun.Huang Baitao is the first and only one who can get this honor in the miscellaneous army.The purpose of Chiang Kai-shek's doing this is to set up a banner among those generals who are not direct descendants, at the same time prove his philosophy and treat everyone equally, and make those who are direct descendants but have two hearts feel ashamed. Such a banner, Chiang Kai-shek is absolutely unwilling to let it fall easily.Especially on the 8th, when He Jifeng and Zhang Kexia led troops in the Third Appeasement Area to defect to the enemy at the front lines of Jiawang and Taierzhuang, the Huaye troops of the Communist Army quickly passed through the Bulaohe River, putting Huang Baitao's corps in a desperate situation, and Chiang Kai-shek was filled with grief and indignation.He dropped his glass, scolded He and Zhang Gou for being shameless; called Huang Baitao's name with tears, and vowed to rescue him; The interests of the country have lost the position of the people; in response to the rumors of the Communist bandits, they advocate surrender to the Communist bandits. This is extremely shameful! The national army’s policy of suppressing rebellion and bandits has long been determined, and we will do our best to carry it out to the end!  … The attitude is that if something is not started, it is enough, and it must be successful from the beginning; any responsibility is not easy to assume, and once it is assumed, it is determined to be responsible to the end. Especially in the past 30 years, I have made a solemn decision on any battle before launching it; Once launched, regardless of any setbacks, difficulties and failures, we must fight to the end and carry it through to the end!" This is Chiang Kai-shek.This person who liked to swim against the water in the mountain stream in his hometown Fenghua since he was a child has a personality of never regretting his mistakes and never admitting failure. Today's "Official Residence Report", as usual, first introduced the situation of the battle by Hou Teng, director of the Second Department of the Ministry of National Defense.But Hou Teng was a little trembling when he introduced the battle situation today, lest he offend Chiang Kai-shek who was angry.Unexpectedly, the more he was afraid of making mistakes, the more he was afraid of making mistakes. He managed to finish the battle situation, but he superfluously added a sentence: "At present, due to the Communist army's capture of Su County, the situation in Xuzhou is tense, and the rear of Nanjing is also extremely chaotic. Yesterday and today, the station wharf was crowded with people In addition, the streets are full of food grabs, the police stand by, most of the grain stores are closed, and they dare not open..." Chiang Kai-shek really exploded in anger, and before Hou Teng finished speaking, he pointed at Hou Teng's nose and cursed: "You are making rumors! Nonsense! Nonsense! How can this happen?!" Hou Teng's face turned pale all of a sudden, wishing he could slap his own mouth.There was no sound in the venue, and there was awe. After a long time, Chiang Kai-shek took a sip of boiled water, calmed down his anger, and said to Gu Zhutong, "Mo San, tell me about your visit to Xuzhou." Gu Zhutong and Guo Rugui took Chiang Kai-shek's letter to Xuzhou yesterday, strictly ordered Du Yuming to send troops eastward to relieve Huang Baitao's siege, and returned to Nanjing overnight. As soon as he arrived in Xuzhou, Gu Zhutong immediately asked: "The communist army only has two or three columns (actually there are seven or eight columns), why are the seven or eight armies of our two corps still unable to fight for a few days?" Du Yuming pushed him back with one sentence: "Wars are not just talking on paper, you can reach your destination by drawing an arrow." Liu Zhi also went on to say: "If you want to try your best to solve Huang Baitao's siege, you can only suggest to the president to give up Xuzhou." But Gu Zhutong did not dare to report a word to Chiang Kai-shek about the words of these two people, so he had to tell Chiang Kai-shek the three strategies Du Yuming had to put forward: "Sir, Guangting believes that the key to this battle lies in How much Huang Baitao is holding on? If he can hold on like Pan Yukun defending Dehui and Chen Mingren defending Siping Street, judging from the level of attacks in the past few days, he can get out of the siege. This is the best strategy. If Huang Baitao can't hold on, Xuzhou can still be preserved , This is the middle policy. If we abandon Xuzhou, and we cannot defeat the Communist army in one fell swoop to relieve Huang Baitao's siege, the entire army will definitely be wiped out, and this becomes the worst policy." "So, what is he going to do?" Chiang Kai-shek was a little impatient. Gu Zhutong opened his mouth and closed it again.He remembered Du Yuming's repeated instructions. When he was in Xuzhou, Du Yuming told Gu Zhutong alone that he had ordered the 74th Army to advance eastward from the right flank to intensify the encirclement and roundabout attacks on the Huaye Communist Army, and was preparing to continue to deploy the 72nd Army from Jiuli Mountain to increase its attack power At the same time, Gu Zhutong was asked not to tell Guo Rugui about this plan.Gu Zhutong knew that Du Yuming had opinions on Guo Rugui, suspected that Guo Rugui was a member of the Communist Party, and from the very beginning he did not agree to let this "Guo kid" be the director of the third department, so he persuaded Du Yuming: "You don't want to Suspicion. Guo Rugui has been with me for more than a year, very loyal, and the business is running very well." But Du Yuming insisted repeatedly: "I must never let Guo know about my command and combat plan in advance. If it is a plan that Guo knows, I will It will not be carried out according to the original plan.” Now, Guo Rugui is by his side, and Du Yuming is a man of his own accord, so Gu Zhutong could only answer: "Guang Ting said, please appoint a judge." "What about you?" Chiang Kai-shek stared at Gu Zhutong. "I..." Gu Zhutong stammered a little, "I'll listen to the president." Chiang Kai-shek's face was sullen, and he didn't speak for a long time. "Originally," Chiang Kai-shek was silent for a while, got up and said, "Before the battle started, you put forward two plans for the strategy of 'defending the river must defend the Huaihe River': the first is to advocate that except for one or two troops sticking to Xuzhou, all the troops on the Longhai Road The city completely gave up, and concentrated all the troops that could be concentrated on both sides of Jinpu Road in Xubengjian, doing offensive defense, and trying to find a decisive battle for the Communist army; the second is to retreat to the south bank of the Huaihe River and rely on river defense. These two options have their own advantages. I am still hesitating about the pros and cons. But now, I can no longer hesitate, because the Communist Party forced me to make up my mind. This determination is, at all costs, to wipe out the Communist Army in the Xubeng area! To the south of the Huaihe River!"