Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Reinforcement and Aid

Now, we open the map, starting from Beijing, along the railway line, via Zhangjiakou, Datong to Jining, one step north to go to Outer Mongolia via Erlianhot City, Inner Mongolia, and continue walking to Moscow; and from Jining to the west, the railway The line quickly approached the north bank of the Yellow River, stubbornly entangled with the Yellow River, and almost reached the ancient city of Lanzhou.Standing in Jining and looking west, it is entirely appropriate to call Hohhot (Guisui) 100 kilometers away and Baotou, Wuyuan, and Linhe a little further away as the gateway to the Northwest.

Of course, in the game of chess in China after Japan surrendered in August 1945, the meaning of "Pingsui Railway" and "Suibao Area" is much more complicated than these.On November 22 of that year, the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China sent Nie Rongzhen, commander of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, and He Long, commander of the Shanxi-Sui Field Army, in their replies, which stated very clearly: "Due to restrictions on conditions, the Soviet Union must ensure that Chiang Kai-shek receives the major cities in Manchuria. For the time being, I have no hope of winning over the big cities in Northeast China. Therefore, Jehol, Chahar, and Suiyuan are all the more important to our national strategy. We must seek to control the entire province of Suiyuan, so that we can have a more solid rear and guarantee The flank of Zhangjiakou, and the establishment of a channel to enter Xinjiang when necessary in the future (if a solid strategic base cannot be established in the Northeast, Xinjiang may still have this possibility). Therefore, the Battle of Suiyuan is actually related to my overall national situation at present and in the future.”

At that time, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party were negotiating on the table of peace talks. Mr. Fu Zuoyi, who was sitting in the Forbidden City, was concerned about the Suibao area, but the situation when he was interviewed by Chiang Kai-shek at the Sixth National Congress of the Kuomintang a few months ago appeared in his mind.Jiang said: "Yisheng, your talent is obvious to all. The country has internal and external troubles, and it is time to employ people. There are not too many comrades like you in the party, but too few! Therefore, I will entrust Pingsui to you. Don't worry. With you Yisheng living in North China, the general situation is certain..."

In August, Fu Zuoyi took office as the commander-in-chief of the 11th War Zone, and he had the unshirkable responsibility for managing North China.He has always advocated "two points to military affairs, three points to politics, and five points to economics."Over the past few months, he has almost tried his best to enrich several cities along the Pingsui line in terms of supplies.Especially Baotou, it is not too much to regard it as a huge arsenal or arsenal.Fu Zuoyi believed in material power as well as spiritual power (this was learned from the Communist Party).As for the military, what should be guarded is monolithic, and what should not be guarded will collapse at the touch of a finger.The chess record is only hidden in his own heart.

For Nie Rongzhen and He Long, was it too easy for Zhuo Zishan to succeed? At that time, the Central Military Commission's plan was quite encouraging. "If Fu Zuoyi sticks to Guisui, he will first occupy Baotou, Wuyuan, and Guyang, and force Fu to go on a hunger strike to break through, and then annihilate them. If I can advance quickly, I may quickly occupy Guisui." Sui".Now, Zhuo Zishan started so well, Fu Zuoyi really withdrew his main force to Guisui, and Nie Rongzhen and He Long coincidentally set their sights on Baotou.This is not only a natural choice, as far as Nie and He are concerned, trying their best to complete the deployment of the Military Commission is an excellent opportunity to reflect local values ​​in the national structure.At that time, all the generals hoped to add weight to Chongqing's balance, and everyone knew: this is writing history!

When Nie Rongzhen rushed to the small village called Longshengzhuang east of Zhuozi Mountain, Fu Zuoyi's defense in the two cities of Suibao was basically ready.The first to bear the brunt of course is Guisui.This place was just a chicken feather town in the early days, and later it became the seat of the Suiyuan provincial capital, and then it gradually became full-fledged, and a new city developed on the basis of the old city.When Fu Zuoyi first became the provincial chairman, under his guiding ideology of "immigrating to the border, developing production, and consolidating national defense", he began to build deep ditches and high walls to build new and old city fortifications.

By the late period of the Anti-Japanese War, these efforts had been achieved to the extreme.Before retreating to Sui, all the city defense fortifications were carefully reinforced, and there were outer trenches more than two meters deep at the front of the fortifications.On one side of the trench, there are barbed wire fences, three columns of piles, concertinas, and some triangular sets of triangles stacked one after the other, not to mention Luzhai in key areas and other obstacles tailored to local conditions.In some places, power grids are specially installed, and there are dotted with bright and dark fortresses. Those local Suimeng puppet troops and miscellaneous divisions are distributed among these ditches.The back city is condescending, of course it is Fu Zuoyi's Central Army.When the battle broke out, the enemy soldiers guarding the fortifications, with the front ditch and the back ridge, each with a black muzzle on their buttocks, trying to covet life and fear death will never do it.

What is difficult to deal with is the enemy cavalry who come and go without a trace.When Nie Rongzhen saw He Long, he said with deep hatred: "The enemy cavalry is a headache, we must knock him out!" The cavalry he said mainly refers to the three cavalry divisions of King De and Li Shouxin.Relying on the advantages of fast maneuvering on four legs, these guys are responsible for mobile combat missions outside the two cities of Sui and Bao.They are very familiar with the terrain, they can switch from one field to another, and they move extremely fast. In many cases, they will destroy the opponent's team without waiting for a fight back.

He Long saw that troops from all walks of life rushed to the Suibao area one after another in the past few days, and they had been wandering around with the enemy cavalry around the periphery, playing hide-and-seek for several days without getting close to the real city defense. He felt very uncomfortable. "What's wrong!" He yelled at Nie Rongzhen, "If you fight Fu Zuoyi, how can you not get rid of these horse-riding enemies? In my opinion, one bite is one bite. We want to wipe them all out, and we can't drive them away!" Nie and He Yingxiong Seeing the same thing, hit it off when we met for the first time.

He Long believes that the chased enemy cavalry is likely to become the bane of "fire behind the buttocks" in future sieges.This is quite insightful.As far as the total strength of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party in the Sui and Bao areas was concerned at that time, Fu Zuoyi could be rich and powerful.In addition to commanding the four divisions of his direct troops, he also had three cavalry divisions and one air defense division of the Suimeng puppet army, which was equivalent to five puppet police brigades of a regiment.In addition, local troops like Hai Fulong, Er Dezi, Long Zhenzi, Xing Shouzhong, Wu Qingyun, etc., also have as many as five divisions.There are even more troops with different affiliations but can be commanded temporarily. Zou Changqing, E Yousan, Shi Yushan, Wang Yougong, Qiao Hanchu, Zhao Dayi, etc. add up to six divisions with a total strength of 80,000 people .If the adjacent Yan Xishan and Ning and Qing Erma's possible reinforcements are taken into account, their strength is not a predictable figure.

This is bound to be a tough fight.The ground was frozen and the wind was biting. The soldiers of Nie and He's troops did not have a decent cotton coat on them.More importantly, the troops won several consecutive victories with the guns drawn from the old areas of the Anti-Japanese War, and expanded a large number of liberation fighters like popcorn. Before sinking down for training, they went to the battlefield again. Nie Rongzhen said: "Bite the bullet and do it. First clear the periphery, encircle Guisui, and then attack the city. At the same time, allocate a force to go west out of Baotou, cut off Fu Zuoyi's retreat, and relatively isolate the Guisui defending enemy. In this way, how much can we Shaking and shaking them is conducive to attacking the city." At that time, He Long opened his eyes and closed his eyes because of the Chongqing negotiations and the safety of Chairman Mao, and a fire was burning in his heart.There is no reason not to follow the battle that is being waged before us. The two bosses sat on the horse and chatted all the way from Longsheng Village to Zhuozi Mountain that was just won.The intermittent black smoke on the side of the road and the sporadic troops cleaning the battlefield reflected their indescribable mood.Now that the prologue has been kicked off, what will be staged in the future and how it will be performed does not seem to matter much.Both CEOs are powerful people.Without hesitation, they got into the farmhouse next to Zhuozi Mountain, gathered around the map, one held a carved wooden pipe, the other held a marching kettle, smoked and drank alcohol, and began to deploy troops. Returning to Sui is still the first priority to overcome.This is a pangolin lying on a barren hill. There are two cities, the new and the old. The new city is small and concentrated, and has a complete wall to support it;What's more, the criss-cross fortifications have enabled the whole city to be firmly guarded.This is enough to keep the enemy out of the mountain gate. However, Fu Zuoyi still has to play with his tactics. He always uses offense as defense. Troops are often at a loss in advance and retreat, very passive. But the Central Military Commission's judgment is quite optimistic.In addition to a somewhat unreliable view of the technical conditions of the siege troops, he is absolutely confident in both troop strength and morale.Therefore, the Military Commission advocated using the newly captured field artillery, heavy artillery, mountain artillery and engineering explosives to "concentrate and destroy key points" to make up for technical defects.This tactical policy of "getting quickly and returning to Sui" somewhat brings a possibility of winning.But how big this possibility is, God knows.Therefore, the Military Commission also gave another policy, which is "delayed acquisition and return to Sui".First follow Fu Zuoyi's attempt to use offense as defense and actively defend, conceal the main force, and use a part of the force to make a realistic feint attack posture. Once the defending enemy attacks, tell him to come out and it is difficult to return. This way, one bite is less, and the enemy's vitality is consumed. The second is to besiege the strong and attack the weak, use a small force to besiege Guisui flexibly, let it not move first, let the main force go westward, attack Saraqi, Baotou, and Wuyuan, and attack these small secondary cities. After coming down, go back to pack up and go back to Sui.If "quick acquisition" and "delayed acquisition" are not successful, then we have to use the traditional magic weapon, "mobilize the masses, arm the masses, and gather the main force to maneuver the position. Small troops continue to harass, be trapped for a long time, make the enemy's food and abandon the city, and then Annihilate it." One can imagine how Nie and He felt when they received such a telegram at such a critical moment.The so-called "the enemy is strong and we are weak", "the enemy is many and we are few" and practical issues such as the quality of soldiers and the combat experience of large corps cannot be put on the table for a while. Siege. Easier said than done!As soon as the guns fired, the opponent's solid city defense system showed its power on the spot. Those seemingly ordinary independent houses, water towers, and small hills all burst into flames, and the bright and dark forts formed a dense network of fire around the old and new cities. , the light and heavy weapons of the siege troops were used to their limit in the first 10 minutes, but the effect was close to zero. Just hearing the whizzing of the bullets could not hurt people, and those insufficient shells could only be seen wherever they fell. It was just a cloud of fireworks, and the enemy's high and low fire nets were still flying with red letters.At this time, Wang Shangrong from Baotou urgently reported: The two regiments of the only brigade were blocked from attacking Yuwangmiao and Baotou Railway Station. "Mr. Nie!" He Long picked up the phone, "I don't think these two bones are easy to chew, should we adjust the deployment?" Nie Rongzhen was also sweating in anxiety at this moment: "Wait, I'll go over to your side right away, let's discuss it carefully. It won't work if this drags on, the sacrifice of the troops is too great!" It took only ten minutes for Tao Buqi to go around to the headquarters of Xihelong in Guisui City.Standing in front of the door, He Long saw Nie Rongzhen from afar, and before he could get off his horse, he raised his voice loudly: "Let's change the direction of the assault, let's nibble on the Baotou first, what do you think?" scheme. The two bosses underestimated Baotou!Although this small city with a population of over 100,000 is not as prominent as Guisui, it has always been an important gateway to the Yellow River Hetao.During the Japanese occupation, they spent a lot of money on city defense. Only the reinforced concrete blockhouse built by Yuwang Temple in the northeast corner of the city can control the east and north directions of the whole city with firepower, and there is a two-meter-deep underground The trenches lead directly to the city, and the resources of ammunition are endless.In addition, the terrain here is relatively high, as long as there is a machine gun on it, condescending, no matter how many troops the opponent rushes over, they can calmly "roll" one by one, and the bullets are not in vain. "Wang Shangrong has less than 3,000 people!" He Long was anxious about this.He came to the 358th Brigade on horseback, and said to Brigadier Huang Xinting: "You and Qiuli prepare, give the troops a boost, march quickly tonight, 150 kilometers, carry forward the tradition, fight continuously, go up and do it!" He Long I have high hopes for the 358th Brigade. Three days ago, Nie and He had agreed that He Long and Li Jingquan would lead the main force of the Jinsui Field Army, the third brigade of the Hebei-Shandong Column of Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei (less than one regiment) and the sixth regiment of the fourth brigade to advance westward and urgently reinforce Baotou.The two bosses spread out the battle situation and quickly reached a consensus. They both felt that the confrontation with the enemy took a long time without an absolute advantage in military strength, and the consumption was too large, and the supply of ammunition and food would be more difficult.If there is no large increase in troops in a short period of time, it will be difficult to divide the troops into two places, fight back to Sui and pack their heads. The actual situation is: either concentrate the troops to pack the head, or concentrate the troops to fight back to Sui, or don't fight both, the main force will be transferred back to the base area, and only some troops will be left to consolidate the newly opened areas.In the end, they handed over all their ideas to the Central Military Commission. The Military Commission replied in a timely manner, and chose the first "either": the main force went west, and Baotou was taken first.He also particularly emphasized the need to concentrate forces and let He Long and Li Jingquan lead the main force of the Jinchaji troops to march westward with the entire Jinsui Field Army, while the Guisui side was indeed left with "partial forces". The task was to flexibly siege, blockade, Raid the enemy. This plan is equivalent to changing the order of operations from east to west to west to east.Putting the focus of the limited force on the weaker enemy first, comparatively speaking, it is easier to show the superiority of the force.Wait until the weak enemy has been defeated and the army has grown a lot stronger. Then we will fight against a strong enemy, and of course we will be more sure of victory.Although there are many loopholes in the ventilation, considering the reality of the small capital in the hands of Nie and He at that time, the plan of the Central Military Commission can be regarded as the best strategy.Boss He, who is very savvy, understood in his heart when he saw the military commission's telegram.He immediately said to Li Jingquan: "Jingquan, you have to chew on this hard bone, and you have to chew on it if you don't. The Military Commission knows our difficulties, and the Military Commission also has the difficulties of the Military Commission!" However, Nie Rongzhen frowned: "This is basically a plan to ignore Guisui and go all out to take Baotou. I don't think it is appropriate, but it is obviously inappropriate!" Nie Rongzhen's more serious temper came up.He always put Guisui and defending the enemy in the first place, and asked the troops to watch closely.There are tens of thousands of powerful enemies here, which is the top priority in Fu Zuoyi's heart!The more Nie Rongzhen thought about it, the more he felt that the plan to take Baotou and Wulin from the west was "inappropriate", so he telegraphed his opinions to the Central Military Commission.He hopes to fight a few more battles according to the original deployment. If the situation is not good, he should consider ending the Suiyuan campaign. "End the Battle of Suiyuan?" He Long resolutely refused. "The situation in the whole country is so tense, Chairman Mao just returned to Yan'an, and Vice Chairman Zhou is still negotiating negotiations in Chongqing. We can't get up or down. How can we explain to the Central Committee!" It was already November 19th. It was the critical moment for Zhou Enlai to deal with the aftermath and implement the "Double Ten Agreement" after the negotiations between Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek in Chongqing. He Long ran away several troops one after another, sweating all over his body. , opened his clothes and thought it was too hot in the room, so he ran to the open air to smoke heavily. Li Jingquan came out and persuaded He Long in a low voice: "Commander Nie also has his reasons. The problem is that our force is too thin, and it may be a bit risky to spread it too far." He Long said in a low voice: "There are risks. If there are no risks, what else should we do? Now, the most important thing is to open up the situation for the central government. This battle is no small matter. If you worry about gains and losses..." A gust of cold wind came and interrupted He Long.He shivered, coughed a few times, and continued: "I don't believe it, Baotou can't be taken off! I don't believe Wuyuan, and Linhe can't be taken off either!" Li Jingquan heard that He Long's nose was a little stuffy when he spoke, so he tugged at the open front of the boss's shirt.He was really worried that He Long would be in a hurry.After thinking about it for a while, he said half as a staff officer and half as a consolation: "Boss, since that's the case, why can't we also send a report to the Military Commission and report what we mean? It doesn't matter if anyone speaks, let the Military Commission decide." He Long thought about it for a while, and felt that these words made sense, and everyone expressed their opinions, military democracy. Half an hour later, He Long, the commander of the Jinsui Field Army, and Li Jingquan, the deputy political commissar, called the Central Military Commission: "We agree with the telegram of the Military Commission on the 16th, and first capture Baotou and Wulin, so that Fu Wan will be isolated. It is estimated that Baotou will be captured. Cadres and soldiers We all have confidence, but we must strengthen the assault force, cooperate with the reinforcements of the Ma family and participate in the siege..." Nie and He each insisted on their own words, and put a half-drawn "stalemate" in front of the Central Military Commission.The result of the vigorous Suiyuan Battle was unexpected by Mao Zedong and others. The main force was tens of kilometers away from Baotou, and He Long fell ill.The cholecystitis recurred, and I got a bad cold again. My whole body was burning hot, and I couldn't even drink a sip of hot water.At first he still insisted on riding a horse, trying to push it over, but then he was light-headed and couldn't control his body, so he couldn't ride the horse, so he had to lie on a stretcher and let four soldiers take turns to carry it. "Damn, it's really not the right time to be sick!" He Long beat his head bitterly, restraining himself from closing his eyes. At this time, the combat staff officer ran over, seeing He Long like this, and looked at Li Jingquan in embarrassment.Before Li could speak, He Long asked with difficulty: "Has there been any changes in the enemy's situation?" The staff officer had no choice but to open the telegram folder, followed the stretcher, and read the telegram sent by the troops to He Long.At that time, the main force of the Jinsui Field Army and the third brigade of the Hebei-Shandong Column (less than one regiment) and the sixth regiment of the fourth brigade had successively entered the scheduled combat area near Baotou.Seeing that the opportunity had come, Guisui defended the enemy and immediately organized infantry and cavalry to charge back out of the city.The Kuomintang's new 4th Cavalry Division, together with the cavalry advancing fourth column, attacked to the south of 24 hectares in one breath. The Kuomintang 10th Cavalry Division stationed in Ningxia also responded from a distance, advancing through Wuyuan and Linhe River, rushing to reinforce Baotou. Listening to the telegram read by the combat staff officer, He Long gradually became out of breath, and couldn't help coughing again.The guard took out the marching water bottle from his arms and handed it over. He Long drank a few sips of lukewarm water, finally stopped coughing, and then asked loudly: "How are Huang Xinting and Wang Shangrong fighting?" Not very good." He Long roared: "It may be impossible, you bring me Zhang Jingwu..." Just as he yelled, He Long coughed again and again.Li Jingquan hurriedly persuaded him, saying: "Boss, I know the situation and I am preparing to report to you. Look..." The combat staff took advantage of this opportunity and ran towards the radio station. In fact, the 358th Brigade rushed to Baotou like a gust of wind long before Nie and He got into a dispute and the Military Commission returned the telegram.He Long ordered the two brigade commanders Huang Xinting and Wang Shangrong to set up a joint command post in Huangjiawa in the north of the city, twisting the two forces into one, and unified command of the attack. At present, Huang and Wang took the method of combining map work and on-site survey to study Baotou city defense carefully, and found that the only open area outside the west gate, the east and north gates are close to a ditch, and the terrain is more complicated , Not far from the South Gate is the Yellow River, there is no room for maneuver.Looking at the street fighting fortifications in the city are quite complete, the stronger houses and other buildings are guarded by soldiers.On a high ground in the north of the city, an artillery position was also set up, and the conditions for firepower were very good.All the defensive fortifications in the city are quite deep, and the deployment is very fine. The firepower settings such as crossing and fighting can be seen everywhere.Especially on the main roads of siege, He Wending made a big fuss. In addition to setting up obstacles, there was another important measure: sending troops to splash water every day to freeze. This is an area where cold waves frequently occur in winter in my country. The average minimum temperature in January can reach minus 23 degrees Celsius, which is better than dripping into ice. Therefore, when water is splashed on the ground, it is slippery and untenable everywhere. Whether it is a person or a horse, one step at a time .Huang Xinting gasped and said to Wang Shangrong: "Grandma, this is not a war, it is a trick!" Wang Shangrong came here early, and he has learned enough about it.Faced with this situation, he had been grimacing for several days and couldn't find a way out, and he couldn't swallow his breath, "Damn it, a living person can still be suffocated to death with urine!" he said. So, Huang and Wang gritted their teeth and counted up.The final decision is: Let the 2nd Regiment of the Unique Brigade and the 715th Regiment of the 358th Brigade attack the city from the northwest gate; After entering the city, they immediately stormed from the east gate.The 714th Regiment of the 358th Brigade, on the other hand, defended and attacked the electric lamp company from the very beginning, and once they succeeded, they rushed to the south gate and launched an attack.Obviously, the main attack is the 2nd Regiment and the 715th Regiment, but in terms of tactical actions, the other two directions also achieve "feint attack without feint".Such a three-legged confrontation, echoing each other, forced the Kuomintang defenders to dare not be careless about anything, and had to divide their troops to fight. The total attack time is set at zero o'clock. The preparatory work was done solidly the morning before, and in the afternoon the main force had a good night's sleep.At dusk, the 715th regiment moved quietly to Baicaoliang, a few hundred meters away from the west gate of Baotou, and stayed there until 10:00 p.m. before entering the attacking starting position with the second regiment. At dawn, the troops of the Second Regiment and the 715th Regiment attacked the city at all costs.After fierce street fighting, almost one-third of the urban area was occupied.It is said that there are two regiments, but in fact there are no more than four battalions at the moment.Sprinkle it into the occupied area, and the feeling of emptiness becomes stronger and stronger.Fu Chuanzuo, head of the Second Regiment, stomped his feet anxiously.Holding the machine gun, he swiped left and right, shot and shouted, and tried his best to adjust the deployment.At that time, the city was boiling with gunshots everywhere, and it was hard to tell where it was. From the regiment commander down, there was no one who did not go into battle. But in the other two directions of attacking the city, the flags and drums have almost died down at this moment: as soon as the siege battle of the Eighth Regiment started, they were blocked by enemy fire under the city wall outside the east gate.At daybreak, they simply withdrew from the battle and returned to the original starting point; the 714th Regiment fought for most of the night and even failed to take down the enemy's position outside the city, let alone attacking the city, so they had to stay in a lukewarm confrontation with the enemy. There. It was past 7 o'clock the next morning, when Fu Chuanzuo, head of the regiment, suddenly heard a report that his deputy head, Peng Jimin, had died.After a while, it was reported that Liao Shiming, the second battalion commander of the 715th Regiment, had also died! All the enemy's street fighting fortifications were fully utilized at this moment, and the firepower became more and more fierce. The soldiers slipped three times at one step, and some fell and couldn't get up again.Every step forward was extremely difficult for the troops.Fu Chuanzuo saw that the streets in Xiguang were densely packed with corpses, most of whom were cadres and soldiers he was familiar with. The coarse cloth military uniform... There is no way to attack any further, and he ordered to turn to the defense to consolidate the established position; while reporting to Huang Xinting and Wang Shangrong, he asked for follow-up reinforcements. But at this moment, He Wending concentrated more than a dozen mountain artillery and field artillery, and bombarded the gate and tower of the northwest city, blocking the breakthrough with firepower.At the same time, a large group of troops was concentrated to attack the 715th Regiment's position from the south side again and again.The commanders and fighters of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 715th Regiment adhered to the purpose of living and dying with the positions, and shouted slogans to kill the enemy. Although both Huang Xinting and Wang Shangrong were shouting with smoke, the reinforcements did not go up from the beginning to the end. Fu Chuanzuo commanded the troops to fight from morning to around 4:00 p.m., with increasing casualties, and the troops had long been divided into battalions and companies.A handful of warriors stood back to back, ran out of bullets and threw grenades, and when the grenades were gone, they swung their gun stocks and fought with bayonets.Seeing that the sun was westward, the joint headquarters kept shouting "Persevere, persevere"!After persisting for several hours, even the reinforcements were nowhere to be seen. The casualties of the troops were too terrible, and the ammunition was exhausted, so we could no longer make unnecessary sacrifices!He had no choice but to order to fight and retreat, and to withdraw from the city. The breakthrough in the city defense that was finally opened was abandoned like this.A whole day and night of bloody struggles came to nothing.Fu Chuanzuo, covered in blood, stood on the hillside of Shaerqin in the eastern suburbs, looking at the battlements of Baotou with light smoke in the evening wind, and couldn't stop crying.The teardrops reflected the afterglow of the setting sun, red as a drop of blood. He Long personally led the main force westward to Baotou, which was half a month later.During this period, the troops had a 10-day rest to educate the newly recruited liberation fighters, and worked hard on tactics and techniques. Wang Shangrong and Huang Xinting stood in front of He Long's stretcher and sighed for a long time, muttering that they shouldn't have a half-battle, sorry boss. He Longqiang cheered up and comforted his old subordinates with a smile: "It's pretty good. Attacked the city, took down a few streets, killed and wounded more than 1,500 enemies, and the result was good! If the follow-up echelon can't keep up, that's not your problem. Don't be mother-in-law. , the war... But the loss is still huge," he lowered his voice, looked away, and looked sad, "more than 900 comrades have died, this number is also incredible!" Wang Shangrong sighed and explained: "Most of them died after dawn. We are in the light, and the enemy is in the dark..." He Long asked: "Have the wounded and martyrs been arranged?" Huang Xinting, who had been silent all this time, replied: "What should be treated should be cured, and what should be buried should be buried." He Long wanted to see the roster of martyrs.He asked the guards to help him sit up, stretched out his bloody index finger, pointed at the names of each martyr on the roster, and read down softly... The time for another siege was scheduled for November 28. He Long pushed up the independent second and third brigades. The siege site was chosen between the west gate and the north gate. The two regiments are side by side, unified in command, and integrated into one.The Yesi command post was established in a small village called Shiguaizi northeast of Baotou.He Long was still lying on the stretcher, taking medicine, sweating, and strategizing. It was just the beginning of nightfall, and the wind was biting cold.He Wending climbed up to the city gate and looked out of the city, but he didn't see any soldiers of He Long.This made him rather uneasy.According to Fu Zuoyi's report, He Long planned to attack Baotou again in the next few days. Why is there no movement?How did he know that after several back and forth reports on the situation, the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China has been quite hesitant about the siege of Baotou. To attack or to withdraw?Li Jingquan was looking forward to He Long's instructions.There were only three days left before the scheduled plan, and He Long wished he could bite off a Baotou city brick, chew it to pieces, and taste what it was like. It was another long night when the north wind howled, and He Long sat cross-legged on the kang, coughing loudly and smoking heavily.There were mules and horses snorting faintly in the wind outside the wall. Many units of the army were hanging out under the sky. The wind was cold and the night was cold. Many soldiers were wearing single clothes.This is no child's play... He Long's heart was churning, and before he knew it, the sound of a rooster announcing the dawn came from afar.Finally, he dropped his pipe heavily, and said, "Fu Chuanzuo and the others only had four battalions. Didn't they break in? The sacrifice should be bigger, it's worth it! Jingquan, I think we should do it and capture the Baotou, realize the central strategic intention!" Li Jingquan understands that He Long is a person who will not die until the Yellow River, and has a strong sense of the overall situation. It is not easy for him to give up attacking Baotou.Therefore, he had no choice but to go forward bravely: "Then report the battle plan to President Nie and the Central Military Commission as soon as possible!" Li Jingquan knew what he wanted, and immediately put the Yesi group into operation.A few days passed in a flash, and the so-called "hurry up" action was not going anywhere, and the actual day of the siege still had to be postponed until December 2. Posterity has sensibly recorded this fruitless attack, although it lasted only two days.Two days later, from December 4th to 14th, 1945, various people who participated in the Suiyuan Campaign were ordered to withdraw from the siege of Suiyuan and Baotou, and the Suiyuan Campaign came to an end.It was also He Long who knocked down the gong and mallet for the retreat. Before dusk the next day, He Long had someone help him onto a high ridge.He wants to personally observe the battlefield situation.In the binoculars, the firepower of the defending enemy at the top of the city was neither too fast nor too slow, but the siege fighters still fell one by one... This scene was always like a huge boulder weighing on He Long's heart. Trembling for a moment, He Long had the idea of ​​overthrowing this boulder.Let it go?Doesn't that mean giving up halfway?Combined with the two sieges, there are thousands of martyrs!Such a large price has not yet achieved results, and the strategic intention of the central government has not yet been realized, which affects the overall situation!However, is it safe to continue the attack?It's freezing cold, the army doesn't even have a place to shelter from the wind, and the number of sick people is increasing day by day. Many cadres and soldiers go to battle with illnesses!If the attack continues, the passive situation will become more and more serious.In front of He Long's eyes, countless red faces and purple hands appeared in front of his eyes, those soldiers with cracks in their hands and faces, bloody and bloody soldiers; those simple and eager eyes like camel grass, Some of them have been buried under this strange city, and some are still throwing their hot lives into the bloody gunpowder.Simple faces flashed across He Long's mind one by one, like shadows, like lights, like stars... He Long's heart was pounding, he wanted to overthrow this boulder, and he finally overthrew it! After the liberation of the whole country, Mr. Dong Qiwu, who played an important role in promoting Fu Zuoyi's uprising, once met He Long in Beijing.Dong Yuan is the commander of the 101st Division of the Fu Department and the commander of the 35th Army.The past is endless, and the reasoning is still chaotic. When the two chatted, they talked about the Suiyuan Battle. Dong Qiwu said: "Mr. He, you were really good at commanding at that time. You quickly decided to retreat and not attack Baotou. That was very correct. If you continue to attack, you will suffer a lot. The furnace is on, the muzzles of the guns have been marked, so they are waiting for work, and they have superior equipment and sufficient ammunition. How can they be captured? Baotou City is surrounded by hillside highlands on one side and flat dams on the other. There was a lot of water, and the ice was slippery and hard, and it was not easy to approach. So you decisively ordered the retreat, which was very wise." After hearing this, He Long didn't speak for a long time, but just smiled.That smile was like ripples gently rising in a pool of autumn water, slowly dissipating.