Chapter 47 Marching to the whole country at the end

The Battle of Pingjin, which lasted 64 days, ended successfully on January 31, 1949. A total of 520,000 Kuomintang troops were wiped out and reorganized, including a "Bandit Suppression General Headquarters", a Garrison Headquarters, and three Corps Headquarters. , 13 military departments, and 51 divisions.A total of 5,537 artillery pieces, 2,390 vehicles, 158 tanks, and 46 aircraft were seized or incorporated.The total number of casualties of our army was 39,000. The peaceful liberation of Suiyuan after the Battle of Pingjin was the inevitable result of the Battle of Pingjin, and it can be regarded as part of the results attached to the Battle of Pingjin.

The end of the Battle of Pingjin also marked the end of the decisive strategic battle waged by the revolutionary armed forces under the leadership of the Communist Party of China against the Kuomintang reactionary army with the absolute victory of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. This decisive battle began on September 12, 1948, and lasted 4 months and 19 days. After the three major battles of Liaoshen, Huaihai, and Pingjin, Chiang Kai-shek's regular army, 12 regiments, 46 armies, and 144 divisions were eliminated. 29 divisions of the irregular army, a total of 1.54 million people.If we add the enemies wiped out on other battlefields during this period, the total number of enemies wiped out is more than 2.3 million, accounting for 63.3% of the total 3.65 million Kuomintang troops at the beginning of the decisive battle.Four of the "five main forces" of the Kuomintang army, namely the New First Army, the New Sixth Army, the New Fifth Army, and the Eighteenth Army, were all annihilated by our army in the decisive battle.Coupled with the reorganized 74th Division that was wiped out on the Shandong battlefield, the "five main forces" of the Kuomintang army have completely ceased to exist.The Kuomintang regime still has only 1.46 million troops left for combat, and they are still distributed in the vast area and long front from Xinjiang in the west to Taiwan in the east.

At the same time, the Chinese People's Liberation Army has increased from 2.8 million (including 1.49 million field troops) at the beginning of the decisive battle to more than 4 million (including 2.18 million field troops).Our army not only has infantry that has an absolute advantage over the Kuomintang army, but also has powerful artillery, engineers and a certain number of armored forces, and has begun to build an air force in the northeast and a navy in the east of China. No Chinese will doubt that the balance of power in China's political arena and military battlefield has become irreversible and clearly skewed. The day when the reactionary rule of the Chiang Kai-shek clique will completely collapse is just around the corner. The revolution led by the Communist Party of China The moment of national victory for power is at hand.

During the period since the start of the Battle of Pingjin, Chiang Kai-shek announced his "retirement", Li Zongren became the acting president, and the Executive Yuan headed by Sun Ke moved from Nanjing to Guangzhou. The spokesperson of the Ministry of Defense seems to be in Shanghai.The Kuomintang regime has become a mess. Contrary to the chaos within the Kuomintang, the central leadership of the Communist Party of China and the command center of the Chinese People's Liberation Army have entered Beiping, and are making intense and orderly preparations for the founding of New China.

The Second Plenary Session of the Seventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held in Xibaipo in March 1949 made all-round preparations for the founding of New China. Mao Zedong announced at the meeting: "All the conditions for convening the Political Consultative Conference and establishing a democratic coalition government have been fulfilled. Mature. Now all democratic parties, people's organizations and democrats without party affiliation are on our side." "We hope to occupy Nanjing in April or May, and then convene a political consultative conference in Beiping to form a coalition government and make Beiping the capital."

As far as the military front is concerned, in the course of the decisive battle, the Central Military Commission decided to reorganize the entire army into four major field armies and three directly affiliated corps, ready to march across the country at all times. The Northwest Field Army was renamed the First Field Army. It has two corps (the First Corps and the Second Corps) and 6 armies, with a total of 160,000 people. The main leaders are: Commander Peng Dehuai, Political Commissar Peng Dehuai (concurrently), Xi Zhongxun, Deputy Commander Zhang Zongxun, Zhao Shoushan, Deputy Political Commissar and Director of the Political Department Gan Siqi, Chief of Staff Yan Kuiyao.

Wang Zhen, commander and political commissar of the First Corps, Xu Guangda, commander of the Second Corps, and Wang Shitai, political commissar. The Central Plains Field Army was renamed the Second Field Army. There were three corps (third corps, fourth corps, and fifth corps) and 11 armies with a total of 280,000 soldiers.The main person in charge is: Commander Liu Bocheng, Political Commissar Deng Xiaoping, Deputy Political Commissar and Director of the Political Department Zhang Jichun, Chief of Staff Li Da. Chen Xilian, commander of the Third Corps, Xie Fuzhi, political commissar, Chen Geng, commander and political commissar of the Fourth Corps, Yang Yong, commander of the Fifth Corps, and Su Zhenhua, political commissar.

The East China Field Army was renamed the Third Field Army. There were four Corps (Seventh Corps, Eight Corps, Ninth Corps, and Ten Corps) and 15 armies, with a total of 580,000 people.The main person in charge is: Commander and Political Commissar Chen Yi, Deputy Commander and Second Deputy Political Commissar Su Yu, First Deputy Political Commissar Tan Zhenlin, Chief of Staff Zhang Zhen, Director of the Political Department Tang Liang. Commander Wang Jian'an of the Seventh Corps, political commissar Tan Qilong, commander Chen Shiju and political commissar Yuan Zhongxian of the Eighth Corps, commander Song Shilun and political commissar Guo Huaruo of the Ninth Corps, commander Ye Fei of the Tenth Corps, political commissars Wei Guoqing, and Zhang Dingcheng.

The Northeast Field Army was renamed the Fourth Field Army. There were four corps (the 12th Corps, the 13th Corps, the 14th Corps, and the 15th Corps) and 15 armies, with a total of 900,000 people.The main person in charge is: Commander Lin Biao, First Political Commissar Luo Ronghuan, Second Political Commissar Deng Zihui, First Chief of Staff Xiao Ke, Second Chief of Staff Zhao Erlu, Director of the Political Department Tan Zheng. Xiao Jinguang, commander and political commissar of the 12th Corps, Cheng Zihua, commander of the 13th Corps, Xiao Hua, political commissar, Liu Yalou, commander of the 14th Corps, Mo Wenhua, political commissar, Deng Hua, commander of the 15th Corps, and Lai Chuanzhu, political commissar.

The troops of the North China Military Region were changed to be directly under the Central Military Commission. There were three corps (18th Corps, 19th Corps, and 20th Corps) and 9 armies with a total of 240,000 troops.The main person in charge is: Zhou Shidi, commander and political commissar of the 18th Corps, Yang Dezhi, commander of the 19th Corps, Li Zhimin, political commissar, Yang Chengwu, commander of the 20th Corps, and Li Tianhuan, political commissar. Also directly under the Central Military Commission is the Railway Corps with Teng Daiyuan as its commander. From February to March 1949, the Central Military Commission conducted various studies on the strategic operation of going across the Yangtze River, and finally made a decision: in mid-April, 24 armies from 7 regiments from the Second Field and the Third Field would be formed. , A total of 1 million troops flew across the Yangtze River and marched across the country.

In accordance with the peace wishes of the people of the whole country, the Chinese Communist Party agreed to conduct peace negotiations with the Kuomintang government. On March 26, the second day after Mao Zedong arrived in Peiping, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China notified the Kuomintang government that the negotiation time was set for April 1, and the venue was set in Peiping. On April 1, the Kuomintang peace negotiation delegation headed by Zhang Zhizhong arrived in Peiping and held 20-day negotiations with the Chinese Communist Party delegation headed by Zhou Enlai.As a result of the negotiations, the "Domestic Peace Agreement" was reached on the night of April 15.Unexpectedly, after Chiang Kai-shek saw this agreement, he cursed "Wen Bai (note: Zhang Zhizhong's word Wen Bai) is incompetent, loses power and humiliates the country", and resolutely rejected it. In the middle of the night of April 20, Li Zongren, the acting president of the Kuomintang government, officially announced that he refused to accept the "Domestic Peace Agreement." The 20-day peace talks between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party declared a complete breakdown. On April 21, 1949, Mao Zedong, chairman of the Central Military Commission, and Zhu De, commander-in-chief of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, issued the "Order to March to the Nation" to the entire army: Comrades, commanders and fighters of all field armies, and comrades of the People's Liberation Army in guerrilla areas in the south: The domestic peace agreement drawn up after long negotiations between the delegation of the Chinese Communist Party and the delegation of the Nanking Kuomintang Government has been rejected by the Nanking Kuomintang Government.The reason why the leaders of the Nanking Kuomintang government rejected this domestic peace agreement is that they still obey the orders of the U.S. imperialists and the Kuomintang bandit leader Chiang Kai-shek in an attempt to prevent the advancement of the Chinese people's cause of liberation and the peaceful settlement of domestic problems.Clause 24 of Article 8 of the domestic peace agreement drawn up through negotiations between the two delegations expresses leniency in dealing with war criminals. The interests of the nation and the interests of the people have been appropriately resolved.Rejection of this agreement means that the Kuomintang reactionaries are determined to fight to the end the counter-revolutionary civil war they have launched.Rejection of this agreement means that the peace talks proposed by the Kuomintang reactionaries on January 1 this year were nothing more than an attempt to prevent the advance of the People's Liberation Army, so that the reactionaries could have a breathing space and then make a comeback to wipe out the revolutionary forces.Rejection of this agreement means that the Nanjing Li Zongren government's so-called recognition of the eight peace conditions of the CCP as the basis for negotiations is completely hypocritical.Because, since it is recognized that the punishment of war criminals, the reorganization of all Kuomintang troops with democratic principles, and the acceptance of all the powers of the Nanjing government and its subordinate governments, as well as other basic conditions, there is no reason to reject the extremely lenient policy drafted based on these basic conditions. specific measures.In such circumstances, we order you to: (1) Advance bravely, resolutely, thoroughly, cleanly and completely wipe out all Kuomintang reactionaries who dare to resist in China, liberate the people of the whole country, and defend the independence and integrity of China's territorial sovereignty. (2) Go forward bravely and arrest all persistent war criminals.No matter where they fled, they must be brought to justice and punished according to law.Pay special attention to arresting the bandit leader Chiang Kai-shek. (3) Announce the final amendments to the domestic peace agreement to any Kuomintang local governments and local military blocs.For those who are willing to stop the war and solve the problem by peaceful means, you can sign local agreements with them according to the general meaning of this final amendment. (4) After the People's Liberation Army surrounded Nanjing, if the Nanjing Li Zongren government has not fled and is willing to sign the domestic peace agreement, we are willing to give the government another chance to sign. According to the order of the Central Military Commission, on April 21, when the order was issued, the million-strong army of our second field and the third field carried out forced crossings on the 500-kilometer-long Yangtze River from Jiujiang in the west to Jiangyin in the east, crushing the enemy. After painstakingly managing the Yangtze River defense line for three and a half months, they successfully crossed the Yangtze River and started the great march to liberate the whole of China. On April 23, our army liberated Nanjing, the ruling center of the Kuomintang reactionaries for 22 years; on May 17, liberated Wuhan, an important city in central China; on May 20, liberated Xi'an, an important city in the northwest; On August 4, Cheng Qian and Chen Mingren announced the uprising in Changsha, and Hunan was liberated peacefully; on August 17, Fuzhou was liberated; on August 26, Lanzhou was liberated; on September 26, Tao Zhiyue and Bao Erhan were in Dihua (now Urumqi) announced an uprising, and Xinjiang was liberated peacefully; on October 14, Guangzhou, an important town in southern China, was liberated; on November 30, Chongqing, an important town in southwest China, was liberated; on December 9, Lu Han announced an uprising in Kunming, and Yunnan was liberated peacefully; on December 27 On that day, Chengdu, the last big city in mainland my country, was liberated. At the end of 1949, our People's Liberation Army had wiped out all the Kuomintang troops on the mainland and liberated the parts of mainland China except Tibet. In the midst of the clarion call to march to the whole country, on September 21, 1949, the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference opened in Beijing. In Mao Zedong’s opening speech, he said a famous saying that resounded all over the world and shined through history: the Chinese, who accounted for a quarter of the total number of human beings, stood up from now on. On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China was proclaimed in the capital Beijing.Just the day before this great day, when night was about to fall, Mao Zedong and representatives of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference came to Tiananmen Square and held a grand foundation-laying ceremony for the Monument to the People's Heroes.Mao Zedong passionately read the inscription written by him: People's heroes are immortal! For three years, the people's heroes who died in the People's Liberation War and the People's Revolution are immortal! Today, the tall and majestic Monument to the People's Heroes has already been erected on the square in front of Tiananmen Square. Today, when we look up at the dazzling golden characters on the stele, we should all recall the decisive battle that took place on the land of the motherland more than 60 years ago, which lasted 4 months and 19 days and wiped out 1.54 million Kuomintang troops. The indomitable heroes and heroic and dedicated martyrs who emerged in the Armageddon should be remembered. Let us all silently recite the inscription on the Monument to the People's Heroes: People's heroes are immortal!