Chapter 44 7. The decisive battle started on the Beining line

According to Lin Biao's order, the 11th Column of the Northeast Field Army stationed in the Hebei-Chahareliao area and the troops of the Hebei-Chahareliao Military Region, under the command of Cheng Zihua, commander of the Second Corps of the Northeast Field Army, and Huang Kecheng, political commissar, started the battle on September 12. The first shot of the Armageddon.Their mission is to cut off the Beining Railway from Beiping to Shenyang, because the Beining Railway is the most important line of communication connecting the Northeast with the interior, and it is the blood vessel for the enemy troops in the Northeast.He Jinnian, the commander of the 11th Column, and Chen Renqi, the political commissar, led their own troops and the Independent Fourth, Sixth, and Eighth Divisions to divide and capture Changli, Beidaihe, Shahousuo, Suizhong and other places on the Beining Line, completely cutting off Beining The line wiped out the enemies in all strongholds from the east of the Luanhe River to Beidaihe, creating favorable conditions for the Northeast Field Army to close their doors and fight dogs.

Immediately afterwards, the four verticals set off from Tai'an, and the nine verticals set off from Beizhen, inserted between Jinzhou and Yixian, and surrounded Yixian, the most important stronghold north of Jinzhou.When the train transported the southward troops to Fuxin, the Third Column and the Second Column and Fifth Division immediately took over the siege of Yi County.The four verticals conquered Xingcheng in the south, and the seven verticals occupied Gaoqiao, Xihaikou and Tashan, cutting off the connection between Jinzhou and Jinxi.The Nine Columns captured Baihuotun, Maoer Mountain, Liangjia Mountain and Zijing Mountain, the important strongholds on the outskirts of Jinzhou, completing the encirclement of Jinzhou and the division of the strongholds on the Beining Line.The above-mentioned battle took a total of half a month.

On September 24, when various armies were advancing and fighting, the headquarters of the Northeast Field Army issued a combat order to each column: The attack on Jinzhou and the aid campaign had the nature of a decisive battle across the Northeast.Hope to encourage the commanders and fighters of the whole army to carry out this great battle with unprecedented determination and courage, regardless of any fatigue and casualties, and prepare to fight recklessly. The right-leaning sentiment of underestimating the strength of the troops and the failure to see the overall situation that is beneficial to us in the whole country oppose fatigue and laxity, and oppose the resolute execution of orders, etc., in order to strive for victory in this great war.

On the same day, the headquarters of the Northeast Field Army sent another telegram to the Central Military Commission, which said: The Battle of Jinzhou may evolve into a decisive battle across the Northeast, which may result in the recovery of Jinzhou and Changchun and the annihilation of a large number of enemies who sent aid from Shenyang.We will fight hard for this victory.The mobilized army is not afraid of casualties, not afraid of fatigue, and is ready for a big and fierce battle. After our army completed the siege around Jinzhou, Lin Biao reported the situation of Jinzhou defending the enemy to the central government: Jinzhou has a total of 8 divisions, the main force is the enemy's 93rd Army and 49th Army; Jinxi has 4 divisions, The main force is the enemy's 54th Army.The report said: "We have decided to attack Jinzhou first and then Jinxi."

Fan Hanjie who was stationed in Jinzhou never knew that the main force of our army was encircling Jinzhou.After our army had captured several strongholds around Jinzhou, Fan Hanjie sent troops to recover Maoershan, Baihutun, and Liangjiashan. There was one division guarding the strongholds, and another division was sent. Both divisions were captured by us. The army lost its helmet and armor and fled back to the city.Only then did he know that the main force of our army had surrounded Jinzhou, and he realized that the direction of our army's attack was Jinzhou. Wei Lihuang rushed to report to Chiang Kai-shek. Of course Chiang Kai-shek knew the seriousness of our army's invasion of Jinzhou. He immediately called Wei Lihuang to Nanjing and asked Wei to immediately send Shenyang's army westward to assist Jinzhou.Of course Wei Lihuang objected in his heart, but it was inconvenient to quarrel face to face, so he said that he would study it carefully after returning to Shenyang.Chiang Kai-shek sent Chief of Staff Gu Zhutong and Wei Lihuang to fly to Shenyang together on September 26, and asked Gu Zhutong to supervise Wei Lihuang to immediately send troops to reinforce Jinzhou.Wei Lihuang is most afraid of being besieged and rescued, especially from Shenyang to the west. There are three major rivers, Liaohe, Daling and Raoyang, which may be cut off by the People's Liberation Army layer by layer and surrounded separately. Therefore, he believes that sending troops to aid Jin now is no different from Feed the tiger's mouth.He only agreed to airlift an army from Shenyang to support Jinzhou, and suggested that Gu Zhutong arrange for the North China Army to reinforce Jinzhou from Huludao.However, Liao Yaoxiang, commander of the Ninth Corps, the main force of the Shenyang garrison, suggested taking the opportunity to completely withdraw the Shenyang and Changchun troops into the pass and abandon the Northeast.The three fought for a day, but to no avail.The next day, Chiang Kai-shek called, still asking Wei Lihuang to pull the Shenyang army out to reinforce Jinzhou, but Wei Lihuang and Liao Yaoxiang still firmly disagreed.Wei Lihuang even said categorically that if Huludao did not send troops, but only Shenyang sent troops, "the whole army will definitely be wiped out." He would like to issue a military order with Gu Zhu.Gu Zhutong was of the same generation as Wei Lihuang. No matter how he used Chiang Kai-shek's orders to suppress him, Wei Lihuang still insisted on his own opinion.Gu Zhutong had no choice but to find Liao Yaoxiang alone to exert pressure.Liao Yaoxiang only entered Whampoa as a soldier in 1926, and Gu Zhutong was an instructor in Whampoa as early as 1924. In front of Gu Zhutong, Liao Yaoxiang could not directly contradict him, but asked whether he could first transfer part of the Shenyang army to Xinmin. Lin Biao added some pressure, what to do in the future, let's talk about the next step.Gu Zhutong had no choice but to return to Nanjing with this plan to report to Chiang Kai-shek.However, the argument between the three of them in Shenyang actually took up the most precious, and arguably the most fatal, three days.

During the three days when Gu Zhu and others were arguing endlessly in Shenyang City, I attacked Jinzhou and the frontline troops further strengthened the siege of Jinzhou. Jinzhou Airport was destroyed by our artillery and under the control of our artillery fire. After the capture, the connection between Jinzhou and Jinxi has been completely cut off; after Xingcheng was captured by me, the land connection between the enemy in the northeast and the pass has been completely cut off; Yixian County, an important stronghold in the north of Jinzhou, has been surrounded by me.Now, except for the connection between Jinzhou and the Kuomintang army in the entire Northeast and the mainland, except for the air, there is only one Huludao naval base left.

Lin Biao decided to attack Yi County first. Yi County is in the north of Jinzhou, about 50 kilometers away from Jinzhou, and there are railways and highways connecting with Jinzhou. It is the most important strategic stronghold in the north of Jinzhou.The main force of the Third Column, the Second Column and the Fifth Division and the Paozong moving south from the north had already surrounded Yi County in accordance with Lin Biao's order. On September 17, under the unified command of Han Xianchu, the commander of the three verticals, our army began to narrow the encirclement and clear the obstacles to the siege.

The enemy in Yixian County was the temporary 20th Division of the 93rd Army. The division commander Wang Shigao led his subordinates to force a large number of migrant workers to build a large number of fortifications in Yixian County. In addition, Yixian County itself has a fairly tall city wall, so it is not easy to attack.In order to break through the city defense of Yixian County in one fell swoop, when our army launched a general offensive on October 1, Zhu Rui, the artillery commander of the Northeast Field Army, placed nearly a hundred howitzers on the opposite bank of the Daling River in the north of Yixian County. The offensive capability of the artillery was tested, and a rehearsal was conducted for the attack on Jinzhou.After Zhu Rui's powerful artillery made a speech, Yixian was unable to defend the enemy at all. The tall city wall was blown down more than 40 meters. After our army rushed into the city, it only took half a day of street fighting to occupy Yixian and captured them Wang Shigao created the record for the shortest time it took for our Northeast Field Army to successfully attack a city.

But the most regrettable thing is that at the end of the battle, in order to observe the specific situation of the extended artillery fire and how to improve the firepower of the bombardment of the city wall, Zhu Rui personally went to the city wall to conduct a field inspection, and unfortunately stepped on it. The enemy's landmine died on the battlefield just after the decisive battle, at the age of 43.Zhu Rui - the main founder of our army's artillery, he was not only on the Northeast battlefield, but also the highest-ranking and most important commander of our army who died in the entire war of liberation.In the message of condolence drafted by Mao Zedong for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, he said:

Comrade Zhu Rui has made great contributions to the artillery construction of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and his sacrifice today is a huge loss to the cause of the Chinese People's Liberation.The Central Committee expresses its deep condolences, and hopes to pass on the message to the whole army, continue to fight for the complete victory of the revolutionary war, and commemorate the immortality of Comrade Zhu Rui. To commemorate Zhu Rui, the Northeast Artillery School was renamed "Zhu Rui Artillery School".