Chapter 50 1. Fan Hanjie carried a heavy pole across his shoulders

Blocking the enemy at Tashan is to ensure that our army can successfully attack Jinzhou. Jinzhou is located in the middle of the Liaoxi Corridor, backed by mountains and facing the sea. Its geographical location is right at the throat of the Liaoxi Corridor. It is 200 kilometers away from Shanhaiguan in the west and 230 kilometers away from Shenyang in the east. Jinzhou is the only way to enter North China from the northeast or enter the northeast from North China. land.Since ancient times, Jinzhou has been a battleground for military strategists.In the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Huan of Qi fought in the northern expedition to the Shan Rong.During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao fought in Wuhuan, where he fought fiercely.Especially at the end of the Ming Dynasty, in order to enter the Central Plains, the Manchu army fought many battles with the Ming Dynasty army, and Jinzhou was the most important battlefield.In 1626 A.D., Yuan Chonghuan, a famous general, made it clear when he managed Liaodong that if "the right side of Jinzhou wavered", "closing the gate (referring to Shanhaiguan Pass) would also lose its guarantee", so he managed Jinzhou vigorously. In 1627, Huang Taiji of the Manchus led an army of Eight Banners to storm Jinzhou for 14 days, but failed to capture it. Therefore, the border of the Ming Dynasty was preserved.

After Yuan Chonghuan was unjustly killed, Huang Taiji first took Yizhou (now Yixian County) in 1640, and then set up 8 battalions on each side of Jinzhou, dug deep trenches, and changed the army every March, determined to besiege Jinzhou for a long time.Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty sent Hong Chengchou, governor of Jiliao, to lead Wu Sangui and other 8 township generals, a total of 130,000 people, to rescue Jinzhou, but was defeated and captured.After being besieged for more than a year, Jinzhou was conquered when "the food in the city was exhausted, the people were eating each other, and the defense plan was poor".Since then, the Eight Banners Army was able to approach Shanhaiguan, and it was also possible for a large army to enter the pass.

In modern times, Jinzhou not only maintains its geographical position of "mountain and sea pivot, border key", but also becomes the intersection of Beining and Jincheng railways, and its strategic position is even more important.When the Japanese army occupied the Northeast, many fortifications were built here, making it a strategic stronghold for the Japanese army.Of course, the Kuomintang army also knew the importance of Jinzhou, so they continued to build fortifications on the basis of the fortifications already built by the Japanese army.Taking the Nuerhe River and Xiaoling River in the south of Jinzhou as natural barriers, taking Jinzhou's old city and new city as the center, and using commanding heights such as Liangma Mountain, Big and Small Bauhinia Mountain, and Hanwangdian Mountain around the city, a complete defense system was built.The terrain of Jinzhou is surrounded by mountains on all sides, and the east and west sides are slightly open.Judging from the situation surrounded by mountains, it is conducive to defense.However, because the position is surrounded by hundreds of miles, in the words of Lu Junquan, then commander of the Sixth Corps of the Kuomintang Army and Jinzhou Garrison Commander, its biggest weakness lies in "defensive everywhere, weak everywhere".

The chief general of the Jinzhou Kuomintang army was Fan Hanjie selected by Chiang Kai-shek.Fan Hanjie set up his headquarters in the Jinzhou Railway Bureau Building, which is very sturdy.Standing on the roof of this building, Fan Hanjie can see very far. He knows very well that its position is like a shoulder pole, with himself in the center, with northeast on one side and north China on the other.As soon as he collapsed, the Northeast and North China lost their support.Because of the heavy burden on his shoulders, Fan Hanjie was sent to Jinzhou by Chiang Kai-shek in January 1948 to serve as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Northeast "Suppression General" and the director of the Jinzhou command post. He was restless day and night, not knowing when the iron fist of the Northeast Field Army would hit him.For this reason, Fan Hanjie asked to resign several times after accepting the position, but was not approved.The last time Fan Hanjie resigned was on August 29, 1948, which was already the eve of the decisive battle between Liao and Shen, and he was in Nanjing at that time.When he repeatedly asked Chiang Kai-shek to resign, Chiang Kai-shek said eight words: "If you don't do it, what about me?"

At this time, the units that Fan Hanjie could command were the 60th Army, the old unit of the Yunnan Army, and the New Eighth Army and New Fifth Army newly formed after he took office.The 54th Army should also be under his command, but stationed in Huludao.In the Battle of Tashan, the 54th Army suffered heavy losses.The commander in Jinzhou is Lu Junquan, commander of the Sixth Corps of the Yunnan Army system. The troops under this Corps are the 93rd Army and the 184th Division that originally belonged to the 60th Army.At that time, the Sixth Corps was also under the command of Fan Hanjie. When Fan Hanjie learned from the movement of the Northeast Field Army that a major war was about to break out in Jinzhou, the defensive deployment of Jinzhou was arranged as follows: the New Eighth Army was all concentrated in Jinzhou, stationed in the area from Zijing Mountain to Songshan in the east; The 84th Division was responsible for the defense of the north and the west, and one of the key points was the airport; the two regiments of the 79th Division, which were newly airlifted from Shenyang to support them, were responsible for the defense at Hanwang Temple Mountain in the south; the New Fifth Army served as the general reserve Team.